D'oh!

I forgot to post the pattern for the Itty Bitty dress.

Here it is from Made by Rae.

Enjoy!

Itty Bitty Baby Dress

This really is a small world.

Last year, my sister became friends with a girl at her college. The girl mentioned to my sister that she looked familiar and asked if she had any sisters. Inky Binky told her that she had an older sister. They discovered that I had gone to elementary school and college with the girl's older sister. I'd gone to lots of their family parties and that's why she though Inky looked familiar. Small world, eh?

Fast forward to this year and my sister's friend was pregnant with a little girl. The baby shower was supposed to be in late June or early July, but she went into premature labor.

The Itty Bitty baby dress seemed like the perfect thing to make for a baby that small. The pattern was straightforward and even a newbie like me had no problems with it.



I'm not sure what the fabric is, but Lesa had sent it to me awhile ago to practice on. There was enough left over for a matching bib, using this pattern from Chickpea Sewing Studios.

I asked my sister when she was going to make me an aunt. Oh boy...if looks could kill....

Handmade Birthday

Well, mostly a handmade birthday. Here's just a peek at some of the stuff hubby and I made for Piper's day.

Hubby and I usually decorate Pi's bedroom while she is asleep the night before her birthday, so she'll wake up to something fun. I'd bought a Happy Birthday sign but misplaced it and was frantic about not having decorations for her room last night. So, at about 10:30, I pulled out the sewing machine, grabbed fabric that I hoped coordinated and made a fabric pennant banner.

Not too bad for a last minute, desperation project!



Ice cream cone shaped sugar cookies. We made five dozen to share with family!



Cupcakes for Pi's camp troop.



Don't forget the chocolate lovers!



Two dresses for Pi's American Girls. After making the pink one, and having loads of trouble with it, I couldn't bear to make another one just like it, haha! So, I opted for a simple pillow case style dress. She loved that they were different.



And...sleeping bags for the American Girls. Pi had been eyeing some on Etsy and they looked fairly simple, so I gave it a whirl with some scrap fleece I had lying around. These were a big hit.



Even with cupcakes, there still has to be a birthday cake. Pi requested a black and white cake, no sprinkles. The flower candles are from Crate and Barrel. Just a tip if you buy candles from them...light them at the last possible second because they melt insanely fast and drip all over.



Hubby surprised Piper with roses and 9 balloons. I didn't get a picture of them, but it was really sweet and she felt like such a big girl to have received flowers.

Man, I'm tired. I'm not going to even think about baking....until Friday when I have to make more cupcakes for her Saturday bowling party. LOL

Happy Birthday Piper!!!

My baby is 9 today! I can barely believe it. Happy Birthday sweetheart!

Take a trip down memory lane with me....

Pi, I want you to know how much I love you and how proud I am of the wonderful young lady you're becoming. You've brought so much joy, laughter, and happiness to my life. You truly are a blessing!

Happy Birthday baby girl!

Friday Night Fireworks

Since our July 4th attempt to see fireworks was a bust, hubby and I took Piper to see the Friday Night Fireworks in Coney Island. My camera wasn't quick enough to get pics of the actual fireworks, but they were amazing!

The famous Wonder Wheel and Dino World rides.



As hubby calls her, here is "No Fear Piper" on some crazy ride that had her spinning in the air.



She's the pink blur somewhere in here too. This ride has ear splitting loud music and my daredevil was dancing in her seat, ha!



Here she is rope climbing. Other than the girl running this game, I didn't see anyone complete it successfully.

A fire-throwing woman outside of the freak sideshow tent.

Who can go to Coney Island without stopping at the original Nathans? Mmmm, cheese fries!

Whoever though Coney Island would be quiet without Astroland was sadly mistaken. The place was packed tighter than sardines.

Pip had so much fun and was so tired out, that she fell asleep as soon as we got home. Now that's a successful night if I ever saw one!

Card Carrying

Bezzie over at Random Meanderings started a new meme all about Library cards. She wants us to pimp our library cards.

The white card is Piper's. She got that one while she was in daycare. The green card is my updated one. Both cards can still be used, but the green one has some neat features, like being able to add money to it to use the printer without having to fumble with change.

Ignore the really bad paint job. I have no idea how to blur stuff out.

Our cards were free, but I'm not sure if they are free for everyone or just Brooklyn residents. I also had my library card from kindergarten until just a few years ago. No idea where it went, but that one was green and yellow, if I remember correctly.

So, do you carry?

She's 83 again and she got my first quilt!

This past weekend, we celebrated Dirty Grandma's 83rd birthday again. We thought she was 83 last year, but we were wrong and apparently, she's 83 THIS year. Oops!

Dirty Grandma says "Thanks for coming t'mah party holmes." That Dirty Grandma is so badass!



After getting the ghetto out, she was feeling sweet enough to take a picture with me. She posed for so many pictures with so many people, it was like the paparazzi were after her. I think it must have been her American flag birthday star headband. Like I said before...badass!




Here are just a handful of cousins. Starting at the top left is Jeannie, Crystal, Nikki, Steven and me. When I was in the sixth grade, an eighth grader was bullying me. Jeannie (who was in 7th) kicked that bully's butt for me. Talk about love!



Grandma's cake was the little one on the right. There's a bakery here in Brooklyn that makes sugar free, diabetic friendly cakes and cookies. Its awesome that Grandma can actually eat cake on her birthday now. The other was a sugar filled, teeth shattering badboy from Costco.



She claps for herself when singing Happy Birthday. Oh, it makes me giggle.

She opened presents, including a quilt from yours truly. Its my first!

That skinny person is not me, its Jeannie. I only wish I was that thin!

Even a badass Dirty Grandma can get worn out. She conked out in her chair after all the excitement. The nap did her good though...after she woke up, she partied til 10pm, which is past MY bedtime.

Here's a flat pic of the quilt. The yellow is an old flat sheet that I'd never used and some blue fabric my mom had never used and gave to me. The squares are 8" across, making the quilt 40" x 48" (lap size) and they're not lined up perfectly. I need to learn to cut more accurately, but even so, it turned out really well, methinks.

I stitched in the ditch, although I might have veered off the ditch one too many times. The binding wasn't as hard as I imagined. It really is one of those things you just have to do, because it looks more scary on paper. I machine stitced the binding, using a blanket stitch, but will probably just edge stitch it with a straight stitch next time.

Overall, I love it. Look at the crinkly goodness!