Say Cheese (and wine and wedding)

At the 4th of July party (I've called it the pre-wedding reception, my sister's engagement party, and it was emailed as a "welcome Henrick to the family" party), my sister set up a photo booth. She's crazy for hats and scarves - here are some photos from the day.

Alison and I kicked off the photo booth. Most (older) women that wore the boa felt scandalous.


I am crazy jealous of Julianna's curls. She didn't have to do anything to them once she got out of the pool. The cowboy hat is fitting - she LOVES horses.

I'm headed to Melinda & Chris's wedding this weekend, so I thought I should show their pretty faces when they're not wearing the white dress & tux. Yes, they wear boas on a daily basis.

Lauren's Apron

After blogging about the apron I made for Alison back in January, Lauren quickly responded to the email with a plea for one too. Once I realized her shower was quickly approaching, I decided I could make that for her instead of waiting until Christmas.

This design just screamed "Lauren" - I wouldn't have been comfortable if I attempted any other one. After a trip to JoAnn's and some (unsuccessful) phone calls to try to ask my mom & other sister for advice on the fabric, I found two patterns that would work.

There were a few elements that I haven't worked with before. Extra stability was added in the polka-dot belly piece, and I top-stitched almost everything. I was actually surprised at how easy the top stitching was. It would have been even easier if I did it all at once and not on three separate days. It turned out nicely - I think this has been my best stitching so far (excluding that yellow toddler dress I made - I'm still too proud of making the pattern too).

After I gave it to Lauren (I'm not going to be in New York for the shower and wanted to get a pic of her wearing it before I left last week), she decided to attempt to drown her Husband-to-be with a bottle of seltzer water. Henrick declined my offer of making a matching dress-apron for him.