Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July from our little family! This year I decided to get festive and make All-American outfits for my kiddos for the 4th of July. Miss Bloom is a very easy-going kid so I knew that I could make anything I wanted for her and it would be a-okay. Miss Belle is a different story. She is a girl who knows what she wants and hasn't quite mastered the art of compromise. And what does she usually want? Pink dresses or skirts that twirl. I knew that it would be a challenge to get her out of her comfort zone. But challenges are okay. And last, but certainly not least, what about Little Boy Blue? I really wanted to get out of my current go-to for boys: bow ties.

For Miss Bloom, I created a Bloom & Belle original called the As American as Apple Pie Dress. I gave her a matching headscarf to complete the look. Stay-tuned for the tutorial tomorrow! The red gingham and light blue floral print look so cheery.

The dress has a halter top.

With buttons and shirring in the back.

And the skirt hits just below the knee with a ruffle trim.

For Miss Belle, I found a fabulous romper pattern from Elegance and Elephants. You can download the free pattern here.

I chose a cotton print of wavy red and white stripes and sparkly silver stars. The stars helped a lot to make up for the lack of pink! And I used light blue gingham for her trim.

She really likes the pockets.

So cute!

 I love, love, love the way my little guy's outfit turned out. Of course, it doesn't hurt that the man himself is undeniably adorable.

Little Boy Blue is sporting striped racer shorts with white trim. I would highly recommend the pattern and tutorial from Made by Dana. That's what I used and it was a breeze!

To make his shirt, I started with the Basic T-Shirt pattern by Melly Sews. It is a 2T-4T so I sized it down a bit for my little guy and added a navy blue collar and sleeve edges. Then I found a picture of Sam the Eagle. You know, from the Muppets. (It's not a picture of a parrot, like my husband thought.) I did a little editing in photoshop. And then traced it onto freezer paper to make a stencil. This was my first experiment with freezer paper stenciling and I think it turned out pretty great!

Little Boy Blue appreciated his new outfit but, being only 13 months old, he hasn't quite gotten the hang of modeling for Mommy.

Okay, okay. Romp and play, kids!

Happy birthday, America!