Flower Girl Dresses {FREE Pattern}

In June my sister and I spent DAYs together sewing four, flower girl dresses for her July wedding. We based the dresses on a free pattern from a wonderful sewing blog: madebyrae. Obviously they were each very different in size but the pattern scaled nicely and the addition of a yellow sash was just the touch they needed to make them formal enough for the wedding.

I haven't posted anything in the sewing category in a while and didn't want you to think my sewing machine was gathering dust!

Photo credit should be given to Jackie Ray Photography.

In addition to the dresses we also made this adorable ring bearer pillow. Thought I'd add it as inspiration for anyone planning a yellow and navy wedding!

Sisters

Watching Marin and Adalyn this past week has been amazing. I know they are three years apart and Adalyn is only four months old, but you can see a friendship developing already! Adalyn lights up when Marin is around. Arms and legs wiggling her face reflecting the joy inside each time Marin dances, sings, or even screams. As I type this, Marin is bringing Adalyn the entire contents of her toy box. "Wow….TOYS!!!” Screams Marin, while Adalyn, content to chew on a green teething ring, studies Marin’s every move.

On Wednesday, they were in the floor together, when I heard Marin giggle. I looked down just in time to see Marin placing a plastic ring on Adalyn’s ear. She then proceeded to place rings on each of her own ears. More giggling (and cooing) commenced.

What a treasure to watch them grow to love each other. I know they’ll have squabbles (what sisters don’t) but I’m SO excited to see them become friends and the best of playmates. It's little treasures like this, watching your daughters become friends, that makes parenting such a joy. (That, and little girl giggles.)

Fabulous French Doors!

Reed glass in Mahogany. Ahhhhhhhhh.....Seriously I've been dreaming of these doors since we bought the house (seven-long-years-ago). Still need to be stained to match the doors in the house and the cabinets in the bathroom, but it's installed and now we can finish the trim and baseboards in the master bedroom.

View from the master bedroom (see the louver closet doors in the background?)

View from the master bath into the bedroom.

UP, The Movie Themed Rehersal Dinner Party

The Spirit of Adventure was the theme for Joshua and Sarah’s Rehearsal Dinner party on Friday evening. My Mother pulled together a fun and creative party based on the “Married Life” portion of the Pixar movie “UP.” While this portion of the movie is sad, it also beautifully depicts the “adventure” of marriage. The desire for adventure in the characters of Carl and Ellie reminded us of Joshua and Sarah. Sarah has dreams of visiting far off places and Joshua is excited to go anywhere Sarah wants to be, but most of all they anticipate the joys of married life.



Here are photos from the evening. We created centerpieces for the tables that matched the "up" theme and included picture of the couple and their correspondence on their Facebook Wall posts. Each one was different. I created them in Adobe InDesign and printed them on translucent vellum paper, cut the upper portion so it looked like the balloon was floating off the page and taped them with double sided tape to create the tube. A battery powered tea light was placed inside to illuminate them. Each guests was also given a round token designed to match the theme that included menu options.

Our good friend and talented artist Cole Carter drew childlike caracturates of Joshua and Sarah which were placed on the main table along with a wooden house that Joshua made years ago. Mom added a bunch of colorful balloons to the top to create their UP home. In the movie, the destination of choice is Paradise Falls. Joshua and Sarah's next destination is Africa, so we created a similar change bottle and labeled it "Africa Fund."

It was a fun theme with endless inspiration that could be incorporated into any wedding, shower, or party. While looking for ideas I came across this BEAUTIFUL Up movie themed wedding and engagement shoot, photographed by Wildflower Photography. Visit if you are curious.

Our Yard Is Excited!

This Pumpkin Vine is a Sign that It’s Pumpkin Carvin’ Time!

Found this little beauty in the yard this morning. Oh the side effects of having an annual pumpkin party in your front yard. Baby pumpkin vines springing up everywhere. Had to share our yard’s (and my) excited anticipation!

