Everyday Beauty

In the News...Prize Ribbons!

 
Hello Friends! I wanted to share some fun news and a short video clip with you. Yesterday, the Birthday Girl prize ribbons I designed for my shop were featured on The 10! Show, on NBC Philadelphia News. If you live in that area, maybe you saw the show.....if not, you can play the video clip right here if you'd like to take a peek:

What a fun segment coordinated by the gals at Busy Bee Lifestyle! They featured various festive {and pretty} birthday decorations and other sweet ways to add extra special touches to a birthday party celebration. I'm honored that they chose the prize ribbons as part of the lineup! Their website, www.BusyBeeLifestyle.com  is an on-line magazine for women, a place where you will find inspiring ideas in entertaining, decorating, celebrating and more. They have a weekly newsletter too! Click here to sign up and receive their fun ideas & favorite finds right in your Inbox.

Sofia....Through Tiffany's Lens

 
Every so often you meet someone special, and you know your paths have crossed for a reason. You know you have found a friend, and you're lucky because real friendships are not always so easy to come by. In my life, I've been blessed with the love of many friends, but the one I'm writing about today is my friend Tiffany.

If you know Tiffany, you know that a ray of sunshine seems to follow her everywhere she goes, and she can turn a crummy situation into something hilarious and happy. To know her is to love her. And as you can see {or already know} she's a very talented photographer with a keen eye for capturing beautiful moments.

She and her husband came to stay with us for a few days recently, and we learned that time really does fly when you're having fun! They got to witness our crazy daily life, and we got to enjoy the company of friends, share some hearty laughs, good food and refreshing Margaritas.

When she wasn't holding Sofia, she was photographing her, capturing her precious baby-ness so well. It brought tears to my eyes when I saw these pictures for the first time. And George instantly made this first photograph his computer desktop image. {He can't get enough of his baby girl.}

We three girls had lots of fun with the photo shoot, putting flowers in Sofia's hair and fluffing lace and chiffon tulle all around her like a nest. {Poor thing, she doesn't stand a chance of escaping flowers and tulle anytime soon!}

 
I am so in love with these pictures of her. It's been tough choosing which ones to purchase.

 
Worn out from the photo shoot, Sofia decided to take a little nap....

 
Let's do a flower change, shall we?

 
It was nearly the hottest day of the summer {hence the Margaritas} so we didn't get to stay outside too long with the little one. Tiffany took these sweet pictures of Sofia on my old velvet chair while we tried our best to get a little smile out of the baby......she was at the age where she was just starting to discover her smile.

 
This cute smirk is saying, "Mamma, I think this flower is entirely too big for my little head".

 
Little angel wings on her shoulders. I love the vintage look Tiffany created with this photo.

 
She even got some candid shots of the boys just hanging out on the front steps. Unplanned, no fuss, just brothers being together.

 
Sammy concentrating on getting his tootsies on the pedals.

 
These photos of my children will always have a special place in my heart because they were taken by a dear friend, and each picture holds a happy memory of our time together and the laughs we shared. Tiffany....we all want to know....when are you guys coming back?!

 

Bag-arella

 
With a last name like Singarella, it leaves the door wide open for all sorts of nicknames around our house. For example, if I've been baking a lot, George calls me Bake-arella {no connection to the wildly popular and scrumptious blog, Bakerella, whose author, Angie just released a new book}. If Mario can't stop sneezing, he's Sneeze-arella. When George is driving too fast {usually on the Pennsylvania Turnpike}, he becomes Speed-arella. If Sofia or Sam need a diaper change.....Stink-arella.You get the idea. We throw these nicknames around all the time.

So today, as I piled up my bags for our little weekend trip, George walked in the room and said, "Hey there, Bag-arella, how many bags are you taking? Do you really need all of those? We're gonna run out of room."

Well, yes, I sure do need them all. Let me explain. This one is packed with books and magazines....
 
This one has sewing stuff to do in the car....
 
This bag is for my toiletries.
 
Sofia's things are in here...
 
Diapers and wipes and other baby necessities are in this one....
 
And a big one for clothes of course.
 
And then there's my purse and a little cosmetics bag as well. What can I say? I love bags. Always have since I was a little girl.....and I always will. It's a girl thing. No sense trying to explain it to a man.
 
