With thanks to some instructions from here and a certain six year old who took care of 100% of the decorating, Milo got owl cupcakes for his birthday. I'm not sure that they really look like owls - maybe that has to do with peach slice eyes (hey, we improvised with what we had) - but Sadie told Milo they were owls and then all he kept saying was "owul, owul, owul!"
Sounds like success to me.
Hilariously, when I went looking for inspiration to make a stuffed owl I came across Meg's post from 2007 that jokes you aren't officially a craft blog until you've made a stuffed owl. Clearly I'm incredibly behind the times on this one and had no idea that owls were such a craft staple. And since my blog has a personality disorder already (is it for knitting? for sewing? random musings on my boring life?) I'm totally okay with the lack of official status. So that being said, back to owls.
Milo has a real love affair with owls. He spots them in every book, loves saying "hoot, hoot, hoot" and asks Jay to watch videos of real owls on the computer (videos which kinda freak me out - barn owls are surprisingly alien-like). With his birthday coming up, I figured making him his own stuffed owl was a slam-dunk. So over one nap this weekend, I used some fleece scraps and made this funny guy (using this image as a guide). It's not the best looking owl, but Jay assures me that Milo will love it regardless. It's soft and squishy and I'm trying my best not to start all over again.
Hoot, hoot.
The idea behind {this moment} - courtesy of the always inspiring Soulemama - is just so lovely. There haven't been many pauses around here for a few months but today I took a deep, relaxing breath. Outside with Milo, on a Friday without plans, we played with his train. The breeze lifted the edges of our blanket. It was the perfect temperature for socks, bare legs and a sweater. We laughed, I gazed at the blooming peonies and we ate pickles and cheese, which is Milo's idea of the perfect picnic food. It was exactly what I imagined {this moment} was meant to capture.
(The only real distraction was the actual camera, but without it how could I get such a hilarious, too-close shot of my fella?)
A while ago Sadie was planning a costume for a birthday party she was attending (a "halfway to Hallowe'en" theme - awesome idea!). She wanted to be a lamb, which somehow meant she needed a bolero, and after telling her I couldn't possibly knit one in time she agreed that a sewn bolero would be perfect. I had a Fabricland errand anyway, so I figured Sadie would enjoy coming along and picking her own fabric. We had discussed the bolero being pink and I imagined finding jogging fleece or jersey in a solid pink. Perhaps you can already see where this is heading.
We get there and I spot jogging fleece ends that are perfect. Trouble is, the bin right next to the ends is full of hideous crushed velvet bolts, all with horrid patterns - the kind that are burned into the velvet if you know what I mean. This is fabric that doesn't even register in my vision as I walk past it...but it stopped my six year old right in her tracks. Any thought of pink flew out of her mind as she fixated on silver. With snowflakes. In crushed velvet.
I tried a few tricks I'm not so proud of. Worst was telling her it was too expensive (while I'm loading up on fleece ends with no destined purpose), and I kid you not, a sales lady walked by at that exact moment and said, "oh, it's on sale right now too". Defeated. But there was a moment when I heard myself forcing my own style and wishes upon my sweet little girl and I stopped. Grabbed the bolt and said we'd make this work. Not surprisingly, Sadie was super excited.
On the way home we brainstormed how snowflakes might work with a lamb costume until we landed on Sadie being a Snowflake Fairy. So by the time we walked in the door, my unfortunate reaction was forgotten and Sadie was thrilled with her costume idea. Sewing with the fabric was absolutely awful, but the resulting bolero is what Sadie called "the most favourite thing I've ever made her". This whole episode made me appreciate my own mom all over again, because even though her style is far more in line with Sadie's, she accepted my plain and simple tastes while I was growing up. We may have had moments like Sadie and I just did, but my overall memory is that she never forced her styles on me which allowed me to be confident in my own opinions. And Sadie should feel proud of her love of all things sparkly and silver, just like her grandma.
This mothering thing sure isn't easy. And I should say, Sadie was a beautiful Snowflake Fairy.
