Project Time

Fall has officially begun. We've had to break out the hot cocoa already! I think I'm okay with it, though - I'm ready for all things Fall! Especially the projects I get to start working on!

First of all - check out the CHAIR I found at a yard sale for $40! It's beautiful!

I'm working on a snuggly nestie blankie for my little one. I'm doing a 'pink' version of this one here since I love the yarn so darn much.

And THIS little project!!! Here's a sneak peek - more to come later. I'm so excite

d about this one I can hardly contain myself!!!

Eyeball T-Shirts

So like I said before - it's been SO BUSY around here, but we've been having lots of fun! My adorable mom came out from AZ for a (much too quick) visit and we had nothing but fun! She saw these HILARIOUS Eyeball T-shirts on Martha Stewart one day and decided that we HAD to make some with the kids! They had a BLAST!!!!! Watch the video and see how easy this is! My kids want to wear these everywhere!

I found my kids' t-shirts for $3.00 at Wal-Mart and used an old white shirt I already had for the eyes. We free-handed the eye template onto some cardstock and then used that to trace all of the others. For my little guy's shirt, we made smaller eyes just so they would be a little more proportionate.

Have fun with this!!!

A Sister for my Daughter

Goodness! It's been a while, I know, but it's all I can do to keep my head above water here in this busy household lately.

HOWEVER...I had to share my daughter's good news. We're having a little girl - Kendra's wildest dreams are coming true! Nevermind that they'll be 8 years apart - she has this great, ideallistic vision of the two of them happily playing in her room. Kinda cute.

Anyway - I can't wait to share some of the projects going on around here - but in order for me to do that without passing out from exhaustion, I have to wait for some spare time to open up soon. So stay tuned!!!

'Till then, I leave you with warm thoughts:

"Friendship is like peeing on yourself: everyone can see it, but only you get the warm feeling."

--Author unknown....or too embarrassed to share their name...

Baby Blankets in Honor of Greyson

To all you creative crafters - this is such a touching story and I'd love to spread the word along! I was sent an email about sweet Greyson's story and I wanted to share it with the rest of you, as well as provide website links for you all to participate. If you're interested in donating blankets, click on Greyson's website link below for address and instructions. Thanks, girls!!!

Posted by Meryntha on "Greyson's Gift" website:

I am looking for your help. Hospitals all across the country are in need of small, very small, baby blankets. In cases of fetal demise, babies are so tiny, even the smallest nursery blanket is much too big to wrap around their tiny bodies.

I know how parents feel when they are presented with their tiny baby, for the first and last time. Having to deal with a large blanket that doesn't fit, is a distraction. And, unnecessary.

If you can sew or crotchet/knit, would you please help me to supply blankets for these mothers?

what they need:
12" x 12" and 24" x 24" flannel receiving blankets, in small pink, baby blue, white, and yellow prints. Use your best judgement, we don't want the prints of the blankets to detract from very small babies.

The blankets also need to be double layered.

For those who have already jumped in to help and have blankets other than the specifics above, DON'T WORRY! We can still use your blankets.

Again, HERE is Greyson's Website link.

Craaazy Cookin' Fool

Here's a peek into OUR busy day!

I'm cookin' all morning!!! So why the heck not?! Don't you have 'lazy' days where you go, "If only there was something in the freezer I could pull out so I don't have to exert energy and get up off this dang couch..."? (that's me like every day.) I'm out of my 'lazy' food that I usually have on hand, so today is sort of a re-stocking day. I'll work my keester off but it's going to be worth it not having to come up with dinner stuff now that school has started and life got busier. I despise coming up with dinner ideas. It's just TOO much brain strain for me.

So here we have meat sauce for Giada's lasagna rolls, cooked chicken in broth for whatever I decide later, and Paula Deen's white bean chili! I'm actually excited about that one - its my favorite thing with a homemade tortilla, which we'll make later on today. Geeze, I'm starving now.

...Let's not forget my favorite cooking companion...my beloved DP...nectar from heaven. I love you, DP.




Oh, and what of that 800 loads of laundry I had to do on account of everybody being "out of clothes" or something. whatever. I can't wait until my kids start doing their OWN laundry. I'll just put that lazy kid right there to work, that's what I'll do.

Boutique Style Baby Bib

I have two new nieces (still don't know what I'm having yet, dang it) and it's been fun making girly things lately!

