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.

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.

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.

The Girl Scout Leader Tote Bag

The first day of school is just days away. Four days away, to be exact. And that means that Girl Scout meetings and all that involves are also just around the corner. Last year I found myself constantly switching between bags that never fully met my needs for our troop meetings and events. I also have several pins and patches that I wanted to display somewhere but, because I'm not sporting a Daisy vest like the girls, I had nowhere to put them. To solve both problems, I decided to make myself a new tote bag devoted specifically to Girl Scouts. This bag was a fun challenge because it involved several techniques that are somewhat new to me: a lined bag with a zipper closure, boxed bottom for that bag, and freezer paper stenciling. Now I'm going to show you how I did it all so that you can make your own super fun tote bag to meet your specific needs.

❤❤❤

Painted Plants

 

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

Earring Display- A super easy tutorial

Way back at the end of March, Miss Bloom and I had a Mommy and Me day full of fun activities for two. One of the things we did was get her ears pierced. Although the piercers said that she could change her earrings after 6 weeks, we have been so busy with oodles of family events during the last few months that I decided to wait until Miss Bloom's early-July birthday to change out her studs. The evening before her birthday I had the chance to slip out by myself and stock up on some new cute earrings for my big girl. That night I did a little late night crafting and made a hanging earring display for all of her new bling. It turned out so cute (and was so easy) that I want to show you how you can make one of your own.

Cross Stitch Tagalong Sewing Kit: A Tutorial for the Girl Scout in all of us

The Girl Scout motto is "Be Prepared." Of course that means different things to different people. As a sewist, to me that means having a mini-set of tools on hand for any emergency. You never know when you will be called upon to sew the top of your friend's dress closed before a wedding or fix one of your daughter's dance-friend's costumes. At any moment, a button could pop off and need to be reattached.

A few weeks ago, when I was making Daisy hair clips and personalized envelopes for my Daisy Scouts, I knew that I also wanted to make an end of the year gift for my awesome co-leader. A busy mom and doctor who is frequently on the go, she also appreciates the allure of the sewing machine and homesewn crafts. So I thought that a personalized, mini-sewing kit would be perfect for her. And now I'm going to show you how to make one of these cute and handy little gifts for yourself or someone you appreciate.

Pirates' Paradise

 Yesterday was my nephew's 5th birthday. And I felt a bit lost trying to figure out what to make for him. Twirly skirts and hair clips are my go-to gift for girls around this age. I like to make ties for baby boys. And, of course, there are superhero capes. But we've already gone that route. What to make? What to make? And could I do it with supplies I already own? In a moment of inspiration, I decided to give him a pirate dress up set. All kids like to play pretend and dress up!

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 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.