A Good Day

  Today is a good day.  We spent the day relaxing, picking up the house, creating, protecting our "dinosaur eggs" which are really just acorns in a mason jar...don't even ask!  We made chocolate birds' nests, swam and enjoyed hamburgers out by the pool.  And what makes it an even better day is remembering our Savior who on this day sacrificed himself for our salvation all because he loved us and his Father, our Father in Heaven.

  I had a friend ask me if I could make a hairbow for her daughter to wear Sunday and although you know how I feel about hairbows (I think I like making them until I remember halfway through that I really hate it!), I agreed.  She said the dress is yellow, black and white, so this is what I came up with out of what I had at the house.  I haven't seen the dress, so I have no idea if this at all goes with it, but here it is nonetheless...

  I also worked on Emma's bow holder today, which is kinda funny since I did two projects involving bows today completely on accident.  I took the purple-painted cork board and glued ribbon strips onto it.  Then I took some headpins and beads I bought when I thought I might like jewelry making (about as much as hairbows) and made hooks for her ponytails.  Since she has a bunch of headbands, I spray painted and then inked up some big plastic buttons I had and sewed them down with embroidery floss and a strong needle.  That way the headbands can hang on here as well.  I decided to back the whole piece with felt in hopes that will help it stay sturdy and strong.  This entire project came from rejects in my craft room, so I'm fairly happy with how it turned out...  What do you think?

After loading it up, I think she might need two together to hold it all...good thing I've got extras of  it all!!

   I hope everyone reading this has a wonderful Easter weekend, full of smiles, bright colors, and the joy of a wonderful Savior who sits on the right hand of God waiting to welcome us all to Heaven one day.

WIP Wednesday

It seems like I don't have anything to show this week on what I've been working on, but I HAVE been working on a few things.  I signed up for a bow contest on facebook through a friend.  We each payed $5 to enter and the organizer sent us a small package containing ribbons, alligator clips and some rhinestones.  We were allowed to add one ribbon and the center for our bows.  The rules stated that we could make any style bow of our choosing, even two little bows instead.  I'm not usually into making hair bows, or, I think I am and commit to something like this and then remember that I don't really like working with fussy ribbon and swear them off for awhile again.  The original deadline for the bow challenge was tomorrow but I saw this morning she's extended the deadline until the 12th.  Oh well.  My bow is done and I'm uploading the picture this afternoon.  What do you think??  The bows will all be put into an album on facebook and then people can vote for their favorite.  I'll let you know when that happens just in case you're inclined to vote... ;)

I played around working on a shirt refashion for me on Monday.  It's okay, but needs more than the 10 minutes I had to work on it.  I cut the sleeve binding off and it's going to need to be pinned and resewn.  It's a heavy sweater-knit so the arms got saggy!  Hopefully I'll have pictures of that later in the week or next week.

I haven't made any more mod mosaic blocks, so I'm going to mail out what I got done tomorrow morning and just make the 9 more I need here out of my scraps.  For April we're doing spiderweb blocks!  I've liked these for a long time, but they seemed WAY too intimidating to start on my own, so I am glad for the challenge.  Also, I don't know why, but it seems easier somehow to make blocks to send off and then make a quilt out of the new blocks than to just make blocks for myself.  Something about the surprise of what I'll get maybe?  Wierd...

Today the weather is nasty, well, it was yesterday too and supposed to be again tomorrow, but it is my "Kelli day" as Grandma picks the kids up from school for a few hours of fun, so I'm setting down to sew up a new ruffled halter dress for Emma.   Jenny from Seamingly Smitten had another great pattern to try out, so I'm putting it to the test for her again.  This one looks even easier.  HOPEFULLY the weather will clear up enough tomorrow afternoon that I can get a few pictures of Emma in it for Jenny.  Here are my fabric choices.  The main fabric will be the patchwork print from JoAnn Fabrics that I bought like 2 summers ago and the ruffle and straps will be this "I'm not sure what it is" that was at one time used as a table cloth at my lingerie shower before I got married.  How I ended up with it I don't know nor can I mention how many projects I've used small pieces of it for...

So...
Done:
  1 hairbow
     Emma's ruffled tunic
     I'm stalled out on the Mod Mosaic blocks but have enough to send off, so I'm counting that done for now.  When my new squares come in I'll move it back to in progress!
  
WIP:
  A shirt refashion for me
  A ruffled halter dress for Emma

Quilts needing quilting:
  My Postage Stamp Quilt-a-long quilt.  I think I've decided to forget the borders and just quilt this one to get it done.
  Jelly Pops quilt.  I made this top before I started the blog and just havent' got around to quilting it yet...

And I'm sure there are other things lurking in my baskets, but this is the first week I'm participating in Lee's link up, so I'll be more prepared and hopefully have more Done's next week!  ;)

What have you been working on and what did you get done this week?

A Public Service Announcement (oh, and some hairbows too)

Well, I'm not doing my usual Monday Munchies today because I have a public service announcement for you instead....

  Just because the weather is beautiful, and you are so glad to be living in Florida where the temperatures reach 80 in February and other parts of the country are still being hit with snow, don't forget your sunscreen in February.  Going to a birthday party at the park during the peak hours of sun (11-2) is not a time to bask in the forgotten rays.  And forgetting your SPF face lotion before you get ready is really not smart.  Nor is continuing to sit in the sun for 15 more minutes when you feel the insides of your arms beginning to burn.  Is everyone with me that sunscreen and avoiding sun exposure is important?  Does everyone understand that I'm saving you a very hard lesson that I (re)learned this weekend?  Oh, you want proof that I'm a dummy?  Well, just because I'm trying to save you from some heart (and severe skin) ache, here you go...