I love, love, love these beautiful baby bibs - and I never appreciated the importance of them until I got out my daughter's baby clothes and saw how stained the necklines were even after being soaked, Oxi-Cleaned, washed, and carefully put away for safe keeping. These little bibs help keep that down to a minimum allowing you to preserve your baby clothes AND your baby looks fabulous while spitting up. Ah! {thumbs up}


I used one of my old bibs for a template and tweaked it a little on some tissue paper. If you need a pattern to download, HERE is a link to a cute one. My bib was made by using a piece of cotton fabric and a piece of chenille, which gives it a fuzzy feel on the back.


My bib actually turned out quite small, which is what I was aiming for, but just keep in mind that you're going to have to turn everything right-side-out eventually and if you make your bib too small, it's going to be near impossible to turn it.

MY ADVICE: Keep the neck straps wide. Don't make them skinny!!! Mine were a little too skinny and I just about ruined the thing trying to pry everything to turn right-side out!

Once you have your pattern adjusted, pin it on to each piece of your fabric, trace, and cut them out.

Sew your bib with right sides facing together, leaving about a 4-inch opening on the side.

Trim the excess fabric EXCEPT for the opening where you'll be turning. You need extra fabric there for sewing the bib shut.

Cut tiny notches all around the bib in the curved parts (pretty much all of it) and this will allow the fabric to lay flat and curve without puckering.

NOW FOR THE HARD PART...carefully turn your bib right-side out. If you're using chenille like I did, be so careful because it will rip easily. Go slow and be patient!

Top stitch all the way around; sew two pieces of velcro to your straps, and you're done!

This would make a really cute gift set with a matching burpie and iron-on onesie! If you're REALLY ambitious, throw in a super easy baby blanket and you'll most definitely be the hero of any baby shower! {not that we care, right? I mean, it's all about the mom and baby - don't be so selfish...}

*Fabric comes from the Heather Bailey Pop Garden collection

Iron-On Onesie Adorableness

It is so easy to dress up a little onesie like this WITHOUT a sewing machine! {some of my ladies get a little freaked out by that whole machine idea...}

Make a bunch of these with a matching burpie and keep them on hand for when the whole 'mating season' comes full term and you've got a bunch of friends with spring babies and/or fall babies coming. And believe me, I've kept track and THAT'S when I seem to be needing baby shower stuff the most! {some of you are blushing...}

These don't have to be just for babies, either. This technique would be fun for a girl or boy's t-shirt.

You'll Need:

Onesies, washed, dried, and pressed
Fabric, washed, dried, and pressed
{that's enough work, isn't it?}

Heat'n'Bond Light Iron-On Adhesive
An Iron
Needle and contrasting thread - just regular spool thread.
Thimble for that middle finger - trust me, you'll want one. I use those rubbery ones for grip.

Step 1: So get some fabric with some cute shapes you can cut out. UNLIKE WHAT I DID HERE...DO NOT CUT OUT YOUR SHAPES. I'm an idiot - learn from my mistakes, okay.

You can also use a piece of solid color fabric or not-so-busy printed fabric and then wait for step #2. With solid colors you can cut out a silhouette of an animal, hearts, geometric shapes, etc. which would be cute.





Step 2: Cut off a piece of the gargantuan roll of Heat'n'Bond big enough to fit over your pieces. Follow the packaging directions - place the rough side of the paper onto the wrong side of your fabric, set your iron to "silk" without any steam, and press the adhesive onto the fabric, making sure all of it gets secured.

**NOTE: This stuff will get all over your ironing board cover if you are an idiot like me. Just make sure fabric is under the Heat'n'Bond at all times and you'll be okay.

Now you can cut out your shapes. Try to leave some white space on the perimeter of your shapes so you can stitch on those outer edges and have plenty of room.

If you're cutting out silhouettes, you can trace your shape on the paper backing of your adhered fabric, which is SO handy.




When your shapes are all cut out, you can peel off the paper backing, exposing more iron-on adhesive for the t-shirt.




Arrange your shapes and press into place firmly. Get them nice and secure.

And that's pretty much it!!! Now you can stitch them on, which I think is the fun part because it's quick and you get to sit and do something creative/mindless. perfect.

You COULD machine stitch, but it's a little difficult on these little onesies - but if you're that advanced, go for it. More power to you.

The way I threaded my needle: (cross-stitch style)

1.) take one long length of sewing thread; fold it in half on itself making a double strand with a loop at the bottom.

2.) Thread the needle with the doubled thread.

3.) With your needle, poke up from the bottom of the shirt wherever you'd like; don't pull the thread all the way through; keep a small loop there waiting...

4.) Make your stitch; go back down and then put your needle through the loop you made, securing it without having to tie a complicated knot.

I wish I had pictures, but seriously? WAY too much work for now!

*Fabric comes from the Michael Miller White Lava Flowers collection.