8th birthday

I'm a bit late posting this but, we celebrated Scarlet's birthday earlier this month with a baking themed sleepover party. We started off with her ballet class which was the day the parents get to watch so that was nice. She takes ballet now twice a week and hopes to try out for the Nutcracker in the Autumn.

We had our own little celebration with gifts after lunch.

Girls arrive!

We ordered dinner in to make things easier for us since our guests were arriving at 6:30 to come help us bake. When her friends arrived we whisked them into the kitchen to make cupcakes and cut out sugar cookies. The baking was wild and super fun as you will see in the photos. They sang and then ate the results.She had wanted to take macarons but, because of the timing it couldn't happen and also I've not attempted them before. The two of us love macarons and we did serve store bought ones halfway through the night. The girls watched An American Girl: Grace Stirs Up Success. Then the girls who were getting picked up went home.

I made each girl a little night light with a battery operated candle inside a mason jar filled with moss and a cut out fairy.

They had fun with French themed photo props.

Four girls stayed the night. They took turns with the flashlight telling stories and playing teacher. Then they each read for a while and fell asleep. It was her third sleepover and the first time I hosted one. Matthew went on his first sleepover that night as well which was really fun for him and better then hanging home with a bunch of girls.

In the morning, Mick made them crepes. One of her gifts was a sewing machine which has really good reviews and is super cute. We are setting it up next to mine so we can work together.

Just for fun - photos from her first birthday!

Brooklyn Botanic Gardens on April 19, 2015

7th birthday

We celebrated Scarlet's 7th birthday a week ago and had a 3 day celebration. The highlight was definitely the dolly tea and craft party. I spent a lot of time planning and prepping the crafts and details and I have to say the girls had a great time. S wanted her friends to bring their favorite dolls and they had their own tables with pretend tea and sweets. The girls made their dolls headbands and necklaces. I made sure each girl had the supplies individually at their seats to make everything ran smoothly. Scarlet made the name tags for each girl and taped to the back of the chair. Headband supplies were put into the paper teacups I made and the beads were in ice cream bowls next to the strings with one bead placed on to start. The girls made themselves necklaces, pinwheels and I assisted with making them pillbox hats. I greeted them at the door with one I had made for myself in red. The girls had pink ones and chose from pink, white, grey, fuchsia and black feathers and white or pink ribbons. To make this all I needed to do was glue clips on the inside of the hats beforehand, cut the ribbons and tie them into bows. I had them pick what they wanted and hot glued them on. They only took a few minutes to set and then they could wear them. I bought the supplies for the hats on Etsy and the rest of the craft supplies from Paper Source, Amazon and Michaels. I also got a confetti popper which holds a ton of confetti and the girls had a great time with this. Confetti never fails! We played Pin the Tail on Rainbow Dash and played around with confetti filled balloon. I served cucumber tea sandwiches, fruit, cookies and homemade cake. The cake is a basic yellow cake that I add sprinkles too. It was the first time I tried this and the trick is one gentle stir to mix in and not get streaks. I used organic beet powder to make the icing pink because it's so much nicer then food coloring.

These parties are quite a bit of work to put together but, I do love to plan, style everything and see it all go off smoothly.


Here is a closeup of Scarlet's hat:

my birthday

My birthday was on the 19th and we had a great day in NYC. A walk through Central Park, a visit to Ladurée, a nice lunch at Cilantro and a visit to the New York Historical Society to see the Bill Cunningham exhibit and a few others. I thought I would share a few photos from our day here. There was also a surprise Easter egg hunt that we did not plan but, happily stumbled on. The macarons were delicious as were the little red cakes we brought home.

far far away # 4

This would be the fourth time I have made this sundress pattern with the Far Far Away Heather Ross double gauze fabric. What can I say? This fabric lends itself to the pattern so well. I know I can make it in about an hour and that it will be well loved. I've been holding onto the blue unicorn for a bit. The only reason it had not made it into the top of the pile sooner was knowing that I did not have enough to make it into a dress but, a top, yes! Why had not this occurred to me sooner? It's got enough length that it looks more like a tunic so it should work for a few summers.

This line of fabric is very sought after and it is really hard to find anything other then a fat quarter so sewing into it meant this may be the last time I make clothing with it. It was a bit bittersweet but, using fabric rather then letting it sit is what it's meant for and there is no point in letting it not see the sun.

I adore Heather Ross's designs and I'm working on a little playsuit romper for the shop (you may have seen a sneak peek on my instagram?) with fabric from her Briar Rose collection.


Ms. S turned 6 recently and got a mini makeover this week. A haircut which resulted in about 6 inches off! This had something to do with an incident at school that happened about a month ago in which someone played hairdresser on her. It's still not completely evened out but, the piece is not as noticeable. She has been asking to get her ears pierced and since she is a pretty responsible 6 year old and I knew she would take care of them I agreed. She said it did not hurt a bit and then we went and bought a doggie shirt at H&M.

