She's my Sunshine.

I hope you understand when I say that I am absolutely head-over-heals, crazy in love with this kid.



How couldn't I be????

I've had a bit of a long evening/night—and then I came across this picture hiding on my point and shoot camera. And while my evening hasn't changed any, my mood regarding it has changed quite a bit.

xoxo—Lori

Busy Weekend!

I've had a weird, busy, relaxing, productive, guilt-ridden weekend. How's that for a descriptor!?? :)

The girls were invited to spend the night at their Nana's on Friday night, which meant a coffee date with my hubby, early to bed & sleeping in on Saturday morning!! This was double nice since on top of being a busy Mom, I also got sick with a cold this weekend! And the only thing worse than a cold is a cold in the springtime or summer!! It just doesn't belong.



So after a slow Saturday morning, I got busy painting what's left on the kitchen cabinets—and I've elated to report that the cabinets are now done!! We're so close to finishing that silly kitchen that I'm going to hold off on any more pictures until it is completely done. (Sorry!)



In order for me to finish that up completely, it was decided that the girls stay on another night at Nana's. (And I slept in until 10:30. 10:30!!!!! I must have been sick!) So the sleeping in was very very nice and rejuvenating. But the girls being away all weekend & only seeing them in the evenings for dinner did make me feel quite a bit guilty. Oh well. It's done. They had fun. The kitchen is ridiculously close.

Plus, I made this for Little Sister in the evenings.




If she decides she doesn't want it, I might have to just steal it for my couch!! It is definitely needing some color! Maybe I'll have to add it to my list of things to put in my etsy shop. . .if I ever get anything in my etsy shop! Good intensions . . . only a little bit of time. But I am getting close to having headbands in there. I think. I hope. . . .How about I'll let you know. :)

x0x0—Lori

Princess Birthday Party {part 4—capes}

I'm working on a tutorial for the capes I made for the party, but until I get that ready, you can see them in action.











I've heard reports from some of the parents that they can't get their kids to take them off—SUCCESS!!!

xoxo—Lori

Princess Birthday Party {part 3}

I started checking the weather for the day of the party 2 weeks in advance. Of course, it did me no good as they don't start reporting it until 10 days before! 10 days before, it was supposed to be sunny on Friday and Sunday, but rainy on Saturday, the day of the party! UGH!! I continued to watched and willed the reports to give me better news, and finally, a few days before, I was given some hope! Partly cloudy!! I'll take it!

That morning, we did wake up with some clouds, but after much finger crossing and many rounds of Mister Sun, as the time of the party rolled around, the clouds had pretty much rolled away! So happy because we do not have the largest (HA!) of all houses and kids just like to be outside!











The best big cousin ever!! My girls love this little man. . .and I do believe he has a soft spot for them.










This face just cracks me up!!










And then, just as the party was coming to a close, the clouds rolled back in and stayed for a couple of days. At least we didn't get snow like some!!

xoxo—Lori

(and yes, more pics tomorrow. You sick of them yet?)

Things Big Sister says:

While scrubbing her arms to remove her princess tattoos because of school pictures today:

"Don't wash off my Fweckle!"

me pretending to try and scrub it off

"it don't come off! it has some glue on it."

Princess Birthday Party {part 2}

Miss Birthday Girl was very excited about her presents and tried opening them right when everyone got there. I told her we needed to at least wait until Little Sis was awake from her nap, thinking that by that time she would be distracted and wouldn't be ready to stop playing for some silly pile of presents. (Yes, I'm still learning) Silly Mommy. The MOMENT I brought Little downstairs from her nap, still half-asleep, Big dove into her presents. I had to gather everyone quickly, because there was no stopping her this time. :)









Still not fully awake. . .




Our littlest princess!! (and by "our" I mean the family as a whole, not our individual family. Don't want any confusion like last time!!)










Big was so excited to have this little princess at her party; her best friend from daycare. She kept asking all morning when she was going to come!




