5Faves: Irresistible Outfits ... for Boys!

Linking up with more 5Faves here!

Okay, we all know that tiny girl clothes can be so charming that they just magically fall into your cart. (True story: I once bought a dress at Carter's just in case the baby I was gestating turned out to be a girl. Spoiler alert: Nope.) But it's really not fair at all. (Not that girls' clothing doesn't have its own issues...) Girls get lovely confections of cuteness year-round, and boys get ... another round of graphic t-shirts. If it's Easter, you can choose one of two preppy options that are just downsized menswear.

Really, though, I can't help but feel that if American clothiers just tried a little, it wouldn't be hard to come up with something every bit as tantalizing for a mom with a little clothes money to burn. They need to take a few hints from the other side of the pond.

1. Les Zigouis

This is how my kids dress in the alternate version of my life where we are in a movie that involves traipsing about the city, getting caught in the rain, and always having a baguette sticking out of my bag. For the price of these outfits, though, they'd better magically transform diaper malfunctions and spills into rainbows and fairy dust. (Seriously, just commission a tailor to custom-make these for you and you'll still come out way ahead.)

On a more practical note, can we bring back the shorts suit, please? I get one season out of boys' pants, presuming the knees don't end up faded, grass-stained, or worse before then. I think my record for a pair of shorts is three years. There's a reason they did it like that back in the day, guys.

2. Boden

More on the casual side, but shouldn't a kiddo be able to look like Paddington Bear while he splashes in the puddles?

3. Marie-Chantal

Suspender shorts kill me every time. Make them tiny bubble-butt plaid suspender shorts and it's all over. Throw in some herringbone and he's ready to be an extra on Downton Abbey.

4. Cyrillus

Do the French know what they're doing or what? Their outfits always seem to have just the right amount of detail, without crossing the line into fussiness. I think I could just die of the cuteness of these overalls, and this dress shirt onesie seems perfectly practical, with the jersey bottom, a pleat for wiggle room, and a collar that's made for someone without much of a neck.

5. H&M

Allow Peanut to model for you.

I had to throw in at least one that's actually accessible. I know, it's like the Old Navy of Europe. Still, amidst some items that just make me shake my head for their sheer weirdness, they do carry things that are just a notch up, style-wise. One time, it was a tiny pair of striped suspenders that just somehow happened to land in my basket. Last time, it was this argyle sweaters. Also, striped caps and tiny wing-tips!


Okay, moms of boys: your turn: where do you like to find clothes? Or maybe you've got a collection of not-so-attainable looks you've been saving on Pinterest. I'm curious!

Pure Comfort Food for your Lent

Today at the Church Ladies', I make tomato soup without opening a single can (it's way easier than you think!).

7qt: Bright Spots in February

{1} My niece is the best niece

This week, I finally achieved my lifelong goal of becoming Auntie Em! Cannot wait to smooch those cheeks! (I mean, just look at them.)

Hard to beat the view this evening. Happy birthday, Madeleine! #bestbaby

A photo posted by Holly (@hollygphotos) on Feb 15, 2015 at 1:07pm PST

{2} Flowers for Valentine's

(I could really just stop at #1, but I'm told you need seven for this thing.)
I mean, I got real flowers, too (Which are still looking lovely, actually. Well chosen, husband!), but I'm pretty excited about these flowers. It's quite beyond any embroidery I've attempted before, but the supplies for the projects are mostly DMC floss, so if I mess up, at least I haven't put a lot of money into it!

{3} Sweater!

Real pictures forthcoming when good lighting and good hair days converge.

Finally finished off this sweater (at least, far enough to wear) this past weekend! There are still some loose ends on the inside, and I need to tack down my seam allowances and reinforce the sleeves. But I wore it, and it was awesome. Now I've got the colorwork bug, big time. I've got my eye on this, but I need to knit up some (many) unfinished projects, first.

I cut my knitting. Nobody died.

