The Haps

There have been a lot of exciting things happening at The Alston household lately. It's usually a bunch of little things, so it seemed a post where I squished them all together was necessary :)

 

So - backing up to January - our friend Ali had a birthday party! We were supposed to dress up as something that started with the letter A.

 

Jon was Amish:

 

 

I was Alaska

(yes, those are moose earrings, a moose pin and a moose bracelet. All courtesy of my mother-in-law's jewerly box)

 

Kate was an Apple

(those are "leaves" on her head)

 

At the end of January we celebrated 9 years of dating!

Because our first date was eating at Taco Bell and seeing Cheaper by the Dozen in theaters, we always do a re-creation of sorts by eating at some fast food restaurant and going to a movie.

 

This year was the Squeeze Inn and Les Miserables.

 

Jon's burger:

 

 

We heard Les Mis was good, but both of us were absolutely blown away. There were some incredible scenes and I think I pretty much cried the whole time. SO glad we saw this in theaters!

 

 

I've also been working on a lot of sewing projects lately!

 

Here's the ribbon detail on my latest endeavor. It's not quite finished yet, but I will post more pictures when it's done :)

 

Then at work, my friend Savannah had a birthday and I made her a sponge bob themed apron! She is pretty much the biggest sponge bob fan I've ever met.

 

 

The idea was to make the apron INSPIRED by sponge bob, but not necessarily with any sponge bob fabric. It all started when Savannah and I were working together in fabrics one night and saw this green pineapple fabric. It's actually really fancy looking, but the pineapple made me think of how sponge bob "lives in a pineapple under the sea" ... and the dream was born.

 

Here is Savannah in the finished apron at work on her birthday:

 

The collar is from one of Jon's dress shirts that needed to be retired. Jon helped me by creating the applique red tie and I sewed it on. I love the effect!

 

 

The yellow pockets and straps are in a fabric that I thought looked like a sponge :) We wanted the apron to be feminine, so we added a ruffle to the bottom in brown like sponge bob's pants. This was Jon's idea. I'm so glad he helped collaborate with me on this!

 

 

The whole apron is reversible. The back of it is "bikini bottom" inspired:

 

I've also been doing a lot of Yoga lately, so I made my own yoga mat shoulder strap with some of my scraps:

 

And my FAVORITE project of late is a Sunday book for Kate.

 

We started with the idea that Kate is now getting more active and observant, but obviously needs some stimulation at church since she's not quite old enough to listen to the talks. In lieu of bringing toys (that she will make noise with and throw under the pews) I wanted to make her a "quiet book" that she can look at, chew on, and that will be reverent, but still fun as she grows.

 

We drew out the ideas and plans in a notebook:

 

We got some scrap flannel at Bev's and cut the pages out. I love my rotary cutter and Olfa mat!!

 

Jon helped me design the pages on the computer:

 

Then, using photo transfer paper, we printed out the page designs and ironed them on to the flannel.

 

 

From there I sewed the pages together (right sides together) then Jon helped me turn them out, iron the edges, and I did a top seam to finish all the pages. Jon had the idea to bind it with some colorful fabric, so I sewed an edging piece and Jon bound it together. I'm so happy with how it turned out!

 

It is made completely out of cloth, teaches basic gospel principles, designed and bound by me and Jon, and is washable :) Perfect.

 

Kate also had her 6 month check up this week. She had her last round of immunizations including the flu shot. She wasn't too happy about her shots, and even had a little fever that night (which is totally normal) but within a day she was back to her happy, smiling self :) She is in the 19th percentile for weight, 40th percentile for head circumference and 51st percentile for height. Growing nicely! The doctor is really happy with her progress and now we don't have to see the pediatrician again until she is 1 year old. Awesome!

 

My last recent thing to share is that Jon and I had this awesome groupon to get 2 canvases (16x24 size) and they finally came this week!

 

We got our rad family picture for the year of exploration printed (which we hope to hang up in our own future living room) and a portrait of Margo that I took about a year ago :) Inspired by the Goffenson's canvas portrait of their cat, Spock. The Margo portrait is currently hanging in Kate's room.

 

That's what's new with the Alston family.

More updates coming soon!