Another Gilded Treasure

Today I would like to share with you a successful project, and a failed one.

First, the successful project:

Last December I picked up three of these crown ornaments thinking I would paint them and make something for my mom and Sister (sorry girls, I never got around to it!). Once I decided to do a castle/princess theme for Muffin and Baby's room, I thought they would be perfect in pink! I started out with the same color as the poodles, but it just wasn't popping, so I went a few shades darker.

From gilded......

To perfectly pink!
I even followed through on the project, and hot glued them to her cubby shelf. I'm hoping the glue will hold. If not, I will call in Daddy Man and his power tools.
Close up:
I took the opportunity to give you a little sneak peak of Muffin's work in progress room. I think I'm pretty much done, it's just that its hard to get photos of the whole room at one time (this would mean the whole room would have to be clean. ;) Asking too much, right?).
I found this cutest-of-all chairs at Ross, and got 25% off for a scuff on the leg! So girly and cute!
On to the failed project:

My third attempt at upcycling a men's shirt into a boy's shirt did not go so well. This time I used this tutorial for making a onesie, and modified it for a shirt. It was looking good until I sewed the ribbing on backward on the front half of the shirt. Arg!! At first glance it looks OK....
but closer inspection reveals a slew of errors. I'm new to sewing knit fabrics, so the neckline is all warbly (yup, made that up). As I said, the front neckline that you see is supposed to be on the inside of the shirt...the other side looks better, but since I used the existing hem of the old shirt, I couldn't turn it around. And, as you can see right by Muffin's fingers, I didn't catch the edge of the ribbing in the sleeve.
Well, I will try again. Hopefully I can get it right before this weekend's birthday party for Baby Keller! As for the fate of this shirt? It's not so bad to be doomed to the dumpster, so I think Mr. Baby will use it for a sleep shirt (just like the first two I tried. UGH!)

Poodles

Last Friday Muffin, Mr. Baby and I went garage sale-ing. I know, quite the ambitious activity with two kids, but we had fun! One of my favorite finds was this poodle bookend set. It reminded me of a set we sold at Hibernation. Don't be put off by the gilded exterior. These poodles have potential!! The best part? This vintage treasure was only $1. Score.A few coats of spray paint later.....(don't tell Daddy Man, or Ellie, for that matter. I would be in big trouble for breathing these fumes! Sorry, I just couldn't resist!)
The perfect little girly pink poodle bookends. They are right at home in Muffin's room, and she is very attached to them.
It is very regal, no?

Outdoor Oasis

When Nana and Pa came to visit, Pa bought the kids an "outdoor oasis." I wanted something like this, but figured our little $5 turtle sand box would suffice as a pool. It worked, but was not really big enough for me to sit in. That's right, I (all 9 months pregnant of me) get right in the toddler pool with my kids. :) So this is perfect! We ALL love it! ;)

Muffin enjoys lounging on the slide.....

You can't tell here, but the yellow sides are filled with water, and it squirts out through little holes all over the edges.

They love riding the dolphin
Or sitting under the rainbow. The part you slide onto squirts out water too, as Mr. Baby is discovering.
It also came with inflatable starfish rings that stack on a tower that squirts water....or on the palm tree.
We go 'swimming' in the few inches of water almost every day! Thanks Pa!
It also provides lots of indoor entertainment. It was REALLY funny watching her try to walk with these on! Oh, and what is she wearing? A play shirt, pajama shorts, 2 different baby legs, and two different socks. Hmm, must work on the outfit co-ordination.
Lastly, I thought I would treat you to Mr. Baby, in all of his full glory. ;) Quite the tank, isn't he?

Surprise Visit!

Last Friday my parents came up to Redding for a surprise visit! It was so much fun! They came up so my Mom could go to my baby shower on Saturday, hosted by my Sister-in-Law and my friend Kristina. It was a lovely baby shower (and true to form, I took 0 pictures!) and such a nice time to focus on Baby Girl. The rest of the weekend was filled with fun and frolicking about with Nana and Pa, like our trip to Enterprise Park. It features a great Kid's Kingdom play area, seen below behind pa, and an awesome volcano that 'erupts' water every 15 minutes. So much fun, and exactly the kind of thing my little niece Madelynn would be all over. My kids? They prefer to sit and watch, and enjoy the nice overspray.

Thank you sooo much Nana and Pa for such a fun surprise! Ooh, and for the 'outdoor oasis!' Pictures to come on that!

A whirlwind week!

Last week we all went down to Sonora for a visit. The original plan was to go so Daddy Man could work at my Parents' house for the week, getting some much needed property work done for them. We would go down for a week, Daddy Man would work, and the kids and I would hang out with Nana and Aunt Sister. Sounds nice and relaxing, right? Well, my Mom and I decided that this would be our only opportunity to throw my Sister a Baby Shower, so we decided to plan it for Saturday. A couple days after deciding that, I realized that we would be in Sonora for Mr. Baby's 1st Birthday. I know, this should have been in the front of my mind, but alas, I had overlooked it. So naturally, we HAD to plan a Birthday party while we were down with most of our family. Can you see what happened? Our leisurely visit had turned into the party marathon week. Between planning a birthday party, a baby shower, and watching two kids (plus Madelynn for two of the days), it seemed my mom and I were going non-stop! Oh yeah, and I decided to have my baby with Ellie in Sonora(story to come on that one), so I also had two marathon appointments (we're talking 2 hours +!) with her during the week. It was crazy, but we had so much fun. I always love staying at my mom's house, but it was so much better since we were able to stay a whole week. I barely had time to take pictures last week, but here's a few of the parties.

Enjoying his favorite food.

The cake was not bad for Safeway, but nothing compared to the one for the baby shower!
He enjoyed the cake, of course!
After cake and presents (thank you everyone for the fun presents!) Mr. Baby gave us his classic Mr. Baby face. Time for bed!

On to the baby shower. Sadly, I failed to take pictures of the front of my mom's house, but we put flowers like these lining the driveway and walkway up to the front door. There was also a chain of three flowers on the front door, and all around my Mom's house. We used the tutorial from this blog to make these flowers out of different colored napkins.
The food table.....
I made a baby buggy fruit salad out of a watermelon. It was pretty cute. I got the idea from a picture I saw online.
The cake table. If anyone needs an amazing cake in Sonora, go to Kim Angel! I have her email address if you are interested.
She mimicked the design from our napkins. It tasted divine!
Miss Muffin was so sweet and had a great time at Aunt Sister's shower. She kept singing Happy Birthday to Aunt Sister. Super cute. Thanks to Mama Mockabee for letting Muffin hold her sweet baby girl. It was adorable.
Here is a not-so-great picture of my gift to Sister. I made her a car seat tent, burp cloth, 3 baby blocks, 2 binky clips, a toy clip, a bib, and a little dolly. I also included a wooden rattle, and the Love and Logic parenting book(more on that later). I just might do a little tutorial on the dolly, just for you Bobbi, and my 12 dear followers. ;)
I don't think dolly's eyes were sewn on at this point, but rest assured, she had eyes. :)
Well, that about wraps it up! More to come later about having baby girl in Sonora! Exciting!