Chalkboard

Just finished another Christmas present for Sophia.  I got chalkboards for each of the kids and planned to paint each and put their names.  Then I came up with the idea of making a nice quilted case for each complete with a pocket for chalk.  I am still waiting on some fabric I ordered to do the boys'.  It's hard to find cute boy fabric!

I especially love that the cover reminds me of a laptop case.  Ironic considering it is for a slate like they used in one room school houses a hundred years ago.

Wooden Dolls

One lucky little girl will be opening these Christmas morning.

When searching for homemade gift ideas for the kids this year, I came across several cute painted little people.  I took it to the next level and added some skirts and dresses out of vintage hankies.  The I made a matching bag to tote them in.

From Thanksgiving to Christmas

From This..

To This...

 From This...

To This...

Every year around Christmas time my Mother-in-law and I take one day and make as much candy as we possibly can.  Then I package it up and give it all away (Okay, there's some peanut butter balls in my freezer right now.)

Red Kaleidoscope Blocks

Here are the first four blocks of a kaleidoscope quilt using Anna Maria Horner's Innocent Crush Loves Me Loves Me Not Petal Red Fabric.

Click here to see the fabric stash I have picked out for this quilt.  

Pillows and Purple Ice Cream

Luke was on a pillow sewing kick this week.  He made one for Sophia and a small one for himself.  He's five and this was his first time using the machine (around the edge of the pillow).

I make lots of smoothies and sometimes when they turn out too think I call them ice cream.  The kids get way more excited about ice cream than smoothies.  They particularly liked today's concoction.

Purple Ice Cream

A handful each of frozen strawberries and blueberries

One and a half frozen bananas

One scoop of vanilla ice cream

1/2 cup of milk

1/2 cup apple juice

I didn't actually measure, I just threw everything in the blender.  I usually use plain yogurt, not ice cream, but I was trying to make it a special treat today.  

No-Knit Jersey Scarf

This scarf was inspired by the t-shirt necklace my friend, Janette, made for me recently.  Click here to see the one she made.  I love the idea.  You simply cut strips 3/4 to 1 inch wide of t-shirt fabric (in this case I used a light weight, periwinkle jersey knit I already had in my stash) and stretch it to curl the edges in.  

Here are the strips cut and stretched.  I love the way it looks like a high quality yarn.  

Janette found this No-Knit Scarf on Martha Stewart's website with simple instructions.  It's just square knots.  The original is made from yarn, but we had fun experimenting with this new technique.

Roses are Red and apples, too

I made this dress a while ago, but don't think I have ever taken pics of it on Sophia.  This is my style... mixing lots of prints.  I have seen these straps around.  They tie through buttonholes to adjust the length of the dress. So I wanted to give it a try.  I used my Roses are Red label that I put in all my girls clothes.  Great advertising!  Not that I actually have time to make clothes for anyone else's kids right now.  

Last weekend we had a great time at a local orchard and got a great deal on lots of apples.

So far we have canned jars of apple sauce, and made apple crisp and apple cake.  Still to come..apple pie and canning apple slices. 

Happy Fall

This new skirt for Sophia took me less than an hour.  I bought the ruffle fabric last fall when Nate and I had our little New York getaway.  I didn't even need to hem it.  I just cut under the ruffle and left it raw.  I plan on pairing it with leggings and boots. 

Happy Birthday to me.  I turned 30 on Friday.  My friend Janette made me this fabulous accessory out of t-shirts.  It's kind of half scarf, half necklace.  I love it.

Mod Dress

It's time for me to start sewing some dresses for Fall and Winter.  I know it's still sleeveless...This is sort of a transitional dress.  She can wear it now, and when the weather gets cold I can pair it with leggings and a long sleeve top underneath.  Both prints are from Ty Pennington's Impressions collection.  

I thought the print would look well with a mod racer back. 

A Little Crafty

I haven't sewn in over a month!  Summer has taken over at our house and I haven't found time for any fun crafty things.  So last night I determined to do something very simple to get myself going again.  I cut out some butterflies from scrapbook pages and tied a little twine around the middle.  Then I pinned them to a wire dress form I had and now they are on display in my bedroom.

I got this idea from a french website http://cieldorage.canalblog.com/

If you are into shabby chic, rustic, country decorating, I suggest you check it out.  Such eye candy!

Enjoying Memorial Day

I've been playing with these for a while and haven't quite decided yet.  Most of these fabrics are from Tina Givens and Anna Maria Horner.  The brilliant red (second from the right) would make an amazing kaleidoscope quilt, but also a cute skirt for me and I don't have enough for both.  

My boys and I made a book of all the fun things we would like to do this summer (Thanks Robin for the great idea!)  We decorated a page for each activity.  I plan to put a photo on each page once we accomplish that thing.  Some of the ideas include the zoo, the pool, Kaleidoscope (free crafty place here in KC), Oceans of Fun, camping, riding bikes.  

We have three baby robins in the nest that was built after mama robin picked out my flowers.  That's ok, it was worth it to have such cute visitors.  We also found a baby turtle in the yard today.  We are really enjoying the outdoors right now.  Unfortunately, the turtle won't be for a while.  We put him in a tank in the boy's room.