Party Prep: Party Dress

Can I just tell you how pleased I am that I got this dress finished in time for Hadley's first birthday party?  Normally, the fabrics would have just sat in the bag until it was too late to possibly finish, or I would try to sew late into the night with a resulting hopeless mess. 

It is still considerably later than I had intended.  I was planning to participate in the sew along for week one of Project Run & Play where the designers were to remix Katy of No Big Dill's Bias Skirt pattern.  I was going to add bias strips in an ombre design to the skirt.  Since I'm about three weeks too late I decided to  stick to the design for Lindsay at The Cottage Mama's Party Dress she shared as a guest post on Ucreate.

I had purchased four different shades of aqua in different polyester satins and linings, so I might have purchased some different fabrics if I hadn't started with a different plan.  The sash is a little narrower due to fabric restrictions, but I think I prefer the smaller sash for my style.

Instead of fabric strips for the button loops, I used some aqua elastic I got from Pick Your Plum a while back.  I'm planning to make a coordinating headband using the same elastic and some fabric scraps for rolled flowers.

I still need to try it on her to get the positions for the buttons, and I have to decide if I want to add a little orange rolled fabric flower to the sash.  I love the contrast and it's part of the color scheme in her room and loosely that of the party.  Decisions, decisions...  Oh, and Arden wants a dress too.  In time for the party - good thing I'm all practiced up!



I'll be linking up to these great parties:

Mondays Making the World Cuter Monday – Making the World Cuter Made By You Monday – Skip to My Lou Craftastic Monday – Sew Can Do Making Mondays Marvelous – C.R.A.F.T. Market Yourself Monday – Sumo’s Sweet Stuff Creative Me Monday - The Southern Institute Tuesdays I Made It Without My Hubby – Shanty 2 Chic Sew Cute Tuesdays – Creative Itch Anything Related – All Things Related Tot Tuesdays – My Delicious Ambiguity Tute-in Tuesdays – Oops, I Craft My Pants Take a Look Tuesdays - Sugar Bee Craft Edition Shwin&Shwin Wednesdays We Did It Wednesdays – Sew Much Ado Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice - Seven Thirty Three Show & Tell – Blue Cricket Design Show Me What Ya Got - Not Just a Housewife Your Whims Wednesdays - My Girlish Whims Thursdays Strut-Your-Stuff – Somewhat Simple Make It, Wear It – The Train to Crazy It’s Stinkin’ Cute – Sew Stinkin’ Cute Show Off Your Stuff – Fireflies and Jellybeans Making It With Allie - What Allie's Making Now Pinspirational Thursdays - The ArtsyGirl Connection Fridays Furniture Feature Friday - Miss Mustard Seed Weekend Wrap Up Party – Tatertots and Jello Feature Yourself Friday – Fingerprints on the Fridge Friday Fun Finds – KojoDesigns Weekends Check Me Out Saturday – A Vision to Remember Show and Tell Saturday – Be Different Act Normal Sunday Scoop – I Heart Naptime Sunday Showcase Party – Under the Table and Dreaming A Pinteresting Party - Tutus & Tea Parties Sunday Roundup - A Rosie Sweet Home

Party Prep: Bird Feed Party Favors

Since we're having a birdie themed party for Hadley's first birthday, I thought a favor for the birds would be appropriate.  I had pinned a couple of versions of these, but the recipe I went with came from The Mother Huddle.

Supplies:
4 C bird seed feed
3/4 C all purpose flour
1/2 C water
3 T corn syrup
1 package of plain gelatin
cooking spray
mini bundt pan or other mold with a hole in the center (I used ones without and just put straws in to hold an opening)

Directions:
In a large bowl put 1/2 warm water and gelatin mix together and let the gelatin dissolve.  Whisk in the corn syrup and flour to create a paste.  Add 4 cups of the bird seed and stir well.  Spray the mold well, then scoop the seed into the pan evenly as possible and press firmly in place.  Let dry 24-48 hours.

Arden is always interested in helping out in the kitchen, so I had her put ingredients into the bowl and stir the mixture.

I bought this mini loaf cake pan because I wasn't finding a mini bundt pan that I was hoping for.  We just cut straws into thirds and stuck them in to create holes for stringing them.

Then I was looking in Arden's play kitchen for some little cookie cutters to use up the last bits of the mix and found her mini bundt pan - perfect!  I used her pan for the second batch.

I strung them up using jute twine and included them in the goodie box we're giving to guests.  Hopefully there'll be some happy birds! 

