To a Healthy New Year

I hope some of you may be reading this on a new computer, or Ipad or in some comfy new jammies, or like me with a tummy full of stocking yummies! I prepared out neighbor gifts yesterday and ended up having this for lunch:

Just looking at it now makes me sort of nauseous ha! But you know how it is, cookie for the plate cookie for me, brownie for the plate brownie for me, mini cheese cake for plate 2 for me.  Uh oh totally thirsty better grab a drink. I only had seven plates to make but I think I ate my weight in junk. I went the cookie plate route this year. I didn't have it in me to do anything bigger. But I figure the personalized cookies made up for the creative void:

We then totally spaced doing cookies for Santa... so he got a plate that was meant to go to a family who went out of town. "Yeah kids Igoe Family is code for Santa Clause" ha! Did any of you have any funny holiday mess ups? Hopefully just enough that you get to laugh about them and the rest of the time was seamlessly perfect!

Twelfth Day of Christmas: Bali Drum giveaway {Closed}

Alright, I cannot for the life of me figure out google docs (and thank heavens it seems like I am not the only one) So I have gone back to Media Fire... not a huge fan but unless I start taking advertisers it is the only free option :) So, the patterns for the Lady's Apron can be found HERE and the pattern pieces for the Tea and Crumpets apron can be found HERE. I am in the process of uploading the Potterybarn PJ's but our internet is soooo painfully slow and they are a lot of pieces, but it will get there! I am sorry for all the hassle and I am hoping this solves the problem. Please keep in mind that I am a mommy of 3 at christmas who is doing all this for the love of it so please be kind in your emails. 

I decided instead of making homemade drums (which is not all that original) instead I would do a fun give away, a pair of handmade drums from Bali. 

The artwork on the bottom is beautiful and I love that the imperfections make it one of a kind

The tops are smooth leather:

If you leave a comment on this post you will be entered into the drawing. The giveaway will be open until Monday night Timor time. I have really enjoyed doing this 12 days of Christmas and am looking forward to doing a wrap up. But that is going to have to wait until after Christmas. I hope you have been able to enjoy all the wonderful opportunities the Christmas season offers. We were lucky enough to go to our Orphanage yesterday and deliver the food purchased with the money gathered from a fund raiser at the boy's school. 

We were accompanied by a visitor at post who is here for Christmas. It was a special visit for her as she was adopted from an orphanage in Indonesia when she was a baby. 

I brought some items I had received from readers that I thought could be used by the children. Including a cute Hello Kitty backpack, some soccer balls and a teddy bear for each child. 

I also had some Frisbees that was hilarious to teach the kiddos how to use. After frisbee we played a little duck duck goose

The kids caught on quick and had fun running around

Then we moved on to London Bridges. 

The kids thought it was hilarious to be "all locked up"

I was thrilled that Alianza was wearing one of the skirts I had made

Doesn't she have the best smile?

The kids loved the candy canes and cookies our visitor brought

After we got them all wired on candy cookies and games they performed "We Wish you a Merry Christmas" in Tetum. 

We sang it back in English and then the girls performed their version of Jingle Bell Rock

They have started keeping a log of when people come to visit and it was great seeing all the different countries

They were all set with a Christmas tree and a huge creche. 

We are so lucky to visit with these amazing children around this time of year. Their tender spirits and kindness are wonderful examples of how we should be 

I hope your Christmas is as filled with love and happiness as ours in Timor has been. 

We wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from Timor!

Eleventh Day of Christmas: Piping, of the frosting kind

Sorry this post is so late but I have a great excuse...pictures to come with the last post :)

Before I was an avid sewer and photographer my dream was to open a cupcake store in my beloved Williamsburg VA. It is still a dream I hold onto and I cross my fingers that it will come to fruition when we retire. We are currently building a home there so that has got to be one step in that direction right? :) Anyway, I LOVE making cupcakes and if I do say so myself I am pretty good at it. What I am NOT good at is decorating them. I am awful at piping anything. With 11 pipers piping I thought instead of doing a tutorial (since I am awful at it) I would gorge my eyes on the amazing holiday piping ability of others and share some of the piping inspiration with you!
                                                                    (google images)

I have never ever been able to get fondant to taste good AND look good. It seems like it is one or the other, and how cute is that striped hat?!

