wedding weekend

last weekend i flew to california for the wedding of a very special friend. trisha was my college roomate. we were neighbors in the dorm, freshman year and met though an electical outlet. really. the wedding was in mammoth, which i complained about being hard to get to, but it was so worth it once i was there. i had not been there since i was 13 or so and i had forgotten just how magical a place it is. the wedding was super rustic (we sat on log benches, see photo above). the theme according to trish was "crazy, mismatched, cool" or something like that. which is so perfectly her.

they did a fingerprint guestbook, which i had never seen before, but i thought it was so sweet and something to they can frame and hang up to see everyday as a reminder of thier wedding day and of all the people that touched their lives, shaping them into the people that they are today, perfectly matched for each other. (kristin (another college roommate) painted the tree!)

this was the view as we walked to the wedding site.  can you see the waterfall?  the snow on the mountains?  amazing.

here are some handmade gifts i brought with me for some of the babies that now outnumber us college roommates (13 babies and counting!).  two quilts, three bibs, one pinafore, and two krink-ly taggie toys we call baby paper (babies LOVE it!).

it felt so so good to be among good friends who really know me (better then i know myself sometimes).  it is hard sometimes living across the country, away from lifelong friends.  i am lucky to have made some wonderful sure-to-be lifelong 'east coast' friends too.  but there is something so comforting about being with an 'old' friend.

when i asked trisha how the ceremony went and what she was thinking, she said "it felt like a big hug, like everyone there was giving me a huge hug, so i felt totally relaxed".  this is exactly what this weekend was for me too.  a huge thee-day long hug.   

sweet sewing

i made this little criss-cross pinifore for maeve the other night.  i made the pattern myself, based on a shirt that maeve already had.

it cuts out in just two pieces, the outside and the inside, which made it super easy...

and reversible!

she wore it a couple of times, but i decided it was a little bit small.  i have a slightly larger one cut out and will hopefully sew it tonight.  i gave the one pictured to a sweet little friend (her mom was my college roommate).

solstice

it has become a tradition in our family that handmade gifts are exchanged on the solstices.  i love tradition and i love handmade so i could not be happier that this little ritual has become part of the fabric of our family.  this year calvin is super into batman so i made him a 'batman' bat appliqued shirt.  it was just batman enough and not so commercial.  he loved it!

for little miss maeve i made a pinafore, using the same pattern as last year but up-sized it a little (which i have no idea how to do, but i went for it anyway).  it fit perfectly!  she loved it too!  (sorry for the dark picture.. it was late)

i am desperately looking forward to a time of relaxing beach days and no schoolwork!  welcome summer! 

christmas crafting IV: bookmarks

calvin made these little bookmarks for a few special readers in his life.  we made them just like the ones we made here.

i love his little drawings right now.  he adds little details that are very important to him.  after he drew on the linen with fabric marker, he picked out a fabric that he thought the recipient would like and we sewed them up (he sat on my lap).

that is the last of the chirstmas crafting posts.  and it is only january 22...

christmas crafting III

calvin loves to write letters, so when i saw this little letter holder in amanda's book i knew i had to make one for him.

i used a barnyard waffle weave fabric that i have had forever on the outside and an alphabet print for the lining.

i chose to add divided pockets to the original pattern to organize the envelopes, cards and pens.  i got the envelopes and cards from paper source.

calvin loved it and has already written some letters.  in an age where most correspondence takes place electronically, i hope calvin continues to handwrite letters as he grows.  in the last six months or so,  his writing has changed dramatically.  he now can write all his letters (sometimes with a small reminder...) and wants to know how to spell everything.  he also will say or write a string of letters like, "mommllivvvvin" and ask me what that spells.  i love love love watching his sense of language develop.    

more christmas crafting

sam and i have a tradition of giving each other an ornament each year.  we like to search and search for just the perfect, little, sometimes quirky ornament.  this year i found these little houses here and i just couldn't resist.  i took liberty with the idea of an 'ornament' but sam loved them just the same.  

maeve got a stocking this year!  last christmas somehow passed us by and little miss moo did not have a stocking.  i was determined to remedy that this year.  i had pink and green fabric fabric that matched the stocking i made calvin a few years ago so i decided to use it.  i wasn't sure about the whole matchy-match thing but i loved how they looked hanging together on our mantle.  i used the martha stewart pattern found here on her site.

