Summer PJ's {Kids Clothes Week}

If you sew for your kids, you probably already know this week is Kids Clothes Week. It's a challenge to spend at least an hour a day on sewing for your kids before the next season. It's such a great motivator to get things done, especially when you follow what everyone else is making. I wish I had time to make some amazing outfits, but for now, I'm thrilled to just get summer PJ's done.

Pretty soon my girls aren't going to be able to wear their long flannel pj's anymore. Summer nights can be brutal in our old, tall house, even with central air. They would be good with a giant, old t-shirt, but I like to have at least one cute pair of pj's for them.

As usual they were matching. I made all the pants, repurposed one of my old T's for Lydia and simply embellished the tanks for the other two. I know my limits.

They waited patiently all week to finally wear them to bed.

In addition to the pj's I also refashion some shorts for Jefferson and a skirt for Clair. Sorry no pictures. If you want to see what other mom's are making you can check out the blog HERE, or the flicker group HERE or search the hashtag #kidsclothesweek.

Library Reading Nook {a HGTV Home Fabric review}

When I was asked to review the new line of HGTV Home Fabrics from JoAnn's, I couldn't say yes fast enough. As soon as I saw the fun bold print they sent me, I knew what I was going to do with it. 

It's a project I've had on my bucket list for years, and was thrilled to finally get it done. 

I have a real library in my house. It is charming but TINY. Like seven feet by seven feet, you probably have a closet bigger than my library, tiny.

Despite being tiny, it has a 10ft ceiling with shelves running the whole way up. It may be full of old books, that no one wants to read, but it's still one of my favorite things about my house. 

Sandwiched between to bookcases on one of the walls is a bench, that has been begging for a cushion and some pillows. 

So I conquered my fear of pipping and zippers and finally gave this space the justice it deserves. 

This fabric turned out to be perfect for the space for two big reasons. One, it's super durable. I'm pretty sure it can handle all five of my kids. Second, It combines the neutral colors I have in the rest of my house with a fun pop of color, so the kids are drawn to it. 

In fact the kids can't get enough of it.  

Once I put in the cushion and pillows I knew we needed something on the wall. Since a frame would be in the way, I went with vinyl and this fun saying. I don't think kids can hear their loved enough. 

A big thanks to HGTV and JoAnn's for helping me get this done. You have to check out all the gorgeous prints and patterns they released.

Right now through May 4th, all HGTV fabrics are 50% off AND you can also use the following coupon with your purchase, for extra savings.

a Matchy Match Easter

I got away with another year of matching dresses for Easter.

I wasn't planning on it, but fell in love with this rainbow seersucker. The next thing I knew I was buying five yards of it.

Lydia's dress was a nightmare. I have a hard time drafting my own sleeve patterns so I decided to use a vintage pattern. The pattern had the cutest pictures on the front, but didn't sew up anything like the pictures. I think it will be the last time I use a vintage pattern. I had to unpick, recut and resew it several times to get the fit I wanted.

Kate's dress started out as Clairs, but became Kate's when I realized the bodice fit her better than Clair. This may be one of the only benefits of sewing for more than one girl.

Clair's dress was my favorite and by far the easiest to make. She loved the way it twirled.

They loved being different but still matching.

I wanted so badly to make ties for the boys but simply didn't have time. I barely got the dresses done, sewing a zipper in late the night before.

I'm sure we look super cheesy to many, but I can't help myself. I blame my mom.

I'm linking to Girl Inspired and Here

Peacock Birthday

My darling Kate turned 6 yesterday and she requested a peacock theme for the celebration. Honestly I was a little scared when she made the request a few weeks ago. I'd never seen a peacock birthday and wasn't feeling very creative. I've never said no to a request and I'm glad I didn't this time because we were both thrilled with how everything turned out.  Once again we celebrated with a simple family dinner and cake, but I tried to make it special. 

Her birthday outfit:

 If you look close you can see all the peacockish designs in the fabric.  

 My favorite part of the outfit was her headband. She was so excited to wear a real peacock feather. 

