Sunshine Fairy Dust

Flora Soleil made another visit to our house last night. And it has been a loooong time coming. Seriously. One of the benefits of having a blog is that I can verify that it has been a whole year since the last time Miss Bloom lost a tooth. And it took 5 months from the time she lost her first tooth until her second tooth was gone. At this rate, the girl is going to have missing teeth gaps in her prom pictures.

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.

Cheetah print horses! Happy 7th birthday Miss Bloom!

It's almost impossible to believe that Miss Bloom turned 7 today. Seven! Where did the years go? Luckily, this kid hasn't lost any of her affectionate sweetness. She still has that happy-go-lucky, easy going nature that she inherited from her daddy. My little sunshine! We're trying to take birthdays down a notch this year. All three kids' birthdays (as well as Mother's Day, Father's Day, our anniversary, 4th of July and a few other extended family members' birthdays) are within a two month span. And I just can't keep up with it all.

Instead of a big party we decided to have Miss Bloom's best friend spend the night and take the two of them horseback riding. She was totally on board with the idea! Riding horses isn't very dress-friendly so I thought that I could make her a fun tshirt celebrating two of her biggest loves: horses and cheetah print!

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.

A visit from Flora Soleil and the Fairy Button Ring

It's been five long months since Miss Bloom lost her first baby tooth. The tooth next to it was wiggly (it became wiggly the day after the first tooth fell out, if you ask her) but, as much as she played with it, that little guy wouldn't come out. On Monday Miss Bloom and her friend Kat paid a visit to the school's resident tooth puller. Kat's tooth came out but Miss Bloom's wasn't quite ready. Finally (finally!) Miss Bloom came home from school yesterday with that precious envelope from Madame Lorena.

Chanukah in the Chouse: Night 1

Last night was the first night of Chanukah and we started The Festival of Lights off deliciously. I decided that, this year, we will do something for each night of Chanukah. Earlier in the week, Miss Belle helped me get it all set up.

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.

Magic Bravery Beans

Our household has been a dangerous place for headbands lately. Headbands are breaking left and right. You could almost call it an epidemic. I thought that the problem was Miss Bloom playing too rough at recess or sharing her hair stuff with her friends. Then a few of our Daisy friends let it slip at an event over the weekend that Miss Bloom has been breaking her headbands on purpose at school. What?!?

The Tooth Fairy Pillow

The last time I took the girls to the dentist we were told that Miss Bloom probably still needed to wait a while before any of her teeth came out. But then, one little tooth on the bottom started to get pretty wiggly. And the more Miss Bloom played with it the wigglier it got. I realized that I needed to get with the program and make her a tooth fairy pillow before it's too late. So yesterday afternoon, during Little Boy Blue's naptime, I pulled out my box of felt and got to work.

Clothespin Notes

Today is Miss Bloom's 1st day of 1st grade. Can you feel the excitement?

She asked me if I would leave her a special note in her lunch today. Of course, I said yes. Last year I made her a clothespin note one day and it was a huge hit. So I thought this would be a good time to do it again.

Painted Plants

 

Do you vignette? I love having little visual focal points scattered throughout our home.

The Princess Dress

Miss Bloom turned 6 this week and that means two things:
1. It's the end of birthday season!
2. She needs a birthday dress.

My big girl decided that she wanted to have a pretty, pretty princess party and she designed a dress to match.

The As American as Apple Pie Dress

 I hope you had a fabulous Independence Day and are enjoying the long weekend! On Thursday, I showed the outfits I made for my kids for the 4th of July and promised a tutorial for Miss Bloom's Apple Pie Dress. I know I'm a few days behind... But now, here it is!

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.

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.