New Stash!

Whenever I make a trip home, I stock up on flowers to make clips and headbands. I am in LOVE with my new stash! I was really drawn to fall and winter colors this time. Maybe since I'm moving back to the States in the fall and my girls will actually be able to wear fall and winter clothes instead of brightly colored sundresses year round. I also stocked up on new swarovski crystals to match my new stash of flowers. Once I make up a few samples for my girls I'll post them for all to see. I am open to take orders anytime, but I'm sure its hard to tell what exactly I have from this picture. Stay tuned...

Bright for Summer

I finally got around to making these matching dresses for my girls that I've had floating in my head. I LOVE the way they turned out! The pom pom trim I think adds so much. I ordered it from Sally over at A Little Scrappy. She's got a great little etsy shop and is fabulous to work with! For Hayden's dress I made the bodice and straps red.

For Mia's dress I made the bodice and straps yellow. I also added double sided pockets using the red fabric I used on Hayden's on the outside, and the yellow fabric on the inside.

All the fabric I used is from Heather Bailey's Pop Garden line. Its my all time favorite! So summery and bright.

We're in California on vacation so it was fun to have a change of scenery for this photo shoot. Mia LOVED the apricot tree in my Aunt and Uncle's backyard. To view more pictures go to my photography blog.

Mia's Mermaid Birthday Party

Here is a view of the table. We had the party at 10am, so we just served some kid friendly snacks. On the menu: Cupcakes, Gold Fish, Swedish Fish, Gummy Sharks, watermelon, and grapes. I cheated on the cupcakes and ended up buying them at Costco. I think I mentioned in my last post that the frosting melted when I practiced, so I thought I would make my life easier and just buy them. I'm really happy with the way they turned out with the cupcake toppers. Luckily my scallop hole punch came in the mail so I could make them...remember, they got lost in the mail so I had to print it all myself and cut them out.)

I found the CUTEST gummy fish kabobs at Toy's R Us. They looked really cute on the table and made darling party favors. The Mermaid Magic Wands also added just the right touch to the table and were given out at the end of the party for each girl to take home. I forgot to take pictures of the Ariel notepads and crayons, but I gave those out as party favors as well.

Lets not forget about the blue Gatorade! Today was such a hot day so it was perfect...plus it matched great with the table and mermaid theme. When each girl walked into the party, Mia gave them each a lei to wear. Mia requested that hers be purple.

Here are the kiddos lined up at the table piling up their plates.

Mia and her cute friend Kaely. They have been friends since we moved here three years ago. Kaely's mom and I have been BFFs since we first met too :) I can't believe how much these two have grown up!

Here I am with MY friends, and moms of Mia's friends. Amber (from Strawberry Owl Designs) is the tall blond bombshell on the left, then there is Yours Truly, then Amy (my other sewing buddy), and Jeanette. Just a side note, we went straight to the pool after presents ( I usually wouldn't wear this to a birthday party, LOL!).

The girls played Pin the Crown on Ariel. Mia cheated! She gave us a REAL good clue when she turned the crown right side up and pinned it perfectly on Ariel's head, ahhaa! I forgot to take a picture of the prizes, but I made purple felt flowers. I didn't have it in me to make 6 of them last night, so I figured I'd give them as prizes instead of party favors. Call me lazy!

Not the most real smile-I think she was actually saying, "Cheeese..."

Mia got some REALLY great gifts-two of which were hand crafted by Amber and Amy. I will be taking pictures later and will post them. Lets just say that Amber got Mia a doll and handmade a sundress that matches one of the ones I made Mia, and also made Mia a cupcake necklace (and yes, she molded the cupcake herself out of clay!). Mia already named her new doll Lucy. Amy made her the CUTEST tunic top, very similar to the one her daughter Kaely is wearing in the pictures above. More pictures to come! Thanks ladies for the thoughtful gifts and for bringing your girls to Mia's party. Overall it was a success :)

Party Planning

Party Favors: Aren't They Cute?!

