Cottage Collection By Bunny Lane Designs

Ok when I saw this Cottage Collection by Bunny Lane Designs..........I did my little happy dance because this dress is so stinking cute!! Every little girl should have one. I am so excited to see more of what she is going to have. She is just giving us a sneak peak of the new collection so if this is cute, can you imagine what the rest is going to look like????

Head over to her etsy store and have a look around. let me know what you think.

And on a even happier note, my May Flowers photo was featured here at the One Hundred Photos Feature blog. I again did the happy dance. Ok I did more then my happy dance :) I am very excited about it. can you tell? Head over there and check it out!

Leslie

Square Foot Gardening

I'm really excited to show you guys my new garden.  I have never had a garden before and I was excited to get my hands dirty:)  Thankfully, I have friends that are willing to share their secrets about gardening and how it all works.  So they were kind enough to introduce me to Square Foot Gardening.  It's very easy to do and to maintain.  I have so many things sprouting at the moment: lettuce, pumpkin, tomatoes, marigolds, hot peppers, gourds, etc.  Everyday the kids go outside and see the progress.  Not only am I having fun gardening but Austin is really taking pride of his work and gets just as excited as I do.  Go check out the site out if you are interested in starting one. 

I would love to see other square foot gardening pictures so if you want to share email me at mammatortilla@gmail.com and send over your pictures :)

Leslie

"maybe im just like my mother"

"Dance like no one is looking" that's the motto in our house. Austin, Chloe and I have daily dance offs at our house. We crank the radio in our kitchen and dance. Its even come in handy when everyone is on the verge of a melt down and need a quick distraction. If you know me, dancing is something I have always loved. Nope not a professional or took dance classes. I just dance and love it. If I am good, well thats a different story.

Well, I guess all the dancing in our kitchen paid off because at my sister-in-law's wedding, Austin busted a move.....




And right before I posted this we had our morning dance off and an old Prince song came on "....maybe I'm just like my mother" and Austin sure is just like his mom.

Leslie

simple things in life: Play Dough

I love this time of year because all my kids want to play with is dirt, water and play dough. I mean for hours!! All I have to say is "oh play dough, how i love thee." Keep it simple and they will love you :)

Homemade Play Dough
by Mothering Magazine

1 cup flour
1/2 cup salt
1 cup water
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Combine ingredients in saucepan. Place on medium heat and stir constantly until a ball forms. Remove from heat and knead for a few minutes. Want to add some color? Paprika for red and cocoa for brown :) Store in airtight container.

Butterflies and Caterpillars

These boys love to craft! After they were done, we read them The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

Fairy Garden

Austin's friend, Miles, had a birthday two weeks ago and our family was trying really hard to think of something to make him. Between my family and Miles' we always give each other handmade things. It's this unspoken rule we have between us. The crafts that have been created have been amazing.

So since Miles has a new imaginary fairy friend in his life and she is really special to him, we decided to make him a fairy garden. A special place where his fairy friend can live.

This fairy garden was inspired by The Magic Onion blog where she tells you how to make all this cute fairy stuff :) It was such a great way to include my kids and husband in the crafting. We all had so much fun and gave each other a pat on the back on how well it turned out.

side note: I didn't take enough pictures of the process so sorry. I got caught up in making the garden and the last picture of the final project is through my phone :( so these pictures don't give it any justice.

The start of the project

Austin helping me get all the dirt in the pot

The construction of the house

The Fairy Garden included a house, a table, chair, a pond made out of coconut, and a clothing line (we put some of my fabric scraps on the clothing line). It has a real garden that we planted seeds and in this picture you can see them sprouting :) Oh and she has a bed in the house too!

The Easiest Little Hat

Bella hate hats, and she especially hated the one I made her wear.  It straped under her chin and was just a little too bg so when she turned her head one of her eyes was covered.  I know - Poor neglected child!  Well something had to be done (actually I just misplaced her hat so...=)

I had some white chenille yarn in my stash and had recently seen this post from The Sewing Dork or I decided to give it a go.  You have to understand the only thing I have ever crocheted was a rug and most things that I start with yard end up on the needle for a couple of years and then pulled out and rewrapped into a ball.  All that to say this is SO SIMPLE.

