Fifth Birthday

Another birthday!  We joke in my family that we have birthday season in February and March.  Both nieces, my father, father-in-law and two children all have birthdays in those months.  We eat cake.  Lots of cake.  Here is Dorothy's birthday dress, which features a yellow Volkswagen Beetle patch.  She wanted a pinch buggy birthday so that is what she got. She declared that her dress should not be constructed of pinch buggy fabric (although I did find that, see below), but should be a pretty dress with just one pinch buggy on the front.  I found the patch on eBay, the fabric and Joann, and the pattern is Simplicity 5695, which I think I've made a zillion times now but she asked for that style specifically.  (She wanted it to be like this dress of the same basic pattern.)

I don't often make hair bows for Dorothy because she won't keep them on, but I did make one for this event and she did keep it on just for the duration of the party. Hair bows are so easy--I have no idea why they cost so much.  Yet there is something about just dragging out the glue gun that has made me an Etsy hair bow purchaser myself, back before my kid started refusing to wear them. This one is made from ribbon left over from another project with flowers cut out of the dress fabric (raw edges and all) and one purple button that came as an extra with a store-bought sweater.  Now she'll probably never wear it again but who knows, I might.

I found this Volkswagen fabric on Etsy.  (Or was it eBay?  I find novelty fabric in both places.) This is the third time I've made an accent tablecloth for her birthday table.  It's just one yard of fabric, squared off and hemmed all around on the serger. In the past I think I layered them over other tablecloths, but since Worth likes to yank at tablecloths I skipped the layered look this time.  The small homemade tablecloths set off the theme for her parties by decorating the table, then they find a more permanent home in our playroom housekeeping area where they perfectly fit the small play table.  As usual, we have Nana to thank for the beautiful cake, and the theme was inspired by Rob, who drives a pinch buggy convertible.