Dia de los Muertos

On, yet another, thrifting expedition yesterday, I picked up a little pair of white canvas sneakers for Zion (the previously painted robot sneakers are still a bit big). These were only $.50!! For some odd reason, they were screaming for Day of the Dead skulls!! So I spent a couple of hours this afternoon listening to Jimi Hendrix and painting VERY tiny skulls. I don't know if it's some sort of sickness or masochistic side, but WHY in the world would I choose to paint something do detailed on something so small??? (I mean, I had to paint them with a toothpick and a VERY tiny brush....)Who knows, but I think they turned out pretty cute!

Zion's first big girl shoes

Up until now I've been making all of Zion's shoes. I really don't think non-walkers need hard shoes and I just really like making baby shoes. Anything that tiny is incredibly cute to me. But, my baby is moving on to bigger and better things and will hopefully be taking her first wobbly steps soon. Actually they would be her second wobbly steps since she actually took her first three steps last week. She took three steps and decided that walking is not for her. She hasn't made an attempt since. Despite her lack of enthusiasm for walking, I decided I should probably get her some shoes anyway and I lucked up on a cute pair of t-strap sneakers on my latest trek through our local Goodwill. There must be something written in the stars for inexpensive shoes this week. This pair set me back a whopping $2.99. And once again, I had to fresh them up with a mama-made paint job. We are into robots around here lately, so Zion's go with her big sister's new sneakers. They will be very cute on her whenever she decides to walk. Hopefully they won't be too small by then...

That's right! $2.99!

Bijou in her new shoes...

It is very difficult (as I'm sure everyone knows) to get a picture of a three year old's feet. They never stop moving them! Anyway, here's the best I could do...

Freshly painted shoes for the kid

Our local neighborhood Dollar General had a bin of $6 shoes. Now generally the idea of $6 shoes (and more so the idea of a bin of shoes) would be a turn off unless they were a really good pair of shoes on a really good markdown. But seeing as this is Dollar General...well, you get my drift. Anyway, they've had this bin of $6 sneakers for a while, but never had a size that would fit anyone in our little tribe...that is until yesterday. I lucked up a pair of black knock off Chuck Taylors, size 9, just big enough for Bijou. Being the person that I am (I have a hard time leaving well enough alone), I decided to fresh them up with a custom paint job. I wanted to make sure that they still looked like a little girl's shoes without looking girlie. I think they came out very cute. After I painted the picture on them, I covered the entire painted area with a sparkly fabric paint. She gets her sparkly sneakers and I don't have to look at princess or daisies. Everyone's happy! I will post pictures of her wearing them as soon as I can.

(Close up of sparkles!)

If the shoe fits

Well, all of the little ones are feeling much better. There is still quite a bit of snot flowing around here, but the fevers and infections all seem to have passed. I think we will take Bijou for allergy testing. I'm pretty sure what we thought were bites on her stomach, legs and feet in the ER were actually hives! All of the swelling is gone from her face and the cough has pretty much subsided, but yesterday she was complaining about her stomach and feet itching. I looked under her shirt and her stomach was covered in HUGE red hives. Hives the size of the palm of her hand. So were her feet and her back. They looked terrible, but other than the itching she seemed fine. Today, they are gone, so I think we will make an appointment on Monday to have her tested.

I am thrilled that all of the little people are feeling better and I can put the baby down without her screaming. As much as I enjoy loving up my babies, I want to be able to go to the bathroom without them screaming. One positive did come from being pinned under a feverish baby for 36 hours. I learned how to crochet baby shoes! Everyone who knows me, knows that this whole crochet thing is new to me. I learned how to crochet hats from a youtube video and making things up as I went along. I learned how to make the shoes the same way. I found a SUPER cute pair of crocheted baby shoes on Etsy and they were selling the pattern for $4 or $5. Unfortunately, on top of being incredibly cheap, I also can't read crochet patterns. Well, i can read them, but I have no clue what they mean. So I found a video on youtube showing how to crochet the sole of a baby shoe. After I worked out the sole, I used what I've been able to figure out about crochet stitches and what they do to wing the rest of the shoe. They turned out very, very cute. The sole is a soft, brown alpaca wool (thanks Ingrid!) and the upper is a deep red cotton. I'm not very good with sizing things yet and they were a bit roomy for Zion's little feet, so I added a drawstring around the top (sort of like the elastic that ballet shoes have to keep them on your feet) and they fit perfectly! A little strap and button and she has a sweet pair of soft, warm Mary Janes perfect for autumn.

My goal is to work on all of these little baby accessories that I do over the winter (while we are trapped under the cold, rainy, Mississippi winter) and by next summer be able to start a small business. Keep your fingers crossed that I get a sewing machine for my birthday. Hand sewing is incredibly time consuming!