Juicy Bits

207: we *heart* teachers

If you have school-age children, you know that teacher appreciation week just went by.  I'm class mom for Aurora's second grade class this year and we just love her teacher.  Really we've been so lucky to have great teachers for both kids so far.  And we do truly appreciate them.  

This year Aurora's teacher is pregnant and due this summer.  When her class decided to throw a baby shower for her, I knew I wanted to make her a baby quilt.

I always think to myself how easy it will be.  I'll keep it simple.  Yeah, right.  Inevitably, I get carried away.  This is the pretty quilt I came up with:

 

Actually, it's not super-complicated or anything.  I've been doing a ton of half square triangles lately.  And all I had to go on were that she likes bright colors, her favorite color is turquoise, and she's having a girl.  But I did add some time-consuming details, that, I hope, made it really special for her.  

I had each of the kids in her class write their name.  Then I traced them and stitched them (by machine) into rectangles around the border.  I wanted their personalities to be there in some small way (without becoming too childish or overwhemling), so it's neat to have the names in their own handwriting.

I also couldn't stick to simple straight-line quilting (yes, there's a pattern developing here) so I came up with a flower motif for in each star.

As you can see, she really loved it and I know she can treasure it and know that she's made a difference to every child in her class.

JT

205: puppy party part 2: the day

So here's how it all went down:

First, kids arrived and they just played around a bit.  The cardboard doghouse my dad made rocked!

Next it was time to adopt your own puppy (sorry, I don't have a good picture of them all doing it).  They got to choose from a big bin of cute stuffed puppies of lots of different breeds. And they got to fill out an adoption certificate and name it.

Next, we headed outside.  I had set up an obstacle course (which I also have no good pictures of) for them to run through like at a dog show.  I didn't make them do it on all fours, but they had the option.  It had things to jump over, tunnels to go through, planks to walk across, and hoops to jump through.  We even asked them to puppy tricks like "sit", "speak", "roll over" and gave them treats if they did so.  It was great fun and they all got a "Best in Show" ribbon.

Then the real fun began.  The puppies arrived.  Actually it was 1 puppy and 2 small dogs.  They loved playing around with them and giving them treats.

They even took some of them through the obstacle course.

After we had to say goodbye to the puppies we headed inside to do a quick craft.  They each got their own wooden doghouse, just right for their new puppy, and they got to paint it however they liked.  I made the dog houses by cutting a larger door into pre-made birdhouses and gluing a bone above it.  It was a bit tricky to get the jigsaw into the tight space but they came out great.

Next up: food.  We had sandwiches and goldfish all bagged up and ready to grab. There were healthy additions like fruit at each place and cups of veggies and ranch.  And the yummy, buttery, dog bone pretzels are to die for.  In dog bowls we had Scooby Snacks and Cocoa Puffs to look like real food.

The kids ate (where else?) on the floor doggie-style.  I laid out a runner on the deck and they even had dog bowls to eat from.  Many of them gave the "no hands" approach a try!

Last we sang to the birthday boy and had cupcakes.  

It turned to be a wonderful day and I know Theo had a great time.  However, it did nothing to help satisfy his desire for his very own puppy.  :)

JT

204: puppy party part 1: the details

 

In my usual delayed fashion, I finally have the details of Theo's puppy party from last summer.  The theme selection was pretty easy as he is just crazy about puppies.

 

Let me answer your first question right away, no we did no surprise him with his very own puppy at the party.  Or any time after for that matter.  I was VERY tempted though.  All that focus of puppies had me looking in non-allergenic breeds and all that.  But, at least for now, a puppy just doesn't fit into our hectic lives.  Maybe when he's a bit older and can share some of the responsibilities.

Anyway, back to the party.  It was a great day.  The puppies themselves were the main activity.  I mean what more entertainment does a group of 4-year-olds need but a couple of cute doggies to play with.

