Hoover Dam Dress - A Host of Things

So earlier this summer Husband, Saylor and I flew to Boulder City, Nevada for a family reunion. It was very special as it included everyone who is a descendent of my great-grandpa who worked on the Hoover Dam. And because of the occasion, of course I had to make an outfit for Saylor and her cousin to wear! So let me know what you think of this Hoover Dam Dress!

I feel you need a little background to understand why it is so specific. lol. My great-grandpa Joseph Kine moved to Nevada during the Great Depression to work on the Dam. Since around 5,000-20,000 workers relocated there during the 6 years it was being built, the Government created a town called Boulder City which is about thirty minutes outside of Las Vegas. And that is where my great-grandpa married, started his family and continued to work on maintenance for the Hoover Dam even after it was built, until he passed in his 90’s.

His job during the building of the Dam was a High Scaler. He would descend the desert cliffs above the Colorado River sitting on a small piece of wood and simple rope. He would place dynamite into the canyon wall which helped to shape the canyon in preparation for the Dam. So pretty dangerous job and we’re sure proud of him. Since he was one of the longest living workers and still resided in Boulder City after the Dam was built, a statue of him was placed outside the Hoover Dam Visitor Center to represent all the workers, especially the ones who died while working. The sculpture is based off a photo taken of him on the job in the 1930’s.

So now you can gather how meaningful this reunion was to us and how I really wanted Saylor to wear something special when we took the Dam Tour and pictures in front of the statue.

I happened to find this adorable cute white dress and decided to embellish it with old post card-looking patches around the skirt. I bought printable fabric with adhesive- a laser printer will NOT work btw! It will melt the adhesive, so you need to use an Inkjet printer. Then cut the item out and iron it on like a patch! They also wash up beautifully, so definitely find a use for this! It’s really fun!

Then I added “My Kine of Girl” to the top since that is our family name with iron-on vinyl by using my trusty Cricut! And I made these purses by adding rope as the strap with his picture on the front to make it look like he was just hanging around his great-great-granddaughters! Saylor and her cousin both really liked the dresses. But unfortunately it was nap time when we were at the statue, so Saylor wasn’t wanting to show off her outfit at that time. Oh well. My grandma loved them and that’s all that matters.

I hope you think they’re cute as well and that they inspire you to make something fun for your next family gathering or other event! I find it more fun when at least one person is themed! 🙂

Here’s a few more pictures of what it’s like to visit the Hoover Dam and hey, if you’re a Pokemon player, my great-grandpa’s statue is a Poke Stop!