make your applique POP

i had some trouble deciding what gift to make a friend for her recent baby shower. a minky baby blanket? a kimono?

nah... i had already made those for other people. i wanted to try something new. like applique onesies. i'm sure you've seen them. they are all over the place, and for good reason. a plain onesie is nothing much to look at, but slap on an applique car, bird, airplane, giraffe, or puppy, and you suddenly have yourself one adorable baby outfit.

if you search google, there are endless hits for "applique onesie tutorial". still, i had trouble finding exactly what i was looking for. i wanted my applique to "pop" off the onesie. a year or two ago, i had purchased some onesies that had a raised applique, and i wanted to replicate the process. the secret appeared to be a felt backing. 

PS, i love you

houston just got 100 times better.
maybe even 1,000 times better.
and why, why is that, you ask?

because...

handmade baby shower favors

in preparation for an upcoming baby shower, i got together for an afternoon with the mother-to-be and the hostess (the talented scrappy bug) to make the favors. we planned on making duck shape soap "bathing" in tubs, and packed in pink take out boxes.

beautiful blossoms on etsy

i'm a low-maintenance hair girl. i have never learned how to style my hair, so i normally opt for an easy to care for hairdo. sometimes i like to spice things up a bit by adding an accessory- specifically, headbands. i found beautiful blossoms' shop a couple months ago, and have been visiting often, admiring the pretty floral headbands. last week i could no longer resist and bought this:

it's my new favorite accessory. the flowers are dainty and the feather makes it a tad quirky. i went with black for optimal versatility and i am ever so happy with it. it doesn't even give me a headache like most headbands i've encountered. another bonus- the shipping was lightning fast and came with a sweet note from the seller.

take a peek at beautiful blossoms' shop. she has so many colors and style variations to choose from.

who loves macarons?

i do! do you?

the easiest alteration. ever.

recently, on a mother-daughter shopping outing, my mom and i were perusing the racks at ann taylor loft.  she pulled out a cute eggplant colored, pleated dress with some fabric flower detail on the shoulder, and tried to hand it to me to try on.  i absently waved it away, explaining that i had tried it on on an earlier shopping trip, and it didn't fit right.  ignoring me, she held onto the dress anyway, and when we finally made it to the dressing room, she insisted i try it on. 

sure enough, the fit was poor.  it was the correct size, yes, but the way the dress hung was just somehow unflattering. after a few moments of eyeing me, my mom concluded it was because the fabric belt was poorly located.  it wrapped around right in the middle, somehow making me look shorter, and *gasp* a little chubby. 

one yard, one apron

spoonflower is currently running a contest for apron designs, where each design is a full pattern (instructions included) that fits onto one yard of fabric.  i love the idea of having a pattern printed directly onto the fabric- it's so clever!  it cuts down project time considerably when you don't have to be bothered by cutting out a pattern and tracing it onto fabric.  you could whip out one of these in no time, for about $20, for yourself or as a gift. below are a few of the ones that caught my eye.