 

If you're wondering where we got the puppies/dogs to come to the party, they were from an animal rescue organization.  They had brought some dogs into Theo's pre-school to share with the kids and I thought, why not see if they could bring them to a party?  Although they were quite generous and really just did it for the love of children and dogs, I did give a donation to the organization as well as asking the guests to bring food or toy donations.

And the black lab puppy even got adopted by one of the families at the party!

It was a day filled with playing with puppies, pretending they were puppies, and even adopting their own little stuffed puppies.

I'll be back soon with all the details of the events of the day, but here are some of the sources:

Photography: mostly me, but some by my dad

Invitations, adoption certificates and graphics: custom by me

Real puppies: Castle of Dreams Animal Rescue

Stuffed puppies: Aurora brand bought from Stuffed Safari (great customer service!)

Dog bowls: Petsmart

Cake and cupcakes and dog bone pretzels: Deirdre Thauer

Pretzel recipe: King Arthur's Flour Baker's Companion cookbook (Yum!)

Cookies: me

Wooden doghouses: Birdhouses from Michaels with the openings cut larger

Cardboard doghouse: my dad and me

"Best in Show" ribbons: me

 

 

 

200: holidays

Phew!  Nice little "blog breather" there.  Wish I had something more monumental to share on this, my 200th post, but alas, just a bit of catch-up.

In my usual delayed fashion I haven't really talked about the holidays.  Of course they were busy, busy, busy over here.  I made a bunch of gifts, but I'll have to share most of them at a later date.

But to start with, this is an awesome project I did for my sister.  She just moved into her very very own city apartment and of course I had to help with the decor.

This is a large canvas that I painted and then mod podged on some fabric.  The inspiration is actually from a bedding set, but it was totally different colors, in a different scale, and had no print fabric.  So it's not a copy at all.

But I did make it to coordinate with this bedding set I got her.  I'm not going to put a link because I'm sure by the time anyone cares, it will be long gone, but it was from Macy's.  

It was fun to do.  I normally sew stuff so painting was a departure.  Actually if I could have found a background fabric that coordinated well, I probably would have sew this too, and then stretched it on canvas, but time was limited.  Painting is always a bit more difficult than I think it will be, but I'm quite pleased with how it came out.

Our holidays were mostly spent at home.  I enjoyed my newly converted wood burning fireplace and spent lots of time just hanging out with the kids.  I've even completed an entire quilt since the new year! (More on that later).

Here are a few of the basic holiday holiday portraits.  Aurora chose her own dress this year which she was just dying for, so I went with it.

Hope you had great holidays and that your new year is shaping up to be a good one.

JT

197: Errol and Hermione

It's time for this year's Halloween creations... a continuation of our Harry Potter mania.

I didn't really have to make much for Aurora's Hermione Granger costume, because I had already made most of it for her birthday party.

But, Theo decided to be Errol (The Weasley family's owl. He couldn't be Hedwig because she's a girl.)  That was more of a challenge.

In reality he first wanted to be a Chihuahua, but really?  How exactly does one make that?  I mean I can do pointy ears, but he'd just look like a cat.  So with some mild suggestion he went with owl.  Yay!  So much cute potential.

So, no, I did not use a pattern.  I referenced a hood on a commercial pattern, but that's about it.  I started with this Beenie Babies owl called "Hoot" I have and used it as a model.

The body is made of fleece.  It's lined and stuffed with polyfill and batting.  The tail does stick out a bit and has more stuffing.  Then I added the "feathers".  They are flannels, fleeces, and wools and because I didn't want some to fray more than others I fray checked all the edges.  Yes, I'm psycho like that.

They are sewn on everywhere but around the face (where they are glued).  I also added little pleats in the tops of each one to add volume.

The body is velcroed (is that a word?) at the shoulders, as are the removable wings.  There were even little pockets to keep his hands warm (which was a good idea considering that, indeed, that is snow on the ground).

He was a big hit everywhere we went.  He had two Halloween parades and he was able to go trick-or-treating this year (he was sick last year).

