Daddy Daughter Dance 2012

I am easily excited when it comes to stuff for my kids.  The daddy daughter dance holds a special place in my heart.  It's a special memory between dad and daughter.

I love that my little girl gets to go to this glamorous event with her dad.  And it is GLAMOROUS! This event sells out.  It is something I look forward to every year.  The dads all wear their Sunday best, the girls can wear something as simple as a pretty spring dress, to an elegant gown.  The age range is typically 3-18 yrs old.  This year they did a winter wonderland theme.  And pictures do not give it justice.  The entry way had white branches with snowflakes hanging down with white lights.  They had made a castle, had huge polar bears, and had penguin balloons all throughout the auditorium.  It truly was a wonderland.

I'm not going to lie and say this night went off without a hitch.  Oh...those damn shoes.  

Yes, its true, I go crazy with the accessories.

I want it to be perfect.  I want this night to run smoothly, and magically, the way fairy tales should be.

I believe in all the magical stuff...knowing that shoes will be taken off within 15 seconds of entry, that the coat, cover-up & purse will be handed to me while we are waiting in line for the professional photo, then after the photo, the headband will be handed to me and if I'm lucky Maddie will come home with only one stain on the dress, two earrings and a pearl bracelet.

Knowing all this...I stand there with, jacket, cover-up, purse, shoes, and headband...and its all worth it to watch her grab her dads hand and say "come on dad lets go!" 

These shoes were made for dancing...

and most likely will be taken off in the first 5 minutes of the Daddy Daughter Dance...but that's ok.

if you remember we started with this...

a little big for my girl, but they still worked...put a little cotton in the toes and she'll be fine. My big idea was to clean them up and add a flower...so I got this...

which was very nice, but in my midnight meltdown I turned them into this...

Not good...not good at all.

So back to the drawing board I went.  I stayed away from these shoes, far away, mad because the flower was perfectly fine. You know how I know this...I showed Maddie the new shoes I created...the first thing she says "where's the flower?" my shoulders dropped, a small sigh escaped me...and then she says..."ooohh..look at those" and starts petting the pearls...and all is good again in my crafting world.

But don't think I'm done...shoes need a matching hair accessory.  We also need some clip on earrings or Maddie will be very disappointed.  So this week, and preferably before midnight I will be crafting some matching accessories...the dance is this Saturday and I plan on doing a little photo shoot...and as long a I don't have any crafting breakdowns...all will stay good in the world.

The Good, The Bad and the Ugly

Remember the teaser picture from facebook I sent out last night?  

What sweet memories.

Let's start out with the good.   

Started my day by taking a quick run to Hobby Lobby, which always puts me in a great mood.  Still not exactly sure what I was going to do, and knowing I had everything I could possibly need at home, except little pearls...which I found in the bridal section for seventy-five cents.  

I was so excited to start my shoe project, but life happens.  Kids come home from school, gymnastics, and dinner...so at 11pm I gathered some supplies, I had a vague idea of what I wanted to do...I needed a soy candle, needle/thread, satin...why a candle?  Well, to make satin flowers, you use a candle to keep the edges from fraying...why soy?  Because it doesn't leave the black soot from the flame on your flower.

So as I was staring at the shoe with the pearls in hand...I had no idea what to do.  I knew that I needed a strap for these beauties...so, I decided a pearl strap would look great...it would look like little ankle bracelets.  Great idea until I realized that I had no idea what size strap I would need.  So I got out my night vision goggles, and sneaked into Maddies room.

And yes, that is a very large, sharp needle by her foot.  Remember it was after 11pm.

The pearl strap looked and worked great.  I used elastic thread so that it would be an easy on and off.

  So now onto the flowers. 

I was pleased.  Not overly impressed, but at least pleased.  So when Moo woke up in the morning I had her model the one shoe I created...

I was so excited!  I was going to finish my blog post, and I was going to look so crafty.

I started my project again about 11pm tonight...gathered some more supplies, this time I was going to take pictures, and it was going to be so pretty...

Then bad things started to happen. I was not liking my flowers.  They didn't look even too me.  They started to look odd.  I still decided to hot glue them on.  I needed to finish.  I had to finish.  I had to POST my beautiful Pinterest inspired shoes!!!  Before I could even take a picture of the final product...I  tore them off.  They were not right.  When I bought these shoes I knew that there where some small holes from the staples that the smart people at the thrift store used to attach the price, but I thought I could cover them up, with the flower.  I kinda did.

That plastic flower embellishment on the shoe...I again thought I could cover it up nicely...I sorta did.  But because of all the covering I had to do, I made these flowers too big.  And so now...we have the ugly...

But that's okay...tomorrow is a new day, I have another thing of bridal pearls, and I have an entirely new idea...