Our Little LadyBug Turns 3!

I think Kiki had a wonderful birthday party! 

Back To School Dress {The Great Pinterest Challenge}

Have you heard of The Great Pinterest Challenge? I read about it on one of my daily read blogs, Honeybear Lane. You pick out one of the [many] things you've pinned on Pinterest, recreate it, then enter it in one of four categories (Recipes, Sewing, Home Decor/DIY, or General Crafts).

Then Facebook users vote on the pictures and you can win a really great prize package!

I love that it provides some motivation to get a project done! As soon as I read about it, I knew exactly what I wanted to do. Sewing, of course. I had recently found this dress:

and thought it would be so cute to make for Kiki for her first day of preschool.

And here it is:

Obviously, I made a few changes. I prefer peasant dress-style to pillowcase dress-style. I like that the sleeves give Kiki a bit more coverage when it gets colder. Also, the apple print I found had some hot pink in it, which I really liked because it added a little spunk to the dress.

And, I had to make a matching headband!

The deadline for submissions in the contest is tomorrow, August 19th. But I think it may be a monthly thing, so if you want to submit something, you can always try in September.

Even if it doesn't win, I think it will be really fun for Kiki to wear when she goes off to school! (But I still want to win--please go vote on Honeybear Lane's Facebook page (You must first "like" Honeybear Lane, then you can vote by "liking" my picture) starting Monday!)

I'll be linking up here!

Neighborhood Scavenger Hunt

It's been a crazy time in my household. The kids have been sick, I've been picking up extra hours at work and Scott worked over 60 hours last week. Whew! Thank goodness for my Mother-In-Law!

Kiki had a fever last week and I thought she was all better--until I noticed the spots all over her mouth, hands and feet :( Looks like she has Hand, Foot & Mouth Disease! By the way she's been bouncing all over the place, it doesn't appear to be bothering her. However, we still have to stay away from others since she might be contagious. And the verdict is still out on whether or not Finn will wake up with a rash tomorrow.

So, what did I do? I stole borrowed another great idea from Smashed Peas & Carrots blog! (Really, if you haven't already, you have to go check them out!) It's a Neighborhood Scavenger Hunt game. I couldn't get theirs to print, so I just made my own real quick in Word with clip art.

I put it on a clip board, grabbed a pen and took the kids out for a walk. We just checked things off as we saw them! I even made a list of more things I could add next time:

fire hydrant

hose

motorcycle

truck

different colors of flowers

specific bugs

street signs

wreaths

for sale signs

Best yet, the kids were actually excited about doing it! Finn's been quite a downer since he got a fever last week, so I was thrilled he was actually enthusiastic about doing something!

Blogger's Quilt Festival

Amy's Creative Side is hosting a Blogger's Quilt Festival and it is inspiring and amazing to look at all the quilts that people have submitted! Over 600 quilts have been submitted and they are beautiful!

I chose to enter Kiki's Quilt because it was the first one that I submitted and I came up with the pattern myself!

I originally took a quilting class last March so that I could turn my daughter's baby clothes into a quilt. In the end, I chose to buy these beautiful Hunky Dory prints, but maybe some day I'll try a clothes-quilt still!

This quilt really means a lot to me because it was the first that I made for a specific person in mind and, of course, it reminds me of Kiki's baby-hood. Furthermore, it helped me learn a lot more about quilting. I didn't make too many mistakes on this quilt (besides those corner blocks!), and I was so proud that I designed and measured everything myself! (You can find a tutorial for the blocks here.) I realized that quilting wasn't as intimidating as I once thought, and I've been doing it ever since!

I just finished McKinley's big girl bed quilt, so it's a little bittersweet that I have to fold this one up and put it away. But I'm sure we'll get it out many times, and maybe she can even use it for her own baby some day.

I can't believe my little baby is growing up!

 

Definitely click on over and check out all the submissions!

Fashion Starts Early

Obviously, I haven't been blogging much lately, so...what have I been up to? Running my own preschool clothing sweatshop, that's what!

