Barbie is READY for July 4th!

Being a plastic doll, of course, it's so not safe for Barbie to participate in the whole fireworks deal, BUT she can show her patriotic spirit with my line of red, white, and blue outfits!

This year, with the drought in our area and the wild fires further west, my husband and I have decided to forego our normal fireworks display, too. We never have really gone "all out" anyways, so there won't be a huge difference. He does have the night off (Woo Hoo!) so we'll get to spend the whole day together cooking, swimming, possibly eating outdoors if it cools off -- it's been above 100 here lately!

 My menu planned for that day includes sloppy joes and fries for dinner - I know, not my usual culinary treat, but fun for all and fairly American. For dessert, I'm planning a Layered Fruit Flag Salad that looks and sounds delish! I love fresh fruit and this one has layers of pineapple, cantaloupe, blueberries, and strawberries. YUM! The recipe serves a fairly large crowd, so it's better suited to a gathering that just my young family, but I'm sure we'll polish it off in no time!


 I'll be back next week with some recipes and an update on my Christmas in July sale!! Have a great holiday, dolls!!

Jennifer's Favorite Finds

Well, dolls, I am still reeling from this:

http://www.ksdk.com/news/article/325551/78/Jennifers-finds-for-kids

At the beginning of last month, I was contacted by Jennifer to do this segment. I was so honored that she would pick me out of so many handmade artisans in the St. Louis area (ok, I'm not technically in St. Louis, but I'm from there!). And now, after weeks of planning and sewing, the segment aired live today!! It's so very surreal. I know that it's just local TV (mind you, the St. Louis viewing area is pretty far reaching!) and not national, but it's still HUGE. Last year when I started sewing doll clothes, it was just to make my daughter happy. And then several people suggested I try selling online, which I fell in love with doing. And craft shows are fun, too. I guess I never really believed I could be very successful. I'm just me. No one special. Right?

Well, I'm still just me, I'm still not very special. But I do have a very special God-given talent to sew and create doll fashions. It feels good to know that I'm making lots of little girls (and moms, dads, and collectors) happy!

So, watch the clip. Tell me what you think. And then shop for that little girl that is special to you! (Even if she is the child within!) To celebrate this momentous occasion with me, use coupon code SHOWME for 10% your purchase now through July 2.

St. Louis Trip and Dance Reunion

Hello Dolls!! This week has been an interesting one, that's for sure!!

I spent Monday finishing preparations to head to St. Louis - I dressed 15 of my best dolls in their outfits for the Show Me St. Louis feature and packed them in boxes. We only planned on spending the day in St. Louis, so I didn't need to pack much in the way of clothes for us, but since we were going out Tuesday night, I did pack some nicer clothes for that. I laid out our clothes for Tuesdays trip, and packed up the car...

My husband works the night shift at a local factory, so he got off and arrived home around 7:15 Tuesday morning. By then, the kids had already been up for awhile and I was doing some last minute things to get ready. We headed out around 8, stopping for breakfast and gas. We made only 30 minutes before a small voice from the backseat said, "Mommy, I gotta pee!" So we stopped and had all three kiddos get out and take a potty break. The rest of the trip north was fairly uneventful. I dropped my dolls off with Jennifer of "Jennifer's Favorite Finds" in St. Louis and then headed to my home town.

It's been almost 10 years since I lived in the St. Louis area and things have really changed. We come back to visit every now and then - but mostly we just visit family, very rarely do we revisit places or meet up with friends. This visit was for doing just that. Since my husband had worked all night, he needed sleep so I dropped him off at my grandpa's house. From there, the kids and I went to Steak 'n' Shake to meet up with an old girlfriend, Barb.

We had lunch and the kids were very well behaved! I was so proud! It was so good to see Barb again and catch up. Mostly though, I wanted to share her with my kids so they could know one of the most important people in my childhood. Barb and I became friends when we were 8 and went through a lot together - she is the one who introduced me to my husband 10 years ago. And even though we only see each other once a year now, my children need to know her.

Me & Barb in 2007

After the meal and some chatting, the kids and I headed back to my grandpa's home to rest and get ready for the evening out. My grandparent's have cable so the kids kicked back and watched the Cartoon Network for a couple hours - a rare treat for them. I woke my sleepy man up in time for an early dinner and then we all dressed up and headed out....

This year marked 10 years since I last danced in a recital. It also marked 56 years that Denoyer Dance has been open. This is the studio that I grew up in, the teachers there formed who I am and how I move. During my time there I learned tap, ballet, jazz, musical theater, swing, and Mexican folk dancing. I also learned about music, poise, grace, laughter, movement, and practice. I spent 14 years dancing there and the last two of those years, I was a teacher's aid to preschool classes. So, Tuesday night we went to Denoyer Dance Studio's 56th recital. It was a wonderful night - I saw teachers that I hadn't seen in years, fellow students that danced with me and are now teachers, students I had taught who were teens.... I couldn't believe it!! But the absolutely best part was halfway through the show when my almost-3-year-old daughter turned to me and said, "Mommy!! They is so pretty! I want to dance like that, too..." Talk about a proud moment - thank goodness there is a studio where we live now, because otherwise, I'd be making a two-hour commute every week for her to take lessons in St. Louis. 

