Saturday, December 18, 2010

The Dress-Up Closet pt 1

I was inspired by an old armoire that's been taking up space in River's room since we moved in.  I've always thought it would make a great dress-up closet, so I decide this year my big Christmas gift to the kids would be to outfit it for them.

Starting in November, I scoured used clothing stores for costumes, accessories, and clothes I could easily convert into costumes.  Since we're leaving for Vegas tonight (and I can't really carry a closet in my luggage), I had an early deadline. 

 My first find at an antique store was a fantastic vintage hat and a pair of gloves (the hat is wrapped in tulle and is just the kind of thing I would have loved as a girl).  I took a child's skirt and added some straps to make a fancy dress.

 The tutu's were a yard sale steal ($1 for both!) from last summer.

 Another fancy dress and a fairy cape I made from an adult skirt.

 I found the knight costume at the Garment District and cobbled together two different pieces from the Salvation Army to make a martial arts outfit.

 Blue from Blues Clues also came from the Salvation Army, and the turtle was River's Halloween costume from 3 years ago complete with homemade shell.

 Two capes made from adult skirts.

 Magician/Evil Villain and Super Hero.

And a last minute Fairy costume from the Garment District, which needed a little work around the seams.

And that's it!  In all I think it cost maybe $30 and I'm sure it's a present that will get use for years to come. I know River will probably lean toward the hero costumes and Lila (once she's older) toward the girly ones.  But I love that there are options and if River wanted to be a fairy and Lila a knight I would be delighted!  

We gave the kids their big presents last night, so I'll have some reaction shots to show you.

Sunday, December 12, 2010

20 pictures and this is the best


River's response to the holiday family photo

doing stuff

 Lots of adventures this week!

 River and I baked Christmas cookies - we even managed to decorate most of them before devouring the batch!

 Lila got into the cabinet and opened a box of Bisquick all over the floor.  Her brother helped to clean up (by which I mean he posed for the picture with a broom).  Good work kids!

We met up with some friends at the Science Museum and River had a blast in the K'Nex exhibit.

And Lila enjoyed her time in the fishbowl at the Discovery Center.

Tuesday, December 07, 2010

Hey Lila...

Let's go to the library.

 I love the library!
Me too. Why don't you pick out a book?

 Hmmmm.... what to pick...

 Got one!
Good. Let's find a comfy spot to read.

 Okay.  What now?
Well, open it up.

 Hrmph.  This is hard.
You'll get it.

 Got it!  Now what?
We read it.

Like this?!
Yes.  Yes, that's perfect.

Lila on the move

These kids sure are in sync.  River took his first steps just a few weeks before his first birthday and Lila-girl has done the same thing!  I take full credit for the poor cinematography here - but the star of the show is top notch!



Double click on the video to see the whole screen.