Welcome Home Racoon and Rabbit

I had a lot of fun decorating Annie's cottage. Just your basic plants and window for the most part. I also put a door and mailbox on the front of the house. Since I used a flower print for the inside I added a stone pathway and small pond too.

Of course I wanted to include a few creatures to live in the house. I modified a finger puppet pattern for the two animals. When she is older the felt bottoms can be taken off if she wants to use them as finger puppets.

Thanksgiving Contribution

I was looking for a recipe on All Recipes yesterday and came across this recipe for stuffed mushrooms. Now I personally am not a fan of the cooked mushroom, but my husband and father-in-law love them. Surely over 1,000 people couldn't be wrong so I thought that I would give them a try.

My first attempt did not go so well. The directions said to fry until there was no liquid left, taking care not to burn the garlic. How exactly are you supposed to do that???? I tried stirring frequently, but when they started frothing I suspected I'd done something wrong.

Needless to say the garlic burned. Luckily I had enough garlic for a second attempt. I used a few of the mushrooms to replace the burned ones above. Instead of a tablespoon of oil, I only used 2 teaspoons the second time. I also went ahead and pulled them when I thought that they were done and drained them on a paper towel.

They turned out well. Even if it did take me two tries.

My husband said they were the best stuffed mushrooms he had ever had. He liked them so much he even let me take his picture enjoying them. If you like stuffed mushrooms and cream cheese you should definitely try these.

While the Boys Are Away...Mom Will Play

This past weekend my husband took Joel down to visit his nana. I decided to take advantage of a weekend alone and get ahead on some Christmas presents that I wanted to make for my brother's girls.

While browsing the many sewing blogs out there I came across this fun fabric doll house at UK lass in US. I knew that I wanted to try it once I saw it. As I started looking through my fabric stash I found these three fabrics that I thought would be perfect. I'm not done yet. All the details still need to be added. More to come later.

I also knew that I wanted to make a bag for my other niece to coordinate with the dress I made her for her birthday (see previous post). I also wanted to try felt applique which I thought would mesh well with a messenger bag. I've been wanting to try one for a while. Of course as soon as I had it all cut out my sister-in-law told me that Kalena had requested a purse style bag. It's okay because I'm actually going to make her two bags.

I accidently appliqued the deer (or donkey according to my husband) in the wrong corner of the front flap so the flap is a little shorter than I would like, but overall it still turned out pretty well. I do like the applique on the front.

deer me

Last Spring I was shopping for fabric when I happened acrossthis Michael Miller fabric that so reminded me of my niece Kalena. When I bought the fabric I did not know that she was going through a deer phase, but apparently she loves deer. It fit her personality so much that her mother happened across it at The Fancy Tiger, a fun little fabric and craft shop in Denver, and purchased the same fabric. We put our stashes together so that I could make her this adorable dress. I let her pick out the pattern earlier this summer so that I could make this up for her birthday. I have hopes to make a bag with the left over fabric and some coordinating fabric.


I was putting the finishing touches on the dress at my mother's house and decided to look through her buttons before going and buying some. I couldn't believe that she had these in her button stash. It turns out she also purchased them at The Fancy Tiger while visiting my brother a while ago. When I put them on they added the perfect touch.



I think that the dress was a success over all. She was dancing as she modeled for us.

flowers and balls

I can't believe my summer is almost over. I haven't done as much creating as I hoped, but with a baby in the house and out of town visits (which I thoroughly enjoyed) what did I expect.


A while back I found some fabric with polka dots and flowers on a navy background. I thought that it would make a cute dress so I went ahead and got it. The original design plan that I had in my mind didn't happen. I made it up in another fabric and hated it as a dress. I turned it into an okay skirt that I may or may not wear. What I did accomplish was figuring out fold over elastic or FOE and a rolled hem with my serger. I have plans to do another skirt later that uses these same techniques. After abandoning my first design idea I purchased a McCall's pattern (M5879)where you pick the top and skirt you want to design your own dress. I chose a scoop neck and pleated skirt. I think that it came out pretty cute.

Recently I came across this really cute idea for using fabric scraps. I first saw the idea on her blog my lily eden. She calls it alphabet soup. I didn't have time or the fabrics that I wanted to make the whole alphabet so I thought I would start with Joel's name. He has fun chewing on them and throwing them around.