snow day already called for tomorrow!  we are supposed to get 12 inches!  i am looking forward to an impromptu relaxing day at home with the little ones...

just make it!

i have a few large sewing projects on my to-do list at the moment, so of course i am procrastinating completing them. boo. instead i have found a few finish-in-the-same-sitting kind of projects that i just had to do immediately. so i did them. above and below are flannel wipes that i saw over at progressive pioneer and just had to make them. i made 30! it only took me 2 nap times (i measure all of my projects in nap times these days!). we use them constantly. the only thing i would change is that the tutorial called for a zigzag stitch around the outside, which you can see i did in the close-up below, but i wish i would have done an overlock stitch (sort of like a surged edge) because i had quite a few little strings to cut off after they had been washed a few times.

i also made a little crinkle toy for my friends new baby girl. i have made a few of these in the last few weeks, lots of babies around here!  i used the new sun chip compostable bag on the inside to make the crinkle that babies love so much. it is so crinkly! then i added some ribbon in a 'taggie' style.

saw this tutorial for reusable bags over at angry chicken and i just had to do make them, immediately. we have some bags that i made with PUL and velcro, but they took awhile to make and we have some that a friend of mine made for us but we just didn't have enough. i love these becuase they are just one piece of fabic, so there is no lining to deal with. they sew up super fast (i made 10 in about an hour) and i used scraps for a many of them. we use them every day!

they are the old school kind of baggie that just has a flap that flips over.  below is the back.

and here is the front with the flap flipped and closed.  i use these for dry snacks, such as popcorn, pretzels, and dried fruit.  for gooier stuff i use the bag lined with PUL.

last but not least i made these wet bags  from 'a lemon squeezy home' for cal and maeve.  cal needed one for school.  they play in water everyday and so wet clothes were coming home everyday in a plastic bag.  so now he had a wet bag that works perfectly!  it fits a bathing suit and a shirt with space leftover.

the wet bag in these pictures is maeve's.  it lives in the diaper bag to hold wet cloth diapers when we are out and about.  i lined both bags with PUL so they are waterproof.  i am very proud of the zippers!  i have never really sewn a zipper and had it look decent when i was done, but this time i actually broke out the zipper foot and voila!  they turned out pretty good.  i only had to rip it all out once, definitely a success!

now back to those big projects...

butterfly party!

for maeve's first birthday party, we threw a butterfly party!  i know a one year old doesn't really need a themed birthday party, but it just makes deciding on the decorations, sweets and favors easier if i have a direction to go in.

:: my sweet girl on the day of her birth, her birthday crown and party favors in bags! ::

:: party favors for the girls... pink shirts with a butterfly appliqué ::

:: party favors for the boys... gray shirts with a butterfly appliqué ::

:: decorations and party craft... watercolored coffee filter butterflies ::

:: butterflies as decoration ::



:: butterfly dress i made for maeve (oliver + s pattern) ::



:: close up of front pleating ::



:: butterfly cupcakes with very green icing! (tutorial here) ::



:: enjoying the cupcakes and green icing ::

it was super hot and humid on party day so we started inside, tried to go outside midparty because it felt like it was getting a bit cooler but after awhile we all agreed that it felt like we were melting so we migrated back inside.  

i had lots of fun planning and making for the party and i know maeve had fun. she loved seeing her friends and all the attention, of course!  happy birthday!       

teacher appreciation week

this week at schools across america parents and children celebrate the special people in their lives that teach them things. as a fellow teacher i could not let this week pass by without a little handmade goodness for the amazing teachers calvin has.

calvin and i talked about a few different things we could make and he decided on bookmarks. this was a perfect project for us to do together. i cut linen rectangles about 4 inches wide by 9 inches long. then i had calvin stamp 'thank you' on each one and draw a picture with fabric markers.  next he picked out fabric that he thought each each teacher would like for the backside.  (i loved watching and listening to his decision making process...)

the we sewed the fronts to the backs and turned them rightside out and stitched around again.  i love how they turned out and he can't wait to give them to his teachers tomorrow!  yay teachers!!!

