The Lullaby Layette Set

If you saw my post yesterday you  heard me rave about the new Spring Line over at Oliver + S.

Well, I made the Hide and Seek dress to be used in their photo shoot.

And I had the pleasure to sew up the Lullaby Layette Set to be used for my Baby's First Birthday.  

The timing was Perfect!

Did you notice the word, "set"? Well, this is gem of a pattern includes directions to make a shirt, a bodysuit, pants, and a reversible jacket.  Awesome?  Yes.  And it's made for baby, but ranges from sizes 0 - 24 months.  Sweet, so I've still got a year to make more clothes from this lovely set.

Liesl recommends using using woven fabrics, but I went with a snuggly knit for the top and sweatshirt fabric for the pants.

My baby is round and snuggly, so I kinda wanted to make her clothing which reflected that, too.  I really love the look of woven fabrics, but they usually require ironing...and as my husband will attest, ironing often is not my strong suit. 

I love these pants.  They have their seam right on the front side of the pants. What a unique spin on the common pants.

For the back of the pants, she includes directions for some pockets.  I took a little liberty here, when I was making them.  Instead of the usual, straight across the top pocket (as directed), I went with a darling bow top.  Which really ties in the skirt to the pants. 

 I thought the placket on the front of the shirt would be confusing-- but of course, it totally wasn't.  She walks you through every step and you walk away from that part patting yourself on the back having mastered something new.

I would say the fit is generous, so be sure to use the given guide to make sure you're sewing up the right size. 

Since this darling outfit was made for baby's first birthday, her photo shoot was at our local science center on her birthday.  We have been visiting here for the last year, but this was really the first time baby could get around by herself and explore.  She had a blast.

These clothes are great for sitting, walking, and crawling around as fast as can be.

I finally got her to crawl over to an area where I could get some good light.  Since it was her birthday, I didn't want to bug her too much of her posing, like I usually do-- ha, ha.

"Hello, sweetie, oh...please don't put that in your mouth...even if it's your birthday, that's gross."

Again, lovely pattern.  Perfect for that little snuggly baby in your life.

You can get the Lullaby Layette Set Paper Pattern HERE

You can get the Lullaby Layette Set Digital Pattern HERE

Now let's Enjoy Spring and get Sewing!

Hide and Seek Dress

Have you heard the exciting news?

Oliver + S has just released their new 2014 Spring Line.

Which includes this adorable Hide and Seek Dress.

I was contacted in December and asked if I'd like to be a pattern tester.  Um, YES, sign me up!!

I actually sewed up this beautiful dress to be used in her photo shoot.  

See this dress.  I totally made that.  EEEKKKkkk, I can't believe that's the dress I made.  Thrilling.

After I made this dress I took a quick couple of shots of my daughter trying it out.  It's a size 3t, but is a little big on my mini daughter.

This pattern was really a fun sew.  It includes a darling v-notch neckline, simple to sew welt pockets, cuffed sleeves.  The result is simply darling.  And as always she easily walks you through each step and you feel so accomplished when you're done.

 After our photo shoot, I packaged it up and sent it to New York.  Where I haven't seen it since....until yesterday, when she announced her new Spring line-- and low and behold, there's that cute dress I sewed up.  

I just sat there and stared at it for 15 minutes feeling so thrilled that I had sewed up that dress.

You can buy the digital Hide and Seek Dress pattern HERE.

and the paper hide and Seek Dress pattern HERE.

Click here to see the Lullaby Layette outfit I made for my baby.

Hot Wheel Birthday Party!!

Several months ago we had a Hot Wheel Birthday Party for my dear 5 year old.  My boy LOVES Hot Wheels!  He has since he was a little baby and plays with them almost every day.

 So a Hot Wheel Themed party was a natural choice. 

 

A couple weeks before the party I made up these invitations and emailed them to his friend's Moms.

I made this card using PicMonkey-- it was so simple and turned out so cute.

The day of the party arrived and the first thing my son did was hand everyone their freshly picked out Hot Wheel car.

Then my husband took over and in his most animated voice let the boys know they were gathered for one purpose only...."To have the ULTIMATE HOT WHEELS RACE!"  He informed them they were going through series of race car track games  to see who the ultimate hot wheel race car driver is.  But first they had to come up with their cool race car name. 

Each of the boys picked a name.  We had such awesome names as:  Cloud Cutter, Lighting Crisp, Beast Hunter, King, Road Runner, Racer.

Then, the racers were off to their First Competition! 

I made this game on a large poster board with circles, crayons, and a sharpie.  

Then the bulls eye mat was tapped on the ground in our kitchen and each of the racer had three chances to race their cars to see who could get the most points. 

Up next was the Pin the Wheel on the Hot Wheel.  

No party, in my opinion, is complete without a pin the something onto something else.  Gotta have it.

I made this by drawing a hot wheel onto a poster board, colored it with crayon, and outlined it with sharpie.  Then I made the wheel that was going to be pinned onto the hot wheel car out of cardboard.