I thought that the O would be the easiest letter since it is basically and elipse. (Elipse is the offical term for the shape formally known as an oval. Sorry it's the fourth grade teacher coming out in me.) Surprisingly it turned out the be the toughest. I'm not sure if it was becase my guide lines were not drawn as well as the others or if it was all the curves. The J is my favorite. If you like the idea there is a give away going on here for an alphebet soup kit.

Boojiboo Flirty Apron GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

Boojiboo Flirty Apron GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

I've been in to aprons lately. I may just have to make one soon.

Monster Love

I have always enjoyed sewing clothes and other stuff for the babies that I know. However after I thought about it, I realized that most of the babies that I have sewn for have been girls. There are all kinds of cute fabrics and patterns for little girls, but not so much for boys. I wanted to make some thing for my son; I was just waiting to find the right fabric. I was shopping last month with my mom and we came across this fabric with little monsters all over it. Finally something cute that was suitable for a little boy. After searching online for pants patterns for boys, I decided to use the free tutorial and trace around a pair that I already had.

Once I finished the pants I knew that I wanted to make a coordinating tee. I made a little onesie for a friend using the reverse applique technique so I decided to use the outline of one of the monsters from the shorts. As it is washed the edges will become softer. It also gave me an excuse to go ahead and buy the pinking shears that I've wanted. (They help stop fraying on woven fabrics like the cotton of the monsters. I cut the basic shape out using the pinking shears and then stitched around the line i drew using a disappearing ink marker for fabric. After that I cut out the monster shape from the onesie.

One of the things that I'm most proud of in the project was the little non-functional fly that I put in. It is kind of hard to see but here it is.

Buttercup Bag

I felt the need to make a new bag recently. A while ago I came across the free pattern for the Buttercup Bag on the blog Made By Rae. You can make the bag with two fat quarters and that sparked my memory of two fat quarters I purchased a few years ago. I loved the fabric but was not sure what I wanted to use it for so it sat in my fabric stash. I did modify the pattern slightly. I added the loop for the button closure and attached the handle to the inside instead of the outside.

I also added a pocket to the inside. I stiched down the pocket to create two sections.

I love the button. This was the first time I used a fabric covered button in one of my projects. I think it is cute with the flowers being highlighted.

Bumpers and Blocks

I finally got around to two projects I have wanted to complete this weekend. I didn't make the bumpers. My talented mother did the sewing of them for me. However, they had been falling down so we decided to try Velcro to fix the problem. The first attempt didn't work very well because the Velcro kept coming off the fabric so I got some that was sew in and adhesive. I also added bows above the Velcro to help hold it in place. So far it seems to be holding.

I also made some blocks for Joel. I loved Annie's so much that I wanted to make some for Joel as well. I found a charm back I liked at a great fabric store in Newton, Kansas, called Charlotte's. It was the Dinosaur Uproar by Moda. I did have to add one block from my mom's stash of fabric so that I could make six blocks.

Here Joel is enjoying his new toys. :)

Guitar Hero

I found the cutest pair of shorts at a consignment shop for my son Joel. Even though I did not know what I would pair them with I went ahead and got them. Later I found some plain onesies at Target that I picked up, but I still wanted to spice up the outfit. My sister-in-law had recently given me the Sublime Stitching Craft Pad with all these super cute embroidery patterns. I decided to use the guitar pattern in coordinating colors to the shorts. Now I have a little rock star.

Annie's Blocks

Recently my niece had a birthday. I knew that I wanted to make her something; I just wasn't sure what I wanted to make. During the night (this is when inspiration often strikes me) I had the idea to make fabric blocks. I went to the fabric store to see what I could find. I had the idea to use one of the charms packs by Moda to save me the time of coordinating and cutting the fabric. This is the one I ended up with. I had one of the fabrics in my stash so I cut two extra squares so I could make six blocks.


The construction went pretty smoothly. I stitched four of the squares together and then attached the top and bottom, leaving a hole to stuff the blocks. I think they turned out pretty cute. I have plans to make some for Joel when I find the right fabric.