Monday, April 21, 2014

Our First Official Davenport Easter!!

For the first time ever, Ian and I hosted a family event! We held our first ever family Easter dinner and egg hunt and, as usual, we really didn't decide this until a week before Easter (the zombie party we did was only decided a day in advance so I guess a week was a step in the right direction). Since this was our first official Davenport event, we wanted everything to be perfect. Ok so maybe Ian didn't care as much as I did, but I'm always seeing such adorable parties on Pinterest that I wanted mine to match. We had my parents, Ian's parents and his two brothers over and my initial idea of making a pink wonderland decor wasn't going to flow with there being 5 guys and only 3 girls (one day, I will get to throw my vintage floral tea party!) so I tried really hard to tone down the pink and flowers. 
The invites for both families were vintage-y:

Since I knew I would still be cooking when they arrived, I made sure there were little snacks for everyone until dinner was ready. These are coconut macaroon nests with a chocolate mini egg in the middle:

Choco Tejas de coco are SO yummy and they kind of have the egg shape so they were a go for Easter! My favourite is the coconut but I made pecans too (my dad's favourite):

Everyone had a pre-filled basket:
 They had two big eggs (everyone had two more big eggs hidden around the house), mini Lindor chocolates, bunny marshmallows and I knitted everyone a little bunny to take home:

I saw this on pinterest for a little kid's party, but I thought watching grown ups play this game would be really funny!:

I love everything cutesy about this dinner, but I wanted to remind everyone (in a vintage way) of the main focus of Easter:

Each place setting had our Gordon Ramsay china that my godparents bought us for our wedding (gracias tios!!) and Royal Doulton silverware from Ian's grandpa (also from our wedding). The silver chargers were from Home Sense and the glasses were Ikea:
I normally don't do assign seating, but I had to try this idea out that I saw in a magazine!:
 Here's everyone!
Then Ian took one of me in the group:
 I am so used to having bread when we have a big dinner that when I forgot to buy some at the store, I had to make some from scratch (which actually turned out great!):
The asparagus was all my mom! I hate veggies and when I told my mom my menu, she said she would take care of the veggies:
 Best. Fruit Wine. Ever. :
 As much as I hate veggies, adding bacon and garlic to anything makes it yummy to me: 
 Oh boy, the ham! I didn't grow up eating ham, so I don't absolutely need it like I would turkey at Christmas. But when I was told someone had already bought a giant ham for Easter dinner, I was kinda bummed because I have no idea how to make it! (Thank you Google for the recipe that everyone loved!): 

 We also had scalloped potatoes and deviled eggs for dinner.
Then, we had to find our eggs that the Easter Bunny hid for everyone. They were all labelled with everyone's name, so it was fun watching people get excited that they found one only to see that it wasn't their egg:


Our Easter dinner was complete with an appearance from our very own Easter Bunny!:

Friday, April 18, 2014

Baby Boy Church Onesie

I find myself in the baby section of stores a lot recently looking for cutesy gifts for my friends having babies. Have you noticed how everyone is having a baby?! Seriously though, everyone! One thing I have noticed is how the little boy section doesn't have as much cute outfits (maybe it's because I love pink things and frills and that's all in the little girl section) 
Now I have no idea what babies need (I haven't even held a super young one before!) so I buy what I know: clothes. 
For my friends having little boys though, there's nothing for them to wear to church that's even kinda dressy (as dressy as you can get a baby). So I made this bow tie onesie!
Bow Ties:
The bow ties themselves were different patterns, but I'm showing the plain yellow so you can see the details clearer. I cut a big rectangle (5.5 x 7.5 inches) and a smaller rectangle (2.25 x 3.5 inches). 
Fold the big rectangle in half, length wise:
And sew a seam:
You're gonna want to pull that tube inside out so you don't see the raw edge: 
And keep the seam in the center of the tube:
Now fold the tube in half so the seam is on the outside and sew it down:
And you should have this:
Now turn that tube inside out so that you don't see the seams and you are going to iron it flat. Make sure you iron the seam like I have it below:
Now take the smaller rectangle and fold it as you would if you were making your own bias tape:
Take the big rectangle that has been ironed and fold it so it takes the shape of your bow tie:
And sew it together. I did it by hand because I don't think you can do it with the machine:
Now you are going to need snaps. I bought mine at Michaels with a coupon and they were super affordable:
Take your smaller rectangle and a set of snaps:
I poke the bottom part of the snaps through the fabric for placement and because it is way easier like that:
Then out the top snap onto the prongs sticking through the smaller rectangle and hammer it in place: 
I put the spoil ontop because that's what the package of snaps suggested in the instructions but this only lasted for one bow tie:
Once the snap is secure, wrap the small rectangle around the bow tie and see it in place
And there's your bow tie!

Onesie:
I made two onesies (I got plain white so it resembled a white shirt you would wear to church):
Mark the middle of your onesie with a pencil so you know where to put the snap. Make sure you are using the other half of the snap! I used the flat part for all the bow tie and the knob on the onesie. Also, I cut a piece of felt the size of a quarter to add to make the snap more sturdy:
Place the felt on the inside of the onesie so you can't see it: 
And stick the prongs of the snap through:
Now you are definitely going to need the spool. Match the hole of the spool and put that over the knob so it doesn't damage when you hammer it down:
And your snap is in place!

And your little man is now ready for church!



Here's the deal with the snaps though: I don't trust them all too much! I love Michaels craft supplies but there have been times that I followed instructions exactly and it didn't work perfectly. So even though I did what the instructions say for the snaps, I still take them off super carefully. When taking off a bow tie, I put my nail in between the gap of the snaps and help it separate:
That way you don't rip them off, and you can prolong the life of the snaps (until your little dude outgrows the onesie)



So I sent these off with my mother in law who was heading to Alberta to see my new cutie patootie nephew with a few other little things too!


I knitted this bow tie bib that you can find here!

 And I made something still for baby, but cute for mommy to carry around: a diaper clutch that fit 4 diapers, bum cream, wet wipes, and a plush diaper mat (because those hard plastic change stations don't look clean or comfy)
I was going to do a DIY on the diaper clutch but I seriously had no idea what I was doing! Buying the bum cream alone took about 30 minutes because I had no idea what to get (and there are SO many options!) And the diapers were a whole other story (why are there so many different types?!)