Lounging around

We're kicking back some and relaxing over here :) I'm taking advantage of my unemployment (which hopefully won't be much longer) and spending as much time as I can with my kids. There have been many trips to the playground, parks, and shopping trips to the mall. I'm loving it. Well, most of it. Seriously, how do all of you stay-at-home moms do it everyday?? I love my kids more than anything, but sometimes when they both throw simultaneous tantrums, I forget their cuteness and want to hand them over to the daycare for a couple hours so I can have some peace and quiet, or at least go to the bathroom by myself.

Connor is such a mama's boy, which I LOVE, but I'm not so much a fan of how he has to follow me absolutely everywhere. A girl just needs to go to the bathroom by herself sometimes, you know? I'm sure we'll laugh about it someday, but he's just so clingy lately. I'm sure a lot of it is related to the fact that he's 18 months, but mama's, please tell me that he won't always scream bloody murder when I walk into the other room? I don't remember my 3-year-old ever being this clingy. I keep telling myself to enjoy it while I can, which I do for the most part, but it's really difficult for others to take care of him when he's having a meltdown.

But then I snap a picture of him like the one above where he's lounging on the couch with his pants unbuttoned, eating chips and watching TV, and all of those tantrums melt away in my mind and I see my sweet little snuggly boy. Who am I kidding? I love that he's a mama's boy.

Oh and my big news that I've been hinting around about will be announced next Monday :) I can't wait to share what I've been up to!

Spongebob Squarepants dress

A friend of mine (the one I made the Hospital Survival Kit for last year) recently asked me to make a dress for her daughter for her first birthday. She loves Spongebob Squarepants, so of course the party had to be Spongebob-themed and you can't have a Spongebob party without the proper attire. She wanted a girly version of Spongebob's outfit, so I immediately thought of Ashley's tutorial on how to turn a onesie into a bubble dress on Make It and Love It. I liked the idea of using a onesie rather than a regular t-shirt because they're longer and also because I could still incorporate the general idea of Spongebob's outfit but make it girly by adding a gathered bottom and sparkly tie.

I used fabric paint with glitter in it for the tie (not sure if you can see the glitter well in the picture above, but it's there!) and used freezer paper to paint it on the shirt in the shape of a tie.

I also made a simple bow hair clip with some red ribbon that I had.

How cute is she??

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Signing off for now

It's time for me to sign off for awhile! We're making the big move this week, but our internet is officially cut off as of yesterday (I had to preschedule this post) so I will be without internet for awhile and won't be able to write on the blog until we move and get settled in. I'm just glad I have my iPhone to get my Pinterest fix on the drive :)  In just a few short days we'll be hauling a giant truck, 2 babies and a whoooooole bunch of stuff 14 hours away to live Pennsylvania. After that, it's nothing but unpacking and settling in with family until we can find new jobs and adjust.

We've been trying to explain the move to Haley over the past few weeks so that she's prepared for the big change. We've been here since she was only 3 months old, so Tennessee has basically been her home for her whole little life. We also have big plans to enroll Haley in preschool when we get there among other things. Patrick and I laugh about it because Pennsylvania has become this magical place where all fun things happen. Haley latches onto bits and pieces of what we've been telling her, then retells it to us at bedtime.

"We pack up allllll of our stuff into a big truck and we go see Yia Yia and Papa! And no more Haley's house. And we see friends, and go to the BIG screen and see Brave, and go to dance school, and go SWIMMING!"

I love how flexible young kids are, they can adjust so easily. Especially with promises of trips to the pool :) So it's goodbye for now, to Tennessee and to my wonderful readers. And hello to a new chapter in our lives!

Glitter fireworks (kid's activity)

Happy 4th to everyone! We're enjoying a relaxing day at home today (which basically translates to "we're doing a lot of nothing and the kids are bored.") Haley's finally at the age when I can take her to see fireworks and she won't be completely terrified (we'll test that theory out tonight :) so I'm looking forward to that later.

To get her prepared, I've been letting her watch videos of fireworks on YouTube. She loves all the colors, so I thought up a quick activity to do with her today - glitter fireworks! I saw this tutorial on The Mother Huddle for making fireworks out of pipe cleaners and thought it'd be perfect for a quick project. Yep, we're working with glitter, so get out your vacuum because it can get messy :)

You'll need:

• Craft glue
• Glitter
• Paper
• Pipe cleaners

First, Make a firework out of pipe cleaners by twisting them together and fanning out the bottom. Then, squirt some glue onto a paper plate and dab your pipe cleaner firework into it. Use your firework to stamp some glue onto a piece of paper, then let your child sprinkle on glitter to their little heart's desire.

