Our Little LadyBug Turns 3!

I think Kiki had a wonderful birthday party! 

Now in My Shop! {Kinley Beth Designs}

I'm trying hard to fill up the stock in my shop, Kinley Beth Designs!



These headbands are only $4.00 apiece! Click on over to Kinley Beth Designs and check them out!

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!

Now for Sale!

So...I've had a lot of requests from people asking me if I would make and sell them a Superman minky blanket, like the one I made for my friend's child:

And so I've added them to my etsy shop!

I have also purchased a license to make and sell the personalized baby name quilts from Melissa Mortenson of the Polka Dot Chair. That means I am selling those too!

Here's the one I made for another friend last year:

You can find it in my shop as well!

All blankets are made to order and can be customized in different fabrics if you like.

Wish me luck!

Bug Birthday Party

(Banner is from A to Zebra Celebrations)

Today was my [not-so] baby boy's 5th birthday. Five has never seemed like such a big number before!

But I won't spend this whole post moping about how old he is...

Let's talk about the party!

The kids dined on "bug food":

We had Honey Bits (Bit O'Honey), Bug Bites (gummy worms and bugs), Ants on a Log (Pretzel sticks dipped in chocolate with sprinkles) and Beetle Bugs (m&ms):

Dragon Snaps (Cheetos) and Worm Holes (Donuts):

Roly Polies (pigs in a blanket), Lady Bugs (cookies), Dirt Cups (Chocolate cupcakes with crushed Oreos) and Bug Juice (juice boxes):

I made the cone-holder out of a cake box. I cut out holes with an Exacto knife on the top of the box, then wrapped the whole thing in green crepe paper. The cones were made of scrapbook paper:

I found a great tip on Pinterest--for a custom look, take the wrapper off water bottles and wrap in a coordinating duct tape. Waterproof!

I also made white cupcakes with colored icing that formed a caterpillar (another Pinterest find):

I hate trying to organize 20 children into a party game, so we just let them play in the water out back:

But we did have a pinata (Finn really wanted the donkey-not really bug themed, but...):

For favors, I found bug kits at the Dollar Tree. I wrapped them in simple paper bags and used my Silhouette to write and cut "Thank you" bugs:

He was clearly overwhelmed, but in a good way! Finn is still zoned out from the party (and the birthday party we attended yesterday...and the wedding we went to last night...It's been a busy weekend).



Happy Birthday to my big boy!

Linking up here.

Blue Cricket Design A-Mazing Huge Giveaway!

There is a super huge giveaway going on right now at Blue Cricket Design! In case you're the type who thinks they will never win anything, let me tell you that I win ALOT. Okay, like 4 or 5 times in the last year I've won giveaways. But, that's pretty good! You can't win until you enter. Head on over to BCD and try your luck.

Things I'm most excited about:

You have to like a lot of Facebook pages to win, but you have a few days to do it, and it's really not that time-consuming. Good luck!

Dress A Girl Around the World {Sewing for Charity}

A few months ago, I guess I had a lot of time on my hands, because I started researching organizations that accept sewing for charity. I was in the middle of a peasant-girl-dress-phase for Kiki, so the Dress A Girl Around the World charity really jumped out at me.

Dress a Girl Around the World is run by Hope 4 Women International and delivers homemade dresses to needy girls all over the world. All you do is sew them and mail them in! Doesn't every girl deserve a lovely dress?

Their website provides instructions for a basic pillowcase dress, but since I love my peasant dress pattern, that's what I made (oh, yeah, and I've never made a pillowcase dress). I thought this pattern would work well for many sizes since it uses elastic thread to make the middle and sleeves all stretchy.

Anyway, if you sew, I hope you'll check out this organization. Hopefully I can get on the ball and make more dresses!

I'll be linking up here.