Teardrop Trailer - Done!

Sorry, I didn't realize that the thread showing Dustin's progress was no longer working...but it's done and is looking good!

This picture was taken before the windows were inserted.

He had the hatch made by an upholstery shop that makes custom boat and truck covers.  It rolls up, has zippers on each side and snaps down the bottom.

Pine Cone Wreath

Mom has been making these for years and she's always gotten lots of compliments; however,

As a kid, I didn't really get the rave that these caused...it's brown and pokey :)

However, as an adult that loves Fall...it's kind of Awesome!

So my Mom kindly volunteered to pass down this craft that she has perfected!

Straw Wreath from Hobby Lobby (Reg. Price $4.99, with 40% off coupon, $2.99)  I got the biggest one they had. You also need to collect many different types of pine cones and acorns. Which Mom had already done for me. The pine cones below came from Mom & Dad's yard, a church yard, and Iowa.  

We twisted a wire hanger around the straw wreath.  We lovingly refer to the wire hangers as "Mommie Dearest Hangers" from the movie.  We also dislike wire hangers for hanging clothes, but...for cleaning hair out of a drain, and crafts, they are worth keeping around!

We used the medium sized pine cones for the inside and outside of the wreath. Then glued them down with the hot glue gun.

The longer pine cones were placed angled around and then glued down

The small pine cones were used to fill in the gaps.  Added acorns, bittersweet and a bow.  Sprayed it with Krylon Clear Coat for protection.

As soon as I got it home, I hung it on the door!  I think it looks pretty great, Dustin and the girls liked it too!  If you don't have any trees that produce pine cones, you probably know someone who does.  I've found that pine cone people tend to be pretty generous with their pine cones. Either because they appreciate people who appreciate their pine cones, or having someone else bend over to pick them all up is worth parting with them :)

The girls used this time to entertain Grandpa, and make Christmas ornaments. 

Sadie made the Santa Claus, & Felicity made the chrysanthemum. 

Hailee's would have a scarf!  

Notice Aubree doesn't have an ornament to show off, she was visiting her boyfriend instead of crafting with us. 

Sadie's colorful Frosty.

These are some crafty girls!

Taggy Blanket for a Boy

Blanket for my Adorable Nephew:

Needs to be:

Manly but Cute

Taggy-like for Chewing

Big Enough for Peek-a-Boo

Needs to Not be:

Girly-or Colors that could be interpreted as Girly

Small Enough to be used for the Drop Game

Orange fleece-doubled. Used hula-hoop for circle pattern. 

 Sit-n-spin used for circles on basketball.  Yes, it's going to look like a basketball.  Manly-check!

 Here's the pattern that I sewed over (sewing the two pieces together).  I used a zig-zag stitch, and a 1.8 for the closeness (or close together, if you don't have that type of machine).

 Only a year ago, and Sadie looks so young here.  She didn't understand why her sit-n-spin was on the material, but might as well play on it since it's there, right?

I used boy-like ribbon for the taggies, like puppy paw prints, baseball, etc. Taggy-like to Chew On-Check! I used black felt for the letters.  I obviously didn't have any sort of stencil for the lettering...just kidding, I did, G's are difficult to cut. 

  

Big Enough for Peek-a-Boo-Check

Cute-Check, Check, and Check!

Make a Quick Corsage

One week and two days before Sadie needed a corsage for the Wee Queen Contest, I went to Hobby Lobby and got the supplies: purple rose, corsage wrist "base" (I bought it, you could make it using Velcro or elastic), corsage accessories (babies breath, ribbon, charm, etc.), glue sticks, glue gun.

Do not try this at home, lol, I got real lucky with my purples.  It's a tough color to match up.  Lucky for me, the only purple roses Hobby Lobby had...matched perfect *deep sigh* take the dress with you, People!!

One day before Sadie needed a corsage, and I haven't started yet:



















Dustin: Well, I can see what you will be doing today.
Me: (Says nothing...just kidding) What do you mean by that?
Dustin: (points at flower stuff) that, you're going to be doing that all day.
Me: 15 minutes or less-Set the timer.
Dustin: *smug look*
Me: *look of determination and setting the timer*

Ready, Aim, Firing up the glue gun!

Pulled off three free leaves (as in loose, and as in, I was buying the rose, not the leaves) from the rose. Glued them on base of the corsage.  This "base" was cardboard with lace sewn on it and a Velcro strap.

I hot glue the rose on top.

I glued a matching corsage "charm" (for lack of a better word) it was in the corsage aisle, one aisle from the wedding stuff.

I looped and glued some matching ribbon

You can see that I weaved wire around the corsage to keep it in place.

Almost done, but so are my 15 minutes.  Felicity "secretly" added 2 more minutes.

Completed with a bow!  Until...oops, I glued it sideways and decided I didn't like the lace.
I stared in disbelief until the buzzer went off.
I pulled off the lace, twisted the flower, added two more bows, and reglued.  This took an extra 2 minutes. Still under 20 minutes...not all day ;)

A blurry picture of Sadie wearing the corsage.

She didn't win :( but she had so much fun being on stage!  She was waving at her sisters and everyone she knew. She was jumping up and down while waving! After the crowning, they took all of the non-winners off the stage.  Her Daddy and I went over to get her and the first thing she said was, "So, when do we find out who gets the crown?"  She hadn't even noticed that another little girl had already been crowned.  Of course she will always be our little princess!

