Pattern Testing: Bubble Pocket Shorts Pattern from Elegance and Elephants

When Elegance & Elephants released their first pattern (the Ruffle Tunic) I made one for each of my girls and LOVED how they turned out. I was very excited to find out last week that I was chosen to be a pattern tester for E&E's new pattern: Bubble Pocket Shorts. This pattern comes in sizes 6 months - 8 years and has two versions of shorts. Since I have two girls, I made both versions of the shorts. For my four-year-old I made the sailor shorts in size 3/4T and for my 2-year-old I made the classic version in size 18m/2T.

Please forgive me for how many pictures I have! These shorts are just so cute I couldn't leave any pictures out. I was originally planning on taking pictures of my girls outside (our town has tons of amazing murals on buildings that would make very cool backdrops), but unfortunately mother nature decided to dump snow on us the night before I was ready to take pictures. For some reason along with the snowfall came tons of robins who ate almost all of my dried up crab apples off my trees. (Thank you robins!) Anyway, with all the snow, I had to move to plan b and take the pictures in the bedroom that my girls share.

I'll start with my review of the sailor style I made for Anja...
- First of all, they fit great! She is a slim, tall girl and the adjustable waist works perfect for her. Plus, I am very proud of myself for sewing an adjustable waistband for the first time. With Heidi's great instructions, it was actually quite simple.
- I love all the detail in these shorts: the 6 buttons on the front, the patterned fabric partial lining, and the bias tape that finishes it all off nicely on the inside. Of course all of these details also means this pattern requires a good chunk of time to complete (they took me almost 4 hours to sew), but the time is totally worth it because they are so stinking cute!

I've found that all of my children love putting treasures in their pockets. These shorts have the perfect pockets for treasures!

 I was inspired by Anthropolgie's Louisa Dot Blouse. It's even paired with a grow-up version of E&E's sailor shorts! To create Anja's shirt, I added ruffles and lace to a plain white t-shirt and made a removable peter pan collar.

 Ok, back to the shorts... did I say how proud I am of my adjustable waistband!?!

I did a very subtle ombre effect with the buttons and love how it turned out!

 And now to my review of the classic style. (Heidi didn't ask me to review these, but I couldn't resist trying out this version.)
- The 18m/2T size fits Isla (my very average sized 2-year-old) perfectly and the elastic waistband means they'll grow with her all summer.
- I LOVE how quick this style is to make and am sure I will make a bunch more.
- Heidi's instructions are so easy to follow and she includes detailed pictures with each step.

Yep, she loves the pockets!

For her shirt I tried out the ombre effect again by adding varying shades of purple under the lace detail on the sail.

And here's a couple more pictures of the two versions of the shorts...

I give this pattern a big thumbs up!

E&E Ruffle Top

My latest project was sewing E&E Ruffle Dresses for Anja and Isla.  These dresses were so fun to make. I love it when I can coordinate my girls without matching them exactly. This was so easy to do with the Ruffle Top pattern. (This pattern also includes a swing dress version and a tunic version, offering so many possibilities.) Both my girls and I love their new dresses!

Pirate LEGO Party

 When Eli was about to turn 6 he asked me if he could have a Pirate LEGO themed birthday party. He saw some retro Pirate LEGO ships in a LEGO book and fell in love with them. Unfortunately it was bad timing as there were no pirate LEGO sets currently being sold in stores. I found the LEGO minifigure series 9 packs and one of the LEGO men available in those packs was a pirate. After feeling several packs and trying to figure out which ones felt like a pirate (the things we do for our kids!), I bought 3 packs.  It turns out I'm pretty good at that because 2 of the 3 packs were pirates! I used those pirates in the decor for the party. Then I searched Kijiji and found a Pirates of Caribbean set for sale and bought it for the cake topper. I'm not very skilled at making cakes, so using the LEGO set as a topper was a simple way to coordinate the cake with the theme.

THE INVITATION:

On the page with the pirate map I drew in (with dotted lines and a red X) directions to our house. (Link to free invitation printable at the end of this post.)

BIRTHDAY SHIRT:

 I used freezer paper to stencil a pirate onto his shirt. I accidentally bought "velvet" fabric paint. I wouldn't use this type of paint again for large areas such as this one. It turned out more bumpy than velvety and would have looked better with regular fabric paint.

GAMES:

Guess how many LEGO bricks are in the glass container? (99!)

 I meant to draw a hook and peg leg, but was watching TV at the same time and apparently I can't do two things at once!

 Pin the hat on the LEGO Pirate.

Make the most "creative" LEGO masterpiece! They did such a great job and it was so fun to hear their stories about their creations!

*each winner received a LEGO minifigure

FOOD & DECOR:

Many thanks to my husband and my dad who created the LEGO cutlery holder and LEGO name place holders.

 (Link to free printables for the cupcake wrappers and pirate ship flags found at the end of this post!)

 I thought the crackers looked a little like gold and atemped to make the pizza resemble lego bricks.

The mini swards were a hit! No blueberry was left uneaten!

THE LITTLEST PIRATE:

THE CAKE:

The cake was a hit!

We used sparklers instead of candles so we wouldn't melt the LEGO!

LOOT BAGS:

 Loot bags included: coloring book, chocolate money, jewels, and crayon LEGO

 Much thanks to Pinterest and all the amazing blogs it led me to!

- Loot bags: Pure Joy Events

- Invitations and Coloring Books: Cleo Livin Life (This blog gives a printable invitation and coloring book. I used her idea but created my own as I wanted a pirate theme.)

- Flag banner: Not Without Salt (I love her modern blue and yellow LEGO pirate party theme!)

- Ocean Cupcake Wrappers and Pirate Ship Sails and Flags: Cottage Industrialist (I used her free printables.)

- Jelly Boats: Baby Club (recipe found here)

Peanut-Free Marshmallow Squares

Anja recently ate her first marshmallow square and hasn't stopped talking about it since. I've never made them before. Typically I don't make things with peanut products in because Isla is allergic to peanuts. I hate for her to miss out on all the delicious peanuty foods, so I decided to try making these squares substituting almond butter for the peanut butter. They worked and are delicious! There is nothing healthy about these ...but that's why it's called a treat, right?

Ingredients:
1/2 cup of butter (I used just less)
1 11oz package of butterscotch chips
1 cup almond butter
1 small package of rainbow marshmallows (400g)

Melt butter, butterscotch chips, and almond butter on medium/low heat stirring constantly until well blended. Allow almond butter mixture cool slightly. (This prevents the marshmallows to float to the top when setting.)

 Add marshmallows and mix until coated.

Put in 9X9 baking dish. (I lined mine with parchment paper which makes clean up very easy. It's also much easier to get the squares out of the pan.) Allow to cool then cut into squares.

Anja said they were just as delicious as the first one she had.

Fairy Party

Our daughter, Anja, recently turned 4 and I wanted to throw a very special party for her. A typical day for Anja includes wearing about 4 different dance costumes or princess dresses. I decided a party that includes dressing up would be perfect for her. All the little guests dressed up as a fairies and painted fairy houses.

the decor...

 dressing up...

painting fairy houses...

the cake...

party favours...

Resources:
- wand DIY instructions at Heartmadeblog
- tissue paper pouf tutorial at Overblog
- ombre layer cake from The Nonpareil Baker
- fairy dust tutorial at Icing Designs