Saugatuck Getaway

This past weekend Chad and I took a belated 10th anniversary trip to Saugatuck, MI. It was wonderful! Truthfully, just sitting in a car together for almost five hours and being able to talk in complete sentences and listen to whatever we wanted on the radio without having to console a crying baby or put on Disney Princess songs was a blessing. We stayed two nights--two gloriously, uninterrupted nights--at a cute B&B right in the center of town so we were able to walk to just about everything. The food there was incredibly good (stuffed blueberry French toast, anyone?) and we spent our time walking around, coffee in hand, going to all the cute shops and visiting a few beaches.

It was lovely. And I took lots of pictures.

And despite the peacefulness and lack of responsibility, we missed these two like crazy and couldn't wait to get home to them. Lack of silence and all :)

~Stacy

Official Photos

Last week and the week before Elise had her first "real" photo shoot, taken by my very talented friend Rachael of Blue Teapot Photography. All photos are by her--check out her website at www.blueteapotphotography.com. If you need photos done and you live in the area, this is the person to choose. She has the patience of a saint and her photos are all beautiful and as simple and natural as possible.

I'm in love with all of these photos! They turned out perfectly--and Elise is sleeping in 99% of them. If they'd been taken this week she'd be sleeping in maybe 10% of them ;)

I can't choose a favorite...I love them all. But if I had to pick, I'd pick the one of her sleeping in a basket in the woods. And the one of Charlotte giving her a kiss. But let's be honest, the real showstopper here is the very last photo in the bunch. An instant classic if I ever saw one, and the result of what a real photo shoot looks like with two kids at the end of a long session after one has recently tripped and skinned both knees and hands and the other has decided she needs to drink a bottle RIGHT NOW OR SHE WILL DIE.

And now for the best...

~Stacy

The Best of Winter

Winter 2014/2015 does not have a lot of "Greatest Hits" in my book. We've been over my hatred of it, but even I have to admit that there were parts that were pretty. I didn't photograph much of anything this winter until the end so there wasn't much to choose from, but here are the best of the worst photos of the year (kidding, kind of):

And the best photo ended up being a shot I took on my phone out the car window (don't worry, I stopped and made sure there was no traffic):

And that's all she wrote about this winter. The best part about this winter is that it ended last week :)

Happy Spring!!

~Stacy

DIY Barbie Bed

My girl has discovered the wonderful world of Barbies. It was kind of by accident, and started after she got a Barbie-sized Princess Anna doll. Soon after, she received word that there may or may not be a treasure chest of my old Barbies in my parents' attic (there is, but shhhh, don't tell her yet). Then when Chad's mom and sister were visiting last month we went to the toy store and her aunt bought her a Barbie bathroom set and doll that she had to have.

The decision between the bathroom set and the bedroom set was a bit complicated, and while she certainly didn't have buyer's remorse she pretty much has not stopped talking about the Barbie bed ever since. She regularly reminds me that she would like Santa Claus to bring her the bed for Christmas.

Well, Santa Claus did a little research and quickly discovered that the Barbie bed (and any related knock offs) were, not surprisingly, overpriced. As in, to the tune of $30--granted, this included a dresser and lamp, but still. That's too much money for a bed for a 12" doll. So I took matters into my own hands and made one out of a shoebox and some fabric scraps. Behold.

I started with an empty women's shoe box and lid (perfect size for Barbie), some fabric pieces large enough to cover the outsides of the box and the lid (coordinating prints), and a stapler. Yep, I just stapled the fabric right to the box and did a little creative folding to cover the staples.

I covered the outside of the box and stapled the fabric in place to the top inside edge--folding the fabric around it like gift wrap. I did the same for the lid, except I put a layer of stuffing on top first before covering with the fabric, to give Barbie a little bit of a softer mattress. After covering and stapling the fabric to the lid, I put the lid on the box--which covered the staples. This way the lid can still be taken off and used for storing any of Barbies clothes or accessories.

It still needed something, so I decided to add a headboard. I cut off the flap of a cardboard box I found in our recycling bin (I was determined to keep this a no cost project) and then cut rounded corners at the top. I covered it with the same pink gingham fabric as the "mattress" and then stapled the whole thing directly onto the box. You can see staples on this piece, but they're on the back so I'm not too worried about it. Charlotte won't care, and if it ends up going inside a dollhouse that part will be against a wall anyway.

The next step was more fun: bedding! Barbie needed a comforter and some pillows, naturally. I cut two pieces of fabric 15"X12" and sewed them right sides together, leaving a small opening, turned it right side out and then top stitched. Then I made two pillows out of the gingham (cut 4 rectangles 4.5"X3.5", sew, turn, stuff with a small amount of fiberfill, stitch closed) and one larger, decorative pillow out of another scrap. Does Barbie need a decorative pillow on her bed? No. But I was having fun making pillows so there you have it.

Not to brag, but I think this looks way better than any plastic bed that I could have bought her in the store. She will be a very happy little girl on Christmas morning. And the best part? It was free. Free, and very fun to make! I might tackle living room furniture next...

~Stacy

Future Reference

This post is for the winter months, so I can refer back to remind myself of why I haven't moved away yet.

Rocky River Park ~ 8/7/2014.

~Stacy