Pigtails

I absolutely love this picture of her!  She is growing up so fast and is turning into a little girl before my eyes!  This is a picture of her first "real" pigtails.  What can I say, I love having a little girl!

Halloween

I had great intentions this halloween to make another homemade costume but could not find a yellow rain jacket or rain boots (you'll just have to wait and see who she'll be next year)!  So, we decided to revamp last year's costume--

a hot fudge sundae

Imagine, if you will, a scoop of vanilla ice cream with a large drizzle of hot chocolate (which pools at the bottom of the bowl) along with whip cream and a cherry on top! 

The hot fudge drizzle is an old shirt of mine that I took in and cut to create "drizzles."  Although you can't see it, I weighted the drizzles with some brown beads so the material wouldn't curl up.  The tutu is about as simple to make as they come- I used this tutorial.  The whip cream hair clip is my own creation- I made a tube of white material, stuffed the front part of it with batting and curled it around itself (like a snake) to create the whip cream.  I used red felt and a little brown ribbon for the cherry.  Really easy.  Paired with a white onesie and brown pants, this costume cost me about $5.00 (for the beads and tulle).

Ever seen a hot fudge sundae go down a slide-- well, now you have!

She's a girly girl

for sure!  I love how she has (on her own) found a love for shoes and accessories!  I like to put a little thought into her clothes, but have never emphasized shoes or bows.  She takes it upon herself to do that now.  One of her first words was "shoe."

Every time we go to her room she runs for her closet of shoes and tries to put them all on.  She even asks for bows in her hair (although they rarely stay in there long).  She cracks me up this girl. 

She has accessorized herself with bows and bracelets!

Hello out there.

Sorry, I've been MIA for awhile.  No excuses really.  Just haven't had much too blog about. 

I haven't been crafting too much lately.  Although, there is one project that I'm dying to share with you-- I receive the Martha Stewart magazine and they had this neat article on creating a cross stitch portrait of your family.  I used to cross stitch all the time and thought a family portrait would make an adorable wall hanging.  So, I got out the graph paper and started drawing our family. . .  


Here is the finished product--

Oh, yes, you've noticed the little addition in yellow-- he/she will be here sometime in April!  I shall call him/her Baby L2.  I guess that little one may have prevented me from crafting and blogging recently.  We will have to do better Baby L2 if we want any readers!

Definitely more crafting to come!

Special Baby Quilt

Although, I've taken a small break from quilting I was able to create a very special quilt for a friend recently.  I used fabric from two of her baby blankets to produce a new quilt for her little girl.  I will admit that I was nervous taking someone's special treasures and cutting them apart, but I knew I could do it and create something really special in the process.

The finished product. 

Her little girl's name surrounded by applique flowers from her baby blankets.

 The center piece was an applique elephant that was the primary focus of one of her baby blankets.  I made it the center of this quilt as well.

I used pink gingham and the light pink bunny fabric from her original baby blankets and filled in with other coordinating fabric.  I did get some help from the ladies at the quilt shop and found them to be very helpful.  If you ever have questions about scale and color, ask the workers.  They know what they are talking about and it was very reassuring to get their advice.

I love the back print because it incorporates all the colors of the quilt.  The mom-to-be's designing the nursery in pink and brown and her baby blankets had light pink, yellow and turquoise colors.  I wanted to make sure all the colors were represented. 

 I also got new tags from here.  Super reasonable and very nice quality!

What do you all think?

Hello

Uh, yeah, so it's been awhile since I've updated.  Let's see, not a whole lot has happened lately except I ran the 10K MS Mud Run this past Saturday.  It was a blast!!  I think we were all super nervous the whole time because we just didn't know what to expect, but it was a blast and I would definitely do it again. 

Here we are all clean and shiny.  Our team was the "Muddy Mamas . . . It's Our Turn to Make a Mess."  Note the bows!

I'm wearing the orange bow and sliding down the mud hill.

Jumping off a 10 foot platform into muddy water. . . fun!

One of the obstacles.

6.2 miles and around 40 obstacles later . . . Here we come (I'm the one in the back waving)!  We made it!

 

People are still uploading pictures, so I'm sure there will be a few more to show.

Sorry for the long lapse.  I'm alive and I'll do better!

Our First Protest

Coraline and I experienced our first protest last month.  Without getting into too many details, my beloved Alma Mater, Peace College, which has a 154 year history of being a women's school has decided to change the name of the school and become co-educational.  I am very disappointed in the direction the college will be taking and feel very misled by the Board of Trustees. 

About 150 alumna decided to "peacefully protest" the changes by circling around the fountain, singing the Alma Mater and throwing a red rose into the fountain (a very old graduation tradition).  Tame enough for a 15 month old to attend!

She's got her red rose ready.

 Here is a picture from the N&O- I'm in there, but my head is turned away.

 Here we are singing the Alma Mater around the broken fountain and throwing in the roses. 

So beautiful!

 Got my Peace gear on and ready to throw the rose in.

 My little protester!

 Me and my friend, Susan, around the fountain.

Then it started pouring down rain.  She was totally into it!

It was so bittersweet to be on the campus and to know that it will never be the same again.  Sounds dramatic, I know, but it's hard to understand unless you went there.

Preserve Peace College's Legacy!!!

Laird's Quilt

Here is another quilt for Mr. Laird.  He's a very lucky boy to get two quilts!  One for summer/fall and one for winter/spring.  Remember this one?

Alex, Laird's mom, picked out the fabric.  I think she's got great taste!  Super modern, great colors and very boy-like.  This one had cars, surfboards, ducks and ukulele's.  Most of the fabric is from the Monaluna Circa 60 Beach Mod for Birch Fabric line and a little Joel Dewberry and Timeless Treasures.

We kept the back of the quilt very simple with a single strip of 8 x 8 fabric squares running through the back.

Some of the fabric up close.

It's another big quilt (51 x 51) so he'll be able to use it for a long time!

I have no idea what I've been doing lately that prevents me from blogging, but I sure am keeping busy around here.  I've joined a playdate meetup group and Coraline and I have been busy several times a week walking around the lake, meeting new friends, swimming and going to gymnastics!  It's been a fun summer.

(on the balance beam)

(in the foam pit)

(this was her favorite- the trampoline)

(at the pool)

I have been sewing some too.  I finished two quilts and some baby treats for a friend's baby girl, so I will post pictures in another post.

Hope I still have some readers left!!

New Outfit

I wanted to tackle a few of the cute tops that I have collected on my Pinterest site for Coraline.  There are so many cute ones to choose from! I found this material at Joann's and thought it was perfect for her.

Here is the link to the top.  I found it very easy to construct.  I followed her pattern which is for a 12-18 month size, but it was a little snug on my 15 month old, so I tried it again and added 1/4 inch all the way around the pattern and it came out to be a much better fit for her.  I made it a top, but you could easily add some length and make it a dress.

I've gotten some compliments on it, so I think it's a winner!

The bloomers are my own pattern- hopefully, I can make a tutorial for you on that soon.  However, you could do a search for bloomers or diaper covers and come up with lots of tutorials.

Happy sewing everyone!