Why do I enjoy making bags so much!?

Probably cause they're fast and satisfying.

Apple Tree
Jordan's teacher might get this one.

Brown Cord Sac

What next?

Another awesome bag

 I combined the fun felt flowers with a lined tote bag and came up with this. So cute.

 Close up of the flower and applique.

And again, I found bright, obnoxious fabric for the liner.

This is a basic tote bag (see posts below for more info) with the added felt flower (also see post below).

Dress for a little princess

 One of my little princesses turned 1 this month so I made her a little dress.

 I added a little heart applique

And lined it with the best grandma floral fabric I could find.

I used this tutorial to make the dress.

So cute.

Headbands and hair clips

I made a couple extra mother's day gifts for some friends. Lovely felt flowers on headbands and hair clips

I stole the idea from two different sites:
Mrs. Priss 
Oh My Handmade Goodness

 I won't even begin to explain how I made them, just check out the awesome tutorials above. I adapted them by using the base layer from Oh My Handmade Goodness and adding a second layer like on Mrs. Priss.

 I glued and sewed to make them durable and then added a lovely button. The blue flower is on a headband.

(this is my youngest son, modeling the hairband for you)

The pink flower is on a hair clip

Shorts

Old jersey bed sheet + scissors, elastic and thread = new shorts.

Diaper Pouch

I needed something to throw a couple of cloth diapers and a pack of wipes into. Something I could just leave in my van. Currently, we're using some ugly, ripped, plastic thing. Not cool. With some of the scraps from the bag of scraps I found at a quilting shop yesterday, I threw this together. Simple, not to big, small Velcro closure on top, loop handle. Perfect. I'm looking forward to doing something else with these scraps in kinda the same way. Maybe an "I Spy" blanket or something. There are lots more prints in my bag of scraps, but I was tired of cutting, so I just started sewing.

Mother's Day gifts

 For mother's day I made my mom, grandma and mother-in-law book tote bags.

Most of the fabric used is vintage/used or found. The appliques are made with fun spring fabrics. And each one has random buttons on it. So cute. So simple.



Flowers.

Songbird

Owl

Mother's Day

I made bags for the moms in my life, just like Sara. Surprised? We found this fun fabric in the clearance section. The outside of these bags are thrift store fabric. A giant piece, maybe 2 meters, for 50 cents. Yup! What a deal. I've got tons left. The handles are that cotton stuff that some belts are made of. 50 cents a meter, I think. So dang easy and looks great. The bags are almost the same. Different pictures and different lining. Very cute. The mom's loved them. Inside I put bright yellow tulips from our garden. Awesome bag tutorial here.

Look! Breakfast in bed! Matthew spread the jam by himself. So cute. After church, all my boys took me for sushi (my fav) for mother's day lunch. Hubby's parents and my mom were there too. After lunch, I spend a lovey 3 hrs downtown with Sara. Just walking around and popping into fun stores that we'd never get to visit with our kids in tow. We visited a quilting shop that I'd never been to and I bought a big bag of novelty fabric scraps for $10. Can't wait to see what I'll create with those.

Happy Mother's Day!

Easter Gifts

I made my boys personalized bags for them to collect their Easter treats (fair trade chocolate, handmade bean bag toss game and fair trade toys). They were super simple and a big hit.

I found these wonderful vintage cloth buttons at a local store and I was so excited to use them for a project. I used a used cotton belt for the handles and outdoor fabric for the bags. The fabric was a little stiff and helped the bags to keep their shape. They are lined with the same fabric. 

Easter!!

Thank you God, for the sacrifice you made to save me!!

In our home, we believe that Jesus is the reason for celebrating Easter - but that doesn't mean that we don't "play" the Easter Bunny game.

One Easter morning, while hunting for eggs outside with all the kids we heard a little boy ask his mom what we were doing. "Those people don't believe in Jesus, dear." Um, actually?...We do. Thanks. We have found a happy balance between truth and game, that works great for our family. There are a lot of believers out there that do a great job of making the rest of us look like real jerks. Stop assuming....just love! Even if we we're hunting for eggs without knowing Jesus...how bout just loving us like Jesus does. Pray for us. Don't label us as Easter Bunny worshipers.

