Baby Shower

I helped out with a baby shower yesterday for a wonderful friend who had her second child. I reused the purple and pink bunting I used at the Tea Party and made some little purple cupcake toppers featuring Baby Sally from the classic Dick & Jane stories. I scanned in an image from one of our books, printed it onto cardstock, cut them out and glued onto toothpicks. I also wanted to show off this beautiful fruit pizza my friend Kelli whipped up. Its made with sugar cookie dough and was such a hit.

Project Runway Rant

Is it just me or is this season of Project Runway a big letdown? I have been a die hard fan of the show since the first season but I am having a really hard time getting into it this time around. None of the designers stand out from the group. Last season's winner, Christian, was amazingly talented and a clear winner based on his designs throughout the competition. None of the garments made thus far have really impressed me. I am not feeling much incentive to keep watching. And the decision to cut Emily instead of the extremely dull and drab designer, Jennifer...Really?

Yikes...

Dressing Up and Pretend Tea

Today we hosted our girls Dress-Up Tea Party. These things never quite go as planned, but I think everyone had fun. We had a few shy ones and a few who blossomed at our fashion show and struck up a few poses on the runway. Playing salon was also a hit and the girls showed off their polished pink toenails. I was most impressed by their enthusiasm for our little craft project. I cut out paper dolls, braided and sewed on yarn hair, and prepared little paper clothing for the dolls. The girls each received a doll with a shirt and tutu and used their gluesticks to dress the doll and embellish her clothes with buttons. They were very creative in coloring faces on the dolls as well and using the buttons for eyes. I just loved the finished product. Overall, I think our event was a success.

No Boys Allowed

Jane loves reading her Fancy Nancy books and is very much into dressing up. This combination inspired me to put together a little Dress-Up/Tea Party for a few of her little friends. The party is on Monday so we've been spending some time preparing for the event.

The Agenda:

Play Dress-Up

Put on a Fashion Show

Pretend Salon: Paint Toenails

Craft: Decorate Dress Up Doll

Tea Party/Lunch

The Menu:

Fancy PB&J

Apples with Dip

Pink Swirly Cupcakes

Pretend Tea (Pink Lemonade)

The theme is pink and purple (as girly as it gets) so I sewed a little bunting using pink and purple fabric scraps. I also cut out paper butterflies and attached them to drink straws (a little unconventional for tea I realize; but very sophisticated for three to five year olds).

I also put together some little goodie bags for the girls and made everyone a flower button barrette to take home (a take on these button bobby pins).

Mama's Cafe

The kids like to eat breakfast and have snacks at their little IKEA table. My mom painted it white for us and I made a fitted oilcloth tablecloth. Perfect for wiping up kids messes. I also made up some play Menus to use at our pretend restaurant, Mama's Cafe. I am the server each morning and the children are referred to as sir and mam. The menu isn't anything fancy. I just typed it up in Word, used some Clipart and laminated it to last. There is a menu for breakfast and one for lunch and they both feature foods we eat on a regular basis (at very reasonable prices, I might add).

Favorite Simple Sewing Projects

Here are a few of my favorite sewing projects I've come across recently. I am dying to make a little pillowcase dress for Jane like this very chic dress from Habitual. I also those super cute fabric covered buttons that are so popular these days. Now if only I had more time.

















































1. Easy Beach Bag from Martha Stewart Craft of the Day
2. Book Cozy from One More Moore
3. Tomato Pin Cushions from Martha Stewart Craft of the Day
4. Chic Girls Pillowcase Dress from Habitual
5. Button Top Brads from Laura Gunn

Favorite Printables

My favorite free printables (as of late) include:

Girly bookplates by Emily Martin of The Black Apple via Craftsanity











Simple Gift Book Plates from Nested

















Lovely To-Do Lists from A Little Hut via How About Orange

Runway Recap

I am so glad to have Project Runway back in my life. Let me tell you how I rated the first week's challenge:

Totally fab:


































Totally drab:


































I think the judges were pretty much right on. I'm not sure if I would have chosen Kelli as the winner but I did think that she thought outside the box more than some of the other contestants. I really like Daniel's cup dress as well. And poor Jerry didn't stand a chance. Yikes. I was glad to see Austin Scarlett make an appearance as guest judge. I loved him on the first season.

I must also add that the contestants are quite diverse as always. I am a bit scared of Blaine's tan and his lingo and what's going on with Wesley's tight pants and short shorts? I am predicting greatness for Daniel, Kelli, Kenley and Korto. We'll see. I do have to say that I love Kenley's personal style and wouldn't mind having her design a dress for me.

Kitchen Remodel

Jane's little pink kitchen has become a permanent addition to our little hallway play area and I decided to fix up this spot a bit to give it a more finished look. It still doesn't look like a Pottery Barn Kids catalogue page; but I think the addition of the oilcloth splat mat, framed birdie pictures and kids artwork on the wall definitely improve the space. I would love to hear suggestions on what else I can do to fix up this little spot.

BEFORE












AFTER














I decided to do a little housekeeping as well and organized the play food in little storage boxes (fruits and veggies, meat and eggs, etc) to keep my crazy boy from ransacking the fridge and pulling out all of the food.