I modified the Sewing Dork's pattern a little for a faster result=)

Here's how it goes...

1.  Make a slip knot and chain 6 and then form a circle with the chain by making a slip stitch into your first chain.  This will be the tight center circle of your hat.

2. From here on out it is super simple.  Crochet two new double stitches into each existing stitch.  So you go from 6 stitches in the first circle to 12 in the next.  From here it is adding stitches by feel.  The weight of your material and the size of your stitches will determine how many stitches will be in each of the next circles. For the first few circles  I crochet two new double stitches into each existing stitch.  Then I start to do every other then ever 5...you will get the feel of it.

3.  Then I just keep going round and round until my piece covers the top of her head.  From the point I stop increasing.  Just crochet until the hat is long enough.  Ta-da.  It may sound complicated if you have never crocheted but it really easy!  I suggest finding a friend who can show you - Thanks Mrs. Carol! - or a good youtube video.

You can leave your hat as is or add some embellishments.  Tomorrow I will  introduce you to one of the coolest sewing tools ever that I used to embellish my niece's hat!  I know you can barely contain your excitement=)

The Best Baby Toy in the World

It doesn't get much easier than this. No sewing and in a matter of minutes you have an awesome toy that doesn't get old and has great practical value!

I have a cold right now and there is a tissue box next to the bed within arms reach of Bella. I often turn around and find her with the box between her feet and the tissues spread all around. So, I gave her her own tissue box. With cloth tissues. She will sit there for at least 20 minutes pulling the tissues out and handing them to me or putting them next to her. Then I just gather them all up and put them back in the box for round two! This is great because we use them as tissues as well - one less thing in our house that is disposable!

I gifted these to one of my nieces who loves to play with tissues and also for a sister who doesn't use disposable...well...anything=) Great for the environment, your wallet and a super easy gift!

Materials:
- 1 empty tissue box
- cloth for tissues - I used fun animal/fish/bug prints that I got for free and didn't see myself using for anything else. They are all hues of green and ended up looking really nice in the green striped tissue box. However, next time I might use flannel to make it a little softer for noses.
- pinking shears (or the willingness to hem each cloth)

1. Cut your cloth into squares (the size is completely up to you I just used a tissue as a rough guide)
2. Put into the tissue box

Told you it was easy=)

Make your life beautiful,

Behind the Scenes

I have to admit I am a blog stalker. I love reading and seeing what other bloggers are doing. It's a little bit of an obsession. But, I always wonder how they do it. They look so together. The kids look happy, dinner looks made every night at the same time, and they craft a million things a week. How do they do it??? How do they make time for family, household, and more importantly CRAFT!

This is definitely a challenge here at Mamma Tortilla's house. Sometimes in the middle of the day, the kids will do something or inspire me and I have to run to the computer and type. Well, 1% of the time it actually happens. Other times, its at night when I do most of my blogging or crafting. When I do blog or craft really quickly while the kids are awake, this is what I turn around to............

HAHA! gotta love kids! So the conclusion is no blogging, internet checking or crafting while kids are awake because family is first! I do have some ideas on how I can get a lot of crafting and blogging done. Do you have any suggestions? Would love to hear from other bloggers out there on how they multitask and get things done.


Leslie

O is for Owl

Since its been cold and rainy :( I've had to find ways to entertain my very active and lovable two year old. I think we were both bored out of our minds. So to get our mind off of rain and being cold ), I decided to make an owl with him while Chloe slept. I got the idea from where ada likes to wonder. Great blog by the way. Instead of using sunflower seeds we used felt and it worked out great. I let him do most of the crafting with my assistance. He was really proud of himself. He placed on the window sill so it can look outside. I love how Austin was so into his owl :)