{4}

One of the questions people always ask me is how much money I save by knitting. I think my new answer is, "A few hundred dollars, if the website will let me zoom in close enough to count stitches." Seriously, though. Don't they just make you want to swoon? It almost would make February worth it.

{5} #LoveTHEONotreDame

My computer background for the past year. I read it in a 200 level theology class. #Augustine #loveTHEOnotredame pic.twitter.com/ZBmMET7Oup
— Erin Stoyell-Mulholl (@erin_sto_mo) February 12, 2015

It recently came to light that my alma mater has been thinking about dispensing with their core theology requirements in favor of checking that box with a "Catholic studies" type course or two in another department. Much to be said about that, angry letters to relevant parties, etc. But, it's been really wonderful to read the stories people have been posting on Twitter and this blog about how required theology courses changed their lives. Warms my little heart.

{6} Lent!

I put an exclamation point there, but I'm not really feeling it this year. However, two mornings out of three so far I've been awake (NOT of my own volition) and praying Lauds sometime around 5:00, so I guess I'm getting a little help. Can we at least make it 6:00, God? Monks pray it at 6:00. Thanks.

{7} Lenten Resolutions Booklet

If your Lent problem, like mine, tends to be half just remembering to do this stuff throughout the day, I've put together a little booklet (Prints on one page! Fits in your pocket!) so you can neatly check off the boxes each day, satisfy your OCD, and have a fruitful Lent all the way to the end.

Also, if you're looking for dinner ideas, Lucy has kicked off the festival of meatlessness for the year. Have a look at her recipe and the archives.

Find more Quick Takes here!

{pretty, happy, funny, real} Snowstorm Edition

{pretty}

This sweater, two years in the making, is almost done. If we have a sudden warm snap, you can thank me for jinxing any chances of wearing it this season...

{happy}

I suspect most of you got dumped upon once or twice in the past week. We got enough that DH got himself a snow day, and the wind stayed away, so it was nice enough to stay out in for quite some time.

Also happy: having a camera with a lens long enough to get these pictures from inside, wearing my pajamas. This was my actual perspective:

{funny}

Our sidewalk is shoveled, the neighbor's is not. At least one of the school children seems not to care.

{real}

A bit after the fact. Shockingly, snapping a picture of the actual flood was not on my mind.

Do you know what happens if you have an older washer and don't quite click the "load size" knob into place? A quarter-inch of water all over your floor is what. And just when you're thinking how responsible your four-year-old is getting, you will find him sitting at the dining room table, totally oblivious to the fingers of water slowly turning his chair into an island...

At any rate, thank goodness for Shop-Vacs and family with the foresight to give them as Christmas gifts. And said four-year-old did redeem himself by (perhaps too gleefully) tackling his brother every time he got too close to the puddle.


Find other {p,h,f,r} posts at Like Mother, Like Daughter.

