I think I’m going to get kicked out of birthday breakfast duty because Ben totally knocked it out of the park for Glow’s 5th birthday. I was at the Michaels Makers Summit on her birthday, (we celebrated right before I left) and based on what Ben produced, I think he should be taking over blog duties.

Clearly, you can see that Glow very much loved her little spread. Of course, her favorite part was Yoda made from a pear. A PEAR! My man has skillz. Yes, with a z. I had no clue what he was going to do and when I got his text in the morning, I was in awe. He’ll never say it, but he is one creative dude, and with the busyness of life, I rarely get to see him exercise his creativity. Maybe I need to go on trips more often because clearly he can definitely do this Mr. Mom gig (it just may take him longer to get things done).

Our new five year old was quite a chipper gal with her stack of pancakes, fancy cereal, and Yoda.

How to make Yoda with a Bartlett pear:
With a paring knife, cut out the nose and reattach; carve a spaceholder to insert a “stem smile;” use dried black eyed peas for the eyes; and harvest the ears from another pear before inserting them into the head with toothpicks (we were out of toothpicks so used the ends of wooden skewers). Done.

I started making this linen jumpsuit at the end of July for a wedding, but I didn’t have time to finish it until a couple weeks ago. As a result, I never wore it to the wedding like I had planned (I wore this instead), though I was able to take it with me to the Michaels Makers Summit and wore it there. This is my first go at a jumpsuit and I’d like to make another, but with a couple tweaks on the sleeves. I used 5 pieces total, including the belt, and there are no zippers or buttons. I used this vintage jumpsuit and this denim one as a pattern guide. I made it where I could wear it without the belt, when I really want that loose look, or with the belt for more waist definition. In the pictures of me wearing it, it looks more blue, but the color is closer to the picture below.

Home sewn clothes are my favorite, along with thrifted ones, but I haven’t come across much at the thrift stores lately. I’ve thought about giving away all the girls’ clothes and working with them to sew a whole new wardrobe, but that’s probably not practical right now. Maybe as they start to outgrow things, we can sew all the new things, but they have so much that still fit them. True has really taken an interest in sewing and even sewed her own bag recently without any help from me. I’m sure she’d love a mini version of this jumpsuit as she loves to try dress like me (Soul does too).

During the Makers Summit, I was talking with Annabel about ways I could actually make patterns from the clothing I make and she had some pretty good suggestions. Some of you have asked for patterns in the past, and I’m not quite sure how to make that happen yet, but I am brainstorming ideas to see what can be done (not promising anything though).

on me: jumpsuit, homesewn. mule, rachel comey (but scored mine on ebay). birkin basket, space rocket store.

My littlest love turned five last week and we celebrated with a simple birthday party. Her requests were balloons, drawing party, and a scooter. Thus, it was a Friday night party in our bedroom. I made a poster and got an engineering print of it made at a local copy shop, picked up some multi-colored balloons from Michaels and taped them all around the bed (the packaging said nothing about mustache faces on them, but we rolled with it), and I made a little drawing book for her and her sisters. We had birthday cake, pizza, everyone drew in their little book, and we surprised her with a green scooter (green is her favorite color because of Yoda). Of course, her sisters had a bunch of homemade presents for her too.

Ever since last Easter, when we gave her this little drawing book, she has loved to draw. She will even tell you that that book is what got her to love drawing. I made my own version of it in Adobe Illustrator, and tried to imitate the style of the Bunny Doodle one, so she would make the connection. She was so giddy when we gave her the drawing book, and I made 3 more for her to give to her sisters too. They spent the evening drawing in that little doodle book and they are having fun with “32 Ways to Dress Glow.” I’ll share more of their drawings in the book soon.

We actually had the party a few days before her actual birthday because I was going to be out of town for the Michaels Makers Summit, but she was okay with it because she had two days to celebrate. Ben took all the girls out for an adventure on her birthday, and the breakfast he made for her was impressive (I’ll have to share soon!). I think Glow’s birthday dreams came true and this sweet celebration is exactly what our last five year old wanted. We love you Glow!

This week’s learned, links, and thankfulness…

I had a great time at this year’s Michaels Makers Summit. There’s so much to share from it, so stay tuned for a post coming soon.

Pinned this cute outfit, but especially love the unique basket bag.

If you’re wear an 8 in shoes, please get these vintage wooden heels.

I ordered Maryanne Moodie’s book, On the Loom: A Modern Weaver’s Guide, and can’t wait for it to come in.

Ben and I have been watching Fear the Walking Dead, and while it’s filling the current void of The Walking Dead, there aren’t any characters we really like.

Yes to “Find a Friend to Wound You.” It’s so hard, but so needed.

I’m in the mood to whip up pom poms to make a bag like this.

We are looking forward to a chill week and getting back into routine. Being gone last week, threw things off a little, so we have some making up to do.

This week’s learned, links, and thankfulness…

We are getting back into the swing of extra-curricular activities. The girls love piano and swim, and they want to take jui jitsu. Brave also wants to take some theatre classes.

I think this hanging basket would be cute above Soul’s bed.

This week went by so fast, and I’m thankful that I was able to catch up with some friends who I hadn’t seen in awhile.

“Four Ways to Win the Battle Against Busyness” is something I needed to read.

Love instagram shop PrelovedPQ; Naomi’s shop has so many pretty goods to ogle after.

I’m excited and thankful to see Soul and Glow’s reading progress. It’s not always easy, but it is a blessing to teach my children.

These handwoven picnic totes are stunning.

Thankful I got some sewing time in this week and my studio is clean again. Woot!

I’m honored to be one of the speakers for the Thrive Mom’s fall retreat. To learn more details, visit here.

Well, I’m off to this year’s Michaels Makers Summit in Carmel, so Ben will be holding down the fort for a few days. Last year’s was such a treat (see here), so I can’t wait to see all the workshops and things they have planned for this year.

Peruvian Tassels
inspired by gorgeous ones like these

Supplies:
Colorful skeins of yarn (this Isaac Mizrahi one had perfect fall colors)
8 1/2″ x 11″ card stock folded in half width-wise
Scissors
Plastic sewing needle

Directions:
1. To make the tassels, wrap yarn around the card stock about 50 times (for the larger tassels). Using a new strand of yarn, tie it at the top, and double knot to secure. With another new strand of yarn, wrap around tassel about 6 times (about 1″ down from the top), while pulling to make sure it is snug around. Tie a knot and bury the end inside the tassel. Trim tassel ends evenly. For the smaller tassels, I fold card stock in half again and only wrapped the yarn around about 25 times.

2. To make the braided yarn strand, cut 3- 80″ length strands of yarn (I used three different colors). Fold in half and knot the center, and continue braiding the entire length of the yarn. Using a plastic needle, insert the open end of the braided yarn though the center top of each tassel. String each tassel onto the braided yarn, knot the end of the braided yarn, pull the last tassel down to cover the knot, and trim tassel ends evenly. Spread out the rest of the tassels on the braided yarn.

I wanted add some fall color into our home decor and did so with these Peruvian inspired tassels. This skein of yarn had perfect fall colors, so I thought it would make lovely, colorful, fall tassels. I think a bunch of these hanging tassels would make a pretty backdrop for a party table; they also look fun hanging from a dowel like this.

This post is part of the Michaels Makers series. This project is the beginning of some other autumn inspired crafts. What do you plan to make this new season?

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