quilted girly bows.

here’s a fun little sewing project for you and the girls in your life. if only my littlest would actually let me do her hair! thankfully ruby is into fancy hairstyles so she will sport them for sure!

step 1: cut 2 rectangles 5 1/4 in x 3 in

step 2: sew right sides together and leave an opening

step 3: fill with fiber fill and sew the opening closed

step 4: sew 1/4 from the edge all the way around rectangle

step 5: tie in the middle with string and tie a pony tail in there

step 6: tie another assorted color around the middle if you wish and its ready to wear. 

happy bows!

afternoon crowns.

the other day after school we enjoyed some lovely spring weather in the shade out back. with a blanket, books, pipe cleaners and flowers we had a bit of fun playing around making bunny ears and flower crowns. the spring indeed is a perfect mix of dreamy weather and a welcome change of seasons...it always feels full of hope and good things to come. happy spring!

"it is spring again, the earth is like a child that knows poems by heart" 
                                            -rainer maria rilke

watercolor.

i really just love painting with watercolors. it makes you feel like you've made something fancy and beautiful with very minimal effort. ruby and i had some fun with these old hang tags ive had forever; sprucing them up to hang from a future present. apparently i need to invest in a monster pad of paper the way we go through it over here b/w drawings and paintings. studio mchale opening soon. keep your eyes peeled. haha, not really. 

hello monday.

so it has been a pretty lovely weekend...good family time, weather cooling a bit, visiting with friends over brunch, some good rain time on the front porch (my favorite place to be), and lots of baking...my personal addiction/therapy. i am definitely getting excited for the change in seasons and maybe a little day trip to do some apple picking; something ive been wanting to do with the kids. so here are some fun monday links for you to enjoy...hope you had a lovely weekend!

got stuck browsing at shoes and colorful pak paks over here

finally found a project for this scrap piece of leather i've had lying around forever...can not wait to try this one

found this fashionable tumblr i love

looking for a reason to throw a fun party so we can make these whimsical crepe paper hats

and my interest in crafting up some kids floral crowns only grew once i saw these sweet ones; here's another one ive had saved for some time...apparently crepe paper is all the rage.

tote bag.

so i had been wanting to make one of these

cute beach bag totes for a while. 

i finally scooped up some ikea fabric 

and fit one in right before little Mikey came 

along, and so it has since turned into my 

purse/diaper bag/mary poppins bag of tricks.

you can find the tutorial here if you want to give it a go.

very very easy my friends. i promise. 

i am thinking a fall/ winter version may be in order. 

mason jar lids.

in need of a simple little painting project to pass the time? 

we painted mason jar lids recently for fun, 

and i thought hot gluing a fun object on top 

and filling them with pretty colored m and m's might be fun. 

a quick easy little happy/gift! 

toodles.

sew lately.

up to any fun sewing projects lately? 

this spring throw was relatively easy...

a few smoothing out difficulties but still happy.

and ps. if you live in phx, sas is full of beautiful thick velvet

ribbon trims perfect for this project. 

 i also picked up some skirt making materials

for post baby wear in a fun stripe and floral. 

for some fun skirt tutorials see here and here.

and then i also realized the blanket was 

also a pretty trusty backdrop for photos.

tid bits.

sweet midcentury home tour in mesa, az to gaze at.

here is a fun idea (scroll down a bit) for faux smocking 

using elastic thread...not so easy to find but i intend to give it 

a go this weekend. we shall see.

i also thought this was a cool diy idea to do for a kids 

room, boy or girl. it would just look so happy. 

have a super weekend!

paper bag gift wrap

i had a go at making this the other day. 

very easy, simple and satisfying. 

if only i had some polka dot paper lying around. 

super cuteness. 

find the instructions here.

paint party.

decided these chairs on the ends of the kitchen 

table {aka. farm table}

should be a fun color.

had this tealish turquoise lying around, 

and so for some reason i thought i'd let the kids help.

it started out with ruby painting her doll house pink; 

a whole lotta pink i'll say...gobs and gobs.

she got bored i guess and moved onto some deep 

concentrated chair painting.

this is when dec chimed in and decided he no longer 

cared about getting it all over him and spent quite a while

dedicatedly painting the chair until he gave up and 

started giggling as he began to paint his leg.

and that is when the gig was up. 

not so much fun scrubbing it off, but boy do the chairs

look fun and happy. 

why is painting so fun? or is that just me and my kids?

i'll try to get a good shot in, 

ahem, move all the stuff that is usually around 

here and there and attempt to fit the pic into me 

small lens and see what happens.

dont hold your breath.

happy gift wrap.

a sweet little idea for you.

wrap up a magazine or two for that mother

you love so much. 

everything is more exciting wrapped and tied up pretty.

