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

a look back

Looking back on 2010 I have so much to be grateful for and a lot of reasons I am truly blessed! 

It was a year filled with many 'firsts' for the Little Miss which were so fun to watch and I fell in love with being a mom more than ever before.

I couldn't ask for a better stay-at-home job than my etsy shop - I've never had more fun 'working' and appreciate all the support I've received, especially from Husband. 

I checked a goal off my list and learned how to crochet granny squares.

I loved being able to spend many afternoon nap times sewing fun clothes from vintage patterns.

We announced that we're expecting baby #2 and couldn't be happier about it!

We celebrated the Little Miss' 2nd birthday...

 ...with a music themed party - she is growing up so fast!

I started documenting my baby bump progress.

We found out we are having another sweet little girl! Yay!

I had a slight obsession with felt which I used for handmade Christmas gifts (more to come on that).

I am also grateful for the creative outlet this blog gives me (thanks for stopping by and being a part of it and welcome if you're new!).  I'm looking forward to sharing our happenings in 2011 - Happy New Year!

holiday highlights

Hello! We just got back from our holiday travels which were so nice. I hope you had a lovely Christmas this year, ours was wonderful! I didn't end up taking many pictures but here are a few of the highlights I did manage to capture...

On Christmas Eve we opened our traditional family game. This year it was Chutes and Ladders which was fun. (However, locking the keys in the car while doing last minute stocking stuffer shopping and picking up dinner, not as much fun. Let's hope that doesn't become a tradition!)

On Christmas morning the Little Miss unveiled her big surprise, a play kitchen equipped with lots of food and pots and pans.  Now there is finally a proper home for her melamine dishes, yay! This was a big hit - she spent the rest of the morning cooking us meals and making us sip pretend cups of juice.

I got the Le Creuset pot of my dreams and Husband unexpectedly got the gaming headset of his dreams. That was actually a gift for both of us as now when he plays his games I get some peace and quiet instead of war background noises. Much better.

Then we headed down to be with the in-laws for some more Christmas fun. The Little Miss made her first graham cracker gingerbread house with her cousins. She did such a good job! We also got to spend a lot of time playing outside since it was much warmer there and that was a present in and of itself. All in all we were spoiled and loved, what more could you ask for? :)

I have just a bit more to finish up on her doll gift and then I'll share that with you too!

Did you get what you asked for this year?

make believe - animal ear headbands

The Little Miss is in need of more play things that help her use her imagination and promote pretend play. We don't have a lot of room for toys around our house so we don't have very many and I'm sorry to say that most of them are for babies, not toddlers. So I thought I'd whip up some make believe/dress up gifts to give her for Christmas this year.

 

(L to R: fox, monkey, cow, deer, lion, rabbit, pig, mouse, horse)

Ever since Halloween she frequently asks me to draw a dog nose on her with my eyeliner, so what better to go with a little black nose than animal ears? We tried them on today before they get wrapped up and she had a lot of fun!

I used freezer paper to more easily cut the felt shapes (just draw the shape on the freezer paper and lightly iron it waxy side down onto the felt, cut around it, and then peel it off - you can reuse the same freezer paper shape several times), and double stick fusible to adhere the fabric to the felt, then embroidered around the parts I wanted, and finally used the sewing machine to stitch around the outside edges. 

Then I used a glue gun to stick them to the headbands and I was really surprised how well they stuck! You have to pull really hard to get them off (I had to re-do a couple and ended up cutting them off because it was so hard to get them off). But, I was still a little paranoid that little hands would find a way, so I ended up using embroidery thread to secure them even more and also help hide the glue.

I hope we will make many fun memories playing with these! (And as an added bonus last minute Halloween costumes will be easy to come up with!)

Here are the materials I used:

- headbands (from Walmart)

- wool felt

- freezer paper

- vintage and scrap fabric

- feather boa for lion/horse mane

- double stick fusible

- embroidery floss

- glue gun

this season

Lately I've been thinking about how I would like this busy Christmas season to be one full of love, service, fun, and the spirit of Christ. I want to find the balance between the spiritual side of Christmas and the sparkly commercial side - at least I want to try. So, I swiped the long list of projects/activities piling up in my head and instead I wrote down a short mandatory to-do list:

- make baby blankets to donate to the hospital (we are doing this with my family on Saturday)

- have a blast at our family Christmas party and let the Little Miss stay up as late as she wants playing with her cousins

- finish the handmade gifts I am giving and don't start any new ones

- take time to renew my faith and love for Christ and help the Little Miss understand why we are celebrating in the first place

- enjoy time with family and be thankful for them

And that's it. No pressure to do anything else for the rest of the month. I'm sure I'll end up getting more than my list done (like finishing that little project pictured) but it's nice to have given myself the okay if I don't. I already feel less stressed :)

happy december

When it comes to Christmas I have a penchant for kitschy and in Husbands words 'creepy' decor. He teases me, but I can't help it - I just love little elf faces (so ugly they are cute, right?)! I'm still kicking myself for not snatching up this beauty to add to my Christmas collection. Oh, those Christmas tree hats! If it's old and smiling it catches my heart. Ha! These and more will be trimming the tree this year well out of reach of little hands. 

