Reversible Brook-Lynn outfits -

Update:  made it through and need your votes: Project Run and Play
 So where should I start? By telling you about the clothes I made or about the lousy weather that totally destroyed my photo shoot? Let me complain about the weather first... we've had sunshine all week, nice warm weather and spring, and then today... this! Way too cold for the girls to be outside in tank tops. And being cold and generally miserable - they look a bit grumpy. I will try and get new pictures Thursday, and include those - smilier pictures, I hope... (I'm away for studies).
Update: I took new pictures today - still cold, but the weather is a lot better.

wearing mommy's shoes

Where's the ferry to New York?

What to do now?

 Now the clothes. My girls are twins, their father is from Brooklyn so we named the girls Brook and Lynn (Lyn means lightening in Norwegian, hence the double L) for their middle names. I took a picture of the Brooklyn bridge, cut it in half, wrote Brook on one side and Lynn on the other. This was my starting point for the outfits.

skirt one way

My, oh my?

  Brook wanted a tank top and skirt instead of a dress. Both the dress and the top and skirts are reversible - reversible is my favorite thing.

 I made them headbands and jackets. The black jacket is a peasant pattern, cut open in the front and held together with a ribbon.

 

 The reversed sides of the outfits - and the lopsided heart, intentionally - seriously!

 The purple jacket - the below picture was my inspiration, but then I discovered that Schwin and Schwin had almost the exact pattern, so I had to change it up a little - the girls really love ruffles so I added a ruffle at the bottom. Brook will get one in the same green color, it's cut and everything, just not sewn together - I broke three needles sewing the purple one...

 Loving the headbands...

 Brook tank

 Lynn dress, can you see the bridge?

 Reversed

 I just love the hems of this side of the skirt and dress - they look so cute on the girls.

This will be my audition outfits for Project Run and Play - now all I can do is cross my fingers I will make it to one of the two open slots.

Cowgirl party

 Yesterday my girls celebrated their 7th birthday with all the girls in their class - 13 girls total. Their actual birthday is today. We had a cowgirl themed party - with pancakes, hamburgers and meat sticks...

invitation

 I was away studying the first part of the week - and I hadn't finished their dresses, I took the sewing machine with me to the hotel... a little dedicated! This is how much I finished while away - a vest, two bandannas and half the dress.

 I decorated the table in red and white - polka dots and squares.

 Wrote names on the cups - for later use, I love the little glass decoration animals I foun - though not very cowgirlish...

 cupcakes!

 I decorated with buntings - four of them and red balloons.

 After food and sharing of presents we went outside to the backyard - (temperatures at freezing point, but sunny) - for shooting..

 gold panning (couldn't use water because of the temperature)

 lasso throwing

 horse shoe throwing

 and the icing on the cake - horseback riding! My cousin - seen in the picture - came with her horse, Mazing - and they got to ride around the backyard.

 All the girls got to take hobo sacks filled with candy and little things with them home.

I am such a blessed mother of these two beautiful girls - Arielle and Ariana - you make my day brighter, you make me laugh and you make my heart overflow with love! I thank God for you two every day - Happy birthday my beautiful, kind, funny, compassionate, smart - LOVING girls - 7 years old today!

Happy Dance

 I made it - I am in the finals - HAPPY DANCE!Though I am sad to see Jill go. And now I have to go back making my finals project.

I used the rest of the paint to paint a scenery - where the sky is always blue. The rope ladder is "fastened" to the branch.

The perfect place to chill and tell each other secrets.

And with all the pillows from the house and a blanket on top - no one will know their secrets.

Lot's of fun for hours, no matter what the weather is like.

I made it with my Cupcake Playstation

 This is the perfect kids-can-do-station - it's a game table, with lots of storage underneath, it's a cupcake bean bag that serves a multitude of fun things - it stores coloring books, reading books, it serves as a chair for the game table. It's the perfect play station.

 The cupcake bean bag has a wrapper - the wrapper has many pockets - to hold the things the kids like to play with. The bean bag can also be without the wrapper. The wrapper is made in an oil-cloth fabric and is easy to wipe. The bean bag is just a cover and can easily be taken off and thrown in the washing machine.

 I have been looking for a way to store the kids' board games - I don't like them in a pile on top of each other - this table has several shelves to store the board games and puzzles. On top of the table I've painted a tic-tac-toe cupcake game - and I've made wooden cupcakes as tic-tac-toe pieces. I put a curtain around the table - it makes everything look tidier.

 The cupcake bean bag is big enough to hold two-three kids, it's good for reading and playing.

A fun and inspirational activity station - for hours and hours of fun.

Clothes rack for children

Polls are now closed at So You think You're Crafty, and I can let you know which was my entry.

I saw a clothes rack tree in a magazine about a year ago, and I have wanted to make one ever since. This is my interpretation of a clothes rack tree. I included an owl and a squirrel since I intended the rack for children.

 Interior wise it is very trendy with the "natural" look, and what is more natural than bringing a tree into your house. The rack holds many clothes due to all the branches. I used decorating concrete in a basket and just put the tree into it. I love the basket - it can hold little things that doesn't go on the rack, like hats and gloves - or shades in the summer.

 I'm a little in love with my squirrel - he got just the look I was after.

 The owl is keeping watch. Both the squirrel and the owl are removable. The owl has a hole in the bottom, that way she is easy to stick on a branch.

 "Any acorns, anyone?"

The basket - room for hats and gloves.