Chloe and Rebecca: Orange County

a couple of weeks ago i did this photo shoot with little miss Chloe and her beautiful mama.  

she is not a model but should be.

she was seriously beyond amazing.  

it was like she knew what to do. 

 i gave her very little direction and she blew me away.  i think her mom was pretty baffled also.  

my friend rachel was on the hair and make-up and did an incredible job.

(morning: Yorba Linda secret spot)

texture

last week we had a bit of cold weather and we even had a little rain.
southern california is doing it's best to try to keep fall away,
but i say welcome, welcome.
i enjoyed that taste of fall that we had.

i'm ready to cozy up a bit and from the looks of what makes me think fall

 i'm loving a lot of visual texture.

1. vanessa bruno sweater, 2. annie larson knit hats, 3. tom's, 4. vintage chevron afghan

Spring Florals

sources:

1 ashley g, 2 free people, 3 milly, 4 anthropologie, 5  grace design  

it's spring!!!

i love spring.  

i can't ever decide which is my favorite season...it's a close one between spring, summer and fall.

sorrry winter, i just can't handle the cold.

when i think of spring i think of new growth and a fresh start.

i think of birds chirping and flowers beginning to bloom .

i am loving all of the florals this spring.

i'm not sure if i could pull it off or where i would wear it but i love this floral headdress.

it is beautiful!

i need a serious update in my wardrobe.

i really want to sew some simple spring dresses, i just can't ever find the time...or if i do, i usually sew for the kids.

i'm pretty sure last year i had the same ambition, but this year i am determined.

this pretty dress is all the inspiration i need.

tom's update

i finally got around to fixing up ella's tom's shoes after seeing what ashley did to hers.

they were so destroyed i wasn't too afraid of messing them up.

this is how i tried to fix them up a little.

 i added an extra little butterfly on a spot that was falling apart.

 a little better, yeah?

i just used fabric glue so let's see how long they will last.

DIY: old tie into 2 new bows

bows are fairly simple to make but I like to cut corners and save time any chance I get...who doesn't right?

well here is a way to repurpose an old tie and make two new bows with very minimal sewing.  

I suppose you could do it a no sew way with just fabric glue but I have a hard time waiting for glue to dry.

here we go...

1. get yourself an old tie 

2. cut about an 8-9 inch section that is about the same width.  

(Some of those old 70's ties really get fat and it is hard to find a part that is the same width)

most ties have an extra piece in the middle to help the tie keep it's form- pull that piece out.

3. fold the piece in half with seam side on the outside, or right sides together and sew.

4. flip right side out

5. cut a small piece of fabric about 2 inches by 2 inches and sew along one edge right sides together. inside out...this is going to be the piece that goes around the center of your bow.

6. wrap piece around the center of the bow and pull as tightly as you can and sew. (TIP- I usually move the needle position towards the outside to sew closer to the bow)  

you can try to flip that piece so that the seam is on the inside but it's a real pain and I it won't even show when it is worn.

7. ella likes to wear headbands lately 

so I just slide the bows on and off and that way she can change them whenever she wants and she only needs a couple of different actual headbands.

these can also be attached to clips or pretty much anything with fabric glue.

here is the second style of bow you can make with that same old tie...

it is made pretty much the same way except using the skinny side of the tie. I also used a much longer piece to make a long skinny bow.  

this bow was made with a pice about 16 inches long.

there you go...

pretty easy, right?

Doily Cover-up

 I love quick and easy projects and this one was exactly that.  

A stain + half a doily = a shirt I can now wear!!

I just top-stitched the doily right onto the shirt.  

I probably should have backed it with another material but it is a lot more wearable now than it was.

I had my little assistant Julian on the camera and it looks like he had a hard time getting the camera to focus... ha, ha.

TOMS love!!

 WOW, you would never guess these are her favorite shoes, right?

She loves these shoes and before I go get some more, I'm going to try this genius trick out and see if we can get just a little more use out of them.

I'll let you know how it turns out.

Valentine's Day outfit

 Ella wears a uniform to school and there are only a few free dress days here and there, 

so you know what I had to do on a free dress day for Valentine's day, right?  

That's right...stay up super late making something for here to wear because I started at 10pm.  Ugh...why do I do this to myself?  I can't help it.

Anyways, here's what she got:

 a headband with felt hearts on a stretchy trim. 

 I have seen similar ones all over so I'm not exactly sure who originated it but I like it and that was a quick 2 minute job.

 I bought this black long sleeve tee and sewed this big lace heart to the front with a couple of buttons.

 Recognize this fabric from the last post?

I blocked out these pants from a pair of stretchy pants and just made them a little bigger.

The boots...oh, the boots.  

These are Julian's 'moto boots' but these guys are constantly battling

 over who gets to wear them.  

Julian showed a little love and let her wear his boots today.

Ella was enjoying her special treat of Apple Jacks that daddy slipped into her grab bag of goodies.

Have a love-ly day all.

To my little lovies and my one big LOVE 

you have my heart!!

LOVE you!!

the surf mobile...

I found these pics from when I was a kid...

no not really, but looking at them they totally could be. 

Growing up we had a big station wagon with wood paneling named TED (it was in the license plate or something, ha ha)...but it wasn't as cool as this one.  This one is the ultimate surf-mobile...too bad it's worn a little too thin.

 It even has a Trestles sticker on it...

We couldn't help ourselves...we had to get a few pictures with it.

barefoot days are over...

 the barefoot days of summer are over.  this girl does not like wearing shoes...at all.  flip flops are tolerable but starting tomorrow closed toe shoes are the requirement for school.  ugh!  it was such a battle some days last year.

'my feet can't breath!'

'my feet are too hot'

 today we are off to find comfy breathable shoes....i'm hoping these will do the trick.