grad cupcakes

My little sister graduated from our community college last night...she was honored, got a plaque for being a honor scholar. What a smarty pants. jk, congrats Jo. We had a little party after wards for her at our house, so of course I had to make a last minute banner, and cupcakes!

They're made from upside down Reese's cups, chocolate covered graham crackers, Reese's pieces, and a string of licorice. cute, no? Not original, but tasty. I will add the recipes I used later, we're headed off to Monterey with my family to enjoy the sunshine!

a little early.

This outfit I made Sadie to wear for the Fourth of July (assuming I won't be in labor or something, in which case, Mom, this is what Sadie should wear if we're in the hospital), might be a little early, but as you may know, I am trying my hardest to as much done before this baby comes. Such as party planning, outfit-making, etc...you know, she can wear this for Memorial Day too! I just thought of that! yess.

Plus, this outfit took like 30 minutes...tops. It was a refashion...see the (very interesting) before below.

no, even below-er.

This is a close up, duh. Isn't the star cute? i love the ruffle. I appliqued some blue fabric in a star shape on the tee, and then sewed strips of the leftover fabric into ruffles outlining the star.

kind of like so...just fold over and under as you sew along the edge. easy peasy!

ok, HERE is the (very interesting) before. Ok, so it's not that bad (no, it is)...especially those weird arrows. what is up with those? huh. I inherited this from my mom who inherited it from someone else, hopefully not someone who reads my blog. (doubtful) Anyways, much improved, right?

so many parties...

Soooo....my little sister Joanna got engaged this past weekend! (ok, she's not that little anymore, but still...) I am soo excited and happy for her and her fiance, Cody. (fiance...weird!) We've always looked forward to planning her wedding, so now it's crunch time! They're getting married in the middle of August...less than three months away. (also, on Sadie's birthday, by the way) So we've been in a planning frenzy for the wedding/reception.

Also...a bridal shower needs to be planned and thrown, by me, maid of honor extraordinaire. (NOT matron, if you call me that I may sock you)

and...Sadie's second birthday party.

AND....all of these will be going on within a week of each other. Yup, one week. No joke. The perfect storm of parties.

Oh, and did I mention I'll have a month old baby? not to mention the Sadester...

YIKES. Wish me luck, please, and uber party planning skillz and organization! I think I can, I think I can...

Linked below to where I found pictures...for the ones I know of for sure, the rest I found on google looking for inspiration and didn't save links to. ooops.

Here are some of my ideas for my sister's bridal shower...she's not really girly-girly, and loves her a backyard BBQ/picnic, so I went with that theme...plus, it seems like it would be pretty low key and simple to pull off. I HOPE.

Lemonade, cupcakes, colorful straws, watermelon, gingham, pinwheels...all scream picnic and summer to me. Now, to plan, order, and make an excel spreadsheet with checklists. (yes, I really do that for parties, it's the only way to go)

pin the cherry on the ice cream cone

I thought I'd show you a few things I've been working on for Sadie's party, so here's a game I made the other day. Pin the cherry on the ice cream cone.

gah! cute. I know toddlers probably won't really "get" this game, but the cute factor is off the charts! (in my head it is at least...)

I used wrapping paper for the ice cream part, two layers because it had a blue polka dot back. (reversible) Didn't want that showing through! heavens to Betsy!

I was bent on the cone looking "real", like a waffle cone, so I cut up some butcher paper (from my mom, thanks momma!), with my rotary cutter, in 1 inch strips, and taped them to one side of my cone-shaped piece of poster board (left side), then across the other way, and then kinda wove them together. I'm sure there's a tutorial out there somewhere for this technique but I was too lazy-er-focused, to look one up. Luckily it worked out and looks pretty good. whew!

For the cherries, I bought this pack of paper apples at the dollar store, and with a few snips of the scissors...


