Kitty Cat Lunch/Snack Bag

Here is another new design. I created this snack bag for Savannah's School snack time. It is hand embroidered, and lightly insulated. It's the perfect size for a banana or a small lunch.

Now available on Etsy

I will be making more in different colors hopefully by this weekend.

Christmas Stocking for Dolls

New Items in the Shop

Dolls need Christmas stockings too.

Felt hair clips for child and doll.

Reversible Vest

I don't know where it's coming from, but I have been very productive this Christmas season. I decided Nolan needed a vest to go with Savannah's Christmas skirt. I found a wonderful pattern here, it includes full size pattern for sizes 12 month-10? I can't remember what it goes up to. They were supposed to wear their outfits to church today but Savannah has a fever so she couldn't go.

Ok, so the pattern was very simple and of course I changed it slightly. Here is what I did:

It was not meant to be reversible but was easily done. Skip the welt pockets, instead of folding the hem to the inside stop all bottom seams 1/2" from bottom, when you go to do the hem just fold up the bottom of the lining 1/2" and press, do the same with the outer vest then pin together and topstitch around the whole bottom to enclose the hem. Do your buttons and button holes normally, then put buttons on the other side of the buttons you already have, I would use flat buttons for more comfort while wearing.

Just a few more must do changes, make sure you clip all curves before turning right side out otherwise it won't lay flat, and topstitch around entire vest at 1/8" including arm holes. This helps it lay flat and adds a really nice look.

The sizing was perfect.

1950's style pinafore dress.

I have been working so hard on creating my own line of children's clothing. This is a very exciting and stressful time in my life. On one hand I want to create and start selling children's clothing, and on the other hand I know I am in this by myself with 2 little needy munchkins and I don't know if I have the time to keep up with this.

I saw a vintage style pinafore dress on Instagram and immediately all these thoughts came into my head about how to create something similar and create different variations based off of one pattern.

Here is the first result. This is Savannah's Easter dress. Since my daughter takes after my husband, she is very skinny and very tall in the torso, making it very difficult to dress her. She is 3 1/2 years old, a 5t in shirt length but only a 3t in width. I had to take this dress in several times. It buttons in the back on the waistline with 2 covered buttons. It is adorable on her. Unfortunately I don't have pictures with it on because of course she was sick for Easter.

I tried a second time and it went so much faster, to deal with the size issue I added elastic to the back waistline. I made this one for my niece Stella. 

I blended a few different patterns together and hand drafted my own pattern for this dress. 

I would love some honest opinions about the dress.

I'm hoping to base all the dresses off of the original Abby Cadabby dress pattern. I am currently working on a 1 shoulder dress also drafted from this pattern.

So we have finally defrosted from Winter. We were lucky that we didn't get as much snow as some other states but this late storm threw us for a loop. Savannah took her first solo tube ride. She is growing up and getting so much more brave.

She also learned to roller skate. I never thought these were things she would do. She has always been very cautious and nervous.

Here are both my munchins after a trip to the Bucks County Discovery Museum. The museum was quite small but it had everything just the right size for these 2. 

Nolan got some new sunglasses and likes showing off. His sister accessorized.

The kids have both been sick for over a week now. Savannah is on a round of antibiotics. No hospital visits or blood work this time, but it is apparent that their little bodies can't keep up with all the extra work destroying blood cells and making new ones. It seems now whenever they get sick their bodies just give up. 

I am still going strong with my fitness goals. I really don't have any goals but I am keeping steady at 10 lbs lost in 4 months. Exercising for 30 minutes per day, 6 days a week. I am feeling great, just super stressed.

Jake and I started teaching a morning Sunday school class at church. We are teaching 4 and 5 year old's. I love all the kids, they are super sweet, but some are not so happy to have another new teacher and some like to be boys and wrestle the whole time. Needless to say it is very exhausting and Saturday nights are no longer something I enjoy. Preparing for class is pretty difficult with getting the supplies ready, lesson plans and making sure everyone is ready to leave the house Sunday morning. 

Homemade Halloween Costumes

  Halloween is long past, Thanksgiving is only 2 days away and we are expecting our first big snowfall of the season tomorrow, but I've been busy being a mom. Nolan had his first birthday on Halloween. We went tick or treating as usual with my sister in law's family. The kids had a great time, Nolan did so well.

I finished Savannah's costume before the end of September, I was so proud I actually finished something more that 2 hours before it was due. She was Abby Cadabby from Sesame Street. I started with a shiny blue poly/acetate fabric then added ruffles to the waist and neckline. I gathered strips of tulle and sewed that along with the skirt. The inside is lined and hand sewn over the seam so there is no itchy/irritating seam at the waist. She wore a pink shirt and leggings as pink fur body. I am very happy with the results.
For the hair I used a dollar store headband and folded strings of yarn in half then took one long string of yarn and wrapped it around the base of the gathered hair and the headband. The headband wouldn't stay so I used curler clips that I had from cosmetology school and they fit perfectly over the band to hold it in place.
She also got to wear glittery blue eye shadow, and my sister bought the awesome wand at the Sesame Street live show we went to in Baltimore. The wings were from the dollar store!

Nolan's costume is not nearly as complicated and I was finishing it the night before Halloween as usual. He was Curious George as per Savannah's request. He wore dark brown corduroy pants, tan shoes, a hooded sweatshirt that was grey and dyed it brown, and a white shirt that I dyed red. 

The ears I sewed from muslin and then added onto the sweatshirt. The tail was a long tube made from brown fabric that I put a hanger inside of and connected to his pants. He was comfortable and this was a very inexpensive costume.

I realized just last week that Curious George doesn't even have a tail but it was cuter with it.

