Handmade gifts for my kids.

What a busy time of year! I really wanted to post more this year, but at least I started a blog. I have learned so much from so many fellow bloggers. I made some great gifts for my kids this year using patterns and tutorials found on some great blogs.I made Adler this adorable Rocket ship. I used this pattern from the long thread. She has some fabulous ideas. If anyone needs the specifics for the astronauts travel compartment I have the measurements I came up with.For Gina I made a cute doll from a Wee Wonderful Pattern. I used the Chloe pattern, but the yarn I used was too thick to hold a wave. I couldn't bring myself to cut the hair into a bob either.

Also very last minute I made the little doll quilt and pillow using a tutorial on Crazy Mom Quilts.

I adore the pillow with pillowcase idea! Gina loved that the pillowcase came off. It's the little things really. The kids both loved their presents made by mom. The rocket ship was a huge hit! All of our friends will probably be getting them for upcoming birthdays. The older kids loved throwing it around and the younger ones love taking the little man in and out of the rocket. I hope everyone had a great Christmas! I look forward to a great 2009 with all of my new blogging friends!

My Crafty Sister

Adler Loves Moose and Zee, so for his birthday my super crafty sister made him Moose and Zee softies. She made up her own pattern and everything. This was her first attempt ever at a softie. She is the best Aunt ever!
He loves them so much.

My Baby is ONE!

Adler turned one today! The time has seriously flown by!We had a Moose A. Moose and Zee D. Bird birthday party for him yesterday. It was so much fun! Noggin.com had tons of great printables and ideas on their website. (This pic is terrible! I forgot to get pictures of this stuff until after the party.) These are some goodies bags. I printed the images noggin provided on sticker paper and used them to seal the bags. I also used a Moose sticker for a sparkly centerpiece on the cupcake tray (all of the cupcakes were gone when I remembered to take this picture).
I printed out a Moose on fabric and appliqued it to his onesie, along with a green polka dotted #1. It turned out so cute! I can't believe I don't have a better pic of it.

Here is the special Birthday Cake! I made a Moose cake and Zee cupcake! I was overwhelmed at first by this, but it really wasn't hard at all. Noggin had great step by step directions. I really can't believe he is one already. Time goes by so fast when you're having fun I guess :)

Wow! A whole month with no posts!

I have made some wonderful "friends" through blogging. If they become your Facebook friend too does that make them a "real" friend LOL? I have a great new friend in Kristy . She is super talented! She made my son this adorable MUNO!

I know. Can you even stand it? She should totally be selling these cuties. I could not believe her generosity. My pictures may not be the best, but I love this guy! He is tucked away right now, waiting for St. Nick to place him in a little boys stocking.

This photo shoot had to take place during nap time. I am sure I lost many of you by now. I love Yo Gabba Gabba. Adler and Gina do too. My husband can't stand it. What is worse is he says, "do you really think these characters are appropriate for kids?" So now every time I watch it I have a tainted view of what my husband thinks Muno and his family look like!

Happy Halloween!

I hope you had a wonderful Halloween! We enjoyed our trip to the Pumpkin Patch yesterday. They only had a few left. It was a beautiful day though. The Pumpkin Patch is always a great time.

Tonight we gathered with family and friends in my sister's neighborhood for a hayride and trick-or-treating! There are always chili dogs and Rockband too! I have so many pics I want to share. I need to put a better one on of Gina's costume. She was a Skully princess. I made her crown, cape, skirt, and scepter! Everyone loved it!

I am blessed!

.I have been feeling a little under the weather lately, but the other day I got the most wonderful present in the mail. Jacquie sent me the most adorable mini quilt. I had been secretly loving her little houses she made a while back. I was trying to figure out what I could make using them. I would love to make a large quilt, but I have a million projects started and only a few finished

This little house is so adorable! It matches my Christmas decor beautifully, but I love it so much I am going to keep it out year round. Of course I had to show the back of the quilt too.