I know at least one dog that enjoyed the two leftover ones I was planning to hang at our house.  Laser is such a stinker sometimes!  I had them wrapped in foil and at the very back of our counter, but when he decides he wants something, he's gonna get it.  Sometimes he's good enough for a while to lull me into a false sense of security and I let down my guard - dang it!

I'll be linking up to these great parties:

Mondays Making the World Cuter Monday – Making the World Cuter Made By You Monday – Skip to My Lou Craftastic Monday – Sew Can Do Making Mondays Marvelous – C.R.A.F.T. Market Yourself Monday – Sumo’s Sweet Stuff Creative Me Monday - The Southern Institute Tuesdays I Made It Without My Hubby – Shanty 2 Chic Sew Cute Tuesdays – Creative Itch Anything Related – All Things Related Tot Tuesdays – My Delicious Ambiguity Tute-in Tuesdays – Oops, I Craft My Pants Take a Look Tuesdays - Sugar Bee Craft Edition Shwin&Shwin Wednesdays We Did It Wednesdays – Sew Much Ado Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice - Seven Thirty Three Show & Tell – Blue Cricket Design Show Me What Ya Got - Not Just a Housewife Your Whims Wednesdays - My Girlish Whims Thursdays Strut-Your-Stuff – Somewhat Simple Make It, Wear It – The Train to Crazy It’s Stinkin’ Cute – Sew Stinkin’ Cute Show Off Your Stuff – Fireflies and Jellybeans Making It With Allie - What Allie's Making Now Pinspirational Thursdays - The ArtsyGirl Connection Fridays Furniture Feature Friday - Miss Mustard Seed Weekend Wrap Up Party – Tatertots and Jello Feature Yourself Friday – Fingerprints on the Fridge Friday Fun Finds – KojoDesigns Weekends Check Me Out Saturday – A Vision to Remember Show and Tell Saturday – Be Different Act Normal Sunday Scoop – I Heart Naptime Sunday Showcase Party – Under the Table and Dreaming A Pinteresting Party - Tutus & Tea Parties Sunday Roundup - A Rosie Sweet Home

Party Prep: Wrapped and Embellished "H"

A while back, I had picked up a wooden letter "A" and an "H" in the clearance bin at Michaels.  I didn't have a specific project in mind, but figured I could make something cool for the girls.  When I started planning the decor for Hadley's first birthday party, I remembered them and decided to make this wrapped and embellished "H" to put out and then to display in her room later.

I always have jute twine on hand for stringing my nautical flag banners.  Of course I've seen all the cute yarn-wrapped letters, so I thought this would make for a cute version and go with the materials I'm planning to use in the party - burlap, fabric, kraft paper, etc...

I made three different flowers to embellish the "H".  My glue gun has probably not seen the light of day in about ten years, so I dug it out of my old dresser in Arden's room and went to work.

The rolled felt flower is made following the instructions at Craftiness Is Not Optional and I was so happy with how easy and quick this little felt beauty turned out!  I used some more of the lovely felt my first Package Pal, Ellen sent me - I've gotten a lot of mileage out of her goodies!

The orange rolled fabric flower is a bias cut of some leftover denim I had on hand.  Just twist and roll and glue every so often.

For the crocheted flowers, I had to dust off my crocheting skills.  I knit and I used to crochet (like when I was twelve or something!!) and my Mom gave me a quick lesson when they visited in June.  I scrounged around on YouTube and found a nice video tutorial from Little Birdie Secrets that allowed me to make a reasonable representation.  I found a cute little button from my Button Jar that even had a bit of orange thread attached to put in the center - perfect!

I'll probably attach a length of ribbon for hanging at the party and then I think it will go on her bedroom door after the party.  

I'll be linking up to these great parties:

