lil sis for a 3 year old
The whole family is sick so needless to say, we have been stuck at home…driving one another crazy 
big sis
Lil sis has already started updating the shop with some buntings/garlands. This is one of my favorites.
So cute for Valentine’s! Flags are made from 100% cotton, double sided, and seamless! And wouldn’t you know…she included some Hello Kitty fabric! just like this big sis is wearing…
Joann’s has been suprising me the last few visits. They are coming out with some really cute fabric! I purchased the entire bolt of this! Now, why I need so much Hello Kitty fabric, especially of one kind, is beyond me. This big sis will make her way into the shop very soon.
Here are some other gals that are making their way over to the shop.
<3 the piggies!
I am currently working on some custom orders and excited to show you. My desktop is still down so I’m doing my best to “use” lil sis. Hopefully, by the time I finish my dolls, the computer will be fixed!
Have a wonderful weekend!
big sis
It’s been three days since I got back from Paris. I’m totally over my jetlag, probably because I never adjusted to Paris time. Actually none of us adjusted to the time difference. My daughter would wake up at 1am on the dot every night, and the top floor of the hotel became her playground. I got used to it. I was seriously running on adrenaline everyday! Paris is beautiful, and I’m glad I got to see 1/4 of the city. I swear you need at least 2 weeks to really see the city.
My favorite photo:
It was mostly cloudy during our trip, but the day we went to see the Eiffel Tower the sun decided to shine through. Hubs was able to see the Eiffel lit up in the evening, but sadly Lila and I didn’t get a chance to see it. I could have met my husband in the evening after he was done with work, but I just couldn’t see how I could do it by myself. It’s not that I would be scared to travel alone but it’s because it was impossible to get around with a stroller. We came across two stops on the metro where there were elevators, and the rest you had to go up/down at least 3 flights of stairs.
How do the disabled get around? How do mothers with strollers traveling alone get around? Those questions kept popping up in my head throughout the day. While the husband was at work, I was able to sightsee with a coworker’s wife who also brought her baby. We became pros at using the metro…we would strap our kids in the baby carrier, and just carry the stroller up the stairs. Thankfully, we had to do this once or twice because the rest of the times we found nice Parisians to help us.
The Louvre was probably my favorite place to visit. Just the grounds and the building alone were breathtaking.
It was a busy Friday at the Louvre. I think I saw at least 10 different group of kids on field trips.
The garden outside of the Louvre. Imagine being here in the Spring…ahhh I must go back.
I didn’t try escargot, but I did eat crepes, baguette sandwiches, macaroons, fries, etc. Almost every dinner consisted of beef and fries. I memorized “boeuf” aka beef and “poulet” aka chicken and would just choose that off the menu. I was scared to choose anything else! I stocked up on baby food at the French grocery store and was surprised to see how organic and green everything was. You are required to bring your own bags to take your groceries, and if you forget you have to pay for bags. Almost all of the baby food was organic and EVERYTHING came in glass jars or glass bottles.
I realized nothing is better than being at home!!
lil sis
but darn computer got infected. My husband LOVES to blame all our computer mishaps on me b/c well…I’m on it most of the time. But this time…I SWEAR…it wasn’t me. He interrupted my computer session one evening to check something and the whole entire computer crashed! just in a blink of an eye. So. Very. Sad. My husband is very good about backing everything up so nothing is lost except time, of course. my time, to be exact.
I still have our old labtop but I haven’t been able to upload pictures so my posts will be a bit “naked” for some time.
I’ve been leisurely working on some new dolls. And can I tell you how nice it is to just create for the sake of creating and not b/c there’s a deadline or you put all this pressure to get something completed by such and such date. It is like a breath of fresh air! I don’t think I have been able to do this since some time early last year.
Lil sis (and family) is finally back from Paris. Yay! Oh, how I’ve missed my darlin’ lil niece! Hopefully, I can get lil sis to take some pictures and we can have a shop update soon.
big sis
It’s midnight in Paris. I’m sitting on the bathroom floor, dim lights, with my laptop because the hubs and my daughter are fast asleep. The time zone diff has really taken a toll on me. Hubs is completely fine. Lila seems to have adjusted today. Wow, the first night though was HOR-RI-BLE (like the Situation would say 
). I thought to myself, what have I gotten myself into? Whew. It seems as though everyday her jetlag is getting better.
We went to see the Eiffel Tower, took pics at the Arc de Triomphe, saw Monet and Van Gogh paintings in the Musee d’Orsay, walked along Champs de Elysees, and crossed the bridge over the Seine River as it was snowing ever so lightly. Paris is beautiful!
Tomorrow is shopping day! January is definitely the month of sales aka Soldes. Everywhere I go, I see -50% soldes, -75% soldes, take an additional -10%…etc. Hubs will be working tomorrow. I planned this out perfectly! Must do damage while hubs is not present.
