Maine, Bows, & Flair

A few weeks ago, I requested for product testers for "state" applique shirts. I have been wanting to try these out, and my goal is to attempt all 50 states, but I know this may take me several months or even a few years!

Arkansas and Maine were requested, and i'll have to share the Arkansas shirt later, but I love how this Maine shirt turned out! The customer wanted a blue shirt, and I was so lucky to find one for a little girl! And, she chose the grey and white chevron fabric for the applique.

This mod-dot pinwheel bow is a steal at 6.00! If you order this bow and let me know you saw it on the blog, you'll receive free shipping!

I'm still in love with the nagorie feathers and hair flair! This pink and fuchsia nagorie feather has a moraccan inspired bow with a tiny sparkling fuschia bow on top.

MC is having a lemonade birthday party this year, and I ordered one of these feathers for her! However, this one is up for sale with a bright pink shabby flower and sequin bow!

My niece is going to be the proud owner of Mr. Cottontail! I can't wait to give it to her!

And, I finally have Sofia the First ribbon in stock! You can order a simple Sofia bow for just $6.00 or get a layered bow for $9.00 (without the bottle cap). G is in love with Sofia, and this bow is for her, but I can remake this for your Sofia fan!

As always, thanks so much for supporting me in my "little hobby."  I find so much joy in creating these pieces for you!

Contact me here for more information.

Date Night Ideas

I'm linking up today with Kelly's Korner and her Show Us Your Life series. Today's topic is "date ideas". DJ and I don't get out on too many dates. Our lives often get wrapped up in the girls, football, and playing catch up on the weekends. But, I know it is so important for us to have time together.  Not only so we can strengthen our marriage, and enjoy the relationship we had before kids, but so we can be better parents to our girls.

It was so much easier to have dates before we had kids! We love eating out and finding new restaurants, and we would do that regularly. We also took vacations and explored new cities. Saturday's were easily spent exploring the towns that we moved to (Ruston, La. and Muncie, In) and the surrounding areas, and we even took a vacation to Gatlinburg, TN the summer I was pregnant with Gretchen. We could travel and not rush to get where we were going because of meal times, potty breaks, and schedules! 

On this particular trip, we decided to take detours and explored Louisville, KY and also found the original KFC. I loved our drives, because that's how we got to know each other best.

Now that we are married with two girls and one on the way, our dress up date nights are very rare! We definitely make it a priority to get out on our anniversary. But, most of our other dates, involve football and donor events. Thankfully, those at least get us a good meal!

Last year for our anniversary, I gave DJ a letter explaining that we would make it a priority to have a monthly date night. We tried, but I have to admit we weren't successful. I originally found the idea on Pinterest, and you're suppose to gift 12 envelopes with pre-paid dates inside. Then, you won't have an excuse if you don't have the funds! Maybe, I'll get a head start and do that for our 8th anniversary in December!

One of our favorite ways to date right now, is to meet for lunch. Last year, I had an amazing schedule, and we would meet for lunch several days a week and explore new restaurants around Tulsa. This past year, we've only been able to meet once or twice a month for lunch, but at least the girls are already in daycare, and we don't have the excuse of paying extra funds for a baby sitter.

DJ and I also try to have movie nights a few times a month. We either watch one that we already have at home, or pick up a new movie from Redbox. 

Even though we don't get out often, I appreciate the times that we spend together. We always have tons of fun and love exploring the towns we've lived in together. 

We take advantage of the times when we're visiting family, and try to get out to do something by ourselves, whether its a trip to Wal-Mart or a movie or out to eat. Just getting some time away is so important!

What's your favorite date night idea?

The "Meggie" Dress

While my  mom was here this past weekend, we had some time to sew and complete projects that I've been putting off for a few weeks. I have been dying to add a few dresses and new lines to my shop and with my mom's help I was able to complete those projects on my to-do list!

I found this navy and white stripe shirt on one my shopping excursions, and knew that it needed to be made into a dress. I also had this vintage mustard yellow fabric that I made these skirts out of, and knew it would be the perfect color combination.

Megan did not want to cooperate with modeling for me! Our house was a mess, so I had to find a decent background, and then she would arch her back over the chair and just looked silly! She finally just gave up and sat down and said "cheese" real big and loud!

I am totally in love with the little ruffle down the front!

I used some of the fabric from the shirt to make this little flower for the headband, and then I made a ruffle out of the yellow fabric. I typically offset the headband pieces, but I loved the look of the navy flower right on top of the yellow ruffle.

