Link Up, Buttercup!

There are so many linky parties going on all week.  That makes lots of opportunity to show off what you’re making. 
So link up, buttercup!

Mondays
Making the World Cuter Mondays-Making the World Cuter
Just Something I Whipped Up-The Girl Creative
Made By You Mondays-Skip to My Lou
Market Yourself Mondays-Sumo's Sweet Stuff
You're So Crafty Mondays-Miss Crafty Pants
Show Off Your Cottage Monday-The House in the Roses
Craftastic Mondays-Sew Can Do
Metamorphasis Monday - Between Naps on the Porch

Tuesdays
Get Your Craft On-Todays Creative Blog
Sew Cute Tuesdays-Creative Itch
Anything Related-All thingz Related
Tot Tuesdays-Delicious Ambiguity


Wednesdays
We Did It Wednesdays-Sew Much Ado
Sugar & Spice and Everything Nice-Seven Thirty Three
What I Whipped Up Wednesday - Sugan and Dots
Show & Tell-Blue Cricket Design
Show Off Your Stuff-Fireflies and Jellybeans
Power of Paint Party(POPP)-Domestically Speaking
We're Organized Wednesday-Organize Your Stuff Now
Hoo's Got Talent?-Night Owl Crafting
Whatever Goes Wednesdays-Someday Crafts

Thursdays
Strut-Your-Stuff-Somewhat Simple
Make It, Wear It-The Train to Crazy
Hookin' Up Party-House of Hepworths
Giveaway Directory-Someday Crafts
Get Your Craft On - Life as Lori

Fridays
Weekend Wrap Up Party-Tatertots and Jello
Feature Yourself Friday-Fingerprints on the Fridge
Friday Fun Finds-KojoDesigns
Look At Me-It's Fun to Craft
Home and Family Friday-Home is Where My Story Begins
Everything But the Kitchen Sink - A Little Knick Knack

Weekends
Check Me Out Saturdays-A Vision to Remember
Saturday Spotlight-Craft eNVy Scrappy Saturday-Bunch of Scrap
Pink Saturday-How Sweet the Sound
Sundae Scoop-I Heart Naptime with Chocolate Sundaes
Sunday Showcase Party-Under the Table and Dreaming
Sharing Time-Raising Memories
Sister Sister Sunday-Kuzak's Closet

In The Spirit of Keeping It Real

I'm not gonna lie.  The last week and a half could have been better. But it could have been worse, too. Shawn was traveling for work and I had a brilliant idea to do another mini makeover to surprise him.  I took on the arduous task of selecting a paint color and shopped for a shower curtain and a million other accessories for our hallway bathroom.  I even took measurements in anticipation of placing an order for one of these beauties.  Then, as I was approaching the checkout line, I thought to myself, "I'm just not into this."  So, I put everything back and left the store empty handed.
And I am so glad that I did.  My body was telling me to slow down and rest.  I was having one of those weeks where you wake up feeling almost as tired as you were when you went to bed the night before. 
My bathroom still looks like this:

But I'm okay with it.  It's not terrible.  Just a little blah and vanilla. I once had a friend describe my decorating selections as "death by almond." She's right.  I tend to go with the bland, neutral colors.  Which is surprising because I really love bold colors and sparkles.  I just get all nervous at the last minute and end up going with what's safe.  Someday I hope to use this as a "before" picture and have a stunning "after" photo to show.  (Yes, that is a toddler toilet seat and step stool covered in Mickey Mouse stickers. Just keepin' it real.)
While Shawn was gone, my mom gave us a little scare and unexpectedly spent a few days in the hospital. She's okay and finally home.  Thanks to my wonderful friends and family (you know who you are!) for the phone calls, emails, texts and for stepping in to help me manage all of the additional responsibilities that I took on while she was in the hospital and Shawn was gone.   (Aunt Chris, you go ahead and book us a day at the spa because the pedi's are on me!)
Hannah and I did enjoy some gorgeous Ohio spring weather, except for one morning of rain.  So we did what any two girls would do and put on our slickers and splashed around the sidewalk with our "brellies and wellies."  How very British of us.


I did find a little bit of time to start on a summer dress for Hannah.  Using this tutorial, I began my very first shirred dress. Actually it was my first shirred anything.  I don't know why I have been so intimidated by elastic thread!  I bought three spools of the stuff last summer and it has sat unused since.  I finally got it out and got to work. I found this adorable cherry fabric on sale for $4 per yard.  So, while Hannah napped I began this:



It really is easy to do.  And the tutorial explains step by step how to do it, starting with winding your thread by hand (very important detail!) to finishing off with a blast of steam from your iron.
Meg from A Little Knick Knack and I are going to be doing guest posts on each other’s blogs on Monday, so check out Meg’s blog to see the finished product!

