Baby's 1st Birthday Party

So, the baby of our family has turned one. I find all of her milestones bittersweet since we will not be experiencing any of these milestones in our family again. (Yes, I am done having babies! Our family is complete with 3 beautiful children, except for maybe the unavoidable dog in the distant future!) I was quite stressed planning her party because I wanted it to feel just as special as our other children's 1st birthdays. But, I just don't have the same amount of time to plan as I did with the other two. That being said, in the end I was very happy with how her birthday turned out.

I decided to plan the theme of her party around her birthday outfit. I found the patterns for her outfit and shoes in Amy Buttler's "Stitches for Little Ones".  After making her outfit, I used the colours from the fabric to pick out cardstock and make some decorations.

The inspiration from the party hats came from the blog "girl.inspired."

This was my first attempt at cake pops. I should have practiced more before the party! I used a pumpkin spice recipe. It called for pumpkin to be mixed in with the frosting and I think I added too much pumpkin. The cake pops were falling off the sticks as soon as they thawed. :(

I "upcycled" a shirt from Value Village to make hair accessories for the party.

For the wall behind her highchair I displayed photos of her from every month since she was born. I found the idea for the paper bag flowers from "aplaceforusblog"

We had to strip her down after she demolished her cake. I was happy I had taken of her birthday outfit and just left on a onesie. It was completely ruined from the chocolate.

Felt animal mask party favours

All partied out!!!

Giant Ruler Growth Chart

I've been meaning to make a growth chart for my kids for um... about 4 years now. I wanted something that would be timeless and would match the decor of different rooms if we ever move, or if I just want it in a different room. I couldn't decide on what I wanted which is why it took me so long to make one. A couple of weeks ago I came across this one and LOVED it. And, just my luck it included a tutorial. I was able to make the growth chart using materials I already had so it cost me $0. I didn't stain the wood using coffee grounds like the tutorial suggests because I had extra stain left over from a previous project and thought that would be easier.

Felt Finger Puppets

The finger puppets by nichole (nicholeheady.typepad.com) are ridiculously cute. So, here's my take on them:

She looks like she likes them!

(Finger puppets I made for my kids' stockings last Christmas.)

Chevron Wristlet

I just completed the Chevron Wristlet Tutorial from Made by Rae. I LOVE chevron and never thought to make it myself out of striped fabric before. I would love to use this technique to make some pillows sometime.  ...If only I needed more pillows!

I was originally going to use an old pillowcase as the lining, but found some leftover yellow fabric and thought the contrast of the bright yellow would look better.

 Since the fabric for the Chevron was knit, I added interfacing to prevent it from stretching out of shape and to give the wristlet a little more structure.

Robes in Action

My kids have been getting great use out of those robes I made using Dana's pattern. They put them on after every bath and were used on our last vacation to my parent's cabin. So far the robes are holding up very well.

Robes for My Kids

Recently Dana from MADE posted an extremely cute robe pattern. As soon as I saw it I knew I had to make some for my kids. The pattern is definitely worth the $8 I spent. Its easy to follow and has very detailed instructions. Beginner sewers might have a difficult time with this pattern, but I would in no way call myself an advanced sewer, and I didn't find it too bad. (Definitely worth the time & effort.) My friend Shannon from Pink Blizzard made the robe before me and warned me that the bias tape is a bit frustrating to sew on the way the pattern suggests. We did it this way instead:

Open up the bias tape and sew it on one side with the sewing machine. Then, (I don't have a photo for this part) fold the bias tape around the edge and hand stitch it on. A good project to to in front of the TV.

The pattern doesn't have detailed instructions for adding a lining to the hood. There are a few ways you can do this. I sandwiched the robe inside the lining and the outside of the hood (right sides facing in) and sewed them together.

Then I sewed the edges of the lining and outside of the hood to hold them together before adding the bias tape.

So, here's some pictures of my kids wearing their new robes. They'll be great for after baths and at the beach. They're going to get a lot of use!

Retro Batman Party

A family with 3 adorable boys decided to have a joint birthday party since their birthdays are pretty close together. They asked me to decorate for the party with a retro batman theme.

My kids like to carry bags around the house and fill them with random objects so this gave me the idea to sew reusable favor bags for all the little guests. I also made them personalized capes and masks. To make it a little more feminine for the girls I added a jewel to their masks.

I made 3 types of favor bags. One for girls, one for boys and one for babies.

I didn't make the cake. This was the amazing work of the mom!

The birthday boys (and one of the guests) had full out batman costumes. They love to dress up. You can pretty much go to their house on any given day and they will be a different superhero!

My attempt at a nice photo of my kids in their costumes ...they had other ideas!