Funny Bunny

I came across this online the other night....and i am just saying...

isn't this the cutest thing!!! He looks like he is laughing or sneezing...not sure which, but it is so cute i could not help myself.

Sew and Tell Friday

I am just making it in under the wire today!

It seems like an awful lot of our friends and neighbors are having babies... i figured it was good to be prepared. I should start stocking up!So my project for today's sew and tell was a baby lovey blanket! They are my favorite. I raided the stash and discovered that these two matched perfectly.

I generally don't go for any characters...unless it is Pooh. He is pretty cute! And it just so happens that Pooh is experiencing some blustery weather....

...and so was i! In the middle of taking the pictures my sweet baby lovey blew away on a gust of wind. Now it is going to go sit on a shelf and wait for the first new arrival!

You know what you should do...go over to Amylouwho's and see what all the other ladies made this week. I saw some really great things today that i want to try, like this and this and this.

Sneak Peek

Here is a little peek at what i have been working on and is on my sewing table right now. I am so close to getting it together but am lacking in motivation. i am in love with the colors and fabrics. that orange is so fun!!! Each time i think i am going to sit and work on it i get the blahs and don't. Lame, i know, but the truth. I am at the point where i know that i should square up all the blocks but it seems like that might take forever....i am open to any easy tips for this part of the process!!! Stay tuned to see what it becomes!

Love Note!

Things have been a bit slow and low key around here....I am just trying to keep the house together and sew something, anything! But, those things don't matter much when you find what i found on my kitchen table yesterday afternoon. I heard the back screen slide open and then a little puttering around. Someone (ie Avery) had snuck in with a handful of flowers for me. And left that sweet love not too!

Party Decorations!!!

I had originally wanted to make a woodland themed party for Avery...but then it took on a life of it's own, becoming flowers and springtime! I was ok with this...honestly, it was easier!

When she chose her plates and party napkins i knew that i should make some flowers. Thank goodness that the internet is there as an amazing resource, because even though people have been making tissue paper flowers forever, i had never tried so i needed a little tutorial help. The best one i found was good old Martha. She gave me the idea to round the ends of my accordion folds so that it was softer and prettier.

I made them in different colors and sizes so that i could hang them from the ceiling and have some variety. She loved them...and everyone that came thought they were very clever. plus they were way more fun than just using crepe paper streamers. my usual go to.

It is hard to get the full effect of them hanging in the pictures...but maybe you can put a little imagination behind it. :o) I don't want to be rid of them, so we are going to take them down and hang them in her room. I love things hanging from the ceiling in a kids room...makes it more interesting, don't you think?

Somebody Had a Birthday!

My sweet baby turned 8 this weekend. I ask myself this same question every year, but where did the years go? How is she this big already?

We had a lovely party...my parents and our friends came over for dinner, cake and gifts!!! The menu was chosen by the birthday girl...meatloaf, ginger glazed baby carrots and stuffing. Yum!!!

I love this girl!! look she is almost as tall as me. Again, how is this happening? :o) She is changing so much and growing into a such a confident, beautiful, smart and independent girl.

These were not our only festivities....we let her pick what she wanted to do for her birthday and she chose a trip to NYC. Complete with a trip to the American Girls store, FAO Schwarz, a carriage ride in central park, dinner at the restaurant of her choice, Ellen's Stardust Diner. Needless to say we were all beat by the time we got home, but we sure had fun.

she got a new camera for her birthday so she was the one who took city pictures...so i will be loading her shots and letting her guest blog so that she can tell you all about her birthday in her own words.

Sew and Tell Friday

I know that this is a lot of pictures for one little thing, but bear with me!!

I have this friend that i have been telling i will make a 'hooter hider' for and i keep setting it aside and putting other projects ahead of it. All the things i need have been on my sewing table for ages, i was just procrastinating. Then today was Friday and there is something magically motivating for me about sew and tell. I somehow manage to get things done.

This was a fast easy thing to get done today(maybe an hour total) so i knew i could get it made and share it tonight plus it would get to my friend sooner. Now i just hope that she is nursing as much as she was since the baby is a bit bigger now and still wants it!!!

i have made one once before and the second time was definitely smoother. Thanks to Made by the Mama Monster for a fun easy to follow tutorial. Don't forget to go to Amylouwho's and see what everyone else made this week. I have gone and had a peek and there were tons of great things!!!!

Welcome Back Popeye's!!!

This... (i just thought it was so pretty all layered in the blender)

becomes this...

and you have perfect tasty goodness!!! I have been craving these popeyes for days. It is the perfect weather for something fresh and light. I was more than thrilled that the kids were in love with it too!!! They wanted me to make more. Now i want more!!!

