Christmas is Over.

I told myself that as soon as Christmas was over I would start getting into "baby" mode. So, I have been trying to organize Briggs' old closet and transforming his old room into a girly nursery since he is sharing with Beck now. It looks like a mess, but I have several piles that have been tackled. I keep seeing this sweet face and I get a bit sad everytime I work in there...where are the years going?
But the most exciting thing is this lovely fabric that is going to be the bumpers. I cannot tell you how happy I am to have some pink floral in this house!!! Isn't is pretty? It is a Tanya Whelan print and I love it. I really wanted some Tiffany blue in the room too.

So much to be done...not to mention putting away all the Christmas decor. But the baby stuff is so much more fun to think about. I have alligator clips and headbands in the mail. The bow making will begin shortly! First things first.

Fabric Salad

Meet Briggs...he is my two and a half year old. He goes to Mother's Day out and has the sweetest teacher so I wanted to make her something special for Christmas.
I got a pre-made apron at a craft store and appliqued her name on it. I love mixing fabrics...but I think I went a little crazy.

I hope it didn't turn out too funky for her. But if anyone could get away with a funky colorful apron, it would definitely be a pre-school teacher, right?

This is my first time to join in on "get your craft on"...thanks for stopping by. There isn't a tutorial. Is there supposed to be? I hope I am not breaking any craft laws. :-) Merry Christmas to all.

Christmas Tour

I wanted to join the Nester's tour this year...only about a week late so I could be the bazillionth link. Welcome to our home...I wish we could keep Christmas stuff up all year. It is going to look so bare when it all comes down.
First up: Our White tree. My sis-in-law married my brother at Christmas time and she decorated with tons of these trees and just gave them away at the end. Lucky me. I call it our "fancy" tree.

Here is our family room tree. This tree has many homemade ornaments and the kids help me decorate this one. They love touching all the ornaments on the bottom half.
Of course our home wouldn't be complete without the gingerbread house we make every year. Beck spent a lot of time making this look good, and a lot of powdered sugar was eaten while working. Briggs just licked the icing.

All of our Santa pictures (I still need to add this year's) along with some rag garland.

The stockings that are hung with care...
This is what it looks like right when you enter my front door...Beck got his bed head in this one. :-)
Our display of cards. I just hang them on a long ribbon with clothes pins that have scrapbook paper trees. I just love all the photos we receive.
And lastly, our dining room table-you know the one that just looks pretty and doesn't get used daily.
Merry Christmas to all! Thanks for dropping by.

Coasters

I decided to make coasters for gifts this year out of tiles. I bought the super inexpensive, ceramic, off white tiles at a local hardware store and decoupaged scrapbook paper on them as well as their last initial. I ended by sealing them so that the water won't ruin the paper...fingers crossed on that one. I like the way they turned out and they really were so easy.

Then I received a gift from my sweet friend, Lisa and great minds think a like. She made me coasters, which was great because I didn't get around to making my own set. And the greatest thing about crafting is the same idea turns out so differently, and I think hers turned out way better...she got a fancier tile and then stamped them. They look like she bought them. Thanks, Lisa. I always need coasters. I don't know why mine always are disappearing and getting chipped or cracked. Now I am all set.

Ladies Craft Exchange

Last night was a fun tradition we have at church. Our ladies ministry hosts an annual craft exchange where you are supposed to bring a "homemade" gift to exchange in a "white elephant" sort of way. It is always a lot of fun and you get to see people's true colors shine through. Ha! You know you brought something good if people fight over it. My Mom and sister brought darling things...they both got fought over. I wish I had taken pictures of their gifts. Mom did a darling rag wreath and Jill did a ribbon topiary. My gift was cuter in my mind. It turned out a bit too Dr.Suessish...maybe I should have not used such big polka dots. It didn't get fought over...maybe next year!

Here it is:

I ended up with some really cute dish towels though:

Batman Party

My oldest baby turned 5 right before Thanksgiving. He wanted a batman party and a bouncy house, so that is what he got. They had a ball jumping all day!! Look at those happy faces.
I went the easy route and bought cupcakes. I didn't really want to add that to my list of things to do and you know how I am not really a good baker.

