My Twins

One thing I wish I did for my two girls is hired a professional photographer for newborn photos. When my oldest daughter was born, I had just purchased an SLR and thought that I could take the pictures myself.  Looking back at the photos, they are no where near professional.  With my twins I decided to hire a newborn photographer. A professional photographer doesn't just have a fancy camera and lots of props and backdrops, they have patience and skill in posing the babies.  I hired Kymberley Day Photography and I couldn't be happier with the results.  She was so patient and skilled in posing the babies.  She took her time on every shot, making sure each pose was perfect, down to the fingers! I loved all the props she had and the care she took into editing each picture.  Our boys peed everywhere but she managed to photoshop all the wet spots out of the photo.  She wasn't even fazed by the mess.

Here are some of my pictures.  They may look effortless but there was a lot of work and care put into getting each and every shot.

Be sure to check out her site if you are looking for newborn photography in the Orange County area. Remember that your babies will only be small for such a short period of time so savor every moment.

Twins Halloween Costume DIY

I finally finished the twin's Halloween costume.  It was more work than I thought, maybe because I had to make two of everything.  The effort was well worth it after I got to see them in the costume.  It was so cute on them.

Here they are Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum from Alice in Wonderland.  I wanted to make a costume where most of the clothes could be reused and the accessories were cheap.  All in all these two costumes came out to less than 10 dollars each (not including shoes, those were a gift).  Here is how I made the costumes:

Started off with two yellow polo onesies and two pairs of red tights purchased at Kohls.  They were having a sale so both the yellow onesies and the red pants were 15 dollars (for all four!).


To make the white collar I cut an old shirt I had into a rectangle and glued the seams.  This is not the correct way to make a collar, but it was way too much work to a proper collar.  This worked out decently seeing as how they will wear this collar only once.


I fold the collar over and attach to onesie.  The collar measured about 14 inches across and was 3 inches wide.  You can glue or sew the collar onto the existing polo.  I slip stitched the collar onto the shirts because I still wanted to use the shirts later.


The hat was probably the part of the costume I pondered most about.  I didn't know what to make the hat out of and I didn't want to buy any hats as the boys do not like things on their heads.  At first I was going to make a paper mache hat, but that can be messy and a lot of work.  Then one night my daughter took a paper bowl and put it on her head.  I had a eureka moment.  Paper bowls painted red for the hat.

Paint the inside too because you will be able to see the underside.

Flag for top of hats are made of pipe cleaners and construction paper.  The yellow construction paper is reinforced with cardboard.  I did tie a black elastic (like for birthday hats) onto the bowls, but they were not happy when I put the elastic under their chins.  If you had two red beanies that would be a good option.

For the bows, I had and old blue pillowcase that I used for the bow ties.  Here is a video tutorial on how to make a bow tie in less than ten minutes.  In the tutorial I made a small bow tie. If you want to make a large bow tie like the one in this costume, use fabric that is 15 inches by 8 inches.  That will yield you a bow tie that is approximately 7 inches by 3 inches.


Here are my tweedles just dreaming of white rabbits and tea parties.

Part One of Twin Costumes Complete. Any Guesses?

I just finished making the bows and flags.  Just a couple more things to paint and cut and their costume will be complete.  Any guesses as to what they might be?

Stay tuned tomorrow for no sew bow tie tutorial as well as the completed costume.

Frozen Anna Inspired DIY Halloween Costume Tutorial

I can't believe it's almost Halloween.  Time sure flies.  Last year I made my daughter a sushi costume knowing that it would be the last time she would let me pick her costume for Halloween.  This year she has followed in her big sister's footsteps and insisted that she wanted to be a Disney princess for Halloween (Anna from Frozen to be exact).  I decided to try to make her costume instead of buying it. I have to admit it doesn't completely look like Anna, more of a resemblance but she's happy with it and that's all that matters.  Most of the materials I had at home.  The only thing I needed to buy was the blue tulle.

I'm pretty sure Anna wore pink converses around her castle also.

The best tulle to buy for no sew tutus are the ones cut in these spools.  If you are making a bigger tutu you will need two spools.

To cut the tulle fast wrap it around a piece of cardboard that is the length you want the tutu.  Be sure to add an extra inch allowance for the knotting of the tulle.  You will cut one side so the tulle will be twice the length.

Cut one side only, now you can double up the tulle for making the tutu.  

To knot the tulle I use this slip knot technique.  I posted a YouTube video on how to knot this to make a tutu.  Video here.

To make the dress embellishments I used poly satin ribbon (its the cheapie florist ribbon), This ribbon does not fray so it was perfect.  You could also use felt. 

Attach embellishments using fabric glue or a hot glue gun.  I attached embellishments on both sides to make it look a bit more finished.

Tutu is finished.  To make the shirt cut out same embellishments and glue.

I happened to have a maroon poncho that I cut down the center to make it a cape.  The black shirt was embellished with the same poly satin ribbon as the tutu.  Gold ribbon was placed around the waist of the tutu.

One costume down two more to go. I'm making the twins costumes this year too.  So many cute and funny twin costume options to choose from.  Stay tuned for their costume tutorial.