Back to School Shirts

The regular school routine has set in, and things seem to be moving along just fine. It has taken this mommy a little more adjusting than these two kiddos. 

They were both pumped and ready to go. Me, not so much.

I miss them.

The first day back broke my heart and I might have sobbed like a baby...in front of my baby...who is now a kindergartner.

My kindergartner might have shed a few tears because her mother lost it in front of her, but waited for her to leave. Such a strong little girl.

My first grader was a brave and happy little soldier. He's an old pro at this sort of thing now; in his mind's eye.

It does my heart good to see how happy they are with their teachers and their classmates. My favorite part of the day is when they get in the car at the end of the school day, smiles beaming, ready to tell me every detail of their day...competing to see who can tell the most.

Yes, I know these days are very short lived, and there will come a time when they won't say two words to me. 

I'm living in the moment and soaking it all in.

I love it.

We had a "morning of" photo shoot. This year wasn't nearly as fancy as last year's;o)

I will say that this impromptu photo shoot was a lot more fun and waaaay less stressful!!

 I made the kids' shirts to wear on their first day of school. I forgot to get good close up shots, so bear with me.

I found the fabrics from Hobby Lobby.

The shirt S.R. is wearing was created by using a pattern I had on hand. Super simple to put together, and took no time at all. I actually made it the night before school started because I am a last minute kind of gal;o)

 Here is a full view of the shirt along with a pair of shorts I found at a yard sale for $1...I really scored some awesome boutique deals that day.

This has to be one of my favorite shirts to date. I love the bright colors. Super fun!

 I asked E's permission before making his shirt. It needed to be something that didn't seem baby-ish. There is a fine line to walk when you mix applique and almost-7-year-old boys.

He approved, thankfully:o)

I made a pair of shorts to match, but when I finished them, I realized he might have been made fun of if he wore them. And we can't have anybody making fun of my sweet boy!

I haven't taken the time to make anymore clothes for them right now because we're about to head into Fall.

Hopefully I can get a few things together soon.

Summer Applique' Outfits

Summertime is in full swing around here, and boy are we busy! Between VBS, swim lessons, piano lessons(which start next week), play dates, and visiting family, there isn't a whole lot of crafting going on here lately.

I have been able to sneak in some cute little applique outfits for S.R. though:o)

She loves all of the new outfits that I have made her...thankfully!

For all of these shirts, I googled the images, and found the ones I felt would be easiest to stitch. I copied the images, pasted in Word, printed them out, and used them as the templates. 

Super quick and easy.

 Crab with coordinating shorts.

Anchor with coordinating skirt

 Butterfly with coordinating shorts

 Octopus

 Watermelon (which will have coordinating skirt)...I found this idea on Pinterest. This one is my fave!

I have received permission from E to make him some shirts, so I will share those as soon as I get them made. 

I hope you all are having a great start to your summer break!

Chevron Summer Dress

I am chomping at the bit to start working on some summer clothes for the kids. I have permission and promises from E that he will wear what I make for him...I just have to run my ideas by him first:o) Thankfully, it's a lot easier to please S.R. As long as it's girly and comfortable, she's all in!

I got really lucky the other day while in Hobby Lobby. They NEVER, and I mean NEVER have regular chevron in stock. They usually have a few duck cloth selections, but the apparel chevron is always sold out.

It was a sign...a sign that it was my chance to make a cute dress for S.R.

And here it is. A sweet little apron dress with a ruffled bodice. She loves it, and that makes me smile.

The back is gathered and the straps button on the inside of the dress. I had so much fun creating this dress, and I am ready to start working on some more!! Time for a fabric run!!

Easter Outfits-Easter Dress

We had a wonderful Easter. A time of catching up with family and friends, eating way too many delicious foods...courtesy of my mother, and remembering the resurrection of our Lord and Savior:o)

 I hope all of you had a wonderful weekend as well. 

 I gave a sneak peak on Facebook last Friday of the kids' Easter outfits. This week I will be sharing what I made for both of them.

Today's focus is on S.R.'s dress. 

Thankfully I had all the materials on hand, so this dress was completely free. Yay, for free!!

 This dress is extra special...

 All of the bead work, which was hand-sewn onto the dress(ugh!), came from my mother's wedding gown.

