The Dress...

I went to the craft store in search of inspiration. I knew I needed to find a pattern that was super super simple. No fancy sleeves, or collars, and especially no button holes... I hate making button holes. I landed on this little number. I knew that I was going to have to make some alterations in order to make it a little more grand. I was seriously not sure if I could pull it off. I haven't sewn since Mrs. Heaton so lovingly helped me with every stitch of my pajama pants in the 8th grade. (thanks dot!) ;)

So the pattern was chosen. It said I would need 1 1/8 yard of the main fabric and 1/4 yard of an accent fabric. I had no faith whatsoever in my abilities, so I got 3 yards of the satin and 1 yard of the overlay, just in case I screwed it up royally and had to start all over. I didn't want to have to go back to the craft store!

I already had these funky, beautiful freshwater pearls. I love them because they are not uniform in shape, and they have an old brassy look to them.

After painstakingly altering the pattern to be longer (which was way harder than it sounds, and probably more so than it should have been) I simply had to sew in the pleats... and sew the front and back together. Finished off the sleeves, and added in the neckline. Sewed a zipper in the back, and that made up the basic body of the dress.

Then it was time to dress it up! The pattern shows a big bow on the neckline, which was really pretty. I tried three times. I cannot sew a bow. I know it is lame, but it is so true. it looked awful! So I got my little brain wheels spinning and came up with the rosette idea.

I had to serge around the edges of the sheer fabric because it frays so easily. I was worried that it would look horrible, as there was no way to hide the serged edges, and naturally I had tan string in my serger, and no white to be found! (out of moral obligation, I could not return to the craft store just to buy string) So I took a leap of faith and started making them. I actually love the way they turned out. I think the serged edges give them dimension, and it works well with the brassy colored pearls.

So after 2 days of cutting, stitching, pinning, unpicking, and re-sewing... I have reached the end. I am so impressed that I really pulled it off. It is far from perfect. My seams don't all match up, and my "straight" stitches are rather wavy, but it looks great from a distance! lol... As I was literally sewing on the last of the rosettes, I thought, UGH! I wish I would have made it out of my wedding dress! But alas... I did not screw it up, so I had to reason to start over... but how cool would that be?! oh well... maybe I will make one for one of my grandchildren... anyway... I love the dress... =)

leather flower how to

Chantel had an old leather jacket... I am sure it is not real leather, but it has that look. She finally grew out of it, and then the zipper broke, so I took out the zipper and made some zipper flowers, but then it seemed like such a waste to just throw the jacket away. So I decided to try to make some flowers out of it.

I cut along the top because it had a nice seam on one side.


I started out pretty wide and gradually got smaller towards the other side.

Then grab a needle and thread and just stitch along the cut side.

as you gather it up make sure that the smaller end ends up on top, that way it will spiral in so that there is a more defined center. stitch through the center a few times to make sure it is tightly secured.

then simply cover the middle with a bead, button or jewel. Add a clip or a pin to the back and TADA!!! a gorgeous addition to any outfit! This can be done with any kind of fabric, but I thought the leather added a nice texture. HAPPY CRAFTING!!

sleep...

We are still trying to adjust to life with a baby. It is quite time consuming. I am not sure how things are going to work when I have to go back to work, but I have faith that it will work out how it should.

I have to put in a plug for the hospital binkies... they are irreplaceable. They actually sell these at walmart and target now, but they are not the same! They look the same, but they are not soft like the hospital ones. I swear if we loose this binkie I am going to cry.

Annie May is getting bigger every day, it is crazy how much they change, so quickly. I can't believe she is almost a month old already! Don't you just wanna kiss her???

I think she is a beautiful baby, but we are still struggling with sleep. I try to keep her awake during the day, but it is alot harder than it seems. She wakes up around 11 and stays awake for at least 4 hours... it is not fun. If anyone has any ideas or has had to deal with a mixed up baby, please, pretty please, share your knowledge... I must start sleeping soon, or the bags under my eyes are going to explode... =)

Daddy's little girl...

