Birds of a Feather?

I was trying to find fun gifts for people this year that would use up some of my fabric stash. I came across THIS tutorial by UCreate and decided that it would be a perfect gift for my grandparents and my husband's grandma. I actually painted a front for me - but I ran out of steam after making all the Christmas gifts this year. Maybe I'll make it in the spring!

This is the pillow I made for my husband's grandma. My grandparents have a blue criss-cross patterned ribbon instead of the green. Sadly - I forgot to take pictures - but I loved how that one turned out, also.

Halloween Candy Cookies

Ok - I know that this is February and Halloween was MONTHS ago - but I wanted to post this idea that my boys had. After they had gone trick-or-treating, they had HUGE bags full of candy. They came up with the idea of making cookies out of the little chocolate bars that they got.

So I got my favourite Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe and instead of chocolate chips, I added chopped up mini chocolate bars, m&ms and *Canadian* Smarties :)

All Chopped Up!

Finished Cookies

I found out that the chocolate bars with peanut butter, or carmel don't hold up very well. Solid chocolate with nuts work best. They were still really good - and didn't last long with 3 hungry guys.

It also helps to have a really cute helper!

Catch of the Day

My oldest came home from school a couple of days ago, telling me he had to give a Secret Santa gift to a girl in his class. Today as I was surfing the 'net, while holding my little one, I came across this tutorial from Make it and Love it and just HAD to make it. We paired this little bag with a notebook, pencil, and some licorice.


Here is a picture of the bag open.

And closed.

Other side.

Hopefully she will like it : )

Fit for a princess

We were invited to another niece's birthday this summer and I hate going empty handed. So I whipped up this cute little gift.

I made this crown with velcro at the back so it could be sized. It is also reversible, just in case she feels the need to switch it up!

And what princess is complete without a wand? I cut out a star-shape out of felt, hand-stitched it, stuffed it and glued it to a chopstick that was wrapped in ribbon. Then I hot-glued a jewel to the center.

Two little dolls

My sister asked me to make two more "Black Apple dolls", similar to the one I made in the summer, for her two older daughters.
These are what I came up with:

This one - for my older niece - is my husband's favorite. He likes the little buns!

This one is for her younger sister.

Two little dolls for two sweet little girls. I was happy to make them and hopefully they will like them!

A view of their backs. I hand-stitched the lace, tulle and skirts in place. It makes me want a little girl to sew for. Luckily I have lots of nieces!

Mosters and wizards and ....Pilots?

This year was absolutely crazy for Halloween.
It seemed like a ton of stuff was piling on top of our lives and we couldn't stand still to deal with it.

My kids couldn't decide what they wanted to be - I usually have their costumes at least started by the beginning of October. My younger son knew the day after Halloween LAST YEAR that he wanted to be a wizard - and told me - but then forgot until the last minute. My older one wanted to be an astronaut - but we couldn't figure out what to do about a helmet. We tried a motorcycle helmet - but it was just too heavy for his skinny little neck.

I was helping plan a children's primary presentation for our church and needed to help organize and be at practices. Not that I was much help with my little one - but I wanted to try and put in the effort.

In the middle of all this, my dear Grandma passed away. That left me to deal with family things - which really weren't hardships since I love my family and want to be with them.

My husband - who is the creativity behind our Halloween costumes- was taking a class at the University and wasn't around as much as I'd have liked.

And the number one reason it was crazy this year was my precious little 10 month old - who loves to hang on my leg until I pick him up. This happens whenever I sit down at the sewing machine. I would have loved to put a lot more details into the costumes, but I ran out of time. Frankenstein's Monster. Don't you just love the bolts in the neck?

This is Gandalf (NOT Dumbledore).

A Wizard and a Monster.
My sweet little pilot baby. Love those new teeth!

A doll , a turtle and a ball

In my family, 3 of my sisters and I had babies within 6 months of each other. Three little boys and a girl. I wanted to make baby gifts for them since I am getting a little more confident in the sewing area.


I made this "black apple doll" for my niece using this pattern I found at Martha Stewart. I sewed the eyes and mouth on - since I knew that it would probably get a little wet from a little mouth - and I didn't want the paint to come off. I even sewed in a tag that my husband created for me.


I made these turtles from this pattern I found at Make it and Love it (one of my favorite blogs). My littlest loves his - as it is made out of different textured materials and it makes a great teething toy!



I also made these fun taggy balls (pattern from this site (obsessively stitching)- another favorite!) I've given a few of these away as gifts and the babies seem to love them.




I also made onesies with the baby's first initial on them - but I wasn't able to get them all together to take a picture!