 

Aurora was an adorable Herminone.  I had attempted to make the cloak accurate to the movie, but really did you know they change from movie-to-movie?  So I went with my best interpretation.  The patch was bought.  The tie was made (I even made the striped fabric by sewing on ribbons) because the color of the commercial ones was all wrong.  The sweater was from a thrift store with ribbons sewn at the collar.

I made the wand also, which I will go into on the posts about her party, whenever they are.  Sadly, it was a casualty of the night as it got dropped and ruined.

The funnest (don't care that that's not a word) accessory was the book.  It was an old book, and we didn't bother to change the title or anything.  But what we did do was make it scream when you opened it.  I bought one of those recordable greeting cards and we all yelled really loud and told you to "shut the book, would ya!".  The idea was like it was one of the magical books from the restricted section of the library.  She loved it and enjoyed showing it to all her classmates.  Plus, who is Hermione without a book?

Hope you had a Happy Halloween!

JT

 

 

191: I will blog tonight

I've been telling myself that all day, and while it's technically now tomorrow, I'm on it.  Obviously.

A while back I promised to share the results of all serger-sewing-fun I had this summer.  These dresses are my favorite.

One is for Aurora and the other for her best friend who just happened to move half-way around the world this summer.

They are made from recycled t-shirts that I mostly got at the Salvation Army Thrift Store.  A few pieces are old dresses or t-shirts that Aurora used to own and probably had  stain or something on them.  One is even from old PJ pants of mine.

I knew I was going to do very piece-y stuff in bright colors and I found this etsy seller for inspiration.  The patterns are my own, and obviously that took the longest time.  The actual sewing of the dresses is quite quick.

 I got very addicted to shopping at the thrift store.  I went there at least 3 times and spent more than $30 on t-shirts, most of which only cost $.99 each.  You do the math.  I now have big bins of t-shirt scraps to work with.  Luckily I feel pretty certain I'll make more.  She loves the style and wearability of the dress.  I've also made her another and Theo a couple of pieced t-shirts.  I'll try to get pictures of those.  I love Theo's t-shirts because boys clothes often bore me.  And I might want to try some adult sizes, but it's harder to come by big enough pieces.

 

And now I frequent the thrift store on half-off day.  I just can't get over buying Gap jeans for the kids for $.99.  They both now have several pairs of jeans in too big sizes.  I have to scour the racks, but I always find some good stuff.  And I did get quite a few props for her Harry Potter party.  By the way, it's over (thank goodness) and it was a smashing success.  Whenever I have the photos edited, I promise to share.

JT

189: Kingdom in da house

Yes, the time has come to blog again.  Over a month is a bit too long, don't you think?  Even with summer as my excuse.

Well, while I've been gone we've checked off quite a few item on that summer to-do list.  Including fireworks, the beach on Cape Cod, and 5 nights of glamping in the beautiful Thousand Islands area of New York.  Great trip.  Beautiful weather (finally, not rained out!), interesting sights, yummy food, and lots of smiles on the kids faces.  This year we tried "hobo eclairs".  Yum!

These pix were taken at the Heritage Museum in Sandwich, MA.  If you are a bit of a hippie mom like me, you MUST visit. They have this new area called Hidden Hollow (below) that it one of the most amazing places for kids I've ever been to.  Everything is wooden and natural (most right from the grounds) and it has art, storytelling, blocks, sand, play house, theater, musical instruments, a tree house, and so much more wholesome goodness for the kids.  It was just MAGICAL and I totally want it in my back yard.

And now Kingdom is hitting the shops.  Woot!

I don't really have a comprehensive list of shops that are carrying it, so if you are one, let me know and I'll add you.  But here are a few places to pick it up:

Hawthorne Threads

Venezie Designs

Sew Mama Sew

You can get the free pattern for the Prairie Glass Squared quilt here.

Before I know it I'll have an advance copy of my book in my hands...eek!

I'd better get back to party prep.  This year, for Theo, it's a puppy party and I've got quite a bit left to do.

