or do you prefer tea? {free printable}

so we kept a theme for mom + dad’s anniversary present this year: a cake printable for mom, framed and ready for hanging in her kitchen; and for dad—a printable framed and ready for his office.

this one is a c.s. lewis quote—and it fits him to a ‘t’ (you see what i did there, right?)

just like yesterday’s, this uses free fonts from dafont, and the teacup graphics are from the graphics fairy.

and bonus! i actually made two. the watermark style teacup was the first one i made, but we ended up going with the second version with a teacup on either side. but both are here for your enjoyment.

no photo of the finished framed print…because when i got my camera out dad already had his picture out in the car. i’d say he likes it.

x’s and o’s ;)

right click and save to your computer. should go up to an 8x10 just fine.
free to you, love me. but probably don’t sell it on etsy. unless you’re gonna send me the money, then that’s cool.

fonts from dafont, image from the graphics fairy here

like cake? {free printable}

i guess at a certain point in your life there’s not much more ‘stuff’ you need. when you’ve been married 20 or 30 or 38 years, well…you’ve basically got it all covered.

which makes it incredibly, extremely difficult for your children to buy you an anniversary present.

for 3 weeks, off and on, my brother and sister-in-law and i would send out group texts: what are we getting mom and dad????
everything from the insanely complicated (build a pergola over the deck) to the overly simple (just take them out to dinner).

in the end we made dinner at our house for them, and settled on a gift that went over really well: family pictures, made into a book (thank you target one hour print!), a large framed family picture for the wall, and then a printed quote for each of them.

if you know my mother, you know how much this. is. HER.

love that julia child.

i initially saw this beautiful chalkboard quote done by etsy seller lily & val. it’s gorgeous. like seriously i-could-spend-a-small-fortune BUY ALL THE THINGS type gorgeous. but…yesterday’s post. yeah.
plus my mom’s 1/2 jewish blood would boil and froth over if she knew we spent $20+ for it. true story.

so i made my own, using fonts from dafont and the cake image is from the graphics fairy. which means i can offer it to you as a free printable. woo-hoo!

right click and save to your computer. should go up to an 8x10 just fine.
free to you, love me. but probably don’t sell it on etsy. unless you’re gonna send me the money, then that’s cool.

fonts from dafont, image from the graphics fairy here

last thought: if you printed this out on card stock, it would be super cool to do a light watercolor wash over the cake part in a color to match your kitchen. how awesome would it be in pink?
enjoy!

daddy’s little princess

to go along with yesterday’s star wars quilt i made this adorable little princess leia onesie.

 

adorable, right? BUT…the design was based on a design from an etsy shop selling all kinds of star wars onesies. to be honest, my conscience is pricking me just posting this. i have guilt posting about anything i copy from an etsy seller.

i snag ideas and recreate things with my own spin a lot, but most times i don’t post anything about it on the blog. can’t hurt the little guy. but this is not the most difficult design, and i put it on a dress instead of a onesie, and my design is a little different and much smaller than theirs. also—if you google “chibi leia” you’ll find this is a pretty standard version of that look. (i’m also realizing that chibi-anything just means flippin’ adorable anything. perhaps you could weigh in here, kat? ;) i believe you’re the chibi-expert-in-residence )

and to make myself feel better i’m not going to tell give you a pattern for the applique. i’m just going to give you the finished product, and a link to the etsy shop: HERE.

phew. #i’lltakeAssuagingtheConsciencefor$100,alex

what i’m also going to give you is a tip: don’t discount already decorated clothing when looking for something to make your own. i had the hardest time finding a cute little dress to put this leia on.

finally on the clearance rack at babies ‘r’ us i found this:

a left over christmas onesie dress marked down to $4. it had a sequin design all over the front--a hat and “santa loves me”.

an hour with my stitch ripper left me with this:

a blank shirt with tiny holes all over it, and a hot mess of threads and sequins all over me, the couch and the floor.

a quick trip through the washer and dryer fixed both shirts, and the vacuum fixed the floor and couch ;)

seriously—once i washed and dried the dress, the holes disappeared because it was cotton.

i ironed some interfacing on the back to make sewing the stretchy knit easier…

and sewed down all my applique pieces. (i ironed them on with wonder under first, too).

i used non-pilling fleece to make the applique for two reasons: 1) the felt didn’t come in a good ‘skin’ color and 2) i think the non-pilling fleece will hold up better than felt to the repeated washings inherent in most baby clothes.

boom. one adorable leia dress, all for about $6 (cost of the onesie + fleece).

blurry photos free, courtesy of my new glasses and inability to compensate when picture taking, apparently. ;)

baby, baby, baby twooooo

as it turns out, the issues with getting the rest of the post about elliot’s doll have less to do with a) the length of the post or b) me actually writing the post or even c) me actually photographing the rest of the stuff i made her and more of d).

