A Good Find

Post Wide Yard Sales are incredible events. Two of my favorite days of the year, really. This fall I didn't shop much, because I wanted to sell. But this one find down the street made my day (even if my poor husband had to ask people off the street to help him carry it--it is massive and very solid!) Guess how much I paid for this buffet-- $20!!!!! Sure it needs a lot of work-the hardware was outdated and the finish was bad, but for $20 I knew I had to tackle it (even if it did cause a little maritial friction).

ready for the finished product? Even Jess didn't believe the transformation:

Ta Da!

With next to no money and a little work, our dining room has gone from "What are we going to do with a dining room-we havent' had one of those before?" to one of my favorite rooms in the house!

Coming soon!

My sister is going to have a baby. Very very soon. It's a girl! And I'm so excited. Thought I'd give you the sneak peek into a box I sent her today (since I will have to wait a PAINFUL 10 or 11 days after the baby is born before I can see her). I guess I shouldn't complain about things being PAINFUL when I'm talking about my sisters impending labor and delivery. Here is a onsie with the sweetest little chiuaua.

My sis has 2 real live chiwauwas and her 2 year old has the matching boy shirt, a hand-me-down from Si.

And these shirts are making me giddy! Rach came up with the idea of Big and Little animals. I have 2 more ideas sketched out. If I just had the time, these could be an etsy hit!

PS. Rach, I mailed the BIG but not the Little. I'm going to work on "girly-ing" it up a bit. Maybe some bum-ruffles.

Mermaids

We had a WET and wild trip to Disney World. While I recover, and try to dry off, enjoy these little mermaids made from some very favorite fabric that I had sitting on my dresser for a month. Every time I walked by I would just run my hand over it. I was happy that the dresses turned out nice. However, it wasn't until later that I noticed these sweet fabric swimmers are shirtless! Lucky for me, the dress is reversible. Seahorse side for church, risque mermaids for the beach.

Sew Many ideas, so little time!

I admit it. The more I sew, the more I love it. And I have a slight addiction to designer fabric. Lately I don't have the time for many big projects (although I do have one up my sleeve--check back!). However, I've found that if I have half an hour, there are quite a few pretty things to whip up! After a few inquiries about fabric and patterns from friends, I thought I'd share a few of my favorites:

The Pillowcase dress

There are instructions all over the internet. Here is a good place to start.

This one is made from a vintage pillowcase with pretty embroidery at the bottom. There are tons of options here. Lining these white ones was simple. The seersucker ones are embroidered with a monogram and I added an easy ruffle. And the gingham one is a shirt. Ella Rose wore it in the summer AND in the winter over a brown long sleeved tee.

Next are elastic waist pants. I LOVE these pants! They actually require a pattern, which is a big downside for me, but you can find a really easy pattern, and, once you make a few, it's a cinch.

Again, I love the ways to customize them! From left to right, Amy Butler Stripes with grosgrain trim, nameless brown and pink dot with contrasting cuffs, Amy Butler Wall Flower with ruffle, Sandi Henderson Farmer's Market with a ruffle, and even some Minky Dot pants--so soft!

a close up of the pants

Of course, pants can become shorts, and I can make them for the boys, but they are pretty set for clothes right now.

Next is the Lazy Day Skirt from Oliver+S. It seriously takes 20 minutes. This is a summer staple. Go to the site now. It's a free pattern. You're welcome.

On the left is Amy Butler, the right is Alexander Henry

Add a cheap tee shirt with a fabric applique and you have a boutique outfit! I show more on applique-ing shirts here.

There you have it. But wanna know a secret? It is ALL ABOUT the FABRIC. Ok, maybe a secret shouldn't be in all caps. But it's true. And there are "designer" fabric labels just like there are "designer" clothes. That's why I labeled the fabrics up there. I'll admit to being a bit of a designer fabric snob while I continue to get my clothes at target. So here are a few of my favorite designers.

Heather Ross

Anna Marie Horner

Heather Bailey

Sandi Henderson

Amy Butler

Joel Dewberry

And this is where I buy their fabrics:

fabric.com

Reprodepot

Hancock's of Paducah (and if you drive through Paducah, you MUST stop here!)

Sew Mama Sew

PurlSoho

Cia's Palette

Bee Square Fabrics

Superbuzzy

Blogs/Sites I check regularly:

http://thelongthread.com/

True Up (great list of sales every Sunday)

JCaroline

You Can Make This

Well, that should get you started. I've been writing this post for 3 days now and I better just get it finished. When we return from Disney (oh, yeah, did you know we were going tomorrow?) I'll show you the girls' new dresses made with a Sandi Henderson pattern and Heather Ross's mermaid fabric. See now you know!

