A Year in Review

Wow, it has been such a fun ride this year! 

We started the blog in February and cannot believe how much it has grown!  

Thank you all our wonderful readers, we wouldn't have been able to keep it up without your support!  

Thank you for the wonderful comments that mean so much to us.  

We are super excited for 2012 and have many ideas to make our blog even better.

iCandy handmade

2011:

Top Viewed Post:

Box Fold Felt Flower Tutorial:

and in no particular order, some of our most popular posts:

Three Part Harmony Dress Tutorial:

Dry Erase Quiet Book Tutorial:

Ice Cream Social Skirt Tutorial:

Faux Tie Tutorial and Pattern:

Pillowcase Nightgowns Version 1 and 2 Tutorials:

Version 1:

Version 2:

Spring Chick Skirt Tutorial:

Extender Slip Tutorial:

Cupboard Door Gone Art Desk Tutorial:

Winter Rose Dress Tutorial:

(featured) Ucreate's Top Ten Awards

Remember these fun art desks that I made from a cupboard door?

I'm thrilled to be included in Ucreate's Top Ten for 2011 list! 

We were number 2!

If you missed the tut, click here!

if you want to see the other awesome tut's that Ucreate chose as their Top 10...and the number 1 project, click here

Thanks for featuring iCandy, Kari!

(iCandy) mom's silhouette quilt

I've been scheming about making a quilt like this for a couple of years.  Silhouettes are everywhere, I keep seeing them framed on walls, above people's mantel, and i have a couple of pillows with my kid's cute profiles on them.  I thought it would be fun to make a quilt for my mom with all of her Grand-kids' silhouettes on it.  The only problem is, that, until recently, her Grand-kids stretched over 4 states, and a chance where we were all in the same place at the same time {and I remembered to take silhouette pics} are few and far between.  

But, it's finally done!...well, almost!

My mom and dad will soon have 11 Grandchildren (that's why it's not quite finished, I didn't want to leave off my cute new baby just 3 1/2 short months before she's born!)

You know how this works, but here's the basic run down:

-take profile pics of each kid...same distance away, preferably against a white background

-turn them into black and white pics and print them off just on the computer with regular old printer paper. (I printed mine at 8 x 10)

-outline the profile with a Sharpie so you can see the profile perfectly!

-Before adhering your Heat-n-Bond to your fabric, trace each profile onto the Heat-n-Bond, bumpy side down with a pencil.  You should easily be able to see the lines, esp. on a window or light table.

-iron Heat n Bond, or WonderUnder onto plain black cottoon...(I used Kona cotton)

-cut out each profile

-from your background fabric (my white calico) cut 8 x 8 squares (some of the girl's hair hung below that...but I didn't care!

-cut 2 1/2 inch strips of your border fabric 

-I pieced the quilt together first, and then ironed on the profiles...and then stitched the names on.  The reason I did it this way (it would have been easier to stitch without the entire quilt on my lap) was because of the hair hanging over onto the borders.  

-Baste, pin or tack together your sandwich of quilt top, batting and backing

-Quilt

-Bind!

 Here's the quote that's on the extra square!  I love it!

{and ps, it's not bound yet because there is 1 empty square that needs a silhouette before I can complete it...I hope the unfinished product is good enough for a couple months!

So, that's what Mom and Dad got for Christmas from me this year!

(tutorial and pattern!) Winter Rose Dress

I don't believe melon?rose?coral? is a traditional Christmas color.  

That didn't stop me from using this gorgeous fabric I had in my stash for Emily's Christmas dress.  

The beauty of this fabric is that she can wear it all year round, too.

I designed Emily's dress several times in my mind before coming to a final decision.  

A dress from Anthropologie was my inspiration. 

If I had time, I would make myself a version, too.  But I don't.

At least hers got done!

Emily LOVES how it turned out. 

She loves twirling, curtsying, and dancing in this dress.  

I have to say that even with millions of ripped out stitches, 

(working late at night tends to do that to you..) 

I love how it turned out too.  

In fact, I think this is one of my favorite things I have made in a long time.  

Here is my pattern for the bodice and sleeves, size 5, if you are interested in making one. (The skirt is a rectangle, no pattern piece required)

***UPDATE*** So it has been brought to my notice that the pattern download doesn't line up correctly. Must have been an error in scanning.  I have added fixing this to my to-do list.  In the meantime, you can use your best guess when lining them up, or you can use another simple waist length bodice pattern with a sleeve, and just change the neckline to be boat shape.  You can use my messed up pattern as a guide.

It is the same pattern I used to make the petal dress. (Which I plan on writing a tutorial for...soon!)

For other sizes, all you need is a basic bodice and sleeve pattern, which you can change to make boat-neck and cap sleeve.  See pattern as a guide.

Two Years Blessed

Today is a special day.

Not only is today Christmas Eve, but it is the birthday of my precious little boy.  

Two years ago today, we received a phone call that would change our lives (and family) forever.

After Emily, we tried to get pregnant for a couple of years, and finally went through a couple of (failed) rounds of IVF.  We found out from the doctor that I didn't have very many eggs left and though my uterus was healthy, my ovaries were prematurely old.

