Dressing my Dolls

I've been eyeing the Matilda Jane clothing line for kids for a few months now. While they are simply adorable and unique, I find them to be a little pricy. So, I started looking for patterns to make my own versions of their shirts, pants, dresses and jumpers. This is my first take at it and i'm so pleased. I had to try them on the girls just to make sure the fit was right before my final stitching was complete.

Cora chose a shirred shirt and stripwork skirt pattern (yes, she choose b/c she is already opinionated about what she likes!). I love all the different fabric options you can choose because you cut 6 different strips of fabric that repeat all the way around the skirt. I can't wait to get some cute t-shirts and then try to applique some of my left over material on them to go with this as well. It's pretty versatile.

Ellie is still a little too small for the skirt so I choose a dress pattern for her. It has the same shirring at the bodice and I used the same fabrics for her strips that go horizontal instead of vertical. All in all, the girls seemed to love them. Cora kept asking me with a huge smile on her face, "Mommy, are you making that pretty dress for meeeee?" Happiest customer I have had and one of my favorites!

A Welcomed Bouquet of Spring Colors

I couldn't have been more excited to open a package today. This "bouquet" of flowers is better than any reals ones could have been. A friend from college started her own business making hats, flowers, headbands and just about anything you can imagine to adorn a little girl's beautiful head. I emailed her to ask for some flowers to match two spring outfits I have for my girls. The first was different shades of green and lavender. The other is for their easter dress which is many colors, but I wanted to focus on the navy and blue to coordinate with my son's shirt (Cora wanted to put it on so I let her hold it up and take a picture). I gave her little direction, as I trust her creative talent and this is what I opened today. The fabric covered button in the center of the flower is an exact match to the flower on their dresses. And my daughter was in love with the lavender head band and coordinating green and lavender flower. As soon as I dress them up and take their picture, I will post with these beautiful Magpie's! Always want to support a fellow Mom running a business, so check out her website linked above!! Great work, SJ. Thanks so much.

Great Art Display for your Kid's Masterpiece

I bought premade canvas from an art supply store. I lined the back with self adhesive cork board. Here's a picture of the front of one and the back where it is lined.

I then got canvas hangers online. This is a great product and it's easy to install. You screw one side in to the back of the canvas hanger. The other section is screwed in to the wall and then the two pieces interlock. This way your canvas hangs flush against the wall.

I painted three different colors that cooridnate with the colors in our playroom. This was so simple and I used craft paint from a hobby store that only cost about $1 for one bottle. How easy!

I then bought some cute push pins (just google those words and you'll be amazed at the variety) and used them to hang my kid's art work. The push pin goes in to the cork board that I used to line the back of the canvas and also looks cute holding the pictures in place. This way I have a rotating art gallery for their most recent and favored art projects!

I have been looking for fabric that had my favorite color combo (red and yellow) with my husband's favorite color, blue, for a long time. You would think these color combinations were common, but not in the shade I desired. I found this fabric in SC on my last trip and knew I had to use it in our kitchen/living room area. If you have a large room or several connecting rooms and don't know how to start looking for a decor scheme, pick one fabric that you just love. Then use it to inspire your paint colors, furniture choices, and accesories. I already had several red and yellow (even brown) accents, but now with this fabric I started to add the blue.

Buttons are huge right now. They add texture and dimension to any thing! I recently saw some pillows in pottery barn that had banding of different material, buttons, etc. to add texture and I was inspired to do some new pillows for our living room. I got these large wooden buttons online

and used some contrasting fabric and trim as a banding across the first 1/3 of the pillow.

I then choose another fabric that just had the blue color to use in our living room windows. The floral was great for me and my style, but a little too much for my husbands if I had used it everywhere. The simple repeat of a geometric type print was more his contemporary style and the shape of the circles leaned towards my traditional taste.

This is the finished valance in our kitchen. I lined it in a contrasting stripe material that had all the color choices represented.

Then used the blue aforementioned fabric as goblet pleat drapes. I covered a bench seat in the floral and trimmed it in the contrast fabric from the valance. This just pulls all the fabrics together in each room. However, using the blue as the main fabric on the windows helps to divide this room from the kitchen while still allowing them to flow well.