I have missed you!!!

(pictures from www.countryliving.com)

Happy Fall Everyone!

I have been gone forever! Between my ancient computer giving out on me, traveling, and moving I have not been able to blog and I have missed it! We moved into a bigger place. An open and bright 2 bedroom duplex with a backyard! I love it. I will post pictures soon. I have been busy with crocheting some afghans but really want to set up my craft/sewing station in the garage. Do people use garages for cars anymore?

Glad to be back! Hopefully this computer will hold out until I get a new one.

My Treasures

This ink well belonged to my Grandpa Curtis. I'm sure it belonged to his father. I just love that this piece of history has been saved in our family. So many times families get rid of these items because they are no longer needed. The color and the tiny air bubbles in this glass adds such character. I added the cork a long time ago. As a child, I used to have the ink well in my room filled with ink that I bought from Colonial Williamsburg. I would write with the ink and a feather pen and pretend I was a Colonial girl from Williamsburg. I encourage you to try and write with a feather pen and ink. It takes some getting used to but it's fun.

Favorite Finds

Wouldn't you love to drink a cup of coffee from one of these?! I love coffee and tea and the idea of drinking from one of these makes me happy! You can find them at Cath Kidston

need a napkin?

I am so proud of this creation! I found these beautiful vintage napkins at a thrift store. They were cheap and I knew I would find something to do with them. Right away the idea to re-purpose them into a skirt came to mind. I played with them until I found the perfect way to sew them together to make the most chic skirt! I love the way it turned out and Amelia loves the way it feels. She kept playing with it after I put it on her. So now when I thrift I look for sets of napkins to re-purpose! Yay for thrift store finds!!

Colors I'm Lovin!

Aren't these colors just beautiful together?!?! They bring joy to my soul. The red, pink, green and blue together works so well. It's the pairing of different shades of each color that I love. A bright blue or light blue....a bright green or a dark green. So fun. It has a retro feel that brightens a room.

Fabric Finds.....Oilcloth

I love oilcloth! It's easy to clean, versatile and the colors are so bright and cheery! You can make more than just table cloths out of oilcloth fabric. You can make aprons, tote bags, lunch bags, book covers, hats. Just about anything you want. It's a great way too keep things dry yet stylish. At Oilcloth International Blog you can read about the history of oilcloth.

Shop for Oilcloth here, here.....

.....and here.

You can visit The Purl Bee to learn how to make a Grocery Tote Bag. Fun Fun!

Favorite finds

I found Tamar on Etsy.com and fell in love with her jewelry! She is so creative. My husband bought me a pair of earring made by her for my birthday this year. I hope every birthday brings a creation by Tamar. She can be found here and here.

Colors I'm lovin!

Amelia's 1st Birthday!!! Korean Dol

I can't believe my baby girl is one!! It went by way too fast. I will have to post her birth story for you to read. It was amazing. Every day is so fun and we love watching her grow. I started planning her birthday months before because I was so excited to throw a party!

I found these beautiful yellow lanterns for a $1 at Michael's!! I bought a pack of butterflies at Michael's and hot glued them to the lanterns. I loved the look but wish I would have bought two packs of the butterflies.


Can you tell I'm obsessed with yellow? A sun shiny yellow?!

I set up a craft table for all of the kids. Since I knew there would be varying ages I decided crafts would be better than games. They loved it. All of the crafts came from Michael's and most were found in the $1 bins!!!! Yay

Showing off the mask he colored.

Felt butterflies I cut out and laid on the tables. Next time I would stick them on with double sided tape because the wind kept blowing them off.

One of my favorite decorations.....my flag garland! I made it from felt.

I sewed on yellow bias tape which worked great. I just sandwiched the flags into the bias tape and sewed them in. Sew easy. (I couldn't resist hehe) I also edged the felt with a decorative stitch in yellow thread.

I cut out the butterflies with the template on MarthaStewartliving.com and hand embroidered them.

Here I am making cotton candy! One of my favorites. We rented a cotton candy and snow cone machine. It was a big hit. So much fun!

Oh and the cake......The first of many that I will make to celebrate my daughter's birthday. My mom used to make mine and my twin brother's birthday cake when we were little. Such a great tradition that I am excited to do for my children.

I used the same butterfly template to cut out the fondant butterflies. I piped on royal icing details. Next time I will use gum paste because the fondant was too heavy and didn't harden enough so the biggest butterfly's wing broke. I was able to fix it a little so it wasn't that bad.

Here is my baby girl in a traditional Korean Hanbok and ayam that her Grandma Nam brought back from Korea. I was so excited to be able to add a little of Amelia's Korean heritage to her 1st birthday party. We bought colorful rice cakes that are traditional for the 1st birthday celebration and her Grandma Nam made a few Korean dishes.

The birthday dress is brightly colored and quite fancy due to the Dol or 1st birthday being one of the most special and celebrated day of the child's life. In the past, the death rate of babies in Korea was very high and many did not make it to their 1st birthday so when a baby made it to their 1st birthday the whole village would gather to celebrate.

She was soooo tired but was such a trooper. She never fussed.

Here is Amelia performing the doljabi which is where the child is placed in front of a table that has items that represent certain careers. We went with more modern items like a fetoscope for the medical field, calculator for education, sunglasses for celebrity etc.
Amelia chose the fetoscope first and then the calculator second. My husband said she was double majoring! hahaha

Don't we look proud?! We had so much fun even though I was running around like a chicken with its head cut off. Next time I'm delegating jobs out.

At this point she was like, "Take this off of me!"

Going.....

Gone.......

She couldn't hang on any longer. She was so tired but she was such a happy girl that day. She kept playing and never complained even though she was sleepy.

I found these mini take out boxes in packages of 10 at World Market and they were 50% off!! They were perfect to use as favors. I put Korean candies in them. I found the striped ribbon at World Market too. I love love love the way they turned out.