11 March 2011

A Bad Case of Stripes: Rubyellen of Cakies

Photo by Christian Cruz Photography
Hooray!  We have Rubyellen of Cakies here today!  Upon going through her blog to pick out a few of my favorite things about her, I found myself in a pickle to choose just a few snapshots.

Photo by Rubyellen
Rubyellen has an affinity for polaroids and uses them well to capture her beautiful life.  If I chose one word to describe her blog, it would be charming.

From her vintage treasures, 

Photo by Rubyellen
to her themed parties and their bounteous garden,
Photo by Rubyellen
not to mention her sweet three girls 
[with another little one on the way!]
Christian Cruz Photography

it's always inspirational to land there and soak up the beauty.

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Hello! I am Ruby from Cakies and I am so excited that Katy has asked me to share one of our favorite stories, along with a special little handmade concoction inspired by the book for good measure! Our story of choice is A Bad Case of Stripes by David Shannon.
a bad case of stripes dress
In our house, we are all about eating healthy! Of course, we expose our kids to "sometimes foods" in moderation, but we make sure to feed the good stuff more! Lucky for us, they love eating fruits and veggies and we love eating fruits and veggies with them. We also love reading books about children who enjoy their fruits and vegetables too, so that is why this story means so much to us.
This story is all about Camilla Cream who denies her love for lima beans all because eating lima beans isn't the popular thing to do. As a result of her desire to conform, she breaks out in a bad case of the stripes. As time goes on, her desire to conform just keeps her horrid condition going as her body just continually adapts to her surroundings, until she is no longer recognizable. In the end, she learns to be true to herself and proudly proclaims her love for lima beans and goes her merry way eating them, no matter what the other kids say.
a bad case of stripes dress
In our case, we aren't ashamed of our love for fruits and veggies. We snack on them in the car, at church, out shopping, at birthday parties, you name the place, we eat them anywhere and anytime. So we are celebrating the book with our version of a good case of stripes!!!
a bad case of stripes dress
Like Danielle before me, I wasn't able to do a step by step of the process because if I did, I would never get done. The good case of stripes dress has a straight bodice, with a bit of pleating at the top, along with rainbow colored fabric trim that ties together in a bow at the front to create our colorful stripes. The bottom portion is a drop waist bubble skirt that is just so much fun. It is almost as fun as eating our fruits and vegetables!
a bad case of stripes dress
The rainbow colored fabric ties in the front attract so much attention, that I decided to keep everything else simple and do a cream colored cotton dress. I just ripped strips of colored fabric for the ties and that is what contributes to its frayed edges.
a bad case of stripes dress
The story is so full of life and color, and is very well illustrated. There is so much whimsy in it that I wanted to create a dress that conveyed just that.
a bad case of stripes dress
Between the bubble skirt and rainbow colored front, my little True couldn't help but want to laugh and play around. The dress was indeed quite whimsical and it made her absolutely giddy!
a bad case of stripes dressa bad case of stripes dressa bad case of stripes dress
There are times when I hear about some some real life friends saying we are so strange because of how we raise our kids by moderating the amount of "sometimes food" they eat and exposing them to a lot of fruits and vegetables (and maybe for how we dress our kids too). Honestly, we don't care! We do what is best for our kids, everyone has their own preference, and our kids are quite the happy campers. We don't get a bad case of stripes at our house. Quite the contrary, we only have a good case of stripes!!!
a bad case of stripes dress
Thank you Katy (and her readers) for allowing me to be part of this fun series!

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That's one of our favorite books around here as well.  The colorful frock is so cheerful and perfect for a girl who is not afraid to be different!  Thank you, Rubyellen for visiting!

19 comments:

  1. I love Cakies! That dress is adorable, especially those little ringlets!

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  2. Such a charming little dress based on a favorite book of ours!

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  3. What a cool book! I love the interpretation of it and the perfect fullness of that skirt. :)

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  4. Oh Ruby, I love this! Very cute. Very modern. Very girly. Great book tie-in!

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  5. What a beautiful dress. I will have to add the book to my list.

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  6. I love it!
    And her adorable little model reminds me of my older sister at that age. So cute.

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  7. Isn't it amazing how the simplest things have the most impact, and look so fabulous? This is so pretty and cheerful, and looks fabulous on your daughter! It would also look great made in various shades of the same colour. Thanks so much for sharing!

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  8. We love that book! Cute case of stripes you have there :)

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  9. Now I want three things. 1- To go buy that book. 2- To go make that dress. 3- To add you to my overlong list of blogs I read. Thanks for the inspiration!

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  10. so clever! and creative. love it.

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  11. This is one of my daughter Wednesday's favourite books (We read it almost daily). I have been wondering what to make her (besides the pink hair bow that she adores) and now I know! Thank you so much! As soon as I get one made, I will be sure to share pictures!

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  12. i've never heard of that book and can't wait to check it out!
    Rubyellen and her family couldn't BE any cuter- the dress is adorable too :O)

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  13. love that book and LOVE that dress!
    hooray to RubyEllen for her strength in standing firm in her beliefs for HER children(sorry this last bit is a follow on from her post connected/linked to this post:0)

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  14. She did a great job embodying the book in an outfit!

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  15. that little girl is too gorgeous!

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  16. i'm completely and totally and utterly embarrassed to say that this was my 1st finding of "my cakies"! BUT i'm also completely and totally and utterly embarrassed as to how much time i spent yesterday perusing her site! i've been sucked in and LOVE her site....such a cute family!!! LOVE this dress and story!

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  17. thank you katy! i am so honored to be part of this series and had so much fun too!!!

    most especially thank you to katy's readers for the warm welcome!!!

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  18. OMG..,,I am so in LOVE with this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Fabulous!

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