Mblaaahahhh... and sewing:)

Boy, I sure hope I'm just suffering from some seasonal blahs, cause I am DEpressed:(


Anyhoo, Ella is loving the sewing machine she got for her birthday. Her and I created a little pillow and blanket for her Barbies as a beginner project. Then I let her just sort of go to it and sew random pieces of fabric together and create on her own. She loved it. And I think it's the beginning of learning a skill she'll be able to utilize forever. Evan really wants to learn too, which is great.

And regarding the sewing machine, I researched the pants off what to do with buying a sewing machine for a 5-year old. I considered buying a toy one first, but was deterred by all the posts I read on what a waste of money it was. I read that most of them just broke and the kids couldn't really evolve their skills with one. So in the end I opted to buy her an actual machine and deferred the task on choosing one to my mom, as I was inundated with party planning for the Princess Party.
My mom ended up going with a Kenmore, as I still use hers from the 70's, and it's never failed us. She went with the Kenmore Zip! 12512. I'm pretty sure it's a keeper:)

Speaking of sewing, I have been working on this f*$%ing monkey stuffie for my friend's son and it is taking me FOREVER. I don't think she reads my blog so it should be okay to post a picture of the pattern, and if she does read this, then, well, surprise!
I've been trying to figure out how many hours I've spent on this thing so far, and my best guess would be more than fifty. Once I'm done it, I'll post pictures and explain why it's gone from being a Christmas gift, to a birthday gift, to a "here's a random gift" gift. Sorry Xander, auntie loves you!

Cheers,
Kel

The Ultimate Pink, Purple, and Sparkly Princess Party!

So Sunday was finally the day! The 5-year mark since my little Ella came into this world purple and not breathing. Wouldn't have known it today of course, as she danced, sang and giggled her way through the day I've been planning for WEEKS! Here's a visual run-down on Princess Ella's big day:)

I threw a pic on here back when the invites went out - it's here.
Kyle and I decorated at night so that when Ella woke up on her birthday, she would be wowed by all the decor:) We used pink and purple paper globes, giant paper stars, and plenty of pink and purple streamers!

A shot of the dining room decor

The party began with lunch first. We (of course) had a selection of foods spanning several princess's themes:

Princess Ariel's Goldfish (Crackers)

Princess Cinderella's Cheese for the Mice  

Princess Ella's PB&J Sandwiches
(I wanted Ella to have her favorite in there too!)

Princess Aurora's Forest Fruits & Veggies

Princess Snow White's (Non-) Poisonous Apples

Princess Pocahontas's Leaf Chips

Princess Tiana's Green Frogs

Princess Jasmine's (Iced) Tea

Princess Merida's Bear Claws

We also had Princess Elsa & Princess Anna's Frozen Ice Cream, but never snapped a photo, d'oh!

After that, we decorated Princess crowns. I just picked up a bunch of crowns and a box of fake jewels. The kids used Q-Tips to spread glue and away we went:

My sweet niece Avery creating her crown:)

Then we played "Pin the Kiss on the Frog." I drew and laminated a frog prince and made a little sign for the top:

After the game, we had all the kids sign their names on the poster for Ella as a keepsake:

After that we all gathered to sing Happy Birthday while Ella blew out her crown candles:

Full of cake, the kids each then took a turn sitting with Ella as she opened their generous gifts. Then we turned up the iPod and the girls danced to a playlist my husband and I put together of Ella's favorite songs:

We included songs from her favorite princess movies like Enchanted and Tangled, as well as favorite radio songs by Muse and Lorde and Serena Ryder. The big favorite of course was the new hit by Idina Menzel from the movie Frozen.

As the kids left, Ella gave them each a candy flower the two of us made together:

Princess Belle's (Candy) Roses

Even though it was weeks of planning and hours upon hours of work, the smiles and thanks from my (now) 5-year-old princess make it all worth it. Every moment.<3