A "Roaring 20s" Birthday!

Haley's birthday was this weekend, and it was extra special because we haven't seen her for three weeks!  She is working at a camp all summer, and it just so happened that her birthday fell on a weekend when she got to come home.  She didn't want a birthday party, but we wanted to make it special and fun, so we decided to have a "Roaring 20s" theme, since it was her 20th birthday.  Rebecca and I made a cupcake bouquet...our first attempt, and it turned out so pretty!

We decorated with big tissue paper pom poms, beads, and other 20s looking things, all in black, white and green (Haley's favorite color). 

I made signs for the table in a 1920s font.

We gave her beads, a feather boa, a cute Flapper-looking headband we made, and a "20" pin to wear for her special day.

She had a great time with it!

She even wore her "getup" when we went out to dinner.

My favorite quote of the day: "If I'd known I would be dressing up like a Flapper, I would have been a LOT more excited about my birthday!"

Baby Quilts: Bow Ties, Pinwheels, and Elephants

I have been wanting to try my hand at making a "real" baby quilt for a while now, because until now I've only made rag quilts and t-shirt quilts.  So, I got my chance when I found out two of my husband's nieces were expecting babies.  

For the first one, I needed a cute little boy design.  I found this adorable bow tie design via Pinterest.  Here's the link to the tutorial I used to make the blocks.  I decided to alternate the way the bows were turned instead of having them all go the same direction.  I think it turned out pretty cute!  

The bowties were all made from brightly colored scraps that I already had, and I made a cute bunting banner to match.  For the quilt backing I used a sweet little animal print, perfect for a baby boy.  This quilt traveled all the way to its new home in Turkey!

The second one I made was a little girl quilt, and I knew that her room would be decorated with pink and brown and elephants.  After looking at lots of different ideas, I decided that pinwheels would go perfectly with elephants.  Here's what I came up with:

I made pinwheel blocks of different pink prints and appliqued the elephants on top.

Then I made a cute little stuffed elephant to match.

I've decided that I probably won't be making baby quilts to sell; I would have to charge way to much for them if I wanted it to be worth my time.  But they are fun to make, and make wonderful gifts for special little people!

Birthday Trip to The National Gallery of Art

Rebecca has always wanted to go to the art museums in Washington D.C., so for her birthday we surprised her with a trip to the National Gallery of Art.  It was a nice opportunity to see some beautiful works of art by some famous artists from different points in history.  Our favorites were the paintings, but we also saw sculptures, medals and coins, tapestries, drawings, and some gorgeous pieces of furniture.  But we really, really loved the paintings!

This one of the Pantheon in Rome looked...well...exactly like the Pantheon! (I know this because I've been there!)

We thought this one was so cute, and the girls just had to pose.  Life imitating art.

Rebecca was so happy that they had some VanGogh paintings there!

Here she is with Vincent himself:

I found my favorite Monet painting!

These two by Renoir reminded me of the girls when they were little, so I just had to take pictures of them each by "their" painting.

The whole place was very beautiful.

The outdoor sculpture garden has an ice skating rink in the middle of it! Fun!

There's also a very nice cafe in the Sculpture Garden, where we had a delicious (and just slightly overpriced) lunch.  I had the spinach tart, yum!

Here's Rebecca back at home on her birthday with the giraffe cake that I made for her.  I did the giraffe print with a stencil (I just drew it on a piece of paper and cut it out) and cocoa powder.  It turned out pretty cute!

I can't believe she's 17!