Birthdays

Birthdays.

"Do not regret growing older, it is a privilege denied to many." - unknown

In December, I celebrated a milestone birthday.

My day started in the same way it has for the past 10 years.  My handsome husband lovingly prepared a fruit platter for my birthday. 

Though I anticipate this fruit platter every year, I am always surprised at how it's presented.

No detail ever spared.

Fruit lovingly sliced.  Candles lit.  Flowers in vases.  And, this year, the addition of barn wood trees and birch coasters added a rustic charm to the beautiful display.

 

My day, was turning out to be every bit as magical as my birthday last year.

What I hadn't expected, an equally beautiful display that was waiting for me after we returned from a celebratory dinner. 

 And...there was a present.  A present Grace happily opened.

A present with another surprise, a note asking me to look on our back porch.

And, when I finally looked up, my eyes welled with tears.  A beautiful chandelier was temporarily hung (and will in a few weeks permanently be hung in my kitchen) on our back porch.  I'd always wanted a chandelier...just as I had always wanted to have a husband that would make me feel special and loved, and had hoped to have a beautiful little girl.

Dreams do come true.

I can't wait to see what he'll do for next year :)

*My very beautiful chandelier was purchased from Overstock for a steal of a deal.

Teaching Shapes

Grace, as most of you know, started kindergarten this year.  In the beginning of the year, a sheet was sent home with things your child is expected to know before the end of the year. 

One of those things was shapes.  How hard can shapes be, right?  Grace knew things like square, triangle, circle and diamond but those weren't the only shapes she was expected to learn. 

Diamond was now referred to as rhombus.  Oval was now referred to as ellipse.  And, fun shapes like trapezoids and hexagons were added into the mix.

Thanks to pinterest, I came across a fantastic blog AMSTI Kindergarten Style, that shared this teaching shape method.  Though they didn't have a tutorial, it's easy enough to figure out. 

Have your little one paint Popsicle sticks.  Each shape will be painted a unique color.  Then, have your littel one write out the name of the shape and the total number of sides on each stick.

Depending on ability level of your child, you might want to cut the shape out of paper to add them in piecing the sides together to complete the shape.

Pull them out, let your little one have some fun building their shapes. 

Once they've mastered building the shapes you've made, have them try and create new shapes. 

Baby It's Cold Outside

It's been cold...so cold, even the trees are freezing.

How cold is it? 

Of course that's wind chill.  

Wind chill is a temperature that represents the “feels like” temperature of wind on exposed skin in terms of an equivalent temperature in calm conditions.

So, basically, we have been housebound for 3 whole days.  

No going outside for snow tea parties.

 

No snow painting.

No school.   No grocery shopping.  No driving.  I'm going stir crazy.  

I may not be enjoying these frigid temperatures but it makes me happy to see there are some that are.

Photo curtsey of Brookfield Zoo

If you are experiencing this polar vortex...stay warm.  If you are blessed to be some place warm, enjoy it enough for the both of us!

The 30 Minute Apron Tutorial

Does your little one have a play kitchen?  Or, do they like helping you cook or bake?  This (give or take) 30 minute apron will let them look stylish doing either.

You'll need fabric and a sewing machine.

For this child size apron you'll need approximately 44 inches by 12 inches of fabric for the apron skirt.  The tie will require approximately 66 inches by 3 1/2 inches (though, I did elect to make my apron tie long enough for a big beautiful bow to be tied).

Start by folding your fabric for the apron skirt in half, right sides facing each other, or cutting out two sections of your fabric to measure 22 inches by 12 inches when folded together.

Optional:  Add curved edges to the bottom of your apron.  To easily add curves, use the curve of a plate as a template.  Line up along one corner of the apron, using a rotary cutter cut along the curve.  Fold your fabric in half, to cut the same curve on the other side of the apron.

Now it's time to sew!  Sew down one side of your apron (or if you folded your fabric in half - start sewing at the rounded edge, beneath the fold), across the bottom and back up the other side of your apron.  Leave the top of the apron open.

Clip the corners of your apron, if you opted to curve your edges.  If you left your corners square, clip the points of the edges off, close to seam line.

Turn your apron right side out and press.

Optional:  Top stitch down one side of your apron, across the bottom and back up the other side of the apron.  Though not necessary, top stitching gives your apron a finished more tailored look. 

Optional:  Gathering the fabric at the top of the apron.

