Tutu Cute

Every little girl loves a big twirly skirt and what better way to give her that than with a tutu? So while Grandma & Aunti were visiting, we made three of them (pink, lt green & orange) for my little ballerina. I still have the materials for 3 more but we'll see how long it takes to finish them. Not only are they fun on their own as skirts, but they also give lift to every dress she owns so now she wears them virtually every day. What follows here is how to make them - no pattern and minimal cutting necessary.Measure your child's waist (mine's was 20"). You will need some fake flower petals, thread and 1.5 times the waist length (so I used about a yard) of each of the following: - toole (double this) - sheer - ribbon - soft flannel - 1" non-roll elastic (only waist length necessary, not 1.5X, so I used 20")

1) put a finished edge on 3 sides of the flannel (I used my serger on a regular stitch).
2) put a finished edge on opposite sides of the sheer (I used my serger and did a rolled hem).
3) layer the salvage edges of the folded over toole on top of the flannel, leaving about 2" of flannel for the waist. You should now have 5 layers (4 toole + 1 flannel) of salvage edges together.
4) layer the sheer on top of the toole, again with one of the two salvage edges at the waist.
5) fold over the flannel to make a waistband including all 4 layers of toole and the layer of sheer.
NOTE: We didn't really use a yard of the flannel, it was a straight skirt (20") so we had to gather the sheer & toole separately. This does two things, makes the waistband less bulky but it also adds difficulty and time to the process.

6) pin & sew the flannel to the toole & sheer into the flannel waistband.
7) insert the elastic into the waistband (thus gathering the layers) and sew shut.
NOTE: if you sew shut the back seam then the skirt won't twirl out/up as well. Since you've roll hemmed the sheer it will still look finished. I sewed shut the flannel at this point so she could wear it on it's own without shorts under it, but you don't have to.

8) fold up the sheer and sew it to itself using the ribbon to hide the hem (mine were about 4").
NOTE: you want the sheer to be the longest of the layers.

9) fill the sheer hem with the fake flower petals, making sure the spread them out evenly then sew shut.
10) give it to your little ballerina and watch her test out it's twirl-ability.

Here's a diagram of the layers for your reference. Blue is flannel, red is sheer, black is toole, purple is ribbon, green is where to sew layers together and yellow is elastic.

My Brave Little Man

This Sunday was my little man's first Easter egg hunt. His sister was gone with Nana & Grandpa to Disney on Ice for her birthday and Daddy doesn't "do" Easter egg hunts he says, so it was just the two of us. A friend of ours invited us to join her and her daughter to the event that was hosted by her church. There was a volleyball game, tug-o-war, face painting, a bounce house, and the ever popular egg hunt. The hunt was definitely the highlight of his day. It didn't take long to figure out that there was candy in them-there eggs and has since spent every day disassembling the plastic decorative eggs laid out around our house in the hopes of finding more candy. He sure is a persistent little one.
The highlight of the day for me was not the hunt however, but the introduction of the Easter Bunny himself. At first, this 7 foot animal was quite daunting to my 1.75-year-old. He was inquisitive though and was soon following Mr. Bunny everywhere (keeping a safe distance). Eventually, with some coaxing from mom, the two became acquainted long enough for me to snap a quick photo. You'll note however, that the trust was not entirely there as my brave little man was NOT willing to take his eyes off of the suspicious rabbit.

The Derby

We spent last Saturday at the Santa Anita Derby. The weather was beautiful and my hubby was lucky so both those things combined make for a pretty great day. The four of us set up chairs in front of the jumbotron, right by the finish line. Early on, my lucky other half hit a $1 bet to win $120 and the day pretty much followed suit. I lost about $20 but he more than made up for it with his winnings. There aren't many activities where you can go have so much fun and wind up making money on the deal are there?

I was not born for DDR

There are two kinds of people in this world:
-Those born to win at "Dance Dance Revolution"
-Those who are not
I learned recently when the hurdlers joined us for pizza and introduced me to the game that I fall into the latter category. Not only were they all much more agile than I was at this endeavor, but they made it look easy. Whereas each athlete could last for several minutes and in many cases, several rounds, I only lasted several steps. All this time I thought I had some kind of rhythmic abilities and yet now I picture myself more on the same level as Elaine from Seinfeld (a show which most of my hurdlers probably have never seen - sigh). Oh well, I am consoling myself in the assumption that they have nothing better to do with their time than go home and practice this game until their feet are calloused and have sweated through their shirts. Sour grapes maybe, but it's all I've got.

A WILD Birthday

Our little girl recently turned 3 (I am still in denial) and she requested a wild animal birthday party, probably because of our recent annual zoo membership. So we loaded up on the jungle animals, ordered a giraffe bounce-house and bought a monkey pinata. The day was beautiful and everyone seemed to have a good time. In contrast to our past 75 person "all family & friends" parties, this one was just for immediate family and a few friends. Both party types have their benefits, but this one turned out very nicely.