JT 

 

180: forest chic treats and sweets

We decided to have another party this winter for no reason other than we really like to bake. The "we" I'm referring to is myself and my youngest sister Deirdre who is conveniently in town to help.  This time around, it wasn't a strictly cookies party like last year. We had cookies, and plenty of them, but also cupcakes, pretzels, brownies, etc.

The look I decided on was lush, forest floor, with a traditional, chic twist.  Does that make any sense? It did in my head anyway.  And I think that's how it came out.

It was very nice to be able to share the work of all the baking. My husband invited like a million people but since it was a holiday weekend, enough people were away and couldn't come that it wasn't too overwhelming.

It was a simple, casual, open-house-type party where you could drop by whenever.  Plenty of Aurora's friends came.  We had one little craft for them to do: decorating rocks with paint pens. So simple, but they loved it and it was appropriate for toddlers to teens.

As far as the decor goes, I designed and printed the labels myself.  The jars are lined with various green print fabrics stabilized with interfacing.  I glad to say I didn't have to buy a single piece of glassware.  The greenery is a combination of fresh and moss.  The invitations can from the $1 bin at Michaels, if you can believe it.  I paid more for postage. :)

JT 

 

179: troop 96

First off, thanx for all your praise of Kingdom. I'm so excited to see what many of you will sew with it, so promise you'll share, OK?  And I promise there will be more posts to come with my projects etc., when I get the fabric.

So, I feel like I have a ton to post about and just no time to get to it.  I will be a tease and tell you I have big, giant, HUGE news coming this month!

One project I haven't shared yet is this banner I made for Aurora's Daisy Scout Troop.  They marched in the a local St. Patrick's day parade with it, but sadly I was in Hawaii and missed it. However, they are supposed to use this for many years to come, so I'm sure I'll get to see it in action.

I hear it was cold, but they had a good time. And the troop just loved the banner.  The girls each added a little decoration to a leaf with their name on it.  Is it bad that I didn't actually want them to contribute? I knew they needed to do something to make it their own, but I wanted to keep it with the fabric leaves.  But I was a good mom and let go of the control (a little anyway). :)

JT

177: aloha!

I just got back from the trip-of-a-lifetime to Hawaii.  Sigh.  So amazing, yet so...over.  And here I am back in NJ and what does it do on the first full day of spring?  Yup, snow.

So, if I choose to live in my memories and these pictures of all the beauty and fair weather, you'll understand, right?

 This trip was an early celebration of our 10 year anniversary.  And, yes, we went alone and left the kids at home (luckily we had both my parents and my sister to stay with them).

Now, you're all aware of the tragedies over in Japan, and some of you may remember that tsunami warnings reached around the pacific, especially Hawaii.  Yes, that was our first night there.  We slept blissfully unaware until the sounds of evacuation sirens and text messages from loved ones woke us around 3 am.  Luckily we were staying uphill from the coast that night, and weren't really in danger.  But that didn't stop me from imagining giant 1000 ft waves sweeping in and carrying us all away.  Freaky, and a great start to the trip.  Thank goodness it was all uphill from there.

We only visited one island during our trip (well, 2 if you count a daytrip): Maui.  Heaven on earth.  We hiked in the Haleakala National Park to the Waimoku Falls and it was the most beautiful hike I've ever been on.  The bamboo knocking above our heads and the wind blew through it was truly mystical.

After, driving around and adventuring for a few days, we decided to settle in and relax.  So we hung out by this amazing pool.  The view and service were both impeccable and since no one under 21 was allowed, it was definitely serene.  And one night as we swam by the edge at sunset we were treated to a show by about 4 whales only about 100 yards away.  Amazing.

I did actually find a little quilt shop while I was there.  Some tropical florals were in order and I loved the hula dancers for a dress for Aurora.

Hopefully you won't all abandon me now because I've bragged too much. If you're still experiencing the winter blues, I feel for you.  I hope we can get away on another extraordinary tropical trip like this again in, say, another 10 years...