Unfortunately, the night had to end and we had to drive back home. I was left feeling a little homesick for my old studio and wishing I still had my tap shoes to put on and putter around the house in. But I'm looking forward to the fall when Kari will be (finally!) old enough to start lessons of her own. 

This coming Tuesday, my Barbie clothes will be featured during "Jennifer's Favorite Finds" on Show Me St. Louis. It airs at 12:30 pm central on KSDK 5, if you live in the area. I will post a link here once the powers that be have put it online. I'm so nervous!! 

Have a great weekend dolls!

New Gown to be Revealed....

... but not today!! As some of you may know, I was contacted last month to have some of my Barbie clothes featured on a semi-local television program, Show Me St. Louis, during a segment called Jennifer's Favorite Finds. I am sending her 15 outfits complete with accessories - 13 for Barbie and 2 for Ken. Included will be a brand new gown....

I'm not revealing much about the gown today, but what kinds of gowns do you like? A-line? Imperial waist? With a train? Fairy tale? Long or short? With a slit? Tiered? Peplum?

There really are so many silhouettes that a gown could have! Which is your favorite?


I'll leave you with a few to look at and a hint for my new gown...

 

 One of these last four is closest to the gown that will be revealed on air... 

but it's not dress #2.

Stay tuned on June 19th to see what the gown will look like!

The Story of a Dress...

  Last summer, I introduced the Off-the-Shoulder Dress designed by  yours truly. I started with basic solid colors and then added a contrasting band and then I even tried a couple prints. Today I wanted to talk about the evolution of this dress and how it can be purchased in my shop today.

These first photo is the basic black version of this dress. This is where I started. But really... it goes back before that. Back to when I first started sewing Barbie clothes in December of 2010....

I had been a working mom of three and after 5 years of struggling and fighting to make that work, I gave in and listened to what my heart was saying - I decided to be a stay at home mom (SAHM). This was the hardest and scariest decision ever... aside from the possible financial woes and the stress of taking care of three small children (at the time they were 4, 2, and 1), there was the question of "What am I going to do all    day?".

I started making Barbie clothes after going to the local craft fair and seeing that there was no one making these anymore. It was something I had looked forward to buying for my daughter when she got older. The second pattern that I bought had the pieces to make a shirt similar to the dress we're talking about today. I had never sewn with knit fabrics before and had no clue where to begin. And there was the issue of my dinosaur of a sewing machine (it's 25 years old!) - it was chugging along ok, but it did not like these stretchy knits, especially when doing hems!! So I strayed away from that top and that fabric and moved on. But I kept coming back to wanting to work with these knits. They were so soft and there was so much I could do with them, if only I could get it to work!

Finally, I decided I would hand-stitch the hems. My machine was handling the seams just fine, so I would do the rest by hand. And I did! The first six dresses like this were made with hand sewn hems. My stitches were uneven at first, but they gradually got better. Oh, was I excited! But it was so time-consuming. How could I keep up with demand? How could I afford a cost-effective product? Well, I limited myself to just those six. If they sold, I may decide to remake them, but I wouldn't add any colors just yet.

In November of 2011, just 6 months ago, I bought myself a new machine - a Singer Stylist. Those first few nights sewing with it were a dream! All the issues I had been having with my ancient Kenmore were just distant gripes. I began to get more creative and I designed many more styles of dresses and skirts. I introduced a boutique style line of doll clothing that was made with brilliantly colored and patterned fabric.

Meanwhile, this Off-the-Shoulder dress of mine was selling. And selling often. And I was getting requests to make it in other colors! So the royal blue one came next. While all the others so far were made with cotton, this one is a polyester blend knit. It is still soft and stretchy, but it is more clingy - almost like Lycra, but not really. It is slippery and a little more difficult to work with that regular cotton, but it is so beautiful!

Now, I have begun adding more colorful versions of this dress - as you can see below! I have tried yellow with a white band and a peach ribbon, purple with a white band a lavender ribbon, and lime green with a navy band and lime green ribbon. Today, I took photos of two more of this dress - hot pink with a black band and ribbon, and pale pink with an ivory band and rose colored ribbon. They are too pretty, if I do say so myself.

So, how do you buy it, you ask? Simple! For a basic solid color dress, click here and be sure to specify which color you'd like! You can find the other dresses pictured here. Each dress is $11 plus shipping. And please remember, since these dresses are made brand new each time one is ordered, allow up to one week for completion. Normally it doesn't take me that long, but you never know what may happen and I like to give myself plenty of "just in case" time.

That's all for today, dolls! Thanks for letting me tell you about this fun, simple, and chic dress!