Pretty Fabric Flower Clips and Birthday Outfit

Every birthday girl needs a special birthday outfit, don't you think?  In our case they usually involve some type of tutu.  I've made a bunch of tied tutus but this one was definitely my best yet.  I used A LOT of tulle, so it was super poufy!  Since the party was birdie themed, I also wanted to subtly incorporate feathers into Lila's outfit.

Her hair clip and pin were inspired by this tutorial from Simply Vintagegirl.  The tutorial is fantastic, and the only changes I made were to use a variety of drinking glasses as my circle templates and to use barbecue tongs to hold the circles while melting the edges.  I couldn't find my tealight stash so I was using a regular candle, and it was hot!  Thank goodness for barbecue tongs. :)  I started with a sheerish light blue 100% polyester fabric, traced a few different glasses onto it, and cut them out.  I cut four or five slits into each circle and held them each over the flame until the edges curled.  After sewing my layers together I glued a few pearl beads in the center and either an alligator clip or a pin to the back.  I added a fluffy white feather to each and that was it!  I love how the outfit turned out!  So cute!

Taking a juice box break after an intense session in the bounce house. :)




Linking up to...

Father's Day Art

It's really hard to buy gifts for my husband.  He doesn't want or need many things and when he does, he buys them.  Occasionally I can beat him to it, but I usually end up buying him exciting things like new socks or underwear.  My solution to this problem is to have the girls make things for him that are both sentimental and help decorate my house. :)  I used this technique for our Valentine's Day gift as well,  although he took that one to work so I had to make a duplicate!

This is the gift we made for him last year.  The story behind this is that when Camille was about two she started telling us, "I love you so much!" and she would say it 100 times a day.  It was ridiculously adorable.  What made it even more precious was her squeaky little two year old voice.  She was truly speaking from her heart and I tried so hard to cherish it each time, knowing there would be a day when she would grow out of it. 

Supplies:
Canvas (this is 11x14)
Letter stickers or vinyl stencils
Paint
Paint brush or foam brush (or even sponges!)
Mod Podge

Step 1: I adhered the stickers to the canvas and then sealed them in with Mod Podge to help minimize bleeding and to keep them from moving while Camille was painting.
Step 2: I knew Camille wouldn't cover the whole canvas with paint so I painted it a very light blue because I didn't want a lot of white in the background.
Step 3: Camille got to work with a few different shades of grey-blue and a little white.  She used a combination of her hands and a foam brush.  I tried to give her each color separately so she didn't end up just blending them all into one shade of blue.
Step 4: We added a few heart "stamps" courtesy of a cookie cutter.
Step 5: We let it dry and then I carefully removed the stickers.

Unfortunately the story ends as I expected it would.  Camille says this phrase occasionally but it's usually just "I love you" and not 100 times a day.  I love having this reminder of her sweet words hanging in our bedroom where I can see it everyday, and I think my husband likes it too! ;) 

PS. Camille just hopped in my lap as I was typing this and I asked her if she remembered saying "I love you so much!" all the time.  She responded with "I love you so much, Mama!  I still know how to say that!" :)



Linking up to...

Back from California

On Saturday we flew home from another fantastic trip to California!  We went down to the Palm Springs area to celebrate my husband's Grandmother's 90th birthday and visit with his family.  She and I share a birthday, so I got a little celebration too! :)  It was so nice to spend Mother's Day with his side of the family as well.  On the flight down, he surprised me with the itinerary for a birthday trip to Disneyland!  We spent three days and two nights at the Disneyland Hotel and had a great time. 

Lila almost hugged Minnie on our last trip in March, but was never quite comfortable enough.  She's clearly over her fear now. :)

These were taken at the Minnie and Friends character breakfast.  The girls had completely stopped eating breakfast at this point.  The characters were too much fun!

Camille has always loved Tinker Bell, but her new favorite fairy is Vidia (above).  She was beyond excited to meet her!



Here they're waiting for daddy to get off Splash Mountain.  The downside of not taking the grandparents with us is that we had to take turns doing the rides!  The girls are wearing the Minnie shirts I posted about here.  I'm glad I got some pictures of the girls in the shirts because I didn't last time!  Luckily we had a second chance before they grow out of them and I have to make new ones! :)

Photo Collages

I've really been wanting to put photo collages in my blog posts, but I wasn't sure how.  That is, until I came across this post on the House of Smiths!  I had fun playing with the collage templates in Photoshop Elements today...

Sweet Camille during her Valentine photo shoot.  I'm glad I got some cute pics of her looking AT the camera for once. :)

Cutie pie Lila Jane in her first piggy tails!  She's a ham- all we have to do is ask her for a cheesy smile. :)

I'm so excited to find more ways to use all my new templates!  I'm learning more about PSE slowly but surely. ;)

Mother's Day Canvas Handprints

I have another darling Mother's Day gift idea to share!  I loved this kit from Red Envelope, but I wanted to personalize it with my own colors.  I made Camille's for myself for Mother's Day when she was 14 months old.  I started by painting the 8 in. square canvas dark purple and letting it dry.  The handprint part was slightly stressful, but ended up working really well.  I think I practiced on paper a few times before I put her little hand on the canvas.  When it was time to do Lila's hand, I decided to wait until she was 14 months old too, so we could have both of their hands at the same age (I think hers actually happened at 16 months... oops!). 

I was so worried about the impermanence of these, but recently thought of scanning them into the computer!  If I scan them I can do fun things in Photoshop, not to mention have them saved forever.  I'm always surprised at how fast these little girls are growing up, so I love having these sweet hands to remember when they were small.

Linking up to...

Silhouettes for Mother's Day

I can't believe it's almost Mother's Day!  That also means that it's almost my birthday, and after that, my anniversary!  My poor husband is in the unfortunate position of having to celebrate me ALL month long! ;)  I guess technically the anniversary is for both of us, but you know what I mean.  He's excellent at buying gifts, but when it comes to the handmade sort, I'm on my own. :)  Last year I did a couple of projects for myself that I've really enjoyed having in my home.  I've always loved silhouettes, so when I came across this tutorial for silhouettes from Amy of Positively Splendid, I was excited to try it!

Her instructions are very straight forward, especially if you're familiar with PSE.  My final products are displayed in Ikea frames.  I had them printed at Costco as 8x8 inch photos for $1.49 each.  I could've easily printed them at home, but I think our printer was out of commission. :)  I ended up just mounting the photos on top of the matte that came with the frame because the matte would have covered some of their faces.

Once I got the hang of using PSE, the hardest part of this project was getting decent profile shots of a 10 month old and a 2 year old. :)  Since these are almost a year old, I'll probably update them soon, but for now I love seeing these little baby faces every day. :)





Linking up to...