Can't you just imagine diving into all that puffed, piped goodness? This is from one of my fav blogs House of Brinson. Gorgeous photography of food and other random items :)

How cute are these! Of course they are from Martha. I would LOVE to sneak into her prep kitchens one day and just hide in a corner and watch, they should sell tickets for that :)

(google images)

I thought these christmas trees were so stinkin cute! It has got to take a steady wrist to get these right. 

I just LOVE turquoise and orange so when I saw these at Saint Cupcakes I just about wet my knickers. How do you do a HUGE dollop like that?

Okay so this one isn't piped but it is just soooo cute! It is from my fav party blog 

One Charming Party. This site has exploded since Nicole Hill Gerulet started doing the photography. Nicole's was the first photography workshop I ever attended so I love seeing her work here :) You can download the little North Pole sign on the post HERE. I think it is a great way to use up all those mini candy canes you have lying around. 

Finally I had to include at least one of the amazing gingerbread houses I am seeing everywhere:

 This one is from the always fabulous Whipperberry. These ladies are amazingly talented. Plus how cool is that cake stand, I mean seriously wow. The details are out of control on this house. Look at the little bunting and the tiny birds on top of the trees!
Now that I am inspired I am going to go embarrass myself in the kitchen :) If you know of a great piping set that might turn my meager skills into mad skills I would love a link! I hope you all can settle in with a "piping" hot coco and enjoy your evening!!

Tenth Day of Christmas: Lords a Leaping Slippers

When I thought about "Lords a Leaping" I thought about teaching how to take good pictures of kids jumping. This is a pretty hard thing to do but when you do it right they turn out soooo cute. But um, honestly I don't think I would do a good job teaching it. So, the second thing I thought of was ballet shoes. When I think of leaping I think Ballet. I decided to make a knock off of my favorite shoes of Evies from the GAP that have a HUGE rhinestone on the toe and an elastic back. I wanted mine to be soft and more like slippers so she could wear them toddling around the house and her feeties wouldn't get cold on the tile floors.

You could do this in some super cute patterns. I really wanted a pair to go with this outfit though so yellow and green it was

I wish I had access to some suede or soft leather for the soles. I would totally suggest using some to make them a little sturdier and better for outside

These are loosely (very loosley) based on Heather Bailey's Bitty booties. These are a snap to make and I love that they take very little items to make. All you need is some scrap fabric (one for main one for lining), some felt, some bias tape and a tiny bit of elastic. The pattern can be downloaded HERE. Once you have downloaded your pattern and cut out the fabric accordingly we will start with the toes. We are going to be making a lot of fabric sandwiches. For the toe lay down one toe lining piece, one felt piece and then your main piece. Once you have sandwiched them together pin them in place.

Once you have the layers pinned grab a small length of bias tape and pin it around the top of the toe. I left a little bit without it at the end to make sewing easier.

Once you are all pinned sew the bias tape into place making sure to catch all the layers. Once you are done now is a good time to attach any embellishments while the toe is still easy to work with.

Now repeat with your second "toe" piece. Once are done set these aside and we will work on our heel. Again sandwich your lining, your felt and your main fabric. Then with the shorter slant to the top we are going to pin some more bias tape across the top.

Again sew it in place. Once you are done take your small piece of elastic and feed it through the pocket of the bias tape.

When you are done pin trim any extra elastic and pin the two ends into place. Sew across both ends to keep the elastic in place.

