I want, I want

I have a serious case of the "gimmes" at the moment. The lead I got on great reproduction fabrics at the Round Robbin last week did indeed pan out. I found a fantastic (and local!) little shop that has so many beautiful repro fabrics that my heart stopped a beat when I walked in the first time. It is apparently the largest collect of those fabrics in a 3 state area. Who knew? I drug my husband back that weekend and bought myself a 1/3 yard of 8 different fabrics. Aren't they beauties? Some of them are already cut into another WIP.

I have been debating about buying myself the Make-A-Long pattern at Wee Wonderfuls for the better part of this week. Every time Jack sees the dolls on my computer he says "Baby!" Every house needs an Olive and Archie, doesn't it?

And, in other I want news, I want The Crafters Companion REALLY bad. I am already dreaming of the things I could spend the winter crafting up. It is a disease, I tell you.

P.S. There is a big yard sale tomorrow advertised as having loads of vintage fabric, trims and notions. Pleeeeaaase, wish me luck!

Purely Jack

When I picked Jack up from his nap the other day and put him on the changing pad, he appeared to be sound asleep. Strange, because he was in there calling for me to come get him!

I read an article on Babycenter the other day that had some statistics about toddler language. For fun (I stopped worrying about him reaching milestones a long time ago), we decided to make a list of all the words Jack uses. We stopped at 225+!!! He continues to add words at an amazing rate, some days maybe 10 or more new ones. A recent conversation with Jack at the lunch table:
(One of our cats jumped up on the table)
Jack, "Bad kitty!" (Jack has gotten the idea that our cats are actually all called "Bad kitty.")
Me, trying to reinforce their actual names, "That's Dilly."
Jack, "Ernie?"
Me, "No, that's Dilly."
Jack, "Puppy?"
Me, "No, that's Dilly."
Jack, "yea, Puppy!" Followed by hysterical laughter.

If it matters, he actually can say Dilly. And trick or treat! He can also count to 3, and is starting to recognize letters of the alphabet. He is really developing quickly these days.

You're invited

I am really drawn to fabric bunting. I just stumbled across it one day on Ebay, and it has been in my head ever since. I was at a loss for birthday invites, and then it came to me. Bunting! I used pretty patterned scrapbook papers and a tiny ribbon to make the party bunting on the front. Of course, the inside includes the word "orange" since we are having an Orange themed party. "Orange you glad you're invited?"

I made this ball for Alexandra and Katrina for winning my little blog contest. It was the first time I had made a ball like this, and I am hoping it will hold up to the rigors of an infant/toddler. I used wool felt, and did all the sewing by hand. The pattern can be found Here. I debated for a long time about putting something that would make noise in it, but, decided against it because I wasn't at all sure it wouldn't come out at some point and be hazardous.

I spy

While we were shopping at Archivers , my husband spotted these terrific, super sparkly letters. I love, love, love them. Oh the possibilities! And reasonably priced too, $10 for more than 80 letters, numbers and shapes. The company's website is K&Company , just in case you need some for yourself. (I know you do!)



I made this owl for Jack last night using a pattern found at craftster . It didn't come together as easily (or as nicely) as I had hoped. The velvet I used for the front of the body just shreds when you sew it. I am going to try again, using some modifications to the pattern I think. I put it at Jack's place at the kitchen table, and when he finally spotted it, he went running over to it exclaiming "whooooo whooooo mama!"

I have the birthday invitations sorted out, but am still working on the cupcake issue. Photos of the invites tomorrow. (If Blogger will cooperate, their constantly being down is becoming a real problem.)

Record keeping and advice please

For our first wedding anniversary, my husband made me a junking journal. The journal was meant to be a place to keep records for our junking trips. I got pregnant about 2 months after we got married, and it languished, forgotten, in a closet. About midway through this summer I pulled it out and put it into action. I found the cute binder at Target, and, of course, he had already printed the pages onto pink paper for me. Each page has a place for the date, the places we went, the people we met, and the things we saw on the front side. The back side is a place to keep a record of what I bought and what I paid for it.

As you can see, I also staple business cards, notes, brochures and fabric swatches in there to help me remember what places are worth revisiting. It is already filling up fast!

Speaking of junking, I had a "first" this morning, and it wasn't a nice first. I had picked up a blanket at a sale, and suddenly a woman comes over to me screaming that I have taken her blanket. I explained to her that when I picked it up, there was no one else within eye sight of me or the blanket, and it was just lying on a table. She had not paid for it yet, so she went got a sale employee who (barely) attempted to mediate. I tried to explain that I did NOT take that blanket out of anyone's pile, that it was lying there for the taking. The other woman became increasingly hostile and agitated, and I was very uncomfortable. In the end, we all agreed that it would be sold to no one, but, the whole thing has left a very bad taste in my mouth.

