A little wrapping up (or unwrapping)

Christmas was awesome. It's hard to say more. We had a really wonderful holiday with family. Z got so much loot she doesn't know what to do. Her favorite present, by far, has to be this 5-layer girl puzzle by Beleduc. She has worked it a million times. Each layer has seven pieces so there's more to it than you can see in the product photo. It's very cool. We are learning the names of some muscles and bones and organs (I need to brush up on my terms). The wood is good quality and the pieces are just right for her hands. (Thanks again Auntie Crystal!).

And no, a hurricane did not touch down. This is just the aftermath of the wild child. See the chef apparel on the pandas? I got that for Z and her daddy from an eBay seller. Love. The house is getting a lot of play. It's a bit jumbled but once we move it up to her room, there will be more space to spread things out. You can't tell from this angle but we took the wood that our changing table was and cut two inches off one end. I rewrapped it with some thick cotton fabric to be like grass and we attached it to a shelf/table thing we found in the trash in Brooklyn. (Yeah, we go through people's trash when we travel -- that's how we roll). I'll post some more photos when it's in its new place. I just thought you would appreciate a photo of a messy house and I'll never show you what my real house looks like.

Speaking of a mess... this blog has been a mess. It's been all disorganized lately because the dollhouse reviews took on a life of their own and my job was crazier than usual. I've got some great stuff in the works and things will be more orderly from now on. I've got a week of play food ahead and also a bunch of crafty book reviews. If you'd like to do a guest post on either topic, please comment on this post. I have some awesome bloggers lined up already and I'm very excited about that.

Project: Design Challenge in Progress

Lil Blue Boo sent me the pattern for the Design Challenge via email right away and after work, I got started. The whole Lemon clan looked through the Goodwill bin and Mr. Lemon donated some of his shirts to the cause while I pulled a couple of shirts Zadie had grown out of from the pile.

I ended up choosing the stripes for the bottom because that had been a favorite shirt of mine but it shrunk up too short. The sleeves are from a shirt I got for a dollar. I put Zadie in it all the time but she recently grew out of it. The red and grey are from pre-baby shirts I'll never ever wear again.

Mr. Lemon had gotten dinner together during an unusually long nap so I cut all the pieces out before we ate. After Zadie's bedtime, I stitched the whole thing up in less than an hour. It is a very clear and simple pattern. (I used existing hems for both the bottom of the dress and the sleeves for a more polished look).

I've already started my embellishments (because that's what the challenge is all about). This morning I asked Zadie what the _____ who is now living at the bottom of the shirt will do. She said, "Soup!" so soup it is. Mr. Lemon's trip was cancelled so I'll be able to spend more time on this today than I thought so I'm hoping for greatness. More on Monday!

For more on Project: Project, read this post.