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.

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?!?

Two-Step Stencil: French Kat

This past weekend the girls and I attended the birthday party of one of the sweetest kids we know at Miss Bloom's school. Miss Bloom and Kat go to a French-speaking school, so I wanted to create something with a French theme. I combined that with the birthday girl's name and had my inspiration. A French Kat freezer paper stenciled tee.

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 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.

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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.

Fashion Refashion: Fun Patches

Unless your home is in a utopian, alternate universe, you probably have the same problem as me: kids outgrow their clothes, zippers are broken, pant knees get holes, etc. These things happen. A lot. So I try to find ways to save our clothing items or remake them into something new. With that in mind, I'm starting a new series called Fashion Refashion. Fashion Refashion is all about reinventing the old into a new, and just as fabulous, piece. Stay tuned for more posts with ideas about how to refashion your fashion.

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!

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.

Daisy Gifts: A Two-for-One Tutorial

This afternoon my Daisy Girl Scout troop has the last meeting of our first year as a troop. I'm feeling a little sentimental. It has been such a delight hanging with these 10 kindergartners (soon to be first graders!) all year. To mark this momentous occasion, I decided to make a little end of the year gift for each of my Daisies. Daisy button hair clips and fabric envelopes. Personalized, of course. And now I'm going to show you how to make these pocket-size gifts for the little blossoms in your life.

Family Reading Night (And a tiny tutorial)

"You're taking another picture?"

One of my mom friends decided to bring an English/French Book Fair to our daughters' school. Which is nice, since Miss Bloom goes to a French Immersion elementary school. At the same time, we had an evening celebrating reading as a family. Teachers read in both English and French. We had songs, crafts, and picnics in our pajamas.


I volunteered to help coordinate the kindergarten portion of the evening. It took a lot of time but was totally worth the effort. Everyone really enjoyed themselves!

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.