...they turned into cherries! Pretty clever huh? Ok, I thought so and got pretty excited in the store about my idea, also about not hand-cutting out a bunch of cherries. Sadie probably thought I was weird. Although she was pretty enamored with her lady bug wings she found there, so she probably didn't even notice anything but those. ;D

dress up storage

Not that Sadie has a TON of dress up stuff yet, but I had this idea to make a dress up storage thingy, and it wouldn't leave me alone. The idea, that is. Don't you love (hate) ideas like that? just kidding, I really liked this project, really.

Rory cut all the wood out and put it together last weekend (I helped!), and I spent the week painting it. (not so fun while 8 months pregnant, but oh well. It was well ventilated while I painted, so don't worry) I did figure out all the measurements. yah me.

(please ignore our nasty walls...we're painting them...someday)


It's really simple, two sides, a bottom, sides for a box on the bottom...and a dowel, all screwed together. We were able to make it with wood left over from our kitchen counter tops too, so the wood was free! (Rory disagrees about it being "free", but was it being used for anything else, Rory? huh?) ;)

I painted the letters on the side with some craft paint. Not free handed (yah right!), I traced the letters using a font called Dream Orphans. (weird font name, huh?) The two S's are a little too far from the "e" and it BUGS me! not enough to do it over though.

I did buy the blue paint, and used about half a quart, so that was $5. Also bought two hooks for the sides (which I screwed in myself, thankyaverymuch), another $6. The dowel was $3, so our grand total was under $15! nice!


Now I'm anxious to make some fun dress up outfits to fill 'er up! Ok...I'll take it easy. I do want to make a Cinderella dress I've been thinking about for ages...


Ok, for those who asked and who maybe want to try one of their own, here are the measurements I came up with.

All wood was 3/4 inch plywood. The bottom piece is 14"x36", the two side pieces for the box at the bottom are 34 1/2"x9". The two side pieces are 14"x36", and the dowel we cut at 34 1/2" and screwed in from the sides. Hope this helps! Let me know if you have any questions!


Check out the plans on Ana White's website! She contacted me to check for permission to use my idea and then drew up her own plans. Super cool!


Also featured on Oh Dee Doh,


and Babble!

teeny quilt

So this quilt wasn't supposed to get made...what I mean is it started it's first life as a dress for Sadie. I had the skirt all pieced and everything, and then...I hated it. It was too heavy with the lining, and didn't look right.

So I sewed the two skirt pieces together, slapped some batting and a back on it...

I love these polka dots...another Target clearance shower curtain-and it matches Sadie's skirt then I quilted some simple lines while watching Mulan (got it from the library for Sadie but she lost interest....but I didn't)

...and made some binding from a scrap I'd had sitting around for ages. Now, I love it! Since it only measures 33x27", I figure it'll be a stroller/carseat blanket for the baby. Or something. You can never have too many blankets, right? (well, I guess you can at some point)

ice cream social dress

Since I imagine I'll be quite busy with a new-ish baby (not to mention the Sadester), around Sadie's 2nd birthday in August, among other things...I'm trying to get any pre-party planning/tasks out of the way now, while I still have tons of free time. (hah hah)

Included in that list was a birthday dress for the birthday girl. I decided on a ice cream shoppe theme, since she LOVES ice cream (mi meem), and it's in August...what better thing to serve when it's hot than ice cream? So I found this remnant piece of fabric at Joann's the other day for $3 (sah weet), and whipped up another ruffle dress, and took pictures for ya'll! 

I just love planning a good party. It's been awhile, but I love it. The colors are strawberry, pistachio, and chocolate, and I'm having a blast working out the little details.

Oh, man...yum! I want some pistachio ice cream. pronto.

Click below for more!

luck is in the air...

Well, it looks like baby's doll will have a little French friend soon!