Mondays Making the World Cuter Monday – Making the World Cuter Made By You Monday – Skip to My Lou Craftastic Monday – Sew Can Do Making Mondays Marvelous – C.R.A.F.T. Market Yourself Monday – Sumo’s Sweet Stuff Creative Me Monday - The Southern Institute Tuesdays I Made It Without My Hubby – Shanty 2 Chic Sew Cute Tuesdays – Creative Itch Anything Related – All Things Related Tot Tuesdays – My Delicious Ambiguity Tute-in Tuesdays – Oops, I Craft My Pants Take a Look Tuesdays - Sugar Bee Craft Edition Shwin&Shwin Wednesdays We Did It Wednesdays – Sew Much Ado Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice - Seven Thirty Three Show & Tell – Blue Cricket Design Show Me What Ya Got - Not Just a Housewife Your Whims Wednesdays - My Girlish Whims Thursdays Strut-Your-Stuff – Somewhat Simple Make It, Wear It – The Train to Crazy It’s Stinkin’ Cute – Sew Stinkin’ Cute Show Off Your Stuff – Fireflies and Jellybeans Making It With Allie - What Allie's Making Now Pinspirational Thursdays - The ArtsyGirl Connection Fridays Furniture Feature Friday - Miss Mustard Seed Weekend Wrap Up Party – Tatertots and Jello Feature Yourself Friday – Fingerprints on the Fridge Friday Fun Finds – KojoDesigns Weekends Check Me Out Saturday – A Vision to Remember Show and Tell Saturday – Be Different Act Normal Sunday Scoop – I Heart Naptime Sunday Showcase Party – Under the Table and Dreaming A Pinteresting Party - Tutus & Tea Parties Sunday Roundup - A Rosie Sweet Home

Party Prep: Invitations

I'm ba-ack!  Sorry, I've just been busy with the usual: banner orders and taking care of two cuties, plus it's been super busy at work (I do have a day job - at least part of the time!) with reporting/forecasting, I had to do an inventory count near Chicago, and then we just wrapped up quarterly product cost estimates.

So would you believe that Hadley's first birthday is approaching with insane speed!  I can't believe she's going to be one soon!  She looks like an 18 month old, so I'm sure nobody else doubts it!!  I've been a busy lady, so I thought I'd share some of the party prep with you - let's begin at the beginning with invitations:

I normally purchase invitations and such through Tiny Prints - love them!  But I wanted a bird/tree theme, and they really didn't have anything that fit with what I was looking for.  So, I figured since I'm a seller on Etsy and I'm awesome (ha!), that there should be awesome birdie invitations on Etsy.  I quickly came across Less Ordinary Designs by Sara Luke Creative on Etsy. and knew I had found the right place.

So, there's this super cute woodland invitation - pretty close to what I had in mind.

But then I saw this great photo one; I really like including a photo for invitations so guests can have a picture of the birthday girl to keep.

So I worked with Sara to combine the two designs and customize the wording as well as make the birdies pink! - she was so responsive and easy to work with.  In no time at all, I had the digital proof and ran to Staples to print them on cardstock.  Love them!

I also have a bit of a thing for non-white envelopes.  If I can use colored or other special envelopes, I'm all about it!  So I picked up some kraft A7 envelopes from her shop as well.  Talk about one stop shopping! 

This is not a sponsored post; in fact Sara has no idea that I'm posting this.  I just really like the quality and service she offers and wanted to share.  Sara also blogs over at A Life Less Ordinary, where she talks about running a summer camp among other things - so cool!

Potholder Production

Arden has gained full proficiency on lacing cards, so I thought it was time to introduce her to a new challenge: potholders!  I posted a little glimpse in my OMG Skillet Apple Pie post, saying:  "We have a family tradition of making potholders - I used to make them and my Mom made them and sold them as a little girl.  She charged 12 cents each or two for a quarter.  My Poppy asked her how many "two singles" she sold, but either her customers were suckers for cute little girls or were equally math-challenged!"

It's the cutest thing; Hadley is very interested in everything that Arden does, so she was grabbing all the loops and playing with them and Arden would let Hadley "choose" what color to use next.  Sometimes she can be just the sweetest big sister - right up until she rips something from Hadley's strong little grasp that is...

She put the warp bands on all by herself, and then wove in the other direction with me pulling up the right one to put it under.  She could do that with one hand at times - I don't think I'm that dextrous! 

The finished product!  Should we sell them for $2 each or a pair for $5?  Maybe Arden should open her own Etsy shop... 

First Day of Preschool, Round Two

Since Arden met the earliest age requirement for preschool offered through her daycare last year, she is now beginning her second year of preschool, and will have one more year before beginning Kindergarten in 2014 (eek!).

Last year I didn't change my work schedule, so she only had one day of school each week.  This time I wanted her to get the benefit of both days so we're now going to daycare/school Tuesday through Thursday.

I'm not normally a thrift store shopper.  I see some great posts with really cool outfits that have been entirely thrifted, but they must have some way nicer thrift stores than we have around here!  Anyways, Arden is wearing an outfit from the kid's consignment store where I've begun taking clothes and gear that Hadley has outgrown.  So not only was it inexpensive, I was using some of the cash I earned from selling, so it was sort of free!

Here she is putting a sticker on her school folder.  They get to add a sticker when they turn in their homework, so by the end of the year the folder is all covered with stickers - pretty cool!