worth the wait

you know the phrase, the cobbler's children have no shoes? well, in our house, it is often chided that the photographer's family has no pictures. don't get me wrong, we have pictures . . . of our children, sometimes even all 3 together. but, those pictures rarely contain one of us, much less both.

in december, josh told me how one of the photographers whose style he really admired was coming to do a workshop in our city. no one comes to our city. like no one. during our discussion, i asked if he would want to see if he could do a shoot of our family. josh seemed shocked that i asked but agreed it was an amazing opportunity as he was coming to where we lived. so, we begged. uh, i mean asked. and, he obliged. 

we couldn't have imagined a better experience. it stormed all week, but this morning it was beautiful and even a bit chilly. 

our children responded like we never see. they are used to someone taking their picture, you know. 

of course, josh couldn't leave the house without a camera of his own, so he shot some behind-the-scenes pictures, too. i love seeing both views. to see jonathan's favorite pictures, you can go here. and, it was also featured here. thank you so much, jonathan! we will treasure these forever!

"i'm a princess"

i think most girls go through a princess stage. they watch cinderella or sleeping beauty and daydream about discovering they are a princess and maybe even finding their prince. for some reason, i was a little shocked when this all began with spencer. for her, it wasn't about the story, it was about the dress.

we knew there was a hand-me-down snow white dress somewhere, but we hadn't been able to find it anywhere. i stumbled upon it one day in april while in the attic. she immediately put it on . . .  and slept in it . . . and demanded to wear it the next day. i'm talking clothes had to be removed under the dress and pulled up through in order to dress her. she wore it to bed, to preschool, to target, to everywhere she went.


while wearing her new favorite outfit on a trip downstairs in daddy's arms:
s: i'm belle.
daddy: no, you're snow white.
s: oh.
daddy: can you say mirror, mirror, on the wall, who's the fairest of them all?
s: ME!

(picture taken during an quick outing to the mall.)

while watching the royal wedding, she pointed to cate middleton and said, "look , momma, she's a princess just like me." ("yes, baby. yes, she is.")

although she doesn't wear the dress every waking moment anymore, she does still think she is a princess. "i'm a princess, too .  . ." i think every little girl should think they are a princess . . . and i think sometimes it's okay to treat them like one, too.

wait . . . don't leave yet

you are at the right place. we just made a few changes. pigtails & pjs was conceived when miller was a newborn. we've had a lot of transition in the last year and it just seemed time for the blog to follow in that transition. so, we have a new name. but, we will still be showing you a bit of our everyday life with a crafty snippet here and there. and, we hope you stick around ;)

how to make this kid happy

this little boy is passionate. he loves like no one else. he loves books and space and food and his family and his friends and . . .

super heroes. like all of them. one of his favorites is the green lantern. so, i decided i would make him a shirt, but it got put in the pile of crafty to dos. and, well, that pile is big . . . huge . . . like never ending. once a few things cleared out, i found this:

 see, i had good intentions--i bought the shirt and even drew the design on freezer papaer.

so, when i was ironing something else the other day, i decided to make someone a little surprise while he was at kindergarten camp. i will show you what i did in case you are lazy like me and don't like to read the instructions on the freezer paper box. this is also to prove to all you girls out there who say you aren't crafty how quick and easy some projects are ;)

step 1: buy supplies (shirt, freezer paper, and paint. i use tulip soft fabric paint in matte.)

step 2: draw design and cut it out or use your cricut (even easier) to do so.

step 3: iron freezer paper onto shirt. make sure your steam option is turned off. this only takes a minute and you just want to make sure that it is adhered to the shirt so your paint won't seep into the area you don't want painted.

step 3 1/2: realize that you ironed the wrong pieces down and do it again. an awesome side note about freezer paper- the same piece can be ironed again and again.

ahh, much better.

step 4: paint your design. i used a stamping dauber to keep my paint thin in hopes that it would have a more vintage-y, faded look. i usually use a foam brush.

step 5: let the paint dry before peeling off the freezer paper.

this is a hard step for me. i am always so anxious to see what it looks like that i peel it off in advance and just try to be careful.

 my favorite little boy in his new shirt:

 my favorite little boy in his new shirt with super hero arms . . .

my favorite little boy in his new shirt with super hero arms and . . . just kidding. that's it.

thrifty thursday

it's back!!

school has been out for exactly two weeks. it is possible that i have accomplished more in those two weeks than in the last year . . . well, at least six months.

i don't know what it is about summer, but it makes me want to paint walls, sand random pieces of furniture and sew pillows and such. is it just me?

