A Super Fantastic Birthday for Two

We had a combined Birthday party over the weekend for Noah and his Birthday twin Lucy...And Oh what a blast! It was Cake, Animals and Arts and Crafts Galore. Noah was all smiles and full of sugar by the end. So much of my thanks goes to Leanne for planning all the wonderful activities she did such an amazing job the children were so well occupied that I don't think a single meltdown....which is amazing when dealing with a bunch of sugared up two year olds.


Daddy helping out on the treasure hunt.

I wonder if Noah knows yet what a great dad he has?

Blissfully Devouring some Cake

I did most of the food prep but again Leanne took care of the cake and what a cool cake it was!

Lovey Japanese Floral Fabric

I found this beautiful linen at Okadaya the other day and absoutlely could not wait to make something from it. I ended up with a beautiful little dress and a little boxy pouch. I have attempted clothing before but none has really come out the right size or it just ended up being too wonky to put on my child. But finally I have something worthy of being worn! I am so excited with the way it came out. The funny thing is that I did not follow the patterns directions. I wasn't thrilled with the way they constructed the bodice it was a bit long and confusing. So instead of the many many steps they required I just faced the lining to the front and back pieces respectively then stitched along the neck and arm holes then turned it right side out faced the front and back pieces to eachother and stitched up the sides. It just seemed easier and more logical to me.

I really love this fabric!

Machida Des

I should really be in bed but I had to do a quick post. I took a trip to okadaya today my absolute favorite fabric store in Japan. And I spent way to much money on incredibly cute fabric. But what he dosen't know can't hurt him right? They have really cute pul here which is neat because im about to make a bunch of cloth diapers for my boys. Heres the PUL I bought: Well more specifically training pants for my oldest and diapers for Alex. I was really happy to have Mary along with me today she taught me how to read the kanji on the content label of the fabric (I can now tell if something is cotton linen poly or a blend!)

we got to walk around in the open markets a bit...I got to see alot of petrefied fish (actually fish dried & whole meant for snacking) I also found out that a bag of kidney beans...plain kidney beans nothing special about them at all can cost you 8 dollars a bag on the economy here.

After our fabric shopping and wandering we stopped for some sushi which im almost embarassed to say was my first time eating sushi at a traditional table here in Japan (why haven't I done this sooner?) but the sushi was great now if only I could get my husband to do something like that with me.

Back to the fabric I think I wanted to buy every print in the store...But I settled on these:

Also here are a few pictures of some of my more recent creations!

A sling for Alex:

A Taggie Blanket for him as well:

And a Little diaper and wipee case to keep my purse neat:

Sweet Fruits Lend

Well my Goal today was to make and blog a little coin purse made out of the kimono I bought the other day. That apparently wasn't in the works. Instead I ended up making another crayon roll this one for my friends daughter Lucy. This one came out considerably better than the first but still has flaws. I love the fabric I made this with. It was printed here in Japan and the has some "almost english" on it. Printed all over between the apples it says "sweet fruits lend" which just makes me chuckle a bit.

I bought the little matchbook notepad from a very talented etsy seller see her shop here http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5241847 They are the perfect accessory to my crayon rolls and I really love them. I mean what good are the crayons if you don't have anything with you to draw on.

This morning this was the view from my backyard...

My sister posted new pictures of her jewelry on flickr...she is so talented so much more arttastic than I am haha. She really has a unique sense of style and in a good way not in the how do I say you have horrible taste without making you feel bad sort of way :)

I love her stuff http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5110635

Ok I need to go to bed before I pass out face first into my keyboard.

Today was such a wonderful day! My son woke up this morning with a need to wear a hat which made him just about the cutest thing ever. How could my day have possibly gone badly when I got to watch my son trounce around like this all morning.
After his morning with his boshi we got dressed and went for a walk to do our errands for the day. I had to pick up my pants from the tailor because as much as I love to sew I really hate to do my own alterations. And because it is tuesday the antique store was open so I went and had a look around. Before today I had no Idea that there was a discount room........why oh why didn't I know this ahhh I found the most wonderful vintage Kimono! Better yet the first tag I saw said $100 ok then it turned out that was an old tag the real tag was on the floor it had fallen off the kimono it was only $25 cool! But when I went to pay for it it was somehow only $6....^pause for dramatic effect^ SIX DOLLARS!!!!! I can't wait to make something fantastic from the fabric!

I just wish I had a little girl and not 2 little boys.

So my day was set in stone after this find Im still bubbly from my score! But on top of that I went to our toy store (which just about never carries anything worthwhile) My freind had told me she had gotten a great deal on a couple of toys the other day and my sons birthday is comming up.

Now I have been wanting to get my son a play kitchen for some time now but my husband is a stubborn ox and refused to get this for our son over and over again. But much to my delight today there was a play kitchen for sale in our local toy store and not only did they have one in stock but this happened to be the day that my husband decided to cave into my pleas! What a wonderful wonderful day!

Crayon roll madness

So I recently came across the a crayon roll. I immediatly decided my son needed one I went picture hunting in Flickr (I love flickr) after looking at many many many different disigns I just sort of winged it. which resulted in a slightle lopsided proto type. (don't you just love the Japanese robot fabric!)

After this attempt and my 2 year olds test drive of it. I decided I could improve upon the design and that a certain piece of dinosaur fabric that I had lying around was destined to become my second attempt and that my friends 3 year old who loves dinosaurs should get to enjoy this one.

Now I think I have an idea for the perfect crayon roll and this one will be going to my sons birthday twin Lucy just as soon as I decide which fabric should be transformed.

Before the new Arrival

So I have been keeping busy this past week by finishing up little projects for the boys. I'm still working out the kinks on most of my projects because I'm an absolute novice seamstress. I absolutely cannot wait until my grandmother arrives here being that she is an actual seamstress and hopefully she can impart some of her knowledge on me. Today I went to a nearby recycle shop and picked up a few t-shirts to applique..I plan on giving Noah a couple of special big brother gifts for when his brother arrives one of those will be a t-shirt to let everyone know that he is The Big Brother!


I did manage to finish one of the crib blankets the boys are sharing the nursery so I wanted to coordinate their bedding. I am a big cheat though the crib blanket looks like a quilt when in fact its just a quilt top cut from some wonderful fabric I found in a little shop nearby.

My other little project was a tiny bib made from some cute alphabet fabric and some minky fabric I had lying around now I just need to make a matching burp cloth.

This blog makes me realize how sad my little camera is I think its time to upgrade.