Partying with a bunch of 6-year olds

This year Berlin really wanted a Lalaloopsy Sewing party. My first reaction was nope, no way. Not going to deal with a bunch of 6-year olds and a sewing machine. But then, the more I thought about it, I knew we could make it work with something simple, that didn't involve the sewing machine. 

Berlin wanted to make necklaces. But after looking at bead prices I convinced her to go with bracelets instead. These were a fast craft for them to do while we waited for everyone to arrive.

 

We decided that the girls would also sew a pet mouse, just like the one that Crumbs Sugar Cookie has. Except ours was gray because that is what I had around the house. A few days before I cut them out of felt, stitched the nose and whiskers on, attached the eyes, and punched the holes all around. All they had to do was sew and stuff the day of the party. These turned out "sew" cute and the girls did a great job. Turned out to be the perfect craft for the girls.

Then it was time for food and presents. Berlin requested donut holes from Banbury Donuts, chocolate milk, cotton candy cups, and apple slices with greek yogurt fruit dip. YUM! 

Berlin had a great time with all her friends and she was so excited upon seeing the girls wear their bracelets to church the next day. Some even had their pet mouse with them. Yay for being 6!

Twirly, Girly Girl

One of my projects this month has been cleaning off my sewing table which has been sitting neglected with lots of unfinished projects. But no more! On Saturday and Sunday I completed almost everything (and of course started a few more things - I just can't help it!).  One of the items I made was this skirt for Berlin. She wore it the minute I finished it Sunday afternoon and all day Monday. I love when she likes what I make her, it makes it all worth it.

All dolled up, new hair-clip & all. The best surprise was that she asked me to curl her hair! If you know Berlin she HATES having me do her hair. So sponge rollers overnight and wah-lah. She's a cutie to boot if I do say so myself. And, she's been standing in front of the mirror all morning admiring herself. I love it. 

VOTE NOW - DIY Halloween Costume

So, I just might have heard about 2 DIY (Do-It-Yourself) Halloween Costume contests a few weeks ago, and I just might have entered Finley & Berlin's costumes. Both end in a couple weeks so help us out and vote by clicking the links below.

http://www.thecutekid.com/ckgallery/votemyfavorite/41

And guess what? This morning I got an email stating that on one of the contests we were selected and in the final judging stage! How freakin' cool is that?!  The prize is $100 and voting starts today. To vote for us click this link:


http://photos.parents.com/category/vote/photo/569940


You can vote once a day and voting ends Nov 14th. Seriously, so excited! We've never won anything before. This would be awesome, and who couldn't use a $100?

Halloween Parties Galore

Between Preschool, Kindergarten, Dance, and Tumbling classes, we've had LOTS of Halloween parties this week. Seriously, we have enough candy in our house that we could forget about trick-or-treating all together this year (seriously tempting since it's supposed to be freezing & rainy Sat night). Though I doubt that the kids would go for that.


Berlin's preschool party (she's wonder-woman):

Trick or Treating thru the High School Classrooms. 

Getting ready to sing. 

Chattin' up her friend Lulu. 

For a silent, but cute video off Berlin in all her super-shy singing glory ... click below

(note: my camera for whatever reasons unbeknownst to me, had some random speedy time lapse setting going on so it's play in fast-forward. I guess it's good for consolidating an 8 minute movie into a 23 second clip with no sound - arg ARG! If only I had remembered to charge the Flip mino beforehand.)

Berlin's Dance class party:

Finley's Kindergarten parade/party (he's Lego Darth Vader):

 

the start of the parade ...

 

Finn's friend Mason (iron mask - on)

Finn coming out of the auditorium. 

 

Finn's cute friend Kate.

Heading back to class.

Decorating treat bags.

  

I didn't get any pics of the games they played (musical pumpkins and Don't eat Pete) as I was in charge of the story station (There was an old lady who swallowed a bat), but it was fun. They got to trick-or-treat at each station and have some witches brew.


Finley was very disappointed that he couldn't wear his darth vader helmut. I told him no because I was told no masks. But now I am thinking that he could probably have worn it anyway since 1/2 the kids had masks on in the parade. Oh well. He's excited to get to wear it on Saturday when we go trick-or-treating.

Pajama Bottom Re-fashion

I have a TON of re-fashion projects sitting in a basket downstairs. They always take the back seat to other things though, but last week, with all the rain and being sick, I finally tackled one of them.

Started with this ....

I love the fabric on this pair of pj bottoms, but for whatever reason the crotch kept getting a hole in it. So I cut the legs off (after I measured his arms to make sure I cut the right length), then sewed them into the sleeves in one of Finn's black tees, made a cassette tape appliqué from scrap felt/buttons, and wah-lah. This is what we got. 

Ended up with this ....

(don't mind the wet sleeves, he had just washed his hands.)

I'm pretty happy with it, and he LOVES the shirt and keeps asking me to do more. Guess I don't sew enough for him. It's just harder with boys.

And this little one just wanted to be a part of the action and is modeling her cute princess sticker that she got to pick out after getting her flu shot that afternoon. 

Next up ... wreath re-fashion

Furniture Redo - Kids Adirondack Set

THIS ....

PLUS THIS ...

AND THIS ...

EQUALS ... ???

I bought this Adirondack set from Costco when Finley wasn't even 1. Over the past 5 years it's gotten a bit shabby & dull, so I have been wanting to sand, paint and sew new cushions for it. This past weekend, I got the process rolling. I even let Berlin get in on the action while Ryan and Fin were at the RSL soccer game. She was a great little helper.