Are you a Bag-arella too?

KinderCone

 
On Monday, I officially joined the millions of other mothers who sent their beloved children off to Kindergarten. {sniffle, sniffle} It actually went better than I thought it would. Mario was just fine, and I only shed a few tears. George was highly impressed at my ability to contain the waterworks.

 
I had read about the German tradition of giving a child a KinderCone on the first day of school, and wanted to make one for Mario. I'm always looking for a reason to make gifts and celebrate the special moments of our lives.

 
So, I just rolled a big sheet of posterboard into a cone and trimmed it with some pom poms. I spelled out his name with felt letters and filled the cone with inexpensive little goodies. Quick and easy. He already had all of his school supplies, so this was more for fun, a treat I knew he would love.

I found some little trinkets and erasers, pencils, punching balloons, a tiny notebook, toy animals a wooden tic-tac-toe game.....and this Super Mario car.  :-)

 
And now only 2 of my little ones are home with me all day. It feels strange. I miss him. But I know he's loving his days at school and spreading his little wings a bit more everyday.

 
Edited: After Carola read this post, she emailed me and shared this picture of her as a young child in Germany, with her own school cone, handmade by her mother. And that's her little sister there with a mini cone {so as not to feel left out}. Isn't this just the sweetest photograph? Thanks for sharing, Carola!
 

Crib Bedding {made with love}

  
I don't think I ever mentioned it, but I decided to make all of Sofia's crib bedding myself. Months were spent measuring, cutting and sewing bumper pads and a crib skirt. A labor of love, and now I can say I know why custom handmade bedding is so expensive!

 
I totally over-simplified this in my mind, as I tend to do with everything. It wasn't difficullt to create, just very time-consuming. But the best part is that it cost me less than $50. I have had this floral fabric for years and never knew what I would do with it. As I rummaged through my stacks of fabrics one day, I knew it would be perfect for the nursery.

 
I only had to buy some solid cottons for the ties and ruffle, and a soft cream flannel for the inside face of the bumper. I added another layer of batting to the bumper pads I already had from Sam's crib bedding, since they were looking a little flat.

One broken needle, 3 spools of cream thread, countless bobbins and a million straight pins later, I was finished. {On a little side note, I would not recommend waiting until your 9th month of pregnancy to finish a project this big, but I am ever the procrastinator.....}

 
I wanted a ruffle on the bumper pads, and since I don't have a ruffler foot on my sewing machine, I ended up doing it the old-fashioned way. I think there were about 200 straight pins in this ruffle! I was worried that the thread would break as I gathered, but was extremely gentle and took my sweet old time.

Here are the ties I made for the bumper, ready to be stitched on.

 
And then for the skirt. Let me ask you....have you ever thought it was odd or perhaps frustrating that crib skirts only fit for a short period of time? I mean, once you lower the mattress, the skirt is dragging on the ground. It bothers me. So, I made a 2-tiered version with a detachable lower layer that will come off when I lower the mattress before too long. 
 
I thought the little pink velvet pom poms were a sweet way to offset the flowers. It is a little girl's room, after all, and I didn't want it to look too serious. Pom poms have a way of making anything a little more light-hearted.

 
For the skirt, I used leftover tiers of cream ruffles from the tablecloth I made 2 years ago. They simply needed measured, cut and trimmed with the pom poms.

And this is where my little bambolina rests her head. I'm happy with the way it all came together, and so glad I could make this for her. Made with lots and lots of love.

 
P.S. Thank you for your votes for Mario! xo

Vote for Mario!

 
Hello Friends! Mind if I ask you for your vote? My Mario is in a fun little portrait contest, and the 3 kids with the most votes will get his or her portrait hung in our local Chick-fil-A restaurant, in the kids' play area.

Beverly Toves is a well-known photographer who lives here in Fredericksburg, VA. I've always admired her work, and she has taken all of our kids' portraits through the years. She asked Mario to participate in this contest, and since he's such a ham in front of the camera, he was all about it! The participants were asked to bring fun props or favorite toys to the photoshoot......
 
For Mario, it's balloons and trains, balloons and trains, balloons and trains. Since he was 1 year old. Cracks me up. We are thinking he has a bright future as a circus clown......
 