Belly Pictures {Grimes Family}

I spent Saturday morning with the Grimes family taking belly pictures. Baby Mikayla is due next week. We are all patiently awaiting her arrival. Here are my favorite pictures from the day. Isn't Darci a beautiful mommy?

Wedding Invitations {Joshua & Sarah}

Joshua and Sarah's wedding is just days away. Above is the wedding invitation and RSVP card I designed for their BIG day. We carried over the "Western Meets Sophisticated" theme from their Save the Date cards. They both loved the design and have received lots of good feedback from guests about how much they love the wedding invitations. I can't wait for the BIG DAY. Let the countdown begin!

Fabric Flowers

Photo by Jackie Ray Photography

My sister, Katherine, and I spent the last two weeks before her wedding sewing flower girl dresses, making a ring bearer pillow and paper cone flower girl baskets. These fabric flowers originated from a brainstorming session about ways to embellish the flower girl baskets. Katherine shared with me a magazine clipping she’d found of balls of fabric that were used as “bouquets” for a wedding. She thought something similar would be fun for her wedding, but wasn’t sure how to create them. They reminded me of the tissue paper pom poms that I created for Elizabeth’s bachelorette party. So with a little experimenting, we came up with these fabric flowers.

Photo by Jackie Ray Photography

They looked so cute on the paper cones we decided they would be perfect as corsages for all of the ladies helping serve food and drinks at the wedding. I made 10 of these beauties. I took me several evenings to complete all of them, but that was with a newborn baby in the house.
These corsages would be perfect for a mother’s corsage for a baby shower or even used as embellishments for your next sewing project.

To make your own fabric flower you’ll need:

Eight 3”-by-5” pieces of fabric, floral wire, wire cutters and a safety pin. Optional items include: felt, hot glue gun, ribbon, card stock paper, green tissue paper, green floral tape and green floral wire.

1. Stack eight 3-by-5 pieces of fabric. Make ½ inch wide accordion folds, holding fabric tightly.

2. Fold a six-inch piece of floral wire in half, and slip over center of folded fabric; twist.

3. Separate layers, pulling away from center one at a time.

4. If using the flower for embellishment, trim wire and attach with a safety pin.

To make a corsage:

1. Cut a 3-1/2 inch circle from felt. I cut a scalloped edge on the felt, but you can leave it a simple circle as well. Snip a small slit in the center of the felt circle.

2. Tie a piece of ribbon around the wire at the base of the fabric flower.

3. Slip the fabric flower wire through the slit in the center of the felt circle and hot glue the felt, ribbon and flower together.

4. Cut a leave shape from green tissue paper and twist the green floral wire around a ball point pen to create the curly cue stem. Attach the tissue paper leaf to the floral wire stem using green floral tape. Using hot glue attach the leaf and stem to the flower between the flower and the felt backing.

5. To finish the back and hide the wire, I placed a small piece of card stock cut using a circle punch on the back of the felt.

Happy Faces

Thrill of all thrills! Marin is learning to draw! Okay, so she's no Picasso, but I'm in LOVE with her happy faces. The best part is the giggle or awww she shares after each one is complete. You never know if the mouth will be happy or sad and I'm not sure if she knows what to expect either. "Oh mommy....he's SAD!" Or "He hehe it's a HAPPY Face!"

Obviously the stellar stick figure in the center is mine but the strange cloud headed person to the right is all Marin's. The shapes are dotted lines that she traces...but the GLORIOUS happy faces are totally, genuine Marin.

Sigh...have I mentioned how much fun it is to have a toddler?

Photos of a Friend

My friend Angie and her husband Greg are in the process of adopting a child. They asked me to take their profile picture. You know the one that says "Hey we will make great parents because we love each other and are excited to have YOU join our world." Hope these pictures say that to the lucky little girl waiting just for them. Can't wait to take your family photos in the future!