Makayla's Very Hungry Caterpillar Party

Today I will sharing the 1st Birthday party we had for Makayla based on Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar. In brainstorming theme's for her party I came across so many cute ideas, but when I saw a party based on this book I knew it was the perfect choice for our little girl. Not only can she eat more than her big sister, but she also was a caterpillar for her first Halloween (costume by me).  Big Sister Kinsey was a ladybug for her first Halloween and then had a ladybug first birthday, so it just seemed to fit.

I designed the invitations, cupcake toppers, signs, banners and thank you cards with my limited (but growing) photoshop knowledge. It was really fun learning new things in the process!

Top Left- Birthday Welcome Sign, Top Right- Cupcake Toppers,
Bottom Right- Invitation, Bottom Left- Thank You notes
Most items available for purchase at my design shop ModInk Design 

Buttercream iced cake and smash cake with hand painted fondant fruit and fondant caterpillar, done by me

Birthday girl enjoying her rainbow smash cake, and sharing with her almost one-year old cousin Eleanor!

Surprise! Rainbow cake inside!

Cupcakes with toppers I designed, available for purchase at my design shop ModInk Design here

Month by month photos in a caterpillar design

Top- Fabric wrapped canvas artwork,
 Middle Left- fruit from the VHC Book, Middle Right- Tissue paper flowers and toppers as centerpieces in dollar store baskets
Bottom Left- Activity center with butterfly's to color and caterpillars to glue together
Bottom Right- More printables from Polka Dots and Puppies

Makayla in her birthday dress designed and sewed by myself, with Eric Carle fabric and Caterpillar applique

Opening Presents and having fun!

We had Makayla's keepsake copy of the book out for guests to write a special note in

The little guests all got either a bug kit with snacks inside or a stuffed caterpillar (depending on their age) which I forgot to take photos of! We had a blast celebrating our baby girl's first year, here's to many, many more birthday celebrations!

Happy Belated Birthday America

My most recent sewing projects-patriotic dresses for my little American dolls! I didn't have the time to sew up bloomers for Makayla (mostly because I am AWFUL at sewing bloomers) so I paired her open backed top with some striped ones she already had. I think the combo turned out pretty cute.

We enjoyed our 4th with family members we had not seen in a few years, barbecue, brownies, and of course- fireworks! This was actually the first year that Kinsey had been able to see a fireworks display for the 4th! To say she loved it would be putting it lightly. She even made her own song while watching..."rainbow fireworks, rainbows, rainbows, fireworks...la,la laaaaaaaa!!!!" Or something like that. Makayla pointed and said "wha dat?" over and over...so I think she approved of them as well!

Burp Cloths 3 Ways!

I'm sharing with you today the first of many baby related projects to come. I started out with a tutorial from another blog, homemade by jill , and then evolved that design into 2 different adaptations of my own. Even if you aren't planning on having a newborn around anytime soon, these burp cloths make a great baby shower gift!

The first set I made was for a friend who just that day had given birth to her second child, a beautiful baby girl named Madison. I brought a set of 4 to the hospital when I went to see the baby, along with a summer dress and matching bow I had also made. Here's a picture of the set I made her and the dress as well.

Those burp clothes were made using this tutorial, and they were really easy to make. I finished 6 of them in about one hour (minus washing time, of course)

Here's the same style in a different fabric- these one's I'm keeping for myself!

Next I moved on to another play on the same design. I wanted to use bias tape to wrap the edges, and although I've never worked with it before I was happy with the results! I used this blog post from Angry Chicken to help me figure out how best to work with bias. 

Instead of doing a peanut shape I opted for a simple rectangle with the same general dimensions. I sewed wrong sides together 1/4" from the edge, with a nice layer of quilt batting sandwiched in between. Then I trimmed the edges with the bias tape and sewed 2 seams down the length of the cloth, making 3 sections so the batting doesn't budge in the wash. 

Here's how those turned out. (p.s. don't you love the fabric Kinsey chose?)

Lastly I wanted something thinner and that I could keep in the diaper bag at all times without taking up a lot of room. I decided to make the original peanut shape, but without any batting inside and without the frayed edges. To do this I just placed the 2 sides right side together, sewed 1/4 from the edge, leaving a 2" space un-stitched. Then I turned them right side out, pressed, and top-stitched to finish them off. Voila!

Total cost for 16 burp cloths (4 of which were a gift) was less than $15! I got all the snuggle flannel at Joann's for $1.99/yd and each set of 4 only uses 1 yard total. 

I think it's safe to say I have more than enough burp cloths for the new baby, especially since I kept everything from when Kinsey was little, too.

I'll close with a sneak peek at my next sewing project, hopefully to be completed next week. What do you think I'm making for baby now? 

Kinsey's Second Birthday Party

 This Saturday we invited family and friends to a local park to help us celebrate our daughter Kinsey's second birthday! Her actual birthday is October 5th, so we will get the chance to celebrate again Tuesday with just our little 3 member family.

The weather was great, the food was yummy, and the kids and adults all had a great time! I made just about everything you see, from the food and desserts, the cake, Kinsey's outfit and all the decorations, including the cutouts of Buzz & Woody! My little girlie just loves Toy Story, so we had to have that as the theme! Instead of posting a million pictures I decided to cosolidate them for easier viewing....so enjoy!

New Purse

This week I have been feeling crafty....

not like any other week really....

but this week I actually got something accomplished!

I am always making things for Kinsey, dresses, hair clips, etc. It was time to make something for me.

Never have I made a purse, so this project was a little daunting. But I didn't let myself get scared...what's the worst that could happen? a waste of time, money, and effort...but I'd never tell anyone!

So today I ventured to the fabric store with toddler in tow....

hmmmm....stressful anyone?

After numerous bolts of fabric were flung on the floor and misplaced we managed to escape with some cute fabric! Let me just mention here that I LOVE the fabric store, it is right up there with Target and Costco on places that I buy way too much stuff at and should generally be supervised at (and not by a toddler).

After said toddler was napping peacefully....oh so peacefully.....I rushed to finish my project.

Here it is....what do you think?



I really love it, except I think it needs to be much, much bigger. I am a mom you know! I really don't think they'll respect me as a mom at the park if I don't carry a huge bag, they'll think I'm just the nanny!

Next week I just might have to venture to the fabric store again to buy some more fabric and make a 'mom-sized' purse.

Dress Editing

Any woman knows that when faced with a party or event she will inevitably feel as though she has nothing to wear or looks fat in anything she does have.

Well I am no different.

So when faced with an upcoming night out to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Local 412 Plumbers and Pipefitters Union (of which my husband is a member) I immediately started thinking....crap....what am I going to wear?

Well the party is Saturday and I'm still not sure.

But I did take the one dress that looked okay on my after baby body and decided to edit it a little. Update it, if you will.

This is how it originally looked.

Not bad, but the butterfly sleeves are really not my thing.

Plus it is at least 2 years old, so I felt it might be a little outdated.

So I snipped and sewed, and snipped and sewed until I got this.

Sleeveless and with a slight racer-back.

What do you think?

I'll post a pic of us after Saturday wearing whatever I finally decide to leave the house in.