A Birthday Beginning : :

Over the weekend we celebrated Haila's seventh Birthday with a bit of a "sewing theme" -- her request! It was beautiful!! My best friend Cynthia of Taylormade Baked Goods, made another confectionery masterpiece with button and stitchy details that was just as yummy as it was pretty! We topped it off with seven candles fastened into very old wooden spools from my collection, it was the sweetest cake!







Over the Summer Haila started sewing on my Janome, with my hovering and guidance, and began asking for a sewing machine of her very own. We decided on this Hello Kitty Janome and can't wait to break it in over Christmas vacation! Of course I'll be sure to share all of Haila's sewing projects right here!

Her reaction was priceless!!





Yup, she's  in love!!



You can imagine how excited and proud I am to see her so enthusiastic about sewing! I'm a self-taught sewist myself. Come late March it will be four years since I started & fell completely in love with sewing, and look what's it's become for me! I've heard so many wonderful stories over the years from people who've been lucky enough to sew with their mothers and grandmothers. Many who learned so very young, sewing on the laps of their loved ones, observing their skills, absorbing the beautiful tradition. Yesterday was the beginning of that for my family, a birthday that I will always treasure, and I can't wait to see the magic that's going to happen!


 
♥  Maureen 

A Handmade Party : :

On Saturday we celebrated our girl's 6th Birthday, with a very colorful and handmade Princess and the Pea themed Party! I spent most of the day Friday making each of the girls attending a personalized crown, and special 'princess & the pea pompom garland' to decorate and to add to our growing collection of birthday buntings! In the morning, I sat to do my handwork while reading your comments coming through my email for the Fabric Giveaway. I felt a lot of comfort from those of you who (like me) are frantically trying to finish up so many projects in time for holiday gift-giving. Thank you, for that!

Today, I want to share some of the photos from the party. It was such a wonderful and memorable time, the first friend party she has ever wanted actually. I, of course, was thrilled to do some princess-party-making, finally!



First the garland! It was so nice to work with wool, even though I wasn't knitting. Come January (if it actually feels like winter?) my hands start craving a knitting project and I already have one all planned out. These were just for pompom making and lots of them!



My favorite way to make pompoms is with a fork now. For my large pea pompoms, I actually used kitchen tongs -- it sounds silly, but it works!





I was especially excited to make all the girls a princess crown to wear and to take home as a favor!







My best friend Cynthia, of Taylormade Baked Goods, a super talented, confectionery artist extraordinaire, made the most adorable and yummy Princess & the Pea cake!! It was amazing and perfect!!







It was truly such a special day! There were several times throughout the party when my husband and I both got teary-eyed, looking at these sweet girl's faces, watching their kindness and gentle affection towards each other. Their laughter and joy IS so contagious!



It's that same kindness, affection, and joy that we could all use more of, which is why I wanted to share some of her special day here today. Happy birthday to our sweet six year old girl, and thank you.