I won a giveaway over on Mon Petit Poppet! Hop over there and check out all the gorgeous eye candy, you won't be sorry. And thanks, Steph! I think I may keep this dolly for momma. ;) Every girl needs a doll, no matter her age, right? She can keep me company whilst I sew!

for sister

I couldn't help but make another dolly for baby sister with the Black Apple pattern...I love her patchwork dress. Sadie was excited to take it to sister's room for safe keeping, of course after a snuggle or two. :D



*side note* Sadie is so cute...she's started to pat my belly, say "sister", and give it a big kiss! I don't know how long that will last after she is born, but it's sure darn cute right now!

Thanks for everyone who's voting on the quote for the playroom! This project will be in the works for awhile, but I thought it'd be fun to find a quote now. :) and thanks for all the awesome comments about my felt movie snacks! Also, welcome to the new readers! I am so excited to have you!

felt movie snacks tutorial

Hi, and welcome to felt movie snacks 101! (imagine that in a movie announcer voice. ok, I'm lame. moving on..) Thanks to Anna who came up with this fun Spice up your Kitchen week idea!

I had this idea to make a felt candy bar, you know, like the one who's name rhymes with Smershey? Anyways, then the movie snack theme got away from me (pardon the fact that it doesn't have much to do with a kitchen), and a bag of popcorn got made too! yumm...although am I the only one who sits down with a bowl of ice cream or snack, and then finishes it before the opening credits are over? grrr.

Click below for more!

kids clothes week round seven

ok, this is getting a little ridiculous....I keep finding cool stuff to sew though! I blame it on the internet...and this remnant piece of fabric that was calling out to be made into something! At least now my Kids Clothes Week run is rounded out with seven pieces for seven days that I managed to finish.



I found the tutorial for this top on Prudent Baby (a fantastic site), and HAD to try it out asap. I need some practice with the curved pieces, so don't look too closely, they're not all that smooth. eh.


P.S. Look for me on Noodlehead tomorrow with a fun kitchen tutorial for Spice up Your Kitchen week!

and.....just because this blog has been lacking some Sadie cuteness lately...

...here she is riding her new tricycle...backwards. lol. She doesn't QUITE have it down yet, but she didn't cry too much last night, as opposed to Friday when she first tried it out. She does not handle frustration very well. (Rory says she gets that from me, whatever) Oh wait, he has a point...

kids clothes week round six

...and that's it! lol. I know I said I was done, but I had to make SOMETHING with this fabric, I've been pondering what to do with it for awhile. It's a shower curtain, from Target, found at Goodwill. ;)

So I whipped up a little skirt last Friday (it's hemmed already so I didn't have to do that!), with a cute ruffle at the top. It took about 20 minutes, tops. Those are the best projects. Sadie also magically managed to have a shirt that matched! wow! what are the odds? I'm thinking a matching bow will have to be made to complete the outfit. oh darn, more hair accessories....

thank you

I got the sweetest package in the mail yesterday from my super sweet bloggy friend Corey. She sent a gorgeous card, the sweetest, softest, pink hat for the baby, and a cute little big sister bracelet for Sadie. All packaged in adorable fabric bags. I was so surprised!

What a wonderful gesture from someone I've never even met in real life. It just goes to show that these blogs we have and read are more than just a page on the internet...and the people you can meet are genuine and awesome! Thanks Corey!

I was also lucky enough to get surprised with a mini shower last Wednesday, put together by my best friend Cassy: a dinner out with two other friends, Aimee and Kim, and some (much needed) useful gifts; like diapers, wipes, a baby food book, etc. Thank you guys soo much for that!

As this baby get closer and closer to coming, I get more and more scared. Just kidding. (only a little) I am so excited to meet her little face, and knowing what to do with a baby this time around makes me feel a little more prepared. Nervous about Sadie's reaction, but she loves my belly aka "sister" (she decorated it with stickers today at church, lol!), so hopefully we can convince her to love the baby too! Any advice you may have for bringing home the second baby, would be oh so welcome!

