Crowns Fit for Any Queen

Are you looking for that perfect crown for your outfit? I just finished working on these beauties. If you are looking for a fun, whimsical and unexpected gift for someone special or a special occasion, let me know. I also take special orders, or I can personalize them. I am hoping to do a craft show this Fall/Christmas season so I'll let you know when. I'll be posting pics of all the things I'm working on.

As always, I use vintage finds. This crown is sporting vintage earrings and a deco shoe clip.

This crown is fairy inspired.
This crown is Marie Antoinette inspired.

Things I Love.......Things the Dotter's Love

I had some time to be at home today, which was so nice. Time just to putz around the house. I can't even remember the last time I did that..... As a lot of you know I love all things vintage, but I especially love vintage dishware or really any vintage kitchen thing. I decided to rearrange my cabinet today and thought it looked so cheery, I took a picture of it for you. I went to a great tag sale this weekend and found the perfect thing! A little child's cabinet to put all of the dotter's little dishes in, because they love dishes and kitchen stuff as much as I do!!!! It just warms my heart that my little dotter's love to go to tag sales, antique stores and see all the "cool old stuff". I will finally have my flea market buddies, because Nat can only take so much. But the dotter's; they love to go up and down the aisles with me and look at all the treasures. I still need to keep a close eye on #3 but for an almost 4 year old she does pretty well!

A closeup...don't the colors just make you happy?

The great tag sale treasure....I'm thinking about painting it
Brooklyn and Bella cheer each other on the great find! Isn't it cute?

Skirts Rule

On a winter's eve, a long one keeps you warm
On a warm summer day, skirts keep you cool
Wear the right one to compliment your form
One for every occasion; Skirts definitely rule

--Lyn Lomasi

Wanted to share the latest project I've worked on. I found this really cute pattern and fell in love. The skirts were fairly easy to make. It took about 6 different fabrics and I love all the Amy Butler line and also Moda....so needless to say the fabric was not cheap. But the skirts turned out so cute and the girls love them! I still need to finish Bella's. They are also unique, not something you can find at Target. (Although I love Target!) The cost was about $15 in fabric and about 3 hours of my time. I've been working on some other fun projects and plan on posting pics soon.

Brooklyn and Bronwyn have been wanting to make a vintage button bracelet. On Saturday we were off to Confetti's and they went through the bathtub of buttons and picked out some for their bracelets. Turned out pretty cute!

I loved this photo. I savor these moments!

Making Big Moments Special

Today was the first day of school....which went great if you care to know. The girls looked adorable in their new school outfits and shoes. Brooklyn also made her lunch which was exciting to do, being in the first grade and all. But what I really want to talk about is last night. Nat and I really wanted to make the last evening of summer vacation special. We wanted to create a "moment" that our girls could always remember. Now I'm not saying you have to go to a lot of work to create special moments. Sometimes they are so natural and spontaneous that they are magical. Sometimes, like last night you need to create magic. I want to share our magical moment with you. Most of my close friends know I have an insane schedule. I have many things going on in my life, but my children, they are my heart and I always want to try and create special moments that we can share together. Now about last night........

I made this really cute garland that I hung above the kitchen table (it's still there because it looked so fun.) It instantly transformed the room into a magical place. I made each of the girls crowns to wear during our special dinner. Each crown had their name and what grade in school they were going into. I stopped at Sweet Tooth Fairy Cupcakes and bought them "a to die for" treat. They are so pretty too! Nat took care of dinner and had a wonderful idea. Our kids favorite restaurant is Sweet Tomatoes, (a salad bar place) so Nat created Sweet Tomatoes at home for the girls. They loved it. It really struck me what a simple idea it was and yet they were giddy about it. Why have we not done this before? We set a pretty table which included wine glasses, that they love to use. They were upstairs in the room as we prepared the special feast. When the girls came down the stairs there were audible gasps and then giddy sweet laughter. They were so excited and gave us huge hugs and thank-yous. We all sat down with our salads and talked about the upcoming school year. I also gave them clipboards of things that they need to accomplish everyday throughout the year. We clicked our glasses and cheered each other good wishes for the upcoming school year. The evening ended with some beautiful Fathers' blessings given to them by Nat.

Although I'm not able to spend as many "moments" with my children as I would like, I try to make as many as I can special. I want my children to have great memories and to feel how much they are loved by their parents. I know that we accomplished that last night. In my kitchen on my wall is a saying, to remind me daily about "moments". I know it's used often, but it still is my favorite.

"LIFE IS NOT MEASURED BY THE BREATHS WE TAKE, BUT THE MOMENTS THAT TAKE OUR BREATH AWAY..."

