The Most Important One

I did get one thing from my project pile done before Tracy left... I finished her dress! You know, the one I started in December...

So this is how it turned out. Not the best pictures in the world... just taken with my point and shoot out back in my weedy yard. Of course, I had a lovely model so she did her part. If only I were a better photographer...


Here is a shot of the lace hem. I love the way it turned out.


A few more details...

Happy late late late birthday, Tracy!

P.S. Doesn't she look fantastic???

Inspiration Comes to Town

Tracy, whom I recently referred to as my inspiration, came to visit this past weekend. I said I would get 10 things done from my project pile before she came.... unfortunately that didn't end up happening. I did a few things, but I didn't even like the way they turned out, so I didn't post about them. Also my brother and his wife came to visit right before Tracy did, so I was busy with them and didn't have as much time as I thought I would to work on projects. Anyhoo, I had a fun time with Chad and Clara working out at my gym and looking at model homes and eating at Cornish Pastys and chatting. I also more recently had fun with Tracy being crafty and cooking and going to Joe's Farmhouse and the Wizard of Oz and window shopping and getting pedicures and talking.

While Tracy was here, we made necklaces and headbands. The necklaces were replicas from the J. Crew store and the headbands were an idea we saw at Designer Blvd. (among other places). She also made lemon cake that was to die for! If you want to see the recipe or a semi-tutorial of the headbands complete with gross pictures of me, head on over to her blog.

I guess I am in charge of the necklace tutorial, but I don't feel like going in to detail. Mostly because we just made it up as we went along, and because they were sort of fragile in the end. I wore mine to church and Gwen almost tore it apart. Anyway, if you want to make it you need strips of chiffon fabric, large glass pearls, a few large black jet beads and string.

We used black thread and strung all of our beads first. We knotted the thread so that the beads would stay about a thumbprint's width apart. Then it was time to lie them down on our long strip of chiffon.
We kind of wrapped the beads in the chiffon and then used other smaller strips of the same material and tied knots in between the beads. I tied the knots twice so that they wouldn't fall apart, and I tied them quite tight.
We left enough room at the end of our chiffon strips to tie a bow. They ended up looking pretty good, but like I said they were kind of fragile. If I were to do it again, I think I would wrap the beads in two long strips of chiffon instead of one, and I would knot those two together in between each bead.

Pileup

So, I have a bunch of projects that are almost done. I guess I'm one of those people. You know, the kind that start things that they never finish. Well, I'm going to try to change that. I'll finish the "almost finished" things from my project pile, and I will report. Since my sister Tracy is my inspiration (she does something awesome like everyday) I will try to get 10 things done by the time she comes to visit on the 24th. (Yay!!)

Side note: I've also become one of those moms. You know, the kind that ignore their children in favor of something stupid and inconsequential. I used to be APPALLED by mothers who were watching TV, and who's kids would come up and beg for some attention. "Will you read to me Mommy? Can you play with me Mommy? Will you LOOK at me Mommy?" All the while the Mother was staring at the latest dumb reality TV show saying "Go away. Not now. Can't you see that fat guy is trying to get naked girl off the island??" I hated that those Mommy's were messing up their own reality in favor of some stupid alternate reality. But now that is me. I get tired of playing with, feeding, and caring for my kids all the time so I turn to the computer many times a day while my kids just have to deal. Do you know how many cute blogs there are out there? Anyway, those cute mommy blogs are not my reality, so I've decided that I will only do this while my kids are asleep or otherwise engaged. If they need me, the computer gets put away!!

In fact... I hear Asher waking up now. Good bye computer!

For the record

A few things about my girl:

• Her feet are still so tiny. The only socks that will stay on her feet are the skinny infant kind.
• She is the happiest kid ever. She may cry when she wakes up, but she gives you the hugest smile right when you walk in the room. And sometimes she doesn't even cry when she wakes up.
• She doesn't have a lot of hair, but her eyelashes are to die for! They are light though, so they are hard to see... but you just wait until she is old enough for mascara. (16, right?)
• She is 30th percentile for weight and 75th for height, so you would think she would look skinny. She doesn't. She is chub-a-licious.
• She loves her brother. Sometimes if she is fussing a little bit, Asher comes over and says "Shh. Momma's gotchu, momma's gotchu." He also randomly pats her head and says "Sweet Baby Gwenners!"
• She's not so good at rolling from tummy to back. She has done it, but she usually just makes noise until you help her back onto her backside.
• No scooting yet. And no sitting. She can support her weight just fine, but she doesn't have balancing down.
• She likes to chew on her foot right now.

We all love her in this house. I can't believe she is already almost 7 months old. It is amazing how time flies.