(these are loosely based on the embroidered bookmark idea in handmade home, but i never actually got the book out to look at it so i am not sure how closely they are related)

pinafore

i made this little pinafore for maeve last week.  it is actually just a pattern test.  i created the pattern based on some clothing that we already own.  i used leftover fabric from calvin's birthday aprons, and i had just enough.  it fit perfectly!  although it was just a test, i love how it turned out.

the back has three snaps to close it.  i wanted it to be open-ish back there so that she could wear it now with something underneath and then later on in the summer she could wear it alone and stay cool.

the reason i made the pattern is to make one to gift to maeve's bff who just turned 1 year old!  i am now working on that one and i hope it fits the little recipient as well as it fits maeve.

weekly menu (a week late) and easter craftiness

this weeks dinners were a little crazy... so i did not get a chance to post our menu but here is what we ate:
m: roll up sandwiches with bell pepper spears & hummus
t: tuna salad
w: spinich ravioli and strawberries
r: pesto pasta with chicken and bread
f: chinese take out at a friend's house
s: flank steak, quinoa and veggies
s: pizza with salad

not sure what i am making this week yet. it is spring break so i might try some new/more complex recipes since i have a bit time, but my list of things to get done is growing quickly.

the picture above is maeve in her easter dress and bonnet. i made the bonnet from this pattern. it was really fun to sew up and it was quick, which is always so satisfying. i loved how it went with the dress (which is from target). i also sewed some pants for both of the kids. i used the method in the creative family. i made both of the pants match, which was cuter than it was cheesy. i did not take photos yet though so i will have to post pics later.

yay for easter bonnets and dresses and bare baby feet in lush green grass!

first day

yesterday was calvin's first day of preschool.  i was filled with sentimental emotions the night before (how did my little baby boy get so big?) so i decided i need to do something, more specifically make something.  calvin needed to bring a little pillow and blanket to preschool with him for nap time so i decided to make a case for the pillow to match his blanket (he decided to bring the quilt i finished for him the night before he was born).

when he woke up in the morning, excited (read: very early) to go to school, he saw his pillow and love it.  he loved the turquoise part the best, because anything turquoise is the best (so says calvin...).

when i picked him up, he has so much he wanted to show me... from moon sand to a doctors kit to bikes in the gym room.  his first day was full of new things and new friends and a comfortable familiar blanket and new matching pillowcase make especially for him by mom.

28:15

made for valentine's day from this pattern.

28:14

for calvin's cooking themed birthday party i made aprons for the kids.  i used this free pattern.

aprons wrapped and ready for the party.

gifts

i made these little reusable bags for calvin's playgroup friends. each gift consisted of a large sandwich size bag and a smaller snack bag. i also included a napkin and bamboo spork. i lined the bags with PUL and sewed aplix to the tops so that the kids can easily open and close the bags themselves. i had all these supplies on hand (but originally bought from verybaby) and used fabric from my stash for the outsides.

i especially love how the napkins turned out. my friend made a blanket f0r maeve that had giant ricrak going around the outside. it inspired me to do medium ricrak as a border for the napkins. it added a little bit of color and fanciness. i put some organic cotton terry on the back of each napkin (also from verybaby) for added thickness, to clean up any messy faces or spills.

hopefully they will use get some use out of them. calvin has been using my prototypes for the last couple of weeks and i have washed them a few times to see how they stood up. i am happy to say that the bags are still perfect. calvin has loved using them and they came out of the wash ready for more use.

today's reflection: the best place

i would have to say home this year. there is no place like home.

nursing pillow

i whipped up this nursing pillow once i realized that i could no long function with just one. the second child gets nursed anywhere she needs to be... at the breakfast table, in the car, in the hammock, out by our little pool... so i needed one for upstairs and one for downstairs. calvin leads the way most of the time and maeve and i follow him so we never quite know where we will end up.

i used the pattern in simple sewing for baby by lotta jansdotter. i used fabric and batting from my stash. it only took about a half hour to sew up, but it took a couple of days to stuff. i used almost two full bags of cotton batting... and i hate lumps so i tore it into little tiny bits before i stuffed it in. the shape is a bit different from the 'boppy' brand nursing pillow, but i like it. i wash the whole thing when it gets spit up on (almost daily...) and it washes great.

maeve

she is four weeks old already. it has been crazy in some ways (but in not in the ways i expected it to be) and so amazing. she is a very mellow baby, which is so great in a second. she has the cutest scratchy little voice. she coos quite often (i think she is chatty like her mama). she especially coos at her brother. the is something magical about siblings. calvin loves her and kisses her constantly, all over, which i guess we all do...

here is a pic of her in the outfit i made. the pants are a perfect fit. they are roomy enough for the bulky cloth diaper and so soft. i want to make a few more, but i am still searching for the time.