‘d)’ of course being “photographing the stuff without elliot trying to be in it”

although the doll and bed were presented as one unit, she’s thoroughly convinced—in the headstrong oblivious-to-reality way that only a toddler can fully muster up—that this tiny bed is for her to nap upon.

she gets pretty bent out of shape if you try and put Baby in. it was a fight to get even a couple of shots that did not include her valiant attempts at folding her body in such a way as to be comfortably ensconced on that tiny poster bed.

but i did manage a few.

Baby got a sweet little wooden bed from IKEA. for $20 it comes with the dark blue “mattress pad” and “pillow” and a little plaid blanket.

duktig image via IKEA site

it came home like the above picture, but it got the googiemomma upgrade: a paint job, new quilt and coordinating pillow.

when i bought the fabric for the little quilt at joann’s i glanced through their spray paint selection for a color that matched. oooh, coral isle. perfect. but our joann’s keeps the spray paint under lock and key, requiring an employee to come to your aid. because you know, all the rowdy graffiti arteests and inhalant huffers head first to joann’s for their drug/tool of choice. :/

anyway, the other issue is that they charge $8 a can for spray paint?!?!?! one can only assume they are not familiar with the pricing of spray paint in the rest of the world.

puh. i’ll show them. i’ll just nip off to the local walmart…err…sears hardware…nope, maybe a.c. moore?…nooo…lowes? strike 4.

NO ONE, i repeat NO ONE else apparently carries krylon spray paint in coral isle.

(do you follow me on instagram? cause i’m pretty much the awesomest instagrammer ever.)

i drove around for an hour before sheepishly heading back into joann’s. come to think of it, maybe that’s why their paint is under lock and key. all their exclusive colors are the craft world equivalent of gold blocks.

regardless, i got my paint (40% off coupon whatwhat!?!) and that stinkin’ bed sucked up the ENTIRE can.

i bought a fat quarter pack of d.s. quilt fabrics (also with a coupon making it only $6) and a 1/2 yard remnant of white fleece for the tiny quilt and pillow.

i did 8 squares of each pattern and 16 white fleece squares, all cut 2 1/2” square. the back is solid white fleece and i free motion quilted in a random squiggly pattern over the whole thing.

that gave me fits—almost enough to turn me off of machine quilting for good. but after consulting with some Super Quilter Friends (similar to the Super Friends just more cozy and covered in thread bits) i’m thinking the thread i was using is the biggest issue.

anyway, it was done and i had fabric to spare, so why not whip up a little matching dress for Baby?

a simple little dress with a back velcro closure, and i attached the magnetic binky to the dress with the ribbon that came wrapped around my fat quarter pack (waste not want not, amirite?) now we have no loss of the binky and a perfectly coordinated set.

snug as a (handmade) bug in a (quilted) rug.

now get that baby out. it’s time for elliot’s nappy.

so that’s it. one baby doll, two clean diapers, one poopy diaper, one bed, one pillow, one quilt, one dress, one magnetic binky, oh! and one fabric tissue box thingy with six squares of the leftover white fleece inside—boom! wipes.

haha! forgot about that. i just cut the remainder of the white fleece from the back of the quilt into square-ish shapes and serged the edges. the little container is a basic little box that velcros closed on top and has a hole cut out so the “wipes” can pop out.

okay, now that’s really, really it. Baby is quite happy in her new home, the recipient of much love and many rather rough diaper changes. and that’s just the way i like it.

mini me

do you remember caldor? it was a store—kind of like a kmart, not quite a walmart. it was of the era before walmart. there was woolworth’s, and bradlee’s and caldor and probably some others i don’t remember.

anyway, when the caldor near us finally gave up and had a big “GOING OUT OF BUSINESS” sale i was probably…oh, 9? and mom and i found a dollhouse kit marked down to $6. why i remember that i don’t know. but it was a huge discount and my 9 year old heart got all fluttery.