I am 3/4 of the way done but will hopefully be finished by Thursday. Stay tuned for the reveal pics. I'm so excited!

Check, Check, DONE!

Here are some of the projects that I've crossed off my to-do list the past few weeks/months. I need to pat myself on the back because I have a gazillion more projects staring me down!

1. Oilcloth chair covers for a friend who was moving to Chile. I think they turned out great and am thinking about making some for our kitchen chairs too.

2. Re-paint the upstairs guest bathroom walls & cabinet

before we moved in: the renters who were in the house before we moved in left this house in shambles. It was so disgusting. Check out the ceiling shot of this bathroom. We had it all scraped off and treated for mold since it the black stuff was all over the ceiling. Lucky us.

after we moved in: We took down the light fixture, painted it yellow, and had the tiled walls & countertop sprayed white by Miracle-method. But we hated the yellow paint the minute we saw it on the walls and I've been meaning to re-paint it for the past year. Sorry no picture of the mess.

now: I finally used the rainy cold weather to paint the walls. The ceiling still needs a little touch-up, but I'm happy with it. I just used the same paint that is in the hall & kitchen so it flows well. Ryan wanted the lighter taupe in the family room, but since I did the painting myself, he lost :)

I also decided to paint the cabinets because they were just ugly old wood (as in the before we moved in picture). Since we plan on remodeling the bathroom from floor up when we do the kitchen/formal dining room in a few years, I figured I'd do a fun color and I'm very happy with the way it turned out.

We also got the new mirror installed which meant Ryan could FINALLY get our light fixture put up - a year later of course. Yay for having light in the bathroom :)

3. Clean out the barn - I wish I had a before picture to do an after picture justice, but oh well. Ryan and I busted our butts this weekend getting the barn cleaned out and organized (as much as it could be) before our dumpster was collected. All I can say is that we packed that dumpster FULL! The only thing left is to take the hundreds of oil cans, gas cans, random chemicals, paint thinner, old tires, and paint cans left by the renters to the waste treatment center.

Of course, this checked item just leads to more "to-do's" have we uncovered lots of old fun furniture/shelves that I am dying to re-paint and re-purpose. I'll have pics of those project before & afters soon - or once the weather clears up.

Upcoming Boutique Preview

Here's just a glimpse of the items I will be showcasing at the 3 boutiques coming up in a few weeks ...

Lemon Skirt

I just love this Alexander Henry fabric. For some reason when I look at it, I think of retro kitchen towels & meyer lemon dish soap. I don't need kitchen towels, so instead I made a skirt out of it (cause you know, towels and skirts go hand in hand). This one isn't reversible and I made it a little smaller than than the rodeo one. Luckily her attitude today wasn't too sour - more sweet & sassy. My favorite part ... the 80's headband that she refuses to wear the normal way.

 
  

"alimento squisito" is Italian for ...

delicious food!

After a girl's night out last month to the Spaghetti Factory, I was inspired to make some felt pasta. My fave is the bowtie pasta. I used my Stampin' Up BigShot die cutter to cut scalloped circles out of the felt, then pinched the center and stitched. Wha la - literally.

The fettucini was super easy too, I just took 2 pieces of felt and stitched straight lines a 1/4" apart. Then cut in between the stiched lines (this just gives the fettucine more weight - you could just cut strips 1/4 inches apart if you like). Wha la ... la la!

The marinara sauce is just scraps of red felt from a Christmas Project (still unfinished of course) randomly stitched together.

Hungry yet?

Sewing Night prep

My good friend Mel and I are having our first sewing night this Thursday and I am SOOO excited! It's something we are going to do quarterly, so 4 times a year. Our first project is a reversible skirt for the girls. Because I'm miss cheapy pants and didn't want to buy a pattern, I decided to make a "trial" skirt this morning. You know, just to make sure that what I had in my head would make sense (and work) when teaching it. I had one kink, but other than that all went well. I am so excited to make some more!

Here's the end result, a fun western skirt for Boo (she calls it her yee-haw skirt) that's reversible. It's a little big, but not too much. So I guess she'll get 2 summers out of it! I am trying to decide if I should applique a tee or tank top with a rodeo bronco, paisley, etc. We'll see.

 

Notice the grumpy face - I had to bribe her with a sucker to get her to put on the skirt. 

Another little ditty I whipped up

You may be wondering why the heck I've been posting some of the projects I've done. If you've ever been to my house, you know that I have an addiction to fabric. Yes, fabric, and I must at all times have LOTS of it. So much, it's taken up over 5 x-large tubs in my storage room.  For all my cleaning, purging and organizing (which according to Ryan only happens to his stuff when he's not home to defend it's purpose), I can't seem to part with most of it. Thus, my new goal has been to do atleast 1 project a week - yes a week.  Any less and fabric will continue sitting in tubs waiting to be made into something magnificient (cause all things handmade are magnificient and the fate of all fabric should be so).

So here's the latest little ditty I whipped up yesterday while Berlin took her nap. It's a little big, despite the pattern being a 24 mos size. But atleast she can wear it now as more of a dress and then a top w/ jeans as she gets older. The fabric reminds me of what Maria used to make the children's playclothes in The Sound of Music. Funny thing - this fabric is a curtain panel bought from Urban Outfitters on clearance (for $4.99!) last Fall. It's my current fave fabric of all time. I bought enough to make Berlin's bedding for when we take down the crib, and I made my sister Val a darling cafe apron for Christmas.

  

Ever so pleased, ever so pleased.