A Halloween Wrap-up

Here's one more shirt I don't think I posted yet. It's a remake of last year's candy corn shirt so we could get another year's wear out of the striped tights.  

And the obligatory pumpkin patch photo with my 3 little pumpkins. It was a last-minute decision to go and we grabbed whatever pumpkin-related shirts were in their closets, so they've seen better days.

This year for trick-or-treating we had a queen (not a princess, thank you very much), a 20's flapper and a clown. I didn't make any of these costumes but 2 of the 3 were sewn by my mom and/or her sister, who are both amazing seamstresses. My contribution was the accessories and applying the clown's makeup. Thank you, Mom and Aunt MN!

October was crazy busy so I'm hoping November is a little less stressful. I'm gearing up for a Holiday Trunk Show in a couple of weeks so I'll be trying to catch up on orders and get some new sample items done as well. I'll probably cut off new orders soon while I get caught up, so if you need turkey shirts for Thanksgiving, let me know ASAP. Happy November!

Turkey Shirts

I know it's not even Halloween yet, but Thanksgiving will be here before we know it. I fell in love with these turkey applique designs last November and have been waiting all year to use them! How cute are these little turkeys? The adorable ribbon turkey has a matching hair clip for an extra $5, and the "Gobble Alphabet" can be designed with any fabric you choose. Name or other personalization is included.

Turkey shirt - $20
Hair clip - $5

We Had a Hoot!

Woo-HOO!!

The party was a success! It was a lot of work before, during, and after, but I would do it all over again to see the excitement on my little girl's face. She had a Night Owl Pajama Party, and I ordered a lot of the printables and patterns from here. Tye helped me create the headboard and footboard for the table to turn it into a huge whimsical bed. I don't think I've ever loved him more than when I watched him painstakingly trace and cut out a pillow sham onto cardboard using the projector he brought home from work for just that purpose. Adorable. He also persistently tracked down the huge sheets of cardboard for me without understanding just exactly what I was going to do with them.

We went with several breakfast-type foods, such as mini-donuts, blueberry muffins, pigs-in-blankets, mini-waffles, fruit and chocolate/strawberry milk. Tatum's special request was cheese balls. She couldn't stay away from them after they made it to the table.

I ordered these little felt owls from etsy also, and glued clips to the back for the girls to wear in their hair. See the sprinkles and chocolate on the glass rims? 

Tatum was giddy with anticipation waiting for guests to arrive! Everyone wore pajamas, and I'm sure I made quite the first impression in my jammies with several parents whom I had not met before.

These little guys were my constant companions the last week leading up to the party. We spent several late nights together getting them ready to meet their new owners. They each have unique personalities, and came with a little poem describing him or her, as well as an adoption certificate for each little girl to fill out with her new owl friend's name. I grew rather attached to my little owl creations, but was happy to see them go home to their new families. I had hidden glow-in-the-dark stars with numbers on them around the house. Everyone hunted for the stars in the dark and was matched to the owl with the corresponding number that they found. The owl pillows were a big hit with the girls and they all put serious thought into what they would name them.

Snuggle Owl

Wise Owl

Crafty Owl

Sweet Tooth Owl

Dancing Owl

Snowy Owl

Dress-up Owl

Dream Owl

Giggle Owl

This one came with a joke: Knock, knock. Who's there? Owls. Owls who? That's right, owls hoo!! Tatum thought this was hysterical.

Princess Owl

 Garden Owl

Sunshine Owl

Musical Owl

Baby Owl (my first attempt that I decided was too small, but we kept it anyway as an extra).

 Check out the amazing high-rise fort Tye constructed! It had a separate wing and sparkling pink lights. We laid down lots of sleeping bags and blankets, and threw tons of pillows in for a fun lounging area.

The girls played Freeze Dance in the dark and Pass the Flashlight (think Hot Potato in the dark with a flashlight). I also had bought a little owl craft for them to do but it completely slipped my mind during the party and no one missed it. Everyone got a goodie bag with an owl cookie from here. They arrived in the mail packaged so securely that not a single speck of sugar was displaced. I'll definitely use her again in the future.

A custom sticker placed on the back thanked for the party-goer for coming.

I didn't include any photos of the attendees in order to protect their privacy, but it was cuh-RAZY loud! 5- and 6-year-old girls have mastered that ear-piercing scream that makes you stop whatever you're doing and cringe. It was sheer pandemonium for 2 1/2 hours but lots of fun was had. After the party ended, we had to tear down everything and clean from top to bottom as fast as possible to prepare for a friend coming in from out of town to go to the World Series baseball game with Tye the next day. Whew! It was tiring, and we ALL took naps the following day, but I loved every minute of it. Happy 6th Birthday, sweet girl!

Baby Gift Sets

I've been doing lots of baby gift sets recently. I enjoy putting together the fabric combinations to create a fun set, but they do take longer to complete, so my turnaround time has gotten a little longer. Also, this week I've been in full birthday party mode preparing for my favorite 6-year-old's Night Owl Pajama Party tomorrow evening. Per my usual tradition, I bit off way more than I can chew with this party and have enlisted the whole family to pitch in and help. Tye held off the eye rolls until I mentioned the melted-chocolate-and-sprinkles-rimmed glasses for the chocolate milk, and then he couldn't contain himself any longer. But I'm standing my ground. There will be chocolate and sprinkles on the rims of the glasses if it kills me. Recap coming next week.

Boy Gift Set

A Day in the Life of a Soccer Mom

I haven't done a personal post on our little family in a while, and I know at least my mom will care, so I thought I would catch you up a little on what we've been doing. In a word, SOCCER. My 2 older girls are playing right now and are on the same team. That does make my life significantly easier than if they were on separate ones, but it's still a logistical nightmare sometimes. Practices, game schedules, uniforms, shin guards (aka the bane of my existence), goalie training, soccer balls, water bottles... There's a lot of stuff that goes with it.
The all-important shin guard check makes the last minute scrambling at home to find every last one of them seem worth it.

Gentry is impressive at defense. She shows determination and confidence on the field I never knew she possessed.

 There goes number 17 with her pony tails flying!

My meek and mild-mannered middle child turns into somebody else when the whistle blows. She makes it her job to tell everyone where to be and what they should or shouldn't be doing, something she would never dare attempt in any other setting.

 While Gentry is tearing it up on the field, Ava is doing this.

 And this.

 And this.
She takes playing goalie VERY seriously and is personally offended when a ball makes it past her into the net. The most stressful moments of my whole week are when the opposing team has the ball close to her goal box and it's up to my baby girl to keep them from scoring or suffer the disdain of her teammates (and their parents). Of course, her dad is standing on the sideline immediately to her left, "enthusiastically" giving her tips about each play. It's not for the faint of heart. I won't even mention how close she's come to being kicked in the teeth while she's diving for a save. **shudder**

Checking out the horses going by. Yes, horses.
At the half, Ava takes off the purple goalkeeper jersey and hands it to her sister, and they switch positions. Then I pray for my other baby girl to stop all the balls that come at her and not get a cleat in the forehead, and I cheer for Ava to run harder and turn the ball and "Get IN there!". Finally the last whistle blows, I breathe a huge sigh of relief and my blood pressure returns to normal.

And, of course, when it's all over and we've celebrated our win (or not) we go home and...

do chores!!

Just another day in the glamorous life of a soccer mom.