THE Bed

A while ago I may have mentioned that my super duper handy husband was making my oldest a dollhouse bed. Well, it is done...and in her room!!!! I can't believe that we finished it. It was a lot of work on his part with a little bit of help from me. I painted it after all! Add to that helping him carry it up the stairs (plus a whole lot of curse words and sore muscles for days after) and I can say that at least 30% of it was me. Oh, and did I mention that it fell on my head and I managed to black out a few times that day? Fun times, haha!

Anyway, without further ado....the bed.

Already filled with all of her stuffies.

The Christmas post

Also known as the most picture heavy post ever:). That is what happens when it has been over 2 weeks not blogging! I have a lot to catch up on.

My favorite guy (isn't he handsome???) and my two favorite girls.

 Here are our attempts at a Christmas card photo. About 200 shots and 1 semi good one! Thank goodness for digital:)!

 This is the one I finally settled on after getting tired trying. The lighting is off but their expressions are beautiful!

Matilda, love her!

 And now to the tree. I adore our tree and it's family feel. It isn't fancy ribbons and bows, silver and gold, or adorned with fake flowers. It is filled with us.

My favorite ornament hand painted by my Nana. Three angels singing.

Another hand painted favorite. This was her signature Santa.

The year that my sister passed away I found three of these angels at Goodwill. My sister loved angels and there was one for each of us three sisters. It was meant to be. 

Merry Christmas to all!

On the 2nd day of Christmas...

my true love gave to me. Two turtle doves. This always seemed a bit redundant to me, I mean, more birds? Okay then, let's go with it.

So, I am in love with this dress! Isn't is pretty? It's from Belle Mere Belle Fille on Etsy.

And because I love Waldorf dolls...this one from Listice's shop.

On the 1st day of Christmas...

I love this time of year, but this year I have been a bit down. Which means for me more eating and baking, and more shopping. Or going to the mall and doing both. Anyway, I need to blog, it makes me happy to get comments and know that I have that connection to at least a few people.

Last year I did the 12 days of Christmas, but I think I started with the drummers drumming...maybe an attempt to reverse Christmas? Anyway, this year I am doing it right!

Let's start, shall we? On the 1st day of Christmas my true love gave to me...a partridge in a pear tree! Yippee!

I love this print by Cozyblue. Does it have a partridge? No. A pear? Nope...but it is a tree:)!

This is a cute pattern from Annie's Room.

Oh, and how about this gingerbread pear tree shown on Craftzine? Amazing!

Lastly, this pie from Taste of Home. It looks tasty, no?

Congrats to the hat winner!

Congrats #12, Jessica from A Few Of My Favorite Things on winning the bear hat giveaway!

Bear hat giveaway!

I am glad to have the opportunity to give away this sweet hat from etsy shop Bowrene! She is kind enough to make this in baby, toddler OR adult size. Check out her shop for more fun items, and she is always up for custom orders!

***EDIT- Don't have a child? Breanna will work with you on an adult hat:)! Thanks Bre!!!!***

To win all you have to do is become a follower (if you already are, then thank you) then leave a comment!

For additional entries (leave one comment for each of the following):

Like Livvy Loo on Facebook
Like Bowrene on Facebook
Heart my shop on Etsy (more to be listed soon...possibly some more capes, I swear)
Heart Bowrene on Etsy

Oh, and this is a quick one. The giveaway will end November 20th at midnight MST!

Necklace winners!

Via Random.org here are the following winners:

#4

Brandy said...

I'm a follower/ worshiper :-) I am coveting necklace #2!!!

November 9, 2010 12:03 PM

#15

jhitomi said...

I am proud to be your 100th follower (Yay!) ...1st choice would be the mutlicolored four flowers, 2nd choice the one with the heart brooch on it. They are all lovely. jhbalvin at gmail dot com

November 10, 2010 1:07 PM 

 

 

Congrats to the winners! I will be sending you an email asking for your address! 

Didn't win? Well, you can look forward to another giveaway later today:)!

Romantic belt tutorial

Lately while at my thrift store (I can call it that since the ladies that work there like to have my kids call them Aunt "whatevertheirnameis", I love that place!) I have been buying any wide belt that I can get my hands on.

I mean, the belts are only 99 cents, quite a bargain. Even cheaper is when you discover in your own closet a slew of your own quite outdated belts. I may have even squeaked in delight when I saw some thin, probably fake leather, belts of my own. So I grabbed some embroidered trim I've had for years, my glue gun, and made something fabulous.

Oh, and don't forget to enter my giveaway!!! :)

Here is what you will need:

• Eyelet trim, mine is about 2.5 inches wide
• A thin belt
• glue gun
• sewing machine (you can probably just glue the whole thing to be honest)

Measure from the belt hole (?) you are most likely to use to right before the loop on the oppisite side.
Multiply that number by 1.6.

Cut 2 pieces of eyelet trim using your above number.

Sew or serge these 2 pieces right sides together.

Ruffle this piece, setting your machine to the longest stitch and highest tension. On my machine this is 9 tension and 5 stitch length.

Fold over the ends of the trim and sew for a nice finished hem.

Lay the ruffle flat now, smooth, and make sure that it fits the belt, between the holes and the buckle.

Start glueing! To make this easy I first glued the ends and worked my way in. Then I glued one side at a time. Take care to keep the ruffle centered!

Voila, you're done!

 While I was trying to get some pics of the belt, the little one wanted some love!

 Linked to the following parties!
http://thetrendytreehouse.blogspot.com/
http://www.theshabbychiccottage.net/
http://733blog.blogspot.com/
http://lifeaslori.blogspot.com/
http://www.theshabbychiccottage.net/
http://www.somewhatsimple.com/
http://shabbynest.blogspot.com/
http://thehillsarelivin.blogspot.com/
http://itsahodgepodgelife.blogspot.com/
http://tatertotsandjello.blogspot.com/2010/11/weekend-wrap-up-party-and-sugar-and.html

Solar system banner

My oldest daughter is pretty nutty about the solar system right now...and I am LOVING it! We have our own library of books, wishes of our very own telescopes, and evening trips outside to say our "good night's" to Jupiter. She is a lot like me when I was young, I loved space...my father used to call me his little Space Monster for awhile there.

Well, I spent hours online looking for a great Solar System mobile and found nothing that I loved. I found one that someone had hand knitted but I can't afford another hobby knit. Then I had an idea of making a banner using some fun fabric that I had on hand and salt dough. Here you can find my recipe for Salt Dough.

We used various cups and bowls around the house and cut out our planets (don't forget to poke a hole out of the top with a straw if you plan on hanging it!). After they were done baking I let Charlotte paint them all by herself. When I say all by herself I mean it. She mixed her own paint, added Jupiter's dot, put clouds on the Earth...all of it! I love the way it turned out! What do you think?

PS, we just hung it by the mantle for "all to see" as Charlotte puts it. More pics to come once we hang it in her room!

Linked to:
http://thetrendytreehouse.blogspot.com/
http://www.mybackyardeden.com/
http://somedaycrafts.blogspot.com/
http://www.luckystarlane.com/
http://733blog.blogspot.com/
http://www.bluecricketdesign.net/
http://www.thethriftyhome.com/
http://tatertotsandjello.blogspot.com/2010/11/weekend-wrap-up-party-and-sugar-and.html