Thank you so much Jacquie! I love all of the wonderful things blogging has brought to me. The ideas alone are worth blogging, but the sweet friends made along the way are even more precious! I feel truly blessed by all of the new friends I have made. Thank you all :)

Grosgrain: Marie-Thérèse Gown GIVEAWAY!!!!

Grosgrain: Marie-Thérèse Gown GIVEAWAY!!!!

Twelve Years Ago Today!

My husband and I were married twelve years ago today! We were so young. I just turned 22 and Kerry turned 22 a month after we were married (yes I am older and wiser LOL). It was a beautiful day 12 years ago, and the weather proved to be just as lovely here today. We spent the afternoon at the park. I think we look even happier 12 years later, don't you?

My friends new Etsy shop and a giveaway!

My blogging friend, Sandra, has just opened her own Etsy shop. Be sure to pop over and wish her much success! She has a little giveaway going on right now for one of her adorable bags :)

I won!

Melly & Me had a little giveaway the other day and yours truly won! I am super excited. I won a pattern for this super cute hippo softie! Head over to their blog and check out all of the super cute patterns they have.

I feel like it is time for me to give back a lttle to such a wonderful blog community. I will be having a little giveaway in the next week or so, be sure to keep checking for it.
* Photo from Melly & Me

Little Blue Bird of Happiness.

One of Kerry's coworkers had to leave work early yesterday because his wife went into labor. I had to quickly come up with an economical gift. So of course sewing from my stash came to mind. I have never met his wife, but who doesn't love a new baby. I am still on a little high from the Candy Corn softie I created, so I thought I could create a cute little Blue Bird toy. The inspiration was the little blue bird hanging from the carriage on the fabric. I put a little bell in while stuffing so it would make a sweet little sound when baby shakes it. I can try to make a tutorial if anyone would be interested. I also whipped up some sweet baby shoes. The onesie is just a given. I love how quickly this gift came together.

It is a cruddy rainy day here, so sorry for the bad pic.

* I have the placement of the eye wrong on the bird, I also want to add some legs :)*

Flickr Group for Vintage Sheet Swap

I started a Flickr group for the things that you make from our swap. There is nothing in it so far, because I haven't made anything from my FQ's yet. So please hop on over and post your creations :)

Meet Ms. Corn, you can call her Candy.

Lera is hosting a candy corn contest. I could not sleep at all last night thinking about how I would make this little cutie. I don't like Candy Corn, but she is so sweet! Don't you think? The entire time Gina and I were making her, we were singing "I don't like candy corn..." courtesy of Moose A. Moose on Noggin. That song gets so stuck in my head this time of year.
Gina loves candy corn and this little doll. Adler has his eye on Ms. Candy Corn too. I have lots of friends having babies this month. Is this doll to corny* to include in their gifts?
*I couldn't resist :)

Sucker.

Adler's first sucker! It's love.

* He was having a rather destructive day. Notice the shredded Ottobre magazine in the background :( *

So Thoughtful.

I was busy working on a special little Thank you for those that participated in my swap, when Gina asked if she could do some arts n crafts. How could I say no? I handed her a sheet of Shrinky Dink paper, gave her some sharpies, and told her to draw whatever she wanted. She wasted no time getting started. I assumed she was making a little something for her little BFF, but I was wrong. She had drawn our family. She asked if I could make them into a necklace with her. I punched holes in the pictures before we baked them. After taking them out of the toaster oven she said she was making me a bracelet! She choose the colors from her bead stash and I prepared her wire. She is so into patterns right now and pink, blue, purple are her favorite. I made the pictures into dangle charms and she strung them all up. I LOVE it! When she finished she said "Mommy, I should have made this for you for Mother's Day!" I Love her too!

Swap packages sent :)

All but 2 have left my home. I am waiting on 1 return address and I have to drop the other at UPS :) Such a relief. I can't wait to see wait to see what you all are going to create with them.

Really?

