Gwenny as Belle take 2

Whoops - apparently Belle wears a white apron on the front of her dress.

Gwenny as Belle

This morning Gwenny decided that I should make her three Belle dresses. We started with the simplest one from the beginning of the Disney movie. I had an old Alice in Wonderland costume that I had made for myself in the closet so I modified it for Gwenny and made a hair bow (Gwenny was quite insistent on that detail) with the excess fabric. She thought it would be a great idea to read a book about Belle whille I took pictures of her.

So now the question is: am I *really* going to make the yellow ball gown next?

Candy Apples

Gwenny has been begging me to make candy apples all winter. She got the idea from a MAx and Ruby episode. I don't even like candy apples, but they seemed easy enough once I read the recipe. I followed the directions precisely, getting the candy up to a whopping 300 degrees F and consequently these babies are hard enough to break your teeth. They did look pretty though! Rich was the only one who was able to eat it straight off the stick. The rest of us had to cut through the apple (which shattered the candy of course) and eat in in pieces. If we ever make these again, perhaps we'll take the candy off the heat at 250 F.

Clean up was another fun matter. I thougth I was going to have to toss the pot but after soaking it in hot water and then boiling the hot water and stuck candy in the pot Richard was able to dump it out clean in the empty lot next door. We were too scared to pour it down the drain.

Pettiskirt for Gwenny

This week I made a pettiskirt and coordinating shirt, leggings, and headband for Gwenny. As you can see, she is quite pleased. It is comically fluffy and uber-girly. I found the instructions on Martha Stewart http://tinyurl.com/Martha-pettiskirt and here http://sewmamasew.com/forum/index.php?topic=242.0 reply #2. I looked in two stores for the nylon chiffon that is required but apparently you can only find it online. I got mine here: http://tinyurl.com/pettiskirt-fabric.

Valentine's Day Treats

These are the various treats that I'm offering for my Valentine's Day treat night.

Holiday Gifts for the Teachers

I put together some little holiday gifts for Rich's teachers. Here is the candle from Bath & Body Works that I decorated using my new scallop border punch. Lurve it!

I embossed the stamp and sentiment on the front in gold and tied on a small jingle bell.

Here's the bag with the candle and treat sack together. I added a Holiday Greetings tag and tied a bigger jingle bell on it.

Here are the treat sacks. I just got this quote stamp in a hostess set and thought it was fitting to stamp on a teacher's gift, since they give so much of themselves. It says, "The greatest gift is a portion of thyself. - Ralph Waldo Emmerson" I made a half dozen for the office staff and one to go in each teacher bag.

I stayed up way too late last night making these, but today was the last full day of school so I had to get them off to school with Rich. Oh well, it was fun and I thought they turned out well.

Gwenny's Lamp

I finished this a few weeks ago but am finally uploading it now. I got the idea from a lamp at Pottery Barn Kids. I ended up using 11 dozen roses on it and insane amounts of hot glue. I got the lamp base at Target. She loves it and it looks really elegant and grownup in her room. Hopefully she'll like it for years to come. She has already managed to knock it off her dresser and it has survived intact, so I guess the construction is reasonably sturdy. :)

Yo ho ho!

The kids were invited to a 3year old's pirate themed birthday party. It was adorable! They each brought a sword/dagger and a sheath/belt but quickly discarded them to play on the playscape. They loved the pirate pinata, the pirate temporary tatoos, bandanas, cake, balloons, etc.

I made a pirate themed card to go with the present and thought it turned out pretty cute. I used my new Movers and Shapers die cut with my Big Shot machine and added some glitter and a pearl to make it a girly pirate card. Arrrrr!

Sick, sick, sick

Yesterday I had the worst of the cold and it looks like Gwenny's is ramping up today. I think she'll be worse tomorrow, just in time for A Day Out with Thomas. Sigh. I'm not sure what we're going to do about that yet. This afternoon we're going to have to miss a friend's birthday party, but Gwenny is taking it well. She's delighted with the proclamation that she is sick, since she doesn't feel anything more than a cough and a slightly sore throat yet. Little does she know what is to come. :( Maybe Gwenny won't get it as bad as I did and will make a full recovery by tomorrow morning? One can hope!

My father-in-law had one surgery yesterday which went as well as we could have hoped and has another one late next week. Hopefully the results from this morning's surgery will be as positive as we think when we get them back early next week.