Still more to come!!

xoxo—Lori

Big Sis's Princess Birthday Party

Sunday was Big Sister's 3rd Birthday! When did she get so big?? I asked her if she would stay little for me and she refused. *sigh. So instead, we celebrated the event with a pink princess party as was requested.

Since entering BlogLand, I have a bad habit of wanting the parties I throw to look like all the decadent parties I read about. But having realized this, I'm trying to find a balance of indulging my creative side, giving the girls a party they will remember & not driving anyone involved too crazy in my preparation! :) I think I did pretty well this time around.













I really enjoy including some sort of party favor that can be used beyond the party. For this celebration I made personalized "royal" capes as I had to think about the little boys at the party too. Somehow I just didn't think they would get much enjoyment out of tutus!! So whether they stay Prince & Princess capes in the weeks to follow, or get transformed into Super Heroes, I think they were a big hit.



Pictures from the party itself tomorrow!

xoxo—Lori

The big 3!!!

Happy 3rd Birthday to my little Big Kid!!



I LOVE YOU!!!!

(Party pictures coming soon!)

Oh what a night.

I had a great day today.

My Mom & Grandma (not the same Grandma who just had surgery. She's doing very well, but not THAT well!) are in town for the week to help us celebrate Big Sister's birthday this Sunday. So today I took the day off and the 3 of us spent the day window shopping (with a little bit of purchasing) and not doing anything that was on my to do list. A perfect day! :)
Tonight however, has been a completely different story. As I write this, Little Sister is (finally) asleep in my bed, Grandma is roughing it on a blow-up bed on my living room floor, and my Mom is camping upstairs in the Sister's room in case Big Sis wakes up and freaks out that her Little Sis isn't there after spending a few hours with her crying.

Crying? Yes. Crying.
Mom & I ran to the grocery store to gather supplies for the upcoming party right after getting the girls in bed and off to dreamland. Normally, no big deal after that. Not tonight. We came home and found Big playing in the living room. . ..??? We round the corner to the kitchen and Grandma is holding a red-faced, sobbing Little Sis. Apparently, she'd already been crying for about 45 minutes. The kind of tears that let you know something is WRONG. But as she's only 18 months old, I still don't know what. I tried everything in my Mommy arsenal with no avail, so finally I called her doctor's office hoping to talk to someone and figure out if I needed to take her somewhere now or not. Someone was supposed to call me back. . .that was about 2 hours ago. (LOVE her doctor, hate the office. . .) Luckily, I was able to finally get her to sleep, so I think she'll make it until the morning, but I still want to take her in to see her doctor. Something isn't right. (I could give you more details, but you don't want my daughter's medical chart this morning, do you?)

On happier note, I received a "Sunshine Award" today, which on a night like tonight, is always nice! Thanks Darcy!!



Please forgive me for slacking on the pass it on part. I really need to go to bed. I think I have a big day again tomorrow!

xoxo—Lori

Rosette & Headband Tutorial

I've been seeing these fabric rosettes popping up all over the place and decided I needed to learn how to make them when I saw this pillow by dwellstudio for Target. I looked at quite a few tutorials online, as well as purchased the pillow so I could see how they made/attached theirs. (I would link to those tutorials, except I took screen shots of the blog posts & now have no idea where they were located!! Sorry!!) Between all of it, I took a little bit from here and a little from there, and figured out a way that works well for me.

If you'd like to try your hand at it, here you go!!



Start with a strip of fabric that is about 4 inches wide. Here, I'm using an unbleached cotton muslin, so I cut into the fabric about 2 inches away from the cut edge and then tore the fabric the rest of the way across, making that edge "thread perfect." Then 4 inches over, I cut & tore again, giving me my 4 inch wide strip.



Fold the strip in half and press with an iron. This doesn't need to be too precise, so don't worry if your edges don't match perfectly.

Open the strip back up and, working down one side, fold the edge to the middle and press. Again, you don't have to match things up precisely.



Repeat on the other side.



Lastly, fold back in half and press one more time.



