Sewing Update
Posted on: October 5, 2010
- In: Crafts
- 4 Comments
I’ve been having a hard time getting any decent pictures of the stuff I’ve been making lately. My little model is camera shy these days. But, here are a couple things I’ve done lately anyway…
This is the Tea Party Sundress by Oliver + S made with Anna Maria Horner voile fabrics. The pattern was a little more difficult than others I’ve made because of the tulip shape of the skirt (made out of several different pieces put together), and the buttons. But, since I couldn’t get my machine to do a button hole to fit those big buttons I skipped that major step. The buttons are sewn on the top, and the closure is actually velcro. Which means Lillian takes it apart all the time… not good. The fabrics: I LOVE the voile fabric. It’s light and airy, and beautiful.
This dress is half Simplicity and half Oliver + S. A few months back I made the Bubble dress for my niece Libby (never got any pics of it unforunately). So, when I bought this Simplicity pattern (2460), because of the look of the top part I realized that the way they did the bubble would just not work for what I want to do. Which, ultimately, is to make a fancy flower girl dress for my sis-in-laws wedding. This dress was mainly to make sure that I could use the skirt from Oliver and the top from Simplicity together. A good excuse for another dress for Lillian. Fabric: the main one is another Anna Maria– an old one that i don’t think is in print anymore. The midriff part is Amy Butler. Sort of makes for a busy dress (for me), but I was trying to use only fabrics I already had. I didn’t have enough fabric to make the straps, so I just used ribbon. Twice as much as the picture actually shows, unfortunately Lillian sabotaged this dress all along the way. Turning all my sewing machine knobs TWO different times, plus taking scissors to the ribbon. Yikes.
So, now I’m working on the flower girl dress. Half way done!
Kiddo Update!
Posted on: August 18, 2010
- In: Family
- 13 Comments
Brendan started his first day of kindergarten on Monday! Here he is eager to start with some of his new books. He’s very excited to learn to read this year!
Lillian has been doing really well so far at playing by herself. This is a relief, since she really hasn’t had much experience with it! She’s also doing really well potty training with not much help from me! Thank God for that.
Both the kids are really looking forward to the beginning of March when they will be welcoming a NEW baby brother or sister. Brendan wants a new baby brother to help him clean up his toys. 😉
More Cakes
Posted on: June 1, 2010
- In: Baking
- 4 Comments
I’ve done more cake baking than sewing lately.
Martha Stewart’s Graduation cake. Yummy dutch chocolate cake, with tuiles on top to look like diplomats. I couldn’t find candy ribbon easily, so I just used twizzlers. Not exactly a big hit on a really hot day outside. Something to remember. The regular old chocolate chip cookies I made were all gone by the end of the day though (not that I don’t love them too).
The cheesecake I made for Chad’s birthday party/Memorial day celebration went over a little better. I just finished off this last piece after taking the pic. 🙂 I got the recipe from a friend whose version was better in my opinion. Maybe it was a substitution I made. Maybe she’s just a better cook. It has orange zest in the cheesecake, orange marmalade on top, and chocolate shavings. Yum. The only cheesecake I might prefer over the traditional plain with fruit topping.
My uncle Brad also brought homemade strawberry icecream with fresh strawberries from his garden. Too bad I didn’t have that to finish off this afternoon. Mmmmm.
Some Catching Up
Posted on: May 29, 2010
- In: Family
- 2 Comments
My baby boy turned 5 this year. boohoo. 😉
Decided to keep the cake simple and delicious this year. We did have bats hanging down over it, but it was too hard to get a good pic. Obviously the theme was batman. And dress-up. We had a couple princesses, the super-mario brothers, and Tigger. He got batman underwear, the Lego Batman game for xbox (along with a few other games), Lego batman t-shirt, etc. Plus, The Chronicles of Narnia box set. We have vision of reading them (as a family) in the near future just like our Dads read them to us. Such good memories.
We’re just wrapping up B’s pre-k work. Looking forward to ordering his kindergarten books! He’s learned so much this year! And we’ve spent lots of time reading together, which is the best part.
I’m only about 3 months behind on the blog. hehe. I haven’t been doing much creating to share. Where did the time go anyway?
I think that the creativity might be making a come-back though. We’ll see…
Cutest Project
Posted on: April 10, 2010
Thought I’d share my latest project– the funnest one I’ve done in a while. It’s what I made for my cute little niece (my favorite niece- har har) for her birthday (and I hope to make one for L soon too!). An adorable little fabric dollhouse, or in this case Rabbit-house. 
For more of Libby’s house check out my flickr photostream in the sidebar to the right. To make one of your very own go here!
Cuties on Palm Sunday
Posted on: April 2, 2010
- In: Family
- 2 Comments
There’s been a lot of sewing going on around here, and hopefully I’ll be sharing what’s going on very soon. For now I’ll just share my little cuties. They’re a handful, but more than worth it! I hope you all are enjoying SPRING!
Yumminess
Posted on: March 1, 2010
Just thought I’d share one of my tried and true cookie recipes. The only one I actually crave besides your regular chocolate chip actually. It’s from Best of Country Cookies: Mmmmm! More than 250 of the best cookie recipes from our national contest. From Taste of Home.
Meet: Peanut Butter Jumbos (they’re even sorta healthy!)
1 1/2 cups peanut butter
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 cup sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
4 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats
2 tsps baking soda
1 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup miniature M&M’s
In a large mixing bowl, cream peanut butter, butter, and sugars. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Combine oats and baking soda; gradually add to cream mixture. Stir in chips and M&M’s. Drop by heaping teaspoonfuls 2 in apart onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-13 minutes or until edges are browned. Remove to wire racks to cool. Yield: 9 dozen
Enjoy!
BTW I almost always halve this recipe– it’s huge!
Patchwork Messenger Bag
Posted on: February 19, 2010
- In: Amy Butler | Crafts
- 3 Comments
My newest bag– the Patchwork messenger bag. From my favorite bag designer (the one that designed my clutches too) I made it for myself (yay!) out of some of my favorite fabrics from Amy Butler (of course). Been toting around my knitting and my pilgrim’s progress in it. 🙂 I really like the size. Sometime I’ll get around to making a couple for the shop (I hope). Until then, if you are interested, then let me know! Special orders always come first! I have lots of cute fabrics to mix and match right now!
Inside flap has a little splash of color, and more pockets!
Oliver+S Playdate Dress
Posted on: February 18, 2010
A while ago I made L a playdate dress that turned out really cute, but wouldn’t fit over her head. Found out lately that the sizes run differently, so she probably just needed the next size up. I never got around to replacing the yoke with a bigger one that would work. Very frustrating, since it’s SO CUTE! She grew out of it.
SO, then I made this.
Now I’ve finally got around to making a Playdate dress that L can wear! I’m very excited. It’s even a little big, so she should be able to wear it until fall. If she grows according to plan. 🙂
More photos in flickr (check the sidebar).
Searching For Creativity 