Sneak Peek

Ava turns 5 this week.  Crazy!  She is having a pajama/rainbow themed party at the house this Saturday where all the little girls will get glitter tattoos, make rock band bracelets, make their own ice cream sundae and play musical chairs and other fun games.

One of these games is a version of "Pin the Tail on the Donkey".  This one is called "Pin the Ava on the Sleeping Bag" in keeping with her pajama theme.  So today, I made the game with a little help from Miss Ava herself.

Each of the girls will get an Ava (with their name on it) and will try to pin it on the board.  If I actually had photos of all 12 girls coming, I would have made the pieces look like each girl, but alas, I did not have everybody's photo.  Too bad! 

I also got all crazy and made her invitations, water bottle labels, party favor tags and hair barrettes (for part of the favors).  Will post photos after the party.

Here's a look at her invite (I changed the address for privacy).  I love using photo invites because 1) they are unique 2) custom and 3) inexpensive. Good things all around!

Shelves

I made these book shelves for Ry's room about a month and half ago and we finally hung them up yesterday.  Yay!!  I used these plans from Ana White (great site - highly recommend checking it out) to build them.  I am very proud of myself as I had to use power tools (a scroll saw for one) which I never do.

I think they turned out well and were worth the $30 I spent for all 4 (note: we can't hang the 4th yet since Ry will definitely try to pull it down).  I also used paint we had on hand...I believe it is the same can of oops paint we have used on the back door, an outdoor table as well as various other projects.  Best $5 spent.

Tank Dress

This is just sad.  Not the dress I made, just the fact that I have had the fabric cut for this dress FOR A YEAR.  Finally got around to making this simple and super cute tank dress for Ava.  Thankfully, the tank top/cut fabric was still long enough once they were sewn together. And it worked out because I was able to use my brand new serger for this project.

Definitely will have to take a better photo of Ava in this.  I also whipped out another one later that week.  I had also cut the fabric a year ago.  Better late than never!

Daddy Shirt

I don't think a week goes by that I don't hear about how much Ryan looks like Darren (deja vu for me...think it was the same with Ava).

So seeing as I have been wanting to try freezer paper stenciling, I decided to make Ryan a "Daddy" shirt so that people really could compare the two. Especially when Darren is not with us. I originally intended to save this as a surprise for Father's Day but sadly I am bad at keeping secrets.

Oh well, Darren liked it anyways (even if he found it a bit funny that his face is now on his son's shirt).   Ava, of course, saw Ry's shirt and said that she too, needs a Daddy shirt. Maybe I can make her a cute "Daddy" tshirt dress?