Popeye's

2 c. Spinach leaves(about 2 handfuls)
1 stalk celery
1 banana
1 c. frozen strawberries
1 c. frozen pineapple(i just use the tropical mix)
16 oz. Water
1 T Honey, or to your liking

Blend it all until combined, pour and enjoy.

(recipe originally found at Goddess of the Garden.)

The Lunchmate

My mom had mentioned that she would love something she could use at work to eat her lunch on. Apparently the tables are yucky and nobody wants to put their food on them. We were talking about it one day and she said she would like something that could roll up into her purse or lunchbag that had a place for silverware as well.

This is what i came up with. The lunchmate prototype!!! I drew up a pattern so that i could make more if she liked it. She wants to give them to the other ladies that she works with. I am all for anything that can save us all from few germs.

It came together in a afternoon. It is so simple. I also made it so that the top would fold down before you roll it so that your silverware does not get loose. In theory it should be totally machine washable so they can keep it neat and clean.

I had to decide between elastic and button closure or ribbon. I went with the button and elastic! Just unroll and eat and the lunchmate makes everything better!!! And pretty too!!

Before and After

This here is my not so neat or tidy laundry room. I am very grateful to have one in a separate little room in the house, but these shelves were killing me. Collecting all sorts of household miscellany and getting worse and more cluttered by the week. Something had to be done. Drum roll please!!!








Here it is!! My clever hide it all solution. Curtains!!! This whole re-do was based around these two vintage valances you see in the top middle. I picked them up last fall at a flea market with my Mom. I loved them right away and as you can see in the top picture they were not enough to cover the mess or even wide enough to go all the way across the top. They just looked sad...i know.

I am more than thrilled with how they turned out...i churned them out quickly this weekend. Another one of those projects hanging over my head. I was not too careful with measuring or cutting...i just went for it. That is always when i get things done, when i stop thinking about them, and just do them.

Curtains were not the only plan. Months and months ago i bought some vintage clothespins on etsy. I planned on framing them somehow at the time, but i never managed to get it done...until now. I used a little spray adhesive and glued some fabric onto the frame backing, placed it back in the frame and then hot glued each clothespin to the glass!!! It is nice to see a plan turn out as well as you had envisioned it. Then it was hung with another vintage flea market find...my lovely glass washboard!!!

The Weekend Review

We had a nice weekend full of family time and projects around the house. Hope you all had a wonderful Easter!! ** I should add here that Chris pointed out that we celebrated this Easter 'Christmas Story' style. Remember in the movie when they went and had Christmas dinner at the Chinese restaurant...well we had our Easter dinner yesterday at a Indian restaurant. It was fantastic...and i did not have to cook it or clean it up**

Mitchell and Avery got all dressed in their Easter pastel finest. Colleen, do you recognize her dress? She picked it herself for this Easter. This is a sweet hand me down dress from Avery's cousin Quincy. It sure made Easter shopping and planning much easier. She only needed shoes and what girl doesn't love shopping for shoes?

Mitchell's sweater vest set needed a little spiffing up. I dug around in my stash for a little while and found this fabric to make him a bow tie. I used a tutorial i found here at Scraps and Strings . It was so simple and fast and easy to follow. And really could he be any cuter!!! I love a kid in a bow tie. I let him choose the fabric, and it matched the argyle triangles in his vest perfectly! I love it when a plan falls together! Avery is just a beautiful smiling face at our house!!! Love this girl.

About those projects...we had a few hanging over our heads and we finally found the time and motivation to do them. A miracle in and of itself. Must be the beautiful spring weather. I won't tell yet what Chris is building for us...you will have to wait and see what it is in a later post. He even let me help. Between his building and my sewing we felt very accomplished this weekend. What did you do?

Sew and Tell Friday

This has been one busy week!! I had family here from out of town. We got to go out and do lots of fun things together. Fun, but man my feet are tired!!! There was not a lot of sewing time to be had. But somehow i managed to squeeze in a little time for it. You know those moments when you just feel it, you know you need to make something.

I sat in my upstairs hall and basically dumped out all of my scraps on the floor around my sister and I searching for some that went together, so that i could make another mini quilt(see the first one here). This time a little larger but still mini!!! It measures somewhere between 4x6 and 5x7. There are a variety of fabrics in here...wonderland, wee play, flutterby, recess...and i included some selvage on it just to try it out. This is the first time i have used any selvage and i love it!

I assembled it randomly, hand cutting pieces and just sewing them wherever they fit. I quilted it this way too....just put it in the machine and hoped for the best. Needless to say this plan meant i had some unpicking to do! I was able to frame it in a shadowbox...held in with pretty pearl pins! Now it is hanging on the wall upstairs outside my bedroom where i can see it and enjoy it every time i walk through the door.

Today is sew and tell at Amylouwho's. Click the link on my sidebar or right here to go and see what everyone made this week. I bet there are a lot of beautiful springy projects. Have a wonderful Easter!