This picture was taken before I finished adjusting the petticoat, but here is the Ariel dress that Savannah requested.

I didn't have to do much for Nolan's costume. He wanted to be Pee Wee Herman. 

Fast Forward to Christmas. Savannah got the American Girl Doll Samantha for her birthday in September. She saw the bunny hutch for the Wellie Wishers in the catalog and wanted it for Christmas. I had a better idea, we would make one instead. Please excuse Samantha's appearance she is often dressed strangely.

Princess Ariel Costume

The day after Halloween 2015 Savannah decided she wanted to be Princess Ariel for the next Halloween. It has to be the pink dress Ariel and it has to look like this one on her book.
I'm doing my best but we have to be practical. I found a Simplicity pattern on eBay for this dress, bought the fabric at Joann's since I needed a ton. The dress is so full, I have never done gather's this tight.
 It's going together well but it is going to need a petticoat underneath.
The dress is obviously not done but Savannah is very happy with it so far. She has had to compromise on a few things.
The detail along the overdress is just pinned on for now, as well as a few tiny blue beads on the overskirt and bodice. The sash is not completed, I was just deciding if I was going to use it at all (I think the dress needs it.) The overdress is tucked up temporarily to add more fullness also. I have not made the gauntlets yet either, I am thinking of adding the puff sleeves to the gauntlets and they can just slide on. I'm trying to find a few shell beads to add but no luck so far.
Nolan's costume is a secret. I'm trying to find some used things for his costume online or at thrift stores and I don't want competition.

Maine

 Back from another trip to Maine. This year we visited and camped at Cobscook Bay State Park. It was a great time. Here we are clamming (no we didn't get any) They were all full of mud, not a good spot. There were empty shells all over the beach. But we did have fun getting all muddy.

There was a very nice man that taught Savannah to fish. They caught some herring and sardines.

 She kept a sardine as a pet for a little while.

Camping was a lot more fun than I anticipated. We were close to the toilets and water. We all had to go to bed once it got dark because the kids had trouble calming down.

Smart Money Smart kids

See that cute little seahorse guy tucked away? That's "sniffy" Savannah's first purchase with her own hard earned money. I usually let the kids hold one of these little toys when we go grocery shopping but it has to "sleep at the store with it's friends" Savannah really wanted to take sniffy home, so I borrowed Dave Ramsey's Smart Money Smart Kids from the library, took a book load of notes (still working on it) and started her with getting a commission at home. Her pay jobs are Feeding the cat, making her bed and picking up the floor in her room, emptying daddy's lunch box, and cleaning up toys (this one rarely happens). She earns 25 cents for each and she saved up and bought him with her own money. I like to leave some jobs unpaid like cleaning up the table after dinner, and setting the table.
I was able to hold her money long enough for her to save up for this one. Then it got a little more difficult, she is 4 and a spender. She wanted to buy anything she saw at the store after this (including a paper shredder) So we started the spend, save and give jars. The save jar is for a big item she wants, the spend jar is for little things that she can buy on our errands and the save of course is for church. But you really need to read the book if you plan on using any of these ideas for our own home.

Pillows

I guess you can' say I have been spoiling Savannah lately. My sewing has been all about her, but she is totally worth it. 

My house is a wreck with the master suite renovation still going on (yes is said still, 2 years and counting) so I have been updating things here and there. I've been obsessed with pillows lately. I made myself a bolster and a few throw pillows for my bed (forgot to take pictures) and I made a few for Savannah also.

I bought this My Little Pony fabric a few months ago and could not figure out what to do with it so I stitched up the quilted tote from the Fresh Fabric Treats book. I still need to put a stabilizer in the bottom.

When I was on the NJ Quilt Shop Hop I found this adorable Queen Coral panel at The Quilted Nest in Collingswood. It was so easy to make, it all comes on a panel of fabric with the directions written on the panel. You just cut, sew and stuff. She has a seahorse friend, pillow, blanket, skirt and mermaid tail. According to Savannah the tail is her Pajamas and the skirt is for the daytime.

Savannah named her Stella Bo

Now we move on the the Let's go Fly a kite pillow. This was a pattern I found at a quilt shop a while ago. The cover is envelope style so you can make several to go with the seasons. 

The flying geese blocks in the corners were so much fun to make, I had never made an actual quilt block before, the directions were very simple. 

I had two issues with this pattern. One was that there is no pre made pillow form to go with this size pillow so I had to make the pillow form (not hard just annoying) I saw a pillow at walmart the other day that was 17" X 36" So next time I will try to make the pillowcase to that size.

Next issue was the quilting. It's not necessary but suggested. I attempted free motion quilting and was not successful, so not knowing what I was getting myself into I decided to hand quilt. I drew traced the design accidentally using a non washable embroidery pen (why would that exist?) then used a backstitch because I didn't like the look of the traditional stitch. It took about 2-3 weeks. 

Lastly I made a large 24" pillow, and a standard pillowcase with more of the Moda Coral fabric I found.

A little about my life these past few months. 

I have been sparkling the entire new addition (it is a finished attic so think the whole length and width of the house) It has been taking forever, not only have I never done this before but i'm a perfectionist. I was enjoying the change of pace for about 4 weeks then it just got old. I am in the sanding process now and that is just messy and hot but i'm almost done. Jake has been working on tiling the new shower, it's nice to get to work with him. He is doing a great job, just finished grouting and it looks amazing (pictures to come soon)

Savannah "graduated" pre-school but not really because she is going back. It's not an easy decision to keep her out of kindergarten another year but we feel that it will be good for her. 

Nolan is potty training. He is 2 1/2 and had been asking me every time we were out to use the potty so we went for it. I started out just staying at home and reminding him every 30 minutes or so, then someone told me about the Potty Training 123 book. I didn't read the book but there is a short video on youtube that goes with it. It helped so much, I wish I had heard about it sooner. No he wasn't accident free after 2 days like everyone in the video said, but it's not so bad. 2nd child syndrome has kicked in and I just don't care as much this time about the accidents. I had Savannah in pull ups for about a year because I couldn't stand it and that just prolonged things. He was good through naps and night after 3 days but has since reverted. And only 1 or 2 accidents in the past week. He mostly tells me but I still remind him during play time.