it could be my slight obsession with this person or her new show about her summer house. summer house? can i just have the kitchen? and, where in the world do they find those shops? i have never stumbled upon such ah-mazing pieces in my life! so, with a huge desire to find a bargain and a desk for my ever so crafty six year old, i searched the estate sales this past weekend. i mentioned to my mom i was going and she volunteered to tag along. i feel like i make much better decisions when someone is there to help justify my cause. and, well, that she does.

here is my loot:

 um, hello . . .

 still not helping . . .

whatever. at least she isn't blocking anything in this one. what you see: a janky iphone picture taken in my dark, but newly painted entry (ahem, i told you i'd been busy) . the little desk is a past find, but it held all my new treasures nicely so it got to stay for the picture. other things you see . . .

three yard sticks (love),
a vintage globe (no idea how old, but hawaii is not a state, so at least 1948.)
a turquoise tupperware cheese holder (replacing the one i had but the top cracked)
vintage aqua pop beads (who knew?)
two mismatched vintage salt and pepper shakers (because they are adorable!)
a random red metal thing (any ideas?? it cleaned up quite nicely and is now holding pens and such)
a vintage metal mold (plans to use later)
a designers curve (a sewing tool that currently cost $15, but this vintage one cost me $1)

and . . .
a 16x20 green frame
a 3x5 aqua frame
a vintage industrial 4 loaf bread baking pan

the last three came from a local antique store i drug josh to on our day date last week when my mom volunteered my parents graciously asked to watch our kids.

and, remember that desk i was looking for . . . well, i also brought home this:

in fact, it was the reason i headed out, but once i saw it in person, i started to wonder should it be for miller? i planned to paint it, but should it be sanded and left au natural?  i love the shelves! they would be so cute with a couple of girly baskets, but they would also be cute with a couple of metal bins. can i find another one before carter thinks she lost out?? please feel free to weigh in . . . in fact, it would be much appreciated ;)

shhh . . . it's a birthday party

in april, miller turned 5! i really can't believe it. we planned to go to chicago like we did when his sister turned 5, but 3 weeks before his birthday, he decided he wanted a party. like a real party with friends and a theme and what not. um, okay. what kind of party? 

his first idea was super heros. i envisioned hours and hours of sewing capes and "eyes" for each kid, combine that with easter and the dress i needed to make his sister for the week before and our first ever family photo shoot the week after and i just saw crazy. me crazy, that is. 

any other ideas? a book party. huh. i think we can do that. and, so, we did. a book party it was, specifically, focused on the library because he loves to go and read and borrow books.

the invitation . . .

 a hand painted canvas directing guests . . .

welcome . . .

the library . . . complete with our personal favorites . . .

because everybody deserves a birthday banner . . .

they began by enjoying the library . . .

and making their own personal book plates . . .

we read one of miller's favorites, i wanna iguana . . .

then, headed outside for a few games . . . a book carrying relay

and, a character matching game . . .

 we taped a character on each person's back and they had to ask around to find out who they were and then find the character they matched

 like the man with the yellow hat and curious george

or peter pan and tinkerbell.

then, we headed back in and read harold and the purple crayon . . .

and then made a mural like harold.

one of miller's favorite things to do is make books. he staples paper together and draws his own story inside. he shared one of his recent books with his friends and then we invited them to make their own.

at every birthday party there is something that doesn't go as planned. whether good or bad, it just goes differently than you expected. this was it. i thought they would zoom through this activity, but instead, they thought carefully . . .

 drew intentionally . . .

 and, even asked to share their creations. it was quiet, it was inspiring and it was really cool to see their imaginations unfold.

then, it was time for cake . . .

a very specific cake request from the birthday boy . . . an open book.

we headed back outside to eat and open presents because it was too pretty outside not to.

and, as the party came to a close, each child received their own treat:

a library bag freezer paper stenciled with read., a book, bookworm glasses and some gummy worms complete with googly eyes.

i think book nerds were created in all. 

random photo friday

i wanna be a . . .

during the week, we have two days off from preschool. april is a busy, busy month for us- full of wedding season, a birthday, a holiday and whatever else may lie. so, our days off are spent at home while mommy tries to get things done like sew, clean, etc. 

 spencer found carter's guitar one day and it was love at first sight.

 strumming along . . .fentle wittle, wittle tar  (her version of twinkle, twinkle little star)

moments later upstairs, she found something else . . .

 her tutu and hat, as she calls it.

trying to entice her brother . . .

life in the lime light is hard. rock star . . . ballerina . . . who knows? but this kid definitely has some personality.