To gather the fabric at the top of the apron, grab some string, long enough that it spans the length of the apron.  Do a zig zag stitch wide enough that it goes over the string.

Hold one end of the string in place, while you gently pull the other side of the string, gathering the fabric as you go.

Try and space the gathered fabric evenly so one spot isn't more gathered than another spot.  You should be able to freely adjust the fabric, as long as you hold the string securely.

Time to create the tie.  Want to save a step, use wide ribbon as your tie.

Or you can make your own tie...

Your tie can be made long and wide as you want.  The tie I made is roughly 66 inches by 3 1/2 inches.  To make it long enough, I needed to sew 2 sections of strips together to get the length I wanted.  Press all sides of the tie over roughly a 1/4 of an inch.

Pin your tie to the top of the apron.  Open the 1/4 of an inch seam you pressed, line the outer edge of the tie up with the top of the fabric. 

Sew along the seam line you created from one end of the apron to the other end of the apron.  Take the apron off of the sewing machine.  Fold the tie up, along the 1/4 of an inch you just sewed along, and then fold the rest of the tie, in half over the top of the apron.  Sew the tie into place using a top stitch (basically sew as closely to the bottom of the tie as you can).

Continue top stitching down the length of your tie, across the end of the tie, across the top of the tie, down the opposite side and back to the front of the apron, where you began.

Now go do some imaginary or real baking in style.

First shared with One Artsy Mama.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year!

2013 had some memorable moments...

While Wearing Heels was featured in a magazine.

 

Last year, I made a promise to myself to get in front of the camera more.  There are so many pictures of Grace but there were so few of me.  For Grace's sake, I decided it was time to stop being so self conscious and to start stepping in front of the camera.  As a result, I was able to capture some beautiful moments, including what has become my favorite self portrait from last year. 

My sweet little girl turned 5.  FIVE!  We threw her a bunny themed birthday party that we invited her entire preschool class to...and we all survived.

The While Wearing Heels Etsy shop expanded to include more of the woodaholic's barn wood creations.

And, of course, there were crafts that were made...many, many crafts.

1. Architectural Display Pieces Tutorial
2. Natural Log Slices Coaster Tutorial
3. Crafting With Kids
4. Felt Gnome Finger Puppet Tutorial
5. Embroidered USA Quilt
6. Fabric Corsage Tutorial
7. Embroidered Watercolor Mason Jar Tutorial
8. Souvenir Postcard Artwork
9. Make A Wish Dandelion Embroidery Tutorial and Pattern

Thanks for being around this past year. 

Happy New Year!

The Big Christmas Card Reveal

Our Christmas card, this year, started in a traditional fashion.  Little girl, dressed in her best Christmas dress, standing in front of a decorated Christmas tree, with her dog by her side. 

Thanks to Capture the Magic, I was able to add a Santa into our card.

The only thing missing, a clever quote to go along with the scene.  "You saw Mommy kissing no one...got it."  Playing off the well known song, I saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus. 

So...From my family to yours, Happy Holidays!  Enjoy spending time and making memories with your friends and family.

Also wishing you a safe and very happy new years.  

Until next year.  

Many blessings to all of you.

Christmas Cards of the Past

If you hadn't already noticed, I like to interject a bit of humor and levity in my life and my posts.

My Christmas cards are no exception.

The first year we sent out Christmas cards we went with the naughty and nice theme.

Ironically, it was easier to take pictures of naughty, with the bribe of a treat.  Nice was a bit of a challenge.

The next year, the pressure was on to try and top our naughty and nice card. 

We gave naughty the year off and went with some career humor:

 

Grace holding a letter written to Santa with a thought bubble that says:

'And if I don't get everything on my list, my lawyer will be in touch with your lawyer about a little legal issue we call breach of contract.'

Grace even had her lawyer {her daddy} on retainer just in case.

I thought it was funny but people were disappointed Riley didn't make the picture.  

So, back by popular demand, the next year included Grace and Riley.   This time, both models were bribed with treats...Santa's treats.  Grace happily ate Santa's cookies and Riley happily lapped up Santa's milk {a peanut butter filled cup}.

The next year, I couldn't think of anything witty so we went with a simple message about believing...

 
and made sure to include Riley.

Last year, we tried to bring the funny back

and left Riley out...

This year's cards are all mailed out.  They are arriving in mailboxes as you read this.  Is Riley is it?  Did we come up with a good theme?  You'll have to come back tomorrow and see for yourself.