I’ll post pics when I return! Au revoir!
-lil sis
the acorn collecting, that is
Day 1: Wish my desktop was working but since it’s a bit finicky right now, no pictures. The kids and I collected for about 10 minutes before my son started to say “let’s go home now”. I tried to make it fun, honestly, but there’s no fooling that kid! My daughter, on the other hand, was all for it!
They have been washed and are IN MY BACKYARD drying. I’ll have to keep collecting or I’ll barely have enough for a small wreath! At least I educated the twins about maggots, what they are, and why we MUST keep the acorns out of our house and MAKE SURE to bake them. OH THE FEAR!!!
haha!
big sis
update: the big scaredy cat that I am…the collecting has officially ceased! My acorns got all wet today in the rain and while there were no maggots, I thought that if I waited until I picked up more this week, I would be sure to find some. Who can live in this kind of fear? Seriously, I crack myself up!
The hubs and I have one to use on the plane, so I had to make sure she had one too. She’s prob too young to be using one of these, but I figured it could come in handy on our 10 hour flight and for any future trips. I followed this tutorial from Jellywares, and the size was perfect for my daughter, who is 13 months.
Big sis scored some lovely Hello Kitty fabric and ended up purchasing the whole bolt to share with me! Yay! One side of the pillow is HK Cotton and the other side is pink minky dot fabric. So soft! I followed the tute and added a ribbon loop so I could have the option of clipping this somewhere or hanging it in the car.
Normally she hates hats and she’s always taking off her socks, so I thought for sure she would resist if I put this around her neck. To my surprise, she was fine with keeping this on!
Hopefully it will come in handy because I really don’t want to regret adding this to the other gazillion things I’m carrying on the plane. I’m crossing my fingers our flight won’t get delayed. Please rain, go away by this Saturday!!!
-lil sis
Acorns…never really thought much about them. that is, until my grandmother would go searching for them! AND I mean HUNT for them. If and when she found an acorn tree, she would haul a** to go and collect them and come back with bags…never mind, she didn’t drive! The funniest would be when she would take all her lil ol’ lady friends to go and collect them with her.
All done to make one dish. It would take her hours smashing them, peeling them, boiling them, so forth. Now that she’s no longer with us, whenever I see acorns, I am immediately reminded of her. The weird thing is that it is quite difficult to find acorn trees in our city. Well…so I thought. All along the street of our mommy-and-me preschool, there are acorn trees! And then I see this from Dana
image taken from Dana-made-it
She has a great tutorial on how to make this acorn wreath. and you can spray paint it all different colors to fit all seasons/holidays! The only problem is I would DIE (OK, so I wouldn’t really, but I would SO FREAK OUT!!!) if I found maggots anywhere near me and even though Dana prevented this from occurring by baking them, there is still the what if… Oh, my gosh! just thinking about it makes me cringe! So that’s my dilemma. Yes, I should take it as a “sign” that I was meant to make one from my grandmother’s love for acorns, to the acorn trees that line the streets of the preschool, to finding Dana’s tutorial. We shall see.
It would be perfect for Valentine’s Day!
big sis
I think I’m getting cheesier as I get older? sigh…
I have a baby shower coming up and of course, I wanted to include something handmade. I thought about making her a nursing cover but that’s such a difficult one…will she nurse? what if she has difficulty and will the cover be a reminder of what she hasn’t been able to do? what if she just wants to formula feed…will she feel as if I WANT her to nurse? I know…over-thinking it but the whole nursing experience can be a touchy subject for some. SO…I came across these cloth baby shoes from Stardust Shoes. So cute! and So easy!
And you know I couldn’t just stop at 1 pair.
I had to enlarge the pattern and make one for Lila.
And then REALLY enlarge it to make a pair for my twins!
I wanted them to be soft inside so I used 2 layers of fleece for the sole. BUT I forgot about our wood floors and what do you think will happen when the soft fleece “bootie” hits the wood floor. According to my husband, one could “break their head wide open”. Lil sis gave me an idea…
Since my son and Lila’s feet tend to get a bit…ahem…sweaty, this was perfect! Just cut out a hole in the sole! How ingenious is that! When enlarging the pattern to fit 3-4 year olds, you MUST adjust the width. Even now, my twins’ booties are quite wide and “pancake” like. Fortunately, they don’t mind. phew.
I’m off to make more dolls. I’ve been working on this one doll since last night and have to had take her apart and put her back together, cinch her here, cinch there, cut, pray that she’ll be OK, and I finally decided it’s enough. At some point, you must admit defeat and start ALL OVER!
big sis
p.s. now that I think about it…I don’t know if she reads this blog. If you do, can you please let me know so that I don’t post anything else until after your shower
The winner is #2 – Christy Han Chang!
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