Craziness and Tutu's

It is finally quiet and peaceful in my house. For an hour or so anyway. The cookie monster is asleep and I have some me time. So, I figured why not catch up on the blog. Well, to be honest I was checking out a friend's blog and thought it was time to update mine. Her blog is called Shutterscheck and she is an awesome photographer. She took my belly pics when I was pregnant and the aforementioned cookie monster's newborn pics.

So check her out.

We went to Vegas a couple of weeks ago and I sorta wish we were still there after the morning I had. Who knew a 13 month old could cry so much about EVERYTHING!! Oh well she is cute enough most of the time that I will forgive her. Check out this pic of her in a tutu.



Super cute I know. That tutu took me 2 days and over 100 yards of tulle to make it. It is reversible so it would be black and white with a pink fringe when it is reversed. I didn't get pictures of that though because the monster quit cooperating after I took it off of her. I'll make one for anyone who wants it but it will cost you. Of course if you want to make your own you can buy the tutorial for it here. There is a free tutuorial that makes a similar tutu here but after buying the Bella Ragazza tutorial I would say that it is well worth the $7.50!!

Well I think I hear the cookie monster stirring so mommy time is over for now. I will leave you with the link to my Facebook fan page for Chica Monkey Boutique

Birthday Planning!!!

It's hard for me to believe that next Friday my little one will be 1!! I love planning birthdays and when my oldest was younger I tended to go a bit overboard. I have learned in the past few years to limit myself to what I can actually get accomplished and what will work for certain ages. With that in mind I have decided to keep this party relatively small and invite only immediate family and one other family that we are very close to. Even keeping it that small the guest list is going to be a bit over 20 people!!

I usually have a theme for birthdays but this time we are just going to go with hot pink and zebra. I was able to find her invitations, plates and napkins at Hobby Lobby (and use a 40% off coupon...yay!!!) along with a special birthday girl hat.





I love doing birthday outfits as well to go along with the theme. For my oldest daughter's last birthday we had a pirate party and I made her a red and black tutu and she wore black tights and I found a white shirt with a black vest attached to it and she looked so adorable!!



So of course I had to come up with something for the little one as well!! I was trying to wait for Halo Heaven to get their new zebra pettiskirts in but around the 1st of April I decided I couldn't wait any longer to get everything ordered. Luckily one of the girls on the Hip Girls Forum had an extra one that she sold to me for much cheaper than I could get anywhere else (except Halo Heaven). My friend Jamie (who owns JC Pretties) is custom making her hairbow and shirt for me since I have limited sewing skills and no time to make her hairbow. I am sending some leggings, ribbon and tulle to my sister tomorrow so she can get those sewn for me. Hopefully everything will coordinate well and she will be adorable as always!!

As for party favors I am trying to make it as simple as possible with bubbles, bouncy balls etc. I am however attempting to make so tulle puff wands but couldn't get my hands on any 3/8 inch zebra ribbon on short notice so I am layering a 1/4 white ribbon on top of a 3/8 inch black ribbon. I'll post pics of everything after her birthday. Can't wait!!!

My blog: The Beginning

So I finally decided to give in and create my blog. I've been thinking about it off and on for a while now. Becoming a SAHM has a lot to do with that. I have to be pretty thrifty to be able to give my daughters most of the things they want/need. If I can make it myself I usually do. I do occasionally assign projects to my sister, mostly because she enjoys sewing way more than I do. Some of my projects over the past year include: Hairbows, Hairbow Holders, Wall Art, Feather Fascinators, Wedding Fascinators, Crocheted Amigurumi, Tutu's etc.

I love arts and crafts shows and went to An Affair of the Heart (a huge local craft show) yesterday. New ideas seem to be in short supply lately but I did find one thing I would like to try. Boutique picture frames like the ones at Anabelle's are definitely on my to-do list.

Right now all of my spare time (what little I have of it with having to chase a mobile 10-month old around the house) is occupied with wedding stuff. No unfortunately I'm not talking about my wedding. That is still a couple of years away according to the bf (but I'm working on him too in my spare time). No, a friends daughter is getting married in May and I am busy making fascinators for the bride and bridesmaids and a headband for the flower girl and jr. bridesmaid. I also get to help make her garter and bling out her veil, flower girl basket and ringbearer pillow. I will of course post pics as projects get made.

I guess that is enough introduction for now. I'm sure you'll get to know me better in the future!!! That is if I don't forget to blog about things. Did I mention that I'm a little absent-minded? No? hmmmmm I know I meant to do that...........