Outdoor Cushions 1

Hmm...so we were given a chimenea by my dad. Yeah Dad!

So, we had to get furniture so we can sit around it and enjoy the fire. I found what I wanted on Craigslist and worked out a deal with the owner. My husband brought it home and realized that we bit off almost more than we can chew. The furniture is wrought iron and rusty. He's working on sanding down the rust and old paint and then repainting it black. My job is to create the cushions and pillows for this 'new' furniture. Yikes! I'm a novice at sewing but a pro at creating more work for myself. :) I bought all the fabric and foam and I have it stuck in my head that I will finish the 5 foot couch cushions before Christmas. I'm really nervous! I didn't make it, but covered up the foam with some big blankets. :) Cheater, cheater I know, but soooo much easier for now.

Santa Sugar Cookies

Here is a fun cookie I made this Christmas season for a cookie exchange at my MOPS group. Very simple, and a huge hit with the kids. Using your favorite sugar cookie recipe, cut out heart shapes, about 2 inch hearts. Flip them, wrong side up and thinly ice the tip of Santa's hat and shake red sugar on it. Pipe with a star tip Santa's hat, his hat rim and beard. Attach the chocolate chip eyes and the red candy nose with icing! Yummy and cute.

Baby Blankets

I found these great instructions on how to sew a baby blanket. First go out and buy a yard of either a cotton or flannel. Then buy a yard of the flannel backed satin. Wash and dry them and you're ready to start the process.

1. Trim the fabric up so they are they same size.

2. Pin all sides together, just the way you want your blanket to look. No need to do the whole pin it inside out, sew and turn right side. The edging makes this unnecessary.

3. Zig Zag stitch all sides, pulling your pins as you go.

4. Now, this part depends on how wide you want your edging. Get out your iron and ironing board and press 1/2 inch down, placing the satin on top of your flannel/cotton fabric. Then fold it over again and iron down about and inch and a quarter. If you want your edging to be bigger or smaller this is where you determine this. Pin as you go, complete all sides.

5. Using a straight stitch, go around all sides. When you come to a corner, create a little square. Leave your needle in, turn fabric and try not using your pedal, do it by hand for these corners, that way you can be more precise.
6. Once you've finished up your sides you're done. It's awesome! It's a little time consuming, but well worth it in the end.

Baby Doll Diapers

Here is the most adorable little diapers for your little girl's baby dolls. I found it on the Make It and Love It blog. Just click here to take a look.



All I did was take a basic diaper outline on a brown paper bag (it makes a great medium for a pattern) and lay the doll out on top. After a little erasing and redrawing of lines I had a pattern that would fit my dolly. Make the tabbies longer than you think you need, you can always trim them up later.




Cut out the diaper pattern from the paper bag, fit it around the dolly and check out how it fits. Snip until you're happy with the results.


Double up the fabric (so you only have to cut once) and trim about a quarter of an inch around the pattern to leave sewing room. You can see I pinned the pattern onto my fabric. I used the same fabric for both sides of the diaper, but I think a white inside and a pattern outside would be really cute also.



Sew wrong sides together, leaving a little gap so you can pull it right side out. Sew on velcrow. I put the hooks (the sticky side) on the tabbies and the other part on the abdomen side of the diaper. Making it go across the entire diaper lets Kaitlyn use the diaper for other size dolls later on.

Here's baby doll (Kaitlyn refuses to name any doll, but all her stuffed animals are named by color, strange I know) with her new diaper. I went ahead and made two so when baby doll gets her diaper dirty she can get a clean one. :)

Travel Neck Pillow

Here is a handy little thing for those long car rides to Grandma's house. Kaitlyn's head always bobbles around and those store bought neck pillows are too big to use with a car seat. I found this one at Make It and Love It and tweaked it until it worked for me. The directions on this site were vague and I ended up successful on my third attempt. My dimensions ended up being 11 and a half inches long (at it's longest point) and 13 and 3/4 inches wide (at it's widest point). Start by cutting open a brown grocery bag so it lies flat. Mark off the dimensions above on your bag so you have a nice square/rectangle shape. Draw a tapered U shape on the outermost edges of your square/rectangle shape. You will have to eyeball the rest of it, just make sure the part that goes behind the neck is smaller and the parts that their head will end op on is large. After I drew my horseshoe shape pattern, I cut it out, pinned it to the fabric that was doubled up (patterned sides touching) and cut it out. Keep the fabric with the pattern sides touching, sew up the edges leaving a little bit open to stuff with some polyester filling. Turn right side out, stuff and hand sew the open part together when you're done stuffing.

Market Bags

Here is my cute market bag. I got the idea from Jo Ann Fabrics and absolutely love it! Click here for the pattern! I've given a few away and hope to make more. I wad them up and stuff them in my diaper bag to use as a shopping bag while I'm out. It also works great for the library. There are endless possibilities and it's really simple to do.
Here are my green and pink patterns.

Project Ideas

Here's a couple of things that I would really like to make, eventually of course. We wouldn't want to rush these things. :)

1. This is such a comfy cozy picnic blanket. I can imagine the girls having fun playing on it in the shade of the backyard tree. Nothing Fancy

2. This card table house looks like so much fun! A little house for my girls and their friends to play in that folds up in a flash. With limited space this looks like it will fit the bill for more mornings filled with pretend. Nothing Fancy

3. This mail center looks like a lot of fun to play. The girls will have so much fun pretending to deliver and get mail! Nothing Fancy

4. I've got to make this quick for a lengthy car trip the girls will be going on. This neck pillow looks like it'll be just the thing to keep Kaitlyn's head from bobbling around. Make It and Love It

5. A crayon roll would be really helpful, especially on long car trips. Make It and Love It

6. Felt food looks great enough to eat. This project looks like lots of fun and would make a great gift. Homemade by Jill

7. Here's something for me that I think would be fun, headbands. Easy breezy stuff.
Homemade by Jill

8. A homemade birthday banner seems like it will come in handy through the years. To add to this I think I would also like to make a flag birthday banner that would hang on one of those flag things you install on the outside of your house. How fun for the birthday girl. I found this banner at See Mommy Sew.

6 random and unimportant things that make me happy

I've been tagged by Jenny at It's all about the Journey.
The Rules:* List Six Unimportant Things That Make You Happy* Mention and link to the person who tagged you*Tag six of your favorite bloggers to play along{and comment on their blog to let them know they’ve been tagged}
I don't personally know 6 bloggers. I really only check on about 3. I'll give it a try though. :)
1. A beautiful garden. Beautiful means producing food. I think it's the best use of my time and beautiful to watch God grow my food and talk about it with my girls.
2. Sitting in the shade, with a light breeze blowing over my face.
3. Watching my girls laugh.
4. Reading books. Mostly fiction, something I can devour in a matter of hours is best.
5. Crafting. The act of creating something is magical.
6. Shopping. Even grocery shopping is fun, especially when the kids are at home with Kevin. :)I'm tagging these sites. You don't know me, but I love your stuff!
1. Jill @ Homemade by Jill
2. Jamie @ Nothing Fancy
3. Ashley @ Make It and Love It

A Little Girl

Who knew I would like pink? When I found out I was having my first baby, and behold it was a girl, I decided it would become my new favorite color. I insisted on having the walls of the nursery transformed into a tribute to all things girl. Our first attempt at color choice forced recollections of upset stomachs and pepto bismol. After selecting a lighter shade we came to find our newly repainted nursery to be the epitome of all things girl. We had lived with blues and yellows and the occasional green. Here comes pink and something girlie.