I am excited to join in with Mrs In Training, Lindsay and Megan for Trendy Tot #14, this is the fourth time I have participated in this fun party where we show off our stylish Tots!
Last week, Autumn had her photos taken at her dance studio with her cute little recital costume on. Of course, it was beautiful outside so I took her out in the backyard to get some of my own candid shots. I LOVE how they turned out. Isn't she adorable? (I know, I am her Mom, but she really is!)
Red is definitely a good color on this girl! Sometimes Autumn can be really uncooperative for photos, but when this beautiful dress on she couldn't help it... she had to give me huge smiles!
She came home with a letter that told me what makeup she needed for her recital. It was E.L.F. products, but a few stores I checked did not have the colors she needed. Sooo. I ordered the makeup online and it came in rather quickly! I have never used E.L.F. products before, but they are really inexpensive and are supposed to be fairly good. This was the first time I put makeup on her and I think it went ok. Luckily I use the quad eyeshows on myself, so I knew how to apply it to her lids and brow bone. She got a touch of lipstick, blush (no foundation) and waterproof mascara (no eyeliner or eyebrow pencil).
I love how she has her little arms crossed in this photo.
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Autumn LOVES to make silly faces.
Detail shot. I love this dress! I still have a box of ALL of my recital costumes that my Mom sewed and kept for me! Autumn loves to go through this box and I can't wait to start her own box (except, I am not sewing her dresses like my Mom did with mine!).
Bunching up her skirt.
Gosh this girl is silly :) Look at her face in the first photo...
Tapping away!
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Back view
So proud of my little girl, she is almost done with her first year of dance! I remember signing her up at her dance school and being so nervous, because she would go in a room alone with the teacher and other students and I wouldn't be in there with her. But, she did SO well and in the two watch classes where I did get to see her perform, she did amazing!
Welcome to Week Three of the 30x30 Challenge, where I selected 30 items (clothes and shoes) from my closet and I am wearing these items exclusively for 30 days! I really thought Week Three would be fairly difficult, but I had a lot of fun trying new ways to wear my clothes! I LOVE Day 15, where I wore a floral shirt with mint ankle pants... something I never would have done! And, Day 18 I love, because I finally tried an all black and white outfit. I am really excited to plow through Week Four and I have several ideas for it already. Next week all of us in the 30x30 Challenge have a little surprise to announce, stay tuned. I also want to give a BIG thanks to Kelly at Mrs In Training for hosting this challenge! And, I can't believe in TWELVE DAYS I will be able to wear ALL my clothes again in my closet!
Day 13
On Day 13, I decided it was time to finally wear my ON royal blue capris. I believe I now have only ONE item I haven't worn yet, a pair of gold heeled shoes. I decided my ON navy polka dot tank with ruffles would go well with the capris. Then, I topped my shirt with a spotted leopard print scarf with blue colors. I am trying to pose a little different so ya'll aren't bored, but its challenging when most of these are taken in my back yard! Here I am smelling a baby rose... I have a lot of rose bushes in my yard and I love to cut one of each kind when they all start blooming in the Spring. Then I can enjoy a vase filled with each rose in my garden every Spring! Oops. I am getting off topic. Ok, on to Day 14!
Day 14
I had SO much fun with Day 14, because my monogrammed shoe clips arrived and I was excited to show them off! These shoe clips can be found at an Etsy store called InitialPerfection, they come in two different fonts (script or block) and a variety of colors. Of course, I went with navy and pink! I can't wait to try out these shoe clips with different shoes and outfits! With this outfit, I wore my floral skirt with a purple cami (cami's don't count as my thirty items, although most of the time I layer them underneath so I hope I am not breaking the rules here!). I then topped the outfit with my light pinkish purple cardigan from LOFT. I am in love with this outfit, it shouts Spring (even though we had summer like temps in the low 90's that day!).
Day 15
Day 15 really hit home for this 30x30 challenge, because when I think mint all I think is pairing it with chambray or coral! I guess black and white could work, too... but, those colors go with anything! What I didn't realize was that a floral shirt with pastel/pale colors would blend so nicely with my mint ankle pants! Then, the floral shirt has a little tan/brown in it so I paired it with a thick brown belt from Target and my brown Ann Taylor wedges. I have had this thick brown belt from Target for awhile and haven't known what to wear it with... but, it looks so cute layered over my shirt! I really feel today was a winwin 30x30 day as I ventured out of my usual choices and went with items I'd never pair my mint ankle pants with! YAY!
