Reading pillow

The reading pillow for my daughter is finished!  The pattern was ordered from Montessoribyhand.net  The pattern called for Canvas cotton, but since I already had a cotton in mind I used iron on flannel to make it more sturdy.  

Sewing for kids

Remember that pink sewing machine I showed you.  Well, my daughter got it for Christmas and wants to sew everyday.  She made this blanket and pillow for her sister's doll.

Clever

If you didn't already know, I am such a fan of Martha Stewart Kids and Martha Stewart Baby magazines.  Too bad they stopped making them, :(  In one of their Dec. issues I saw some gingerbread men they turned around and made into Reindeer.  Clever, very clever!  I had to make some.  

R.G.'s problem

I refuse to go out.  Yep, that’s right I refuse.  Have you seen those lines?  Have you seen those parking lots?  No, thanks!  I am staying right here… enjoying things here.

My boy has been asking for some things to go with his R. G. doll, (His name was supposed to be Archie, oh well, it's his doll).  I went out and bought this cute fabric that I’ve had my eye on.  I began making a quilted sleeping bag.  Well, then the doll's arms ripped, both of them!  He thought they could be fixed by the time he went to bed.  No, no this is going to be surgery!  I will have to unstitch his sides and then make new arms to sew in.

Oh, also Merry Christmas and happy eating from our Candy village.  

A break from Christmas prep

There's always lots to do when Christmas is coming, but I decided to take a little break on friday and work on this.  I'm not going to be sharing what it is yet, but I sure am loving these diamonds!

confession

I copy Becky Higgins.  Who doesn't?  This decor idea was easy and a way to save what's left of my Austrian ornaments!  So many have broken.  Each year I have been happy when my favorite one survives.  It is the one on the left side.  :)

Tooth Fairy

The Tooth Fairy came to our house last night and left this.

New hair ties!

Yep!  I'm talking brand new!  These are called, "Trash Ties", mine are on there way.  Get yours at www.trash ties.com  

I knew I wanted some as soon as I saw this picture, 

http://heatherbailey.typepad.com/heather_bailey/2007/04/easter.html

and now they are available!  

hippopotamuses!

Each day when I give my children vitamins I will hear, "Look I got a pink cat", or "I have an elephant".  When they are given a hippo, they will with out fail begin singing, "I want a hippopotamus for Christmas!"  This happens no matter what time of year, but I thought it was a good time to post this.

productive weekend

       This weekend was incredibly productive.  I worked on Christmas cards and am close to the finish line.  It is exciting.  My husband even helped out!  I also made a gift for a new baby I am soon to meet.  I made one of the little ribbon blankets.  I had never made one before, but it was simple enough.  The pattern is at www.newconceptions.com.  Also, here is a picture of some cards my daughter whipped out.  Too cute!  

A bag I made!

This bag was made from a pattern in the, "Bend the Rules Sewing", book.  I made it out of unlined corduroy (so soft) and a small dot print in cotton.  I loved the results and had trouble giving it away.  The friend I gave it to loves it though, and she is very deserving!

One of my favorite websites!

Have you been to Matthewmeadstyle.com?  The food, entertaining ideas, decor...everything is beautful!  

Also, be sure to click on "bonus" to look into previous season ideas!

Shopping for Christmas can be Sew fun!

I asked my daughter what she wanted for Christmas.  Why was I surprised when she asked for a sewing machine?  I know who her mother is, (Ha, Ha).  The pink one is from the Home Shopping Network.  It has a good price point.  I heart the Hello Kitty one.  Although, it's price point is not as good.  I think the pink one will win.

album pages

These are some of the pages made for my Grandparents 60th wedding anniversary.  The white one is what I used for the dividers for each family.  The blue one is the cover.  These photos were corrected in Photoshop Elements!  Thank you Deneigh!  The simplicity of this reminded me of Deneigh's SB style.

The products used-Bazzill cardstock, Arial and Snell Roundhand font, a Making Memories circle cutter and a 7 gypsies bracket stamp.

Seasonal Recipe!

Here is a seasonal recipe for you. So good for any holiday! I'll be taking a break from the blog for a week. To those in the U.S. Happy Thanksgiving!

Christmas cards & tags

Card club happened this morning.  I loved what the girls brought.  We have such a talented group participating!  I am excited to use these for my Christmas things!

Mini Album

This is a mini album I put together for my Mom.  I wanted it to be simple, so it wouldn't be easily outdated.  I still love it two years later.

Christmas tag

Here is one of the tags made for card club.  Is anyone else in the mood for Christmas? We have been singing Christmas songs everyday for the past week!  