Rant over.....on with Easter fun!!!

Egg Blowing
Notice the sweet "Go Green" tattoo? Friday was Earth Day :)

Me: "Boys, now we're going to dye some eggs!"
Jordan: "We're gonna make them dead?"

We rolled up little messages and put them through the holes of some of the eggs.

"You are an Egg-stra Special Friend!"

Next time, we'll let them dry out for a day or two before putting the paper in. Our little messages of love were a little soggy - but still appreciated.

Mmmm....sugar cookies - absolutely zero nutritional value in these babies!

Apparently I didn't take a picture of them after the mountains of icing and sprinkles were added. Oops!

Just like Rice Krispie Squares but with chow mien noodles.

3 tbsp butter - melt in pot

add 4 cups mini marshmallows - melt

remove from heat - stir in a package of chow mien noodles

press into muffin tin - use an oiled plastic bag on your hand or you're in for a sticky mess

let cool - transfer to plate

add eggs - mini eggs, jelly beans etc.

I made all my boys Easter boxes this year. Not the most practical thing for hauling around while hunting for eggs, but they'll fit great on the shelves in their closet on the other 364 days of the year! I'll switch the name papers out for "Lego", "Bakugans", "Hotwheels" etc.

I might even try my blogging skills at a tutorial for these!

Yeah, that's an inflatable hammer. Our Easter bunny thinks outside the box.

I hope everyone's Easter was as blessed as ours was.

Happy Easter everyone!

It was staring at me yelling, "Sew Me!"

I bought some PINK pieces from the remnants bin a while back. You know, buy 1 get 1 free - Love that! Anyways, I saw them last night and couldn't control myself. I made a dress and a skirt. Oops!





I need a lesson in zipper installation! There is one in the back, but don't look too close. Still need to attach the straps. Anyone got a 3 year old girl I can borrow?




The Skirt:





Still needs elastic in the waist - again with the needing to go to Fabricland.

What? No, that's not my son modeling his sister's skirt. Sister? What?......oh yeah....



What should I make next? Oh - Lunch for the SIX hungry boys? Good idea.

Karate Style Wrap Pants

Oooh, these are fun!
Again, I really need to go to Fabricland! These pants are missing their Velcro. They can be worn with the opening on the front or the back, then the strap gets wrapped around like a belt. The stripes are an old sheet, the brown are Sara's old curtains, I think.

Wrap in front:

Wrap in back:

And here's how I did it: "www. oh wait, there is no pattern, cause I only pretend that I know how to sew.com"

20 Minute Pants

I made these out of one of my husband's old T-shirts. I desperately need to hit Fabricland for supplies - next time I'll do a simple elastic waist. When I get an idea in my head, I usually want to do it right away, so instead of waiting for a free evening to shop, I used a drawstring instead. Of course, I've trimmed the strings. These pants are super cute, super easy, super comfy and you can make them while you're waiting for the pasta water to boil! I've got a few plain white T-shirts that I'd like to transform - Might even try some fun stenciling on those ones!








Here's how it's done: http://www.rookiemoms.com/make-some-easy-kids-pants/

Feeling Crafty

I was blog hopping today and came across a cute idea. She uses hers for hankies, I'll use mine for reusable baby bum wipes.

Another "just for fun" from my "fake it till you make it" sewing studio:

While looking at different mom's blogs....I see many dresses. Dresses that I want to make. Such beautiful dresses. Pretty fabrics, adorable patterns, oh dresses. Did I mention that I'd like to have a daughter some day? Um...I guess I'll go make some more pants. I made 20 minute pants for Sean last night out of hubby's old T-shirt. I'll share those later. So easy and cute. But first...dinner. Spaghetti tonight. My secret ingredient? Epicure pasta sauce mix. Again with the Epicure.

Bon Appetit!