nursing friendly dresses

I am ready for this baby to come out. And not necessarily because I am uncomfortable, because I have really easy pregnancies, it's more like I am just ready for a change. I'm sure this time of year doesn't help with Spring right around the corner too. I am looking forward to both baby and warmer weather!

I spent some time this weekend day-dreaming that I'd already had the baby and browsed for nursing friendly button-up vintage dresses on etsy. I found the perfect one for me (not pictured), but I liked all of these too. It makes me feel like my time spent searching was not as wasted if I share with you, hope you see something you like! :)

top: asymmetry, country, pink smocked

middle: chambray floral, pink gingham, flower power

bottom: red & cream, mint ruffle, geometric mod

Happy Monday!

baby bump: week 38 and a winner!

Today we woke up to beautiful falling snow so I am staying comfy cozy inside with warm socks on. As for the Little Miss, she was whisked away this afternoon to her cousins house to play. She is one lucky girl to have such fun family close by, and so am I. 

 I had to set up the camera this morning to take pictures of my niece in some vintage dresses for the shop (she looked so pretty), so I took the opportunity to take some baby bump pictures at 38 weeks along! I'm still feeling good as long as I don't sit in the same position for too long - then my hips get really stiff and I hobble like an old woman until I can straighten out again. I'm ready for her to come any day now, but I'll be patient and let her decide when...

By the way, if you're expecting too and like to DIY check out this maternity blog for some fun sewing tutorials and patterns. I wish I would have known about it sooner!

 

  Now onto some business... Thanks again to everyone who entered the suitcase giveaway! And congrats to Veronica who was randomly chosen as the winner! Please send me an email at stacecadet21[at]gmail[dot]com with your shipping info and I'll get that sent off to you!

Hope everyone's toes keep warm this weekend!!!

shop update

Sorry posting has been light this week... I've been busy stocking my freezer full of meals with the help of my mom and sisters (so grateful for them!), starting on a baby quilt, going to my midwives, taking a daily nap while I still can, and getting ready for a big Easter dress shop update that included lots of ironing. Tomorrow my cute niece is coming over to model some dresses for older girls! In the meantime, I added the clothes above to the shop tonight.

And thanks to everyone who has entered the suitcase giveaway! There is still time if you want a chance to win. I've loved hearing what brightens your day - your comments brighten mine!

something to brighten your day - CLOSED

I haven't had much thrifting luck lately, so I was thrilled to stumble upon two vintage floral suitcases sitting forlornly on the floor in the wrong aisle. They were like two little happy surprises waiting to brighten my day! So, I thought I would like to brighten someone else's day too and give one away! 

I'll be keeping the blue one (below) for the Little Miss to play with and take on overnighters, but the orange one pictured above is up for grabs! I would say it is in good condition, a few scuffs here and there but the zipper works fine and it is clean overall. Measures about 17"x10".

To enter leave a comment on this post telling me how someone has brightened your day before, or what would brighten your day! And, although not required passing this giveaway along is appreciated and will gain you another entry (leave a separate comment). I'll have to keep this one to US readers only because of shipping costs, sorry! A winner will be picked randomly and announced on Friday the 25th, good luck! :)

dresser restyle

The dresser restyle is done! We took it from a bad white paint job to a walnut stained beauty with aqua-colored drawer pulls (the picture with the cat shows the true aqua color best, it was hard to capture). It took awhile and in process I had to promise Husband he would never have to strip paint off a piece of furniture again, but we are both really proud of the end result - he for his hard work and me for my 'creative direction.' :) He had never done any refinishing like this before, so for a first attempt I think he did great!

Once I get all the pictures framed and hung and arrange everything into place I'll do a full nursery tour. It's been fun dreaming up this space for my girls.

And Tiger Lily hopes you have a lovely weekend!

shop update

Here are some of my favorites from this week's shop update!

I'll be back later with the before and after of the dresser redo for the nursery... so happy it's done!

three of harts

Here are our family pictures we took the same day as the baby bump pictures I posted earlier. I really wanted to capture our family of three before we became a family of four (even if that meant posing with a big belly) because we had never officially taken family pictures before! I always meant to, but somehow it never happened...

I'm so happy we have these to look back on now. They will remind me of this bittersweet time and the feelings I have of being sad that my one-on-one time with the Little Miss will be ending and excited that we'll be adding another sweet girl into our lives.

I haven't been sure that the Little Miss really understood what was happening until today. After her nap she told me that when baby sister is born she wants to give her a hat and then she gave my belly a hug and told the baby that she loves her. I realized then that she does know her sister will be here soon and probably has known for sometime now...

...because if I am being honest with myself, it has felt like baby girl has been a part of our family for awhile now. So maybe these really are the first official family of four pictures we've taken. Either way, I love my little family!

All photos by Bri

love day

If you want to spread some extra special love today, head over to Merrilee's etsy shop to buy one of her Lovely, Love My Family prints and get any other print free! Make sure to read her post about the sweet little girl and her family you would be helping with your purchase. I'm so excited she made these prints available and can't wait to get mine!

Also, don't forget today is the last day to get 20% off in the shop! 

