It's National Superhero Day!

 

Happy National Superhero Day from my little superstars! For a limited time, all Superhero capes are 15% off in the Bloom & Belle shop. Just use coupon code SUPER at checkout. This offer expires on Saturday, May 4th.

Have a Bam! Wow! Super fantabulous day!!

Dragon!!! Recycled Art with Miss Belle

 A few days ago Miss Belle and I were in the midst of the golden hours of the day: We had come home from a playdate, finished lunch, Little Boy Blue was taking a nap, and we still had a couple of hours until we needed to go pick up Miss Bloom from school. And the weather outside was gorgeous! Miss Belle decided that she would like to do an art project and paint. I was game for that. The result was fun and totally reflected my wild girl's personality: tough animal in pretty, feminine colors.

Family Reading Night (And a tiny tutorial)

"You're taking another picture?"

One of my mom friends decided to bring an English/French Book Fair to our daughters' school. Which is nice, since Miss Bloom goes to a French Immersion elementary school. At the same time, we had an evening celebrating reading as a family. Teachers read in both English and French. We had songs, crafts, and picnics in our pajamas.


I volunteered to help coordinate the kindergarten portion of the evening. It took a lot of time but was totally worth the effort. Everyone really enjoyed themselves!

The Honeycomb Dress ...and the art of improvisation

Before I begin a project, I do a lot of mental planning. Visualizing my materials, which techniques to use, when I will find time to actually make it happen. Sometimes those plans work out and sometimes I have to make small changes along the way. This dress required a lot of editing. It was a very busy week so I wasn't always able to work when I wanted to. The baby was a little fussier than usual. And every few steps I decided that I needed to adapt my original game plan. It took all week, but I finally managed to finish this fun little dress for Miss Belle. She usually wants everything in light pink. (Her left foot is even light pink at the moment because the girls decided it would be a good idea for Miss Bloom to spray paint it. We've been referring to her as Pink Foot.) So when she saw this bumblebee fabric and decided that she must have a dress made from it I was happy to oblige. We chose a pretty grey floral print for accents and a checkerboard skirt.

Tutorial and more pictures of my sweet Miss Belle after the jump!

A super cape for Little Boy Blue

 Yesterday afternoon I had an hour left until I needed to leave to pick up Miss Bloom from school. I could wash the dishes or.... do a little sewing. Sewing won out. And the project? A new superhero cape for Little Boy Blue. We like our superhero capes and so it was only fitting that our littlest little one get a cape of his own. I think it looks adorable. And now I'm offering them to you! New mini-superhero capes now available in the Bloom & Belle shop.

Let the Sunshine in Dress- A Tutorial

I like snow and hot cocoa and sledding and snuggling up on bearskin rugs in front of a roaring fire with a hot toddy as much as the next person, don't get me wrong. (Actually, I'm not a huge fan of hot toddies or bearskin rugs... but you get the point.) Sometimes, however, there can be too much of a good thing. And this winter was way too much goodness. I was beginning to think that winter would never end!

Then the sun returned this week and it finally felt like spring! To celebrate the much-anticipated arrival of springtime I wanted to make a very sunny dress for my sunshine girl-- The Let the Sunshine In Dress.

This is a fairly straightforward dress with a zipper up the back and side pockets. I lined it because of the light colored fabric. But that is a personal choice. Would you like to know how to make one of your own? Follow this simple tutorial after the jump.

A rainbow bedroom for Miss Bloom & Miss Belle

I dream about colors. A house full of warm, rich, vibrant colors. A candy apple green kitchen, buttery yellow and rust orange dining room, soothing blue bedroom. My reality, however, is cream walls. Everywhere. So I have to find creative solutions to add the colors I crave to my home. 

My girls also love color so I knew that I wanted them to have a rainbow-themed room with soft, feminine (but not sugary sweet) blue highlights. 

Their dresser has been floating around our household for almost a decade. I think I originally bought it off a friend for about $40. And it was seriously ready for a makeover. I decided to paint it ombré style by choosing a paint swatch and using the lightest shade for the main part of the dresser and painting each drawer a subsequently darker shade. Home Depot sells sample sizes for a few dollars and one of each was plenty for this project. Framed prints are from the awesome shop Flapper Doodle. Miss Bloom made the other artwork for her octopus-loving sister.