A huge THANK YOU to you readers too, for being so sweet and supportive! :D I would still be blogging if no one read it, but I'll be honest, it's nice to know someone is, and every time I get a comment I still get so excited! (nerdily so.)

So, lay it on me, TIPS, people!? thanks!

HAA

My friend Nikki and I joke about starting a HAA club. (Hair Accessories Anonymous) I really think I may need some intervention soon though! It's getting a bit out of hand. I think Sadie (and subsequently baby), have enough clips to wear one a day and have them last months without wearing any twice!

How could I not try her new flower clip tutorial! They're easy, super cute, and I had all the supplies on hand. I think they look like dahlias, or chrysanthemums, some of my favorite flowers. (Please act impressed now, because I didn't even have to look up how to spell chrysanthemum)

I whipped all four of these up in about half an hour...Sadie even "helped" by handing me the petals to cut out, and naming the colors. (see? crafting is educational!)

She of course wanted to try on all of them, and thinks they're "petty". I agree! Thanks for the tutorial, Nikki!

kids clothes week round five

All done with the Kids Clothes Week challenge! It was a fun week, I got to make some cute clothes for the Sadester, and tried to use up some of my fabric that was just sitting around. I reached my goal of one item/outfit per day, so yay! The last one was something easy, another easy breezy tank (dress)...I almost didn't manage to make anything today, but summoned up enough energy to get this one done. Now for a (probably short) break from making clothes!

kids clothes week round four

I've had this fabric for awhile, what to make with it never jumped out at me, but once I finished this little tunic tank for Sadie, I decided I like it a lot! I got it at a fabric store (obviously), don't remember the name, but it was like $1 a yard. nice!

You can't tell very well in the top picture, but there's a little ruffly detail on the front.

Can you see it? It's hiding. Love these quick tops. (except the bias tape does take a little bit of time to make, and my fingers got steamed a few times...ok, a TON. that's what I get for not knowing how to work my iron.) My bows are so pathetic...I'm wagering they'll look a bit better once they're tied around some cute shoulders! Let's hope so.

kids clothes week: round three

A simple peasant shirt/skirt combo...my favorite part of this outfit is the little tie. and the fabric. The skirt's a little short, hopefully she doesn't shock anyone with too many peeps at her diaper cover. ;)

i love teal and white.

the end.

kids clothes week round two

I LOOVE me some pink and grey together.

I've loved it ever since.....I made this shirt yesterday. ;)

I used this awesome peasant shirt tutorial, and added a big ruffle down the front, which ended up not being exactly centered....oh well! Hopefully you can't tell when it's on her.

More peasant shirts on the list for this week, also some dresses, shirts, skirts...you know. Never-ending!

kids clothes week: round one

My first item for Kids Clothes Week: a dress. Are you shocked? Surprised? hah. hah. Anyways...I gotta say, this is my new FAVE of Sadie's dress collection! (which is getting a bit ridiculous) I just love the fabric, I bought it on sale at Joann's awhile ago (like, $2.50 a yard? I think, so I only used about 3/4 of a yard, so CHEAP dress!), and thought the fabric was cute, a little blah, but if it was to be a garment, just needed some details to really make it look good.

So, the ruffly dress was born! I was inspired by a dress I found on Flickr (which is no longer posted). It's a really simple design, easy to sew, but with big impact! I just couldn't take my eyes off of Sadie while she was modeling it for me...I'm that in love with it! (well, the kid is pretty dang cute too)

what a cheeseball!
I dunno what's up with this face, but it made me laugh!

It's basically a tube of fabric, with elastic around the chest to keep it up, and some elastic fluttery straps. Made out of three rectangles of fabric! Love those easy ones!

The ribbon (which looks kind of sad, oh well), is glued to a pin, so it can be swapped out for other colored bows or flowers, etc. It's a little boring without the bow. ;)

Anyways, what do you think?