I'm offering the entire collection (dress & headband) at $30.00 shipped for a very limited time! I'd love to practice making more of these dresses and sending them to you! These are available up to a size 5, and all I need from you is a length measurement!

You can contact  me here and here if you'd like to purchase!

Adalyn's Nursery Progress

It's going to be a while before I actually have a room free to start decorating Adalyn's room, but my mom and I got a headstart this past weekend on purchasing some goodies for her room!

I honestly wasn't sure where to begin wtih baby girl #3. The pregnancy was a huge surprise, and I've been under the impression, that I have everything I need, and that I could just re-use what MC has been using. But, my mom had fabric lying around that was enough to make a crib bumper, and she insisted that this baby have new decor! (I'm so glad my mother nudges me into doing things!)

So, we started with the crib fabric- the paisley fabric on the right side of the picture below, is what my mom already had. After looking on Etsy and Pinterest for inspiration, I knew I wanted to add a chevron. My first thought was hot pink and white chevron with some yellow chevron thrown in, but once my mom brought me the fabric scraps this weekend, I wasn't crazy about the pink chevron.

Thankfully, my mom had only sewn one panel of the crib skirt with this fabric, and she was willing to change it, once we went shopping!

We went to the River City Trading Post in Jenks, OK. It's a fabulous little store that has booths of junk. Seriously, some of it is just people trying to sell their junk, but other booths have amazing little finds at amazing prices!

We knew there was a booth of a lady that painted furniture, and besides a crib, Adalyn doesn't have any furniture. The furniture in stock was purple, and not exactly what we needed, but we turned and saw this urn painting and it totally caught our eyes. I picked it up for $15.00

We continued on our journey, and came across the green and cream chevron basket. Hmm.... it was cute, about 3.00 so I picked it up, not really sure what I would even use it for, other than the fact that I loved the chevron and maybe I could use it on her dresser for diaper changing goodies. It also matched the fabric well, so in the basket it went. The booth also had a remnant of the fabric for 2.00 being sold as a "towel". Now, i'm no idiot, but that wasn't a towel. It was a rectangular piece of fabric that had been hemmed. But, it would be perfect framed or even as a table covering, so it went in the basket too.

Eventually, we came across all of the shabby painted frames. Now, I had every intention of taking myself to Goodwill and purchasing frames and spray painting them, but who can pass up a frame for 4.00 when they're already made for you? Not me.

The pink frame has chicken wire stapled to the back of it and a tiny pink clothespin holding a torn music sheet. I think i'll remove the music sheet and add a picture- or leave it. It was more expensive at $15.00, but it also saves me time of trying to DIY.

We stumbled across the yellow chevron pillow and the green chevron pillow, and wouldn't you know that the green chevron was the exact same fabric of the basket I had picked up earlier. So, at that point, it was settled. The pink and white chevron was out. It was entirely too bold of a choice for the look I wanted.

After making our purchases, we headed to JoAnn's in search of the green and white chevron fabric for the crib skirt. I also had a crazy idea to make a burlap bedskirt! But, what we found was even better! See that stripe fabric? That's it! It has the perfect subdued tones of pinks and green, and helps to bring in the shabby element that my heart desires.

We have also found furniture at a shabby country store in the central Arkansas area, that is painted a pale green, and we'll soon be picking it up for Adalyn's dresser. They also have a bright pink night stand that I'll purchase as well, and I have a book/magazine stand that my great-grandfather made that will be placed in Adalyn's room!

I'm still considering adding one more something to the wall space, but i'm not quite sure what that will be. I've looked at prints on Etsy, and I'm thinking a painted canvas Bible verse, but nothing has jumped out at me like these purchases did!

I'm even more excited to get G's room moved upstairs, so I can start decorating Adalyn's room! (I also have to get MC to give up her crib, and we're working on that!)

Branson Kiddie Amusement Park

After leaving the indoor water park, we decided that we'd let the girls skip naps and we'd let G ride some of the kiddie amusement park rides. We had wanted to take her to this park in November, but it was closed. However, it was jammed pack last week, and G had so much fun!

She rode the tea cups..... she and this poor little girl tried so hard to make it go around and round, but they just couldn't figure it out! It was so funny watching them try so hard to spin their cup.

She also rode the train, and like every other child, had to sit in the engine car. She also hogged the bell the entire time!

She rode the pirate ship, but sat in the front, so DJ and I don't think she got the full effect of the ride!