Shake off the excess and repeat to make as many fireworks as you want.

Happy 4th everyone!

Quick Guide Giveaway

***This giveaway is now closed***

When my daughter was born 3 years ago, I lay in my hospital bed holding my new little baby with a swarm of questions buzzing through my head. How often do I change her? What do I do if she's fussy and won't calm down? What if she gets a fever? It was exhausting trying to figure out all of the "what if's" while functioning on very little sleep. As a new mom, I wanted to be the best one I could, but I still had so much to learn. 

Three years and two kids later, I can say I made it through babyhood and can answer most baby questions like a seasoned vet. But I venture to say most new mom's feel just as I did - excited but a little scared and full of a lot of questions. Luckily for all of us, Lianne, a mother of four, answered all of those questions for us an compiled them in a postcard-sized booklet for easy reference. 

Lianne's Quick Guide booklet is a comprehensive guide for parents of children ages 0-6 months old. It covers all of the basics from newborn care to basic development questions and everything in between. The booklet is small, so it's easy to pack in a hospital bag or purse, and would make a great gift for any new parent (I sure wish I had one when I had my daughter!)

Lianne has offered to give away one of her quick guides to one of my readers (even all of my wonderful international readers :) so that you can keep it for your own reference, or maybe gift it to a friend (hello baby shower!)

To enter, just do one (or both) of the following:

1. Tell me why you would like a Quick Guide

2. Give me one question or subject that you would like to know more about

Please make sure you leave your email address in your comment if it's not linked to your profile so I can contact you if you win! The giveaway will be opened until midnight on June 28th CST, and the winner will be announced here the next day.

And, even if you don't win, Lianne is selling her book in paperback or PDF form on her website for only $7.95, so go grab a copy!

A jersey skirt

I spent this weekend picking stitches. It was funny really (well not at the time) but it became my unofficial motto.

It all started with the idea to make a maxi dress out of 3 different shirts. Maxi dresses are really in right now, and I had this grand idea for a really cute striped version. I started Friday night and I clipped and sewed and measured and got my pieces ready to piece the next day. Saturday, I started piecing my maxi dress. It became increasingly obvious that the dress was going to be skin tight, but I pushed on because I refused to let my hard work go to waste. My husband stood in the hallway and said, "how are you going to squeeze into that??" Sigh.

Unpick unpick unpick.

Part of the pieced dress became a top, the other part would be a skirt. I tried on the top. The pieced parts just didn't look right.

Unpick unpick unpick.

I salvaged the parts I could and went to work making the bottom part into a skirt for myself. I tried it on. Too tight.

Unpick unpick unpick.

So, many hours, and many tries later, my maxi dress-shirt-skirt became a jersey dress for Haley. Here's Ms. Cheesypants modeling it.

You'd think one of these days I'd learn my lesson, or learn to buy a pattern. Stubborn me. It really is a cute skirt though, I'm thinking I might have to make a tutorial for this one soon. I'm definitely staying away from maxi dresses for awhile though :)

Haley pranced and twirled around outside in her new skirt as I snapped pictures with promises of coloring with sidewalk chalk.

   

Connor joined in too, but he had other ideas for the chalk. Everything automatically goes into this boy's mouth.

Even with all the stitch picking, it was still a nice relaxing weekend with no big plans It's nice to have those once in awhile.

The Caroline Dress

I'm a sucker for little girls' dresses, not that my daughter needs anymore dresses. I'm pretty sure my 3-year-old has more clothes then me, and DEFINITELY more dresses than me. When I was her age, I only wore dresses when my mother forced me into them on Sundays. These days, I'm only too happy to make my daughter wear them as much as possible until she realizes how comfortable jeans and t-shirts are over frilly girly dresses. And before she catches Bieber fever.

Sigh.

I actually made this dress for Haley for Easter and mentioned it in this post, but I'm excited to share it with you! I've been dying to try my hand at making a dress with a crossover front, and I'm happy to say this dress turned out pretty darn awesome. In fact, I couldn't get Haley to take the dress of after church. That is what we call a win.


Supplies (based on 3t/4t size):

• 1 yard cotton fabric
• 1/2 yard coordinating fabric 
• Paper to make your pattern
• Shirt that fits your child well to make the pattern
• 3 buttons
• Disappearing ink marker
• Sewing machine and sewing supplies

Step 1: Draft and cut out your pattern pieces.

First, you'll need to make your pattern. I made my pieces by first laying out a shirt that fits my daughter and drawing around it to make two bodices.

