color quiet book

sorry for the photo overload, but this is just too cute to NOT share a picture of every page. 

t & two of my nieces were all born in the same year.  for some reason that makes me think that everything i do for one, i need to do for the other two.  i made each of them a doll.  and this year for their birthday's its going to be a dolly diaper bag & supplies & this color book.   

this is the cover.  

and the back. 

i loved making these for the girls.  i did have some pictures/patterns to follow, but for quite a few of the pages i ended up coming up with my own idea.  t loved playing with the ribbons & buttons on the pages.  

christmas 1st of ???

wow.  it has been a while.  i promise i was busy.  but when you are making gifts for christmas and people who are receiving these gifts read this..... i dont like ruining surprises.

i dont know what i was thinking when picking out the hardware for our kitchen.  maybe that is the problem, i wasnt thinking.  too many decisions to be made!  but i didnt pick our drawer pull that you can wrap your hand around.  so for the past four years we have had to deal with all dish towels falling off of the dishwasher & oven handles.  stinks having to pick them up all the time.  big a really doesnt like it.  i am sure i had seen these before and dont know why it took so long for the light bulb to go off.  i got some towels and tried some for our house 1st.  it was awesome!!!  and was pretty sure that some people in my family had the same issue as we did with the drawer pulls.  the hardest part was finding nice kitchen towels. 

quiet book part 2 of 4 (maybe 5)

next 4 pages 

so i go the lace & tie my shoes patterns from a great blog http://www.threadridinghood.com/wordpress/sew-along/

the hard part was finding shoe lace.  these are still a bit big, but it was the best i could do.  

the pie page looked too cute to not do.  and while i know i have never done a lattice weave pie crust, i had fun weaving this pie crust. 

pattern found here  http://www.rileyblakedesigns.com/cutting-corners/2014/01/17/cherry-pie/

this one, i used inspiration from my sisters quiet book.  i remember moving those beads up and down as a child.  p arranged the flower beads for me before i put them on the ribbon.  

every girl needs to know how to braid.  at least in my family.  point in case, i taught my niece how to french braid while they were here for a weekend stay this summer.  keep practicing k!

john deere for some dear boys!

i love my friend krn.  while i have almost all girls (5 girls and 1 boy-who knew-i thought i would have all boys) she is blessed with all boys (4 of them) & boy are they cute.  the older 2 look just like their daddy, the 3rd like his mom's brothers and i think that #4 is a mix of everyone.  i told her we could switch for a day if she needs some girls.  anyway, she wanted comforters for the middle 2's beds.  being the farm boys that they are, k wanted john deere for them.  we had wanted to go shopping together, but the selection in our big town just wasnt there.  so she found this great print online.  just plain and easy she said.  so it's just a rectangle of the jd fabric with a black border.  but i thought they needed just a bit of pop with the binding.  then i had enough fabric left for pillow cases (well technically i kinda planned for that) i really had enough of the yellow to do that pop on the pillow cases.  i really LOVE how those turned out.  super easy diy that i found here http://www.momtastic.com/diy/170222-diy-perfect-pillowcase/  i just added the trim and stitched that down again since it was so big.  

hope you and the boys love them k!

wipes of fun

t loves to pull things out and put them back in.  well maybe sometimes, just pull things out.  if you don't know where she is, look for the trail of items laying where they aren't supposed to be.  

a while ago, i saw where scraps of fabric were cut to fit in an old wipe box for babies to play their in and out game with.  just so happens that i had an extra wipe box laying around.  i cut my scraps to a double layer of 7x9".  well not the fleece one, that doesn't fray and both sides are the same.  did a zig-zag around the sides (this was a quick project, you could cut the scraps bigger, sew them inside out & turn to make them look nicer)

t loves them.  not sure if she has a favorite scrap, but they have also been put in other items....a water pitcher she got out of the cabinet. and now she has leaned to open the whole box, so its also fun to put the fabric in and then dump it all out.    

round 2 of quilts

i used to have 5 nephews and 1 niece.  then i got remarried and gained another niece and 2 more nephews.  then my siblings had (well my brothers wife technically) had a girl each so i got 2 more nieces.   the original 6 each got a quilt for christmas 1 year.  i thought that it would be nice to give them something i had made, that hopefully they would keep forever and always think of me.  my sister in law told me that my niece had to sleep with her quilt top down and facing her. so for s i know it will always be something that will make her think of me.  
and while i was SUPER excited to finally have more nieces (its fun to buy for a girl other than your own) that meant i needed to get my behind in gear!  so i figured i had better start with the oldest.  i have had some of the fabric for this for over a year, but ran out of time last christmas.  and i am glad that this was a quick pattern to put together, cause i got a late start this year.  while i cut the strips & squares, z helped me by tracing the circle on a smaller strip.  then he helped by putting a circle on a square for me to sew.
i love how bright & colorful it is.  now to find a pattern & fabric for the next nephew......

red, white and blue

life seems to be getting in the way of my crafting.... but i wanted to show you something i had started on last year and finished up in time to hang for memorial weekend.  stinks that it's a's favorite holiday (well the 4th really) and there just isnt much for red, white & blue decor.  i'll have to work on that from all my pinterest finds!

jewelery roll

so i have wanted a jewelry roll for when i travel for the longest time, but have never found just what i wanted in the stores.  all my dangly earings get tangled, along with necklaces, not fun to untangle.  so i finally made my own for a trip i took to arizona over thanksgiving.  it worked great!!!  this in the smaller version that i made since i knew i woundnt be wearing that much jewelery.  pockets for everything & a flap that covers the top to keep everything in when i roll and close with the elastic strap. now back to all those christmas gifts i need to make........

flannel works in progress

i have been busy in the basement getting ready for all the craft shows i will be at this fall.  actually i need to be busier, but it's still nice outside & have lots of yard work to do.  the top pic is flannel i am done sewing into blankets & burp cloths, the bottom is the 2nd half of fabric that i am working on right now.  after that i'll move on to cotton for bibs, changing pockets, nursing covers then ribbon for paci clips.  oh and i suppose i should think about christmas sometime too.  i'll try to keep you updated on what i get finished. and let you know about my craft show schedule.

'ice' fishing

there hasnt been much for ice this year, but kids will love this 'ice' fishing.  wooden pole with magnetic 'hook' catches six fish.  now you can fish even when it's too cold, or windy outside.  i have heard it's also great in the car, and a fun way to learn. (paper clip on words, numbers or letters)

to help avoid fighting extra poles and fish are also available.  

$14 for pole & six fish, extra fish $1.50 & extra pole $2.