And finally, the sweet and inspirational duo of Rachel and Rubyellen were nice enough to ask me to be a part of their VHVT Mama series. The post went up today if you want to check it out!

xoxo

my valentine

 (photo by jon canlas)

When I first met my Valentine he had jokingly cut his long hair into a mullet and was sporting a handlebar mustache. But his charm and warm personality outshone his unfortunate hair and I have to admit I was intrigued. He chopped off the mullet soon after we started dating (with a little encouragement) and it didn't take me long to realize he was the one. He proposed four years ago today and saying "yes, of course!" was the best decision I ever made.

Hope you have a sweet day with someone you love!

valentine's party

Yesterday we had a cousin's Valentine's Day party! It was a lot of fun, so much so that I ended up exhausted and napping on the couch by the end, ha! The day started with the Little Miss wanting a dog nose, so I drew a little heart shaped nose and whiskers on her. By the time the party started it had rubbed off a bit but that is what is on her face in case you are wondering :)

We started out by playing heart tic tac toe. This was a last minute addition and it turned out to be great because all of the kids, even the little ones, could play. The prizes were pencils, erasers, and little note pads. I just used some precut felt hearts I had on hand, but it would be perfect to use X's and O's of course!

Then we had a Valentine exchange. The Little Miss gave out watercolor hearts. I used watercolor pencils and wrote little sayings and drew pictures on some heart templates, then let her paint with watercolors over the top and cut them out. It was super easy, she had fun making them, and I like how bright and happy they turned out.

For lunch we had heart-shaped sandwiches with strawberry milkshakes and of course red velvet cake for a special treat! Then I gave the kids my camera remote to take pictures and they went a little crazy - like about 200 pictures crazy, these are just a handful...

We hope you have a super sweet Valentine's Weekend!

xoxo

shop update and a SALE!

Hello! I'm posting the shop update a day early this week since we are throwing a Valentine's party for the Little Miss' cousins tomorrow during the day - it's going to be fun, but super busy!

Here are some of the new items in the shop if you want to take a look (sorry no Valentine's Day themed clothes really, although that would have made for a cuter picture)! And, I thought it was about time to have another sale, so enter the coupon code 'bemine' and receive 20% off your order! Sale will be going on today through Valentine's Day at midnight.

xoxo

baby bump: week 34

A couple of weekends ago we were lucky enough to have our friend Bri take some pictures of our family. Thankfully it wasn't freezing like it has been lately, so we were able to go outside. As part of that, she took these shots of me and baby girl on the way which I think turned out beautiful.  I am now 36 weeks and I can't wait to meet this little one soon, I feel like she belongs in our arms already. But, if she is anything like her sister then we will have to wait...and wait...

on me: dress, vintage, belt, thrifted, tights and cardigan, old navy, shoes, target.

on the little miss: dress and shoes, vintage, cardigan and tights, old navy.

Family pics to come...

braids

I don't think I've ever posted a picture of my hair before, but you guys - I actually did it up today! Now, I'm not saying it looks really good, but for a first attempt from a girl that never does her hair any way but down or up in a ponytail I am quite proud of myself. And it was a lot easier than I thought it would be which is good because otherwise I wouldn't keep it up, but I think these braids have earned a place in my hair repertoire.

Which now consists of down, ponytail, and braids.

update: for those of you wondering, I followed the braided knot hair-to on this post (it's long so you have to scroll down toward the end to find it)

our eventful weekend

There are various piles of stuff all over my house and I can't help but think they are all deadlines staring me down. 'Four weeks and counting to clean me up, wash me, iron me, organize me, or donate me before baby comes.' So to fool myself help myself feel more productive, instead of washing and ironing this pile of vintage dresses like I need to...

...I hung them up so they can't stare at me anymore.
But aren't they pretty?

Happily the nursery was painted this weekend, so now that I can organize the baby stuff in there the number of piles laying around should start decreasing dramatically - and the fun decorating part can begin, yay!

And, other than painting the nursery and moving to-do piles from one place to another, our eventful weekend included the Little Miss taking a tumble down the stairs which resulted in her first ever shiner (see below). But the most exciting part for me was that...drum roll please... she is now potty trained! I've made the attempt several times before now but she never really wanted to keep it up, so I decided to just wait until she was ready and this time is was a breeze. Best feeling ever to have that hurtle over and done with before the new baby comes - one less major 'deadline' staring me down!

Hope you had a nice eventful weekend too :)

(although free of black eyes of course)

tutorial: triangle pocket

This past Sunday the Little Miss wore this dress to church. It was the dress I made as part of her Little Red Riding Hood Halloween costume, and I just thought - it's so boring. So I decided an easy way to make it more interesting would be to add pockets. But not just any pockets, triangle pockets! I have seen triangle pockets on lots of cute vintage dresses which were my inspiration.

So I made a pattern for you (see below) in case you have any clothing that needs a quick and easy makeover - and here is proof of just how easy it is in six simple steps...

Step 1. Cut out two pieces of the pattern (see below), fold over right sides together and iron.

Step 2. Sew around open edges using a 3/8 inch seam allowance, leaving a small opening on one side. Trim seams and cut bottom corner off. 

Step 3. Turn pocket right side out and iron flat.

Step 4. Slip stitch opening on side closed.

Step 5. Pin pockets on clothing (if you are making your clothing from scratch do this before you sew the pieces together).

Step 6. Sew around sides, and that's it! You can add a button for a fun embellishment if you want.

I like it so much better now, I think she'll be wearing it more often! 

Just click on the pattern below to make it bigger. 

See my pleated pocket pattern here. Enjoy!