What is daddy's favorite part of his baby girl? The chubby cheeks... they are so dang kissable!

*SMOOCH*

I love this one... it really does melt my heart. My husband looks a little rough around the edges, but he is the biggest softie I know! And on a totally unrelated note, I love that Mitch is getting lots of gray hair in his beard... very salt and pepper, sean connery... HANDSOME... YUMMY... GGRRAAWWWRRR!!!! 3 more weeks... dang! *tapping fingernails impatiently* ;) anyway... back to the baby...

She hates the sexy scratchy whiskars... =) it makes me smile... have a happy day!

all my girls...

Loving on the Annie bug... =) does life get any better? I am sure going to miss these lazy days of sitting around at home just loving on my babies. I really don't want to go back to work, but alas... the bills are already piling up, and although my husband works his butt off for us, in this economy it is simply not cutting the cookie. I am blessed to have a great job, I just need to get out of my lazy mind set! I get three more weeks of heaven, then its off to the grind stone.

a look back at 2010

I am so blessed!!! Happy New Year!

Nettie

triplets?

Annie

Drayden

Chantel
I think they all look alot alike. the nose... same... The chin... same

poor baby

So many people to love the baby! poor thing! lol! There is not a single moment of the day that she is not being held, or kissed, or loved. I think she is a pretty lucky girl to have 2 big sisters that fight over who gets to hold her.

And then there is mommy... who puts her naked little body in boxes and cobers her in bows and such... just for that perfect shot.

It just seems like these moments fade so quickly. I know I don't really need 500 photos of baby Annie, but I just can't help myself.

She is so little and helpless...

She can't fight back like the other kids!

She just has to lay there... because she has no means of escape.

Mitch calls it torture.

I call it adorable. He will thank me later... I'm sure of it. I just can't wait until he is all helpless... then I will strip him down and take his picture too! lol... hopefully I will still have enough sense not to put those on my blog ;) lol.

sleep...

I sure wish my baby knew that night time was the right time to sleep. =(

She seems to look alot like this at night... except not so calm...

There is alot of screaming. A few days ago I woke up... (which means I actually went to sleep at some point) and looked over at Mitch... I was like, "WOW... Annie actually slept last night!"... to which he replied... "NO. YOU slept last night." lol... I guess that is just what happens when you get to a certain point of sleep deprivation. Your body takes over and you sleep nomatter what kind of catastrophe is happening around you. lol. Thank goodness I have a sweet husband who took over when I shut down.

I am starting a new very strict diet regimen... in the hopes that my baby will be happier and healthier, and so will my waistline.

I swear she is the cutest baby ever! I am so totally biased... but I love her so much!

the only thing cuter...

What is the only thing cuter than tiny little baby girl toes???

PINK Tiny little baby girl toes... =)

beanboozled

This is the most disgusting game ever! Drayden got it from a friend of ours... It is a bit like Russian roulette. You spin the spinner and you pick out whatever color of jelly bean you land on. The catch is that even though all the jelly beans look the same, one is a yummy flavor, and one that looks exactly the same could be a yucky flavor. A few examples,

Banana or pencil shavings?, licorice or skunk spray?, coconut or baby wipes?, pear or booger?, caramel corn, or moldy cheese?, berry blue, or toothpaste?, chocolate pudding, or dog food?, popcorn, or rotten eggs?, Peach, or barf?...

Drayden's first choice.... Peach... whew... barf would have been awful!

poor Chantel... got rotten eggs, too bad! popcorn would have been yummy!

Brittany got licorice... whew... I can't even imagine what the skunk spray must taste like! yuck!
Then I unfortunately got Pencil Shavings... It was freaking disgusting~!


Not so lucky this time... Dray got Rotten Eggs too... YUCK!

It is fun to watch other people's bad luck ... lol!

Chantel's next choice was either blueberry or toothpaste... really it was toothpaste, but she really liked it! lol!

Brittany got a Centipede flavored one... She said it tasted like dirt... yuck!

It was funny to play Russian roulette jelly bean style... but about 3 rounds is more than any person can probably handle! lol!