Saturday, April 28, 2012

confirmation of a cake

I've not done a cake for someone's confimation before, but I have to say it ended up being a very meaningful cake for me to make.  I'm always happy to do projects for a reason I believe deeply in.  And I believe deeply in Christ and the meaning of His life, death and resurrection.  I was able to explain the meaning of John 15:5 to my 5 year old and she seemed to understand it clearly.

I've said this before, but I love it when clients have a clear vision for their cake they want without it being a copy of someone else's work.  My friend Gretchen was clear about the colors, decorations and flavors of the cake.  I did a quick sketch of how I interpreted her vision and it turned out we were on the same page.

I am the Vine, you are the branches. If you
remain in Me and I in you, you will bear much
fruit.  Apart from me you can do nothing.
John 15.5






Congratulations, Teddy!  I pray that you remain in Him and that His words remain in you throughout your lifetime.

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

alert the tooth fairy

I've never seen a child so excited over a loose tooth. She has been literally dancing around the house singing, "I have a loose tooth!  I have a loose tooth!" for the last several days.  It's her first.

She's been asking about the logistics of the tooth fairy:
"Where do I put the tooth?"
"How much money will she leave?"
"What happens if I lose it in the middle of the night and accidentally swallow it?"
"My friend at school said I can hide the tooth somewhere in my room and the tooth fairy will find it and leave money there."
"Would it hurt if you pulled it out with tweezers?"

Yesterday I heard her tell her little sister a secret, "The tooth fairy is really mom and dad..."

The whole thing is quite comical and quite disturbing at the same time.

The whole losing teeth thing is actually quite disgusting to me. It ranks right up there with potty training and cleaning up puke. I get totally grossed out when moms take pictures of the displaced tooth (many times in hand) and post them on Facebook. It's on par with posting a picture of a hair clog in the bathtub drain. Gross.

Anyway, to make the pending extraction a little more tolerable, I decided to make my first solo felt project.  It's not perfect, by any means, but I like it.  I know, it's hard to believe that I can't achieve perfection on my first attempt at something, but cut me a little slack...I'm gestating after all.

It was a good little project to pass the the down time today.

Down time...HA HA HA HA HA!

Monday, April 9, 2012

dressing for Easter

This is a couple days late, of course. I couldn't get an opportunity until Easter Sunday to take pictures of my little models in their Easter attire.

One of my favorite Easter memories from my childhood was the year my mom told us that we could find our shoes behind the couch.  There I found a brand new pair of patent white shoes by an Easter basket filled with green plastic grass, Peeps and jelly beans. I was more excited about the new shoes than the candy that year.  We didn't get new shoes all that often, so I was especially excited to get brand new pretty white shoes to wear with my brand new pretty Easter dress.

I find myself getting more and more annoyed by store clerks and strangers asking my kids what they want from the Easter Bunny. That was a never a question asked when I was a kid. Easter wasn't Christmas and we didn't get a pile of Nintendo games and Barbies. We got a modest basket with a few different kinds of candy.  As a child, I was usually asked if I had a new dress to wear. I was thrilled when I could say "yes."

So, I continue this tradition of new clothes on Easter for my kids, for now, because I can. They are still young and I get to decide what they wear. And I'm always looking for an excuse to sew something fun for the girls.

This year, I went with butterflies. I wasn't intending it to be symbolic. I found the fabric and loved it, but I was pleased to be able to use butterflies as symbolism for new life. And to top it off, I found some machine washable tulle to add to the dresses. The tulle symbolizes...uh...the ballerina...in...uh...nope.  I got nothin'.

This pattern I had to make myself, since there was nothing remotely like it in any pattern books. I am pretty happy with how it turned out. The round collar was what I really wanted.

I found a big vintage reproduction button that I had purchased years ago at a button store in NYC.

This little girl had to have tulle on the outside. This was made from a basic dress pattern that I tweaked a little by adding a sash and layers of tulle.

One major thing that bugs me about the basic pattern companies (Vogue, McCalls, Simplicity, and all the other big names), is that the sizes are SO off. For children, they're cut too wide and too short. This child wears a size 4 or 5 in tops and dresses. I cut the dress to a size 3 for width and a size 6 for length and it was STILL too wide for her torso. That's how off patterns are and why I am sometimes better off making my own. The sash pulled the torso in a little, but it was still a bit big. This dress will likely fit her until she's 6. It'll just be a little short by then.

So, there are the girls' Easter gifts this year. Happy Easter!