The Basketweave Flowergirl Dress

Last month my cousin Michael and his lovely wife Joy got married in Maine. And I was honored to be asked to create a flowergirl dress for their daughter Chloe. Joy sent me fabric swatches and links to her pinterest inspirations and told me to have fun.

Halloween 2014

Yes, I am fully aware that Halloween was 4 days ago. It took a couple days to recover from all the excitement. :) I try to have costumes finished several days early so I can get some pre-festivities pictures of the kids and for my own sanity. However, it just didn't happen this year. Two big Girl Scout events, a couple of orders from the shop and a home emergency all that week threw me way off schedule. I didn't even start Little Boy Blue's costume until 9:00 the night before Halloween. In the end, though, I think their costumes were pretty fantastic.

Mini-Superhero Cape Set: New in the B&B shop!

I know I've said this before but it bears repeating: I love it when customers come to me with a request for something new! Olivia contacted me because she wanted a special cape set for her twin girls' birthday. I already have mini-capes listed in the shop and regular size cape/wristcuffs combos too. But I didn't have mini-wristcuffs or fun felt crowns. Until now. Presenting the 1st birthday Mini-Supercape Set.

Vintage-Style Sweater Clip

This weekend we're going to visit my husband's family. And that means family pictures. We've started a new tradition where each family group chooses a color and this year our family is going with purple. So I've been trying to piece together purple shirts for all of us and I think I've got almost everybody figured out. Which is good because we're leaving in less than 48 hours. I decided to put Miss Belle in this purple polo dress and sweater but I didn't like the way the sweater was hanging on her. Then I remembered those sweater clips that little old ladies wear to keep their cardigans in place and wondered if I could find materials around the house to make a simple sweater clip. Coincidentally, while I was in the living room pondering Miss Belle and Little Boy Blue were playing in the coat closet and trying on old winter coats. I noticed a pair of mitten clips (without mittens attached. Ironic.) hanging from the size 2T coat Miss Belle was trying to squeeze into. Aha!!!

Passover Pageantry

It's my favorite holiday of the year- Passover! I love all of it: matzoh ball soup, searching for the afikomen, my mom's mouthwatering brisket, a table full of family and almost-family (30 this year!). In our house we've been busily preparing for the Seder. Toffee matzoh, flourless cookies, and charoset are all freshly made and waiting to go over to Grandma and Grandpa's house. And then, of course, there are the clothes.

Saltstone Zoo

Yesterday was a dark, stormy, rainy day. April Showers, for sure. Miss Bloom was at school and the little ones and I thought we should do an art project. Miss Belle has a book of art ideas that she and Grandpa checked out from the library. She wanted to paint animals on pebbles. Unfortunately, we didn't have any pebbles lying around and the weather was not pebble-finding friendly. So we decided to make our own! Stones made from salt dough.

It's time for... Chanukah in the Chouse (almost)

Chanukah starts at sundown tonight and we are in major prep mode. Even though we celebrate a very low key, tree-and-Santa-only Christmas, it feels like Chanukah is always an afterthought for the kids. Because it is the actual religiously relevant holiday in our household, I decided to ramp things up a bit with eight days of fun. Come back to see how we are celebrating our 8 Crazy Nights of the Festival of Lights.

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.

A Carnival of fun... Little Boy Blue is 1!!!

Have you heard of the phenomenon where some families have all of their children at the same time of the year? I didn't think much about it until it happened to us. Miss Belle was born three weeks before Miss Bloom's second birthday and Little Boy Blue was born three weeks before Miss Belle's third birthday. Poor planning on my part. Between May and July we have all three kids' birthdays, Mothers Day and Fathers Day and our wedding anniversary is the day before Miss Belle's birthday (10 years! Wow!). So it's a busy time of year. This year we kicked off birthday season a few days early so that my grandparents could help us celebrate Little Boy Blue's 1st birthday. A carnival party for my sweet little guy.

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.