I spent days and days trying to come up with a good plan for how to tell who wins this game-- bouncing a couple of ideas off my husband he came up with the idea to cut a hole into the wheel and putting a dot in the very center.  Each kid was assigned a different colored marker to mark their dot.  Whoever gets their dot closest to the red dot, is the winner.

Then instead of the traditional blindfold, which typically falls off or is see through, we used a beanie pulled down.  It worked Great!

Next we moved over to RACE TIME!

We split the boys into teams and they decided if they wanted to be a "motorcycle" which is fast, but small or a "monster truck" which is large, but slow.  After they choose teams we set them loose and they decorated their vehicles.

Once they were all set, we lined them up in their racing pits and had them race around our house.

 Monster Trucks Won!!  They were so large, the motorcycles couldn't get around them.

After all the fun games, we sat down for a pizza dinner, cake, and presents. 

Let's take one more look at that cake.

 

It was made rather simply, but looked great.

I made it using two cake boxes and filled up a small rectangle pan and my bunt cake pan.  Once it was cooled I did a little bit of cutting to make it a five.

Then I moved my cake onto the back of a foil lined cookie sheet.  I bought some black icing color, which worked great.  I did the top black and the sides green.  Finished with some yellow strips and two hot wheels that my boy chose.  Then, being goofy, I accidentally added the cars to the same side of the road-- oops.

For party favors we made some hot wheel candies. I made a template and wrapped up some mambos on top, and some heresy's chocolate and kit-kats on the bottom.  Then I wrapped those up in paper using a hot glue gun.  Then I glued four rollos to the sides for the wheels.

They turned out SO cute!  Then we added those to the party bags, filled with stickers and their hot wheel cars.

The party ended exactly two hours after we started.  It was the perfect time with really happy, pleasant boys.  A happy day, indeed!

Urban Revival Slouchy Beanie

Hello, friends, does everyone want to stand up and give me a round of applause?

Thank you, thank you, oh you're too kind.

I actually followed a REAL crochet pattern.

I...might be a genius.

I found This Crochet Pattern from the Jo Anns website.

Then I spend the next several days forcing my brain to pay attention, count, learn new tricks...and actually follow a pattern.  I also checked out some good ideas on YouTube.

Turns out it was pretty easy and quite fun.

I made this beanie for my husband and was super excited to give it to him.

As appreciative as he was...he declared it "too hipster" for him and said he'd be honored if I'd wear it for him.

I fancy myself a little hipster.  So, here's my new hat.

Little Things Go a Long Way

This post is sponsored by P&G and Tide Pods from Target.

 Like most families, we've got a lot going on every day.  Last week, the day before Valentine's day the younger kids and I decided to spend the morning making valentines cookies together. We followed this recipe for Lofthouse Style Soft Sugar Cookies.  The recipe was huge.  We were able to make tons for us, plus six more plates for friends.

And I decided to keep it real, like real, real, while we did it.  The "real, real" I'm speaking of, is the non-combed hair, the real mess, and joys of cooking with a five and three year old, with a one year old watching.

My little sou chefs happily spent their time helping me roll out the dough, cutting out the cookies and getting flour everywhere.  This was a big project and I was happy to be working with such willing companions.

After a quick 8 minute bake, and cooling we got down to the business of decorating our cookies.

Some of us thought the cookies should be equal parts cookie/frosting.

As we nosily worked side by side we talked, sang silly songs, listened to the baby exclaim her desire to help, and were intermittently interrupted by the BEEP of the timer.

  

However, once their cookies were frosted I told the kiddos to enjoy.  

Suddenly-- it was quiet.  

All I could hear was the quiet nibbling of cookies being thoroughly enjoyed. 

And this Mama gave herself a pat on the back.  The sound of happy children, enjoying their spoils is music to my ears.
 It's the little things, like a happy quiet, that go a long way.

Baby had such a good time eating her cookie-- enjoying every bite.  And despite her bib being on, she still managed to get her treat everywhere and all over her cute shirt underneath.

Busy as I was, this dirty shirt was thrown in the hamper, and not thought of again until two days later when I started the laundry.

And out came Tide Pods.  I'd seen them at Target before, but haven't gotten the pleasure until now.

The day of, when we were making the cookies, I was too busy to pre-treat or take any extra care with the messy baby clothes (as per usual).  But with Tide Pods, not only do you get a lovely smelling detergent, it also has stain remover + brightener built right in.  Brilliant! Something every mother of four messy children needs.
It's so simple, you just toss it in the washing tub and you're Done. 

These small pods pack a big punch. 

And that shirt?  Turned out perfect.  The stain booster worked amazingly.

Tide Pods and the new Gain Flings are both at my favorite store ever, Target.  And while you're running around today, remember, it's the little things in life that go a long way, not just in laundry, but in every day life, too.

This post is sponsored by P&G. Save on NEW Gain Flings and Tide Pods at Target. Text CLEAN to Target (827438) for mobile coupons*.

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