This is my life right now. . .

My sweet Sophia. 2...and already accessorizing. loves her tiara. 

She now includes dora and diego in night prayers. someone on the plane asked her where she got her curls from and she responded "daddy." haha. she talks everyone up..introducing each of us to anyone around. she is veryyyy talkative. the doctor said she is advanced in that area.. which i'm so happy about except when she won't....stop....talkingggg. haha. but she's a sweet heart. even when she is being a little terror. she follows it up with a wuv you mommy. :)

 

my 5 week old Sienna. she is chunkin up! still a cuddler. sleeping pretty well..we have good nights and bad nights. she sleeps so much during the day that when she finally is up up she wants to cluster feed. not so fun. but i think that's probably what helps her sleep so well at night. she will wake up but i'll be able to nurse her and put her right back down to sleep.. all things considered she is really mellow and relaxed. i love her poofy hair. hehe.
 
around the house fashionista.

been busy with life lately...was in philly and then florida(outside palm beach). we are home now... and our closing date on this house is friday..so...packing up the place! trying to get as much done as i can during nap time..it's crunch time! :)

i'll be catching up on posting though this week...be sure to check out a couple of the tutorials i recently posted. just click the tutorials tab in the above menu bar!

Our Weekend to Philly - 4 tickets, Round trip: $38

We recently took a trip to Philly to visit family and friends.  
My husband ben is from there. Traveling can really add up and we wanted to make the trip without spending a ton on flights or gas/tolls.. so....we tried out something that a few people we knew had used and recommended!.....

We weren't sure about it..but heard nothing but good things about the megabus so we thought, lets try it!

1. i could nurse sienna whenever i wanted.

2. Ben could help with Sophia.

3. Wouldn't have to pay for gas/toll. (borrowed a car when in philly-thanks mike!!!)

My Review:

1. It wasn't very full at all which was nice for us. we could spread out and get comfy.

2. Free WIFI and power outlet plugs at each seat. AWESOME. i could work on etsy orders once the babies were sleeping.

2. on the way there we didn't put sophia into her car seat. she just sat in the seat. but..it was like a long flight...she thought she could run around. so.. at the halfway mark we pulled her seat out from under the bus and strapped her in..2 minutes later..asleep. she slept the last 2 hours. (nap time)

3. It was wayyy easier with sienna. On the way home both girls slept 3/4ths of the way so ben and i could just relax/sleep/work on the computer. 

So overall...i highly suggest it. it's ideal for business men or women..for price and for the fact that you can work on the internet the whole trip. (one guy told us he paid 8 bucks for his ticket round trip.)

the price you just can't beat. i mean come on....38 bucks?? we didn't even need to buy 4 tickets but we wanted to make sure we had a spot for the girls car seats.

get more info at their website.

We had a fabulous trip! I have family in the area as well so we packed the weekend full of visiting everyone! The kids had so much fun playing at ben's mom's house..



 Our close friends had the baptism for their baby jane.. we are on the same baby track as them! so it's always fun when we get together. :)

had such a great time with my aunts/uncles/cousins...we went there straight from the baptism/baptism party. there's a whole new generation of babies and it was so fun getting them all together!

ben's dad also threw a family reunion on his side. (no photos from that though!) it was a great time! glad to be home...we move on friday! ah! so..busy packing up....busy busy.

Sweet Shoppe Items now in my Etsy Shop!

I've been getting so much love on my Sweet Shoppe Party Post that i thought i would add some of the details i did for it to my etsy shop, Pretty Paperie! If you see something you like but want to use with a different theme let me know..we can work it up with different graphics and colors to make it just right! fun fun.

Sophia's Felt Food- My Favorite Tutorials

For Sophia's 2nd birthday this year i wanted to give her something very very soft to play with because of the new baby's arrival! and at the same time she lovessss all things kitchen and cooking. "watcha cookin??" that's all i hear when i'm in the kitchen. over..and over...and over again. haha. :)

so with the help of my fabulously talented mom...we whipped up some fun felt food! she brought up felt that she had since i was a little girl! so we used up the scraps big and small. already had thread. and only ended up running to Joann's to get some fun thread for "sprinkles" and other cupcake toppings. 
talk about a budget friendly birthday present!

You can create a lot with just pictures..

so hope the ones we made get you started!