Customer Appreciation: About a Boy

Because I’m mom to a girl, I don’t stray far from ruffles and dresses and pink.  So when Evan’s mom got in touch with me to make a shirt for his second birthday, I went straight to work.  Knowing that Evan is a big fan of Elmo and Sesame Street, I found a festive print fabric with the cast of characters with balloons, cakes and party hats. 

Check out the birthday boy at his party. 

Seriously, could he be any cuter?

Thanks to Evan’s mom for the great photo!

So that you keep the square

My husband travels internationally a lot.  One of his favorite things to do is find signs, hotel and tourist literature that are poorly translated into English.  When he is traveling abroad, I totally look forward to text messages containing photos such as these:

The other day, I was checking out the stats on my blog and I was surprised to see that I had over 160 hits from Turkey.  The country.  I asked Shawn if he knows anyone in Turkey and he said no.  So I started linking back to the information provided by StatCounter and found this.

Yep, it's the jewelry board that I made from a t-shirt, and it was featured on a Turkish craft blog.

Since I don't speak a lick of Turkish, I clicked on the "translate to English" button so nicely provided by Google to be able to read the post title and comments.  The post featuring my jewelry board was titled, "So That You Keep The Square."  And underneath that?  "I was nice to hang jewelry projects."

It was rather nice of me to hang jewelry projects, wasn't it?  I guess. So long as I keep the square.

Lady In Red

I have a college friend who lives in New York City. 

She moved there right after we graduated with a mere $400 in her pocket. 

She's now lived there long enough to be considered a true New Yorker.  

And she's hip enough to refer to NYC simply as "The City." 

Ya know, as in "We"ll be in Ohio for Christmas but have to be back in the city on Monday."

Recently, she sent me this picture of her totally. adorable. little beebee wearing the dress
and bloomers that I gifted to her. 

Instead of mentioning the custom embroidery job I did on the bloomers, let's just take a minute
and acknowledge what's really important here.

Oh, those delicious, yummy, chubby baby thighs!  NOM NOM NOM! 
The red beebee dress reminded me of the bridesmaid dress I wore on her wedding day in 2006. 

See? We both have a thing for "The City."
And red dresses.
And beebee thighs.

NOM! NOM! NOM!

Easter Recap

Before I became a mom, everyone told me that the holidays are so much more fun when you have kids.  They sure were right! 

2008

2009

We had a fabulous Easter.  Sunday morning we got dressed in our Easter best:

And found our Easter baskets.

We headed off to church and heard a great sermon. Then it was time for the big family celebration.  Our families really do it up at Easter!  It is just as big of a holiday as Christmas for us.  In fact, our celebration is so big that we actually rent a hall because there are so many of us that we simply won't all fit in one house!  There's tons of food, desserts and fun for the little ones. 

I love these two!

 

Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die."  John 11:25-26

Dressed to Impress

If you know me in real life, you know that last summer was spent making all kinds of clothes for Hannah.  There's just something about little girls and summery dresses!  Here's a look back at some of my favorites.

1. The Shirt Dress

Using the tutorial I found here, I took one of Shawn's shirts that he no longer wore and turned it into a sweet little dress.  At the time of this picture, Hannah was about 21 months old.  The pattern was for a 2-3T, so I had to go back and make significant alterations because she is one tiny gal.  I have since made lots more dresses for her using this same basic pattern, but making adjustments for sleeve length and such.  The joke in our house is that Shawn is going to wake up one morning and not have a shirt to wear to work because I turned them all into dresses for our daughter. 


2.  The Ruffle Sleeve Shirt

Using another fabulous tutorial by Dana, I was so happy with the way this one turned out.  I loved the brown, pink, blue and green print contrasted with the coordinating stripes.  This turned out to be a versatile piece because Hannah wore it in the summer with skirts and shorts, and in the fall, I paired it with a long sleeve shirt, jeans and boots.

3.  The Peasant Dress

Using the same basic pattern as the Shirt Dress, I adjusted the sleeve length to make this cute little dress for early fall.  I fell in love with the brown damask contrasted with pink.  Again, this dress has been worn a variety of ways - last fall with tights and a little cardigan and now that the weather is finally getting warm, it will be worn as a shirt!