I used natural craft paper, pink yarn, and some tissue 

flowers i glued on top. 

you know mom's day is coming up! 

i shall share some more ideas for gifts soon.

tgit.

i am kind of like fraulein maria.

 who knew that stripey ikea fabric that graced the table

at declan's first birthday would become so useful.

first it was aprons for the craft fair,

 and now a fancy window booth....

originally made for movie night, 

and now just generally anything: restaurant...movies...

'declan's general store', ie. handing me everything in the 

cleaning closet he can reach as fast as he can, and finding 

it all very humorous.

and now this pic i am sure is a result of her admiration 

for my sister em's work in the modeling business.

they do catch on so young.

and for inquiring minds, this was really easy to make.

you just have to be as skilled as maria and also have a large

piece of fabric on hand; i am thinking an old sheet would 

suffice. 

i hope your weekend was super dooper as was ours.

i may have created the worlds largest pile of dishes 

ever unfortunately...pancakes...museli for tomorrow...

stewed strawberry and rhubarb....puff pastry...sauteed spinach....

and thats not all. 

you could say i felt like making a lot of food today.

toodles.

finally finished.

so i finally finished putting the collar on this dress the other day.

now just getting the guts to wear my little homemade number. 

i am always paranoid someone is going to notice its crazy 

imperfections. oh well, its just a fun church dress anyhoo.

a new simple dress.

so i happened upon some ikea sale fabric while 

Easter basket shopping the other day. 

i've really been wanting to try this simple pattern

my mom had made last year, so i winged it

and it was ridiculously easy, fast and rewarding.

i promise i'll share a tutorial soon...

just not promising perfection.

anyhow, it was basically two pieces sewn together

with a casing at the top...and a long satin ribbon strewn 

through the casing. the end.

oh, and i spied some cute j.crew kids clothes 

as we were window shopping one morning recently

before swim class. dreaming of trying to 

copy that giant flower onto a little white

dress...for Easter perhaps?

i shall also note my love of morning light for pictures.

i'll have to do this more often i guess. if only dec

wasn't such a busy body. ruby essentially has to 

put him in a headlock and try to say cheese.

ps. ruby is laying here next to me, refusing to go 

to sleep and just told me "mommy, you look

like mary poppins. why you're not mary poppins?"

not sure ruby, i'll work on that one.

happy weekend.

any exciting plans? 

i'm thinking of trying a circle skirt

and mabye sewing up some favors for the 

upcoming 3 yr. old birthday in our house.

i do love birthdays!

cute idea.

what a clever way to reuse an old can.

noted for the next can i come across.

{found here}

needs work. that dress.

so i'm not done yet. but i thought i'd share what i was

working on last weekend.

soon enough i'll get the zipper in, and the collar sewed on.

and then perhaps i'll have my first dress done.

i had big plans for making something fun in white

with lots of pink trims for ruby,

but alas

i just never really get done what i hope for

as so many things get in the way.

or admittedly when i do actually get the time...

i just want to be lazy and watch a silly flick like

the proposal with my husband.

way funnier than i thought it would be

by the way in case you are in need

of a good romantic comedy.

hope monday is treating you well.

ps. the dress is out of this

built by wendy

book in the event you were looking

to learn how to make your own frocks.

pretty pouches.

inspired by this post and great tutorial i spent a bit of

my sewing time this weekend obsessing over pouches.

who doesnt love a good pouch for pens, makeup,

paper, coupons, who knows...endless possibilities.

anyhow, i had some heavy weight white linen

and paired it up with colorful zippers,

and then decided a liner was even better.

if you live in phx, SAS is your place for buckets

of zippers. they were full of a bunch of vintage ones

still in wrappers. every time i go in there

i leave with about 10 new projects in mind.

and by the way, this was my first official zipper.

yippee! i did it. thanks to liz.

feeling pretty good.

promise to share the dress

i am almost done

with soon.

forgot to take pics.