 And now that I'm home and back to work, I do have a big reveal of my next fabric collection coming up really soon.  No teaser pictures, but the collection is called Kingdom.

Aloha! 

JT

175: I've been busy...

making stuff!

Sometimes I feel like I'm not getting anything done, but the fact of the matter is I really have been making a lot lately.  Mostly because I've been taking up small, easy-to-finish, just-for-fun projects.  yay!

These little cuties were my Valentine's gifts for the kids.

Theo got a little crochet elephant.  The tutorial can be found here. This was my first attempt at amigurumi.  Not too hard, but more time consuming than you would think.  The only problem I found with this pattern is the trunk just kind sticks straight out.  You have to bend and shape as best you can to make it look cute and curved.

Aurora's gift was my first felt food.  Every year I think I'm going to make her some precious felt sweets. I only got as far as one slice. I don't get people who can make a whole cake. This took me way too long. And please be kind and ignore my obvious, uneven stitching. I think I was supposed to use a ladder stitch and I did, but perhaps I have to make them VERY close together. However, that would add hours to the construction... And I don't like how light it is stuffed with poyfil. Is there some kind of heavier fill I could use? I did add some barley in the bottom for weight. I do know there are plastic equivalents I could buy and I will next time, just so it doesn't appeal to mice. :)

What have you been making lately?

JT

174: unicorns and rainbows party part 2: the day

As I mentioned, the day was darned near perfect.  Here's how it went:

Set-up, and more frantic set-up in the morning.

Then, we had gorgeous face painting as the kids arrived.

The craft project was painting unicorn or dragon t-shirts with freezer paper stencils.  

There were many creative outcomes.

 And, though the pictures don't show it, you should believe me when I tell you the smocks were a rainbow of solid-colored t-shirts (from Goodwill).  Yes, that's how far I take it.

Next up was a treasure hunt for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.  HUGE hit.  The kids were running all over the house and yard hunting for the next clue.  

I made them all up, and they even rhymed.

They were hidden in places like the mailbox, a backpack, the climber, and the pot of (chocolate) gold was in the fireplace.  Such a simple activity that was so much fun.  I'm sure we'll do one again at the kids' request.

After that it was time to enjoy treats and cake.  

I have to say I think people were more impressed with my ability to cut semi-intact slices of the overly tall cake, than with my ability to bake it.  :)

Then afterwards the kids enjoyed some running and playing in the yard on such a beautiful day. 

I can hardly believe my little girl is 6 (and really now, she's half way to 7!)

Haven't come up with a definite plan for next year yet...I'll keep you posted.

JT

 

 

 

173: unicorns and rainbows party part 1: the details

 Finally.

I've been holding on to these pictures for a while now.  I just really needed to edit them down a bit.  There were so many good ones that I find it nearly impossible to choose.

Anyway, as the title implies, this year Aurora chose a unicorns and rainbows party.  Actually she chose unicorns and I convinced her to add the rainbows by describing the candy buffet. She had been reading this series of books about a unicorn school and was really into them.  And who can't get behind that idea?  And for the boys, dragons were permitted to attend.

While the party followed a VERY hectic summer and Theo's party, it went off with very limited hiccups.  Much less stressed out that at Theo's.  That's not to say it wasn't a boatload of work.  This stuff doesn't just happen, people.  :)

The day was darned near perfect.  Great weather.  Great Friends.  Great fun.  The kids enjoyed a day full of sugar as well as a craft and even a treasure hunt for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

I asked everyone to come dressed all in one color so we could be our own rainbow...

 You'll find the sources and inspiration at the bottom of this post, and I'll be back soon with a summary of the day's events.

