Holiday Cheer

I love holidays and Christmas is a favorite. This year we're staying in London for Christmas, which we've only done one other time in the 5 years we've been here. Even when we go away, we always decorate a bit, 2013 being a favorite, before we re-arranged our house. I thought we'd go all out decorating like mad, but I'm a little behind in all the things I had planned. But it's still quite festive and we've done a good bit of Christmas crafting and baking. We made a lot of paper snowflakes, which are addictive and really easy to make. They're in our front window and so pretty to look at in the evening light.

Little Christmas Dresses

I'm so happy I finished the girls' Christmas dresses! I wasn't sure I'd get them finished in time (I'm pretty slow at sewing actually) but I got them done with about a week to spare before Christmas. These actually went a lot faster than I was expecting. Since I've made the pattern once before for the girls for Easter, I was already familiar with it so I knew they wouldn't be too challenging but they do have a lot of steps, and I needed to make two, so there was that to consider time-wise.

Stardust

This past week has been a bit tiring. Lois was out of school for half term and Andrew and Ellie have been ill most of the week. Lois has two speeds: high and off, so between her energy level and their colds, it was not the easiest of weeks! We did make our ice cream sandwiches on Monday, though, which was (mostly) fun. We made this recipe again. They are quite tasty and really cute too! 

A Hint of Spring

Spring is in the air! At least it's visible here and there in little blossoms peeking out of the grey days, which are often the backdrop of winter here. And green! I'm noticing much more vibrant green lately. The promise of spring has me feeling buzzy and energetic so I'm getting a lot done. Well, I'm getting more of some things done than I planned, like sewing, and almost nothing done of other things I need to do (sorting and filing paperwork, blah). But I wouldn't want to miss all this spring action sitting beside the filing cabinet. This week included a really nice walk in the park with Ellie, making some valentine's heart garland, sewing a few Oliver + S ice cream tops for Lois and making a tooth fairy pillow for Lois.

An Easter Dress for Little Miss

Here is Ellie's finished Easter dress! I'm so happy with it! I think after this dress I can now consider myself an intermediate sewist. I've been sewing since 2006 but only recently pushed myself in garment sewing. When I've gotten frustrated in the past, Andrew reminded me that sewing is not a linear learning process and not to be so hard on myself, which I've probably mentioned before. One thing at a time! For this pattern, I did just that. I took it one step at a time and tried not to read ahead and get overwhelmed by the two separate huge pages of instructions front and back. The pattern was actually very clear and easy to follow despite the lengthy number of steps.

Easter Dresses in Bloom

Spring is definitely in the air! Little blossoms cover the trees and leaves are sprouting everywhere. I think we're nearing the end of all the pretty blossoms so I'm making sure to look up wherever I'm walking. I finished making my trousers. They are so cute and turned out really well. I'm really happy with them. I meant to get Andrew to take a decent picture of me wearing them, but we didn't get around to it over the weekend, so I'll wait till I have a better photo than a mirror reflection selfie. I also started on some Easter dresses for the girls. I'm making the Oliver + S fairytale dress for each of them. I've just about finished with Ellie's and it's a-dor-a-ble! I'm super excited to have practically completed it and I'll start on Lois's tomorrow. I'll be sure to post some photos when I'm all done.

A Cardboard Stampeed

One really fun thing Lois and I made a while back with a little friend of hers were some of Ann Wood's cardboard horses. In 2006 Ann Wood created a cardboard stampede of horses as a daily creative exercise. She made one a day until she reached 100 of them. She has the template and instructions here if you'd like to make them as well. Lois recently asked to make them again, and I was also reminded of them earlier this week when I saw that Ann Wood has listed a few of the original collection of 100 horses in her shop.

Inspiring Clothes for Little Ones

Lately I've had the bug to make more wee clothes now that I've finished one pretty nice dress for lil' Miss. I want to make so many things! I wish I could read French. Then I'm sure I'd buy some of these Citronille sewing patterns. Maybe I should attempt to translate a pattern. They have a few patterns in English, but it's some of their patterns that are only available in French that I especially like, like this one. So cute! And I really like so many Oliver + S patterns. I have a lot of sewing inspiration on one of my Pinterest boards. And more wee clothes inspiration on this board. I just like looking at designer wee clothes for inspiration. One line I came across on Pinterest is Pala Mino (top shown above). Adorable! I love the mix of fabrics and the vintage modern vibe that her clothes have. So cute. Now I'm going to go get lost on Pinterest for a few minutes. I have a new rule: No looking at Pinterest before bed. I get too jazzed up and then can't sleep. Inspiration overload!

Hucklebones

I love looking at little clothes for kids (I've made a pinterest board for some here). Although I usually shop H&M or Target for Lois, I really love handmade, beautiful clothes. My friend Caroline gave me a great jumper (this one!) from when she was making kids clothes, and I just love it. Lois has worn it a few times, but I'm actually nervous for her to wear it because I like it so much! Silly, I know. Anyway, I love little handmade clothes. I was in Hop Like Bunny yesterday, a great children's shop near our apartment, and they're having a sale. Woohoo. One label they carry there is Hucklebones. I love their clothes! They don't have much posted on their site right now I imagine because it's near the end of the season, but you can see more on their blog. I love the top above! I love the fabric and the collar. It's just really beautiful. It makes me want to learn to make nice wee clothes. From their blog, I also love this and this and this....
Image from the Hucklebones blog. 

