Edmonton Trail System

Every time we visit Alberta, Jim plans to venture along one of Edmonton's many trails. Every time, it seems, we fail. This past trip we made it a priority, and are so glad we did!

There are 160km of trails within the city. Amazing, right? To me it is. You would never know you were even in a city hiking along these beautiful paths.

Until, of course, you pop out of the woods, and there it is!

   

He is actually "smiling" here. Doesn't he look happy? ;)

Anyway, we will try extra hard to always include one of Edmonton's many trails during future visit's!

Lowville Park, Burlington

Three Years

I have some catching up to do, post-wise, but I'll get there... This post is a mere 6 weeks overdue!
~

My second week in Alberta was a whirlwind with barely a moment for a breath.

Sunday July 1st was a celebration spanning 93 years of living between my firstborn's 3rd, and my Grandma's 90th birthday. It is a gift in itself that I have seen my 3 year old son get to know his great-grandma, let alone them sharing not just a date but, this year, the actual day.

These years, they astound me. How is it, that 3 years of my firstborn's life have come and gone? When only moments ago I was looking into his sweet little swollen, brand new face in utter disbelief (and with a hint of trauma..)!

His extraordinary birthday party, courtesy of Grandma, was 2 days later. Here is Levi on his actual day, pleased as punch, enjoying his birthday brekky hot chocolate. Makes you want a hot chocolate too, doesn't he?

My baby boy. Happy 3 years. You are so loved.

XOXOXO

Birthday Party Ideas For a PDF File

I purchased a Retro Robot PDF file on Etsy. I loved the look of it, and figured I could find something to do with it for my son's much anticipated Robot party on his third birthday.

The hubby and I printed 2 sheets of the PDF, cropped, and then laminated each one for a fun little robot memory game.

Of course, I had to sew up a little drawstring bag to store it in! :)

In future, I would love to take this idea using cute pictures from a vintage children's book, or any number of other places and make memory games for the take home party favours.

Anyway, that was my one big idea. My mom, the crafty genius, came up with a crazy number of ways to use this cute little PDF - a party banner, loot bags, and food signage among them. Pop over HERE to see them all.

Also, head over to this post on Fun Fabrication to find more pics of the amazing Robot birthday!

Drawstring Gift Bags

I get on these kicks - I find a pattern I dig and I run with it. It happened with the Bedbugs, the Quick Change Trousers, and Cloth baskets. Now it is happening with these drawstring gift bags from the blog In Color Order. I started by winging it, but when I came across this tutorial and the concept of sewing all your pieces into one continuous strip, it made a massive difference in the ease and simplicity of a drawstring bag.

The one thing all the projects I obsess about have in common is the use of at least 3 different fabrics. I love browsing my stash to come up with fun combinations. Being that I usually don't invest in over a yard of any one material because I have no specific project in mind at the time, patterns that require more variety of smaller amounts work out pretty great for me!

Birthday Clothes

 

This year's Birthday Tee for Levi, came from I Spot You - An Etsy Shop selling really cute customized t-shirts for kids.

It was pure coincidence that the Robot fabric I had ordered coordinated perfectly with the birthday t-shirt! Yay!

The pants are pretty basic - a pattern traced from a pair of Levi's long shorts, or short pants, whichever way you wanna slice it.
I added pockets on the bum out of the circuit board fabric, and added cuffs in the contrasting orange robot fabric. All 3 fabrics are from Robert Kaufman's Robot Factory collection.
The waist is just a simple elastic waist band. I always use ribbed non-roll waistband elastic.

Of course, little brother had to have a tee to celebrate the occasion too!
                                               
            

*Tie T-shirt material is the orange Robot Factory