This is the FIRST time in all my many years of junking that such a thing has happened to me, and I am still unsure if I did the right thing. Maybe I should have just given it to her immediately, but, it is hard to tell what people's motives are. What would you have done?

Bird Brained Ideas

With Halloween coming, I decided I liked owls. Jack has jumped right onto the bandwagon, and couldn't be more thrilled to see owls springing up everywhere around here. These are just a few of the latest additions. The fabric is actually japanese fabric that I stumbled upon this morning at the Round Bobbin Sewing Expo. (My photo doesn't really do it justice.) I wish I had more cash on me, I would have bought more than just the 2 fat quarters of it. I had no idea this thing was in town until I saw a note on a local message board. It was a good thing I went, as I found someone who sells reproduction cotton novelty prints (I will share her info with you when I have it handy), I found a good possible local source for vintage fabrics, AND I learned how to needle felt!!!! I am so excited. I cannot wait to try it. My big fat head also swelled with pride when one of the exhibitors saw my handbag and told me I should be selling them.


This is one of a pair of flour sack towels I made for a secret santa exchange. I am quite pleased with how it turned out, and I have been waiting patiently to share the photos. I really hope she likes it. I used Steam-a-Seam II for the applique, and it was a lot easier to use than the Heat-n-Bond. (Easier because it was easier to embroider through afterwards that is.)

As you can see, we are quite the bird brains around here lately!

Craziness!

These are quite possibly the worst photos ever, but, the past few days have been so busy that I hardly have time to hiccup! I junked up a huge pile of really awesome fabrics this morning, and this chicken one is one of my favorites. It is a really sweet, soft yellow.



I have been meaning to post about diaper wipes forever, but, I am always finding myself with new things to blog and I never get around to the old. Since all of my old wipes were mistakenly thrown away this past week, (after TWO years of service!), I decided this was a good time to blog it. I make my own diaper wipes by cutting up $1 a yard flannel. The first two years worth cost me a whopping $3. This new pile is another $3. I don't even bother to cut them with pinking shears, or to hem them in anyway. Just cut them up, wash and go. I store them in a wipes warmer, with the pad wet and add a few drops of tea tree oil to the pad to help with any mildew issues. I only wet about 2 days worth at a time. I toss them in an office sized trash can, and soak with some Clorox 2 for a few hours before I wash them. (With Oxiclean of course!) Et voila! Cheap-o environmentally friendly baby wipes. Not the most exciting topic ever, but, I get asked about it often enough.

If anyone is interested in a crafty swap, check out Thrifty Goodness. I will be participating and I would love to see you there!

Birthday plans for a 2 year old!

Jack sure was tiny almost 2 years ago! He is going to be a whopping 2 years old one month from today. I think that this year's party is going to be an "Orange" party. Like the Martha pink party, but, well, orange. I bought loads of orange tissue balls and fans from Oriental Trading, and I am going to make an orange garland, something like this.

I need cupcake ideas and invite ideas! Have any ideas for me?

Wonderful Surprises!

Jack received a wonderful surprise in the mail this week! Many thanks to Alexandra for sending such a thoughtful present to Jack. He loves them and has been sporting his new "Pons" slippers all over the house. (In fact, he cries when I try to take them off!) Opening the package was also a real treat, I love the photo of him very carefully reading the tags and the card that came with it. It means a lot to me as well, since it is very rare that Jack gets a treat in the mail and it was really wonderful to watch him open it. Thank you, thank you.
And, some gorgeous pink roses for me. They are residing in that awesome aqua blue vase that my husband and I thrifted about 2 weeks ago. Now, if I could just figure out how to keep the cats from eating them.

"This is really cute and all...

...but I won't be making one for Christmas!" is what I told my husband when this beast was finally finished. I don't know why, but my photos are blurry. It was windy (making it look a little lopsided) and hard enough to take them as it was, but geesh, I had hoped for better! It must have taken me a good 40 hours to cut out all those tiny pieces and do the embroidery and put this thing together. There is a lot of glue involved, because honestly, if I had sewn the whole thing? I would have been sewing until next Halloween at the earliest. I have already picked up some of Jack's new favorite thing stickers ("Dickers!") and some little Halloween rings and things to put in the pockets for him.

And, this idea was not my own, I of course got it from Pottery Barn Kids. Their version runs about $65, I think I spent less than $10, but the time, oh the time! Oh well, I will treasure it forever!

I hate the spider square by the way, but I was too frustrated to care anymore. LOL

Parlez-vous?