 Photography: Evan Foster

Invitations: custom made by me

Dessert Table: inspired by the infamous Amy Atlas

Uncicorn cookies: made by me, inspired by this photo

Yarn balloons: made by Aurora and me, tutorial found here

Paper mobiles: tutorial found here

Cake: made by me, lots of inspiration around the web

Craft: freezer paper stenciling (tutorial found here), used unicorn clip art found here, and a dragon I drew

Face painting: Bella Facia

Favors: a bag filled with a unicorn lollipop, mini unicorn (or dragon) coloring book (available on amazon), set of mini rainbow markers, rainbow and unicorn stickers, wooden unicorn to color and a sewn matchbook notebook (tutorial found here) - plus a whole container full of the candy!

172: christmas cuties

Well, I had good intentions to get back onto the blogging bandwagon.  Then life happened. 

OK, maybe not life so much as my obsessive tendencies.  See, I started to crochet a bit over the holiday.  At first I was working on my blanket.  But that's going nowhere fast.  So I decided I need a more achievable goal.  And I started this amazing shrug from Rowan's Summer Crochet book.  My plan is to wear it when I go to Hawaii.  Once I started, I could not stop...

Until sickness hit.  Not that I ever really enjoy reading about people's illnesses, but Oy!  I've been totally out of commission for over a week now.  Bronchitis with a side of not being able to sleep at all.  So, an entire week of my life is gone with nothing to show for it but a very lived-in bed.  I'm going a little bonkers (little might be the understatement of the year).  And until the last day or so I wasn't even well enough to crochet or check my email for that matter.  It occurs to me that I'm making light of this, but for my future self's reference, it was really quite devastating. I was totally reliant on others and couldn't really even be a mom for the week.

So, here's hoping things turn around quickly.  I'm almost done with the shrug and I'll share pix soon.

But for now here are some shots of a few gifts I made for Xmas.  These darling mermaids are from the amazing Wee Wonderfuls book by Hillary Lang.  I wish I had more time to make gifts from it...

 

I embellished these kitchen towels and made a potholder for my sister.  The fabric is Veggie Patch by Blank Textiles.  The graphic look is right up my alley.

I also made an adorable checkers set for Theo, but I'm going to try to post a tutorial of it for you all.

And finally a little look at my own two cuties at Christmas.  We did a whole matching family thing this year with purple and grey as the colors.

JT 

168: boo to you

Yes, I know Halloween is over.  I shall not apologize for being approximately one holiday behind, especially since I still haven't blogged Aurora's September birthday pictures.

Anyway, these are just a few little halloween loose ends.  First the yummy cookies I made for Theo's class.  I tried to reduce my work by only using two icing colors, but, yes, they still took more time than 3-year-olds could possibly care about.  My problem is I freaking love sugar cookies.  Yum!  So I'll make for any ol' reason ...

Next, this is a halloween wall quilt my mom made for me.  Gorgeous, right? It's from a kit from Keepsake Quilting a few years ago.  I think it's a brilliant use of batiks.  I kinda don't want to put it away now.

And finally, a peek at my little costume.  I've got no pix of me in it, so you'll have to deal.  I made the top with my new serger.  :) If you're wondering, the words are Aurora's "word wall words", so that makes me... yes, a spelling bee.  It's pretty lame that I feel the need to explain that, but no one really got it, which is mostly a reflection of the limited creativity I put into it. But it was quick, cute, and totally appropriate for an elementary school party.

I have intentions to be back before Thanksgiving, but just in case...

I am thankful for all my awesome readers!

JT

167: a good witch and a fast driver

Happy Halloween!

 

I hope you're all having a fun day.  I love Halloween.  I don't often get to dress up anymore but I miss it.  Maybe next year I'll have a party?  I did actually dress up for Aurora's school party this year, but nothing too elaborate.  I didn't take pictures.  Maybe I'll snap a few soon.

But, of course, I get to channel my costuming energies into the kids.  I'll be so sad when (if?) they don't want homemade anymore.  Did you know that Aurora's monster costume is kinda famous?  Aside from the inquiries I get, my sister saw someone that doesn't know her printed the picture out as part of their decoration at Burning Man.  It's so bizarre to think something spreads around like that.