She also rode the "Frog Hopper" and screamed the entire time! We had just watched them stop the ride to let a little girl off, and I was not going to let G stop the ride. So, we just sat there and did what any parent would do. Laugh.  Cheered her on and encouraged her to stick it out!

She also got to ride the go karts! I was very nervous that she'd wreck and kill herself, because she can't even drive her princess car down the street, but she did great! Granted, there were several laughs and a few wrecks, but she enjoyed herself, and it may have been the funniest thing I have ever witnessed!

Here's G driving around:

After G did all the kiddie rides, she and DJ went over to ride the big go-karts on a wooden track. She was exhausted by this point, but they had fun!

Our trip was so much fun and DJ and I felt that we were able to squeeze everything in and still have time to relax in the condo!

We met up with friends later Tuesday evening, and that experience was not our finest in the parenting world, but we survived.

We left Wednesday morning, as we had to be out of the condo by 10, and I was very afraid that G was experiencing a stomach bug, but I think it turned out to be exhaustion and eating pure crap food at every meal! 

DJ and I decided that we needed to get away more just as a family. Unfortunately, we won't be able to travel for a while with the baby due this summer, and then football season- so we'll be planning next year's spring break trip!

Grand Country Inn~ Waterpark

Last Tuesday while we were in Branson, we took the girls to the indoor water park at Grand Country Inn. Our first thought was that we would stay at the hotel, but then we ended up getting a condo and realizing that it was only $15.00 to get into the water park. We headed over around 11 in the morning (because the girls slept late) and stayed for three hours.

They had the best kiddie area, and once MC warmed up to the slides, she had so much fun! She even went down on her belly!

They also had a lazy river and we all enjoyed going around in it.

Here's G on the turtle slide- that thing was slippery!

There was a little step at the kiddie pool and MC loved walking along it like a balance beam and then sitting down.

DJ convinced G to go down the covered swirly slides, and once she did, she loved them! 

Here's MC going down a kiddie slide again.

And, G playing in the kiddie pool.

There was also a basketball pool, but the water was freezing, and two hot tubs, but those were jammed pack! The water was a bit cold for my liking, but the girls had tons of fun splashing around! 

We ended up eating lunch there, and I thought the food was pretty good! Maybe, I was just starving, but I had a burger, and DJ and the girls had hot dogs. We split nachos and fries!

After lunch, we let the girls play a bit longer then headed to the kiddie amusement park! 

Shopping Day!

Monday morning was spent saying good-bye to the girls' grandparents. DJ and I are so thankful they were able to take the time to drive up on Sunday and spend the day and night with us!

MC loved hanging out with her grandparents and really enjoyed her pops!

G posed with her build-a-dog before we headed out to shop for the day.

We went to lunch and then headed out for shopping. The girls were exhausted from our late night at Dixie Stampede, so we ended up going into a few select stores rather than my typical spending the entire day at Tanger mall and eating A&W chicken strips for lunch. After getting the shopping done that we needed to, we headed back to the condo for naps.

Unfortunately, DJ was the only one that fell asleep.

After rest time was over, we went out for dinner at Falls Creek Steakhouse. I thought it would be fun since they throw rolls, but i'm not sure that we'll actually go back. My mom always says that you don't go to Branson to eat- the food is never good, and every time I try somewhere new, I think she's right! 

It also didn't help that our girls were beyond exhausted!

G did love the rolls and adding honey, and MC even ate most of her roll too. We got the girls corn dog and french fries (to share) and I ordered fried shrimp with a sweet potato. DJ ordered steak, but his was over cooked and he had to send it back and wait on a new one.

MC was all smiles until the food came and she decided that she was not going to eat. Most of hers ended up on the floor, and to be honest, I don't think she ate anything other than one roll that night.

We had a fun time being together, and DJ and I can now laugh at MC's behavior that night, but boy we could tell that she was tired!

We were reminded several times, that sometimes, you just have to let them your kids do what makes them happy, just to keep them from throwing a huge fit! I was MCs punching bag most of the evening, and she broke out of her high chair several times. I've figured out though, that she's highly entertained by "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" song and the "Bringing Home a Baby Bumblebee" song, so that helped us make it through the rest of the meal.

After dinner, we headed straight back to the condo for bedtime!

Dixie Stampede

After Build-a-Bear, we headed to our condo to get checked in. Much thanks to DJ's uncle for letting us use his time share! We were able to get a two bedroom condo with plenty of room for extra guests and more than enough space for us! DJ and I decided that while the girls are young, we need to have two rooms when we travel. MC never falls asleep when we're in the room, and this allows DJ and I to stay up a little later, while the girls get to sleep. We may be spoiling ourselves doing this, but if we can get two rooms, we're going to do so!