mom and i eventually assembled it, but it was a raw kit—no doors, no windows. we bought some shingles, i think i may have even painted the outside. over the next 3 or 4 years i would drag it out on occasion and work on it a bit…most of the furnishings cobbled together from clearance sales and things i could make. mom and dad re-papered and carpeted their bedroom—i trimmed the tiniest bits off the edges of the wallpaper to make border for my dollhouse. carpet remnants became wall-to-wall in my dollhouse.

as i got older my dollhouse hacks became more sophisticated. witness the wooden thimble turned hanging plant:

a leaf plucked surreptitiously from one of mom’s fakes, sliced into tiny plant shapes and glued into the center. embroidery floss becomes the hanger.

yup, i still have it. because i never finished that dollhouse, but there came a point when i knew it was time to give it up. the dollhouse went to the trash—but the few good things i had in it got packed away.

even then—at what, 14? 15? i knew one day i’d have a daughter, and i would finally, finally make the dollhouse i’d been dreaming of.

i had my daughter back in 2000, and then i had 3 more, plus my one boy. the dollhouse dream was always there lurking. but there was always another baby—too small to start working on such delicate things around.

then a couple of years ago we hit the jackpot.

i’m sure if i took a poll i’d find a huge percentage of people who had unstarted or half-finished dollhouses at some point in their childhood. and i’m sure, like me, at some point during a spring cleaning they finally realized it wasn’t going to happen. time to give it up.

this huge dollhouse, along with bins and bins of supplies was on someone’s curb. the major work was done—the house assembled, sided, shingled, even some rooms started.

and it looked like a major attic cleaning had occurred, and the dollhouse was given up. the bins contain carpeting and wood flooring and tiny light fixtures and miniature area rugs and rolls and rolls of wallpapers. all the tools for wiring this house so the lights work! tiny trims and windows and staircases—it’s all here. literally hundreds of dollars in supplies.

no, really. i went online to price 3 doors and 3 windows that we need because they’re either missing or broken. $65 plus shipping.

this thing is pretty huge. and it even had an addition piece with two more rooms that attached on one side.

i have flat out refused to part with it since my mom so wonderfully trash picked it for me us and brought it over. it has moved from place to place in our house for the last 3 years, waiting for the day i deemed our kiddos old enough to begin.

it’s now.

last night we pulled it out and began sorting through the supplies. the kids picked wallpapers for the rooms, and we got started on the bottom floor.

they are beside themselves with excitement. i woke up this morning to find furniture placed in some of the still unfinished rooms. they’re beginning to decorate.

we changed it a little, mommy. this is going to be the girl’s room, and the boy’s room will have a balcony!

it’s going to take quite a bit of repair work to really finish this house. but i WILL do it.

because last night as ava and i sat side by side gluing down the carpet in the living room she chattered away about this house. and how it was going to be so fun for all of them.

and then she said and when we grow up, we can pass this to our kids! and they’ll have it! and they’ll get to play with it too!

hello, heartstring tug. if that doesn’t make me stick to it then nothing will. and in that case, i’ll post a curb alert for you—3/4 finished doll house. maybe you can finish it.

the crochet monster

it’s happening, and i didn’t even see it coming.

i mean, my love of handmade items is obvious. and my burgeoning love of crochet has been developing steadily over the last year or so.

but i’m pretty sure there’s an unwritten rule saying the grandmom-types are supposed to be the ones bringing the knit blankets and quilts and crochet items to baby showers. not the 30-somethings. right? 

we’ll call it the passing of the torch—albeit maybe a bit early. because the thing is, i can’t seem to stop myself. not when there’s things like this to be made:

yes, i could have simply run to the store and gotten a gift card (which i actually did do, to give along with the dress & hat). and that probably would have been the wiser, more practical avenue, seeing as i do have some other responsibilities in my day-to-day life.

but…why? i mean, you’ve seen this, right?

it’s so tiny and so delicate. i should have put something in the photos to give you an idea of size. it’s definitely for a newborn, and only a newborn.

just one skein of caron simply soft in a muted mossy green color (lighter than what it looks in these photos) bought on a whim because it was on clearance at walmart for about $2.50 (and which i threw away the wrapper for and so NO you can’t have the actual color name). and even after doing the dress and hat i still have a significant amount of yarn left.

