Alice and Jane

I have been very inspired by all the cute dolls I have come across here on the Internet. I made my first doll yesterday without a pattern. I took my Raggedy Ann doll from my childhood and traced a rough outline. Then I took elements from a couple other dolls that I liked and here is what I came up with.

Her name is Alice. And of course I made her for my darling Sidney.

I thought she was so cute that I made another one for my friends daughter. I named her Jane. I can't wait to give Jane to her.

I definitely think this doll is better than the last dolls I had made. I like the felt hair better than the yarn. Especially for smaller children. And I like the painted face better. I wish I had tried this first.

Afternoon of sewing

I finally sat down and had an afternoon to sew! My father in-law gave me my late mother in-laws sewing table so I have a place to sew finally. I don't have to drag everything out and spread my stuff in the dining room anymore. YIPPEE! I have somewhere to leave my machine set up, it's awesome. So, I set it up in my bedroom in front of the fireplace. I am excited to have Donna's table, it makes me happy to think about how she sat there and made things for my husband when he was a little boy.

Anyhow, this is what I made today, a dust cover for my sewing machine. I used a heavy canvas material and appliqued this adorable girl (inspired by Black Apple Dolls) on the front. I love how it turned out.

I was also able to make a gift bag for the apron I made for my friends b-day. I think it is cute but after making my sewing machine cozy I am disappointed that I didn't think of putting the dolls body on the bag as well. I made the bag first. I stuffed the face a bit since I used safety eyes. I wish I had an embroidery machine so I could put her name on it, it's missing something. But it is still very cute and I think it will be liked by the recipient.

Holiday Baking Pt.2

This afternoon was spent finishing up the holiday baking. The kids and I cranked up my favorite holiday music, Harry Connick Jr. When My Heart Finds Christmas. Liam and I danced around for a bit, Sid hung out in her ladybug bouncer and clapped along & Ethan well, as usual he told me I was a goof. We watched Rudolph and Frosty too.

I made another batch of biscotti...the first one didn't last. We ate almost all of them! I also made some rice krispy treats with homemade marshmallows. I don't recommend this! They came out kinda weird. Ethan likes them though. I think this is one treat that definitely calls for store bought marshmallows. Oh-well, I learned something in the process.

RAWR!!!

Is there anything cuter than Sid? Nope I don't think so! She's the cutest pixie on the planet!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas! I hope everyone has a happy and safe holiday!

Sugar Skulls & Polka Dots

I made this apron for my friend, I hope she likes it. I think it's pretty cute.

Marshmallow goodness!

There is something special about a homemade marshmallows. I don't think I will use store bought marshmallows ever again. Oh the possibilities! I didn't get creative with this batch but when I have more time I plan to make some tasty treats with some in the future. I was thinking of using them instead of marshmallow fluff in my fudge. I think it would be perfect if I used it before letting it set overnight. I also plan to make rocky road with it, ya know like the old candy bars....those used to be my favorite candy. I'll definately post pics of the treats when they are made. But here's a photo of my plain marshmallows for now.

Holiday Baking

YUM YUM YUM Biscotti cookies! My Grandma Lucy always had homemade almond biscotti cookies in her pantry. It has been more than 20 years since I can remember being at my grandmothers house and enjoying these treats. I have often craved these cookies, yet never baked them myself. Store bought biscotti are just not the same. Wishing, now that I have my own children, that I had the exact recipe used to make the biscotti that graced my grandmothers kitchen so I could share a memory from my childhood with them. I did find a recipe online that I decided to try and I baked biscotti for the first time. To my surprise they were pretty darn yummy. And not to mention super simple. I guess I always thought they would be hard to make, anything that yummy had to be hard, right? Now that I know how easy and tasty they are, they are sure to be a tradition in my pantry as well...even if they aren't Grandma Lucy's biscotti they will become a favorite for sure.

New Photo

Here is a better photo of my apron. It looks much cuter on than it does laying on the floor.

Scarves, scarves and more scarves

Just a few of the scarves I made for gifts. I have been on a scarf making frenzy. I made 6 scarves in the past week. That's alot considering I haven't been crocheting much lately. I have been extremely busy with homeschooling, it's the end of the semester so I had to get grades ready for Ethan. I have been trying to get some sewing done too. And of course be a wife and mother to 3 kids and run a household. Hmmm...maybe that explains why I am blogging at 1:30 AM, it's the only time I have left!

Dolls

Going with the theme of first attempts, here are a couple of dolls I made. Now that I have tried it I can't wait to try more. I have several ideas, I just need to find the time now. These cuties have been sent off to live with my darling godkids.

Apron strings

I made my first apron! I didn't have a pattern, so I used an old apron I had as a guide. I am pretty happy with it. I have minimal sewing skills, really just what I learned 20 years ago in home economics. Recently I had a friend inspire me to give sewing a go again. I have been having a ton of fun with it. Now if I could just do something with my photography skills and take some photos that will do some justice to my crafts!

Xmas Gifts

Teacher Gifts

So this year I needed to make several teacher gifts. Although I homeschool my 8 1/2 year old son Ethan, my 4 1/2 year old son Liam goes to preschool. Liam has SPD (Sensory Processing Disorder) and is a bit more challenging since he has delayed speech. He's catching up and has improved drastically with all his speech therapy. So, I needed to make 4 teacher gifts from Liam. We love the ladies that run his classroom so I wanted something special for them. Growing up I always gave my teachers store bought presents, not that it is a bad thing but handmade is definately better. I decided to make them each a scarf since they always compliment me on the ones I am wearing. I wrapped each scarf in a mini tote, that I thought would be cute to pack their lunch in. I also made a scarf and tote for Ethan's ES who oversees our homescooling. Here they are all ready to go.

Breaking Out

Ok, so I have decided to break out of the box and share my thoughts with anyone who cares to come along on my journey. I want to share my crafting adventures as well as my adventures in motherhood and everyday life. My children inspire me to explore my creativity and remind me daily to just have fun.
I have a love of everything handmade. I have a HUGE list of to do's and an even bigger box of UFO'S. Someday when I can find all the time I lost after having kids I will get to finish all my ideas. But for now I fit my crafting in between homeschooling, naps, breaking up fights between my very energentic boys and my delightfully demanding baby daughters squeals.