Do you have any Christmas collections?

baby bump: week 25

Stuffed full of baby and turkey. And very thankful for both.

Hope you all had a yummy Thanksgiving and are enjoying the holiday weekend with loved ones.

it's beginning to feel a lot like...

This weekend I held my brand new cute little nephew (my sister was due exactly 5 months before me and you better believe I got so scared and excited that it's officially my turn next), spent time cleaning and organizing my craft room which was in total chaos, acquired a bunch of the cutest vintage toddler party dresses that I adore for the shop, started on the third book of the Hunger Games series - I love a good read, and most importantly, I spent a lot of time with the Little Miss without feeling like a frustrated mother. It was nice. I feel like I'm back on my game.

This week my sister Shelly and I are planning to start on some handmade Christmas presents for our little girls. Here are some of my inspiration photos...

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I'm excited to get started, especially since it snowed last night which gets me in the Christmas spirit! Are you making any handmade gifts this year?

happy halloween!

from Little Red Riding Hood, the Woodsmen, and the Wolf disguised as Grandma

 And despite what it looks like in the picture below (and the pouring rain outside), there was a happy ending to our story. We had a great Halloween filled with three fun parties and lot of tricks and treats. Hope you did too!

And this shot is from today. The Little Miss was eying my wolf nose all day Saturday, so this morning before church she requested a "dog nose" of her own (all day yesterday she kept telling me, "Mommy, you look like a dog," and then she would howl. It made me laugh). 

How could I resist such a request?

this week...

...has been filled with nice relaxing afternoons of sewing, and not so relaxing last minute late nights of sewing. Above was the result of a couple of afternoons listening to my favorite genius mix on iTunes while the Little Miss took a nice long nap. Does life get any better?

And the last minute late night sewing you ask? Think giant purple overalls for Husband who decided he needed to be Wario for his work party today (their department decorated in a Mario Bros. theme for a competition).

More pictures to come. And also on the agenda is the gender announcement (I'm not trying to be overly dramatic about it and keep you in suspense, I just haven't had the time to get a post done), and a much needed shop update for the holidays!

Hope you have a safe and Happy Halloween!

the pumpkin patch

We went to the pumpkin patch this week, the same one as last year (can you believe how bald the Little Miss was then?). It definitely got me more in the holiday spirit and reminded me that I need to finish our costumes since Halloween is sneaking up on me!

I also contemplated how my belly will soon be the size of a pumpkin.
Oh dear.

halloween prep

I'm getting really excited for Halloween! Last year the Little Miss was the cutest wind-up doll, Husband was an army guy, and I threw on a 70's dress last minute.

This year we are coordinating costumes. I am starting to gather clothes and props and need to sew at least one item. Any guesses?

Are you getting excited for the holiday season? What are you going to be for Halloween?

we love daddy

Happy Father's Day!

This marks the second year in a row that I have made Husband his favorite lemon meringue pie so I think we can call it a tradition now. I even decorated it this year, but sadly (or funnily) our printer ran out of yellow ink, so pink, purple, and lavender flags were the best I could do on short notice. Sorry Husband. Just remember how delicious the pie tasted.


We love you so and hope you know how much we appreciate all of your hard work. How did we get so lucky? I don't know, but I am grateful for you everyday.

And to my dad, what can I say? I can think of a list about a billion items long that I need to thank you for but I'll just say this - thank you for always making me feel loved and being there for me no matter what, and for being the best Pop-pa to the Little Miss. She undoubtedly adores you.

hello

Happy Memorial Day! I love weekday mornings when I get to wake up next to Husband, and especially ones when he gets up with the Little Miss and lets me sleep in. We took a walk to the park this morning and now are about to have my family over for a bbq and games, oh how I love holidays!

Here are a couple of pictures we took before church yesterday. The Little Miss is wearing a vintage dress I got from 3 Ring Circus. I LOVE it! I want to get some 'official' family pictures taken soon and she will be wearing this dress again. And I am obsessed with her curls in the last picture. I don't know where they came from, but I hope they stay forever!

Enjoy your day!

thanks mom

I wanted to write a Thank You post to my mom. She sews all of her granddaughters Easter dresses each year (so far there are three girls) and always does such a wonderful job. We provide her with fabric and decide on a pattern together and she does all the work - how lucky are we?! She loves to sew and I think it is so special that the Little Miss will have a collection of dresses saved up that her Gran made especially for her! We love this tradition!

happy easter