the dress has three little buttons in the back, and i think it would look adorable with a long sleeve onesie and tights underneath.

the dress pattern is the angel wings pinafore from bev’s country cottage.

i eliminated the last row of edging and did three buttons in the back. but it was quick and easy and—as we’ve already established-ridiculously adorable.

the hat is the shell stitch beanie from the dainty daisy. also a quick project, and the shell stitch is the same stitch used in the dress.

i was going to add a flower to the hat, but i’ve had this butterfly pinned forever and decided this was the perfect place for it.. butterfly pattern from marie’s making. all the patterns are free, and i found them on ravelry.

this was a quick series of events: the shower was planned within a week. i made the dress and hat up on saturday, the shower was sunday, and surprise! baby arrived monday. i have yet to meet her, but i know what she better be wearing when i do ;) you don’t want to make this monster angry.

moss covered letter {tutorial}

this is super complicated stuff. so complicated that i’m sure this particular blog post will be recieving hits for years to come.

i mean, cover a cardboard letter? in MOSS? from the DOLLAR STORE????

googiemomma: blazing new trails in the world of cheap crafting. get on board or get left behind.

all kidding aside--this trash came out super cute, and has held up surprisingly well considering this door gets opened and slammed approximately 1.5 billion times per day by little hands not renowned for their delicacy.

at one point in this home decorating adventure i had collected a bunch of k’s, painted them gold and hung them on the living room wall. that phase passed, but i was left with many golden k’s scattered through the house.

sounds like a cereal, doesn’t it? enjoy new GOLDEN K’s! nutritious and delicious!

anyway, you can get the cardboard letters in all different shapes, sizes and fonts at any craft store, and with the ubiquitous 40% coupon they’re not too pricey.

mine was already painted gold, as explained, which isn’t totally necessary but definitely doesn’t hurt. you are going to see some of the letter if you look closely, so a quick slap of paint isn’t a bad idea. green or brown or gold or maybe black.

the moss is from the $1 store. i bought two bags—one goes surprisingly far. that junk practically explodes when you open the bag, like some sort of dried fungus bomb.

what’s missing from this photo is the elmer’s glue. i initially thought the glue gun was the way to go. turns out the base coats with elmer’s glue was better.

also missing is the disposable foam paintbrush for spreading the glue.

oh, and the clear spray i sealed it with at the end.

okay, so my supplies photo is virtually worthless. just admire how visually pleasing the arrangement of items is, and how dramatic the shadows are and then move on.

a quick word: this isn’t hard, but it is time consuming because i let each layer of moss dry for 12+ hours before doing the next one. you’re pretty committed. and the moss gets everywhere. so pick a spot to do this where you can just let it be for a couple of days. you know—like the middle of your kitchen counter, which is where i did it. :/

o1 drizzle the glue.
o2 spread the glue.
o3 smush on the moss.
o4 allow to dry completely.
o5 take it outside and shake and brush it off. you’re going to lose a LOT of your moss. better now then when it’s hanging on your front door, right?
o6 glue again, in all the spots that are bald/sparse.
o7 smush more moss.
o8 allow to dry again.
o9 take outside and brush it off again. pay attention to making sure the crevices are free of moss. you want to keep it looking like a letter, right?

at this point you may be fairly well covered. i did the whole process with elmer’s glue in the bald spots a third time before moving on.

the last few bare spots i hit with the glue gun and stuck some moss on. after three rounds there were just a couple places that needed a bit more, and i was ready to not have a fine layer of moss on my kitchen counter.

i hot glued some black grosgrain ribbon to the back and hung it on the front door.

i have one of these cheap wreath hangers:

it could be spray painted, but turns out it’s exactly 1” wide, the same width at the ribbon i used on my letter. since the glue gun was already hot…

 

 

 

 

 

 

that right there could be the crafter’s motto:

“since the glue gun was already hot…”

and there you have it.

 

after it hung for a day i decided to spray it with some clear sealer i had. it didn’t change the look much at all except to make it a little shiny (it was a gloss, which is why i hesitated using it at first) and i kind of like that. it sealed it up nicely and pretty much none of the moss has fallen off in the couple of weeks it’s been hanging!

$2 for the moss, probably about $4 for the letter, the rest of it i had. compared to these, at $79 a pop…whelp, looks like i saved myself a cool $73.
i call that #winning