It was devastating to say the least, but a few weeks later I knew I was supposed to adopt.  That strong feeling helped me get through that difficult time.  We signed up with an agency, filled out all of the paperwork, had interviews and visits, and finally got approved for placement the first week of November, 2009.

Back to Christmas Eve, 2009.
That morning, our little family of three went to Ruby's for breakfast.  We were joking around about how perfect it would be if we got a baby before the end of the year.  Ha Ha- not gonna happen!

At close to 3pm, I was out in the garage working on last minute handmade Christmas gifts.  The phone rang.  It was our case worker.  I thought she was calling about something else, and told her sorry for having to work on Christmas Eve.  She said no, this is her favorite type of call to make!  She told us a baby boy was born in Detroit a couple hours before, and the birth mother chose us to be his parents.

Those Christmas presents never got finished...

(I'm getting emotional as I write this...)

Crazy. We had to book flights for the day after Christmas for all three of us, and make arrangements to stay in Michigan an undetermined amount of time.  We flew out that morning, and at 8pm EST we picked up our son from the downtown Detroit hospital.

It was surreal.  Birthmom had already gone home, and little Aaron was hanging out with the nurses waiting for our arrival.  When we held our son in our arms for the first time, there was no doubt he was meant to be in our family, no matter how he got here.

The past two years have been an amazing adventure as he has grown from sweet baby to curious, busy toddler.  I am filled with gratitude today for my beautiful boy.

Violette Field Threads Winner!

And the winner of a $75 gift certificate from the 

adorable 

Violette Field Threads 

Pattern Shop is:

42. Heidi S. said...

Long time liker and follower of icandy! Woop Woop!

Heidi, email Jen within 48 hours to claim your prize!

(iCandy) Children's Christmas Book Countdown (18-24)

So here are my last few books that we read for our Christmas Children's book countdown.  If you missed the first two posts, here they are:

Days 1-10

Days 11-17

My Favorites are bolded...and like I said, we don't have activities for this week, because we will be having way too much fun playing at The Ranch.  I hope you guys check out at least a couple of my favs!

 December 18th: Rudolph Shines Again by Robert L. May

December 19th: Who Will Guide My Sleigh Tonight? by Jerry Pallotta and David Piedrzycki

{we like this one because Ivy's name is on the good girl list!...do you ever check Santa's list in Children's books?!  We even looked for our names in Disneyland's It's a Small World!  Never hurts to know where you stand!}

December 20th:  A Christmas Dress for Ellen by Thomas S. Monson

{total tear jerker...love Pres. Monson's stories}

 December 21st: The Christmas Sweater by Glenn Beck

This book was originally a book....for big people, but it was made into a children's book, also!

 December 22nd: A Cricket's Carol by Mark Kimball Moulton

December 23rd: A Christmas Bell for Anya by Chris Stewart

Holy serious tear jerker...such a good story

 December 24th: Christmas Prayer by Rian Anderson

captures the true spirit of Christmas!

...and of course, on the 25th, you can read the Real Christmas Story in Luke!

I hope you have a merry Christmas with your family!

(iCandy) Snow White Dress-up: fair to fairest of them all?

I don't know about fairest of them all, but we'll for sure say much fairer!

I got this Snow White dress from a garge sale...

it was my friend's daughter's way back in the day, and I snatched it up for my little Ivy (the poor girl has nooooo Princess dress-ups!  Can you believe it?!) for $1 (or maybe free)

 It was fair place to start.  It was a little dirty (whatever, that's easy to fix) and I think it was made for a much bigger girl because it was super long... but above all, it was plain...So, I thought I'd try my hand at a little bling and make it a dazzling little dress-up.  

Before:

Here's what I did:

-step one: wash!  minor stains came right out!

step 2: It was a tie-neck, and I'm lazy, and I don't want to have to deal with tying and un-tying a dress up every time she wants it on.  So, I cut off the tie, (and actually picked out the seam and took off the collar) and sewed a seam right up the middle.  BUT, the material wasn't stretchy, so I just cut out a triangle right out of the back, and put a piece of matching swimsuit material in instead for a little stretch.  

step 3: tulle...the skirt was just plain yellow, so I added a layer of tulle.  I doubled the length of the skirt, folded the tulle in half and then used elastic thread in my bobbin to gather it up...and then stitched it right below the existing elastic waistband.  easy

step 4: serge the edges (the before skirt just had a raw edge...i love my neighbor and her serger!

step 5: new collar.  My friend's little girl has a Snow White dress up with a collar that sticks up in the back...it's darling.  So I tried to replicate it.  I put some stabilizer in the fabric, attempted the basic shape, and after a couple wrestling matches and consultations with the pros, its on.  whew!

step 6: new trim on the front collar and shirring (elastic thread again...love the stuff!)

step 7: bling: I hand-stitched the big red jewel over the shirring, and then sequined up the raindrop shapes on each sleeve (not my favorite activity, sequining)

After:

So, there's one of Ivy's presents...it's scrappy, it's not perfect, but I think she'll love it!  

{fingers crossed}

now on to my next project!