The post where I am guilty of feeding my kids too much fast food

Josiah is starting to love drawing with markers. Sometimes he paints each of his fingernails. But sometimes he draws something recognizable. Today, he said, "LOOK! MOM!! I drew McDonalds!!!!"

Yes, he did

Then he said. "Now I'm going to make McDonald's happy." Huh?

Here it is, a happy McDonalds.

Birthday dresses--but not for me.

I enjoyed a low-key 32nd birthday yesterday--thanks for the calls and emails and like, 45 facebook wallposts! Jess has a business trip this week, so one thing I was happy to do (because when he's out of town I stay up waaayyyy too late) was finish the girls' "2-days-after-Valentine's Dresses". They're pretty cute--the girls and the dresses.

We couldn't get Addie to sit still. . .

Ella Rose LOVES to carry her sister around.

Tonight or tomorrow I"ll show you pictures of our Valentine's/Birthday trip to Atlanta. It was really fun.

PS. As I listen to the crying from the baby's room, I think I kindof glossed over the fact that Adeline doesn't go down for her naps well (in yesterday's birthday post). Let me make it clear. She HATES naps. As soon as I walk in her room and turn down the lights she starts screaming and wiggling and pushing herself away from me. She won't snuggle, won't rock, just tries to get out of there. She screams and screams for about 15 minutes or so before she finally settles down. Good thing she's so stinkin' cute.

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care. . .

Isn't this the perfect picture of giddy anticipation? We are all looking foward to celebrating with friends and family way over yonder in Oklahoma.

Another symbol of giddy anticipation:

The stockings are hung, waiting to be filled. . . no, overflowing with goodies. And one more favorite symbol of anticipation:

How silently, how silently

The wondrous gift is given!

So God imparts to human hearts

The blessings of his heav'n.

No ear may hear his coming,

But in this world of sin,

Where meek souls will receive him still,

The dear Christ enters in

PS. I stole the picture of the manger, but I did make the stockings :-)

Craftiness

Oh my goodness, oh my goodness, oh my goodness! LOOK what I did! I can't believe how cute they turned out!!!!! I love love LOVE them! I've wanted to make these dresses ever since Sandi Henderson introduced her Portebello Pixie patterns. They remind me of the Matilda Jane brand, which are way cute and WAY expensive. After my trip to fabric heaven I settled on this Heather Bailey fabric and dreamed for months about the dresses. Most of the time when I do that, things never turn out just like I wanted, but these, I think, were even better.

If I had known how much Ella would love this dress, I would have saved it for a Christmas present!

Creativity runs in our family, and Sam got an extra dose. Here's his latest creation:

Family Portrait on the Beach

Last minute gift idea. . .

I am still reeling from the poor decision I made this afternoon: take the 4 kids to the mall after school to run a few errands. Why are so many people shopping at 2pm on a Wednesday?!? So, in case you're like me and have vowed not to hit the mall again til January, I have a great idea for you. I couldn't post this earlier because I didn't want my family to see their gifts, but we delivered them at Thanksgiving.

Aren't these ornaments amazing and adorable?! I met Anne Luckey at the Coastal Kids Market--our tables were next to eachother and her mother was Adeline's happy babysitter. She does these custom ornaments from an emailed picture and ships them in a box ready to go under the tree (or on it!). These are of my nephew Liam, my brother and sister-in-law on their wedding day, my family on the day Jess came home from Iraq, and my parents and crew. She's taking orders til December 12 so go check her out!

And are you wondering why I don't also suggest a little something from Ella Bella Baby? It's because I am C.L.O.S.E.D. Ahhhh. Done. That is, until January. Here is a picture of the orders I sent out today, in production, and then ready to ship:

Sewing in my spare time

Thanks for all your ideas and advice! I loved reading them.

Now for the crafty part of the blog. I have had this Heather Ross fabric for a couple months now. I LOVE it and I just had it sitting on the dresser as I dreamed of what I would do with it. I knew it would be something for Ella to wear, but, not being a great seamstress yet, my imagination was greater than my talent. I finally picked something easy, and of course, I still had to take it a part a few times. I'm not thrilled with it, but practice makes perfect. The top is reversible, and I hope to use this through all seasons. I like it better without the cropped pants--I need to find a new pants pattern.

Look at this face! Doesn't it look like Josiah?! She looks like a baby and I love it.

We had some horse accessories from Gymboree that go perfect!

Becka's Right! It's a Candy Corn Dress

I'm still trying to get the hang of making clothes and using a pattern, so this is far from perfect. The top is a little too big and the hem is not right. But I really loved seeing Ella in something I've made. We've been eating candy corns by the tons here so that's what inspired it. Now what to make for Addie to match. . .