Feeling FRUMPY after a baby!

Every time I look in the mirror lately, it is so depressing. My hair is falling out. (Including my eyelashes! At least they don't seem as full.) My skin needs some sun. My tummy is a, "bowl full of jelly," according to my kids, and I am nursing, which means my clothing needs to be very functional. I love my little guy, and wouldn't trade him for anything... not a tan, not lustrous hair and nails, and a flat tummy. But, I was feeling like I needed a small bit of style in my life. I was watching Studio 5 the other day, and they did a segment about hot nail trends. The segment is linked up below. I thought... "I can do that!" I can't fit into my jeans without a large muffin top, but I can paint my nails. They said the new trend is short nails. I can do that too! After having the baby, my nails seem to have stopped growing.

These aren't for everyone, but I thought it was a fun change.

It is by China Glaze, and it is called Crackle Nail Polish.

You paint the bottom coat whatever color you want, let it dry fully, and apply the crackle. I used Crackled Concrete. It is gray. It I was feeling extra crafty, I would have gone to the craft store, bought some crackle paint, and made my own! Maybe another day.

My thumb looks extra special ;)

Here are the other colors they have.

I also bought white, and my daughter was VERY excited!


Studio 5 Segment

About the muffin top... I know I shouldn't complain. I could be on the treadmill, but alas, I am blogging. Well, I am feeding the baby as I type! Multi-tasking at it's finest!

Have a Happy and Stylish Day!

Risa

Car Seat Cover

There are so many DARLING car seat covers out there right now, and I knew I wanted one for this baby... I just didn't want to pay the price. I looked online, and found a couple great tutorials, like this one on Make It, Do It. I didn't take the time to make my own tutorial, as there are so many out there in blog land already, but I thought I would at least share a photo of the one I made. I get stopped all the time, and people comment on it.


One of my cute followers sent me a message yesterday, and reminded me to post my pics (I had promised to do so in a post about burp cloths I made. One of the burp cloths matches this). Thank you! I feel like it's hard to remember anything these days :) Here is a view of the front:

The lady who cut the fabric for me thought it looked more like a girl, but it is blue and orange! Maybe it's the damask pattern? I don't know. I didn't want to do cars or dinosaurs or anything, as I am the one carrying it... not the baby. I wanted happy bright colors. I knew I would be carrying it a little in the winter, but mostly in the spring. I may have done different colors if I had the baby in late summer or fall. My favorite thing is the fat rickrack that separates the different fabrics. Here is a view of the back. You can see I did the damask section smaller for the back.

Here is a top view. See the fat rickrack on the straps? I love it!

This is the first baby I have had a car seat cover for, and I have absolutely LOVED it. I can protect him from germs, weather, and light... when I want him to sleep and not be distracted. This is an excellent project for a beginning seamstress. The only problem I had, was I put the straps in the wrong place, so mine was attached backwards, and I had to unpick it. But, if you were using just one piece of fabric, that wouldn't be a problem. Like I said... This is really a great project for someone who is just beginning to sew. The tutorial I listed above was great!
Good luck, and Happy Sewing!

UPDATE!!! I don't know why I didn't mention this when I originally made this post. Well, it was the middle of the night after feeding the baby. But... I wanted to tell all you out there who would rather just buy one of these... about my friend who has a store and sells car seat covers, neck ties, and hair clips. The Store is called Peanut Posh. She has kiosks in Utah Malls, and you can order on line as well. Check her store out. She has darling high quality things for boys and girls. Her car seat covers are super cute, and she has the rest of the car seat accessories to match!

Have a Happy and Creative Day!

Risa

I am linking!

DIY Home Sweet Home

Japanese Theme Birthday Party

My husband and I had decided our kids were only going to have birthday parties every other year. Last year, my daughter and twenty of her closest friends rode around in a limo for two hours. They felt like rock stars, and had a ton of fun with the girly music blasting. I thought I wasn't going to do a party for her this year, but it has occurred to me lately, that she is half way done with us (at least living with us)... give her nine more years, and she will be on her way to college. As long as she still wants a party, I am going to do it for her. Kids are only young once - right? We tossed around a few ideas for a theme, and came up with a Japanese theme. I scoured the internet for ideas, and let me tell you, they were few and far between! So, I had to come up with most of this stuff on my own. It turned out super cute!


