Another Pattern Giveaway by Lil' Blue Boo

You all know how much I LOVE Ashley's patterns. I'm lucky enough to be one of her testers. You can see dresses I've made from her patterns, here, here, and here. I'm SO glad she's finally released her doll size dress pattern!

I've got plans and supplies to make a special doll for Taylor and I'm so happy they'll have matching dresses! I can't wait to get my hands on this pattern! If you want one, too, head over to Ashley's blog to see how to enter her giveaway and you could win the pattern for free!

And stay tuned, in the next few days I'll be posting the details about the special doll for Taylor. :)

Mini Fabric Bolts from Cardboard Boxes

This is one of the best organization ideas I've seen in a LONG time. I LOVE IT! I'm totally going to organize my fabric like this! A great way to use up all the empty cardboard boxes in my garage and organize my fabric at the same time. You can find the tutorial here. Thanks for sharing, Fawnda!

Paper Bag Pumpkins - Revisited

{This was originally posted in October of 2009 but is one of my posts that generates the most hits! I thought I'd share it again, for anyone who missed it last year :)}

This was such a simple and fun craft to do with my 3 yr old and would be a great craft for kids of all ages. Here's how we created these adorable fall decorations.

Supplies:

- Orange Paint (I buy large bottles of Tempera paint in primary colors and then just mix the paint to create the desired color -- in this case we mix the red & yellow in a muffin tin to make orange)

- Paint brushes

- Scissors

- Paper bags (2 bags for each pumpkin) - I used lunch bags but you could make large pumpkins with paper grocery bags.

- newspaper

- rubber bands (at least 1 for each pumpkin, but I used 5 for each pumkin - explained below)

- Green cardstock (I used 1 sheet of 12x12) you could also use green paint instead.

Tear newspaper into strips.

Open a paper bag and insert a second paper bag into the first one so you bags are now doubled up. This makes them more durable and if one bag tears it won't show.

Fill paper bag about 1/2 - 2/3 full with newspaper. Press the newspaper down as you go, so that your pumpkin will be "full".

Gather the top of the bag and wrap a rubber band around the top several times, to create the stem of your pumpkin.

Now wrap another rubber band around the top 1 time, then pull the rubber band down around the bottom of the bag as shown. Optional: Continue doing this with 4 more rubber bands and arrange them somewhat evenly around the bag to create the ridges of the pumpkin. I like this step because it gives the pumpkins a more realistic shape and look when finished.

Paint the base of the bag orange.

Leave the pumpkins to dry overnight. Once dry, cut the stem of your pumpkin to the desired length.

Tear a strip of green cardstock and wrap it around the stem of the pumpkin. Glue the end of the paper to the stem. Then tear or cut out a leaf shape and glue it to the stem. If you are using green paint, you would paint the stem green.

Proudly display your new fall decorations!

Say CHEESE!

That's right. Cheese!!!!

Two weeks ago, Taylor asked me "Mommy, when will I be able to have cow's milk?" This is not the first time she's asked me this innocent question. She does very well with her food allergies and is very accepting that she has allergies and she there are certain foods she can't eat. But every now and then, she'll ask that question in different ways "When I get bigger can I have cow's milk?"

So, when she asked that day, we had an honest discussion about outgrowing allergies and that some kids outgrow allergies and some kids don't and the only way for us to know if she's outgrown her allergies is to feed her to the food she's allergic to. Her food allergies have never shown up on blood tests as she has milk protein intolerance (for which there are no tests). Her reactions are delayed by about 12 hrs so we plan our food trials carefully. As the day went on, I realized she'd be off school for the next week (she's been in preschool all summer), and she's been pretty healthy for the last 6 weeks or so, so it's a good time to feed her dairy and see if she's outgrown her allergies. Our GI doctor had given us the go-ahead to try dairy with her. Of course, if your child has an allergy, you should always consult their doctor before feeding them their allergen.