 I found this awesome salad on Pinterest. It is a Kale salad with curry roasted butternut squash and white beans, candied pecans and Sesame Tahini dressing. Recipe here. I had never had Tahini before, it is so good.

Little Retro Aprons for kids and dolls.

4 posts in 1 night. I really have to get on here more often.

My mom got me this really cute pattern and fabric for aprons for children with matching doll apron.

They are adorable aprons with ric-rac detail and pleats. the fabric is perfect for aprons. 

The pattern is Little retro aprons for kids by Cindy Taylor Oates

and the fabric is a collection called Handmaids by j. wecker frisch and quilting treasures. 

Organization tips, fall decor and crochet headband

Fall has arrived, the weather here in Jersey has been pretty cool and weather changes bring crochet desires.  

I made Savannah this double strand crochet headband. for the bow, For the headband

Remember that last tutorial? I decided to use the polyshades on this picture frame also. It was brown before.

My fall decor needed a little updating and Michael's was having a great sale so I made this outdoor planter for my front porch. I got the flower pot free, put in a green floral foam block and bought a whole bunch of artificial fall bouquet's and a bag of decorative pumpkins and gourds. The pumpkins and gourds are attached with a thin piece of copper wire. It cost less than $20 to make.

My husband and I have always been big on finding great clearance deals. He got this plant stand on clearance at Lowe's. It always drove me nuts because it was ugly and took up space. I has a glass top with suction cups that hold on the legs, it also had a tall plant light with a pot that fit on top. I gave away the plant light, covered up the table with a piece I made a long time ago and decided to use it to display some pictures in my living room that have never really had a home. This adds a great look to the living room.

If you can't tell I've been going crazy tying to get my house organized and looking a little more updated.

We have 3 closets in our house and this one shown is the biggest of the 3. They are not big enough for a decent shoe rack and don't hold more than 3 winter coats. Old house problems!

Jake found these awesome and strong little shelves at Target for around $17, they were meant for the basement but it fits perfectly in the nook of this closet and It holds the 3 diaper bags I have to have, my shopping totes, the boxes of crafts for the kids, and all my mailing stuff for eBay.

 This is another great organization tip. I keep gift bags that are given to us for birthdays etc... only the ones in great condition (those bags are expensive) and store them in this inexpensive rubbermaid tote. It also holds tissue paper and gift tags.

 Then I hung a large gift bag from a hanger for all the large gift bags and overflow.

I'm in the process of painting my outdated metal front and back doors. It's coming out great, will post again soon, Lord willing.

Princess photo props, Abby Cadabby Costume.

It's been so long since I've posted so I'm going to try and do a couple in 1 night.

Jake and I (mostly Jake) have been working on the addition on our house just about every single night. It is a lot of work for 2 people especially with the kids. My dad has been an awesome help also.

Since last time, Savannah had her 3rd birthday and Nolan has started taking steps.

I created these photo props for Savannah's party. They are made out of thin craft foam. I hand drew the templates then cut them out, glued together and added a stick. I have the templates for Cinderella, Ariel, and Snow White so hopefully I will have time to get some made for selling.

This is where I got the idea from, it was a pin from an Etsy site.

 Savannah is going to be Abby Cadabby from Sesame Street for Halloween. Of course I had to make the costume myself. I used a somewhat simple dress pattern and added the ruffles to the bodice. I hand gathered strips of tulle and connected it with the skirt. There is a zipper up the back and I plan on having her wear a pink shirt and pink leggings under since it is always cold here for Halloween, and I made yarn hair that I will connect to a headband.
Nolan is going to be Curious George. His costume is much less complicated. He is wearing a brown hooded sweatshirt with brown corduroy's  I'm going to make a tail and ears.

Crochet Mania

It's been crochet mania in my house lately. The weather is getting cooler (yay!) I'm getting bigger and lazier, and who can beat free patterns!

The baby is due 3 weeks from today (eek!) and I wanted  to make sure he was stylin' from day one.

He will have a new pair of booties. I can't even tell you how easy these were to make. The pattern is a T shape, then you sew it all together. Seriously 20 minute project! Here is the link simple crossover bootie if I didn't do that right, just go to ravelry.com and search simple crossover bootie.

 

Next, he will have a newsie hat. This one is also simple, and I did mention free! Here's the link newsie baby hat

 

 

He can't only have one hat (hopefully he will have many more) so I also made him this striped button hat

We can't forget about Savannah. So she gets this adorable bobbi news boy hat. The alterations in this pattern for the children's size were perfect. I fit her on the first try. This one did take a little longer but it was worth it.

 

 

 I am in the process of making a scoodie for Savannah, and bible costumes for our church's Christmas Live event.


Even though I am in constant pain, I have no energy, I can't sleep, I'm out of breath, and my heart races constantly, I do not want this baby to come early. I know I sound crazy but Savannah was a sleep to starve baby who would eat for 2 mins then fall asleep, then do it all over again 1/2 hour later, and she had a weak suck reflex. These are symptoms early babies tend to have. I do not want to go through that again.

I hope to have another post before I have this baby but it's doubtful.

Baby doll carrier

 

This is the latest think I've been working on. My nieces Cambria and Brynna share a birthday party every year, so I made them identical doll carriers. My SIL mentioned a while ago how much she liked these. I would have liked to make them with her but I just didn't have the time. I got the idea here. I had to draw my own pattern, but it wasn't very difficult. The only change I made was the straps in the back. I used D rings so they could be adjustable. I'm never good at measuring things to fit people, so this was the easiest way.

 

The carrier has a front flap that folds down for baby facing front.

Or stays up for baby facing "mommy" (sorry about the blurriness)

 

Check out my next post for the baby gender reveal.