I put out the first load of packages from the sheet swap yesterday and my mail carrier took them. Yippee! Today I put out the rest of them and she took some of the, and left some from yesterday? Why? They have postage, right? Well because they are over 13 oz I have to drive them to the post office. Really? I called the post office (got a help desk I am sure of it), the girl that answered, Bridget, was not confident in any of her answers. From what I understand the postage is fine, but I need to drop them off. She offered no reason why. I asked. So if any of you know why this is, please fill me in. I will try loading the kids up with 18 + packages this afternoon, after nap. BIG FUN I assure you. Sorry for the delay to all of you patiently waiting for sheets ;)

Vent on Life.

Life has been a little crazy around here. The economy is taking a huge bite out of our lives. My husband just got a second job. He thinks I should stay home with the kids. We discussed this prior to having kids. I would stop working and take care of them, but we never thought that would mean he would have to get another job! I am very proud of him for stepping up and allowing me the joy of being with the kids all day. I am also very thankful to have a husband that sees the value in parents raising their children. However, I sometimes worry if it is enough. I may have to go back to work. Times are hard. We live in new construction and currently our air conditioner is broken! Our old house was over 40 years old and the air conditioner never went out on us! It is storming outside right now and I am waiting for the service center to open to see how quickly they can fix the air. The storm is supposed to bring in cooler air, so that is a plus. I don't mean to be so negative, because all in all we are truly blessed! I have two healthy children (and was told I wouldn't have any), I have a husband that loves me and values me, and I have a great extended family. Times always get better, it's just weathering the storm. God has been good and I have faith things will turn around for us soon. Thanks for the vent this morning :)

Gina's Birthday Present.

I have been completely consumed with this swap! It takes over my posts! I have wanted to post this little present I created for Gina since I made it. I of course forgot to take a before shot. It was a hot pink Disney Sweethearts train case. I picked it up at a garage sale for 50 cents. The previous owner had colored all over it with markers and crayons, part of the lining paper was torn out, it had seen much better days. Gina had shown some interest in American Girl dolls so I thought I would make her some doll clothes and get her an entry level doll. What better place to store the doll and clothes than in this adorable, made by mom, case.

I primed the entire case with Kilz. Then I painted the outside of the case an aqua color, being sure to leave the trim and locks white. Next I cut out some G's using the cricut. I attached them using spray adhesive. Then I randomly stuck "precious jewels" (as Gina likes to call them) around the G's. I tied various coordinating ribbon around the handle.

For the inside I painted it ballet pink. I then trimmed the tattered edges with purple polka dot ribbon (I used hot glue for this). I covered the drawers with flocked scrap book paper ( I used spray adhesive again for this). I then put eyelets through the drawers and looped purple polka dot ribbon through for drawer pulls. I am in love with this case! Thankfully my name starts with a G too, so I can take it back when she outgrows it LOL!

This is the inside, not being used for what I made it for LOL!

The final batch

Well this is the last set of pics :) I did not photo mine. I will begin sending them out tomorrow. I have to do this in shifts. The packages I have to go to the post for may have to go out Tuesday while my mom watches the kiddos. My post office is sooo slow! They haven't grown to accommodate the size of the town yet, so the lines are LONG! I can't imagine doing this with a wiggly 9 month old and a full of questions 5 year old.

Michelle sent this lovely fairy pin too! I love pink and fairies!

Christina sent some yummy strawberry candies, which did not make it to the photo shoot, Thank you :)

And finally Kristy sent a much needed needle case (that's what it was right?) I am using it for that anyway ;) I need to photo it though, because it is lovely! Thanks!

Thank you all for participating :)

More Fat Quarters ;)

So many to post :) I think I may do 2 posts today.

*edited because I posted the same pics as yesterday*

More Fat Quarter Pics

Looks like I have 2 more days of posting pics. I had a rough night with the little one last night. I can't wait until he can talk and tell me why is awake.

Notice the sweet goodies Lindsay included! Thank you so much, I LOVE ric rac :)

More sheet goodness

As promised here are more pics of the Fat Quarters for the swap. I needed to take pics before the swap so I could divide them without sending someone back what they sent me.



*The red vintage fabric above was a gift from Amie. Thanks Amie *
Thank you for all of the sweet notes too!