Well, I'm thrilled to report that after a week of slowly re-introducing dairy, she had no signs of allergic reaction and we're saying she's officially outgrown her dairy allergy! We've proceeded in re-introducing dairy into her diet slowly because it's very common to become lactose intolerant after not consuming dairy for an extended amount of time. Her body should adjust to the dairy as it becomes a regular part of her diet. At this point, she's eaten yogurt, milk mixed with rice milk, sour cream, cheese, cheese enchiladas (which she doesn't really like), and pizza.

In other news, we got the results of Taylor's scope and probe that I posted about a couple of weeks ago. I'm choosing to just take the results as another piece of the puzzle. It was determined that she has "non-acidic" reflux, and the GI doesn't think she needs any meds at this point. In all honesty, I'm a little frustrated because she still complains of tummy pain, and I'm not really sure what the culprit is. In the GI's words "we don't have a good reason for why her tummy hurts". He recommended a dietary supplement called Prelief, that she can take before she eats acidic foods because she definitely has reflux, and when she eats acidic foods, her reflux is painful. I also believe, based on her frequent complaints of tummy pain and based on what I've read, that non-acidic reflux is still very uncomfortable.

So, that's our update!

First Day of Pre-K

This was a BIG day for Taylor! She's been waiting for this day ALL summer. She spent the summer at the same school she's been at for 2 yrs. But, for those 2 yrs, she's had her best preschool buddy, Z with her. Taylor and Z have a very special friendship. There are few girls who will put strong-willed Taylor in her place but Z is one of them. And, I think this makes Taylor have an immense amount of respect for Z. This respect translates into a bit of an obsession. She talks about Z all. the. time. Well, Z didn't attend the summer session of preschool. Early in the summer, when Taylor asked about her, a teacher told her that Z would be back "in the fall". Well, everyday, EVERY day this summer, Taylor woke up and asked "is it fall yet?" When we told her no, the response was "oohh, I don't waaaaanna go to schoooool!"

Taylor had a week off last week as the teachers prepared for the fall session. So, today, Taylor's first official day of pre-k, also meant "the first day of fall" which more importantly meant Z would be back at school.

So, this morning, Taylor got out of bed happier than she ever has and she got ready for school faster than she ever has. There are days when I drop Taylor off and she clings to me and cries or asks for a bazillion hugs and kisses, or begs me to play on the playground with her. But, today, we had barely walked in the door, when she looked at the first teacher she saw and said "Is Z here?" When the teacher said she was on the playground, Taylor was off and running without a second look back at me. I tried to catch up but she left me in a cloud of dust! I wish I had seen the initial excitement of their reunion. Instead, I caught a glimpse of their second adorable hug. I wish I had taken my camera to get a shot of the two of them.

When we picked up Taylor at the end of the day, we heard all about her day with Z and her trials with her other friends as they're all adjusting to sharing each other's attention. Ahhh, the preschool drama of who hit who, and who would be who's friend and who wouldn't play with who. This is only pre-k, I can only imagine what high school will be like!

Handmade Camera Bag

This is bag is based on a purse that I already had, but I wanted it to be larger and padded to accommodate my camera. It's roomy enough for my camera body w/ 2 lenses, a photography book, my wallet, cell phone and keys. I absolutely love it!
I purchased the fabric in Canada last summer because, helllooo...it's got all my favorite colors AND flowers! It doesn't get much better than that! I picked up the coordinating fabrics at JoAnns to add some detail to the adjustable strap and the side pockets.

The bag is very versatile. I can see it in different sizes all the way from child size to a full size diaper bag. I'm thinking of making it available as a PDF pattern/tutorial for a nominal fee (less than $10). Let me know if you're interested. I haven't written the tutorial, and I already know a few things I would tweak on the pattern. And, of course, I'd need pattern testers to test it out before I made the PDF available for sale. :>

Princess in the Park

Just a few of my favorite shots from a shoot I did with my favorite girl yesterday! She was so happy she got to play "dress up" at the park.

Well, she had her moments of pouting and whining, of course. She is a four yr old girl, after all.

I was able to convince her to work her magic a little, and she thought that was fun....

It tuckered her out a little...

But Mommy got some adorable shots!