Charlotte's Party

I love all the cute little tutus, onsies and hats and things that are out there for 1st birthday so I had to join in. I found some polka dot fabric that certainly said "party" that I thought I'd make a party hat and dress out of (she can wear a dress again and again right?).

That was the plan anyway. What I thought up in my head seemed cute and it turned out how I had pictured it, but for some reason looking at the real thing, I was no longer a fan... :P. At least not as a dress for other occasions...

Can you say "clown"! I guess that says "party", but quite frankly I'm not a fan of clowns. At least once on, she looked so darn cute anyway. This clown I like!

Maybe I'll have to add a cardigan to play it down for church or something.

So...being the freak of nature that I am, I decided to throw together some party stuff themed after the dress (well, actually themed after the fabric, since I didn't make the dress till the night before). I clearly have an obsession with orange and aqua blue because we had lots of paper scraps and things to use on hand. The only thing we bought were some lunch/treat bags to make flowers.

Honestly, I tell you, putting something together for very little (to no) cost, and up-cycling old stuff is what I like most. For lots of $$$ just about anyone can put together a sweet party, but doing it frugally? That is the creative challenge I enjoy. Granted that usually means its more labor intensive as well, but if your like me, thats fun too. My sleep would disagree, but I can sleep when I die right? :)...

Anyway, I digress, Charlotte's party:

These flowers are SO FAST and EASY. Elyette made 2 of them herself. Her's looked much better than mine.

We cut little triangles from scraps (Jack helped with this one too) and sewed them together in a long strip for a decorative banner. Again, super easy and FAST.

With scraps we also cut a bunch of cone shapes out of paper.

For popcorn

and some much coveted party hats.

Uncle Sam's a good sport :)

I've been wanting to try my hand at those cute iced sugar cookies. You know the kind that look like they probably taste nasty but look really cute. Yeah that kind. Made some of those.

This one, not so fast nor all that easy (well, not for my shaky hands anyway).

The cake was lemon flavored (thanks to my friend Heather for this yummy recipe- I halfed it for a small cake) with homemade strawberry jam for the filling, and freshly whipped cream as the "frosting". Served with strawberries... YUM!

Elyette helped curl the lemon and orange peels that we piled on top.

I used royal icing (as used for the cookies) for the letters. I'm pretty terrible at free handing stuff, so I cheated and printed her name in a cute font, put a piece of parchment over it and traced along a thick piping of the royal icing. Once it hardened I carefully scraped off the each letter and placed it on the cake. EASY!

Munching popcorn while watching her slideshow (Boz's hard work) A tradition thats getting more difficult as we're running out of music options that suit us. Suggestions?

So, obviously this was all totally unnecessary, our "party" consisted of her great grandma Rae, Grandma Debbie, Uncle Sam and us, but fun I couldn't resist.- and some sweet pics of all the fuss she'll love to have later.

Happy Birthday Stinkster!

12 Months

AKA: 1st Birthday!!!

Whew, last "bear pic" and probably a good thing. Its been tricky with her getting increasingly wiggly. The moment she saw the bear sitting on the bed this morning she started squealing.

And few more for good measure:

glistening nose :).

Here's the line up:

Meh, I don't know about you, but I can't tell all that well how much she's grown :). Maybe if I got the exact same positioning on everything every time (and a less floppy bear), but still cute!

More Charlotte sentiment to come ;)...

I Could Have Danced All Night

Recently, (or really not so, I'm just slow to post) Daddy got to take Elyette to her first dance. A daddy/daughter dance held by her school.

Complete with a VERY pink dress (to match her tiara she wanted to wear:), mom's pearls, and wrist corsage. You'd of thought she was in a wedding.

The evening started with lots of photos, (how could I not?). some taco bell (fancy) and on to the dance. Which she claimed "was too short!"

Sharing in Eliza Doolittle's enthusiasm: [Elyette] could have danced, danced, danced all night...

Feat of the Week

What are all these people doing?

Reading the Book of Mormon!

We did it cover to cover in about 18+ hours (or actually reading),

on 5 hours of sleep

with a few breaks. (there for 29 hours total)

(and SO much food, I might add :))

Was it hard?... uh huh.

worth it?

ABSOLUTELY!

11 Months Old

And as wiggly as ever. Here is the only pic I got of her sitting:

Tackling that bear down!

Who's bigger now? huh, huh?

Watch out world!

Rain or Shine

Last week was BEAUTIFUL. Sunny, warm, perfect for lots of this:

Elyette is a pro now at riding "with pedals and no training wheels" as she will tell you. We tried the no training wheels and no pedals method of learning to ride a bike.

(I'm lovin' the look of determination on her face)

Basically the idea is they get a feel for balance while scooting around on the pedal-less bike before. After a few days of "scooting", the pedals went back on and she was a die hard at practicing (reaching 2+ hours at the park before I had to force our departure). Not to mention I reached a new level of one-handed (baby on the hip) abilities while helping her learn. Charlotte was a good sport about playing on the grass too to free up my hands from time to time.

