Ninja Turtle Princess Dress

In my last post I talked about Cordelia's third birthday- but I didn't mention what she was wearing! Part of creating a perfectly girly, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, birthday party means coming up with a girly Ninja Turtle outfit! Or in her words- a princess ninja turtle outfit. 

My hubby gets a lot of credit for helping come up with this design. We spent a lot of time bouncing ideas back and forth. I knew the dress had to be long, because Cordelia adores twirling and swishing in long dresses, and really no Disney princess wears a short dress right? He came up with the idea of the medallion on the belt having her own initial, and not one of the turtles from the show. He also kept me in check when I thought the belt went under the shell and not over it!

So after I sketched it out, and refined some things, off to the fabric store I went to buy more calico cotton- because if I can't make it out of calico or novelty quilter cotton, I'm probably not making it at all ;-) 

The green is a speckled/uneven tone which I thought made it look extra turtle-ish, the shell is a similar pattern but a much darker green, and the yellow has tiny vines and flowers. I added lots of brown top stitching to create the look of stomach and the shell. I forgo-ed a mask, or a pink headband to give the idea of a mask, because I knew there would be no way she would keep it on and it would make me nuts for the afternoon! 

The shell has batting in between it's layers to add weight and stiffness- so it could stand up on it's own and really give the idea of a shell, even when people looked at her from the front. I like that it adds a cape like effect too- which is very princess like. The best part of the whole dress:

It's machine washable, and the pink frosting came off it just fine. 

Happy Birthday, Dear Cordelia, Happy Birthday to You.

Brendon and I have a great kid. A really truly, fantastic kid. She loves so many things, and with such enthusiasm- which is a really cool part about this age, she always seems soo willing to throw her arms around my neck and tell me how much she loves me, or how happy she is to see me, or how much she has missed me. So far age three is all about emotions! Ecstatically happy, or dramatically upset- total roller coaster. Anyways, she has many many passions-  Bugs, animals, singing, riding her bike, princesses, art, and Ninja Turtles. Right now, especially Ninja Turtles. Which is why she requested a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Birthday Party. 

The challenge then became how to make the theme fit her! She is as girly as she is a tom boy and I knew she would be totally disappointed if there was no pink involved. So, I came up with the idea of making her the 5th Ninja Turtle- making her into a ninja turtle- the pink ninja turtle.

We didn't go crazy with the pink turtle but it was a great jumping off point, and I feel like it tied in the pink cups, forks, and balloons. And these super cute (and tasty- creamcicle flavored) cupcakes my sister made- with awesome toppers our other sister made! I am lucky to have such a creative and talented family. 

We ate veggies, fruit, Oreo "man hole covers", marshmallow pops in the key TMNT colors, chocolate pretzel  turtles, and pizza of course. 

The chocolate pretzel turtles were the best- and super easy! It's just a small pretzel with a piece of candy melted on it- I used Recee's cups, Andes mints, Kisses, and Rolos. I have such an all consuming obsession when it comes to party planning, making lists, thinking up new ideas (with lots of help from Pinterest, check out my party board!) getting everything done, but when it comes to the day of the party I never manage to stop and really get good photos! It makes me nuts at the end of the day. 

One of the things I most enjoyed about this party was that it was the first party Cordelia really had friends at- kids her age! Kids I got to make goodie bags for and plan activities for! The bags I made, and they were filled with coloring books, stickers, bubbles, TMNT masks, homemade green slime (mutagen!), and temporary tattoos. 

For activities we had "Ninja Training" where the kids fought balloons (and each other) with foam swords made by Brendon, "Target Patrice" was a bean bag toss made by me, "Make a Ninja" was a play dough station- with homemade play dough made by my sister, and you could "Take a Picture With a Ninja" thanks to the amazing photo station painted by my brother and sister in law! 

She must have left food on her face. 

It was such a fun party- and it was really neat to watch her open all her presents, and inspect everything, and get soo genuinely excited and grateful for everything. I'm really grateful for my family who helped sooo sooo very much, and to everyone who came out to help make Cordelia's 3rd Birthday amazing!    

Kid's Clothing Week: Outfit Two, Cowabunga Guys!

I couldn't help but add another photo from between the pillars- Cordelia loved looking through them. The location that we took these photos at is actually right up the street from our hose- right next to one of the parks we go to all the time. This little pavilion is in the not so maintained area next to our city's official buildings and Miss C thinks it's her own little stage, she has a lot of fun singing and dancing and being crazy inside of it. 

I was really happy to find this fabric at my local Joann's- I had been stalking it on the internet and I was able to pick it up as soon as it hit our store- and with a coupon (the main reason I hadn't ordered it online from someplace else). It's cotton- my favorite fiber to work with and it features one of Cordelia's main obsessions - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. 

These days I don't know which she likes more- Ninja Turtles or Princesses! She was totally stoked when she saw this fabric- and when I asked her about piping color she insisted I used blue- because that's her favorite turtle. I love being able to sew because it gives me the ability to make her things that are unique just like she is- she is such a girly girl, but she loves Ninja Turtles, and it's so hard to find her things that aren't super boyish looking.

The dress is self drafted, with tulip sleeves, two large pockets in the skirt, and a zipper in the back. This is the first time I have done pockets like this and she got a big kick over how much stuff she could keep in them. I made them a little low- but it will be ok once she grows a bit. I made the dress a size big and plenty long because she is growing like mad these days!