Why that sweater has taken you two years to finish

8:00 p.m.: Finish your row. It's time to switch colors, but your thread cutters have mysteriously disappeared.  Get up to scrounge around for some scissors.
8:03: Walk past the kitchen. Those beans you boiled are probably cool enough to move along to the freezer.
8:15: If you don't do diaper laundry, you won't have anything to put the baby in in the morning. Go upstairs and get that pail.
8:16: Wonder if the recent diaper rash is due to the bar of Ivory you used in the latest batch of detergent. Go looking for something (anything) that isn't that or Woolite. Come up with an ancient box of detergent (like, possibly-left-by-the-previous-owners old), manage to chisel off enough for a load.
8:22: Husband offers to do the dishes from the beans, but you're pretty sure you can't deal with looking at even one more toy today, so you ask him to take care of that situation while you do dishes
8:30: No one's wiped the stove in recent history. Really cleaning it would kill your hands in this dry weather, but a quick swipe would be a good idea.
8:33: Step back. Well, crap. The kitchen literally looks bigger because the stove is so much cleaner. Probably should just bite the bullet and do the job right.
8:41: Maybe if you run upstairs and get lotion on your hands immediately, your skin won't turn into sandpaper...
8:43: Maybe not.
8:47: It's getting late; clear various projects off the table in order to have a place to pray.
8:50: Compline
9:00: Ignore dessert requests; time for jammies and toothbrushing.
9:10: Tuck in Thing One. Dad's still getting over the flu and has taken over kid's room for quarantine purposes, so kiddo is sleeping in his pup tent by the Christmas tree. This means everyone is banished to the upstairs rooms until he's out.
9:13: Thing Two is still going strong. Attempt to contain him in your bedroom, which really has no place to play.
9:20: Your sister calls to chat.
9:21: Now Thing Two is totally ready for bed this instant.
9:23: Change him one-and-a-half-handed while carrying on your phone conversation.
9:30: Make a valiant attempt to bounce and otherwise distract Thing Two while you carry on your conversation.
9:41: Resign yourself to saying goodbye and taking care of the bedtime situation.
10:05: Both kids asleep. Check out something online your sister had mentioned.
10:14: Chat with husband for a few before he checks out.
10:23: Make yourself a cup of tea. You have to babysit the kettle, so it doesn't start screaming with a kid asleep right next to it.
10:31: Bring your tea up to the computer. Fetch your project, too, and finally settle in with a good Netflix show to get some quality knitting time.
10:32 p.m.: Pick up your needles and glance at the chart. Realize you still need to change colors, and your scissors are all downstairs.

Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

You Won't Catch Me Saying I Never Win Anything

Not after today!

I discovered Big White Farmhouse through mutual friend Caitlyn, and was incredibly thrilled to be the winner of their birthday giveaway!

One of the best things about indie shops? The wrapping!

Really, if they'd let me pick anything at all in their shop, it would have been this recipe box! For all the things I do digitally these days, I'm still a great lover of hand-copying any recipe I'm going to use more than once, so I already have quite a collection of well-loved recipe cards, and I can promise this will be well used. (And it's so much lovelier than my old, too-small, cardboard box.)

It even has dividers! I'm moving on up in the world!

Do head over and have a look at some of their things (this apron has caught my eye...). And thanks again, ladies!

Hungry Caterpillar Lacing Toy

I always fall down on my resolution to hand make more of the boys' presents, so, even thought it meant pulling a couple late nights and being okay with some flaws, I was pretty pleased to be able to pull this project off for Peanut's birthday. (With apologies for the unintentional alliterations!)

It helped that the initial investment was super low (twelve pieces of 25-cent felt, a quarter-yard of cotton batting, plus odds and ends that I already owned). I find it a lot easier to get the planning phases of a project rolling if I've already got the materials in hand.

To make the pattern, I found the images from the book online, pulled them into Illustrator and created outlines of each. I made a mock-up of the pattern layout so I wouldn't get everything printed out only to find I'd scaled it too big for my sheets of felt, and then squeezed the pattern onto a few pages and printed.

The pieces are three layers quilted together; a layer of batting, (optional, but gives it a nicer feel in your hand) trimmed about ¼" smaller so the edges don't show and sandwiched between two of the felt pieces. I learned along the way that it's much better to cut the holes in all three pieces before assembly. They're a little less stable on the sewing machine, but it's almost impossible to get that hole cut nicely through all three layers otherwise.

Some of the pieces, like the caterpillar and the cherry pie, got details appliqued on before assembly, and some, like the watermelon and the lollipop, got details hand-embroidered in with embroidery floss. I did this after assembly because I had lots of road-trip time to work on it, but beforehand would probably make more sense.

The caterpillar has a piece of pipe cleaner (with the ends folded over so they won't poke through) to make him stiff enough to thread through the holes. A round shoelace connects him to his egg, which keeps the pieces from falling off the other end.

And here it is all together! One is still a little young to actually lace the pieces together, but he loves hearing the story while his brother and I send the caterpillar through the food with lots of giggle-inducing munching noises. As a bonus, the food pieces do double duty as kitchen toys!