I like to do quite a few at a time so I have my strips ready whenever the urge to make a rosette hits me. (mostly when I'm watching TV or should be cleaning the house. . .)

Now you're ready to start twisting!

Here's the tricky part, and my disclaimer. From here, some of the tutorials I looked at had you wrap the fabric around a pencil or something like that. I liked having more control over it than that, but at the same time, things can get more unpredictable, so be patient and use lots of pins!!! :)



Take one end and twist it a bit so a few inches are twisted somewhat tightly into a rope. Then, start rolling it onto itself like a cinnamon roll, pinning often to keep secure.



Continue twisting, wrapping and pinning, gradually allowing your twisted rope to get looser and looser.



Continue until desired size or until you run out of fabric. :)

Secure the last flap of fabric to the back of the rosette. In the center of the rose, lightly pull your starting edge toward the back as well so that you can tack it down, too.



With a needle & thread, (and a thimble if you have one!!) start sewing! Stitch the layers together where they overlap, being careful not to let your stitches show on the front side. I like to start on the outside and work my way in, and run my needle all the way through the center "bud" several times, coming at it from several directions to ensure that it is secure.

Again, I read several tutorials that skipped this sewing step and instead opted to pull out the hot glue gun and some felt. I have a tendency to over-do things, so I don't really trust hot glue over the long run. I worry that over time the rosette will pull away from the felt. However, I do wish I could do things the "simple" way, so if you dread a needle and thread, perhaps the hot glue gun is the way to go!! (Unless you're my Mom. Then please, please, please stay away from the hot glue. You don't need the burns, nor the hot glue strings all over!!)



Now your rosette is complete, ready for all sorts of applications! I'm going to make a headband with mine though.



Cut a circle of felt about the size of your rosette. Also cut a 1 inch strip of felt the same length as your circle. Center and pin the strip to your felt circle. Stitch 1/4 inch from each side of the strip, securing to the circle, while leaving the ends open. (Alter the width if necessary to accommodate your headband of choice.)

Now, I know I just said I don't really trust hot glue, but I can't figure out a way around it! You could hand stitch your felt circle to the rosette, but then you'd have a lot of stitches that wouldn't look polished, could snag on something and wouldn't be as tight as I feel is necessary. So, pull out your hot glue gun!! :)

Put the glue on to the bottom of the rosette, not getting too close to the edges, but making sure to get pretty good coverage elsewhere. Place the felt circle with the sewn on strip facing down, onto the rosette, pressing into the glue to secure.



(This step is how I justify the hot glue!) Using your zipper foot, with the rosette facing up, sew around the perimeter of the rose, pulling back the layer of fabric directly above so that you can hide your stitches underneath, being careful not to sew the edges of the channel you made with the strip of felt closed. But, if you do, I think that's what a seam ripper is for. (And just so you know, I sewed mine closed the first time. Oops!)

(If this step sounds a bit over-kill to you, feel free to skip it. :) Remember, I like to over-do things.)



Trim your felt close to your stitches, making sure that you cannot see any of the felt from the top of the rosette.



Slip your headband in, and:



There you go! One very impressive headband!

This particular rose is quite large, so yours probably won't look this big on your headband. Also, experiment with all different colors, fabrics and if you want to have your rosettes fray a bit, cut your fabric to 2 inches, fold in half and start twisting! So many possibilities!!!

Also, if you love the look, but aren't quite the do-it-yourself-er, never fear! I will soon be listing these headbands in my etsy.com shop. (Didn't know I had one of those, did you?) I've decided it has sat unused long enough and will get things going very soon! I'll let you know for sure when it gets populated, but if you don't trust me and want to check for yourself, here's the link. One day, it will have more than rosettes and headbands, but I've got to start somewhere or I'll never start at all!

Have fun twisting and Please!! If you give these rosettes a try, send me pictures of your creation! I'd love to see them!!

xoxo—Lori

Let me know if you have questions too in the case I didn't make a step clear or whatever!