Beverly took several photos and really captured his playful side so well. We had to choose just ONE picture for the contest, though, so we chose the one of him blowing up the big red balloon.
 

 

 

If you would like to cast your vote, CLICK HERE. You can vote once a day, everyday, from now until September 17th. He's super excited about the contest and would really appreciate your vote! Thanks a million!
 

Sparkly Summer Centerpiece

  
Even though August is coming to an end, I'm still hanging onto Summer {as I always do!} and am just now getting around to some of the crafty summer projects I've had on my mind for months now.

I had this idea for a table centerpiece ring covered with seashells and pearls and old rhinestones. Didn't quite know what to use for the base and how it would all come together, but I knew I wanted to use some of my old jewelry pieces and have a ruffle around the edge. I had seen these flat wooden wreath bases at the craft store and thought it would be ideal, not too bulky.

The ring got a quick wrap of washed-out aqua dupioni silk ribbon, and then I glued an edge of thin pink & white striped cotton piping and gathered lace around the outer edge:

 
After the base was wrapped, I just started fitting seashells and shoe clips and earrings all around the ring, like a puzzle, until they were all snug and crowded in there.

 

 

 
And just when I thought it was done, I'd find a little spot for one more thing....

 
I try to challenge myself to use things I already have on hand when creating a craft project. All I had to buy for this project was the base for only $2. {Of course I bought everything else at some previous point in time, but you know what I mean!}

And now {though we're at the end of summer} we have a sparkly summery centerpiece on our kitchen table.

 

Flea Market Marathon

 
The Big Flea was in town a couple weekends ago. I always look so forward to it and try to go when I can. I wasn't planning to go this time around though because it seemed too chaotic with Sofia eating every 3 hours and all.

 
But George insisted that I go {he knows there's honestly no place on Earth I'd rather shop than a good flea market} and just see what I could see in the time I had between feedings. So, I went. Rushed through there like it was a marathon, and found some pretty little things afterall. Hooray for simple pleasures and small pieces of alone time here and there!

 
There were tons of laces & trims to be had, and not overpriced I thought.

And there are always jewelry vendors galore. Loving this shade of green.

 
Couldn't resist this pin, thinking it would be fun on a denim jacket.

I ended up finding several old rhinestone pieces to use in my jewelry designs.  

 
Oh, but the best find of the day was a nightstand for Sofia's nursery. It is so sweet I can't stand it. Once I get her room all tidied up I'll take pictures and show ya. 

Be back soon.....I feel like I have so many little mini blog posts to share with you. Nothing too major, just prettiness and fluff, as usual.......{laughing}.....

Friendship Bracelets

 
Recently, I made Vintage Trinket Bracelets for two of my dear friends. For me, it's especially fun to make jewelry for friends, and to personalize the pieces with trinkets and charms that have special meaning to them.

 
The Fancy Farmgirl herself {Tiffany, that is} and her husband came to visit us a couple weeks ago, and we had so much fun. Even the Virginia heat didn't stop us from heading outside to do a little photo shoot. She took tons of photos of Sofia and I can't wait to see them all! I made her this bracelet as a thank you present and a token of friendship.

 
If you read Tiffany's blog, you may know she has two donkeys & many chickens, among other animals. So I was happy to find this vintage aqua donkey charm and chicken charm on etsy. Gotta love etsy...you can find just about anything there! The little gold camera charm also came from etsy.

 
The bracelet below was made for my friend Jenn. Back in April, she hosted an event in Georgia {that I would've loved to attend had I not been 8 months pregnant!} I sent her this bracelet as a small gift of best wishes for a successful event.

 
The event was called "Petticoats & Parasols" so I added a little silver parasol charm and a snippet of pink tulle. The vintage Georgia state charm is something I already had in my stash. It was the perfect color for Jenn's bracelet.

 
Her signature colors of pink and aqua....

 
I've made lots of charm bracelets throughout the years, but the ones made for friends are always my favorites.

For my Giorgio

 
I love sidewalk chalk, probably more than a 34 year-old woman should.

 
The kids and I go outside often and scribble away. It's a fun way to write little sentiments for my husband to find when he pulls in the driveway.

Today is our wedding anniversary, and this is the simple message du jour.

 
Happy Anniversary, my love. xo