Lois's Room

Here are some pictures of Lois's room. (Sorry they're a little dark. This room doesn't get much light.) I've been meaning to post a few more pictures of her room for what seems like forever. I can't believe she's already 3 months old! I love her room and thought I better take a few pictures before she grows out of it. Before I know it she'll be a teenager and want to paint her walls black or something. I wonder what my nursery looked like.  I'll have to ask my mom.  I wonder if it looked anything like one of these retro rooms?  For Lois' room, though, it's all white with splashes of bright colors. I'm not crazy about pastel colors, which is why I avoided the usual pale baby colors for her room. Above is what you see when you look to the right once you're in the door. We got the daybed (which I love) and cubby style shelf from Ikea. To the right of the bed is a metal side table that I got at The Pickled Hutch and to the left is a green, metal spinning rack that my mom gave me, which now holds all of Lois' old books.

This is what you see when you first look in the room. We got her crib at Ikea, the Gulliver Crib, and the bedding is Tadpoles yellow gingham check from Target. And the heart blanket that I love is draped on the far side of the crib. Both the chifferobe dresser and the metal cart that I use for a changing table came from The Pickled Hutch.

You might remember the clothes above her bed . . . the birdie onesie is from Old Navy, my mom gave me the kitty cat apron and the thrid outfit came from a vintage clothes vendor at the Inman Park festival in Atlanta.

My nephews did the artwork above the daybed, and I bought the three frames for them at Ikea (one red, one yellow, one blue) .

One of the first party hats I made is on her dresser. This one I wore on my 31st birthday.

I love this tea towel I got at Anthropologie--I just use it on the top of her dresser because it's bright and like it so much.

A picture of me and my mom at the Inman Park festival a few years ago in our southern gal hats. (My mom hates this picture!)

The humpty lamp I got for $10 at the flea market.

A bus painting by Mose Tolliver.

My favorite thing in her room might be the curtains that I got at a consignment store called Carla's Clutter, which is now closed.


I use this metal cart for her changing table and have an old white metal basket and yellow wood tool cart to hold her diapers and supplies. I got them all at The Pickled Hutch.

Beside the bed is some mommy / baby reading with Mr. Hedgehog looking over things.

On the bed are a bunch of pillows and stuffies. My sister gave me the little lamb above. And my mom gave me the fun round pillow that's next to it.

My aunt made this ruffle pillow with Amy Butler fabric. She also made me some fantastic curtains with the same fabric--the only reason I don't use them in here is they were made to fit a shorter window.

I got this tulip and birdie pillow at a thrift store.

Inside each cubby in the shelf above the bed are fun knick knacks and books.



I got this fabric pocket wall hanging from Anthropologie. I'm not sure what it was intended for, but I use it for magazines.

One of many vintage books along with ABC blocks on the cute yellow nightstand table I got at Carla's Clutter.

And there you have it! The only things not shown here are two things that acually mean a lot to me--the vintage fabric lion that Alex gave me and an illustration that Michelle gave me. (It's hanging above the lamp next to the daybed. I took a few pictures of it, but none of them came out very good.)

Personalized Vintage Bookplates

I love bookplates, and these from etsy seller oiseaux are definitely my top favorite that I've ever come across.  I saw them on a cute new blog called the etsy addict.  I just ordered some for Lois and look forward to when I have to get the next gift for a little one--these will surely make a great gift.  

The Best Book for Little Ones!

We're in Atlanta now for the holidays and had our Christmas today with Andrew's mom at her house (we go to my mom's next week). Andrew's mom gave Lois the coolest book I could imagine for kids--a personalized My Very Own Name book! It tells the story of Lois' name by spelling her name using animals who tell a little rhyme with each letter until her full name is spelled out. It even has a printed dedication on the cover page. I love this book! I can't wait to order a few as gifts for other little ones. Check out a sample book on their web site. They also have a few other fun personalized books like My Very Own Fairy Tale book and probably my favorite, a custom art book using your kid's artwork. What kid wouldn't want one of these fun books?

For Itty Bitty Legs

I've been looking around on etsy for some Christmas gifts, and one of my favorite things for kids are these adorable leg warmers--little crawlers from etsy seller fategoddess. I got Lois a few sets, and here she is in a pair of pink and red ones with a onesie Caroline gave her and some knited cowboy boots my sister gave her. Our sassy little cowgirl! If I could just get her this pony for Christmas . . . .

The Mitten

I've been on a hunt for good, cute vintage children's books for the baby room to go on my old metal card rack that I'm now using as a book rack. I probably mentioned before that the card rack is one of my top favorite things, ever, that my mom gave me, and now it's starting to look really cute as a book rack. The baby's very own book nook! So added to the rack is my new favorite, The Mitten. I haven't read it yet, but the cover and illustrations alone make it great to me. Remember The Camp Fire Girls books? Those are still my very top favorite (thanks to Lisa for those), but The Mitten is now up there with them. I got it at Debbie's Attic in Pacifica, which is an antique / junk store that seems to have some good things, but it's really hard to see or rummage through anything because the place is so cluttered. Still, if you're in Pacifica, it's worth stopping in if you're willing (and physically able) to dig through the piles. Oh, and another book display idea that I like is using old hymnal book holders--you know the little book holders on the backs of pews? I have one of those, and they are great because you can screw them into the wall down low, about a foot or so off the ground--perfect little people height.

Mabuhay

One of the newer kids on the Noe Valley block is Mabuhay, an adorable shop for kids that's perfect for anyone who values both eco-consciousness and buying local designer's work. Camille, the super friendly owner of Mabuhay specializes in carrying items that are locally made, handmade and organic. She even has a helpful chart she can refer to to let you know just how green various items are. I love her selection of clothes, toys and gifts. I look around and oooh and ahhh saying, "this is so cute . . . oh, this is so cute . . . wait, and this!" With our little one on the way, I have a feeling I'll be here a lot! Here are a few pictures from Mabuhay.








Mabuhay
1195-A Church Street
San Francisco, CA 94114