On a side note, yesterday was also my 14Th Wedding Anniversary. I am so grateful to have a loving, kind companion in this life journey together. He is also a wonderful father too! I love you Nathaniel! To many more amazing years together......you take my breath away still.....

Our festive table

Bella's crownBrooklyn's crownThe daily clipboard assignments....
We love these special "moments" with our girls!

Reaching the Summit

All summer I have been working on a project at BYU for Homecoming Spectacular at the Marriott Center in October. It's a awesome show that showcases all the talented BYU groups. We also honor a BYU founding father. This year it is Eugene Roberts, who was the first athletic director at BYU and he founded the Timp hike. We wanted to film the actor on the top of Timp for the finale, so we hiked yesterday and filmed on the summit. (About 12,000 feet) I was a little nervous about going because it's a pretty intense hike. About 20 miles round trip. Nat decided to join the shoot and hike and we were laughing about the last time we hiked Timp. 15 years ago this month! I think we were in better shape then and skinnier! We made it up in about 5 hours and spent about 3.5 filming on the summit. It was awesome. It included a lot of aerial shots with a helicopter and some ground shooting. It was also fun working with my great friend Jeff Parkin and his son Jeremiah (who played the young Eugene). Jeff is writing the script and he directed this film shoot. He is an amazing talent! And Jeremiah hiked that whole way at 10 years old! I forgot how good it feels to really accomplish such a physical feat! It was fun and although I'm feeling it today, I'm glad I REACHED THE SUMMIT! (The theme for BYU Homecoming this year.)

The helicopter has a camera mounted on front, to get the shots.

The actors on top of the summit.Filming beauty shots on the ground.

The awesome cast and crew!

Mary Jane and More

The Dotters on the Fourth!

Thought I would share some fun pics and thoughts from our summer vacation up North. I am a big fan of Mary Jane Butters, (she is a pioneer organic farmer and owns a really cool farm in Northern ID, has written many books and has her own magazine.) She also pioneered the"farmgirl" movement and I just love who she is and what she does. She has a "farm fair" during 4th of July weekend and I really wanted to go. We decided that would be part of our summer vacation and then we would head up to Glacier National Park. (It was on my Dad's "bucket list" and we decided to indulge him.) The vacation was excellent and a constant reminder about why I love my family, and also how they drive me CRAZY! Mostly love tho.

We went to a reception and had Mary Jane sign our book. She was so sweet and friendly.

After the reception we checked out the Lake. The girls couldn't resist an evening dip. FULLY DRESSED!!!
My little cuties! Ellie and Bella ready for the Fouth!

A cool small theatre we toured on our Farm Fair Adventure!We toured Mary Jane's mill, met some cool vendors, got some great new ideas.....and we want one of these! So cute.

Enjoying the fireworks at the Lake.Our cute cabin at Lake Five Resort, 3 miles outside of Glacier.

The Dotter's Dad and Dotter #3 enjoying the nightly campfire. It got cold up there!
We love our cuz's!!!
The Dotter's Grandma!...with Zoe.
The family ready to enjoy the beauty of Glacier.
Hiking with the Dotter's. You couldn't ask for a better way to spend time with them.The End for now. More to come later.

Happy Birthday BROOKLYN!

MAY ALL YOUR WISHES COME TRUE!

Six years ago today, I was lying in a hospital waiting for our second daughter to arrive. She was late and had to be induced. I went into the hospital the morning of July 2nd, somewhat nervous. Childbirth was not this wonderful and amazing experience women had told me about. My first daughter was born after almost 52 hours of labor , 2 1/2 hours of pushing, with no epidural in the end. They took her right away and I did not see her for 24 hours. Because it was a stressful labor, I had a normal hospital room, not the wonderful birthing room I had hoped for. Needless to say the experience left a lot to be desired. Okay, so I'm in the hospital waiting for #2 and I am in a pretty nice birthing room. I start to feel uncomfortable and I get this great epidural that lasts through my entire labor. I'm ready to push and 3 pushes later she's out. My mom is there. They actually laid her on my stomach. I got to hold her right away! It really was a wonderful birthing experience. Everything I had expected but did not get the first time. We had our beautiful daughter, and we named her BROOKLYN. Tomorrow she turns six. I know Heavenly Father gave me this wonderful experience with you. You will always be special because you were the easiest to give birth to. And for the record.....#3 turned out pretty awful. Baby born at 27 weeks, emergency C-section on Christmas Day...... but you Brooklyn, you were my blessing birth. I love you! HAPPY 6TH BIRTHDAY BROOKIE!

Brooklyn invited 3 of her best friends for a Build a Bear Party and a LateOver a few days ago since we will be on vacation during her birthday.