I took extra care in making sure that this dress will last, so that we can hopefully pass this on to my brother and sister's "someday" children:o)

The bead work went across the bodice...

and across the bottom of the skirt.

 Here's a quick look at the back. An extra long sash for the finishing touch.

 My children are carbon copies of the hubs and me...even down to how we take our pictures...it scares me how much my daughter is like me;o)

 Every once and a while we can get E to loosen up as well:o)

Come back for a closer look at E's Easter Vest and Bow Tie....

Participating here:

Fairy Tea Party

We celebrated S.R's birthday over the weekend in fun fairy fashion.

All of the girls seemed to have a fabulous time with the fairy jewel hunt, the impromptu dance party and the goodies to snack on.

Everything came together like it always does...at the last minute when I feel as if I will collapse at any second:o)

 

The invitations.

pardon the white-outs...we all like just a tad bit of privacy:o) 

I usually email invitations, but this time I decided to print the invitations and mail them. 

I thought the fairy digital clip art was adorable.

All of the girls were to come dressed in their "fairy best". S.R. wanted me to make her a Queen Clarion costume. I used the Charlotte Apron dress as my base and built on top of that. It was a pretty quick sew, even with all of the extra details. 

And yes, that is snow falling in the background...it very rarely snows here, so we had to grab a quick shot outside. S.R. was a trooper, though, because she was freezing:o)

We kept the food simple for this party. Homemade vanilla cupcakes, homemade chocolate doughnuts, meringue cookies from Publix and Strawberry Lemonade.

The little fairy cupcake toppers came from Marshall's...a clearance score.

  The girls used these bags to gather their fairy treasure.

I'll share a tutorial on that soon.

Nothing says spring time and fairies like fresh flowers...especially tulips!

I'm so glad I caught this shot. Apparently "Happy Birthday" is one of the funniest songs ever:o)

This was the party favor table.

When it was time for the girls to leave, they took home one of these yogurt cups filled with bubble gum and a star lollipop. That idea came from the House of Smith's. That party was beautiful, and it definitely inspired several of the choices for this party!!

I also made this little outfit for her to wear under her fairy costume. You can find the tutorial on how to make the hopscotch skirt here.

We had a wonderful time celebrating turning 5! Thanks for stopping by today!

5 Year Old Birthday Outfit

My sweet S.R. is turning 5 in just a few days.

She asked for a special dress for her fairy tea party (a Queen Clarion dress to be exact).

The dress has been made, and she squealed when she saw it...the reaction every mother wants when she's worked so hard to make her little girl happy:o)

When I was searching for the fabric for the fairy dress, I came across some fairy knit fabric in purples and pinks. S.R.'s two favorite colors. I was slightly hesitant about purchasing it because my last experience with knits was quite disastrous. 

 I will have to say, this little skirt was much easier than I expected:o)

The hopscotch skirt is now my new favorite skirt to make...I think I'll be making one for myself now:o) I followed a super easy tutorial, and you can find it over at iCandy handmade.

I can't wait for the celebration:o) It's going to be so much fun!! I just hope that the snow they are calling for will hold off until after our guests return home safely:o) 

Have a great weekend, and I will see you back here next week with the details of the fairy tea party:o)

Our First Christmas Craft of the Season

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! We surely did!!

We got back home on Friday, so there was plenty of time to get settled and relax a bit before starting the work/school week.

The holiday baking has begun, so I have to make sure I keep my running shoes broken in, or I'll be asking Santa for the next dress size up;o)

 Our first Christmas craft was peppermint Christmas trees.

 Thing 1 & 2 worked very hard at unwrapping many many peppermint discs...most made it on the trees...a few ended up in their bellies:o)

We started with tacky glue, but that was a bust..wet glue and sugary candy aren't a good mix..so we had to pull out the hot glue gun.

 I did all of the gluing, but this was a craft that required all hands on deck, so they didn't get bored with me doing the work. We had a lot of fun crafting, snacking, and listening to Christmas music.

Oh yeah, there was a wedding over Thanksgiving holiday:o)

Here are a few shots of the kids in their outfits I made.

 I am so blessed.

We went a head and started Elf on the Shelf...it's been hysterical!

We might have waited a little too late to start it..6 year olds are a little harder to convince of such things, but it's been absolutely too much fun trying:o)

I plan on taking pictures of our trees today. Hopefully I will get them posted tomorrow!!!