From Grandma with Love.........Claira the Pig

I knew my mom was working on something special for Matilda's 2nd birthday, but when Matilda opened up "Claira the Pig", I could not believe my eyes.  Total and complete adorableness! 

This pig doll is named "Claira" and was made from Heather Bailey's pattern "Claira and Clancy Pig Dolls".  Mom put her own twist on the pattern with her use of fabrics, trims and buttons.  The details in this doll are amazing!

 
I am in love with the eyes and the little eye lashes.  Also the sweet flower next to the ear is another special detail that makes this doll one-of-a-kind.

The doll pattern comes with boy and girl clothing options which makes it a great gift for a boy or girl.  The long, skinny legs with the bloomers are totally adorable.  I could seriously eat this doll up!  I didn't get a picture of it, but the arms are attached with buttons so they can move up and down. 

Matilda is one lucky little girl because mom made the clothing for this doll from Kate Spain's "Terrain" line that has yet to be released - she is SO cutting edge.  She used some fat quarters from the bundle that she picked up at the sample spree at quilt market.  This fabric will be released in September 2011.

As you know, I just love handmade gifts and this one is no exception.  I really should have taken a picture of Matilda with Claira because the doll is quite large and is 3/4's of her size.  I love seeing her walking around with Claira's long skinny legs wiggling around.  Matilda has added Claira to her nightly sleeping buddy collection along-side Elmo and her little lamb.

Hmmmm, wonder if Mom will be making one of these for little man too once he arrives?  I think Claira might need her Clancy!

Decorating ~ Girls Shared Toddler Bedroom

About a month ago we moved the girls into the same bedroom.  I'm not going to lie, I was extremely nervous to make this move, but we knew it needed to happen well in advance of the other big adjustment in our future (baby brother).  It was a big transition for them and for us.  It was Matilda's first time in a "big girl bed" and the first time either girl has ever had a roommate.  We had a rough first couple days, but since then it's been working out pretty well.

The girls bedroom is not a huge room, I think it's 11' x 13' and we weren't really sure if both beds were going to fit.  Sure enough, they did!  I just love these beds.  They were given to us after my husband's Grandma passed away last year - they use to be in her guest bedroom.  I love the ornate lines and the creamy white color.  It's exactly what I would have picked out for the girls had I gone shopping for these myself.  And I'm sure Brett's Grand-Molly loves looking down seeing her great-granddaughters snug as little bugs in the beds she picked out.

I've been collecting embroidery hoops from local thrift shops for the past year or so.  Just picking them up here and there, not quite sure what I was going to do with them.  These were so inexpensive, maybe .25 - .49 cents a piece.  I used my designer fabric scraps and just stretched them into each canvas and then trimmed around the edges.  They are each hung on a nail and are very light-weight. 

The embroidery hoops on the wall is not my original idea, I've seen this done in designer magazines as well as on lots of online websites and I have always loved the look.  We used to have Savannah's name on the wall, but when we moved Matilda in, we had to come up with something new.  I have so many fabric scraps that I just love, I knew this inexpensive art work would be just perfect to fill the large wall in the girls room.

The pink polka dot duvet covers and pillow shams are from Potterybarn Kids.  The twin-sized quilt on the foot of Savannah's bed is one that I made for her from Heather Bailey's "Freshcut" fabric line before Matilda's arrival.  I haven't had time to make Matilda a big quilt yet, so her quilt is store-bought.  It's really cute with owls, flowers and birds.

The cream colored drapes were in the nursery, but didn't really go with our new "Nautical" theme for baby brother.  So I moved them into the girls room, but they needed something against the yellow wall.  I found these two valences at Home Goods store in the clearance section - $3.00 a piece.  I stitched them to the top of each curtain panel to add a little interest around the window.  They are trimmed with ric-rac and were just the right colors.

I covered this lampshade for Savannah's original room and I still love it.  I covered it with fabric and then made fabric yo-yo's that I hot glued all around the bottom.  It is finished at the top with a pink, ruffle trim ribbon.

Above are a couple pillows I made for their room.  I haven't gotten around to making an "M" pillow, but hopefully that is on my short list of to-dos.  The other pillow is made from scraps from Savannah's quilt and several handmade fabric yo-yo's.

The elephant wall art was made by me from different fabric scraps that I cut up to create the piece.  There are two other similar pieces in the room (though I didn't get a photograph of them) - one has two little birds and the other has a lion and a whale on it.  All three photo mats are covered in the same pink polka dot fabric.

Matilda's bed is still a little high up for her to climb in, so she uses this painted trunk to climb into bed.  It's great because it also doubles as storage and looks pretty too.

The girls are having a great time being roommates.  Since they are only 16-months apart, I think it works out really well for them to share a room.  I'm currently having them nap in separately (Savannah naps in Mama and Daddy's bed), but other than that it's worked out really great!

Do any of your kids share a room?  Did you share a room growing up?  How did it work out?

{ Tea for 2 Birthday Party }

About a week ago we celebrated Miss Matilda's 2nd birthday with a "Tea for 2" party.  I got the idea for this party about six months ago.  Matilda loves playing with her tea set and I thought this would make for a lovely party theme outdoors.  We really lucked out with the most gorgeous day!  It was sunny, low 80's, very little humidity - perfect for an outdoor tea! 

 Matilda's Squinty Little Smile

Matilda had a great time at her party!  She ate lots, played with her balloons and bouncy balls, and had a lot of fun opening presents and eating cake.  She kept saying "Happy Day", "Happy Day"!!  She really understood this year that the party was all about her and she enjoyed every minute of it.

