New Pinterest Boards

I wish I didn't HAVE to spend so much time on Pinterest! Ha!

I have spent a little bit of time this past weekend creating some new boards and updating some of my older ones.  Here is a look at some of my favorite pins from my favorite boards.

all kinds of dollhouse goodies

projects for kids

the cuteness that is the mustache

 home organizing tips and tricks

If you have a pinterest account come check out all MY BOARDS and follow me so you can see the new things I add to them!  And while you are in the following mood, follow my blog too!

Cake Pops...Yes, Please.

I LOVE Bakerella.  She is THE lady who invented the ART of cakepops.

I found THESE cakepops on her website and I knew they would be perfect for Lotte's Sesame Street party.

I knew my cakepops couldn't be as fabulous as Bakerella's {she is a professional after all} but I did NOT expect mine to turn out as cute as they did!

{I have a note about Lotte's cakepops...they would not have been as great as they were without the help of my Bestie from Kansas.  She helped soo much with the cakepops and everything for the party!  I wouldn't have been able to get it all done without her!  Love you Aunt Surrahs}

Bakerella's directions are so easy to follow, and her pictures are amazing.  I did have to make a few changes...I couldn't find white sixlets.  So I bought pre-made royal icing "eyeballs" from Michaels.  They were super easy, because they were ready to use, no decorating required.  After putting these eyes on Cookie Monster we decided he looked weird and he needed something bigger. Genius idea...............Coconut M & M's!!

Also, I didn't have enough time to fluff out the fur with a toothpick, so I tried something different.  I put the chocolate in my decorator bottles and squeezed it on in zigzagy patterns.  It worked really well, and went a lot faster than I expected it to take.

Big Bird's Beak.  It mystified and baffled us.  After trying several techniques and even enlisting an almost PHD Engineer, we settled on pushing the candy corn into the cake ball and then dipping the whole thing in chocolate.  Like Bakerella recommends, make sure your yellow chocolate is really runny.

My favorite part of the whole thing was the display.  I used $1.00 flower pots from Walmart with styrofoam.  For the filler to cover the styrofoam, I used something related to each character.

Cookie Monster had mini-cookie cereal...The kids loved eating this.

Oscar had gummy worms...like his pet and best friend slimey.

Big Bird was filled with bird seed.

And for Elmo, we used goldfish crackers...duh, like Dorothy, his pet goldfish.

to LIKE or to LIKE anyway

Do you -->LIKE<-- Lotte Lu on Facebook?

You should, because it is
a) fun
b) cute
c) a big help to me

Besides, if I get 25 people to LIKE me not only does that make me happy, but it also gets me my very own url and not that long weird thing that people can't remember!

Click HERE to LIKE me and make my day a little happier!

A Birthday Dress

I was going to make Lotte a ruffle-y dress for her party, but I wanted something that sort of matched her invitations.  So I had to go with scallops!

In order to get as much color as possible I went with vertical stripes that ended in scallops.  I measured her waist and doubled it.  Each strip sewn together, turned and top-stitched is 3 inches wide.  There are 12 scallops {2 each} ROYGBP :)

I gathered the sewn together scallops and attached them to a 2 inch wide strip of rainbow fabric and a white bodice piece.

For the braided neck line I got my inspiration from Me Sew Crazy.  I would have loved to use the woven braid, but Lotte's size is just too small.  It really needs to be on a bigger kid in order to do it justice.

She loves her party dress.  And it was exactly what mommy was hoping for.

Decisions, Decisions

I am really torn.

I need an outlet for my creative juices.

My problem is, I don't know how.  I'm not sure which direction to go in.  I mean there really isn't much that I don't like to do or many things that I won't try.  That makes it difficult to choose one over the other.

I need to make some decisions.  What product would I be best at selling?  What is my brand?  What should my platform be, Etsy, markets and/or shows?  How should I promote myself?

I know many other women are out there doing their thing and struggling with those same questions and issues.  I hope I am able to make some decisions relatively soon.  I need to make myself happy by doing what I love to do, and I also will love to have an opportunity to make some extra income to help my family {or at least support my crafting habit}!

A Birthday Swimsuit

So now that the PARTY is over.  I'm going to start showing off some of the details.

Her party was at my aunt's beautiful pool, so of course Lotte had to have a party swimsuit!

I had planned on sewing one for her using No Big Dill's so easy tutorial, but I was running low on time and I was having a hard time finding the perfect material to use.

So literally two days before we were set to take her pictures I asked Mister to stop at BRU {Babies R Us} and see if there were any plain suits that I could spruce up.

And that's when I came across this beauty!

She was on the clearance rack for $6.00 and then they were having a sale for an extra 25% off clearance prices!  So it was practically a steal!

I took off the yellow tutu skirt and sewed on my own tutu to match our rainbow theme.  It was so incredibly easy because the straight sewing line was already on the suit!

I added a few more tutu flowers to the front to make a little bunch.

It turned out EXACTLY how I wanted it to.  And it was less than $5.00 for this refashion because of the sale and I already had the tulle!

If you haven't seen her party post click HERE to see it in all it's glory! :)

I have linked Little Lotte's Swimsuit up to these gracious hosts this week:

Fun Fridays at KoJo Designs

Sundae Scoop at I heart Naptime

Get Your Craft On @ Today's Creative Blog

Tute Tuesday @ Little Birdie Blog

We Did It Wednesday @ Sew Much Ado

Craft and Tell @ Cherished Bliss

A VERY sesame {or maybe rainbow} birthday

It's a long post and picture heavy, but here is our take on a Sesame Street Birthday Party!

{Stay tuned throughout the week, and I will be posting some of the details and little projects}

Oscar cake pops-with Slimey gummy worms in his pot. 

Big Bird cake pops-with birdseed filler.

Elmo cake pops-with Dorothy goldfish in his pot.

Cookie Monster cake pops-mini cookie cereal.

I made cookies with my alphabet and number set.

The CAKE! 6 layers...rainbow colors on the inside.

I LO-UHVED the cake topper

Her little cake.

Favors-giant lollipops, and treatbags.

Drink table.  The framed picture is from a friend of mine from work.  She copied and colored a pretty vintage Sesame illustration and put a cute happy birthday banner on it.  I'll post a close up...it's so neat!

I made Dorothy Jello with Swedish fish.  From Martha Stewart's Recipe.

Rainbow fruit kabobs.

Lotte got a water table for a present from her Maw-Maw.  It was a big hit with all the kids.

Two Cute!

Click HERE to see Lotte's Birthday Tutu Swimsuit

I'm linking Lotte's party up to these gracious hostesses this week!
Fun Friday Finds @ KoJo Designs
Sundae Scoop @ I Heart Naptime
Tute Tuesday @ Little Birdie Blog
Get Your Craft On @ Today's Creative Blog
We Did It Wednesday @ Sew Much Ado
Craft and Tell @ Cherished Bliss

Editing takes a long time...

Especially when you are planning and throwing a big party while working full time and attempting to be a good mother all the while.

We were a little short on money the past few months coming off of maternity leave, so I decided to try and take Lotte's birthday pictures myself.  I don't think they turned out too badly either.  {and if you think they did, well don't let me know...I'm sensitive}

Here are some of my favorites.

My sweet little 2 year old!