Once we got checked into the condo, we freshened up for dinner. All of a sudden G came downstairs wearing this:

She had packed her sunglasses, rings, bracelets, and a feather boa in her backpack without us knowing and told us that she wanted to look her best for dinner. Who are we to argue- so we let her go out to dinner like this! Hey, we're on vacation.

Here's MC and I before leaving.

We headed out to the Dixie Stampede and to be honest, i was very nervous about taking the girls. Not necessarily, G, but definitely MC. We went to the 8:00 show, which is past MC's bedtime, but we waited too late to purchase the tickets, so that's what we were stuck with.

Surprisingly, both girls did great and I can't wait to take them again!

We enjoyed the pre-show, and I must say we were very entertained with the jugglers! We bought G a "boot cup" with a special strawberry drink inside.

Before the show, we managed to get a picture of her with one of the workers all dressed up. 

Pops and Grandma Dee went with us! They had never been before, and we weren't going to tell them that you don't receive silverware, but they had heard before hand from some friends.

We didn't have to purchase a ticket for MC because she's not two, and she was able to sit in our lap and share our food. I wasn't sure how well she would eat, so I brought some fruit snacks and a jammy sammy for her.

I also brought silverware for the girls. I actually used it myself for the soup, and G didn't eat the soup, although she at least tried a bite. And, the fork was so helpful for shredding the chicken for the girls, although, they ended up not eating much of it either. G requested ranch, and I had to tell her that they didn't have any. Next time, i'll sneak some in :) G ate the pork, because I told her it was pig- she's had a fascination with it since our bowl trip, and MC ate my corn.

Here's DJ and I enjoying the show:

And, G again with her boot drink:

I would definitely recommend going to the Dixie Stampede at least once every few years! It's not something that I would want to do every time we're in Branson, but if you consider you get a huge amount of food and a show, then it's a good value! Often you can find condo tours that will give you free tickets when you sit through their tour. 

G enjoyed Dixie Stampede so much that she wanted to go back there every night for dinner! MC sat surprisingly well since it was past her bedtime. I would just definitely take some snacks in case the kids don't like the food (soup, cheese biscuit, chicken, pork, potato slice, corn, and apple pastry) as well as sippy cups for drinks & silverware for the kids. And wipes, take wipes, because eating with your hands is a mess! 

I'm glad we were able to go as a family and enjoy the entertainment! G was spoiled with a flag and she was super excited that our side won the show!

Build-A-Dog

We headed to Branson on Sunday morning for a mini-vacation. I'm so glad that we were able to get away as a family of four! It's probably our last official vacation until next year, as i'll be too pregnant to travel this summer, and then we'll have a new baby!

We ended up getting to Branson around 1:30, and DJ's dad and stepmom met us there for the day. We had lunch and then walked around The Landings. G had saved her birthday money and she decided that she wanted to spend it at Build-A-Bear.

This was the first time that I've let G build-a-bear. I wanted to wait until she was old enough to really understand, and we have two that I had made in college, that she never plays with, so I wasn't sure if she would really appreciate the bear later on.... but, she loved the experience!

She chose a puppy with pink and red hearts. She was so excited that it even had a heart-shaped nose!

Next, she chose a sound for her puppy. She decided that the puppy should make a kissing sound.

Here's G with pops and Grandma Dee.... she's waiting on getting her puppy stuffed.

Filing her puppy with stuffing:

Giving her puppy a big squeeze!

She picked out its heart and gave it a kiss.

I remember making a build-a-bear, and they use to go through a whole routine with the heart, like giving it a kiss to make it full of love, rubbing the heart in your hands to make your bear warm, and putting the heart on your forehead to make the bear smart, etc..... and now, you just kiss it. Let me be honest, that I wish they would bring back the whole routine, even though it might make the wait a little longer.

G put the heart inside her puppy.

Then, we went and gave her puppy a bath.

We let G pick out her puppy's outfit, and she was determined it would be a princess outfit. At first, she picked out a Brave dress, but we guided her toward a pink dress with butterfly wings.

 Then, we got her puppy dressed.

 And, gave her puppy a name.... She named her Lovie Heart.

G was so excited to take her puppy home and she's played and slept with her all week!

She's getting a gift certificate to Build-a-bear in her Easter basket, so we'll go pick out another outfit!