I went to etsy, and found this shop called Art Cult that has the most darling printables. I decided to go from there.

Let's start with the invitation:

I created them in Piknic by Picasa. It was so easy, and the best part is it was free!

What Japanese party is complete without sushi? I knew the girls wouldn't want to eat raw fish, so I made dessert sushi! The tutorial is here.

This one is made of powder donuts, ju ju fish, and fruit by the foot.


This one is made of ho, ho's cut in thirds, and cut up pastel two tone gummy worms I got from Wal-mart in the specialty candy section.


I love this table, with the gift bags, and pink snow balls.

I am no Amy Atlas, but I gave it a shot. ;)

My mom bought the umbrellas at Hobby Lobby, and I used more printables to decorate the snow balls.

The bags are from the party section at Wal-mart. I punched a large hole in them, attached a tag from etsy, and closed them with tulle.

This fan was the inspiration for the colors. I got it at World Market.

Here is the other food table, complete with cherry blossoms.

Sobe's were on sale for $.50 each so I got each girl one, and replaced the wrapper with one of the cute printables I got from etsy.

Each girl got her own pair of chopsticks. I opted for the prettier ones, and spent a dollar or two more. I got them at an oriental market in Salt Lake City, UT. I put them in my second hand milk glass dish - one of my very favorites! In rice, which was my mom's idea, and very fitting.

After the girls got their chopsticks, we turned on music, and they sat in a circle, and tried to pick up marshmallows with the chopsticks.

As each girl won, she got to pick a necklace I made using the printables from etsy.



The way they won them, is whomever got the most marshmallows. They got better over time, and it was really fun.

Here is a close up:


My friend Lisa has a sister who lived in Japan for years, and she let us use some kimono's for the girls to try on. They loved it! Thank you Lisa! I will be sending a photo of each girl wearing a kimono out with thank you cards.

Next we did the thing I was the most excited about! Each girl got to pick her own kokeshi doll. I painted the heads in advance, and didn't attach the bodies. The girls got to choose the head she wanted, and paint the body however she wanted.


I have a talented friend who paints and sells dolls on etsy. I took some inspiration from her, and she gave me a few helpful tips. Thanks Tiffany! You can visit her etsy shop here.

Here are a couple of the finished dolls. If I have enough interest, I will post a tutorial on how I made the heads, and what I used.

*UPDATE!!! I have just posted the KOKESHI DOLL TUTORIAL Check it out!


After they dried, my husband screwed them together. Cute, right? I really liked the metallic paint. I also had intentions of spray varnishing them after they were put together, but I forgot.

Did I mention each girl had a paper crane that I folded in advance sitting at her place on the table? Ya, that took a while. We also folded fortune tellers out of real orgami paper.


In addition to the doll, this is what each girl got to take home.

One thing I did last minute, was to iron transfer some washi dolls onto a shirt for my daughter to wear to the party. I love this girl!

Please tell me what you think! I was so excited to share this with you!

Have a Happy and Creative Day!

Risa

I am linking!




Table Top Tuesday

Polly Want A Crafter

DIY Home Sweet Home








Crafty Chica

Kitchen Pics

I am joining a Kitchen Party at Love Stitched, and I decided to post pics of my kitchen. If I had it to do over again, I would do all white cabinets. I am crazy about them. They are so clean and fresh. I do like what I have, and picked them out when we built our house. They are maple wood, with a stain called salem, and a cocoa glaze. Here goes...

This is how the kitchen looked when I moved in:

I added a little greenery to the top, but didn't love it:

Then I decided to simplify, and paint the walls blue.
I like it, but am thinking I may be ready for a change :)

I love my sink topiary, that I made using topiary forms and pots from Tai Pan.

My goal this year is to keep the desk clean. So far, so good... My mom cleaned it off for me to get me going. Thanks mom!

I love the back splash. It matches the pattern on my pendants.

I trade out aprons very often. This one is from World Market. I LOVE that place!

Very Handy Canisters!
{Oats, Whole Wheat Flour, & Quinoa}

I like the ceramics above the cabinets, and I just got out my ruffle runner, as the weather is getting warmer, and it feels like spring! Did you notice I have two different colors of granite? I wanted a change, and I love the contrast. The island really picks up the back splash.

Hop on over to Love Stitched, for some kitchen inspiration!



Have a happy and creative day!

Risa