EDIT: tutorial for this dress is now found here!

kids clothes week

Like I need another excuse to sew clothes for Sadie, but the Elsie Marley blog is having a kids clothes week challenge, where she challenges you to sew clothing for your kids for one hour each day the second week of May. (starting today!) There's no prize, just a fun opportunity to put aside time to sew for your kids. I can't wait and my mind is bubbling with ideas of designs I want to try! I'll probably be posting a lot of clothes this week (there's something new!), so stick around to see what new clothes Sadie procures from this week! (and maybe something for baby!?)

Here's something I made the other week, so it doesn't count for the challenge...a version of the pretty. easy. sundress, just a slightly different bodice than the one I did in the tutorial. I love this fabric, it's been waiting to be made into a dress for like 1 1/2 years. No joke, sad stuff when you make fabric wait that long. Another bow...told you I was addicted. It also has a little sash that ties in a bow in the back, but didn't get a pic of that. Sorry about the crudtastic photo. (that's a word!) ;)

Happy Momma's Day

First off, Happy Mother's Day to all the mommas out there! (especially my own!) I just wanted to say how grateful I am for the little munchkin that made me a mom almost two years ago. Every day I thank my lucky stars for my sweet little girl that we've been blessed with. This morning she ran into my room (in her diaper) with cards from her and Rory and a Toblerone bar...the sweetest sight! I've also been promised a serger! woohoo! We'll see when I get it...but now that I've told you all, Rory's gotta follow through! ;) (love ya hun)

It seems like just yesterday she was this little...

...now she's about to become a big sister! crazy.

There's a reason I can't keep from showering her with kisses all day! ;)

Anyways, I'll keep this short, but I just wanted to leave you with this quote:

"A mother is she who can take the place of all others but

whose place no one else can take."

-- Cardinal Mermillod

floaty dress

I don't think I've ever had this quick of a turnaround for a refashioned item! I bought this skirt in the morning ($1.50), and by the end of nap, she had a new dress! (with a few adjustments)

Rory called it scandalous, I call it summery. (ok, maybe a bit scandalous, but she's still a baby!)

...and waaayy easy. (those extra letters are to impress upon you the easiness of this dress)

ok, this picture made me think of the song "Stop in the Name of Love", and now I can't get it out of my head. Oh, is it stuck in yours now, too? Sorry....

I made her bow with this awesome and quick bow clip tutorial from the fabulous Vanessa. I love it and think it will be my new hair accessory obsession.

sale

Today was a 50% off sale day at our Salvation Army store. I kind of love these days. :D I didn't find ANY books or linens, but scored on some bloomers for the baby (and one pair Sadie can wear). I was excited to find these (40 cents each!), because I'm not a fan of making them, and since I make a lot of Sadie's (and now baby's) dresses, sometimes I have to hunt through her store bought dresses for a pair to match. Usually 5 minutes before church. ;)

Right now she's down to one pair of pink 9-12 month bloomers. lol. Thank goodness the pink ones I found are size 12-18 month!

I also got a cute pink skirt to refashion for the Sadester, and three adorable sweatshirts for baby for this winter. At 75 cents to $1.25 a pop, what a steal! (and they're Baby Gap, Old Navy, and Tommy Hilfiger! not that I care that much about name brands) I LOVE the seahorse fabric on the inside of the hood on the blue one!


I got a pair of tennies for Sadie (size 5, she's growing out of some of her fours!) for $1. She of course, had to try them on right away. (sorry about the out of focus pic)

Last but not least, a couple of cool wire baskets for some storage...probably in my craft room.

My grand total? $9.10. Sah-weet.


My foot's feeling a bit better today, thankfully. We have Cassy, Rayne, and Dylan coming over for some water fun, and then some swimming later with my mom and sibs, and then a girls night out dinner/movie! I love days that are packed with fun, don't you?


Oh, and I somehow figured out how to make a button for my blog! it's over on the right hand column...so feel free to plop it on your blog if you so desire! (I think that would blow my mind if someone did) Thanks! :D