making up

everyone meet betty! she is my $88 singer simple sewing machine i got a few years ago.  ironically, there is nothing "simple" about her except for her color scheme: a beautiful and crisp red white and baby blue i just couldn't say no to. other than that, she is quite high maintenence. she and i have been on bad terms ever since she decided to eat a whole spool of thread with her bobbin and i had to spend three hours disassembling her insides and then another eight trying to piece them back together.

anyway, with the weather being all crazy, i was feeling a little crazy too and decided that me and homegirl needed to put the past in the past and have some serious girl time.

our project:
 martha stewart stuffed menswear bunnies.






my first attempt

 considering i free-handed the whole pattern (my printer and i are also on bad terms and i am a TERRIBLE artist) i am suprised that it looks this good.  although the ears may be two different shapes, one arm may be higher and longer than the other, and i kinda decided to quit while i was ahead and didn't add legs or a face... let's not be upset over such details right now and just rejoice in the fact that this actually resembles a bunny!

peter cotton-fail?

i think not!

one more (fingers crossed) attempt and i think my girls will have cute little bunnies to tote around...

and i can stop using bad puns.

easter sunday

dear easter sunday,
how i adore you to the tips of my toes!







you were bright, colorful, and as sweet as sugar and sprinkles...
gentle, beautiful reminders of Your goodness were found all over the place.

from the undeniable beauty that surrounded us...
fields of buttercups, the bluest cloud coated sky, and the most perfect weather we could ask for.

to the little things that spoke directly to my heart...
pots and pots of macaroni (the girls' favorite) made with love, the way a big brother looks at his little sister, and the precious bond between a great grandpa and his baby dolls.





you were timeless and cherished like an old black and white photo...
that bridge, it's been crossed a million times...
that big leafy shade tree, it holds the conversations of several easter's past.
that hill, it is the staple of the loveliest of family traditions...
a sunday evening of flying kites <3















you make my heart soar,
as high as all those pearlie pink balloons we sent flying towards the heavens...
you truly do!



all my love,
kim

trial and error and mostly error

i checked another item off my easter basket checklist! well sorta.  i've had a bunch of clothespins laying about, with every intention of painting them, but continually managed to forget to grab a set of paint brushes (not of the crayola variety) while we were in town.

being the practical and resourceful gal i am, i opted for a q-tip and bobby pin approach today.  though they didn't come out exactly as i had in mind, i have a good idea about how i`ll approach this whole project again tomorrow, paint brush in hand.

tomorrow when i add scallops! and suspenders! and aprons! and a boyfriend set! (...after i re-do our girlfriend set)
i am a bit excited, can ya tell? painting these really was a lot of fun and i would reccomend this project to everyone.

and really, these aren't all that bad at all, especially for the tricky tools i used.  i've just been a bit down in the dumps after viewing these... and the cute tote you can carry them in. just brilliant.  i also love how easy peasy that tutorial makes it look-- though i am seriously doubting my abilities after today's complications. notice how i didn't mention adding faces? this was originally a set of 6.

 if my paint brushes fail me, or rather... if i fail with my paint brushes...
atleast the easter bunny will be taking the heat for this one...

ps-- if you have a minute and enjoy this blog- please head over to "circle of moms" and give our blog a thumbs up.  you can vote once a day until may 9th. i would be thrilled and thankful to make a top 25, especially since it's a  kid's style top 25.  that's just one more reason to shop and design for my little ones and one less reason for nick to roll his eyes at me when i do so ;)

be sure to also take a peep at some of the other blogs on the list and pay them a thumbs up too!
  Smile and Wave is one of my personal favorites, and BloesemKids is a new favorite.
there are so many great resources on that list that kinda makes me feel out of place,
but also extremely delighted to be amongst such good company!

sugar, swiss dots, and my sweethearts

today we put on our easter best and headed to the annual story-time egg hunt at the library.  it was good practice for sunday's big hunt and the girls came home all sugared up and smiley and with chocolate stains in awkward places that had me wishing their daddy was home to laugh and joke about with me.  i don`t allow too many sweets in my house, but i never want my children to feel like they were deprived of some of the fun things that holidays bring about--  pastel m&m's sure are pretty and easter eggs filled with playdoh are a brilliant idea, you can't convince me otherwise.  though i am a bit of a momzilla and don't include any candy in their easter baskets (they get enough when we go and visit relatives) and i don't neccessarily agree with how commercialized certain holidays have become, its good to let the kids indulge every now and again... especially after sitting through a couple good easter stories and songs.

On Cameron: vintage pink swiss dot dress- etsy, shoes- puddle jumpers, sweater- baby Gap

On Haley: 1960's vintage turquoise swiss dot dress - etsy.  shoes - hand me downs (thanks Shannon!)

A couple swiss dot dresses you may enjoy:
 peach swiss dot dress -- the lace on this dress is divine and unique
baby blue swiss dot dress -- simple and sweet and perfect for spring

and because i think every mom deserves an apron on easter, if only for display purposes--
swiss dot floral apron

To see more kiddos in cute attire visit:
Small Style and Little Vintage Style

bows bows bows

it's no secret, i am a bit of a bow fanatic.  actually, i take that back- i am a total bow snob.  i can`t help it. i`m the kinda gal that knows what she wants... and simple and classic is the way i roll. i can't do the big flowered headbands, grosgrain ribbon bows just rub me the wrong way for reasons i can't explain (maybe one day i`ll post the picture of 6 year old me in the cat dress and y`all can draw your own conclusions), and anything that looks like it may cut off the circulation to my child's brain is offlimits too. 

for the past couple of years, handmade fabric bows have been a staple in our easter baskets.  yet, every year i have resorted to Etsy to take care of such things for me. this year, i realized i had all the skills and tools i needed under my belt and i am tackling the job myself. i found this fantastic tutorial over at a beautiful mess and have been a bow making machine for the past couple of nights.