This year Aurora wanted to be Glinda.  It's much more poofy pinkness than I would have chosen, but I have to admit she looked beautiful.  

 

She helped with the design.  She wanted nothing to do with the tall crown from the movie.  And she really like the bow on a lace-up corset.  And it must be short-sleeved for the party, but have a jacket for trick-or-treating.

 

I used 2 patterns to refer to.  The top is from Simplicity 3680.  The little jacket is based on the dress pattern McCalls 5954.  The corset I just made my own muslin for and the skirt is made up.

Even though nearly everyone called her a princess, she is very appreciative and I love sewing for her.

This year, for the first time she did a little trick-or-treating with some other kids in the neighborhood.  The image of her running along holding up her skirt with a huge smile on her face is one I'll treasure forever.  I wish I had video.

Theo requested race car driver (big surprise).  He's not too big on the whole costume thing.

 
He really doesn't want to try them on before the big day.  As a result his is a bit snug.  A little short in the torso.  

I based his on these firesuit costumes.  I used McCalls 5952 as a reference, but changed it a little.

 

Sadly, he was sick today.  In no shape to go out trick-or-treating.  I was hoping I could get him into it for 1 or 2 houses, just to say he went out, but no go. 

 

Oh well, at least he was happy in the pictures.  Plenty of goofing around.

I hope you all had a great night.  There's more chocolate calling my name right now.

JT

P.S. Can I ask you guys for a favor?  Can some of you click on a picture or two and tell me if the pop-up picture is more vibrant than the one in the post?  I'm having some trouble with Typepad where my photos get desaturated when I resize them to anything but the full size in the post. It's bumming me out, but I want to see if it's only on my computer.  Anyone else have this problem?

166: autumn revisited

I feel like I'll probably post these same kind of pictures every year.  Fall is just so photogenic and most years we'll probably hit the pumpkin patch hayride.

This year it was abnormally warm.  We were sweating.  And they were out of apple cider doughnuts.  Poo.

But it was beautiful and much fun was had.  Only got a few small pumpkins.  I don't think we'll be carving any this year...

We did also fit in a quick weekend trip to Cape Cod.  My childhood home has been sold, so I don't know how much we'll go back anymore.  It's a very bizarre feeling.  This was the first summer since like age 2 that I didn't go once.

Luckily we had a sunny brisk fall day to enjoy the beach a little.  Totally invigorating and we'd go a lot more often if it didn't involve 6+ hours of driving.

Well, despite the fact that it's only the 28th of October, both kid's halloween costumes are totally complete. (And even a quickie for me).  Parties and parades were early this year, so it wasn't exactly by choice, but I do feel relieved to be able to just enjoy the weekend.

I'll be back soon with some pictures of those to share.

JT

165: little time = small projects

Just popping in to say "hi".

I have Aurora's bday pictures, but haven't had time to edit them yet.

This is a little project she and I did over the summer.

It was just an unfinished frame, and we painted it and added some fabric covered cork board.

As you can see, the intended purpose is to give her new Disney pin collection a home where she can admire them and rearrange them to her heart's content.  I personally wouldn't have chosen such a busy fabric, but it's already in her room (some day I'll show you pictures of that) and I let her pick.  The frame is the color of her dresser.  I love that the pins just sort of blend right in now.

Anyway, these are the kinds of thing I had time for over the summer.  Things have settled down a bit since then, but as you might imagine, I'm working away on halloween costumes.  Her school party is friday (annoyingly early) so I don't have much time left.  This year she has chosen Glinda, so I'm swimming in a sea of pink.

What are you up to?

JT

164: race car birthday part 2: the day

So here are the events of the day in approximately chronological order.  

First, I'll say that we decided to have the party on weeknight for various reasons, and that was so cool.  Even though it meant providing a meal for the guests, it was great to be able to stay up uber-late and not have to wake early.

