Camilla Alves & Levi

Camilla Alves and son Levi were spotted out and about in Malibu yesterday. Levi has said goodbye to his Orbit and now rides in a yellow Bugaboo Bee.

Sophias Style | Swimming Lessons

Mandy

We are fast approaching the warmer season, a time to play outside! Most of you moms would probably agree that getting out and keeping busy is great, but how do you enjoy your time and keep your baby happy.

Enroll in swimming lessons with him or her. Because you are not able to just leave an infant in the hands of the swimming instructor you will have to take the lessons as well. This is a perfect time to bond with your baby and perhaps re learn those "swimming basics" that you may have forgotten.

You can expect very basic swimming techniques, such as blowing bubbles in the water, and the pre stages of floating. These lessons will help your little one start to feel comfortable in water. Of course you will have to wait until he or she is 6mos old before you begin, but keep in mind this is a great activity to do together while they are still young!
Shop SophiasStyle.com for girls swimwear at discount prices.

how to crochet a flower video tutorial

One thing I love about crocheting is that there are so many ways you can use it to create embellishments. From decorative edging to flowers, you can dress up a t-shirt or a scrapbook page with your hook and just a little yarn. Lately I've been obsessed with crocheting little flowers--maybe because they're so quick and satisfying! I altered a few other flowers I'd tried and came up with my favorite 5-petal flower pattern. I'm sure I didn't invent it, but it came about for me by trial and error and it turns out cute with almost any kind of yarn. Here are a few items I've made recently with flowers. Check out these and more now in my Etsy shop!






If you want to make your own, we've made a short video tutorial to show you just how to do it. I'm a visual learner, so I know some of you out there just need to see it done once to figure it out. Check it out, then find the written pattern below. WARNING: This is not a general crochet lesson. You'll need to know how to do a few basic stitches to complete a flower.



Or, watch it on YouTube. It's a bigger picture, but the picture and sound quality aren't as good.

Mandy's Favorite 5-Petal Flower Pattern

Materials:
Any size hook (depending on what size flower you want)
Any weight yarn

Rnd 1: Ch 5, join into a ring w/sl st in 1st ch.
Rnd 2: Ch 3 (counts as first dc), work 9dc in ring, join to top of ch w/sl st -- 10 sts.
Rnd 3: **Ch 2, work 3dc in next st, ch 2 sl st in next st** five times. Fasten off.

For a different color center, try changing yarn colors after round 2. Experiment with different weight yarns and hook sizes. To layer a slightly smaller flower on top, go down one hook size from larger flower.