How To: Make a Lace Bow

With items you most likely have already, you can easily make these cute little bows! Such tiny hair accessories are adorable and the pop of a bright color can make any day a good hair day. Well, maybe. Not always true for me, I guess.

You will need:

scissors, some lace or ribbon, embroidery thread, bobbie pins

Cut a length of lace just a few inches long:

Cut a length of thread as well:

Fold the lace into a short rectangle:

Center the thread under the folded lace:

Wind the thread around the lace, carefully seeing that the thread does not come off-center and the lace does not unfold:

Tie off the thread:

Trim the thread:

Slip the bobbie pin through the thread on the knotted side of the bow.

Repeat until you have a few and put them someplace cute until you are ready to wear them!

Dolls

I'm making a bunch of fun little dolls. They are cute and enjoyable to make and sell in my alternate etsy shop. Which shall not be linked until it is good and ready ;) Gosh, I love being on holiday!!! Wine and craft time and lots of talking and planning with James! This is the life.

Now That I Have Time

I am making a dress! This will be a short, mod, 1960s style dress. The main fabric is a dull lavender, which is not really my thing, but it makes the buttons and accent fabric POP. *happiness*

This is one of a few vintage patterns that Daddy got for me at a yard sale over the summer- is that not awesome? I am doing the middle look, but I ran out of fabric, so the dress will have to be sleeveless. Also, the pattern was missing the back piece, but I made one up based on the thumbnail below.

I want to get some slightly-clunky, 60s style heels and paint them mustard yellow to coordinate with the accent fabric of the collar and welt. Yes, "welt" is what that faux pocket thing is called, apparently. It kinda weirded me out, too.

What I Wore: The Great Gatsby

 This is so much fun to wear! Can't wait for Fall so I can get more use out of the wool skirt.

necklace: handmade by me

shirt: Hanes with my own design added (freezer paper/acrylic)

belt: vintage thrifted

skirt: Plato's Closet

socks: Target

shoes: Target online

A Really Cute Giveaway

I ought to just do a giveaway round-up and maybe I will later. But seriously, this one is too good to not enter. Check it out:

This is over on the One Sheepish Girl blog and features a sweet nautical fox pendant by Mariet Vosloo.

Just click the link above and comment away!

Birds and Bunnies

I've been decorating some clothes for The Boy. White onesies can get old, you know... And, yes, I am aware that he will not appreciate my hard work. He will cover these with spit-up and mustard poop just as fast as he can.

This one is inspired by Tomie dePaola.

This one is front and back.

I am aware that only the last one is distinctly boyish and the other two could go either way. That's intentional as I don't think a newborn has anything to prove. He won't care how macho he is.

I made brother clothes!

I made a onesie with pants for the boy! It's my first adventure in the realm of knit fabric. I love the color combination and I think this is what I want for his quilt, rather than light blue and bright red.

I'm Baaaaaaack!

Oh, it is so good to have internet back! I love it! How have you been?

Here are some things we've been up to...

Making things like this baby dress and knitting a pair of tiny, tiny socks. The socks are not pictured because they are a gift for someone who might just see them on here.

I was obsessed with that nail polish for awhile. Maybe I'll re-apply it tomorrow now that I look at it. My routine was to touch it up every night so that it looked great every day! I liked to paint my nails while watching Mad Men, but I got to the end of Season Three... July, please come soon.

Also, I've been drawing and painting a lot more lately. I really think that artistic skill is like language: Use it or lose it. I hadn't been using it. At all. I've been so caught up with crafting and what-not that my sketchbook was collecting dust and I didn't even have decent paintbrushes! Well, my birthday was last week and James surprised me with a great collection of paintbrushes! Here's a drawing I did yesterday:

And we all went for a picnic in the park the evening of May 20th, my 26th birthday. It was so, so, so much fun! Hudson and Reuben had to work but everyone else was there. Here are some pictures:

Mama and Daddy, Isobel is behind them, she doesn't often allow herself to be photographed, so that's the most you'll see of her.

Cooper and Justus. That is the extent of Justus' ability to smile and doesn't even scratch the surface of Cooper's smilability.

Mama and Emma. Emma was very sweet and helpful, as usual. She made a cookie cake. Uh, YUM!

Me and my little baby. 

James threw the ball pretty much the whole time! The boys had so much fun!

Emma in the underpass at nightfall.

And ever since then, we've been going to the pool almost every day! Even though we haven't really had warm enough weather yet. Bea loves swimming!

Oh, and I made the quilt top for Beatriz's big girl twin bed! She is going to have the bed I was born in, can you believe it? I found it up in my folks' attic. It needs a little work (some bright red paint should do the trick), but it will look lovely! If the light is good tomorrow, I'll take a picture to show you what I've got.

Sleep time for me!

Love,

Zzzzzz

The baby is asleep for the night so I can finally show you what I made. It's a baby outfit and it fits Beatrice just right with a little room to grow. The only problem is that it's really boyish. Maybe I'll save it for a later edition of Nichols' baby or maybe I'll give it away. Whatever. The main thing is that it fits. So now I'll just get right back to work in pinkier and reddier and purplier fabrics.
I love you,
I'll see you soon,
Leave me a comment,
Nighty-night,
Lily

Good Crafternoon

Like James said, I've been spending a lot of time making stuff: I've made shoes for Beatrice and toys for Beatrice. The shoes are based on a number of patterns I found for free online. One I like especially is here. But this one is the one I've used most.

I'm in the process of altering a dress of mine into a skirt. It's a dress I made for Easter years ago. I don't like the style anymore, but the fabric is a beautiful batik that begs to be worn. By me.

Have you noticed how expensive baby clothes are these days? Instead of buying them, I'm making them. All I have to do is go up to Goodwill on the weekend (they have $1 and $.50 racks) and find grown-up clothes in fabrics I like. Then, bring them home and make nice, warm, weird things for Bea to wear. I made her some hot pink sweat pants the other day. They are super cute.

Speaking of baby clothes, I found this website where lots of good ideas live. I used their stencil technique today to turn boringly plain onesies into delights.

I made a sweater for her, too. It's one of my first adventures in crochet. Kinda bulky. Next time, maybe I'll try this one.

I have also come up with a number of stories to tell her. I wrote them all down and have started illustrations.

I did an oil painting and a crayon drawing.

That's what I've been up to.

Hopefully, my next move will be selling all my pretty-baby-handmade wares...