party time

{Mosaic created using FD Flickr Toys.}

1. Piñata 2. piñata love 3. Lemonade stand, Chagrin Falls, Ohio, Memorial Day weekend 2007 4. summer fruit swap: stacked 5. neon dream 6. Tutto un mondo intorno – All the world around 7. memories of a cozy lunch… 8. swanky bunting 9. 72/365: CITRUS! (DAY O2) 10. Mojito Cupcakes with Macadamia Nut Crackle 11. Lemon Love_Affair 12. Water Fight 13. hung out to dry

The Cydermaker’s birthday is coming up. It is the only “warm weather” birthday we have in our family, so we always have a party. I want to make it a little extra special this year, so all of my craft time in the month of August will be dedicated to the cause.  All the talk of weddings around here (both my brother and my sister-in-law are engaged) has me wanting to do things like sew fabric banners, make customized swizzle sticks, and create silly inspiration boards like the one seen above. I have a ton of fun ideas. Reality and time constrains will whittle down the list, but I am excited to have a change of pace in my crafting focus.  Who knows? Maybe I’ll even be organized enough to blog about some of my projects.  The invites are already sewn up, so I feel like I am ever so slightly ahead of the game.

What do you think? Is it totally lame to attempt a DIY smile-booth at a very small birthday party in your own backyard? Probably. But it could be a lot of fun.

P.S.  If you are looking for some great party planning inspiration, check out Party Perfect.

our kids are still awesome

Its been a while since I told you how awesome our kids are. No changes there. They are still pretty darn awesome.

She is super happy because she recently found her feet and figured out that they make excellent chew toys. She’s also been teething on stalks of her daddy’s homegrown broccoli.

Occasionally she gets to hang out with her big brother in his new fort. It gives her the giggles. She has the best little giggles.

Eating his favorite dinner {chicken pot pie} up high in his new favorite place.

He is realizing that he really does have a sister who is here to stay. A playmate forever. He relishes his role as the one person who can make her laugh the hardest. They are already dancing together in the kitchen-when she is in the doorway jumper contraption. Kitchen dancing = the best.

He’s been speaking in full sentences and, I think, has become an even happier person since discovering that the adults in his life can actually understand almost everything he says. The other day he called me stupid. The comment was appropriate at the time. Smarty.

He’s developing a crazy Boston accent. He gets it mostly from his mom. Yikes. I didn’t realize it was that strong.

I’ve been enjoying the summer with our little family. We haven’t been taking tons of weekend trips, like we did last summer. Been taking it slow. Its been nice.

The baby has started to consistently sleep through the night (knock on wood) but still goes to bed kind of late. I’ve been sewing a couple of hours here and there once or twice a week, but most nights I just want to sit on the couch with my husband.

We have an abundance of spearmint in our garden, so I have been making myself a mojito each evening. It’s a good habit to get into. Reminds me of my days in Berlin. That doesn’t sound logical, but it is. New favorite recipe here.

I bought a remote for the camera. So now I can be featured in some of my goofy photos. I think a family portrait is in order.

new favorite thing

I think I have a new favorite thing to make.

The Princess and the Pea is no stranger to the crafty blog circuit, but it was first drawn to my attention by a good friend who sent me this link one year ago. I’ve been thinking about it, on and off, ever since.

Inspiration was drawn from this book and these pages, in particular. The perfect little bed is from wonderful etsy seller Peter of Meadow Weeds Farm. (Meg at Sew Liberated posted about beds that she ordered from this seller, so I took note. I custom ordered a bed that is smaller than the one he typically sells. To give you an idea, the mattresses on the bed measure 8″ x 12″. ) The doll is Mimi Kirchner’s free pattern from the Purl Bee. I sized the pattern down to 75% without a problem. I love everything about this pattern, but I did think that the face was a little too grown-up for the one year old who received this gift. I also wanted something that looked a little sleepy. So, instead, I copied the face of this adorable Black Apple doll.

I think the reason why I love this project so much is that the stack of twelve little mattresses resembles a carefully folded pile of brand new fabric that has been fresh cut from the fabric store. Know what I mean?