The party was inspired by the gorgeous Anna Griffin fabric that I recently purchased.  I just loved the yellows and pinks which made me instantly think of little Matilda.  I created her birthday dress from one of my own patterns that will be coming out later this year - the "I'm a little teapot dress".  You can read more about her birthday dress here.

We had about 35 close family and friends attend the party.  At age 2, the party is as much for the adults as it is the children so I made sure to have a mix of food and beverages for all ages.

I set up a little area for the kids.  I brought out the girls small table and covered the chairs with vintage pillowcases.  Then I draped some vintage linens over the top of the table (which I taped underneath so they wouldn't move around).  I also put out two large quilts and the girls upholstered sitting chair for an area to open presents and for the little babies to hang out.  We brought out lots of the girls stuffed animals and baby dolls to play with as well.

For the adults we brought out the furniture that is in our sunroom, but for some reason I didn't snap a picture of that area.  It was a settee and three sitting chairs.  We brought out some side tables to have areas to set down drinks as well as a few white Adirondack chairs.

The main tent is where we kept all the food and most of the beverages.  Luckily our yard is pretty shady with all the trees, but this just kept any extra sun from making the food too warm.  Thank goodness there were no bugs out this day either!

I served lots of tasty treats at Matilda's "Tea for 2" party.  I just love menu planning and cooking food for parties - so much fun!

Asparagus wrapped with herb goat cheese, ham, and tied with a fresh chive.

Summer Pasta Salad with homemade sun dried tomato dressing, olives, peas and asparagus.

Summer Berry Salad served in waffle cones.

Lemon Lavender Shortbread Tea Cookies

Tea Sandwiches - Chicken Walnut Salad, Cucumber with Chive Cream Cheese, and PB&J.

 Brownie Bites, Coconut Macaroons, Apricot and Raspberry Shortbread Cookies

 Lemon Cranberry Scones

 Palmiers (aka Elephant Ear Cookies)

Old Fashioned Store-bought Wafer Cookies

Beverages are a big part of our events, so we made sure to have plenty on hand.  We had iced tea (can't have a tea party without tea, right?), a variety of wine, sparkling lemonades, sodas, water, and my husband's home-brewed beer.

Governor's Mansion Summer Peach Tea Punch

The tea and beverages were served in canning jars.  Mason jars are my favorite drinking glass of choice - we had two different sizes and the small ones were just right for little hands.  I also tied the little ones with some pink tulle for added color.

Like I said above, when your kiddos are little, the parties are just as much for the parents as the little ones.  For each of the girls birthday bashes my husband has made a variety of beers for the adult guests.  This year was no exception.  The main theme beer was the "Peach Mango Tea" beer, but we also had several other varieties on tap.  He always makes these cute little labels for each beer......my favorite label was the "Pigtail Pale".  I didn't get to taste any of the beer this year, but maybe next year!

The long folding table was decorated with a basic tablecloth and then I layered some vintage linens on the top which included a small tablecloth and napkins.

I wrapped the silverware in napkins with some twine.  I used light pink, bright pink and yellow napkins.  The plates coordinated with the napkins and I put out additional forks in a canning jar.

I made a banner from doilies that I cut in half and stitched onto a pale pink ribbon (tutorial to come).  I also took some basic paper streamers and ruffled them with a gathering stitch on my sewing machine and I turned several of them into flowers as well.

In the picture above you can see the paper flowers.  I placed these in several different places as well as in two white bird cages that we used for decoration.

I made some fun, pretty headbands for the little girls to play with at the party.  Here are a couple of the cuties wearing them.........

And for the boys, I made these funny little man mustaches..........

Matilda waited very patiently to open her presents.  Actually she was a very patient little lady all day long.  I was very impressed, especially because it was a "no nap" day for her (which could be disastrous).

Big sister, Savannah, got in on the present action too, but did a very good job just "helping" rather than taking over.

We gave out simple party favors of side-walk chalk for the children that attended the party.

I printed this nice saying on our computer and then taped them to each little box of chalk.  Each box was tied with pink tulle.

In life you need these things.........

 Tea,

Chocolate,

And friends to share them with. 

Thanks for coming to my Tea for 2 party.

Love, Matilda Jane

And finally, the cake.  I bet you've never seen one like this before.......it's kind of a funny story.

At first Savannah told me that Matilda wanted a cake for her birthday, then she decided that she wanted cupcakes (mind you, this was NOT Savannah's party).  And finally she settled on the fact that Matilda wanted a cake with cupcakes on top.  It's all she could talk about.  I told her that it was Matilda's birthday so we would let her decide what she wanted.  Savannah said, "Matilda, do you want a cake with cupcakes on top?" and Matilda said "yeah!!!".  Savannah said, "See Mommy, that's what she wants!".

So, though I would have loved to do a little tea pot cake or something a little more elegant, sometimes you just have to make your children's dreams come true.  We purchased a large sheet cake with no writing on top.  Then I took the wrappers off of 18 cupcakes and placed them on top.  We sprinkled the top of the cake with thick, white sugar and fine, pink sugar.  Savannah loved helping me with this and was tickled pink to finally have a cake with cupcakes on top.

To be honest, it made for very easy serving.  We gave each of the kids a cupcake straight off the top of the cake and cut the rest of the cake for the adults.  I think Savannah may be on to something with this idea!

All and all we had a great time at Matilda's birthday party and couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day!  Good food, good drinks and great family and friends.  The girls were wiped out by the end of the day and tucked into bed by 6:00!!  

And again, Happy Birthday to my little baby girl!

I'll be sharing recipes and a few decorating ideas from the party over the next couple weeks, so stay tuned for some yummy recipes to come!