Ice Cream Dress/Top

 Oliver + S Ice Cream Dress/Tunic. I made a size 5 with an 8 size length. Ava's measurements are: 25" chest, 24" waist and 25" hip. She is 7 and about 45" tall. It's a perfect fit with not much room for growth. The fabric is Anna Maria Horner Voile from the Little Folks line.

This is my first time making it and I liked it a lot. Easy and so cute. 

I've been in a sewing slump. I don't know what it is. The tiny apartment that's like a cave maybe or that I talk myself out of things. I spend way too much time going through my patterns and fabric trying to make a match and then can't decide. I do have stuff to show and blog though just not like I use to. 

Double Gauze Hippo Top

Another Simplicity 2193 Double Gauze Top. Here is the 1st one. They both are getting lots of wear here in wonderful weather California:) If you've not felt Double Gauze before let me tell you, it's lovely. Super lightweight and soft. It's two pieces of gauze sewn together or something like that. Perfect for summer. I again lined only the bodice in batiste and no interfacing. It makes it perfectly stable. The hippo fabric is by Kokka.

This is the 1st thing I sewed the minute I could get in my sewing room and sew! 

Panda Sleeves

I saw this shirt on grosgrain but is sold on etsy here. Isn't it adorable ? And so easy to do. It's an Old Navy puff sleeve tee, flocked heat transfer, my Silhouette machine (eyes, nose) and an old black t-shirt scrap for the ears. Ava has a thing for Pandas right now. 

I was going to open up the sleeve at the top and insert the ears but decided to just sew them right on the seam.

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Hot Mess

I hope you noticed the eyebrows. Pretty huh? Only Ava. Scabby neck (tick bite) scabby lip (cold sore) scabby nose and between the eyes (her just scratching) and now messed up eyebrows. Wow she's a mess. I wanted to post this because it's just too funny not too. I'm fascinated by it and how she got one brow so thin and almost adult like. I found out she had done this by finding a long Ava-colored hair in Jon's razor right before I went to bed last night. She was still awake so I asked her where she cut hair from (not knowing she did her eyebrows too). She tentatively touched her head (allover) while looking wild-eyed and nervous and I knew more than that long piece was cut. It took me a few seconds to notice the eyebrows. I still haven't found where the long hair came from though..

Ava's own post

I was thinking these photos of Ava should have their own post even though I like to post crafty stuff along with the kids stuff. But she is just so beautiful and I love these photos. I'm not necessarily tooting my own horn here. If she was ugly the photos wouldn't be awesome. Right? :) I don't know what I'm saying. 

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Ava constantly tells me she loves me out of the blue. In the waiting room, in the car, from the other room at home. All random out of the blue I love you's. She probably says it out of the blue 2-3 a day.

* Mary A asked on facebook about the yellow jacket. It's Crew Cuts and was Emily's but I don't think Emily ever wore it. 

Heat Transfer

I really badly wanted to use the Heat Transfer stuff that came with my Silhouette machine so I got out the stack of baby shirts I have and experimented. My upstairs neighbors baby was made and born here so naturally he got the Made in Germany shirt. I love this machine. These were so easy and fast.

I'm not over the mustache phenomenon yet. This still makes me laugh (inside) every time I read it.

The Alien is saying Blerg because Jon and I are huge 30 Rock fans and I love Liz Lemon.

And here's my friends son (Gavin) wearing two of the shirts.

Happy Birthday Ava Larue

Ava turns 4 today! We already had her birthday party December 29th in San Diego so some of our family could celebrate it with her. The cake is this recipe. I changed it up so the bottom layer is not chocolate chip but peanut butter cookie with chocolate chips in it and I used boxed cookie mix and boxed brownie mix.

Pizza and Schnitzel

Thanksgiving dinner is over and It's now bedtime here in Germany.

We went to a German restaurant with friends (6 kids total) and had salami pizza and the biggest portion of Schnitzel I've ever seen. It was one of the best Thanksgivings food-wise I've had in years. Usually the food is not so great and who really likes turkey anyway?

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I have no decent pictures from tonight's dinner but I do have this of Ava after we got home. She LOVES peanut butter as much as Jon and I do. She brings me the jar with a spoon at least once a day sometimes twice. See her bangs? I cut them and immediately after thought, "oops". Then about two days later I caught her cutting them.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Chewie, Leia and R2

I'm not going to apologize for the 15 photos of Ava. Because there is a crafting item in those photos! Look at this adorable Chewbacca softie from Pinterest! He was really easy to make...if you follow the directions. Which I didn't and he is actually Chewie #2. The first one is "the ugly twin". I won't bore you with the details but I will say that you should follow her instructions and make the back part with a seam and interface the whole thing (my instructions). Anyway, he's adorable and I love his teeth and ammunition sash the best. Which is made with black grosgrain ribbon and duct tape.

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Here is Emily wearing the Princess Leia costume back in 2008 when Ava was but a wee babe of  about 10 months. The R2D2 is actually a phone I've had for years and years that of course does not work over here. Oh and Ava calls Chewbacca "Bock Bock". I guess that's not an easy thing to say?