Folk Art and Forestry: Happy 5th Birthday Miss Belle!

Happy 5th birthday to my goofy Miss Belle! She has been counting down the "sleeps" until today. Such a cute kid! To celebrate this special occassion I took the kids on a picnic hike earlier today. And we managed to get some pictures of her new birthday dress during our adventure.

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.

Fashion Refashion: Saving the Beloved Frog PJs (Part 3)

Welcome to the third and final installment of Fashion Refashion: Saving the Beloved Frog PJs. On Saturday I demonstrated how I made Miss Belle's new friend, Snowball the Bunny. Yesterday I showed how I made Miss Belle's boatneck tee and jumper. Today I'm going to wrap things up with a dress and apron for Snowball.

Fashion Refashion: Busted Zipper to Lace-Up Dress

My lovely next door neighbor Kait came to me recently with a common, yet frustrating, problem. The zipper on one of her favorite summer dresses was broken and needed fixing. She gave me the freedom to do whatever I wanted to her dress- just make it wearable again! So for the next installment of Fashion Refashion I am going to show how I took Kait's busted zipper dress and turned it into a cute lace-up dress.

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.

The Candyland Dress

Last week was Miss Belle's 4th birthday. This girl loves board games and candy, so I was not surprised when she declared that she wanted to have a Candyland Party for her birthday. And that meant that she needed a Candyland dress.

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!

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.