Pretty Piggies

K has officially entered the world of girly girl!  She has painted toe nails.  I knew I would want to paint her precious little piggies but I didn't want to use regular polish with all of the yucky stuff in it.  So I researched natural, baby safe polish and found Piggy Paint.
        

"Finally, a kid-friendly polish without the accompanying drawbacks of traditional polishes.  It is free of formaldehyde, toluene, phthalates, biphenyl A, ethyl acetate and acetone... and made in the USA!"  ~Melanie Hurley, founder of Piggy Paint

They have a super color selection.  I ordered the "Toe Tally Fancy Gift Set."  It included three shades of pink.  I also ordered the polish remover and the top coat.  The remover doesn't work quite as well as acetone but it is acetone free and doesn't stink.  I noticed that they have some new gift sets available now that include the toe separater, stickers, and file.  They have colors appropriate for teens and mommies as well.  Although, since we have three colors, I am just sharing with K.  I'm pretty sure she won't use it all this summer! 
Not only is it baby safe, made in the USA, but it is made in Arkansas.  All of the bottles I have say either Rogers or Springdale.  (I didn't know that until tonight.)  I love supporting retailers that are US based and especially Arkansas based. 
The website offers free shipping for orders over $40 and you can use the coupon code: Safbaby to get another 10% off your entire order including sale items. 
Happy polishing!

"Say good-bye to harsh, smelly chemicals and hello to Piggy Paint

…it’s as Natural as Mud®!"

Fab 5 Friday

It's that time again.  I think I will use one Friday a month for sharing some of my favorite things.  I would love to hear some of yours.  I would love comments in general!  These are just five more things that I love.
1.  Duck Mobile...This mobile was mine when I was a baby.  My mom kept so many things that she had for my brothers and me.  The mobile still works and we use it on a regular basis.  J loved laying in his crib watching the ducks go around and around.  Now K loves doing the same thing.  It is in great shape.  I recovered the motor box before I had J but other than that it is exactly as it was nearly 30 years ago.  I am so glad my mom kept it so I can share it with my children.  I hope my brothers will want to do the same.

2.  "Mom" made carseat cover...My mom has discovered surfing the net.  Having another baby has inspired her to make a ton of new things.  She found this great carseat cover on the web and used some of her leftover blanket fabric to make one for K's carseat.  It is too cute!  Now I don't have to carry an extra huge blanket to cover her up when it's raining or cold or she is sleeping.  It has a fancy pocket and two windows that roll up and tie if I need to find a pacifier or K wants to look out.  I get comments on it everywhere I take it.  Thank you Mom!

Here is the fancy pocket...

And here is the front with the window tied open...

And here is the back with the window closed.  Notice the handle has an opening at the top.

3.  Kirsten, my American girl doll...I can't remember how old I was when I finally got her but I was old enough that she hasn't had a hair cut, been drawn on, been dragged around until her clothes and body are threadbare, etc.  I won't be letting J or K play with her until they are much older!  Brittany and I went to the American Girl Store in Chicago and both of us were amazed.  The company has come a long way in 20 years.  Our dolls are now retired.  She has Samantha.  Ashley has Molly.  You can still buy Molly.  We got them because they looked most like us.  Now you can custom order a doll that looks just like you.  They have hospitals, beauty salons, restaurants, and so much more for these dolls and their girls.  One day, K. One day!

4. Smocked dresses...I love that my mom is so talented and learned to smock when I was a baby.  She started making dresses for me when I was one year old and continued until I was probably 12 or 13.  I still have a lot of them and I plan on putting them on K.  I'm so glad my mom saved them so that I can pass them on to my daughter.  Thank you Mom!

5.  Scrapbooking...This has been the best hobby for me.  I have always kept things that are important to me and kept scrapbooks when I was younger but it has become an art!  I love that I had a group of friends in Vilonia who invited me to scrapbook with them.  I learned so much, spent way too much money on scrapbooking supplies, and spent one night a month with a wonderful group of friends doing something we love.  I miss scrapping with a group of friends but I still enjoy spending time in my "paper room", as J calls it, putting my children's memories into a book. 

Have a great weekend!  Enjoy the things you love. 

"Where we love is home, home that our feet may leave, but not our hearts."
    -Oliver Wendell Holmes

Made by Mamaw, Part 2

More Flowers...I'm not sure where this pattern came from but they are made out of felt.  She is going to put them on ribbon covered alligator clips. 

More soft teethers...These are just like the taggie brand toys that you can buy in the store.  Sister in law, she has a bag of them set aside for your babies too!  Maybe we will remember that in ten years when you need them.

These baby shoes are so sweet!  Mom found patterns online and made two pair the day I printed them for her.  You can find the patterns here.

These are the Mary Janes. 
K wore them Wednesday night and they are precious on her little feet.

These Kimono shoes are reversible and can be tied on
by lacing a ribbon through the loop on the heel.
They match the outfit below!

I picked out the pattern for this sweet outfit when J was a baby but Mom is just now using it.  Girl fabric is just so much more fun to pick out!  We found the pattern at Stichin Post in Little Rock.  I don't know the name of it.  Sorry!

We have seen cute hooded towels in nearly every children's store we shop.  Mom bought one at the Toggery to use as a pattern and made nearly 20 as baby gifts and Christmas gifts.

And now for the pettiskirts!!!  This was the project that started it all.  She found the pattern on Make It Love It.  So far Mom has made 15 of them and she has ordered more chiffon to make more.  I only have pictures of a few of them.  By the way, J is our only model!  He will even twirl for us.  He is so sweet!

This is a small one.  It goes on J but it is made for about a 1 to 3 year old.

This one was made a little longer.  It is lined with satin so an older child could wear it in public and be decent.

 

These are all the original pattern and size.  They are made to fit about a 3 year old and bigger. 
J is the size of a 6 year old so go figure!  Isn't he a ham?!?!  The white one is my favorite.

What to do with leftover chiffon?  This is just a girls' tank with a little "Mamaw original" embellishment!

I'm sure that I will have more Mamaw creations to show you as K grows.  She is making K's Easter dress now so I will show pictures of that when it is finished.  My mother is amazing!  She can make anything! 


Methinks it is a token of healthy and gentle characteristics, when women of high thoughts and accomplishments love to sew; especially as they are never more at home with their own hearts than while so occupied.  ~Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Marble Faun, 1859

Made by Mamaw, Part 1

My mom has been sewing and creating away since K arrived.  She has discovered blogs that post pictures and tutorials for things to make and she is taking full advantage of it and I thought I would share some of her projects.  I have even joined in a few of them.  Although, I don't have a shred of creativity when it comes to sewing so I try to touch as little as possible.  (I did get an embroidery/sewing machine for Christmas so if I ever get over being scared of it I might become a seamstress myself!)

Owl Teethers
These turned out so cute that we made six of them.  I did help cut out the eyes, noses, and ribbons. 
AND see the owl on the bottom...his left eye is partly sewn up because I put him together. 
Mom found this pattern on Homemade by Jill. 

It was so much fun making owls, Mom made 2 ducks and a turtle. 
Notice one of the ducks has a "K" on its wing! 

This next project came about after making about a dozen pettiskirts (pictures to come.)  These satin flowers are so cute and easy to make.  Sorry for all the pictures but they didn't show up very well all together.  She made a few on headbands but most are on ribbon covered alligator clips.  The tutorial can by found here.

Aw!  How'd that get here!?!? 
Isn't that the sweetest smile? 

"No great thing is created suddenly."  -Epictetus