Favorite Things

Have you ever been to a Favorite Things party?  

If you haven't, you need to throw one.  

They are the best!

For those of you who have never heard of one, this is what they are: 

You think of one or more of your favorite things that add up to $10 even.  Then you buy three of that thing(s).

You wrap it up cute and bring it to the party.  At the party you draw three names and then everyone stands up and talks about their favorite things and gives them to the three people whose names they drew.  It is so much fun to see what everyone loves, and you get to take home three awesome gifts.  

I have been to a few of these parties, and they are so much fun!

This year, a good friend of mine threw her first Favorite Things party.  

With my $10 this is what I brought:
2 Anthropologie little bowls: $5.00 (Anthro is my favorite store, if only I could afford it! And I got free boxes!)
Forever 21 Earrings: $3.00 (Love their earrings!)
Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory DARK Chocolate Gummy Bears: $2.00 (LOVE!)
Handmade Striped Infinity Scarf: $0.00 (had the stuff at home) (Am obsessed with scarves right now...)

So I started thinking, what a fun idea to share my top ten favorite things as a post, and maybe you can share yours too, in the comments!  It is so fun to see what/why people like!

(Obviously, my family and faith would top the list, but this is a list of things...)

MY TOP TEN FAVORITE THINGS (right now, at least, and in no particular order)
1. Pinkberry Frozen Yogurt
2. Abas Clutch Wallets (have had mine for over 5 years and still in great condition)
3. Toms Shoes
4. Boots
5. Modern Family TV Show
6. Benefit Makeup
7. Good Dark Chocolate
8. My new iPhone
9. Brazilian Keratin Hair Treatment
10. Cafe Rio Barbacoa Pork Salad

Well, that list is definitely not complete, and I know that I probably missed something huge...

What are your favorite things??

Please share!

(iCandy) front porch post

 I swooned when I ran across Dave's Wife's front porch post. 

 It's the most darling way to hang signs for holidays, or just a welcome sign next to your door!  So, I pinned her tut, and then called Jen to try to convince her to break out of her sewing shell and try a power tool project with me (I'm a rookie with man-tools myself, so I needed a partner!)  So, with the help of Dave's Wife and the Home Depot guy, Jen and I are soooo pleased with our man-tool masterpieces!  

and just in time for the Holiday!

{autie's post}

oooh, and did you miss the tut for this PBkids knock-off sign?  click here

{jen's post}

Prepare yourselves, we may have a small sign fetish for the next year or so!

(review and giveaway) Violette Field Threads: Adele Dress

I love independent pattern shops.  I love the unique designs, and I love the idea of supporting independent designers, who work very hard to create patterns.

This last week, I have had the opportunity to make a dress with a pattern from the adorable shop 

Violette Field Threads.

Just browsing through these patterns puts a smile on my face.   When trying to pick the pattern that I wanted to make, it was really difficult to choose JUST one.

I eventually chose the Adele dress pattern.  I loved that it is made with knit fabric, because I have a stash full of striped knit to start using up!  

I had so much fun making this dress.  The tutorial that came along with the pattern was clear and concise, and every step was clear.  Can't say that about patterns you buy from Joann! 

 The fit was perfect, and the design is adorable.  My picky girl loves it!

***GIVEAWAY***

As our newest sponsor, Violette Field Threads is offering to do an AMAZING giveaway!  

One lucky iCandy reader will get a $75.00 gift certificate to their shop!  

Think of how many cute clothes and accessories you can make with that!

Here is how you can enter:

1. Be a follower of  iCandy AND visit Violette Field Threads and come back and leave a comment telling us which pattern is your favorite.

2. For an additional entry (you have to do step #1 first), follow iCandy on Facebook!
(Leave us a seperate comment about this too!)

Laminated Backpack Winner!

Congratulations!

44. LadyyGrammyJane 

is our winner 

of the backpack!

Please send me an email with your address so I can send it off!

(Review) Violette Field Threads: Audrey Dress

 Jen and I were so excited to get a chance to review a couple of patterns from this darling company,

Violette Field Threads.  They are a darling etsy shop stuffed full of classic, yet hip PDF dress patterns and designs.  I had so much fun choosing just which one I would make!

I really felt like I needed to find a dress that had longer sleeves...Ivy's got a lot of dresses, but mostly they are short sleeve little summer dresses--so this was step one in addressing that problem!

I fell in love with this simple tunic with a fun elastic in the sleeve to jazz it up.  So, I give you:

The Audrey Dress

 I still consider myself to be a beginner, and this pattern was EASY for me.  That's saying something!  I love that it didn't require crazy fitting and alterations: with the elastic in the neckline and the elastic in the sleeve, I knew that this would fit Ivy!  I also made one for my 6 year old niece, and it was easy for me to do the two separate patterns at one time.  The instructions were super easy to follow...they were clear, concise and had no crazy tricks...and yet it's stinkin' cute!

i love the simplicity, and paired with a pair of leggings the outfit is one of my new favorites!

 Go check out Violette Field Threads and see which design strikes your fancy!  

and stay tuned for Jen's review on Thursday!