butterflies...

Check out this sweet little butterfly pillow.

This adorable little blog is where I found it. So sweet. And I loved her color palette but my fabric store was out of neutrals so I went in the opposite direction and made it colorful.

I had a few random pillows in the linen closet so I pulled one out of obscurity, wrapped it in turquoise felt, and cut 16 butterflies out of the smaller pieces of felt...

 pinned them on, sewed them on and...

voila! super sweet butterfly pillow.

Maya liked flapping the butterfly wings. 

Afterwards, we packaged it up and sent it off to Grandma Hinson for her birthday. ♥♥

Mmmmmm!

If you and/or your kids need a quick cinnamon roll fix, I recommend these...

yum, yum, muy delicioso!

I also made some eggplant parmesan this weekend. Woody and I have been oooo-ing and ahhhh-ing over it for days; even in its leftover form it is scrumptious. Really, please make it. It's so good.

Maya hanging...

And (I know, super sad photo) here's Owen. Woody took this and I'm not sure what happened but I love it. You have to capture the sad moments too. 

he takes the best photos...

'just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, it became a butterfly.' 

-anonymous

Happy Friday...

We enjoyed a moment of sunshine on Wednesday before heading off to IKEA. It was glorious and my petunias looked so happy against the bright blue sky...

But then it started raining and hasn't stopped since....ugh, you're killing me PDX. (It's May if I may remind you.)

The rain caused some serious traffic on our way back home so I started taking pictures while waiting...

shhh, don't tell Woody. He probably wouldn't approve of me driving and taking photos:)

While I took photos this is what OM did...

But our trip to IKEA was sensational as always.

I finally found something to make for Owen and he picked this fabric for it...I love it!

He doesn't know what it's for but it's gonna be so great, I can't wait to sew it. It's going to be his bday gift from us!

I also couldn't resist these leash holders...

I don't let Woody bring the leash inside anymore because it reeks so bad and we don't have a great place to put it outside, but now we do!!:)

And I saw these and knew they had to be a part of my life...

I'm envisioning an entirely pink and white sewing room in my future (in our dream house to come:)

And, I did a little refashioning for myself...I made a halter top.

I originally bought this shirt for Woody @ Goodwill but he didn't like it so,

I followed a link @ ThreadBanger and made it into something for me:) [It took about five minutes; really, really easy.]

Although, since the tee was quite large the back really drops down so I can really only wear it over a bathing suit. But, I see lots more of these in my future...

Things that made me smile this week...

owen did that on his own:)

Starfish!

My pretty petunias...

I went with a slightly smaller basket this year than usual...all that deadheading gets overwhelming so I think a smaller one will be great:)

AND! Last weekend we went to OM's preschool's annual auction...

Do you see O's little face up there on the left? It made Woody and I smile wide:)

There was a silent auction, followed by dinner and then the live auction. We were having such a great time, chatting with other families, dressing fancy, enjoying drinks all the while knowing OM were in good hands @ their preschool for the night.

But the very best thing was the live auction. There was a little action over some of the items but the rowdiest and sweetest bidding war was over a handmade quilt put together by one of the families from one of the classrooms. All the kids had drawn their self-portraits and somehow they had been printed on fabric and then sewn together as a large quilt.

There were about four families going for it on the bids and everyone was cheering and there was thunderous applause and tears were just streaming down my face because it was so unbearably adorable. I think it sold for $850 or $900. !! That's love.

Owen's Friday playdate is on his way over. His name is Nigel and I whenever I see him I always want to sing XTC's repetitive tune, 'making plans for nigel.'

happy Friday!

another shirt dress:)

I made Maya G another little shirt dress. Remember the last one?

Again, I started w/ one of Woody's old work shirts, buried in the far right of the closet.

This attempt is a lot better. I made it slightly larger than the last one. She's skinny but it's easier to put on when it's a little bit bigger. And, I tried to make it flare out a little more, not as much as I'd like, but more than last time.

And this shirt is really soft and so summery and buttery and sun-kissed, 

and so I'm digging it, 

and so is Maya...

although, I really need to take a class on hemming. How are you suppose to round the corners without making it all tweaked? 

Are you suppose to cut off the excess?

Hmmm...

Owen is starting to notice the disproportionate amount of time I spend sewing things for Maya and what I make for him. I'm just sort of stumped on boy stuff...any ideas?

There's a version of the shirt dress that is a short sleeve shirt for boys but unless his shirts have pirates or super-heros on them he's just not into it.

Jammy pants are all I can think of and the super-hero fabric I've found is not something cozy for sleep-wear so I need some ideas.

Speaking of fabric, if you already have an idea of something you want to make and just need some fresh threads, check out Weiner Dog Tricks blog. She has a super cute give-away with fabric and notions and such. AND, she's entering all her regulars (me! I'm one!! pick me, pick me!!!) into a drawing for the cute little side-saddle bag on there. I'll shed tears if I win. I so badly want a new bag but don't want to spend any money on one and have no idea how to make one. Plus, I love the colors!!

Oh, and one little fun fact about Maya...we took her to the dentist last week (she rocked, totally awesome!) and she has 'geographic tongue.' I guess it affects 3-10% of the population and just means she sloughs off tongue cells unevenly..could effect her taste. Maybe that's why she's such a picky eater?

Hope your day is as sunny as this dress! 

happy mama's day♥

a little late, but here's our day...

first we walked to the 'bagel store' (aka Noah's bagels). 

Owen got chocolate milk

and Maya adamantly insisted on apple juice, until she saw Owen's c.milk and so there were tears...

but then a few bites of bagel later...

and all was well.

we walked over to a nearby pond and checked out all the duck babies...

Maya dressed...

and Maya undressed...

I forget what this is called but this year the blooms are in abundance...

It was warm and sunny and spectacular. 

Yay for mama's day!!