The decorations:

 I kept is pretty simple with just a couple of tissue paper tassel garlands...

 and some chalk art. 

 I was pretty proud of my late night peacock drawing. 

The cake:

This cake reminded me a lot of the blue bird cake I did a couple of years ago.  

I love doing fun whimsical shapes on cakes.  

While Kate loved the outside of the cake, the rest of us were loving the inside. I hate to brag but this cake was pretty dang good. It was super moist with three layers of chocolate ganache inside. YUM. 

I sure love this girl. I think we are the most alike of all my kids. She is the middle child and kinda takes care of herself. She seeks out attention by doing good things not acting out. 

Some things I want to remember: She requested Ramen noodles for dinner, luckily I talked her into spaghetti noodles with alfredo. And she came home from school with a birthday present from a boy, her "boyfriend".

I'm linking to Girl Inspired and Here

A Royal Birthday

 My baby girl turned 4. It was a bitter sweet birthday for me. She chose Disney's newest princess, Sofia the First, as a theme.  Even though I'm not a big fan of the whole disney princess thing, I've tried to embrace it over the last 8 or so year for the sake of my girls. During my preparations, I realized that this would probably be the last time I did a princess themed party. I thought I would be thrilled and I am, but a small part of me was sad that I've reached the end of a phase.  

I shouldn't really call our little celebration a party. We simply had a family dinner and cake, but it was perfect. 

My little princess, I think she looks just like Sofia.

I decorated the house the night before so she would be surprised when she woke up. My husband thinks I'm crazy when I decorate for a small family dinner, but I love making things magical.

I was so excited about this Sofia bunting, she didn't even notice it with all the balloons on the floor. 

I usually make a special outfit for birthdays. I debated on making a real sofia dress or a simple dress she  could wear to church and school. I went with a Sofia-inspired dress. While I was sewing it up, she kept telling me I was making it all wrong and it didn't look like Sofia's. I was worried, but turns out she loves it and won't take off. 

There has been a lot of twirling. 

The Crown Jewels

The Cake

I love how it turned out. I'm so grateful to my sister who showed up and helped decorate. As always, I had way more on my plate than I planned, and it wouldn't have been finished on time without her. 

I used Wilton Sugar Sheets for the flowers. I got mine at Walmart. I'm a big fan. In fact, I've used them with my Silhouette before too.

I love the tufting and pearls on the top layer. 

Lucky for me we live by a Disney store, I used the sofia from a figure set for the topper.  

I think I'll enjoy every last moment of her being a princess before it ends.

Linking to {You Inspired}, {Make It Wear It}

{sweet} baby cakes

I love it when good things happen to good people, to much of life is unfair. After 12 years of waiting, one of my dear friends was finally able to start a family through adoption.  It was a miracle and happened suddenly, so some friends and I whipped up a shower over the weekend.

Of course I had to dress up the mantle for the affair.

First, I made this painted burlap banner.  It's a project I've wanted to try for a while and I love how it turned out. 

Once I was done with the banner, I had all this leftover paint and just wanted to use it on something. That is when I remembered some wood blocks I had from a past project. I used my western stamp set for the letters. It wasn't necessary but turned out to be a nice gift for baby.  

Does my sign look familiar? I used it HERE. It used to say FAITH but I altered the lettering a little. If you look close you can see what was erased and what I kept.

I got a new chalk marker since my old one ran out. I don't think I can tell you enough how much I love chalk art and these chalk markers. AMAZING.  

The drink station. We served a mint lime punch and pretty flavored water. 

I'm loving multi layered bunting right now. I found a package of oblong paper doilies that were perfect and altered my SPRING banner to spell out the new baby's name.  I think I put about 30minutes total into all four banners. 

Since it was a late-afternoon open house, we stuck with simple finger foods and a few desserts, including my favorite mint brownies. 

The invite. I was able to make these up in minutes using my FREE Silhouette Studio software. If you are like me and don't own photoshop it's a great way to design and print your own invitations. I've told you about it in the past, but wanted to give it another shout-out.

It was nice to celebrate something so wonderful and exciting.

HERE is a list of parties I link to.