when life gives you snow... make crafts!

The snow came in all it's glory, cancelling school along with the "Pure Joy" event that was planned for the weekend. Although I was disappointed we couldn't hold the event, I have to admit that I soooo love being stuck at home. It was a flury of crafts (my studio doesn't know what hit it). I got to use my Yudo machine again (for those of you who don't go to Michaels on a daily basis, it's a screen printer). I had a couple projects in minds so I got to work burning a screen. It's a simple process, but takes a little planning and patience. After my visit to Anthropologie on our girls weekend, I had been wanting to make some cool dishtowels. I had a lot of fun making them, but I think I might get a little crazy if my kids actually USED them so I will have to give them away so that I do not scar my children for life.

On to the next craft...you guessed it, American girl accessories (pictures to come). Lucy bought a white shirt for her doll at Michaels, we had to spruce that up a bit, then we needed a matching barrette. It was a little too big for Kit so it became Lucy's. Now Kit still needs a barrette and now Lucy needs a shirt to match her barrette. Do you see the viscous cycle?

We ended the day by watching Miss America. I am beginning to question my parenting skills. First Sam walks in the room during the swim suit competition. He shields his eyes and exclaims--"what are you watching!?!" Then Emma stands up and practices her pageant walk and disappears for a few minutes. She comes out with one of her Disney dress' on. I guess she doesn't feel pretty and asks if I will make her a gown like the ladies on TV--tonight, before I go to bed. Um, no. This doesn't compute in her little mind. She goes to bed thinking her mom is totally unreasonable, funny!

Meet Rebecca

After all the hoopla around Kit, Emma needed an American Girl too. Meet Rebecca--she is a lively New York girl with a flair for dramatics (when we saw that one of her accessories is a dress up trunk, we knew that she was the girl for Emma)

All the kids helped her save chips to "earn" it (I was a little more generous with the chips) Anyway, as usual, Emma does things her own way (do you sense my twitching). So, Emma wants me to make some outfits for her doll and I am more than happy to oblige. I offer some sweet pjs--no. A cute little jumper with a shirt underneath-no, I mean why pick something I've ALREADY done. No, Emma proceeds to look through the pattern book and order "this dress, only with these sleeves, oh and this little thing here.... And to top it off, she wanted it in royal blue satin (I just threw up a little in my mouth). She chose the blue satin because that was pretty much the only thing shiny in my fabric bin. I found this dress at Wal-Mart on clearance from Christmas for $5. Emma wanted to keep it as a dress up dress and still go with the blue satin, but I convinced her it was too small and would make a really cute dress for Rebecca. Here's the finished product (don't look too close) but it was perfect for Emma and Rebecca. All kidding aside, I love that Emma is so different from me and so wonderfully herself. No body is going to put her in a box, that is for sure!

American Girl Party--continued

Lucy got an American girl cookbook so we made lots of little fun food--here is lucy with her triple scoop ice cream cone.

The donuts weren't exacly picuresque so here is what you can do with multigrain Cheerios if you wanted to, we had a couple cute ones but they were eaten too quick to get a picture.

So nice the girls are old enough to do some of these things themselves! I knew it would pay off eventually.

I think the little smores were the cutest and the tastiest of all the things we tried, the girls all like the ice cream the best.

Caitlynn and Kara sporting their matching necklaces.

Tori and Lily with their necklaces and headbands.

Well, I have to admit that I think I had more fun at this party than anyone else. Now I am thinking about how I can re-create Kit's treehouse for Lucy's Christmas present (it's only 11 months away!)

A party for my American girl--part 1

Well, it's been a long time since I've blogged. I really want to blog, I'm just busy doing the stuff I want to blog about that I never get around to it. I thought I would try again, this time, with Lucy's 9th birthday celebration. She is not a girl who wants a big to-do come birthday time, just a small celebration with those she feels most comfortable with. We had the best of both worlds with 2 of her cousins and her sweet friend Caitlynn. I think this is a birthday she will always remember.

We made each doll a pj and slippers for the sleepover, and my mom made them all a little party dress. We had more crafts than time, but there is always tomorrow--here are a few of the high lights...

A funny note about the cake, Tori made Lucy an ice cream cake for her actual birthday (which was half eaten) so I had to make her a whole cake for her party...the cake is still whole. Everyone had ice cream cake. We were all singing the praises of the DQ!

Lucy got a couple of outfits from MeeMa. MeeMa is a doll lover and collector. She was quite the seamstress and made beautiful doll clothes. Lucy will treasure these!

We made mini pizzas with mini pepperonis . More mini food to come.

Personalizing mini clip boards (Lucy loves using my Slice cutter).

Caitlynn and Gwen and mod podge--
Here we are on craft #2, matching necklaces for the girls and their dolls.
The finished products...
Recipe for these cute little necklaces. So fun and easy!|

We ended the night with a movie, of course it was "Kit Kittredge, An American Girl" Tomorrow, we have a couple more crafts and some mini cooking to do.

Good night, sweet dreams!