Ohhh TWO-dles!!! E is 2!

EM IS 2!!! 

As many of you know, last year was our first birthday experience and we had a Sock Monkey party. When we couldn't find many cute girly sock monkey themed stuff (on a small budget), we made our own. Last year, my aunt and I made many of the decorations and E's outfit. You can find our 1st birthday experience HERE.

This year, my aunt and I pulled it off again! We had a blast putting together the perfect birthday party for our sweet girl. So this years theme (as if you couldn't tell from the title) was MINNIE MOUSE!! How fun! Pink, pink, and more pink everywhere! I want to share our DIY party again this year and some how-tos for a few of the fun things we made. There are crochet, hot glue crafting, sewing and paper elements to this DIY :)

My aunt used her fabulous Cricut (best invention EVER!!) yet again to help me pull off this great party. She made us everything from banners and door hangers to E's Minnie Mouse shirt and her Minnie Mouse #2 to use for pictures. My aunt is a rockstar with her Cricut and just a rockstar in general.



Let's start with the invitations... I made the invitations in Microsoft Word by completely making my own design. I downloaded a special Disney font for my headings and placed each dot by hand (so not fun!). I was hoping to be able to make a downloadable template for you to use. However at the moment it is changing my Disney font and that is throwing off the design of the entire thing. I will work on it and try to get it fixed for y'all. I'm sorry!!! Hopefully I can get this fixed ASAP! But here is a preview of what it looks like :)



























Just as I did last year, I included a picture of my daughter to send with the invites. Some of the invites go to our out of town family. We know some will not be able to attend and that is why we always include a photo, so they can see how much she has grown. I also did the same type of photo as I did last year... a cute crocheted hat on her head that matches the party theme. Since it was Minnie Mouse this year I obviously crocheted her a Minnie hat.

I used the basic beanie part of the hat from Repeat Crafter Me's Owl Hat but changed which round changed colors and the amount of rows all together. The hat looked too short so I added a couple extra rows. I also had to make the ears as I went so they were big enough for a 1-3 year old size hat. I will upload a full pattern soon since I have a toddler Mickey Mouse hat to make before the end of next week. So be on the lookout for a toddler size Minnie and Mickey hat pattern. PATTERN COMING SOON!! You can now find this pattern HERE!

 

Now on to the decorations. My aunt is still completely AWESOME!! She handled the main decorations for me. She made an fabulous large banner for us and also a small banner with her age on it. She made a door hanger which we were able to hang outside for everyone to see when they came into the party. She is so crafty and such a great aunt!! I couldn't have asked for anything more perfect for our little girl's party!

Here is a picture of the decorative banners my fabulous aunt made. They came out perfect!!(Excuse how off center the larger banners are we were in a huge hurry to set up in an hour). She used the Disney: Mickey and Friends Cricut cartridge To cut out the Minnie Mouse heads. She used polka dot paper to allow the letters to stand out and then she tied each letter together with hot pink ribbon.

I loved the entire set up and couldn't have found any cuter decorations in the store. My aunt is the BEST!

My aunt also made a door hanger to hang on the door. It came out so so cute! Here it is!

 
Another great thing about our decorations is that we can also REUSE them!! The banner with her name on it and the door hanger can be reused in her bedroom when we move to our new house. Right now they are being used at PeePa's house (my dad's house). ** Notice the bow holder from a couple months ago... it's aquired more bows and we may have to make another one very soon! HERE is the bow holder tutorial :)



















She also made us a 2 for pictures and decorations and it is so cute! She added the ears and bow and painted it to look just like Minnie. The Minnie Mouse ribbon across the middle is from Hobby Lobby. Everything was perfect!

 I will add our 2 year old pictures soon!!!



On to the outfit! That's the most important part for any little girl, right?! Last year I found a great tutorial for using a Cricut to make an applique for a shirt. So my aunt just used the same tutorial and  cut out and ironed on the applique for E's shirt. HERE is the tutorial for that we used :)

I decided this year not to put a number on it so she can wear it more (I might possibly be a little picky when it comes to her clothes lol) I think it turned out great and made her outfit perfect!

She will be able to wear her Minnie Mouse shirt anytime she wants and she has other great stuff to match it too!

I made her bow (every little southern girl has to have a BIG bow!!). Her bow was very simple to make. I did a double layer bow and made a felt Minnie Mouse cut out for the center. TUTORIAL COMING SOON!! You can find the tutorial for this bow HERE.

PSA: Hot glue guns can attack and bite you!