Here's what I've made for Kiki in the last couple of weeks:

With the exception of two of the looks (the yellow ruffly top with pants and the maxi dress with the blue and yellow stripe), I've used two patterns:

First, there is this Apron Dress/Peasant Dress pattern from Portobello Pixie. It's so easy and fun to make!

Second, this great pattern from Whimsy Couture for knotted overalls. I just can't get enough!

And Kiki has actually been wearing them! It's so much fun to make girl's clothes. You can really go all out with the patterns and colors.

I'll be linking up here!

Boutique-Style Girl Outfit from Thrifted Pillowcases!

We are stuck in the middle of 12" of snow! Anyone else? I feel like I have been waiting for a day like this since the last blizzard. You can stay in your jammies, watch cartoons with the kids all day and sew--guilt free.

Of course, we did venture outside for about 5 minutes. Here's Finn, playing in snow drifts nearly as tall as he is:

Anyway, I had to have a sewing project for the day. Did I work on my quilt? No. Did I work on my table topper? No. Did I finish any of the other many projects I need to? No. I started a completely new one.

First I took these 2 gigantic pillowcases I found at Goodwill a month ago:

I started by cutting off the edging. I saved these for the straps, sash, and leg ruffles:

And after about a day of work, I made this!



Back view:

I want to point out that this is a 100% recycled outfit. I even used the elastic that I cut off a fitted sheet that I'm using for another project. And the flowers in her hair? Scrapped quilt batting.

Sorry there isn't a full-on tutorial for this. I basically followed McCalls pattern M6017, but added on a few embellishments, like the leg ruffles, the knotted straps, the extra ruffle on the shirt, and the sash:

Did I mention that I had a little helper?:

I will be linking up to these great parties! And I would like to point out that The T-Shirt Diaries has an awesome upcycled link party every week. She's trying to reach 100 links this week, so go link up and check it out!



My Little Love Bug

Kiki got some adorable lady bug leggings for Christmas, however, she didn't have a shirt to match! I finally got around to making her one today.

Her favorite pose lately:



I went to Goodwill and picked up a plain red shirt (yep, that's where hubby and I went for our date night!) and added some black heat transfer. But it wasn't quite enough.

(Sorry about the horrible pictures. Yesterday it was 70 and sunny, today it is back to being 30 and dark. Also, it seems I have to use the flash to get a non-fuzzy pic of this busy lady):

I added a few little bows on the sleeves and ladybug and then some ric-rac to the bottom. Viola! Another adorable V-Day outfit!

I will be linking up to these great parties!

Kiki's Valentine

  

Really, this isn't a valentine, but it's appropriate for Valentine's Day, don't you think?

One day, my daughter told me she was scared of this picture, hanging in her room:

Did I mention she's 2? She's "scared" of a lot of stuff. So I took it down. As I was laying in bed that night, I started thinking about new ways I could re-use the frame and matting. (Side note: Don't you notice that the best ideas come while laying in bed, trying to go to sleep? It's really the Golden Hour). It came to me that I should made a fabric picture out of the same BEAUTIFUL Lakehouse fabrics I used on her bunting.

However, that picture was professionally framed. It was a real bear to take apart. When I finally ripped it from the frame, I realized that the print was permanently attached to the matting. Scratch that idea.

So I went with a new frame. Actually, a re-purposed frame that my hubby brought me. I used acrylic paint to paint the shiny surface, but it did not turn out. I decided to sand it down and start over, but I ended up sort of liking the sanded, shabby look. So I kept it.

I used my reverse applique method to cut out and attach the letters and heart. I keep thinking I should add some sort of stitching to it, but I haven't decided where yet.

I love it! It goes great in her room, and I think it pretty much sums up exactly how I feel about my little Kiki :)

 Here's my little munchkin:

AND, I bought MORE Lakehouse fabric (sorry about all the caps, I'm just really excited about it!) to make her a new quilt! I haven't cut them yet, I'm still in the hugging and staring phase.

I'll be linking up to these great parties!