Word is out!

I've been sitting on a secret since the beginning of August. I don't keep secrets well. And I don't like keeping them!

We're having a baby - April 8, 2012! Which puts me at 12 weeks, 1 day right now.

As soon as I found out I was expecting I hit the internets for maternity fashion ideas. I always do. But this time, I ran across something super-fun!

DIYMaternity.com ----- check this out!

I got permission from the author to use their tutorials (and some of their patterns, which of course I'll purchase) to do a series. I'll sew along through their tutorials, making what's shown there, and in the process build myself a pregnancy wardrobe.

It's still in the works - I've got my cousin/friend/graphic designer working on headers and buttons and such right now. And *of course* I'll have to start sewing through some of the tutorials. I'll throw in some other tutorials from online and maybe a few of my own.

Back soon!

Would you like to follow along? Welcome!

Packaging and presentation

I'm still perfecting my packing and presentation for items that go in the mail. I prefer to fold them and tie them with a simple ribbon. But unfortunately some items really need to "sheltered". Like the white satin flower girl dress that went in the mail today. That I wanted to put in a ziplock bag to protect (but I didn't).

So these last two items I wrapped in tissue paper. I hate the way used tissue paper looks when it comes out of a mailer. But .... until I find a better option, it's the way it's got to be.

The Rapunzel Braid

We're big into Tangled around here. It's pretty much a princess-y world at my house. So recently, when Oceana was invited to a Tangled-themed birthday party, a Rapunzel costume seemed like the right direction to go.

I went with the Rapunzel costume pattern from Simplicity (which was on sale a few weeks ago for $1!). The more I looked at the way they put their yarn braid together, the more I got annoyed. It seemed like a lot of work for something that wasn't going to turn out looking right.

So here's my own version of the Rapunzel braid. :) 2 skeins gave me 2 large and 1 small (Naomi length) Rapunzel braids. We used leftover flowers from my friend/sister's wedding and a hot glue gun.

Needed:

1 skein of yellow sport weight yarn. I used Red Heart

1 spool of lavender ribbon - under 1/4" is best

2 chairs

flowers

hot glue

I don't have pictures of my process. Sorry :(

I stood two dining room chairs beside each other. For Naomi's braid *2 years old* I put the chairs touching. For the 5 year old version I set the chairs a chair length apart. Tie the end of the yarn to the side of one of the chairs and then wind in a circle around both chairs. Use the entire skein.

Take a small piece of yarn and tie at one end of the yarn - wrap around the entire width of yarn and tie it tightly. Don't trim the yarn, you can just add the edges into the braid.

Cut the opposite end of the yarn - on the other side of the other chair. The lengths should be about equal.

You may need a pair of hands for this next part. Have someone hold one side of the yarn. Begin at the point you've tied halfway down and begin to braid down. After about 6", stop and clamp it with a hairtie or something. Do the same on the opposite side of the tie. You should have about 12" of braid - braiding opposite from the midpoint where you tied.

Now combine the two braids into one and braid down the remainder. Tie off at the end and trim edges.

Unroll entire spool of ribbon. Find midpoint. Tie midpoint around midpoint of braid. Wrap in either direction until meeting where the braids combine. Now overlap the ribbons in opposite directions down the length of the braid and tie a bow.

Hot glue flowers onto the yarn and you're done.

It should look something like this.

I don't have a photo with all the decorations on it just yet, but I'll get on that once we're home from our little weekend trip. :)