Day 16
On Day 16, I took the day off work, because it was Nathan's 7th birthday! I went up to his school to volunteer for May Madness (otherwise known as field day) and then we went to Swing Around Fun Town and road go karts and bumper boats! Probably shouldn't have worn WHITE pants, BUT I am very limited on casual clothes in this competition! I also bought some new jewelry off an Etsy site, mainly a couple of bubble necklaces... One of them is pictured here, it is a really simple navy bubble necklace. I love the simplicity of it and I love the navy necklace on the navy chambray tank.
Day 17
Day 17 was a busy day! Nathan and Autumn both had t-ball games, then we had the school picnic and that night Nathan had all the boys in his class over for a pajama/mini sleep over! I decided to wear the comfiest clothes in my 30 items, a striped ON tee and my Shade skinnies. I paired it with my monogrammed necklace and my F21 gold belt and ON gold flats.
Day 18
On Day 18, I got up and ran a sub 30 5k at 7:30 a.m. and then I went home, took a shower, took a nap (is it really napping if the kids are walking cuddling all over you the entire time?) and then I did my hair and got all dressed up for a little photo session outside! I even used a prop this time, my Tory bag! I have been wanting to try an all white and black outfit for some time (some of the other 30x30 gals have done them) and this is my take on it. I decided to wear my hair up in a fun twist to give it more of a professional look and I wore my gold heels for the first time in this challenge. I just love this black and white striped skirt I scored at ON, it really can be changed up for so many different looks. The beautiful pearl cluster necklace is from Molly Suzanne's and I believe it was one of her items that sold out fast. After Brian took my photos, I switched into some jean shorts and my Warrior Dash tee and relaxed the rest of the day (we had seven 1st grade boys over for Nathan's party the night before!).
I have been so eager to share my little Fairy Garden on my blog since Mother's Day. This is such a busy week since I am gearing up for Nathan's birthday party this weekend and we have so many festivities for wrapping up the end of the school year. I am staying up a little extra late tonight so I can share the Fairy Garden I planted in the bird bath in my rose garden by my kitchen window. Are ya ready?
Honestly, I did not even know what a Fairy Garden was until I went shopping in Downtown Kirkwood with some friends several weeks ago. But, when I saw all the cute little and miniature gardens, I knew I had to have one. Brian got me all of the little pieces (fairies, a fairy house, mini bench, etc.) and he had the kids give me the miniature plants for Mother's Day. I love them, I really do!
Here is the BEFORE picture. I usually plant wave petunia's or even succulents in here... but, I decided this would be a perfect place for my Fairy Garden, since I can see the bird bath right outside my window! If you decide to use a bird bath like I did, make sure you drill holes into the bottom of it so that water can seep out gradually and it won't overflow (think of it as a regular pot in your garden). Dump some potting soil and form sort of a mound on top of the bird bath, so that you can make little hills and such for the Fairy Garden. You don't want it to be entirely flat or it won't look very interesting.
Now, a warning. If you have a little girl, just expect that she will want to help you put together your Fairy Garden. Little girls LOVE all of the little pieces to Fairy Gardens... why? Because, its sort of like an outdoor doll house to them!
See how the dirt is not completely flat here?
You want to place your house, pots, bench, etc. in the dirt first, before you start placing the plants. I find this easy, because it helps you to space things out... and, its so much easier to move these little items than it is a plant!
For the bird bath, I used little blue and white glass stones that I had already in the house. These stones give you the impression that they are water.
Nathan's favorite? The out house!
I just love this trio of falling terracotta pots!
Fairy sitting on a bench
A blue fairy
I love the color of this bird house, such a pretty blue
A little next in a hanging basket
View from the back of the arch
And, here it is! My lovely Fairy Garden all done! I just love how it turned out! It was fun to play in the garden on Mother's Day, especially with something so dainty and sweet.
Just another view, this time of the entire bird bath with Fairy Garden on top
Here is a view of the back of the Fairy Garden. Didn't the kids do a great job of selecting miniature plants for it at the OK Hatchery?
Close up of the back of the house. And, that's it! It does cost to purchase all of the little items for your Fairy Garden, but you can reuse these items from year to year and buy more for your set as the years go by. I can't wait to see how my Fairy Garden evolves year to year!