I can't even tell you how excited I am that I found these! In case you're wondering, they are mermaid starfish wands made out of glycerin soap. Each one has a fruity scent that smells good enough to eat! The tags say, "Mermaid Magic" on the top and "Thanks for Celebrating with Me" on the bottom. I ordered them from brown bag bath bars on etsy. I just LOVED working with her. Can't say enough good things about her customer service, her shop, AND her DARLING soaps. I would order from her again in a heart beat for any occasion. Each wand was only 99 cents plus an extra 10 cents for the personalized tag. There was a bit of confusion with the shipping, for some reason even though I clicked on my new address when paying with paypal, they still got sent to my old address. Because of the mix up she offered to refund my shipping. I'm telling you, this girl is an angel to work with. Please click on the link above and visit her cute shop.
Now for my other item of business- the invitation I ordered. This is my first time ordering specialized invitations. I also ordered cupcake toppers (which I will post later once I actually have them on the cupcakes).
I have mixed emotions about my experience with this particular shop, so I won't mention where I ordered them until I figure things out. Don't get me wrong I LOVE the design, LOVE the materials she uses, unfortunately my package got lost in the mail, they too got sent to my old address, only my old landlord never received the package or slip either...I was SO excited about getting these invitations and was especially excited for the already assembled cupcake toppers! She was really fast at getting a proof sent to me, and shipped my order out within 3 days of my order. All positives so far, right? One more positive, she was quick to respond and kept quick communication. Now for what I'm struggling with. I still haven't received my package! I've called the post office and it hasn't been scanned since June 1 here in Puerto Rico, they said it is probably lost. Unfortunately, this etsy seller doesn't reimburse for lost packages. Apparantely it states that in her store policy, but I failed to read it. She does however email you the pdf file. Great right? Well, not really if you don't have all the nice textured color card stock she uses, and the fancy hole punches to make it all look so cute, or the inkjet printer. The cupcake toppers printed out on my printer fine, but the invitations turned out TERRIBLE! They turned out really faded and stripey. Mia's party is Saturday and I haven't sent out her invites yet. BUMMER! Yesterday was the day I freaked out about it all-I mean, it REALLY ruined my day, but today I decided to get over it and try something else....COSTCO :) I got them printed on matte finish photo paper and they turned out darling. Not as cute as they would have been, not as cute as what I paid for, but still cute. I guess it just really urks me to have paid $20 for something I didn't receive, then have to spend more money to make something work. She didn't reimburse me for shipping either. She simply told me that it wasn't her fault and that she did all she could to help me. I understand it wasn't her fault it got lost in the mail. I understand she sent me the pdf file, but I'm still upset. Unfortunately she didn't go the extra mile like brown bag bath bars and at least reimburse me for shipping. She said in her 2 years selling on etsy, this has never happened to her. Well, in my two years buying from etsy it's never happened to me either. Now what is really confusing me is that when I go to my orders on My Etsy, its not even showing up...Does that mean she reimbursed me without telling me? I mean, my order is GONE. No trace of it on My Etsy, no place for me to leave feedback on my order either....HMMM-what do you think happened? It showed up on my credit card statement, so I know I paid. Sorry for venting folks! I just wanted everything to go perfectly. I tried practicing my icing skills today and guess what happened? Within thirty seconds of me making a swirl, the frosting melted! It's that HOT here. Can you believe it? Just let go Katie-LET GO, hahaha! I have to keep reminding myself that this is a party for a 4 year old, and she won't know the difference. I'll post pictures this weekend of how Mia's Mermaid Party turns out. I made a checklist today and still have so much to do. Wish me luck!

The Perfect Summer Birthday Party Gift

As some of you may know, I teach swim lessons. A few of the little tadpoles I teach are Mia's friends who happen to have birthdays this month. What better gift in the summer than a hoodie towl? Normally I line the fabric with ribbon, but as I started, I realized I didn't have enough (how annoying!) so I improvised and actually like the way it looks without the ribbon too. I DID have enough to line the hoodie with ribbon :) Mia's birthday party is next weekend and my original thought for party favors was to make each of her guests a hoodie towel using the mermaid fabric by Michael Miller, but as the time gets closer I'm finding I don't have enough time, and shouldn't make myself crazy over it-SO I've decided to make them as birthday gifts instead. Since Mia's birthday is coming up she'll get one as a gift too. As for party favors, I found some cute mermaid themed things on Etsy. I will be doing a birthday post with all the party details later :) This is my first year throwing her a birthday party all by myself so I'm really excited. Usually we're home visiting my mom in the summer during her birthday, so the party is mostly family and my friends. This year Mia told me exactly who she wants to come to her party and told me she wants it to be a mermaid party, so I'm getting really excited for next weekend!

*My friend Amber from Strawberry Owl Designs gave me her pattern for the hood on my towel :) * I love how big and roomy the hood is!

A Quick Clip and Quick Tip

I made this felt flower today that also can clip on any headband. It only took about 5 minutes to make. I'll tell you a little secret-I actually bought felt flower dye cuts to make this particular flower. Usually I either draw up my own pattern and cut them out, or I use someone else's pattern to cut them out myself, but let me tell you, its so much faster when you buy them already cut out! I used a fancy black button in the center that I got at WalMart. Hayden has a black t-shirt with a skull and cross bones in clear and pink rhinestones on it that inspired me to make the flower in these colors. ANYONE can make this! For any of you who don't feel crafty, TRY making this clip :) Go to etsy and you'll find several different shops that sell these dye cuts. They make cute gifts too :)

Hello Sunshine!

Is it just me, or does this yellow beauty just scream sunshine and summer time? This flower makes me so happy :) I'm a big fan of yellow and bright colors especially in the summer on tan sunkissed skin. This clip also looks really cute on a headband as well.