Ballerina Summer Reading

It's the first day of summer!  You all know I love a good ballet book, whether it be for grown ups or adults, and summer is the perfect time to find some great new reads.

I was super excited to find a follow up book to Tallulah's Tutu by Marilyn Singer.  Check out my blog on this cute story here.  Now Singer gives us Tallulah's Solo, just as endearing and wonderfully illustrated.  Now that Tallulah is a big girl ballerina she's certain she's to get the lead role in her school's upcoming performance of The Frog Prince.  Things don't go as planned though, when her little brother's dancing threatens to upstage her.  What's a ballerina to do?  Cute, well-written and easy to love, Tallulah takes us on another great dance adventure in her second book.  It's fantastically illustrated by Alexandra Boigner, I love the colors and innocence of the illustrations, below are a few excerpts!

Add this to your summer reading list and I'll keep you posted with more great reads I find.  Happy Summer!

Fun Ballerina Birthday Gifts

I'm usually so focused on planning the details and entertainment portion of the parties that I do that I sometimes don't get to check out the cute gifts that are being given to the birthday girl.  You all know I love a good gift wrapping job, but I don't usually get to see the goodies that are inside the wrappings.  Since presents are synonymous with parties, I thought I'd share a few gift options that I thought would be great ideas should you find yourself headed to a party and want some unique options.  And of course they have a ballet lean to them!

I'm loving the ballet prints!  The text can be customized as well, so if it's ballet or gymnastics or soccer it can be tailor made, but of course I'm digging the ballet vocab and I especially love the font of the pink print.  The ballet slipper bow is creative and cute, and hair accessories are always a must for any up and coming dancer.  How great are these stuffed pillows?  Again, totally customizable and gender friendly, but if I were a ballerina birthday I think I'd love one with my initials in a ballet inspired fabric like one of these...

All of these items I found on Etsy, gotta love that place!  I'll keep my eyes peeled for more great gift ideas and if you have any to share I'd love to hear from you!

A Follow Up To The Tutu Table.... And More!

A few blog posts ago I shared a tutu table (read about it here), and mentioned that this project gave me an idea for my own tutu table settings.  Well, it didn't quite turn out as planned.... not as cute as I had hoped for, but I figure when crafting things go wrong occasionally and thought I'd share my not so triumphant mini tutus with you.  (You can't win 'em all right)?  I think these may be better doll tutus or possibly ponytail holders.  What do you think?  Would love to hear your ideas for my next go round on cute table settings.

The original inspiration...

My mini results....

 On a more glorified tutu note, I found this awesome display of gorgeous tutus by Repetto.  Here are a few of their costumes for Sleeping Beauty.  This is truly art, gorgeous craftmanship!