So far, April has been my favorite month this year. It's the right kind of busy where there is always something to look forward to or do. The Tulip Festival is currently running, the farm reopened, Easter is right around the corner, and the Spring Fair is at the end of the month. There are so many things to show the little bear and our weekends are quickly filling with activities - just the way that I like it!

While we aren't out, enjoying our breaks of sunshine, I've been working on spring and summer inspired projects! There's something about transitional seasons that really inspires me to sew. I love getting a break from a dark color palette and seeing the stores filled with pastels, florals, skirts, dresses and heels. Unfortunately, my account has also felt the crunch this time of year because of my love for all of those things [Insert the saddest face] However, I have learned that you can indulge a little and still maintain your budget without sacrificing taste or quality which brings me to these lace curtain panels that I found at Value Village for $2.50

DIY Gingham Crop Top

I am so excited that spring is finally here! Every where you look, there are fresh leaves, flowers blooming, and sunshine! Thank heaven for sunshine!

There's no better way to celebrate than with this season's staples: gingham, ruffles, and a crop. I've been wanting to try out a crop top for awhile but, I'll be honest, I hate working out and I love cookies so most crop tops don't flatter my shape. However, this design is belly friendly for those of us who want to wear a crop and eat our cake too!

DIY Memory Quilt from Footie Pajamas

Remember a few weeks ago when I posted about how I was having the hardest time letting go of Hugo bear's cute little footie pajamas and created those DIY sleeper mittens? Well, I decided to save all of his sleepers from his first year and create a little memory quilt!

St. Patrick's Day Refashion

The other week I went thrifting with my mom and I found this forest green dress from The Limited for $3.49 and in the cart it went. Lurve, at first sight. It's always interesting to go thrifting with my mom because, even to this day, whenever I pick something out, she gets a really nervous look and tries to redirect my attention onto something else. To be fair, the dress was a major don't for my body type. Drop waist, sheath but too tight on my hips, too short, and the 2000-esque bow nicely accentuated a post-baby bump that shouldn't be there anymore (it's just so rainy outside and I'm definitely guilty of sometimes giving into the sweet tooth).

DIY Car Seat Pillow & Life Update

I can't believe that it's been almost a month since I've updated the blog!

Life has been crazy. Hugo was sick for a couple of weeks and then shortly after the terrible twos found us early. Like, super early and it is exhausting. I find myself trying to sleep whenever possible which means that the majority of my sewing projects have been neglected. Eek! We are trying to find a better routine to make things a little easier on the bear (and his parents) but it's a work in progress.

If you've been following my blog, you probably remember the post that I shared about Hugo's updated car seat. Well, his car seat is officially expiring next month so we purchased a Maxi Cosi and are waiting for it to come in!

DIY Maternity Sash + Baby Shower Details

This week our little bear became sick for the first time. Instead of catching the common cold or flu, he came down with croup and strep pneumonia. Croup in itself is already pretty scary but anytime you hear the word "pneumonia" associated with an infant, it's downright terrifying. Thankfully he is doing really well now and is continuing to improve daily. Since our little bebe is still not feeling well, I don't plan to post often until he is better and this is going to be a rather quick post.

DIY Evening Dress

The evening dress is finally complete.

I feel like there was a lot of build up to this moment throughout the month and there were so many moments when I thought that I was going to finish much earlier than I anticipated. I knew going in that this was going to be my hardest project to date and it was though, not in the way that I imagined that it would be. As you know, this dress was inspired by the Oscar De La Renta  gown that I talked about in a previous post. I knew that I wanted a classic bodice with a chevron paneled skirt in order to achieve a similar look.

DIY Rustic Baby Shower Banner

I know I always say this... but it's been SOOO busy! We went on an Ikea trip this weekend which means there are boxes every where, old furniture on it's way out, and just stuff every where you look. It's been driving me crazy the last few days which means my upcycling has been on hold. However, I have been sewing a few things here and there over the last week. The diy evening dress is almost done (cross your fingers that I won't have to seam rip the skirt, again.), and I've been sewing a few decorations for an upcoming shower, and a few other things that will be announced soon-ish.

Transformation Tuesday: Footie Pajamas to Mittens

This week was another busy one and a lot of routine hopping for the Hugo bear which meant nap and sleepy time were all over the place. Getting anything done was a challenge. Hugo is definitely an active little boy and I am learning how to keep him engaged in activities as well as directing his energy so he doesn't become bored so easily. I think boredom could be a large fraction as to why he doesn't sleep through the night. This week we experimented with alternating an activity at home and then with an activity out of the house. My mom got him a Mickey Mouse calendar for Christmas and we write down our big or outside activities and talk about any events that are going to happen that day. I am also trying to rearrange our routine at home. We're so used to letting Hugo determine how the routine is going to be set and doing things around his nap or nighttime. Since he's getting older, I think that starting to do things while he's awake and letting him participate a little is going to be beneficial in keeping him engaged and learning. I think that I noticed he was ready for a shift in routine at home when he wanted to "help" do the dishes, got really excited to see the vacuum, and attacked the broom. haha. He's the cutest!

DIY Evening Dress Pt. 1

A big (or not so big) event is coming up this month! I will be turning thirty. My last some-what cool milestone birthday. Truthfully, I spent a lot of time thinking about turning thirty when I was in my mid-twenties. I was kind of nervous to be creeping closer to the big 3-0 but luckily, it isn't at all like I imagined. I read an article once that said being in your thirties feels good and I have a feeling that I am going to enjoy my thirties.

In order to celebrate, I decided to sew myself a fancy dress! Last month when I popped in at the thrift store, I found 3.5 yds of black and white striped satin material for $4.99. Score!! I wasn't entirely sure what I wanted to do with the fabric until I came across this dress by Oscar De La Renta and I fell in lurve.

Transformation Tuesday: Playsuit into a Sweater!

In November we bought Hugo a playsuit from Carters that looked so warm and adorable. Since we are awful at surprises, we couldn't wait until Christmas and gave it to him early so he could start enjoying his little suit. Let me say that I loved this suit for about 2 washes and then material/interfacing began to unravel at the inner leg seam. It was an easy enough fix, albeit an irritating one. I also began noticing a good deal of wear-and-tear signs in the legs like, matted material, layers of fuzz, and noticeable differences in the knee after about 4 wears. Nope, nope, nope. I think at this point, the creative wheels started to turn. It was much too soon to get rid of. That would be such a waste of money, plus it had some issues so it would most likely not sell at a thrift store. I thought my, that would be a cute sweater though. So, I made it a sweater! Also, Hugo grows the most in his torso and tends to outgrow the lengths of his sweaters and shirts long before the sleeves so I was really pleased with how much length I was able to get from the playsuit! It's so easy that it doesn't really require much of a tutorial, to be honest. Even Scott was surprised by how quickly it went and said, "You're done?! That took you like 15 minutes!" Yup, easy.