Replanting with hope

We were watching the rain out Kinsley's bedroom window and lamenting over the fact that we had just replanted the back half of our garden a couple days prior to the massive rain and storms. Replanted because after we planted the garden originally it poured rain and washed away our seeds in the back half. Are you noticing the same pattern I am?

I was feeling very frustrated over our garden problems, and then the actual storms hit. The devastation caused by the tornadoes that passed through our part of the country is truly heartbreaking. So many people lost everything and are forced to start building their lives over again and some weren't that lucky. I think many of us have been doing some soul searching since those storms have hit, I know I certainly have. The stories of loss and devastation that have emerged since have certainly made me hold my loves a little closer and appreciate how fortunate we are just a bit more. It's the stories of hope and of neighbors far and wide reaching out to lift each other up have truly touched my heart. It is so inpiring to see people, many who have lost so much themselves, doing what they can to make a difference for someone else. It's truly heart warming. So we will replant, and not with resentment but with appreciation.

Hair Bow Holder

I've had the idea to make one of those pretty hairbow holders you see at craft shows ever since Kinsley finally grew some hair. Thanks to a push from a friend of mine I finally made one. So what if Kinsley is almost four, I'm not talking about it...

It was so simple to make that I'm kicking myself for not doing it sooner. I didn't want anything huge since we're not that big into hairbows or free space to put one.


I picked up all my supplies at Hobby Lobby except for the paint and glue which I already had on hand. Truth be told I already had a lot of scrapbook paper at home too but I really like this one. The total cost was around $2 to pick up what I needed. Even if you had to buy everything you could still complete this project for less than $5.

First we painted the wooden letter and wooden plague with some regular old acrylic craft paint and let it dry. This part is great if you have littles helping you, I know mine loves to paint.


Once the paint was dry it was time to glue the scrapbooking paper to the front. Since I'm too lazy to actually measure the size I needed I cheated a bit. I just threw the paper on top and ran my finger around the edge of the wood to crease it. Easy peasy and the perfect fit. I used a regular Elmer's gluestick to glue my paper down but you could use Mod Podge, spray adhesive or any other glue you have handy.



Once the paper was on we hotglued the wooden letter to the front and our ribbons to the back. Done. The whole project took us less than 30 minutes and $2, not too shabby.

Etsy Mention

I've went back and forth (and back and forth and...) over how much connection to have between my blog, facebook page and Etsy shop. I've tried to keep my blog somewhat Etsy free and since I've been so busy with custom orders that's kept the blog pretty post free. No good. I've also not posted a lot of blog stuff on my facebook page which has kept the page pretty post free too. Sigh. I feel like it's all very much a part of who I am and what goes on in our lives so I want to find a cohesive feel to bringing them all together. When you "work" from home it's very hard to separate the two. Obviously the way I was doing it wasn't working so I'm going to be tweaking the balance a bit over the next few weeks so bear with me and let me know how you feel about the posts meshing together.

Like I said though, I've been crazy busy with custom orders and here is the last one I just finished.



I am in love with this color combo (so cute it matched her daughters' birthday party) and the ruffles on the little dress? Love. I need to dig back out the pictures of the other dresses too. And work on a better backdrop for photographing them...

Afternoon Activity: Tree Transplant

With all the rain we've been getting there hasn't been much lawn mowing going on lately. The plus side to that is that there are lots of little Maple trees popping up throughout the yard. This afternoon warmed up just enough to get outside and we needed a good activity so we decided to rescue some of those trees before the hubby mowed them down.


We took the leftover styrofoam cups from Mother's Day and punched holes in the bottom with a nail. We put all our cups into a large pan to keep them from blowing away when we took them outside and then we placed a few small rocks in the bottom of each cup to help with drainage.



Once we got outside we filled each cup about half full with some potting soil leftover from planting our garden and headed off in search of trees.



They were a little tricky to find in some spots but Kinsley did a great job searching them out (and then letting mama do the digging). We placed one sapling in each cup.



Then quality control had to come and check our work and make sure everything was going according to plan.



We filled the remaining half of our cups with potting soil making sure each sapling was packed in well and watered them in.



Now just to sit back, watch and hope that they grow. And no, we don't have any idea what we're going to do with 16 Maple trees.