Repeat the process with your second heel piece. When done take your two heel pieces and your two toe pieces and we are going to connect them. Pin both ends of the toe right sides together with the two ends of the heel:

This might be a better pic:

Now sew down each end back and forthing at both ends. Repeat with your second set of toe and heel pieces. Once done we need to connect the top of the shoe to the bottom. I decided to take the lining of my shoe and cut it down a bit. This way I could slip it in after I sewed everything else and it would cover the seams. You can do this or you an include the lining piece in your fabric sandwich, either way works. What ever you decided once again stack your fabric up. Once you are done find the middle of your bottom and the middle of your top and match them up then pin all the way around. I would NOT advise pinning the way that I did. I was sticking myself the whole time I don't know what I was thinking.

Once you are all pinned sew all the way around.

Turn the shoe right side out, repeat with the slipper and you are done!!

Total chinche right? I hope to see lots of your cuties leaping around in them!

Ninth Day of Christmas: 9 Ladies Dancing Tutu

{The Lady's Apron pattern is now available!! Follow the link in THIS tutorial, sorry for the delay}

I knew I had to make something for Evie to dance around in for the 9th day of Christmas and while I know it is 100% unoriginal I thought it would be fun to do a no-sew tutu. I think every mom should know how to make these tutu's. They are crazy easy and almost as cheap as they are easy (seriously, nice tulle is like 99 cents a yard!I use the very fine tulle so they are not itchy) Throw in the fact that you don't have to sew to make them and every girl who wants should have a closet full of tutus! I was worried Evie would try to rip hers off and be annoyed by it (truthfully she is a bit young for dress ups although she wears Superman on a regular basis) but she loved it. We tried to get video to share of her dancing and attempting to jump around the house.

I love the romantic and sophisticated color pallet. I am sure once she can talk she will demand an electric pink and bright purple one, which I am fine with, but for now I get to choose :) My girly friend in Jakarta was kind enough to stand there while the fabric store guy pulled down tons of tulle for us to try and match up and there was just something about this mustard yellow and deep turquoise I liked together, and I love how it looks when she runs:

These easy to make tutus are perfect for photoshoots. In my favorite session EVER my gorgeous subject Mallory was wearing one I threw together the night before:

But if more vibrant and less muted colors are your style and you want it over the top fluffy you can always go that route:

That is what is so great about them, you have complete control! Alright enough gushing about them and lets learn how to make them.
What you will need:
As much tulle as you like to make your tutu your desired level of fluffiness. I used 1 meter of each color and generally try to stick to the rule of 3 and use 3 colors.
A length of wide elastic that will fit comfortably around your dancers belly
Ribbon to hot glue or sew to the ends of the elastic
Any sort of embellishment if you choose.

Once you have all your items together you are going to fold your tulle in the way easiest to cut 2 inch strips. The length of the strips depends on how tall your munchkin is and how dramatic you want the tutu to be. Remember the longer it is the more toile you will need. Be careful and think about this in advance otherwise you will run out of toile and the store won't be open before your shoot and you will end up with something HILARIOUS like this:

We just HAD to get a shot of that at the end it was to funny. ANYWAY.....
I cut mine all up and then put them in 3 piles:

This makes them easy to grab one after the other. I then picked up my length of elastic and my ribbon (which should be cut into 2 pieces).

Now I sewed this part but you can just as easily hot glue... actually it would probably be easier. Anywho, I pinned the ribbon to the end of the elastic and sewed it on.

I then repeated the process on the other side. Now it is time to start attaching the tulle. Decided what pattern you want and if you want to do two every time (I do this for colors that are harder to see) or just one at a times. Once you have that figured out take a length of your toile and slide it under the elastic.

Bring it up over the elastic and tie a knot. Then slide the knot right up agains the edge of the elastic:

Make sure the knot is at the bottom of the elastic. Now continue your pattern and tie all the pieces onto the elastic making sure they are nice and squished together. The more your squish on the fluffier your tutu.

Once you cannot or do not want to fit anymore give the elastic a nice stretch to spread everything out. Tie a little bow and you are done!!!

You can either leave it as is or add a flower or bow etc. to embellish:

Now there is nothing to do but sit back and watch your darling dance:

Evie literally would not stop moving once it was on so of course I got a bagillion blurry pics :)

These really are so fun to make and hello what little girl wouldn't love to open a box christmas morning and find a huge fluffy tutu?