But a cute bow for E is worth the huge blister I had for a week. 

Shoes, shoes, shoes!!! The shoes were so much fun to make! I have never glued rhinestones to anything. I was born after the 80's bedazzling era, so it was a whole new experience. I really enjoyed trying something new and they came out better than I could have ever imagined. I had some trouble getting placement down at first but after I got them laid out exactly how I wanted, it went really quickly. For now I'm just going to post a picture and I will upload a written tutorial as soon as I can. TUTORIAL COMING SOON!! You can now find the tutorial HERE.

Last but not least the CAKE!! This year we just went with a Minnie Mouse cake from our local Walmart. The bakers were fabulous and matched the color scheme to our plates and napkins instead of using the colors in the cake book. Here is a picture :) Please excuse the cracking... that's what happens when a 9 year old carries your cake lol

Overall we had a great and successful DIY birthday party and even stayed under budget...YAY!!!! I am so so excited to share all the tutorials with y'all! I'm sorry I don't have them ready to go right now. With all the holidays and a toddler, it isn't easy to get things done sometimes. I will do my very best to get all the tutorials up by the weekend so y'all can start crafting ;) Keep checking back for added posts and pictures!

I hope some of the things we did can inspire your own DIY Minnie Mouse birthday party :) 

So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. - 1 Corinthians 10:31

Giraffe Set Update!

So I know its a couple months late for an update but I have just now had time to write one out. During the month of August my husband came home for his midtour. He was here almost an entire month and the day he left was the day I started my fall classes. For future reference 2- 8 week classes at one time with a toddler, who sees napping as a foreign concept, is not for the weary!! As soon as classes finished, literally the day after, E and I both came down with the crud. I can't complain about getting sick though since it was after I finished for the semester... I would not have finished classes had it happened before. Even with classes finished, I am still constantly on the go. It is 2nd birthday time!! Time flies!! So be on the lookout for fun ideas for your little's birthday :)

So back to the matter at hand... the giraffe set!!

The giraffe set is being put to good use now. Sweet little R was born on August 6th. He is the sweetest little baby!

Be still my heart!! <3 <3

This photograph was taken by The Sweeter Things Photography, now known as Courtney B Photography. Courtney is a wonderful photographer and fellow military spouse located in Minot, ND. Her work is absolutely beautiful! So if you are in or around that area check out her work and let her capture your memories :)



I also made another hat for sweet little R. His parents are huge University of Florida fans. With college football season right around the corner (at that time), I had to make him some Gator gear. I made him a simple hat with a felt applique and it came out so cute! It helped to have the cutest baby wearing it ;) Cutest little Gator fan EVER!!!

 

 

For this hat, I just used a basic hat pattern and changed colors every row. For the applique I used an image I found on google and just traced it onto the felt. Then I cut it out and hand stitched it on with embroidery floss.
 

Here is the image that I used to make the applique :)

I hope y'all are still enjoying the giraffe pattern as much as I am! I know seeing this handsome little man in his hat made me love the hat even more!




“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”

Bows, Bows, Everywhere!

When I moved back in with my family at the end of last year, My daughter and I began sharing a dresser, floor space in my room, and well just about everything.  Most of the time that didn't bother me but when it began looking like a bow monster came and threw up all over my room, something had to give! I had been previously storing them in a drawer in the dresser but soon needed that drawer for underwear... it's potty training time in our house... so much fun! Anyway, I eventually had bows strewn from one side of my room to the other and some had even migrated to other rooms of the house. I could never find a bow when I needed it and it was driving me crazy. So I decided to finally make a bow holder for all E's bows and I think it came out beautifully! Here's how I did it...

What you'll need:

- a wooden wall plaque of any shape or size

- ribbon (I liked the wider ribbon but not wired)

- craft paint and brushes

- hot glue gun

- any embellishments you want to put on your bow holder (letters, flowers, bows decals, etc.)

Ok, so I found the coolest unpainted wood pallet wall plaque at Walmart (I dont have an unfinished picture, sorry!). It was $5 and to be the size it is, I think that is a steal! While there I also grabbed a spool of wide unwired pink ribbon. When I got home I primed the plaque with basic white craft paint that I had on hand and let the two coats dry overnight. I went to Michaels a few days later and they had a cute letter in the correct size so I grabbed it. When I got home, it was back to painting (after baby bedtime of course lol). My dad actually helped me with some of the painting (yeah be jealous because he's that AWESOME!!). The pink we used is actually the wall color of my daughter's room that he painted for her. We painted the edges of the letter pink just to give it the extra pop that it needed against the board.