Below I've listed some links to my favorite felt food tutorial sites I have come across! for most of them we used the basic patterns found on the sites..some of them you just end up winging it and seeing how it ends up. I was loving making them with my mom.. and sophia loves playing with them! her uncle daniel (my little brother) was genius enough to throw the felt donuts in the air and she thought that was hilarious and has decided that that is now the official way you play with the donuts. throwing them. :)

FELT FOOD TUTORIALS 

Some link to one pattern/tutorial while others link to lists of tutorials.

http://snazzlecraft.blogspot.com

http://www.u-createcrafts.com

http://torreadora.livejournal.com

http://turkeyfeathers.typepad.com

http://keeperofthecheerios.com

http://joeandkristenolsen.com

http://breadandbuttons.typepad.com

http://americanfeltandcraft.wordpress.com

http://maedchenmitherz.wordpress.com

have fun! and get crafting!
BIG THANKS AGAIN TO THE AMAZING MAMA OF THE BUSY BUDGETING MAMA. :)

ps. this is how i blog now.....haha. on the bed. very quietly. with a sleeping bambino in my lap. :)

Circle Felt Garland- TUTORIAL

To see more photos and party ideas from my 
sophia's sweet shoppe birthday party click here.
I also used this Garland for the girls' Easter Morning Tea Party!

My Sophia's Sweet Shoppe Birthday Party

So excited to share about my Sophia's 2nd birthday party!
it was a great celebration with family and friends!!
every sweet shoppe party theme needs it's own village! Welcome to Sweetopia!
I used free boxes from home depot (yay for broken trash compactors!) some cheapppp fabric from ikea, a leftover can of red paint and white trim paint and other items from around the house to create a whimsical play place for the kids! (and a few of the adults tried to squeeze in. ;) 
I especially loved the circle felt garland we made! (tutorial link below)


 all the busy work was totally worth it when i saw the smile and gasp on sophia's face and her skipping around saying "my houseeee my houseee! i wuv it!"

i saved up all of our food boxes/milk cartons to stock the grocery store! and used sophia's shopping cart from target.
 
my mom was my amazing seamstress who sewed up these adorable aprons with fabric from ikea! each apron ended up costing 50 cents. not bad for a custom party favor!

while i waited to go into labor with sienna i kept myself busy with my mom at night making up these fun felt food creations for sophia! they were our present to her.. i was all about giving her something soft for when they go flying at the new baby's head. :)



most sweet shoppe dessert buffets are stocked with candy..candy galore! but i wanted my dessert buffet to be approachable and kid friendly! especially for a 2 year old party. why tempt the kiddies with candy they can't eat! i think that if you were having a mainly adult or older child party you could do the hard and chewy candies and it would be more appropriate. i was so happy with how it turned out! 


i used a graphic i made up to be the backdrop. pretty good bang for your buck. the tulips i pulled from around the house. (artificial flowers?! ::gasp::) i'm all about using what i have though! and fresh flowers can get pricey. for a 2 yr old....these worked great.
 
some store bought some home made... mixed them in together! created fun cotton candy holders from marthastewart.com and added my own little graphic to personalize it for my sophia's sweet shoppe. also created wrappers to put around wilton's (bought at Joann's) white snack cups. 
 
i really wanted to make the drinks cute...without having to buy individual bottles (which i loveeee..but they add up.) so i made a cover to put over the soda bottles! i thought they were so cute. :)
menu wise it was home food..nothing to fancy. the kielbasa(with brown sugar) was a must on the list..gotta make my polish hubby happy. :) but i especially loved the cantaloupe(orange) and watermelon(pink)..my mom lovingly balled them up and they looked delicious! and pretty cute too. hehe. 

.................................................................

the boys in my life were great at moving over the "village" to our party site (thanks guys!!)... 

and my mom was such a help baking up a storm with me in the kitchen!! (thanks mom!! i love you.) that's my little 3 week old sienna below.

and our fabulous friends chuck and debbie were cooking yummy food for us! 

(couldn't have done it without you guys! thank you!)

i would like to blame the craziness for the following photo but in reality... ever since i was little i was known for burning things in the oven.... still do.

I'll be posting tutorials on all of the fun party details...from how i built the village to the felt food! all on a budget. so be sure to stop by to learn some fun diy projects to throw a party without breaking the bank! i'll also be adding some of the party details to my etsy shop so check back for that! 


SWEET SHOPPE TUTORIALS:
-Circle Felt Garland
-Felt Food Tutorials
-Hanging Tissue Pom Poms
-Centerpiece/Wall Tissue Paper Flowers

i'm linking up here