hey hey hey...

It's been a few years and... Lil O is four!

We've been keeping up our tradition of mom-made birthday gifts, and this year she requested a mermaid doll. So I made this one to match her mom-made halloween costume.
I made a couple little tweaks on a great pattern from etsy.

Ok, she snagged a new Land of Nod unicorn, too.

And we threw her a party based on her kid brother's favorite page of a lovely book called "Dream Animals" by Emily Winfield Martin.

First painting since college:

Ola helped make the paper and yarn jellyfish:

Kinda enjoyed having the yard look like a seafood restaurant:

 Lil T pulling off mermaid pants:

A Birthday for The Boss Lady.

I don't know if you heard, but somebody pretty special turned the big oh-one.

And mama kind of threw the baby birthday party
of her own dreams.

I finished making this doll, from a kit that I thrifted, at roughly the same
time that she was born. 3:41AM. Weird, right?

There were dozens and dozens of lollipops and pinwheels. 

A piñata that got pardoned on the grounds that I love it and bashing likenesses
 of animals makes me sad.

Vegan Cake from Bleeding Heart Bakery. I told them I wanted a vanilla
sprinkle cakeball the cake. I made the little flags that all the kids are doing 
these days, and the "1" penant was meant for Ola to wear, but ended up 
covering a spot where the cake got smooshed. 
Might wanna get some stronger boxes, Bleeding Heart.

Smash cake, also from Bleeding Heart, and cake topper candle holder 
from The Small Object

I also enlisted the help of our family. This lady made over 100 cake pops!

My sister and almost sister made these cookies based on this piñata cookie recipe.
They chose to use unicorn cookie cutters instead of donkeys and had to use some
 pretty clever baking technique involving a kleenex box in order to get the whole
 rainbow to fit inside one cookie. FYI, mini m&m's aren't so easy
 to find these days. You'll have to ask the internet.

Our awesome friends, Nicole and Wes, made a balloon press wall.

She was very cautious about the cake at first, and I don't think she liked the taste of
sugar, but eventually we ended up with this.

It was all worth it to hear a loud chorus of voices singing Happy Birthday to my
 baby while what seemed like a paparazzi-sized crew of people snapped photos. 

Back on the bag wagon.

After completing a custom-designed motorcycle bag on request (photos to come), I think I'm officially back in the bag-making groove.

I also just got a new diaper bag order, so I've updated my fabric choices on Etsy. Have at it.

family photographing

I've decided to try my hand (and photography degree) at a little family photography in my downtime. Took these of some dear friends last week. You'll have to click on them, because I can't figure out how to prevent this blog from turning them into compressed garbage.

You gotta put the baby in a basket.

And, of course, I had to sneak in a couple of 'Lil O.

"cushion" is a fancy name for "pillow"

I made these guys for our new sofa. It's an odd fabric choice, but I fell in love with the stuff at a recent moving sale. I still have a ton left, which will probably become a diaper bag and matching wallet.

The Resulting Dreamcatcher.

The dreamcatcher is finished. Looks like this:

I used some scrap colored leather and this tutorial for the feathers. Love them. They will make appearances in other projects, no doubt.

Some similar inspiration I've stumbled upon:

From Pretty Little Things.

raw emeralds.

The emerald is 'lil O's birthstone. In a perfect world, I would get this for Mother's Day. Alas...

From Grey Area.

We like what we like.

Old couch, meet new couch.

So, I found this on Etsy. I want it for Lil' O's room.

I cannot afford it. So, it's inspirational.

I already have all of the materials to make something similar.

Sorry, seller. Call it flattery?

If you can afford the real deal, find it here.

Lil' "O" has been out as long as she was in.

Sometimes

Sometimes you have to leave your baby on the floor watching Pawn Stars until she curls herself into a ball and falls asleep.

If you are the kind of person who likes to take a shower every now and then, sometimes you have to do that.