i've weeded through all the girls old dresses and cut wrecklessly around pen-markings and spaghetti stains.  it is a wonderful thing to be able to reclaim some of the fabrics from their old clothing and give them a new life.  i love that haley and cameron's bow collection now also holds memories from their baby days and its so special to me to be able to put something in their easter basket that was made with scraps from their great grandmother's fabric collection.



i am offering three lucky readers a chance at winning a set of our handmade bows in celebration of easter!
they aren't perfect-- but they are hand stitched with love and are made from little pieces of our family's history.
the winners will recieve a set of 3 wrapped in one of the vintage hankies from our collection because if there's two things i believe this world needs to see more of it is:
1) fabric hairbows
2) floral hankies

oh you agree? well good!

to enter all you need to do is leave a comment and tell me about an article of clothing from your childhood that remains with you (or maybe just in your heart).  whether it be your prized signed n*sync shirt... or a hideous rainbow cat dress (ahem!)... or maybe even the pair of rainboots you'd bathe in, sleep in, and track mud through the house in... i want to hear about it!

Giveaway will be closed on April 25.
<3

holy suspsenders...

easter is right around the bend! and per tradition, i have thought about it all april long yet haven't managed to coordinate anything but the girls easter outfits. or so i thought. when the final piece of cameron's ensemble arrived in the mail today... it just wasn't very flattering to her short, round stature and she was a bit reminiscent of georgie porgie on babes in toyland. i just couldn't do it to the girl.

haley has been a trooper about the whole thing and isn't giving me too much sass about not being able to wear a twirly dress on the big day. and that flat skinny thing we call her butt... the thing that can't hold up a pair of jeans to save it's life (hi suspenders! i am your new biggest fan)... was just achin' for a pair of vintage plaid britches! who knew?

Other toddler suspenders that may be of interest to you mama's who have also caught a bad case of suspender fever:
*  plaid wool shorts in the dreamiest blue and purple combo... would be perfect for fall. collared shirt, t-straps and tights (if you're a lady)
* primary color sweet suspenders. oh my!  i can already picture a little one running around with these, teddy bear in hand.
* and this last pair, well, i am showing a lot of will power by not purchasing them!
they even come with a matching bow!  i love vintage sailor-themed clothing.
*these aren't exactly suspenders, but i guess they could be added.  i just thought i'd throw them in while on the topic of vintage sailor clothing because someone needs to scoop them up... the little buttons are too good to be true.

on my easter (would like) to-do list:

1) washi-tape easter eggs - take two.

2) painted clothespin dolls (easter basket)

3)  homemade kite -- if only for picture purposes.
we fly kites at the farm every easter and i have been wanting to do this for sometime,
though googled kite tutorials make it seem 10x trickier than i imagined. boo.

4) upcycled hairbows from girls old clothing (easter basket)

5) easter bunny plush (easter basket)
6) find something for cameron to wear! ack!
7) family photoshoot.  though i am sure it will just end up being the girls because i am grossly unphotogenic these days.

i`ll probably be scarce here as i try to pull this all off before sunday...

so have a wonderful week and don't forget to share the real easter story with your family
(even if you're busy getting a bit caught up in all the extra like me... as moms we are entitled to such foolishness, right?)

<3

putting the hard in hard boiled....

as i was thumbing through some of the magazines mema passed along to me, i spotted the sweetest set of decorated easter eggs that ever existed (thank you family circle, i am now a reader for life)!  ofcourse this was waaaay back in december... so as you can imagine, i was one emergency flight to japan and several wood cut-outs away from creating my very own washi-tape snowflakes.

well, that didn't really happen and april is finally here,
so today was my day of reckoning!

you'll have to excuse me, i know i am a bit behind with the trends and i know everyone discovered washi-tape like 5 years ago... but i believe washi-tape was not brought into my life for very specific reasons. or rather, hard boiled eggs and i have a love-hate relationship... and washi-tape just happened to get stuck in the middle of things.
either way, we are off to a rocky start.

i am pretty bummed that i did not end up with a cute washi-tape project to share with all you sweet people in this space today (see here, here and here) and even more bummed a good couple feet of my forever-coveted happy tape ended up in the trash can with a bunch of cracked eggs.  having said that, here are some tips if you plan on making some of these fabulous eggs with your little ones:

+ you'd think this would be a no brainer, but obviously there are people (read: the always brilliant kim rakes) out there that take such risks... avoid using hard boiled eggs at all costs. they stink. they aren't the safest in the hands of children under 3. and maybe i am special, but i started with 8 and ended up with 4.  my boiling skills need some work.
+ use wood or paper mache eggs so you can keep them forever. we live in small town usa, where both were lacking, so that's why i took the plunge and used the fresh from the farm stuff.
+ pre-cut all the pieces of washi tape beforehand and make sure you cut a lot!  stick the pieces to something (like a plate) for easy access by little fingers.
+ dress your kids in sweet easter attire because a project like this is a good time for picture taking: the concentration, the little fingers at work, and the colors... oh my!
+ oh, and should you have no other option but to use the real deal, avoid telling your kids NOT to crack them.  it will put crazy ideas in their head and they will do exactly that.







although i am already at work at painting some plastic eggs for our next attempt, i will say some good did come from this incomplete project:

+ i could probably write a book on creative ways to take pictures of washi tape and easter eggs
(though i will spare you the other 20 pictures i took)
+ the girls had a good time putting tape on the eggs... but had a lot more fun cracking them
+ and last but not least.... this picture:



cameron is a sneaky cyclops and haley is a zombie!
who needs a picture with the easter bunny anyway?

<3