In A Nutshell

double the fun

One week, two give-aways. How does that sound? The first give away you will find right here on my blog, the second you will find over at Mommy? I'm Hungry! Details below:

If you get your blog updates from a feed reader, chances are that you haven't noticed my Etsy store thingy on the left hand side of the page here. I have been making a lot of what I like to call "tea totes" lately. You can call it a tea tote, tea book, tea wallet, or whatevs. They're cute, they make awesome gifts, they doesn't get lost in your purse, and they keep your take along tea from getting pulverized. Cool, huh?

So this one that you see here is up for grabs this week. No it's not my 100th post, and I missed my blogaversary about a month ago... it's just because I feel like it. All you have to do is leave a comment. Easy peasy. 

I will be closing the comments on this post next Friday at 12pm PST, at which point I will be selecting a winner at random. I may use random.org, or I may not. I may do it old school style and write all the names down and draw from a hat. It depends on my mood, and how many comments there are. 

The second give away is being hosted by Rachelle on her blog, Mommy? I'm Hungry! Over there she posts recipes, product reviews, and does the occasional give away. This week, starting today she will be giving away another one of my tea totes. It's a completely different style/pattern, and worth checking out. 

My spiel on the tea totes is as follows:

Tea totes can hold up to 8 individually wrapped tea bags, are sturdy, and close quickly and easily with an elastic band. Each is unique and features a vintage button - no two are ever exactly the same!

Measurements: 3" x 4.25" folded

Care: hand wash warm, lay flat to dry, warm iron if needed

Good luck!

in the mail

Isaiah finished up his ATC cards for the swap and sent them out in the mail yesterday. He has swap partners in London, Toronto, New Jersey, Washington, and Virginia. 

He received a card from his swap partner in Washington a couple of days ago with a really nice note included. He decided that he wanted to do something similar, so I helped him type up a note to send off with the cards, and he included a couple of photos of himself. 

Not having a lot of confidence in his own artistic abilities, Isaiah decided to take a few cues from Ed Emberley's Complete Funprint Drawing Book. Ed Emberley is also the author of the famed Go Away Big Green Monster.

He's really looking forward to receiving the others in the mail. I'm wondering if any of the ones we've seen in the Flickr pool will be sent our way. ???

boys "lounge" pants

I use quotations here because these are essentially pajama pants, just not called pajama pants because I didn't make them from fire retardant fabric... or at least I don't think I did. 

The pattern is New Look 6641. It's a very basic, no frills pattern for boys and girls lounge wear/pajamas. It was just what I needed. Each pair took me all of about an hour to make. 

I made these because first, we never seem to leave the house, and second, I can never seem to find a clean pair of pants for Phoenix. His pants disappear just as quickly as his socks. Seriously, I don't know what's up with that. 

Speaking of things disappearing - Logan and I got a "new" couch last night. As Logan was hauling the old couch out the door he heard something rattling around inside the couch. Hmmm... Never wanting to miss an opportunity to cut something up, he quickly took out his pocket knife and began slicing away at the lining of the bottom of the couch. Busted spring? Check. Calculator? Check. Remote control to the T.V. that's been missing for over a year? Check. 

Between two children, two adults, and a cheapie Ikea couch, the busted spring was to be expected. As to how the calculator and remote got in there, the world may never know. 

Oh, and funky monkey pants. Check.

my husband thinks it's ugly

as in... the type of ugly only a mother could love. Or maybe a two year old.

This is peanut the elephant from Last Minute Patchwork & Quilted Gifts by: Joelle Hoverson - love that book. Peanut was supposed to have a twin brother, and they were supposed to be Christmas gifts. I finished him two days ago. I'm so very, very bad. Not good Michael Jackson, 80's bad. Just bad bad.

 

Although, through all this, I have learned a valuable lesson. When I make stuffed animals and the like, if I don't intend to give them to my children, I need to hide them from my children. 

Phoenix snagged little Peanut off my sewing desk the morning after he was finished. Many elephant kisses, hugs, licks, and snuggles ensued. I totally caved in. Mr. Peanut now belongs to him. 

Now I have two more peanuts to make for next Christmas. Or maybe birthdays? I'm shameless.

the best step-mom evah

Brightening up a dreary day and bringing a smile to my face; bundles of fat quarters in feedsack prints sent to me in the mail along with a sweet Valentines Day card. She knows what's up.

for the boys

I had first seen the idea for a gift-y type cone over here at Magic Cabin years ago. I thought this was the coolest idea ever until I saw Amy's amazing winter solstice rendition. The images of these cones have been lying in the back of my mind for quite a while. I've been thinking and brewing and stewing over the idea and finally decided to take action. 

I finished these for the boys about a couple of weeks ago. The cones are made from heavily interfaced fabric. The big hearts on the front that say "xoxo" and "love" are scrap-booking paper. I cut them out and used heat and bond to stick 'em on. I used ric rac for the trim. The danglies on the bottom are two little white bells and a wooden heart with a heart shaped piece of pretty scrap-booking paper glued onto one side. They are strung with a gold ribbon. Getting them to hang just right involved a lot of bad words.

Both cones have vintage repro valentines, a pair of wax lips, and a conversation heart maze. Isaiah's cone has a gold bag filled with red hot hearts and a mini recipe card to make Martha's cinnamon candy cider. I can't wait to try it out!

for our friends & neighbors

It rained all day today, and am thankful that I had all the right stuff at my fingertips to make these wonderful flowers with the boys. Not wanting to sacrifice our delicious CSA potatoes to the craft gods, I opted for sponges instead. I also busted out the hair dryer because, seriously, who likes to wait for wet paint to dry? Fugettaboutit.

Isaiah and I also made some of Molly's Grammy's Swedish cookies last night. We made a double batch which, strangely enough, came out to exactly 100 cookies. We gave away 75 of them, and uh... well, I have a feeling that Logan will be none too pleased when he sees that our "family" stash has been demolished when he gets home. Thank goodness I can blame this kind of stuff on the kids... or pregnancy. You know, what ever is most convenient.

group crafts

 

Over the weekend I met up with a newly established craft group in my area. It's the first time I've ever done anything like that as an adult, and I have to say that I really enjoyed myself. Our hostess was kind enough to put together a kit for all of us to make Heather Bailey's strawberry pincushion. It's hard to resist that kind of cuteness, I know. 

We sewed, we chatted, we ate, and were merry. It was unfortunate that I had to leave early, but I was able to finish my little stuffed fruit at home that evening. See?

found