Handmade Gift Exchange

Well, hey there.

The last thing I posted was the first day of school outfit.  Uh... oops?  That was only about 3 (4?) months ago.  Yikes.  

Well, today, what we have for you is something in the adult realm-- a realm that I rarely set foot in, until recently.  

This year, just like last year, I participated in the Craftaholics Anonymous Handmade Gift Exchange.

<a href=”http://www.craftaholicsanonymous.net/” target=”_blank”><img src=”http://www.craftaholicsanonymous.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/3-Craftaholics-Anonymous_34.png” alt=”Craftaholics Anonymous” /></a>

This is actually my third time doing the gift exchange, as I did it in the summer, too.  It's soooooo fun.  

Side note: I learned from working with high schoolers that to emphasize a point, misspell a word. ;)

Anyway, this year, my partner was a foodie, so I went with a good ol' apron.  Well, I hope it was more than just a good ol' apron.  My goal was to make is functional, cute, and a little modernly retro.  I didn't get great pics, but here she is:

I found this vintage-y feeling rose fabric that I had been given and I paired it with some slightly more modern prints-- some scallops, polka dots and florals.  I'm hoping Amanda loves it!!  

Noelle's First Day

Well-Well had her first day of preschool on Thursday.  Granted, she's been convinced that she's a preschooler for the past two years, always being present during drop-off and pick-up for her big sister.  But now she is a bonafide preschooler!  And for her first day, she-- like her big sister-- picked out some pretty stellar fabrics for her outfit.

 She gave me some fairly specific instructions: no sleeves-- just straps "like dis" (giving me strap sizing) and pants.  And she wanted lots of trains-- lots and lots of them.  So that's what the little lady got.  I also appliqued a car onto the bodice and used some green ric rac on the straps and hem of the pants.  (I love love love me some ric rac!!!)

She also wanted to show off her own drawing.  This, as I'm sure you can tell, is a picture of me (the red) and her (pink, in the right bottom corner), and a mommy and baby spider.  You'll notice the look of shock and fear on my face-- the appropriate response to a mommy spider sitting on one's head.

Good luck, you big, transportation-loving girl!! :)  I love you!!

School... Real School

Riley started "real school" this year-- meaning she's in kindergarten, going to school EVERY DAY!  She LOVES it, and is already making some sweet friends.  She's now in her second week, but I wanted to share her first day of school outfit.

First, let me set the stage.  Noelle is starting preschool this year, too, so I took both girls down to the sewing room to pick out WHATEVER FABRIC they wanted from my obscenely large selection of cute/adorable/sweet/girly fabrics.  We're talking glitter, mermaids, flowers, princesses, etc.  I mean, lots of choice fabrics.  So what did my girls choose?

Robots, cars and trains, of course!

As you can see, the cars and robots are still cutesy, but those are some LEGIT trains.  

 Sorry the pictures aren't that great.  I broke my camera a while back, and I still have to get it fixed. Sigh.  But you get the idea, right? 

Noelle has her first day tomorrow.  I'll post her outfit then! :)

Super Tots Super Teachers Gifts!

Every awesome teacher deserves a gift!!

My girls both did a camp through the park district, this year, called Super Tots.  They LOVED it!  And let's be honest-- so did I.  They went to Super Tots two times a week, for 2.5 hours each day.  It was perfect to get Noelle ready for preschool, and Riley loved making new friends and "doing fun stuff."  Brooks and I enjoyed some one-on-one time and some much-easier-than-usual errand running. :)

The camp was eight weeks long, so by the end of it, I thought the teachers deserved some appreciation.  Being a former teacher, I want to shower praise when I can.  Plus, look how much my girls love these ladies!!

One of the camp days, Brooks and I ran out, found some super cute teal mugs, picked up some letter stencils ($2.99 for all 26 letters at Joann's!) and a silver paint marker.  I taped/held the stencil to the mug and tried to ombre-dot them.  Quick, easy and cute!

  Then I filled them with some chocolate and Starbucks refresher packs!  Ta-da!

Sorry for the subpar pictures.  I broke my camera (sigh).  And then I forgot to snap shots(except for the one I took to show my husband-- with all our glamorous kitchen counter glory in the background) until we were in the car, in the parking lot of the community center.  Teehee.  :)

P.S.  It's a little hard to see, but the shirts the girls got were, literally, 4-5 sizes too big!  So I chopped them and re-sewed.  I love how they turned out.  Plus, then my girls didn't have to fear being taken flying by a gust of wind in their t-shirt sails! :)

Wow.

My last post was in January.  Sorry 'bout that.

Since then, I've turned 31...

we've had numerous hospital visits with Big Man...

I've gotten LOTS of greensies orders (yay!!)...

 we have a five-year-old!...

 we went to Disney...

 and we had a lake in our front yard and a flooded basement...

And some other things happened, too, but isn't that enough for one post?? :)

I have some kind of exciting news (for me, at least).... I have my next tutorial idea.  Last night, I made a dress... FOR ME!  And it was fairly easy, is easy to adapt to your size, and is cute!  I need to get a good pic, but keep your eyes peeled! :)

Up and Coming

I'm really bad at waiting.  I just so freaking excited about stuff!  So I was going to wait till I was finished with everything, but that's just not my style. :)  So here's my first piece in my new spring collection!

Introducing...

F  is for Floral!

Now let's see how long I can keep the rest under wraps.  I think it's going to be tough. :)

Chop chop

Noelle got the first haircut of her life yesterday. In the car. On the road to Seaworld. Courtesy of Riley.

This fell out of her sweater when I was folding it this morning.

Oh, those blonde locks... Sigh.