The green cardstock is bazzill bling, the rub-ons are American Crafts.  

Bookmark fix

I fixed the bookmark so it is more, bookmark size.  Feel free to use it for your V.T. this month.  :)

Party things

We had a party for my girl this last weekend.  We made some of the invitations out of sparkly pink cardstock and some out of white.  I printed the info. in the christmas font.  I love the christmas font.  I can use it all year as long as I print in lowercase.  All of the letters are capital for the font, but if you print an actual capital it has a snowflake attached.  

My girl did the front of the card.  It was super easy.  We used a Heidi Swapp mask.  She is getting so good at using those!  We also used a Seven Gypsies bracket stamp.  The gems are also Heidi Swapp.  

As part of the party favors I made magnetic frames, then we took pictures of each of the kids with the birthday girl.  Then I rushed in, cut them out, and put them in the frames.  Here is just one of them, there were a few different kinds. 

Most of these great party ideas were my sister's.  She is so talented!

a bookmark for you!

This is a bookmark for all of you mothers and mothering women out there.  Just print and enjoy!  This is based off a talk given in a General Conference from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  Credit goes to my sister for thinking of this idea. 

castle cake

This cake was put together quickly and my daughter loved it.  It was such an easy cake design and since that is not my history with birthday cakes, I was pleased.  A few years ago I made this Strawberry cake for her birthday.  It did take a lot of time and effort to put together, but it was worth it!  Another reason I loved the strawberry cake was because it was my own idea.  The purse cake was a Martha Stewart idea.

Birthday banner

As promised-Here is the birthday banner I made for my little girl. She loved it!

halloween craft

I made this little guy today with my boy. He says he wants to make two more! The skeleton is now hanging in our window. Here is the link to the printout if you are interested. sewingstars.com/skeleton/htm

{Woot!}

Nope, I am not talking about owls again. Woot is a website, www.woot.com to be specific. They are an online store that sells one electronic item a day for a great price. Now, I know this doesn't sound like me and I must confess, I am not in it for the electronics. That would be my husbands thing. I am in it for the humor. Everyday they sell a new item and for the description there is always a hilarious story told with it. The author, who ever he may be is so creative with his writing. I find myself laughing out loud while reading the stories and that isn't something I do often. I am more of the inner chuckle type. So... if your needing a good laugh today go visit the site. {FYI} Clicking on the blog will lead you to previous item stories.

planning a banner

There are a few birthdays coming up so I am planning to make a banner. These pictures are my inspiration. The first photo is from Heidi Swapp's blog.

steady progress

Here is another stitchette in progress. There is not a third elf design and yet I have a third child. I have been working on a drawing for her stitchette. I had my doubts at first, but I think it's going to turn out.

Owl Swap

In September, I participated in an Owl Swap. I wanted to say thank you to my three partners. One of my partners Denise, lives in Alabama and she sent me this canvas painting of an owl sitting on a moon. Erin made some bias tape and wrapped it around a paper owl. Bethany learned how to bind books and then bound a sketch book for me. She also designed the owl on the front cover.

It was such a fun swap! Thanks ladies!

Fairy Home

This is one of my first fast projects. I tend to make things harder and more time consuming than need be and found myself loving that this only took a couple of hours to plan and whip together. I don't remember the book the pattern came out of. When I do I'll let you know.

Tiny stitches

When I was last visiting my parents, I was asking my Mom to show me some embroidered pillow cases that my Grandmother and Great-grandmother had done. I have seen beautiful running stitches before, but I took special notice when looking at these this time. It reminded me of both of them and how alike they were. Both my Grandmothers would sit and be working on some kind of embroidery or crocheting whenever I would come over. They would also have projects for me when I would visit during the summer.

After seeing the stitches, I decided it was time to work on some embroidery. I found some elf patterns on http://www.weewonderfuls.com/ and I will be doing one for each of my children. I think I will turn it into a small wall display when I am done. I am enjoying all of the tiny stitches.

baby gifts

I made some day of the week onesies for a friend. Whoever thought up iron-on transfer paper was brilliant!

Brownies

This is my favorite brownie recipe. I have been making these for seven years. Note to reader: always double this recipe! ;)

enjoying tutorials

This is a skirt I made for my daughter in the spring. I made it from the tutorial here...
http://www.kukyideas.com/journal/2006/07/tiered-skirt-tutorial.html
Then I found another tutorial about making these Japanese flowers called Kanzashi and knew the skirt needed a clip to match it.