spring cleaning (in the summertime)

Spring.cleaning
We never did quite make it around to our official spring cleaning this year.  Too busy.  But this week we've started taking it one room at a time, scrubbing and reorganizing as we go.  Are we the only family that has dust elephants (not bunnies, mind you) underneath our furniture?

Don't forget, our free shipping offer ends at midnight on July 4th!  Use code SUNNYDAYS at the checkout.

XX us

laundry day.

Tide.in.a.teacup_15 Happy.tide

We like simple things.  Like using an old teacup instead of the not-so-cute plastic thingy to scoop out our powdered laundry detergent.  Just because we can.  It makes laundry days more fun, don't you think?

love, the Long ladies

color is fun.

DSC_0310 DSC_0267

Midwest Modern 1 and 2, Dolce, Essential Dots, and American Retro are unified by shades of pink, yellow, and orange.  So happy!
 
We love color.  All kinds of color.  Color everywhere.  A lot of people ask us about mixing up different fabric collections… can you do it?  And we just say, why, of course you can!  The main thing is to keep a tight color palette.  Here are two fun examples we wanted to share you!

Blues and greens and turquoise, with a splash of yellow…Color.is.fun
Plain Jane, Mod Girls, Garden Party, Dolce, Love, Bell Bottom, Pretty Please, Park Slope, Darla, Simply Sweet, and Nicey Jane.  Pretty fun, don't you think?!

Blues.greens2 Blues.greens 
Fabric-mixing like this works really well for home decorating and wardrobe planning.  And for happy scrappy quilts like Eleanor's.  It keeps things from looking too "matchy-matchy"!  We love pulling different bolts off the shelves, just to see what happens.  Want to come over and play color with us?  Do you have a favorite color palette?

love, the Long ladies

good times.

Tipton.co.courthouse 

We always have such a great time when we visit our grandparents in Indiana.  It's really like going to another home, away from home.  (Hi Nan & Paps!  We LOVE you!)  As promised, we wanted to share some fun pictures from our trip!  You wanted to see them, didn't you?

We ate some of these while we were away.  Well, quite a few of these actually.  Mmm…

Big.fat.pretzel

And we visited one of our new favorite shops — The Secret Garden.  So much inspiration there.  We were just sorry to have to miss out on their annual French Flea Market!

Home.in.indiana 021
Home.in.indiana 018
Home.in.indiana 014
Home.in.indiana 015
Home.in.indiana 020 
Of course we had to have pizza, too.  At one of our favorite places.  Big thanks to Aunt Amy and Uncle Greg for treating us all!

Our.favorite.pizza
We spent some time at the park, but didn't teeter-totter as much as we used to.

Tipton.park Home.in.indiana 056 Cutie.pie Abiah.swings Apphia.swings 
We dripped our ice cream all over the place…

Achaia.melting
South.pole
And stopped to smell the flowers.

Home.in.indiana 013
How does Nan manage to keep her flowers alive, anyway?  We've always wondered about that.  Apparently, none of us inherited her green thumb!

Nan's.fuchsia
Nan's.flowers Fountain
Then we topped it all off with a family cookout, where we ate marshmallows complete with ash-coating.  Because that's the stuff memories are made of.Cookout
Smore 
Yes, we had the best time ever!  What's your favorite kind of vacation?

XO the Long ladies  

Refresh.

Apron_Dress_0006
It's time for us to say good bye… just for a little while.  We're taking some time off for family and picnics and smores and shopping and playing in the park.  Other things, too. 

Anyway, we wanted to let you all know that we won't be shipping orders out till June 18th.  We'll miss you!

XOXO the Long ladies 

AnaClaire… all the details!

B_155539
First off, we'd like a big THANK YOU and lots of hugs to go to our beautiful models – Natalie, Becca, Rachael, and Bethany – and to their wonderful sisters for their willingness to take so many fun pictures for us.  We love you girls!  (Visit our friends the Coghlans at their blog, Life in a Shoe.)

Now, we promised details, didn't we?  About all of the AnaClaire options?  Well, here you go!

~girls sizes 2-14 are included in one pattern envelope, along with full-size pattern pieces (printed on sturdy paper) and fully illustrated instructions.

~$14 (and we'll ship it for free if you pre-order now!)

~jumper comes in two lengths – below knee length or ankle length (all of the options are included for either length)

~optional apron

~back ties (if you like)

~pockets in 3 sizes

~your choice of hem style: with a band, a ruffle, or plain

~button-and-loop back closure,

~or ribbon tie back closure

~slightly squared scoop-neck bodice with empire waist

~simple A-line skirt

~no buttonholes, no zippers (which basically means the whole jumper can be constructed during one naptime)

Bethany…

B_142707 B_150014

bodice + ankle length skirt + apron (we've added some sweet grosgrain ribbon trim) + back ribbon tie closure

fabrics: Old New Collection 30s

Rachael…

B_142859 B_143058
bodice + ankle length skirt + ruffle + apron + ties + back button & loop closure

fabrics: Simply Sweet

Becca…

B_143333 B_144341
bodice + ankle length skirt + hem band + pockets (size M) + back button & loop closure

fabrics: Love

Natalie…

B_150540 B_150438
bodice + ankle length skirt + 2 hem bands + ties + back button & loop closure (we've popped an extra button onto Natalie's jumper, just for fun!)

fabrics: Dolce

Isn't it exciting to have so many different looks in one simple pattern?

B_151615 B_145953 
B_150307
B_142648 B_145624

Questions about AnaClaire?  Don't be afraid to ask!

love, the Long ladies