The craft project for while everyone was arriving was simply painting with matchbox cars.  I rolled the paint out in the tops of egg cartons.  The kids' smocks are adult t-shirts from the thrift store.  I love that I could color coordinate them with the decor.

 

Next up was matchbox derby.  I made and painted the plywood track.  They put the cars in the top and then we pulled up the starting gate so they all went at the same time.  

Of course, later it was more of a free for all, which was fun too.

Now it was time for rides in a "real" race car.  I can't tell you how much my inner (outer?) stylist wanted the car to be red.  But none to be found.  But it was a Porsche.  I mean, come on.  Oh, and I didn't mention that it rained that day, which was a bummer.  I really wanted most of the festivities to be outside.  But it stopped long enough for the top to be down.  We added the vinyl number and stripes to make it look authentic. 

A checkered flag finish line was a must.  Theo loved it.  Jon just took them one at a time for a spin down the drive and around the cul-de-sac.  It was really about crossing the line and everyone cheering.  While waiting for their turn, everyone had to stay in the tire circle in the driveway.

 

Afterwards it was time for dinner and cake and general playtime.  Food was baked ziti with caesar salad and chicken nuggets.  I did make the cake.  It was my nemesis.  I. Do. Not. Like. Fondant.  I had never tried it before and at 4 am, it sucks unless you know what you're doing.  But it came out pretty cute (And I photoshopped out some of the cracks).  

The drink station was fun.  There were three choices in water dispensers (I cut a hole in the back to put the drinks and ice in.).  They poured into funnels and then your cup at the bottom.  One bit of advice is if you're doing it indoors, put a tray underneath to catch the drips and spills.  I had originally thought to use small gas cans as pitchers, which would have been cute too.  But since he's a bit young I worried about them knowing the difference between those and actual gas cans which they should NOT drink out of.  :)

As far as planning, I stressed out and took on too much this time around (including work commitments) so I didn't feel in balance.  I asked a lot of my family and friends and while I'm not sure exactly what I would have done differently...it wasn't easy to pull off.  Tears were shed, but, all in all, it was a great day and Theo had an awesome time.

JT
 

All photos by Christianne Ebel

163: race car birthday part 1: the details

Keeping with my previous format, I'm separating the party pix into two posts.  Each time I look back and see how many pictures I showed before and end up adding a few more to the current party.  Pretty soon you'll be looking at hundreds of images from one event.

 

Well, I think I mentioned, Theo is crazy about race cars.  And checkered flag finish lines.  (And railroad X's, but that's another story)  So the theme this year was a no brainer.

 

 

I'm just going to let you enjoy all the gorgeous images, and I'll add some of my sources for those who might care.  The next post will have the events of the day, but needless to say, a great time was had by all.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photography: Christianne Ebel

Invitations and graphics: Kara Thauer (my sister, she doesn't currently sell them, but could probably be convinced...)

Vinyl number and stripes for car: custom by Janey Mac Press on etsy

Large fabric banners and table runner: me

Matchbox car plywood race track: me.  If there's enough interest I could make a little tutorial for this, but it's pretty straightforward.  I originally saw several online, including one here.

Hubcaps: walmart @ 4 for $16 (and a few a friend had)

Theo's mechanic outfit: me and it was a mash-up of patterns.  I took shirt and pants patterns and combined them adding a few detail.  The patch was from here.

Drink station: poland springs water dispensers and funnels with labels I made (The idea came from a friend of mine.  I suggest you laminate your labels or buy water proof ones). I constructed it out of a bakers rack we owned.

Red place setting cars: $5 from walmart (brand is Jada) I had to visit probably a dozen different walmarts to gather enough red ones because they come in a variety pack and you can be sure what colors they'll have.

favors: trinket bags inspired by this tutorial by Amazing Mae with 3 matchbox cars in them

"Real" race car: borrowed from a friend and vinyl numbers and stripes added.  I tried everything to rent a red convertible (particularly a mini cooper) but around here it's just not possible.

Cake and cookies: me