Happy Easter!

I hope you're all having a lovely Easter Sunday!  Hubby, the kiddos, and I had a lovely Easter dinner of ham, potato casserole, Jell-o Jiggler Easter Eggs, and Pioneer Woman's roast asparagus.  We used our cute Easter plates from Target (love the plaid!) and I made carrot silverware bundles, as seen at Our Best Bites.

I even tried my hand at Instructables' homemade Cadbury Creme Egg recipe.  They turned out a little flatter than I intended (I didn't freeze them for long enough before dipping), but they are very yummy!  

It's been a nice, relaxing, Easter.  In addition to Easter celebrations, we're celebrating the arrival of a new adorable niece this week.  And, I finished her baby quilt just in time!

This mom of boys had great fun picking out fabrics for this sweet baby girl.  Look for a tutorial for the quilt later this week!

Anthropolgie Sun Shades Dress: Finished Product

Remember how I was going to make my own version of the Anthropologie Sun Shades Dress?  Well, it's finished. 

Here's Anthropologie's dress:

And here's mine:

Mine is, of course, a little different than Anthro's.  For starters, mine has sleeves, since Anthro's version wasn't exactly modest.  If I'd bought the dress, I'd have added a cute cardigan to go over it, but as I was making it from scratch, why not add sleeves? 

Also, mine is a brighter gold than Anthro's version, since that's the color ribbon and fabric that was easiest to find.  I didn't realize how much brighter it was until I was in Anthropologie again and looked at the Sun Shades Dress again.  I think I actually like my version better.  It's a happier color than the almost bronze gold of the original. 

It was, as predicted, a beast to create.  I ended up drafting the pattern pieces from scratch, for the most part, which was rather difficult without a dress form.  (Oh, how I'd love a dress form...)  I made several mock ups and tweaked the fit by trying it on over and over again.  The bodice isn't perfect (and it doesn't help that I've lost weight since starting the project), but after all that work, I'm declaring it good enough. 

The stripes are "mango" broadcloth, cut on the bias into strips, and "gold-yellow" grosgrain ribbon from Walmart.  The white fabric is Walmart's Teeshot, a cotton/poly blend often used for making scrubs.  The dress is self-lined, with a 6 inch wide gathered tulle hem on the skirt lining for fullness (as on the original dress), and has a side zipper.  The mock ups (or "muslins") were made with broadcloth scraps I already owned.  Total cost to make:  $22.  Savings compared to original dress:  $136.  Not too shabby!

Linking to these great link parties.
Participating in the Knock It Off Contest at seventhirtythree!

Have I done any good in the world today?

My church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, held a general conference today, where we listened to counsel and encouragement from our modern-day prophet and the general authorities of the Church.  Among the talks that were given, was one by President Henry B. Eyring about service.

His talk quoted the hymn, Have I Done Any Good.  As soon as that hymn was mentioned, I remembered a desire I'd had to frame a part of that song and display it in my home as a reminder to do good continually. 

So, I spent the rest of the morning session, while listening to conference on TV, putting together a printable.  Feel free to download and use it yourself! 

I put this one together first.  I like that it has more of the hymn's lyrics on it, but I find myself more drawn to the second one I made. 

This one is simpler and I like the look of it better.  I think I'll use both.  One for my frame and one to put on the fridge.  

I bought an inexpensive ($3) Walmart frame and spray-painted it yellow.  I love it.  It'll look so cute in my room.  Here's what each printable looks like in the frame.  (And, don't you love the ranunculus?  I picked that up today at Walmart, too.  I love spring!)

To download the printables, click on the images to open a larger image.  Then, right click to save as.

Linking up at Today's Creative Blog.