a Valentine’s Tea
A belated Happy Valentine’s Day to you all! I have been working on this post for several days, hoping to get it posted in time to celebrate Valentine’s Day with you, but life kept moving and babies kept needing mommy. Oh well – at least late is better than never. :)
Did you catch my brief mention that we are moving? This move is happening in two stages, the first stage of which is complete but now we are waiting on some paperwork and other details before the second stage can happen – so blogging here has moved a bit lower on the priority list!
As we were packing things up in the middle of January I realized that we probably wouldn’t be settled by Valentine’s Day – and that I really wanted to be able to celebrate Valentine’s this year!
The solution? Celebrate early. :)
Emma Grace and I invited my sister-in-law and her friend over for the day and then we (I) pulled out all the red and pink things that I could find (read, all the ones that hadn’t been packed yet). We had so much fun taking a break from moving to just decorate and enjoy the holiday. :)
We had strawberry scones, pumpkin bundt cake, lemon curd, sweetened cream cheese and my sister-in-law and her friend brought some cucumber tea sandwiches and a plate of baked ham sandwiches (Leah, if you still have the recipe could you email it to me? thanks!) that were really good.
I used this totorial to make a pom-pom garland. I loved making it (so fun and easy!), and love the actual garland even more! I’m thinking of maybe making more (in white perhaps?) to put in our master bedroom – or in the family room. :)
We had a wonderful time, and Emma Grace absolutely loved her first tea party.
I’m linking to a few of these blogs – can you believe that Spring is coming? They are posting some really darling decorating ideas!
Emma’s Holiday/Winter Dress
A while back Prudent Baby posted a darling tutorial for a long sleeved peasant style toddler dress. When I saw it I immediately thought of the red polka dot material that I had bought on a whim (and cuz it was on sale) a few weeks earlier. I knew that, even though she already had several cute dresses, Emma had to have a polka dot one.
my darling and her new hat
Emma Grace has a new hat. And she like wearing it – because it’s pretty and she looks so pretty when she’s wearing it. :) (so nice not to be having battles about wearing a hat anymore!)
Really, she loves it (although that’s hard to tell from this picture)!
I made the hat using the Petite Beret pattern from Vintage Knits for Modern Babies. It was a very easy pattern to work (although I still need to learn how to make an invisible seam when I’m finishing – maybe you could teach me Leah?) and the sizing was quite accurate.
I used a bit of super soft bamboo yarn for the hat band – so it would be soft and cozy against her face – and then cotton yarn that I re-purposed from a sweater that I wasn’t wearing anymore for the rest of the hat. My mom had given me a small hank of red wool tapestry yarn last fall, and I used that for the trim.
I’m linking this to some of these blogs – they have some really wonderful organizing and Valentine’s ideas up!
A little bit random
Did you know that Blogger has a statistics feature that allows you to, well, see your blogs statistics? It’s pretty cool. There are some days where there have been a few hundred people stopping by. Pretty cool.
And, did you know that when I don’t post anything here for a few days, I get a lot less people stopping by? Who’d have thought. I mean really, who wouldn’t want to read the same posts over and over? ;)
So, for those of you who like to read new things, here’s a new, albeit slightly random, post.
Lately I’ve been working hard on finishing up some of the projects that I’ve been meaning to get to, getting Etsy orders out (thank you again to the lovely people who have been placing those orders!) and keeping the apartment warm with baking (our apartment manager is finally getting the heat going this week).
The projects that I’ve finished include Ian’s hat and matching sweater (I’m planning an an entire post about the set),
a lined pair of pants for him,
a coordinating skirt and pair of pants for the two of them,
and a set of matching lined jammie pants for Em and Ian to wear this winter.
And John went hunting.
So, progress is being made! It’s so good to see the fabric pile in our bedroom shrinking a little (and I know John appreciates that a LOT).
I’m linking this to a few of these bloggy get-togethers. There are some amazing Thanksgiving and Christmas ideas and tutorials being posted!
And be sure to enter the CSN Stores giftcard giveaway. :)
KCWC (again)
Well, it sure is taking me a while to finish posting about what I made for the Challenge! Here’s the nightie that I made for Emma.
Emma’s much loved Disney Princess nightie was getting quite small on her, so I decided to refashion an adult sized nightshirt into a little nightgown for her. I didn’t take any photos along the way, but here’s how it turned out.
Using the Princess nightie as a pattern, I cut the original shirt down and cut off the sleeves and collar (all of which I saved to use).
I wanted to keep the original neckline and buttons down the front, but they were out of scale with a toddler’s body size – so I put in a cute little gather in the back! That took care of the neck sizing, but then the original collar was too big so I put three little tucks on each side of it.
winning and a new blogging friend
So, a few weeks ago I entered a giveaway over on The Back Country Drive and, lo and behold, I won!!!
It was my first time ever winning a giveaway on a blog and it was so much fun. :)
Anyway, I thought I’d share with you a few photos of what I won (it’s pretty cute).
Quoting from her blog:
From 2010-09-11 |
From 2010-09-11 |
From 2010-09-11 |
From 2010-09-11 |
From 2010-09-11 |
From 2010-09-11 |
From 2010-09-11 |
I could post photos of Emma all day long! I’m thinking that the dress would also be darling over a pair of leggings or jeans as she gets taller. I’ve been doing that with some of her other dresses that I haven’t been ready to consign to the depths of a hand-me-down box, and it’s worked really well. And been super cute!
Thanks again to Cheech at Back Country Drive for the giveaway! We love it. <3
Late Summer Sewing
Emma has been shooting up like a little sunflower this summer! She’s outgrowing her clothes again (my baby girl is getting so big! *sniff*).
I just packed away all her tops that were mid-drifting on her and realized that she didn’t have very many left! Vemma is starting to take off but our budget is still pretty tight, so I didn’t feel like going out and spending money on clothing that she might only be wearing for another two or three months. Also, I had this cute fabric in the closet and had found this darling tutorial and free pattern on Prudent Baby ….. so Emma got a new top!
I used some darling quilting weight fabric for the “skirt” of the top, and bits of a linen blouse that I’ve been cutting up for the neckline and trim around the bottom. The pattern is made to have snaps instead of buttons, but I was out of snaps and, on top of that, there were some vintage bunny buttons in my collection that I’ve been wanting to use – so I finally did!
Emma enjoys the soft breeziness of the top, and I am loving the adorable little one it’s on. She seems to be getting more and more darling each day.
Linking to these parties – click on over and check out all the gorgeous fun-ness!
little girl skirt
Did you like the little skirt that I made for Emma a few days ago?
I used a free pattern download that I found over on the Oliver + S blog. Oliver + S is a darling company that designs and sells children’s clothing patterns. Their patterns are just adorable, and wonderful to work with!
This pattern is quick and simple to make (it doesn’t even have a rolled hem). In fact, it is so very quick and simple that I didn’t even take any pictures as I worked on it. Seriously, this projects goes by quickly. :)
I love that the material has a vintage look to it. :) And so wish that I could get wallpaper in that design!