(hello Fabio. rrrowr)

I can't say whether or not I thought the "scooting" helped that much, because I have no "control" to compare too. I think it may have helped a little, but I also think it got her into some bad habits, like putting her feet in front of the pedals and not using the breaks to stop... both dangerous habits she had to "un-learn". All the same, she rides now and its fun for us to all bike to school now (well, I jog with the stroller- Any adult women bike recommendations? I'm dying to get one since our last was stolen).

We didn't bike to school today. Since more appropriate February weather set in. It poured this morning:

I loved it. So did the kids :)- this was during breakfast at about 7:45am. We just had to take advantage instantly.

I admit I got a rather homesick for my northwest though, even before it dumped :). I think there's something about that smell of pending rain.

Ah... well anyway, LIFE IS GOOD... rain OR shine!

Elyette's Butterfly Valentines

I asked Elyette if she'd like to get/buy or make her valentines for her 27 classmates for their Valentine's Day party, and she immediately exclaimed "MAKE". I was actually a little surprised. I expected her to want some sort of Disney princess valentines with tattoos or something, but no, she was MUCH more excited at the prospect of making them.

So, we did our research to find something that fit her abilities and wouldn't require supplies we didn't already have hand. These butterflies from Family Fun fit the bill. Even dude made some!

So, if you are making valentines with the kids this weekend try these:

Butterfly Valentine's

-our adaptation

Supplies:

- Cardstock or construction paper

- finger paint (or other embellishments)

-pipe cleaners

-Any stick candy, pencils, etc.

STEP 1: Cut out

Fold your cardstock in half "hot dog" style. Draw a heart like shape for the wings

and cut it out*.

In the center on the fold cut 2 slits 1/4 - 1/2 inch apart (for where the candy/pencils will go).

*If you don't want to free hand it, family fun has this template.

STEP 2: Embellish

Add embellishment to the wings. Color with crayons, sticker, glitter...

Elyette fingerpainted dots on her wings.

STEP 3: Insert Candy

Or pencil, or whatever it is you'd like. We happened to have these "sweet sticks" from Trader Joes as left overs from a friend's baby shower. I do think some valentines pencils would be great though. Non sugary options are always nice. Oh and we did tape ours in place to secure them.

STEP 4: Twist on Piper Cleaner Attennas

We twisted ours around twice and spiraled them.

Elyette did this 100% herself. Ok, well I did draw on the shape for her to cut out, but she did all the cutting (all 27, 28 actually in one evening- I was impressed), painting, assembling and spiraling herself. She's was awesome! And they look super cute.

New Look

Many thanks for all the great feedback about blogging. Next step to further motivate: a Blog FACE LIFT. Thats in the works as you can see. Great art work eh? I love her signature long necks and big hands (got to fit all 5 fingers on there). My flesh colored skirt is pretty awesome too. :)

On another note, Elyette's celebrated her 100th day of school today! (I quite enjoyed this piece of school work from it)

Ha...Me too, babe. Me too.

Why do you blog?

Clearly, you can see that "blogging" has not been a new years resolution for me. I'm lacking passion in blogging and need some motivation (not to mention, it BADLY needs a make over). Any desire to post has been fading in the past year.

I don't think I want to give it up altogether. Its the only type of "journaling" I've ever been any good at keeping up (and thats not saying a lot). I could say its a great thing for "the grandmas", but really they rarely visit if ever :).

It use to be a good way for me to motivate myself to try new things, but my creative focus has shifted to just those "things" and not blogging. I think also there has always been some distant thought that maybe, just maybe if I finally start selling (on etsy.com or something) it'd be a good way to generate interest/fans, sprout a businees... but I think all hope/desire of that is fading with the blogging. :)

So why blog? Help me out of my funk. Why do you blog?

10 Months

Picture taken 1/23/11

Handmade Holidays 2010

With more limited time this year (that or a lack of motivation to pull several 2am evenings again) and dividing my sewing and "creative" attention elsewhere, Christmas 2010 was not at all as grand as 2009 and the dress-ups, but still enjoyable. And I got a bit more sleep.

Christmas PJ's:

More PJ's:

Chocolate Plate: Done in Vinyl

Poopy Clutch and Nursing Cover:

For an expecting momma, of course

Postcard Set:

I converted some drawings of Jack and Elyette's into 4x6 photos and mounted them to some postcard backing purchased here.

Animal Pillows:

For Charlotte: Made from terry cloth and flannel scraps. All I had to buy were the felt buttons. Elyette helped me stuff them.

She also did some of her own handmade gifts:

Busy making fleece scarves entirely by herself (oh and bead necklaces).

Dr. Kit:

This one is my favorite. I've wanted a Dr. Kit for the kids but not willing to fork out for those plastic kits. I wanted a real working stethoscope for them. So I got a pediatric blood pressure cuff with a stethoscope for $15 on ebay. Got Some bandaid, ace wrap, etc. Made a bag out of felt (lined with felt to, so nice and sturdy) on hand and viola! Dr. Kit for less than $20.

K, I think thats it. Hope all had a great Christmas!