Clown day

So, it was clown day at school. They have been studying about the circus and so today they were allowed to dress up like clowns. Aiden asked me if I could make him a clown outfit. (What, me sew something fun?..uh, ya I think I can do that.) Then, he asked if I could paint his face like a clown. (Um, I was a drama major in college and especially loved doing stage makeup...ya, I think I can do that too.)

I'm a little out of practice, but I love doing makeup! I could do theater makeup all day!!

Here's the low-down on the outfit. We bought the pants at Goodwill and I spruced them up a little with trim on the bottom and some patches. The t-shirt was on sale at AC Moore and I put the tie on with Wonder Under and then zig-zagged around the edges. For the vest I just used one of Aiden's vests as a pattern. I made two and sewed them together so that it would be lined. The hat we bought at Wilson's 5 and 10 where you can find anything your little heart desires.

Happy Clown Day!

Notes to my boyfriends

Here's the gifts I made for my boys for Valentine's Day. I used this tutorial.

I've wanted to memorialize the endearing names I have for my boys (I've called them by these names ever since we found out that they they were going to join our family). I was looking for a way to write them down and hang them on the wall when I stumbled upon this tutorial.

This one is for Aiden, my Sweet Pea.

This one if for my Sweet Baby Boy, Josiah.

And this one is for my Sweetheart, Isaac.

A heart divided

It has been nearly two months since my last post. Over Christmas I came to the realization that I just cannot do it all. I try to be super mom, super wife, super crafter, super friend and in the meantime I'm becomming super tired and super overwhelmed. I had to make the decision to cut some things out and my blogs were one of those things. Oh, I'll post every now and then. But for now here's what has been on my agenda:

Making pine cone bird feeders with my boys. Aunt Rachel D. gave them the supplies for Christmas. What a creative and thrifty idea for a gift!!

Ensuring that cowboy day was nothing less than spectacular and going to school to help with lunch and read a book to the children.


A little wrestling, even though there are clothes to be folded.

Enjoying seeing my handywork being worn by the baby (it was nap time).



Watching the delight on my boys' faces when they saw the robes I had made them from the fabric they picked out.

Making memories

Exploring

And spending some quality time with this really cute guy!


But, it's a new year. I have new goals, new ideas and a renewed urge to purge, simplify and organize. I'm excited!!

Christmas ornament 2009 - tutorial

I get together with a group of girlfriends every December to have a Christmas party and ornament exchange. It's so much fun! I make 10 ornaments (all the same) and bring home 10 ornaments (one from each girlfriend). It's so enjoyable to see how everyone's personality comes out in their ornament. Here is my oragami ornament for this year and a tutorial on how to make it.

Begin by making a sonobe.


Connect three sonobe units together by tucking the point of one underneath the triangular tab of another. You will have a unit that looks like this:

The next part is a little tricky, but you can do it. Take the points that are sticking out and tuck them under the triangular tab of their neighbor. You will end up with a unit that looks like two pyramids connected by their base.

Once you have three of these units made, you connect them with a ribbon in order to make your ornament. Start by threading your ribbon through a large crafting needle. The length of your ribbon is your personal preference. Thread your needle through one of the units starting at one point of the pyramid and coming out the point of the other pyramid.


Thread the ribbon back through the opposite way, making a loop at the top of the unit. I tied a knot at the base of the loop next to the unit so that the unit couldn't be pulled off of the ribbon.


Tie a knot in the ribbon on the other side of the unit as well. Then, thread the ribbon through the next unit and tie a knot. Thread the ribbon through the last unit and tie a knot. Here's what you should end up with.

And here's all the other ornaments I brought home from the party. So much fun!!

Farm fresh eggs

I love getting farm fresh eggs! Not only do they taste great, but they are so good for us because they've not been irradiated. I love seeing how different they are as well (as opposed to the perfect consistency of store-bought eggs.) A few months ago I posted this picture. Our eggs are always different sizes. It made sense when I saw an egg scale at an estate sale that showed if the egg was small, medium, large or x-large. I should have bought it!

Here's the latest fun egg find - a double yolk. It's so interesting!

And still oh-so-yummy!

And our winner is.....
Dee from Dee's Doodles
who said,
"You had me at warming! I have osteo arthritis and these would be awesome this winter when I slipped into cold sheets!"


And for the rest of you who would like to make the baby slippers, you can head on over to Stardust Shoes where you'll find the pattern for cloth shoes.

As for my warming slippers, it occurred to me that you all might want to make some as gifts this Christmas so I'm working on getting the pattern scanned so you can download it. However, it's not looking like I will have time to do a tutorial before Christmas (as I have several things that I'm making for Christmas gifts as well. :-)

Thanks to everyone for visiting me! I hope you come back soon!

Baby Sweaters

If you're here for the SMS giveaway - WELCOME! You can scroll down to the next post to find it. Hurry! Tomorrow is the last day to enter!

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I've begun a tradition of knitting my children a sweater and matching blanket for their first Christmas. However, Josiah is 3 and I'm still in the midst of making his blanket...I'm just pluggin' along!
Well, Isaac arrived in November of last year so I didn't quite have the time to make him a sweater for his first Christmas. So, I made it for this Christmas. I'm not going to get the blanket made though.

So, here is Aiden's sweater that I made 7 years ago. I don't remember what pattern I used. His blanket is a simple double crochet pattern made from the same yarn.

This one is Josiah's sweater that I made 4 years ago. For both his and Isaac's sweaters I used the book Knitting For Baby by Falick and Nicholas. This one is the Harvard Square Cardigan and his blanket (a work in progress) is the Patchwork Blanket.

And here's my last one that I finished just a few days ago. It's the Garter Stitch Cardigan. I haven't yet chosen what I'm going to do for his blanket. I do, however, think that I will crochet it.

I'm not a serious knitter, but I'm pretty pleased with how these have turned out. I've also learned that you learn a lot about knitting by knitting. Sometimes it can seem daunting at first, but if you just start doing it then it gets easier.