If you want search for far far away up above to see the other sundresses. Seeing her in the purple unicorn dress melts my heart!

birthday

This past week has been so busy. I put the finishing touches on new items for Mackey Blue which I brought to the store yesterday on my way to the city for dinner to celebrate my birthday which was this past Thursday. Putting together the Spring items took many hours over the past few weeks and there are some new things there this time around like dress up crowns and big bow dresses. I also brought smocks, sun bonnets, clothespin dolls, button bobbies, ribbon bow pins, necklaces and onesies. Am I forgetting anything? Probably. I feel like I got off a roller coaster a little bit. I didn't even really have time to properly photograph what I brought but here is a peek at the fabrics I used for the dresses. They are all finished with french seams. The kitty one is quilting cotton, the brown is a very soft shot cotton and the gingham is cotton lawn. If you are in the Hoboken, NJ area I do hope you will go take a peek.



So, last night we went out for Indian in the city and it was very nice and mellow especially after the busy week. Yesterday morning was spent working with the garden club behind the greenhouses potting up in preparation for the sale in May. It was such a pretty day and a good night for walking. My actual birthday was low key but there was a delicious dark chocolate sea salt caramel cake that I enjoyed before going to my class for the evening made by Mick. My parents (the babysitters last night) gave it rave reviews.

Happy Birthday S

Today is Scarlet's 4th birthday. At 4:33 PM.

We had a very exciting weekend starting off Saturday morning with a pretend sleepover/pajama party at our house with some of her friends. The party had dancing, face painting, crafts, games, breakfast and fairy cakes. A giant golden balloon, origami butterflies, confetti system garland and balloons. The girls got the surprise balls I said I would make with a ball, bird pin, tiny horse and a chocolate kiss. There was a piñata too.



Sunday was another party here with Grammie, Pop Pop, Uncle Chris and Aunt Kelly and today I visited her preschool which was fun as I got to see her in action. There was music class today and I learned a song about bluebirds flying through the window. The kids hold hands in a circle and then one is the bird and taps another and slowly they all become bluebirds. The children raise their hands for the bluebirds to fly through the window. So cute. Also, more fairy cakes were had.

I am so lucky to have this little girl in my life who is happy, sweet, smart and creative. She has a great sense of humor and is certainly the funniest, lightest one of us all.
Of course, I say all these things being her Mom but really it's true plus she is my best girl friend. I am lucky indeed.

beauty sleep

I am working on preparations for a certain someone's birthday party this weekend. She will be turning four in a week!
We are doing a pretend sleepover party because certainly the little girls are a twee young for a real one.
We have lot of fun times planned for the party and I made these sleep masks for all the girls which we will also play a game with while they are here. The polka dot fabric is backed with the softest organic cotton fleece.

She has been asking for a nightgown for winter and since the only cotton flannel I had was white I went with that. I added the hearts since Valentine's day is around the corner. The pattern for the nightgown is Butterick B4910 and I think I will get a lot of good use out of it. I chose View D.

surprise balls

I've become enamored with surprise balls and after nosing around on the internet have settled on this cupcake style to use for party favors for Ms. S's birthday next month. I decided to try it out last night and my first time came out okay and now I know the few tweaks I want to change:

* cut the strips thinner to around 3/4 inch
* use the rotary cutter so they are even
* try to keep them tight, round and a little smaller to fit in the cupcake wrapper like the blue one.

pretty basic changes

Now to find cute tiny little things for all the girls that will attend. I used tiny things I found around my studio such as stickers, fake flowers, a bell, pin, tiny ballerina, a mirror locket and a small wood stamp. Tiny candies, sequins, little animals are some other ideas i have. How about you?
I made two testers so I can get opinions from my kids. She tested hers out already and I will have the boy test his when he gets home from school.

I think they are going to be a winner.

my birthday

It was rainy. I ate an english muffin and a cappuccino for breakfast in bed.
I noticed Mick had bought me peach roses. I put on my Nadinoo dress, a friendly ghost and a sweater I knit with tights and oxfords.
We played with a giant red balloon and 3 red balloons with white polka dots.
Matthew drew my portrait.
My parents came to visit. They brought flowers, soap and a journal. They took us to lunch. I had a mocha and a brie, tomato and avocado on 8 grain bread.
I did some laundry
I went to the post office, the bank and then the nail salon to get my nails painted. I chose Passion by Opi. The manicurist complained about my nails. I explained I am very very busy with them and haven't been taking care of them properly.
I bought a dress.
I played dollies and ate a petit four. I had Matthew take photos of me. They were not bad photos.
I worried about my age. I am way too hung up about my age.
I vacuumed.
I went outside to look at my peach, cherry and apple blossoms while it was drizzling.
I ate hummus and pita chips from Trader Joe's. I cooked the kids dinner and encouraged them to eat it. A bowl was broken by a fork.
Mick came home. I opened more presents. Very nice ones. Maison Bouche chocolate, a gift card to Purl, a necklace from Tiffany and Co. and a candle. I never got a blue box before and laughed about it.
Mick and the kids sang happy birthday. The cake was homemade by Mick. It's apple spice with a goat cheese frosting. I never had goat cheese frosting before. It was good.
I read stories. I played dollies and bunnies some more. My eyebrow was rubbed by her little fingers.
I did some knitting.
It was my birthday.