Next, I drew a line from the neckline to the armpit to make the crossover bodice. For the back piece, I just cut my pattern piece down the middle.

Step 2: Join your pieces.

Now to cut out your pattern pieces. You need 2 of each piece, a front and a back for each since the bodice has a lining. You can do this easily by folding your fabric with the right sides together and cutting out your pattern pieces, giving you 2 of each. You'll end up with 4 front bodice pieces (a front and a lining for each) and 4 back pieces (a front and a lining for each.) When you cut out your 4 back pieces, make sure to add 1 inch to the center of each for the button placket. Make sense?

Place your pieces with the right sides together and sew along the lines indicated below. You'll be leaving your shoulders and bottom of each unsewn.

Turn your pieces right side out and iron.To make the next steps easier, I numbered each of the pieces. The two front bodice pieces are 1 and 2, and the back pieces are 3 and 4.

First fold the raw edge of the open shoulder of 1 inside itself and iron so that the raw edge is enclosed inside. Insert the shoulder piece of 3 inside 1 as shown below, and pin and sew straight across to finish. Repeat with pieces 2 and 4.

Here's how your finished bodice should look after the shoulders have been joined. Match up the side pieces of your front bodice. Your back pieces should overlap an inch to account for the button placket.

(Not shown) at this point, you should fold your bodice onto your back piece with the right sides together and match up the sides. Sew so that sides of the front and back of your bodice are now joined.
 

Step 3: Make your bottom panel.

Determine how long your bottom panel will need to be and subtract 2 inches. Now, measure the length of your bodice and multiply by 2. Cut two pieces of fabric this length and width from your for the bottom of your dress. Also cut 2 strips of fabric this same length and 3 inches wide for the accent fabric at the bottom.

Attach your fabric strips to the bottom of your panels by placing the pieces right sides together and pinning. Sew to attach and serge or zig zag the raw edges where the panel and accent fabric were joined. After the accent fabric has been added, hem the bottom of your piece to hide the raw edge. Repeat with your other fabric strip and panel.

Now you'll need to gather your fabric. Sew a basting stitch (the longest length and width on your machine) straight across the top of your panel. Gather the fabric until your panel is the same width of your bodice. Repeat with the other panel, and then place the two pieces right sides together and sew up the sides so you have a tube. You could also make pleats instead (which is what I ended up going back and doing when I made the dress a little too big!)

Step 4: Attach your bodice to the bottom of your dress.

You should have 2 main pieces now, your bodice and the bottom of your dress. To attach the two, first make sure your bodice is right side out and the bottom of your dress is inside out. Also make sure that the back pieces are folded over correctly (left side should be overlapping right) and pin in place.

Insert your bodice into your gathered tube and match up the raw edges. Pin all the way around and sew. Finish your edges by serging or zig-zagging.

Now just make your button holes and sew on your buttons!

Now you have a new pretty spring dress (or an Easter dress in my case :)

This is actually the first dress I made for Haley that she's refused to take off. That does a mama's heart good.

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Trouble

(Source)

Exhibit A:

Here's a tip: when your son is alone in his room and he's quiet for a little too long, you should probably go investigate. Chances are, he probably found the baby powder and decided to shake it all over his room. And his head. and the floor.

Check out the baby powder line on his head, I don't even know HOW he managed to do that. And if you look closely, you can see that it's even on his pacifier!

Oh this boy, he's the funniest little, dirt-covered noisy mess I know.

Easter

I hope everyone had a great Easter yesterday! Since the closest family is 13 hours away, we had a nice relaxing Easter with just the 4 of us. We went to church in the morning, then had an Easter egg hunt in the back yard afterward.

Connor didn't quite understand what he was supposed to do. He ran around the yard with one plastic egg, throwing it on the ground every few minutes. That freed Haley up to get pretty much all of them. Which was fine with her :)

I guess this is also an unofficial sneak peek to a dress tutorial I'll be sharing with you soon :) I've been wanting to make a dress with a crossover bodice for awhile, so a week before Easter I whipped this baby out. Haley loved it too, she wouldn't take it off when we got home from church! That's a win in my book.

After the egg hunt, I thought it'd be nice to get a picture with both kids together since those are so rare. It didn't go well.

Haley was a perfect angel, but Connor ended up doing this most of the time.

I got Haley by herself and she cheesed it up for me :) This kid is going to be a singer or a TV show host, I'm sure of it.

Eventually I got a semi-smile from Connor. I'll take it!

All in all, it was a great Easter weekend. How was yours?