Then we painted the plaque. He put a heavy amount of the pink paint on each end of each panel and then took a larger dry brush and brushed it across the entire board quickly. It is a really neat technique and was not hard to do at all. It allowed just the right amount of white to show through and looked distressed. It came out great! To attach the ribbon I just used my hot glue gun. I cut 4 pieces of ribbon in equal lengths and hot glued them to the back. I think unequal lengths would look neat too! I also used the hot glue gun to attach the "E". After I finished putting it all together it just looked like it needed something so I grabbed some left over ribbon and tied a bow and attached it in the corner.

 After I finished gluing everything I was finally able to rid my room of all the bows.


.... well not all of the bows. Who knew a little girl needed so many bows ;)

Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. - Philippians 1:6

Final Piece of the Giraffe Set is HERE!!

So here it is, the final piece of the Giraffe Set. I have thoroughly enjoyed making this set. I know the receiving mommy-to-be is beyond in love with the cuteness and so am I!




























The final piece is a diaper cover with a cute little tail! I think this is a great set for anyone. It is gender neutral but can be made more gender specific by adding a bow or colored edging. I hope you enjoy making it as much as I did. Enjoy!! :)

Here is the link for my Giraffe Diaper Cover Pattern: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1KK6apiDj2lR6LGGM35T0o945jvyfGZqU-SV_attTJEY/edit?usp=sharing

You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord. -Leviticus 19:18

Giraffe Hat

 After making the lovey as a gift I decided I would make a hat to go with it. I looked on Ravelry and just couldn't find a similar hat to my lovey so I decided to make my own. I used some of the parts from the lovey to make this hat. The ears, spots, and horns are all parts I adapted from the lovey pattern. The base of the hat is made using Repeat Crafter Me's Puppy Hat Pattern. This pattern  is only for the 0-3mth size but I think the ears, horns, and spots would look good on a 3-6mth hat as well. It is very adaptable. It can be made with or without earflaps and would look very cute with a bow for a girl giraffe. I hope you enjoy!

Here is the link to my Giraffe Hat Pattern: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxRpco1V5XG3bjFyVWdRd25Hblk/view?usp=sharing&resourcekey=0-W4ZTamosf3yJLChNH11ZFQ




























I am in love with this hat and the lovey. Be on the lookout for the finishing piece of the set!

Please feel free to share your creations and if you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask :)




I delight to do Your will, O my God, and Your law is within my heart.- Psalm 40:8

It's Here!!

 The Giraffe Lovey Pattern is HERE!!!! I am so excited to release this little guy! I hope you enjoy making this pattern as much as I do :) I would love to see your finished projects so please post your finished pictures on Ravelry or on my FB page . If you have any questions please feel free to message me on the Ravelry page, my FB page, or leave a comment here and I will help you in any way I can.
Here is the link:https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pNs0S1HhSYsbUTFQkO2zIqUbjOqyKsCnuJA3SgXENBc/edit?usp=sharing
Enjoy!! 

 The Lord lives! Blessed be my Rock! Let the God of my salvation be exalted. -Psalms 18:46

Sneak Peek!

My newest design is the cutest! Just so ya'll get as excited as me I'm going to show you a sneak peek of what I've been working on. I must say I am ecstatic how it has come out. I am still making some finishing touches on the pattern but it should be ready to release within the next couple weeks if not sooner so be on the lookout :)

So one of my very very dear and oldest friends is having a baby and it's a BOY!!! I am so happy for her and her husband and I knew I just had to make them something for their new addition. I noticed a lot of their registry items had giraffes on them so I decided I would do something with giraffes. I wracked my brain for over a week trying to decide what to make to send to them. It was obvious I would make a hat (They live in Minot, ND... way too cold for this southern girl!) but I felt the gift needed something else. I absolutely love loveys! They are great comfort blankets to little ones. I couldn't find a pattern I liked so I decided to make one. I am so excited to share the cuteness and the pattern!!

Here is a sneak peek :)

Giraffe Lovey

Keep a look out for the pattern. COMING SOON!! :)


Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. -Romans 5:1

SCHOOL'S OUT FOR SUMMER!!

I'm going to make this post short and sweet :) SUMMER IS HERE!! I have been taking classes nonstop trying to finish out my degree and this summer I decided I needed a short break. This is my first summer break in 2 years and I intend on making it fabulously filled with crochet!  Be on the look out for new posts coming soon :)  




"My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you." -John 15:12