Here is the sweet birthday boy. I did make a batman "5" shirt. I love that Beck appreciates homemade things. He told one of his friends at the party, "My mom made this shirt with fabric!"

I just made kind of plain printed invitations so I decided to cut and make superhero masks out of a poster board I already had and include those with the invites.

Instead of spending a bunch of money on trinkety favors I decided to spend a lot of time to make capes for the kids. Don't get me wrong, they were very rough...no hems anywhere, but still 14 of anything takes a while to make. I think they turned out cute enough and hopefully the kids that came will be playing with them for months to come.

I have several Christmas crafts to share, but the problem is they are all gifts and I am afraid the people I am giving them to might just read this. So, I will post them as I give them. You will have to stay tuned.

In case you do not read my family blog, I have some exciting news...I am having a GIRL this time. So, as soon as the Holiday rush is over I plan on making so many bows, pink, and ruffly things...I just can't wait!!! :-)

Flowers like Snowflakes

I am a bit late in posting. This is what I ended up making for the teachers at Thanksgiving. I don't really think the pictures do them justice...perhaps it was the photographer. Again, you could make these for any holiday. I made pins because I was picturing them on a jean jacket, but you could do hair clips or an alligator pin that could attach to a pillow, belt, anything really. My favorite thing about these is they all turn out unique like a snowflake. Mine are similar, but not exact and that makes them really fun to create. There are tutorials all over the web for these so you could make them too. Hope everyone has recovered from all that yummy food. My decorations are officially up...let Christmas begin.

Better Than They Look

Bakerella, I am not. I wish I could just be a little like her. My stuff usually comes out edible, but not pretty at all. Plus it stresses me out to bake because of my history with it. Seriously my two layer cakes always end up with a huge crack down the middle and they slide more each day they don't get eaten. I have pretty much given those up.

My son is turning 5 tomorrow...five! OH my {sniff, sniff}. Anyway, we have to bring snack to his school for his celebration and cookies are so much neater than cupcakes. I saw on Noggin one time this lady was making Dora cupcakes and she made her hair by piping icing onto wax paper and then removing it and placing it on the cupcake icing. I thought I would try it for the batman symbol and put it on sugar cookies. Here is what they look like:

Honestly, pretty sad and I am not ashamed to admit it- the circles aren't even good. I tried and he likes them so it was very worth it. They are tasty though. I don't think kids will be very hard critics...thank goodness.

Thankful journals

I have been working on a little project for our ladies Bible class at church. We have been doing a really good and practical study based on the book The Ultimate Gift. Anyway, next week since it is our last class before Thanksgiving we are going to make some "thankful" journals. I know this is not an original idea but I wanted to post it. It is a reminder for me to stop and actually think about my blessings instead of just gobbling up all the good food! :-) Which I will do as well-and really looking forward to!

Front

Back

A Good Cause

There is a near and dear Christian school that has an annual auction. This school means a lot to me. I went there for middle school, my mom worked there for many years, my brother attended, and we go to church with many of the teachers. As all private schools, they need money!! :-) So, this year I have donated a couple items to their auction that will be held in just a few weeks. Here is what I came up with:

I am thinking about adding some women's shirts to my etsy shop. I might wait for summer to do a bunch of ruffle tanks, but I like the way it turned out. Definitely something an average mom could throw on in the morning and look a bit cuter than just a stained t-shirt. Oh wait, is that just me? I swear everything ends up with these mystery spots...the mark of a Mom, I suppose.

Baby Gifts

I tried something out the other day and I like the way it turned out. I have added them to the shop. Keep in mind I do not have an embroidery machine so they are stitched on a regular machine and are not as "perfect" as a machine could do, but what baby wouldn't like to spit up on these suckers? :-) I don't think I can fit more than 7 letters though. Ha!

Modeling

This cutie's Mom is keeping me in business. :-) Here are some cute pictures she has had in things I have made for her. Isn't she a doll? I just love all that hair!!!!