Happy Halloween! Our girls’ costumes this year are nigiri sushi: Mio is salmon, and Mirei is shrimp! They are just so cute that I could gobble them up…
This was my first time making their costumes and while it was a long and challenging process because I don’t have a sewing machine and had to hand-sew everything, it helped that Mio was really excited about the idea of being sushi for Halloween and kept excitedly exclaiming “Mio going to be SAH-MON SUSHI!!!” during the weeks leading up to Halloween. She was definitely my cheerleader and motivator to get the costumes completed and not give up! I’m pretty pleased with the final result, and the girls (well… Mio at least) seem to really like it! I don’t know if I’ll attempt to make another costume on my own again, though, until I have a sewing machine… I kept getting frustrated towards the end that it would have been faster and cleaner-looking if I had one! For those who want to know, I followed this awesome tutorial (note: it’s in Hebrew, so you’ll need the help of Google Translate!) that I found via Pinterest, and added some customizations of my own (I sewed the “rice” body from some white chenille fabric, and added green felt “baran”/grass to the headband, behind the wasabi and ginger). The costumes have definitely been a hit at the Halloween parties and events we’ve gone to this year, and it was a welcome departure from the typical princesses and fairies that we dressed Mio in the past couple years.
Hope everyone has a safe and fun Halloween weekend!
I’ve been on a roll with creating hair accessories for Mio, and since a few people have asked about the petal clips that she’s been wearing lately, I thought I’d write a blog post about them. I recently ordered a ZUZII petal clips DIY kit from Etsy, because the hair clips you can make with them are truly adorable, and I loved having the option to make them myself! I was particularly smitten by the colors that were provided, and the reasonable price — at $8 ($10 if you include the $2 shipping), you can create six hair clips. Hair accessories for girls can run pretty steep, and I could easily spend more than that if I were to buy all the materials myself, so I thought this was a pretty good deal.
Everything you need comes in this cute little pouch.
The materials and instructions included in the kit. So awesome that the petals are precut to their various sizes, as that would have been the most annoying and time-consuming part if you were to completely create these from scratch.
They come with the snap clips that the flowers attach to.
A couple of the petal clips in progress…
All six Zuzii petal clips, completed!
Again, I love the colors! A great mix of soft and vibrant colors — Mio will always have something to match her outfits.
I was really happy with the way they turned out! (They’re so cute that I just might sport them in my hair myself… is that allowed? :P) The instructions were really easy to follow, and because the petals were precut, it was very quick and easy to assemble and stitch the flowers and create the hair clips. The best part? When someone asks about the pretty hair clip in your little girl’s hair, you can proudly tell them, “I made it myself!”
I really recommend this kit if you have a little girl and want a fun and easy creative project, or if you want to gift it (either premade by you, or for the recipient to make themselves). The Etsy shop also has a DIY kit for barefoot sandals with the same petals, which would be precious on a newborn, for those with younger baby girls.
Yesterday on Sunday, July 10th, Mio turned 100 days old! A baby’s 100th day is a milestone in several Asian cultures, and traditionally in Japan it’s celebrated with a ceremony called okuizome.
When a baby is 100 days old, Japanese families celebrate a weaning ceremony called ‘‘okuizome,’’ or first food. This ceremony traditionally involves a large shared meal prepared by the mother-in-law. The menu varies by region. Traditionally, a small pebble is placed on each plate and the adults symbolically bite down on it. This ritual is meant to wish the baby a life of abundant food without hunger as well as good strong teeth. While a father or grandfather may pretend to feed the baby solid food during these festivities, the baby is usually still drinking exclusive milk.
We did not have a formal okuizome ceremony, but Mio got to spend the day enjoying lots of time with loved ones! In the morning, we went over to Berkeley to have brunch with my dear friend Julianne, who happened to be in town! The last time we saw Juli, I was still pregnant, so this was her first time meeting baby Mio.
We had gelato for dessert afterward... my favorite! It was so good seeing you, Juli!
Later in the day, Mio’s grandparents (Dan’s parents) came over to have a celebratory lunch with Mio. Dan’s mother made and brought over some delicious sushi rolls! Mio couldn’t have any, of course, but we very much enjoyed the food on her behalf! 😉
Mio with her grandparents!
Dan's mother handmade this dress and bonnet for Mio for the occasion! So pretty! I love the lace, bows, and flower detailing.
So happy to be in grandma's arms!
Mio with Mommy and Daddy on her 100th Day.
Mio started to fall asleep, so we put her in her bouncer and she immediately woke up and started to cry when she realized she was no longer in anyone’s arms….
"It's my party, and I'll cry if I want to!"
Happy 100th Day, dear little Mio!
We feel so blessed and lucky that Mio is so healthy and she’s already given us so much joy in the past 100 days. In some cultures, the 100th Day is also celebrated as the one year mark since the baby came to exist in the womb. Sure enough, it was around this time last year that Mio started to develop within me — it’s amazing to see that only a year later, we have such a big, healthy 3-month old in our arms! I used to feel like the nine months of pregnancy was unbearably long (especially while I was experiencing it), but if you look at it from that perspective, it’s pretty incredible that a fully functional human can be created from nothing in a mere nine months! Life is truly a miracle.
Mio has already changed our lives forever in this short period of time, and we cannot wait to see how she continues to blossom and bring more joy to us as well as those around her.
“My heart is yours.
My spirit sings with love.
For you. My child.
You’ve grown yourself,
inside me.
Foot under my rib.
One became two.
At last you are here.
Sleeping on my chest.
Clutching my tangled hair in your hand.
Your dark eyes calm as a lake.
Your breathing making me safe.
You who gave birth to this mother.
A life. My child.
We gave birth to each other.
I kiss your face.
A million times a day.
I sit still and listen.
To the whisper of your wisdom.
To life, right now.
This is love, my love.”
— ULRICA
I realized recently that we didn’t have enough magnets to post things up on our fridge, but looked around and found it hard to find magnets that I really liked that weren’t expensive. (Why are magnets so expensive? They’re just magnets…) So I decided to explore my inner Martha Stewart to create my own. I did some research online and found that these handmade marble magnets are a very easy DIY project and you can customize how the magnets will look by what patterns of paper/cloth you put inside them. It seems like it’s a very common DIY project, so there are lots of tutorials for them out there, but the one I chose to follow was at Not Martha. The instructions are very thorough and come with step-by-step photos.
All you need are small round magnets (you can find them in packs), marbles that are flat on one side, circular cut-outs from patterned/illustrated paper or cloth (the most tedious part was cutting them out), silicone glue and a toothpick to help with assembly. You can find all of them at Michael’s or any other craft store, so definitely try making these yourself!
Here are the magnets that I created…
I made a batch of fifty... no shortage of magnets for a while!
Experimenting with different patterns and cut-outs from magazines.
Some of my favorites used musical notes (Ã la sheet music) and typed text.
