Easter Sunday

Easter here at the Bear Den was wonderful. The Easter Bunny brought loads of goodies.

He even brought some for Mama Bear!

Big Sister Bear and Little Sister Bear wore their O+S Easter best.

Nephew Bear wore his Easter best too.

We had a wonderful dinner that started with cold cucumber mint soup.

I used this recipe. It was delicious, Big Sister Bear told me so.

Our main course was an amazing butterflied leg of lamb stuffed with greens and cheese. It was absolutely fabulous and I would recommend it highly.

Recipe can be found here.

All in all, it was an amazing day. I've been getting a decent amount of sewing done and will be sharing some of my projects and some big news on my next post.

Happy Easter!

March Madness

My apologies for not blogging as often as I should folks. Things have been busy around here the past few weeks. Lots of sewing and quality family time.

I finished my Pattern Pact for March, the O + S Popover Sundress. This dress was very easy to sew. I made a second one (not photo yet, very windy here lately) and have a third cut out. I can't wait for warmer weather so that the girls can model them.

This one is a size 6 for our friends daughter who lives upstairs.

Here's a peek at the contrast stitching on the yoke and ties.

And it wouldn't be complete without a label.

I've also been practicing paper piecing and doing a fair amount of scrap busting. I made a couple of potholders, hot pads and a plastic bag holder for my cousin and his new bride. All of which I did not get photos of before gifting them. I am happy to report that they were well received and match the napkins I made them for their shower.

This month is my birthday month. My birthday was used as an excuse for lots of stash building which I'll post about sometime this week. This year was the first year I didn't really want to make a big deal out of my birthday. 27 doesn't seem to be a very monumental year, but who knows.

Music Class Skirt

I finished my Pattern Pact for February with five days to spare! This month I chose the Oliver + S Music Class Skirt. It's going to be Big Sister Bear's Easter skirt, because it reminds me of Easter eggs.

This pattern was a breeze to sew up. Even the pleats were easy peasy (and I was petrified of doing them)! I will be making more of these. Most likely with some of this...

...my anniversary present from Papa Bear. Eighteen and a half lovely yards of Liesl's City Weekend.

I also got an early birthday present today that I feel I should share since it goes along with the Oliver + S theme of this post.

Liesl's new book! And I have already picked out a few projects to start right away.

Funny Story

February has about a week left and I still haven't started my Pattern Pact for the month! I started the month out on a good foot and sewed up a few Lazy Days Skirts for the girls.

I did this for a few reasons:

1. We had a taste of nice weather to remind us New Englanders that spring is coming.

2. I wanted to sew something spring-y...fast.

3. I wanted to warm up before making my Pattern Pact choice for the month, the O+S Music Class Skirt.

4. These skirts are wicked cute and very easy to make.

On a side note I had labels made!

Now for the story part.

When I made the skirts I ran out of 3/4" elastic which is what my Pact pattern calls for. I went to the local fabric store last night and picked some up. Only to realize 5 minutes before the store closes that the clerk didn't put my elastic in the bag. So now tomorrow I'll have to head back there to pick it up.

I would've gone today but we had a big surprise for Nephew Bear.

Toy Story 3 on Ice!!!!

We had such a great time. He was so into his new toy that he wouldn't even look at the camera.

Three Years

Papa Bear and I celebrated our third wedding anniversary this week!

Our wedding was a whirlwind romantic affair planned in 11 days!

And was the best thing we ever did.

Until we had these cuties.

Mama Bear's Valentines

The last time we had professional portraits done Big Sister Bear was six months old!

We felt it was time for some new pictures.

Through facebook I had found out about a local photographer who was running a special for Valentine's Day.

It's a small world because it turns out that Amy, the photographer, and I hung out in high school!



Her company is Be Focused Photography.

She was amazing.

Extremely professional, punctual and patient.

We will be booking with her again come late spring/early summer for family portraits. We're so glad we've found a talented photographer.

Right after we got engaged our favorite photo store/studio closed unexpectedly.

Thank you Amy for the amazing photos!

One of the Best Things

One of the best things about having children is having an excuse to decorate for many holidays. With Valentine's Day right around the corner I figured some heart garland was in order.

It was pretty easy, just cut them out and sewed them in one long, continuous line. Using this tutorial.

They were very easy and fun to sew. So much fun that I ended up making four of them! The kids had fun deciding where to hang them up.

Today is the last day to enter your patterns for the February Pattern Pact. Don't miss out Beth has a super cute giveaway for this month.

I'll be sewing the O + S Music Class Skirt for February's Pattern Pact. Looking forward to seeing what everyone makes.