Oh, Petunia! A Flashback to Mother's Day

Petunia Picklebottom has the most gorgeous diaper bags (and now purses and even men's bags!) in the most adorable prints and colors. When I was pregnant with Adeline, one of my big purchases (they are a little pricey, so it was a treat) was one of their Sashay Satchels and I loved it. My goal in diaper bag shopping was to find one that didn't look like a clunky diaper bag, but, rather, a chic purse, something I would be proud to carry around, and Petunia totally fit the bill! 

Fast forward to a little over a month ago (Man, I've been slacking with blogging!), I entered a Pinterest contest that Petunia held on their blog for Mother's Day. I created a board devoted to Mother's Day and, being a Pinterest addict, loved doing it! Seriously, if I could find a job managing a Pinterest account for a company, that would be my dream job! Anywho...here's the board I made...

...and then I got the email! I reacted with screaming(Quietly, Adeline was napping...) and tearing up and re-reading it over again: I was one of five winners chosen!! They wrote the most lovely little blurb about why they chose each winner on the blog (that also made me tear up!). The prize was a Cosmopolitan Carryall and a matching Park Avenue Pocketbook, in the color of my choice (black and white, purple, or green), and was worth exceedingly more than I would EVER be able to spend on one item for myself! I chose the Key Lime Cream Cake. It really is the most amazing diaper bag with so many adorable extras: a coin purse, a changing pad that zips into the bottom of the bag, a wipes case...every detail is gorgeous, from the European crushed velvet, to the cute tag sewn inside with a vintagey pin-up on it!

I was predictably ecstatic when it finally came in the mail (on an already eventful day when I had done some fun prom hair and make-up for a beautiful girl, who was actually voted "best-hair" at prom, and totally wiped out on the sidewalk, scraping up my knees and elbow pretty awfully, but managing to keep Adeline, in my arms, from hitting the ground at all... crazy day!). Here are my beauties...my Mary Poppins bag! :)

the prettiest slices of Cake...and my A Beautiful Mess inspired art in the background

Thank you, Petunia! I still feel so blessed to have been chosen, and it really was the best Mother's Day gift...well, second best! :)

<3 Katie

Sew Much Fun

Yes, yes, I know... I've been a bit neglectful of the blog lately, but I promise I do have a lot of posts in the works :)

On the crafty front, I finally got my sewing machine set up and figured out fairly quickly (thanks to online tutorials...) how to wind the bobbin, which was the part that seemed most daunting. My plan was to make a nursing cover (hooter hider!) and a diaper changing pad for a friend's baby shower, which I did (and could maybe do a tutorial soon?!), but I also decided to try my hand at a couple skirts, seeing as I had a bag of fabric from a garage sale just sitting there, teasing me. 

Yea, I went a little nuts...the blue one is from a men's shirt! I'm not amazing at sewing yet, but I think I did pretty well for a beginner, so far!

<3 Katie

Adeline's 1st Birthday!

Tomorrow I officially have a one-year-old on my hands! Oh my word, how time flies! Why does it seem like I should still be pregnant? When did this big, precocious almost-toddler sleeping sweetly beside me replace my tiny peanut?

On Saturday we had her party, which went swimmingly (after I worked my butt off making it so!) and we had a lot of fun even with some seasonal colds floating around. It was a woodsy theme with a lot of D.I.Y. touches, and even had a tee-pee for the kiddos! My mom made chili (and provided a lot of much needed help), my dad made pies, my brother made a cheeseboard(see photos), and I made black forest cake, hummingbird cake, and all the decorations! It was a lot of planning for a party that went by fast, but now it's over! And my baby's one(almost)!  Party planning is so much fun, I really could do it all the time, so I can't wait for the next one... or maybe I can...she's getting too old, too quickly already!

<3 Katie (and the birthday bug)

Snaps

The Cousins...it's getting harder to get a good picture :)

clutching her favorite bear, bouncing along to Yo Gabba Gabba

Shenanigans at Grandma and Grandpa's

Bear Ears

<3 Katie

My Creative Family

Artsy Fartsy runs in the genes! Here are some pictures of my dad's pottery and my "little" brother's cutting boards.

<3 Katie

Twelve Dancing Princesses

Playtime means being everywhere at once, nowadays! These are a few pictures of that madness...including the napkins I'm using as inspiration for her birthday (she got ahold of one and tried to take off with it) and one of my absolute favorite books as a child. I always loved the beautiful pictures, a little dark and very intricate...a major boost to my already rampant imagination and I hope to share all manner of imaginative adventures, literary and otherwise, with my smart-as-a-whip, energetic little(though increasingly growing) bundle of so, SO much joy.

<3 Katie

1st Birthday Planning

I can hardly believe that in March it will be a year since i popped her out of me! She's already huge, and all over the place and so crazy smart! It's hard to remember how tiny and quiet she used to be (and lighter and portable) and even harder to imagine how much bigger and smarter she's going to get very soon. Walking is fast approaching, as is talking (she already seems to understand and mimic a lot) which are both exciting and terrifying at the same time.

If you have seen my pinterest, then you probably are aware of my party planning obsession. I have yet to actually, totally plan a party (besides my own wedding), but I'm just itching to. Much like my wedding, Adeline's first birthday (and, I'm sure, subsequent birthdays) I plan on crafting from scratch. I've even begun some of the many, grand projects I have planned. Coming up with the theme was the hardest bit, not wanting to "waste" a fun kid theme on a baby who won't remember but still wanting it to be wonderful and imaginative and exciting for everyone else attending. As children, my brothers and I had a lot of memorable parties that my parents pulled off (I have awesome parents, just FYI), most notably (to me) my "cowboys and indians" party in the park with a giant teepee and my youngest brother's pirate party for which my father screen-printed pirate flags for each individual child. Parties like that were such a quintessential part of my childhood... and I want that for my children! So I started out thinking I'd do a "You are my Sunshine" theme, but now that seems entirely too simplistic for my daughter's personality and I didn't want to limit it too much. I also toyed with maybe doing "Breakfast at Tiffany's" or  "On the Good Ship Lollipop", but those ideas didn't make it very far. So it morphed into a woodsy/bear/forest animals theme....I want to somehow fuse together woodgrain, black and white gingham, gold, and keep it colorful at the same time. I have these really cute hungry bear napkins that I found in Mackinaw City, of all places, that gave me the idea. I have four cakestands (and obviously another obsession) in various sizes and heights, as well as some gold chargers I plan on using as food trays, one even has a woodgrain pattern. There's a gold-painted faux-wood mirror, that will either be a tray or just decor, some gold tissue paper fringe tassels ready and waiting, and a giant cardboard 'A', all elements that will be put to some use. I also have my brother enlisted to create a fun little A-frame tent for the little ones to play in and I've been working on custom coloring sheets as well. All in all, the pieces are falling into place.

<3 Katie