My second most popular post ever is the totally easy, no-sew baby tutu I made for Caroline’s monthday photos during her first year. (Also, ermahgah guys, look at TEENY TINY CAROLINE in that tutu tutorial. I can’t even. I think I need another baby.*) If I had known how much the internet loved tutu tutorials I might have made it slightly less…sarcastic. But in the long run 99% of people seem to have found it helpful rather than rage-inducing. And may I suggest that if a tutu tutorial makes you really, really angry perhaps it is time to reexamine your life?

Anyways, since both Caroline and Evan have beat the crap out of that tutu for the last 18 months, I thought I’d add some “how has it held up?” photos to the old post and publish them here too so my mom doesn’t miss them. The answer is: Pretty well!

Tulle has a tendency to attract dog hair/lint/fuzz/every single crumb within 100 yards so looking back, white might not have been the best option. But it’s also pretty easy to brush off and/or lint roll and/or spray with a water bottle and shake out.

The tulle has gotten pretty tangled from being so well loved (and also stored bunched up in a corner) but can be smoothed out if I comb through it with my fingers. Although the sort of bunchy look isn’t really a bad thing – I feel like it really fits Caroline’s personality. Her nickname is Little Mess. Plus the whole “floating on a cloud” look is why I like baby tutus.

The ribbon waist was a really great idea, since she still fits in it easily. Even though Caroline is still tiny peanut munchkin toddler, Evan has definitely gotten bigger and the tutu still fits him (although her wouldn’t agree to post for pictures). And it’s easy to slide the tulle knots around to make it even.

Have I talked you into making a tutu (or another tutu) yet? Have you seen through my admittedly extremely weak premise and ignored this whole post in favor of just going “Awwww” over Caroline in a tutu photos? Either way, BOTH things can be done if you check out the tutorial here:

*Yeah, I said it. Gimme until after BlogHer, OK? Also, please ignore the giant booboo on Caroline’s head – she got a face rug burn at Target (I don’t even). Maybe I should wrap her in bubblewrap before I consider having another.

That title makes me sound sort of like a hooker, but I assure you that is NOT what I’m selling.

A few weeks ago I had a tiny brush with (internet) fame on Twitter when Alli Worthington asked if anyone wanted to share photo-heavy posts with her and I sent her a link to my How To Make Sorbet Out Of Juice recipe. The stars must have been aligned or something, because not only did she say she liked my photos, she invited me to join PichaGlobal, a stock photography site where you can sell photos to…uh…I have no idea. People who need photos of stuff, I guess.

APPARENTLY, people need photos of stuff like this:

Because I sold it! Someone paid me money for a picture I took! I’m official! I made a whole…40 cents. But if you happen to see if floating around the internet you can say “HEY I KNOW WHO TOOK THAT!”

New sellers frequently seek out tips to shortcut the procedure of getting started on classifieds. The marketplace is vast and can be confusing at times. It’s best to begin slowly, learn the terrain, read all the rules, and slowly grow your Shoppok  business or hobby. The more you build your knowledge base, the better able you will be to sort through deals to find what you want to buy.

Ok, so I’m not going to make a zillion dollars off my pictures of leaves or sunsets on the beach or lily-pads or whatever other random shots I take in between photos of the kids. But nature holds still a lot better than they do and I love practicing with my camera and even though I have NO illusions of becoming an actual professional photographer it’s nice to be liked.

Right now, Picha is still in beta but I (think) they’re working on opening it up and you can definitely fill out the interest form. I hope so, because it would be a great way for bloggers to find photos to add to their just-words posts (to make them pin-able! be the next viral hit!) at really low cost (although you can set your prices at whatever you want) and for casual photographers like me to share their pictures and feel momentarily awesome.

(This post is not sponsored, just super braggy and show-offy on my part.)

I took SO many photos in June (3,906 in fact) that I couldn’t pick a favorite – so how about a really nice shot I haven’t shared yet? Mormor and Bumpa took us fishing at Burke Lake Park while we were visiting. Caroline and Evan loved it!

It was 100 degrees, but we caught some fish!

Does anyone really NEED 15 pictures of Caroline on a tire swing? No. Will your day be a little brighter because of it? Possibly. Will my mom’s day be a little brighter? Absolutely! Happy Friday!

Grandpa was the most patient pusher ever

Checking out the big kids

While we were on vacation in South Carolina, my friend Erin explained ISO to me in the very simplest terms possible AND magically fixed the manual mode on my camera so it doesn’t do the wonky changing-my-settings thing (although she swears she doesn’t know how she did it). What I’m saying is I took all of these on manual and I’m pretty proud of myself even if some of them are a little blurry. Catching movement is hard, and these are totally unedited except for size.

I think I’ll have number 4 blown up and put on a piece of wall art.