Birthday Party Fun

We're enjoying a lazy weekend in the house since the weather is too cold and rainy to be out doing much. Last weekend though was a very different story. The girls went to their first ever (non-family) birthday party. From the moment the invitation arrived in the mail Kinsley started planning. She knew exactly what she wanted to give her "very best friend" and we went to work.



The last playdate the girls had was at our house and Kinsley had the best time playing kitchen with her little friends so she insisted that we must make some kitchen things. And we did. We put together these yummy looking felt cupcakes (not chocolate because "only white cake is good"). We also picked up some pretend cookies and pizza because a girl can not live on cupcakes alone, although it might be fun to try.

Then we realized she needed something to hold her new goodies.



We made this fun little cupcake bag and embroidered her name on it to make it even more special. I think it turned out very well and Kinsley couldn't wait to surprise her friend.

The girls had a blast running and playing but no one had more fun than Kaitlyn did. Kaitlyn got her very first cupcake and DEVOURED it in absolutely no time. I think she'll do fine with her smash cake on her birthday (in less than a month...sigh).





Yummy.

Happy St. Mother's Day.

That's how Kinsley woke me up this morning, with a flower and a "Happy St. Mother's Day". A great start to an even better day.







Now I'm off to have some of that yummy cake and enjoy the rest of my evening. Hope you can do the same.

Meet Lailey

I just realized that I never introduced everyone to Kinsley's special doll Lailey. I love the waldorf style dolls and had been wanting to get Kinsley one for Christmas but I just could not justify spending $200 on a doll for a 3 year old when she already had so many babies. And the thought of trying to make one before Christmas gave me a mild panic attack. I couldn't stop thinking about all the beautiful dolls and Kinsley and I liked to look at them online while we were searching for crafty ideas. One day Kinsley saw one that she loved and told me she wanted her to come live with us. She even gave the doll a name, Lailey. I knew I had to figure out something so I started searching for patterns and tutorials to make my very own Waldorf style doll. Thankfully I stumbled across Ashtabeulah on Etsy and all was well again. I ordered a 12" ready to finish doll and just hoped I could have it finished before Christmas morning came. It probably wouldn't have been such an issue if I started this process before the end of November. Ha!

After it arrived I stared at it for a couple days before I got up the courage to actually start sewing. I ordered some awesome handspun yarn from Funky Yarns and it was a perfect match to Kinsley's wild and crazy hair. I can't say enough about her awesome yarns. I want them all!!

I crocheted her a pretty pink sweater and quickly sewed up a little matching skirt and she was ready to meet her new mama. Of course I was, and still am, super critical of my work but when Kinsley saw her and exclaimed "IT'S LAILEY!!!!" and gave her a big hug I knew it was worth staying up until the wee hours on Christmas Eve to make her come to life.

The weather has finally started to warm up here and Kinsley is back to wearing a dress every chance she gets. One afternoon this week she came to me and asked if we could make Lailey a dress because she was getting too hot so that's just what we did.



I pulled out our tub of scrap fabrics and Kinsley got right to work.



She had a butterfly dress picked out for herself to wear that afternoon so she insisted that Lailey wear the bumblebee fabric so they could both be animals that love flowers. With a little help from mama she sewed a pretty little summer dress for Lailey and they were ready to head outside to play.


I think Lailey is very happy with her new dress and pigtails. Even if she needs a bit of a haircut. Poor Lailey often gets pulled around by her hair stretching the wool fibers so every once in a while she needs a trim. I think it's time.

Happy 11 Months Kaitie Baby

Another month and we'll be celebrating her being a year old. I'm just not ready. She has changed so much in the last month, even just in the last week really. Her little personality is cracking us all up and she is loving being the center of attention. She's finally becoming confident enough in her walking to let go of furniture and do it all on her own. She's becoming quite brave and adding climbing to the mix as well. We are in so much trouble with her, she has absolutely no fear.



She still only has 4 teeth but she has three more coming in all at the same time. I'm really going to miss this cheesy little grin when all her new teeth come in.



She's really starting to enjoy exploring her world and loves to go outside. She is happiest when she is outside and when we make her come back in she walks to the back door and bangs on it saying "bye bye" until we let her go back out again. I am so thankful the weather is warming up enough that we can spend most of the day outside. Now if I could just figure out how to get her to stop eating grass. And dirt, and rocks, and leaves, and...



But at least she's happy about it.