We ordered her dress online from lidldollys.com 

When Aubree was two (15 years ago) she was in the local baby show and she had a dress that looked exactly like this and it was $60.  Another little girl had on a white version of the same dress with little pink bows all over it.  Her mom had ordered it from lidldollys catalog for $25.  She said that her little girl has worn the same dress several times by switching the little bows to a different color (safety pinned on).  This woman is a genius!  

So 15 years later, now that we have the www, I thought, I wonder if that lidldolly place is on the web.  It is!  Sadie's dress was $34 (size 4) but a size 2 was still $29!  Not much of a price increase and made in the U.S.A :)

Disney Trip 2013

Disney Trip~

My attempt to create a youtube slideshow failed. I just couldn't resist adding the Disney Music to the background, it kind of made the slideshow, but unfortunately youtube doesn't like it when you "borrow" music, even if it really "makes" the slideshow. So, here are the pics instead:

This was her 5th time (since birth) on an airplane and she's acting like a seasoned traveler!  (before birth: Dallas, Chicago, LA, Hartford, San Antonio, and Phoenix)  

I wish I would have looked at this picture (on the plane and realized that she was starting to look a little ill).  During the descend she began throwing up. :( Then I realized, this isn't the first time she's thrown up on a plane...but thankfully I had toothpaste, a toothbrush, hand sanitizer, lotion and perfume.  What I didn't realize is that when Disney is nice enough to take your bags directly to your room, it means you won't see a change of clothes for the next 5 hours.

Here are our first day outfits, I made Sadie's outfit using a Jr. That's a Bowl from Tupperware as the waist-size for the skirt and the measurement of 9 inches for the length.  Minnie's head was made of felt using 2 lids for the pattern. My Minnie head pattern was a mason jar ring and salt shaker for the ears :) My shorts were $2 thrift store shorts that I added the Mickey Mouse ribbon to.

It was raining when we got there, so she played in the arcade, which she loved!

We went to Ragland Road in Downtown Disney for Supper. We reserved seats online ahead of time so that we could see the show.  The Shepard's Pie was delicious (I've tried to recreate it at home now several times).

They will let all the kids that want to, go up on stage and dance with them, Sadie was too scared.

Lego-time, so many Lego statues to be inspired by!

2nd Day~Magic Kingdom

This is her Cinderella outfit I made for her, the sheer material was $1 a yard!  Everyone is scared of sheer material, but you don't have to be.  I cut the same circle-type skirt as the Minnie outfit, but this time I made 4 skirts the same shape and size.  I sewed together the bottoms of two and turned them inside out.  Then I sewed the two waists together (4 pieces-2 bottoms sewn together makes 2 pieces) and turned them inside out.  Finally sewed the sequins elastic on.  I try not to do anything that will encourage fraying!!

My heart is melting!  So precious!

She was so excited to see Cinderella, she ran to her!

It's a Small World, a classic!

Under the Sea (this was new) and it was awesome!

Playing while waiting for the Dumbo ride...one of the best "lines" ever!

Teacups-another classic

Road Rage :)

Another fun "line" to wait in, the Hunny Pots, she is "writing" with honey here.

"Brave" and Sadie

She was very sweet, I had to pull Sadie away from her.  We had waited in line for 2 1/2 hours to see her, but once we got in, she listen to Sadie for the longest time.  Merida now knows about Sadie's sisters, the movie Brave, Sadie asked if she knew Arial and does she see her sometimes and on and on, lol!  Then she had an archery lesson.

We watched the parade

She picked out Minnie Ears

Day 3~Sleeping Beauty Outfit

Skirt made from the bottom of my transformed velvet Christmas dress.  The sleeves to the shirt, table cloth scraps from our wedding.  

Today was a day of swimming and relaxing before heading home.

One of us was very relaxed :)

Here a few tips we can pass along:

They don’t advertise this, but you can’t get into the Beast’s Castle unless you have lunch/dinner reservations, I've been told you don't have to have reservations for lunch, but the line was insane (it’s not a castle you can just wander in and look around in, but they don’t tell you that ahead of time).

The fast passes are essential and they are not usually located by the ride.  If two fast pass machines are side by side, you can’t have an active fast pass for both of those rides, only one.

The Lilo and Stitch alien “ride” isn’t really a ride and it really scared Sadie, it gets pitch black and seemed a little too life like for her.  These "braces" automatically come down over your head (which is why there is a height limit).  Sadie was tall enough but she was scared because of the darkness and wouldn't hold still while the brace was coming down on her.  I was seriously worried about the thing breaking her neck!

All Disney properties have a movie each night (outside) and pool-side activities during the day.  You can go to Camp Wilderness for smores with Chip N Dale, which starts at 7:00 pm, but they will cancel for rain.  If you are relying on the bus to take you though, going from one resort to another can take an hour or more, no kidding!

Ragland Road, the Irish Pub in Downtown Disney has Irish River Dancers and they will take any little girls from the audience up on stage with them and teach them a dance…it’s very cute!

If your little girl wears a tiara to Magic Kingdom, she will be called, "Princess, Your Highness" and will be bowed and curtsied to.  Sadie absolutely LOVED being bowed and curtsied to...imagine that :)

Animal Kingdom Resort has zebras, giraffes and other exotic animals that you can admire on the observation deck and it's free.  You could also eat at Sanaa and watch the animals while you eat.  It is delicious!