Summer Dress

I made this dress! Yes, me, I made this dress! Can you tell that I'm really proud of myself.  I am thrilled with how it turned out.  When I bought this fabric I had no intention of ever putting them together but they really are made for each other.

I found the tutorial here at Lil blue boo.  She has many other wonderful tutorials that I also want to try.  The dress only took me about an hour to make. It is going to be perfect when Summer finally comes along.

I was even happy with how straight my lines were. I don't think that it looks home made at all and I would be proud to tell anyone who asked that I made it.

I also made one for Amie and one for Haylie but I don't have pictures of them yet.

Enjoy.

Quiet

If you have children you know that when everything is quiet you start to wonder what trouble your children are getting up to.  The other day I was busy doing something when I realized that Haylie wasn't in the house.  I hadn't seen or heard her in awhile so I thought I better go check on her. Our back down is often wide open, even in winter, so the kids can go in and out as they please. Haylie loves it outside so I headed for the back door.  I could hear someone walking around and things moving so I quietly peeked out the window.

There she was happily playing all by herself.  I stayed hidden because I just wanted to see what she was getting up to.  She was pushing the baby stroller around collecting things.  She picked up flowers, rocks and other bits a pieces.  Sometimes she would study something for a long time before finally putting it in her stroller and moving on.  Sometimes I wish I could hear what they are thinking.  They get so fascinated by the smallest things, things that we take for granted.  

It wasn't long though before she spotted me and came to say hello and show me all the things that she had found.

Sometimes it would be nice to be a kid again and have no cares in the world and just explore the world around us.

Catch Up

I know, it's been awhile since I have posted. Things have been very busy around here.  Here is a quick look at some of the things I have been up to.

Caitlyn celebrated her 3rd Birthday. She wanted a pick Dora cake so I made a pink and white Marble Cake and got one of those icing cake toppers. Quick, easy and very yummy.  She wanted a Dora bike for her birthday and after much looking around I found one at Target. Now we just have to teach her to ride it!

Amie finally started school. She has been ready for so long. She loves her teacher and has been doing really good. She loves it when it is her Sharing day and she can take something along to show her classmates.  She is enjoying reading her reader every night and never lets me forget about it.

Caitlyn had Zoe and Monika over for a Tea Party to celebrate her birthday. It was nice for them to just play together with no other big kids around for a change.  We made necklaces out of fruit loops and we did colouring.  They all wanted to help Caitlyn blow out her candles!

I've been working on a few different craft projects. These canvases are for Caitlyn's and Amie's room.  I'm really happy with how they turned out.  I'll show more about these later.

I also made this for my sister's new baby. I think that it turned out really cute.  The frame was originally black so I painted it white. It took a bit of fiddling around in Photoshop but I'm so happy with how it turned out.

I've also been doing a few other craft projects but I haven't taken any pictures yet.

Family Snaps

It's been awhile since we took some family photos. Seriously, I mean a long time. So when the kids were all dressed up for church on Sunday (In their new clothes) I decided it was a perfect opportunity to get some quick photos.

This was the best group one I could get.  Haylie just wanted to get down and the others kept looking at her. I still think it's cute though. I still hadn't done Lachlan's hair at this point so just ignore it!

Before Lachlan was ready, Buzz was teaching him how to tie his tie and shoelace's, I got this snap of the girls.  Again, Haylie did not want to sit down and Caitlyn was being ever so helpful!

Here is my gorgeous Amie. She is getting more grown up by the day. After the school holidays she starts school. Very exciting!

Then there is the beautiful Caitlyn! If Amie is looking grown up then Caitlyn definitely is!  She turns 3 in a few days. When we got this dress she loved it but when we put it on to get ready she got all upset and didn't want to wear it because it didn't 'dance'. Amie was twirling round the lounge room with her dress swinging out making Caitlyn very upset. In the end I told Caitlyn that she could wear when of my necklaces. She was happy with that and that is why she is wearing pearls.  Well, when Amie saw Caitlyn wearing a necklace she burst into tears and said that she wanted one too. So I found another necklace and all was calm again!  I can't wait until they are teenager's, Not!!

I'm a bit late is posting about this but I wanted to show you how easy it is to make a really meaningful gift. Amie graduated from Kindy at the end of Term 2. She enjoyed it the moment that she started there.  her teacher has been the same for the whole time.  Every day when Amie would go in she wouldn't do anything until she had said hello to Carolyn. Anyway, i wanted to give her something to show how much I had appreciated, and Amie had enjoyed, having her as a teacher.

Here she is with Carolyn getting her bag of stuff (Certificate, book and CD of photos) ready to jump into school.

After looking around on the internet for a bit I found the perfect gift.  Amie and I went a chose a plant. She liked this one because it has pink flowers.

Amie chose the ribbon and helped by putting the stars on the pot.  She liked this ribbon because it had butterflies on it.
I took a photo of her and using Photoshop Highlighted her face and added the text "Thank you for helping me grow".
We also gave her a box of M&M's with a cute poem. I can't remember it now though, but it went through a bunch of colours and gave them a meaning.
Carolyn loved it all. We will miss her but since we are still at the same school we will still get to see her. Also, next year Caitlyn starts Kindy!  I hope she is still there!!

More Craft Ideas

So here are some more craft things that I have been trying.  I am really happy with how they turned out.  They are going to be for Amie's bedroom.

The first one is a magazine or book holder.  Buzz had a couple of black ones that he wasn't using anymore so I covered the back and sides with this cool wrapping paper I found (I'm into spots at the moment).

I them made this tag to go on the front. Originally I was going to make a label saying 'Books' but I love how it ended up. This way it can be for anything. Books, magazines, colouring books, etc. And if it doesn't work in Amie's room I'll keep it myself!

The next thing I made, with the same paper was a pencil tin.  When Jessie stayed with us I kept one of Chases formula cans knowing that I could put it to good use. I spray painted it white and then covered it in the paper. I then wrapped the ribbon around it and tied it up. I used double sided tape to keep the ribbon from moving.

I then used some letter stickers to put the word 'pencils' on it. I did also spray paint the lid (it was gold) but it keeps flaking off. I'm going to try a find a paint that is more for plastic.

Anyway, I hope you are all liking these ideas. I am having fun making cute things without spending lots of money.

Getting crafty

Lately I've been feeling very crafty. We have been trying to save money so I've been finding things that I can make as gifts or for around the house by using things that I already have.  It is actually really fun.  

These note pads were one of the first things that I tried.  I think that they turned out really cute.  I got some notepads from Go-Lo for $1.50 for a five pack. They are 4x6 size. Then I raided my scrapbook paper. I cut a strip 4 inches wide and starting from the front folded it over the top. Before I stuck it down I cut two pieces of ribbon and tuck them on the back using double sided tape. I then stuck down the cover, again using double sided tape. I tied the ribbon and then used a rub-on to add some more decoration to the front.

Everyone always needs notepads so why not make them something special. They only take about 10 minutes to put together. The hardest part is choosing the paper, ribbon and decorations!