As soon as I pull back the curtains in Jack's room, he rushes to the window with glee. "I see? I see?" Then he stands on his stool and watches the birds, or the school kids getting on and off their school buses. The new curtains were a big hit! I put them up while he was out with his dad, and when he came home I took him in there to see them. He smiled his biggest smile, went rushing over to them and investigated all the vehicles on them pointing each one out, "fire truck, bus, digger..." Never mind how dirty my screens are (there are constantly spiders in our windows), and that the dead bush is still there. LOL
I bought these at a junk sale this weekend. I love, love, love them! Pink and aqua and birds, oh my! (And they only cost me 10 cents each.) They are in terrific condition, except that the one has some label gum still on it that I haven't figured out how to remove. (The magic eraser takes off the gold of the design and I am afraid Goo Gone will do the same.) I thought maybe the remaining labels were in French, but some googling only turns up that Dulces is Spanish for "candies." The "Te" is tea I am sure, but, I have no clue in what language??? There is a teeny tiny makers make that looks like it says "jove ma de setuin." Any ideas on the language?

Sewing that takes forever...

I have been working on a few sewing projects that are taking forever to complete. Two of which I cannot show you until the end of the week (surprises that need to be mailed and all of that), and this one. A small floor mat for our bathroom. This one took forever because I had to hand sew all the edges on the patchwork pieces down before I could sew them down, because they were too small to do it any other way. I bought the pieces already cut for quilting at a rummage sale for a pittance, so I suppose this is the price one must pay. The green pieces have white flocked swiss dots, and so do the pink pieces, which are also covered in sweet little roses. I still am not quite happy with the binding, but, good things take time I suppose.

Anyway, being massively stressed out and all lately, the sewing is a good thing. It calms my spirit.

Upon hearing that I was making a bathmat, my mother replied "Why? You can buy those at the store you know." I think the card for the purse she wants me to sew for her will say "Well, I could have bought at the store and all!"

That is one of our cats, Poppet, trying it out. And our lovely (ugly!) rental house bathroom floor. Think 1971 fake parquet...

P.S. Thank you for the warm thoughts about the situation with Jack and school. Things are not going very well there (hence the stressed out bit), and we are working on a solution that is right for all of us. And, "Sarah, too" thanks for coming out of lurkerdom! I would love to know how you found your way here, your comment meant a lot to me.

Cheese (and crackers?)

I was busy taking photos of something else (fabric, I think), and Jack was sitting in his chair eating his cereal bar and saying "Cheese, Cheese". How could I resist? He calls those cereal bars "putz." I have no clue where he got this from, but, he insists that is the name for them. I can only imagine what strangers are thinking when he is wandering around going "putz, putz, I want putz mama!"

Look at me! Look at me!

Jack and I are on Parent Hacks today!

Heart on the outside

Jack picked these flowers for me on a recent hike in the woods. It is so amazing to see how much he is growing up, and yet, he isn't. Jack was the most independent kid ever until a few months ago. He wasn't one for cuddling, he would happily run off and do his own thing, only to look back once and twice to see if I was still there. Suddenly, he is really struggling with independence.

Today was the third week of preschool, and it seems that seperating from me is getting harder, not easier. I remember when he was a tiny, I would have these moments where I felt like I had misplaced him because he was on the outside, not the inside where I could feel him moving and hiccuping the days away. When I left him today at school, him sobbing, big tears rolling down his cheeks, clutching his Dandy, I felt like I had misplaced him again. I had to choke back my own tears and rush to the car.

Having a child really IS like wearing your heart on the outside.



A WIP (work in progress), a Halloween advent calendar. Let me tell you, cutting out those 90 million little tiny pieces of felt is not so easy! There are 6 different pieces in that Jack-o-lantern alone. I still need to do the embroidery and cut out some words, but then all that is left is to piece the thing together. I will be sure to share it with you when all is said and done.

In the meantime, back to sewing, or something, anything really, to keep my mind off Jack.

You did what?

Why yes, we are crazy. Yesterday we took our nearly 2 year old son on the 61 mile yard sale . That's right, 61 miles of yard sales on Old Highway 61 in Southern Missouri. It meant about 9 hours in the car, and honestly, Jack did great! I was very surprised. Look at him, you would never know he hates spending more than 10 minutes in the car.

The sale itself was mildy disappointing, nothing that we bought is really even worth posting (we spent a grand total of $10), but, it was a great adventure anyway. Some photos from the trip:
The door to nowhere. The front of the store is still standing, but the back is gone.

I thought this building was amazing. It reminds me of something from an old western movie.

One of my ideas to keep Jack happy in the car. I just used an old enamel tray I have in my enamel collection, but you could also use a cookie sheet.

P.S. Jack and I will be on Parent Hacks soon! I will let you know when it happens.