  Yes, this is me with absolutely no makeup and no editing.  Now that is some raccoon eyes if I ever saw some!  My little camera man saw my camera sitting by the computer and said "Mama, can I take your picture?"  I laughed and said "I look awful, remember, my face is all burned."  He said, "No, really, Mama, you look just perfect."  How could I say no to that.  And by the way...this picture doesn't even do my burn justice.  It's much more red than this and this doesn't even show my purple shoulders or shins!!  Chris is sure I'm going to peel all over and I think he's probably right...the only good thing about peeling would be I can start over and not spend the spring and summer with these ridiculous tan lines on my face!

  But since I couldn't go outside and enjoy this lovely weather this long weekend, I decided to whip up some more headbands.  But then I decided to just make the bow part and let the recipient decide if they want it attached to a headband or clip.  I started off with a version similar to what I made Saturday for the party only I used fabric instead of felt, so I pinked the edges.  After a few of these,  I moved on to some free style attempts with tulle and an old present topper that I'd saved to make into a hair bow one day.  After I took this picture, I even made a braided headband ala Kristin but I went for a double strand.  This one's got to stay around here because my ends need a little work, but I'll post pictures soon.  I don't think I'm quite done with hair bows and headbands just yet.  I've got a lot more inspiration to work through...

Stay warm if you've still got snow.  Stay outdoors if the weather is beautiful...but please, wear sunscreen!!  Take it from me!

Gifts to give

Well, I finished up the bed caddy yesterday.  They're going to attach it to his bed with velcro strips, so while most bed caddies have a large area that goes under the mattress, mine doesn't.  I glued velcro strips to the back on top and bottom to hold it up.  I really debated the strength of using glue over sewing in the strips, but I ultimately decided that stitching the strips would take away from the front and I would have had to attach them before I put any of the pockets on.  And since it was too late for that...Fabritac it was!  I ended up making 2 big pockets, one for his bible and one can be for a notebook, hidden snack, whatever.  I also added a small pocket for a pencil or pen for said notebook and the top pocket is for his glasses.  I don't know if he'll use that, but I thought it might be a good idea for a 9 year old boy to have a safe place for them. I made little pleats in the bottom of the two big pockets so they'd have more holding capacity but still be tight to the caddy.  I hope it's what my friend was wanting and it gets much use.  And I even have some leftover FSU fabric I can quickly make into hairbows or something to get rid of it...  :)

It is not attached with the velcro here but just sitting on a bench.

 Emma and I had a birthday party to go to this morning, so we decided to make her a little headband as part of the gift.  The kids have been suffering from a lingering stomach bug this week and I haven't had a chance to go shopping, even for groceries, all week.  I think more than anything their little bodies can't fully fight it off because they're exhausted.  We started teeball practice this week and it's an hour or so on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons.  They were so excited and a little nervous about it I think it just wore them out.  Luckily they've got the best coach and team Mom ever!  Haha (The head coach is Chris if you didn't know...)

And back from that tangent to the headband.  We looked up headbands on etsy and tutorials around the web, and Emma decided she liked Jessica's version the best (found here) for her friend.  So, working with felt and headbands we had on hand, this is what I came up with.

This is so perfectly easy and quick!  Great for last minute gift ideas!!

I left off the leaves.  Emma loved it so much I quickly made her a matching one.  Only Emma's is on a blonde colored headband and has pink and purple buttons in the center instead of black.  We also sprayed some temporary hair glitter on hers for some added sparkle.  I didn't get a picture of her wearing it, but maybe I'll make an outfit to match and show it off then.

So that's what I've been up to...  Next up is a trip to JoAnn for some Kona White because I joined a swap and can't wait to get started on my blocks!!!

Here's hoping you have a great long weekend (assuming you have President's Day on Monday, or for my hometown--Rodeo Day yesterday).  The weather is warm and we're going to spend it outside!

Cheer for my cheerleader

While I’m feeling my way into the blogging world, I thought I’d start out with some posts about favorite things I’ve made recently.  It’s never too hard to talk about things you’re proud of, right?
  So...one of the things I’ve made most recently were hairbows for my little girl and her best friend.  They are cheering this fall for the local youth football team and I wanted to give them something special to wear besides the super cute uniform, of course!  Of course, when I went to make these, my sewing machine went crazy and had to take a trip to the repair shop, but I managed to get the embroidery part done (badly, but done) before that, so while my Futura was being fixed, I was busy twisting ribbons! 

    The megaphone was made on my embroidery machine and can be used with a clip as a barrette or attached to a ponytail holder.  I chose to take matters into my own hands and add it to some ribbons and then attach all of that to a clip that can be worn above a ponytail.  I first asked Emma what she thought about it, though, because these things are important in the world of 6-year-olds, you know. We decided that Mama's idea was really the best one and I proceded with my plan.

     I bought the pattern from SWAKembroidery.com and it’s from Pickle Pie Designs.  If you have an embroidery machine and haven’t visited SWAK yet, you should.  They have some really cute designs over there and they’re reasonably priced as well. 

   Both girls seemed to really like their bows and, although neither megaphone is perfect since my machine was a little (and by a little I really mean a lot—like the bobbin case jumping out of it’s home) jumpy, I don’t think they noticed!  ;)

  Here’s a shot of my girl in action…oh, did I mention that she’d been sick for 3 days before the game and we weren’t sure she’d make it at all, much less through the whole game.  She’s looking pretty proud of herself to be as sick as she was!  I love that girl!