Easter 2012

Happy Easter 2012!  Only a few days late but for a good reason as we were visiting my family out east and just returned home yesterday!  The car trip was a whopping 12 hours and the kids did fabulously, I am still shocked.  I think we made a good call when we decided to forego the long drive through the night we normally do and go for the drive during the day instead.  Last year, even though Eloise did awesome sleeping through the night, Noah and Penelope just did not sleep well in their carseats (hello uncomfortable being strapped into those darn 5 point harnesses, I think their long legs kept falling asleep on them!)  So this time around we decided to leave in the late morning so that we were at my parents doorstep by midnight.  It meant stopping for a few more breaks than usual but it wasn't so bad in the end, especially considering Clif and I weren't sleep deprived by the end of the trip!

My kids love visiting my parents, heck so do Clif and I, it's the closest thing to heaven on earth I think.  We had so much fun, my parents are seriously the best Camp Grandma and Grandpa a kid (or grandkid) could ask for.   There were non-stop activities to keep them all busy so Clif and I could relax a bit, awesome!  I really wish they lived closer...sigh.  Maybe one day?

{Eloise's Easter Dress}

I was able to speed sew a few Easter dresses for the girls' the night before we left, seriously just in the nick of time.  I decided to do a coordinating set based off of a pair of pretty vintage pillowcases I picked up last year at a flea market.  Unfortunately I didn't get around to making a matching tie for Noah but I don't think he would have been too keen on me making him a pink tie to coordinate with his little sisters this time around, lol :-)  If you want to see last year's outfits, click here and here!

Isn't the hand embroidery on these pillowcases just gorgeous?  There is no way I could ever put the time into doing this myself.  I have to admit I felt a little sad cutting into them but then figured they would get more use as sweet little dresses, plus the only people that would see the pillowcases would be us and this way we can show off the beautiful hand embroidery to the world.  Do you ever feel that way when you use vintage goods?

I found this beautiful vintage lace trim at another flea market I visited almost 2 years ago!  I've been hoarding it for what seems like forever but felt this was the absolute perfect project to use it on.  Don't you love when things come together like that?  It was just meant to be a part of this dress for Penelope.

{Penelope's Easter Dress}

I made Penelope's dress a sweet little A-line with stretchy elastic at the top for easy on and off.  I added the vintage lace as shoulder straps to balance out the lace at the bottom of the pillowcase.  I love the sweet girly nature of it all.

And here it is on my little girlie.  She loved it so much and called it her 'Princess Dress' because of all the lace details.  She couldn't wait to put it on and twirl for Grandma and Grandpa. 

Here is one of the pictures I was able to take before the big Easter Egg hunt at my parents' house started.  We were supposedly going over the rules but let's be honest, Easter Egg hunts have no rules!  It was just our way of trying to get them all to stand still for a moment. 

Eloise loved carrying around her new 'purse' ha!

It was so warm out that after awhile she decided to just bask in the sun.

Penelope was ecstatic to find that some of the easter eggs contained lip gloss.  Eeek!  I thought her head 

was going to explode.

Noah had quite the haul by the end of the hunt.  He was such a nice big brother that he shared his finds with his sisters.  I love that about him, he really does have such a good heart.

I hope you had a wonderful Easter too.  Ours was perfect in every way, it always makes me happy to be able to spend time with my family...there is just something about being around your own family for the holidays isn't there!

We'll talk soon!

XOXO,