Whoooo's Surprise Birthday Dress

I've spent the last couple days in the hospital with sweet Brooksy-boy.  He woke up on Sunday morning, wheezing and generally inconsolable.  He's home now and fine, and I'll fill you in more later, but whew...  It was quite a ride.  Glad to be home.

And I'm glad to be able to share this little dress that I made for my niece, Hannah, who just turned THREE!

When I first decided to make Hannah a dress, I actually thought to myself, Well, Heather... I guess you're THAT aunt-- the weird one who only gives clothes, and handmade clothes at that.  Sorry, kids, my sister-in-law will say, just smile and say 'thank you.'   However, when I brought this dress upstairs, BOTH my girls jumped up and asked, "Is that for me!?!"  So, YES!  This gift is a winner.

It starts off like this: just a navy and white polka dot dress with a random tree appliqued on it and a pocket...

... but then, out of said pockets pops a little owl to take along!

He can either stay hidden safely away in his pocket or he can journey over to his hole in the tree to rest and look out on the world.

"Hey, guys!"  

And he's attached to a ribbon, so he's a take-along toy that can't get lost.

Hannah wore her dress to church on Sunday and loved it.  See!  THIS aunt's not weird!
(Quiet, peanut gallery!)

:)

The Valentine Fiasco

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After much deliberation, I decided on the valentine I wanted to give out to all our pint-sized friends.  It involved owls, props and no candy.  I thought it was a nice combo.  So I shot pictures of the girls, pasted some words on them (the pictures, not the children), uploaded them and ordered.  A few days later, I got an email, informing me that my order of 101 prints had shipped.  Wha?!  We have a few good buddies, but we're not nearly that popular.  Seems that I had started to order the prints, put them in my "cart", had to go attend to some child, then came back later and added the same order-- once again-- to my cart.  Uh... oops.  Maybe I should have double-checked before clicking "buy".  In my defense, I distinctly remember doing all this, using one hand and holding a 3-month-old in the other arm.

The other thing that my notification email said was that the prints were due to arrive on Tuesday... or, in other words, ON Valentine's Day.  Gosh darn it.  I may have to run to Target for some 1-hour-photo developing if they aren't here on Monday.

Anyway, here they are!

For Riley's preschool buddies

For mutual friends (check Noelle's tough guy face, and Riley's super-cool pose)

Remember, if you want to make an owl jumper of your own, go here for the tutorial!! :)

And another one for mutual friends because it was tough to get all three kids in the picture at one time. :)  How adorable is that gummy smile???

 
I'll be attaching dollar store sunglasses to them.  See... candy-free but not fun-free! :)