The 100th Day of School "tree"

Last year when my daughter was in Kindergarten, we had to come up with a collection or something to bring in for the 100th day of school.  We decided to make a pom pom tree with 100 pom poms!  It was so much fun.  We found a few branches with good "y" shapes at the top and stuck them in some air clay.  We used the color blue since that is the school color.  Then we counted out assorted sizes and shades of blue of the pom poms, 100 to be exact!  We glued on the big ones first to give it a good base and then filled in with the small ones.  The best glue to use is Fabric Tac (can buy it at Michaels - don't by the generic kind - you'll regret it).  Hot glue is too hot on the fingers and tacky glue takes way too long to dry.  Once you try fabric tac you'll never go back!  It's amazing (but stinky).  Anyways, the finished product came out better than I imagined.  Almost looks like a giant truffala tree from the Lorax!

Hoppy Easter (yes, I know it was in April - I'm a little behind)

Here is a cute project that I did for the kids for Easter.  Since all our Easter stuff was in storage I decided to make some little crates rather than go buy new baskets.  I still haven't antiqued them yet, which is on my to-do list (vinegar, coffee, steel wool), but they are still cute until that happens.  This was another project inspired from www.littleblueboo.com  It was pretty fast and easy to do.  Reese's crate has a horse on the side, and James' crate has a tractor (kind of hard to tell in the picture).  All my supplies I got at Michaels and the Martha Stewart farm stencils were on sale.  I'll definitely be using them again since I have a major horse crazy girl and a tractor crazy boy.  It's been forever since I stenciled anything.  I was quite the crafter in middle school: painting wood objects, stencling, cross stitching, baskets...brought back memories.

 

The sock bunnies were from Little Blue Boo, too.  I got the socks at Target.  Aren't they adorable?  I was able to use the sock scraps and make rice bags with them (the ones you can heat up in the microwave or put in the freezer!)

And here we are in Denver for Easter weekend at Red Rocks.

American Girl dreamin'

Yes, the American Girl craze has hit our household.  At first I was pretty against it - seriously, over $100 for a doll?  And the fact that an "American" Girl doll that is made in China didn't make me too happy.  I think the AG thing hit a few years after my time since I had never heard of them growing up, yet I have a few friends who are a couple of years younger and they all seem to have or remember the "Samantha" doll.  I never played with dolls much growing up.  Sure, I had Barbies and Cabbage Patch dolls, but they still look like new (my parents saved EVERYTHING).  I would dress them up occasionally, move them around, but I had much more fun playing with my brother's stuff and boy cousins.  I was the oldest of the cousins, then it was all boys, and then the youngest cousin was a girl.  Anyways, back to American Girl...

Santa brought Reese an American Girl doll last year.  It was one of the "My American Girl" dolls and it kind of looks like her.  She named her Lily.  Since then, the more we play, read the books, and even play with the virtual "Lily" on the computer, the more I really like these dolls.  They are great quality and what I like most is the message.  They are so positive, teach great lessons about being a good caring person, friend, daughter, student, etc.  After we got Lily (and the foal horse), she decided that she had to go to one of the stores.  There is a store in Denver, where my brother lives, so we celebrated her 6th birthday there.  That's when Julie arrived (and the mare horse).  Julie is one of the "Historical" characters from the 70s with super long blond hair.  I think she looks like my mom back in the 70s:)

Reese gets a kick out of dressing like her doll.  We have a few matching outfits, but then I decided that I would try making something for the start of school.  It was total trial and error and if I have to do it again I'm sure it will come out much better.  The stitching is pretty rough looking (definitely getting my serger out of the box the next time around!).  So, for the first day of school Reese, Lily, and Julie were ready to go in their uniforms!  (Lily's skirt may not be regulation length...)

Here's Reese and Lily in their matching outfits for her birthday (from the American Girl store - I did not make these but plan on making more outfits once I get my "Carrie Room" set up in our new house!).

Reese and Lily look a little wiped after a long day of partying and shopping.  I'm in line paying for "Julie" to be added to the AG family.

 

Here's one more thing I made, inspired from one of my favorite blogs, www.littleblueboo.com  Reese really wanted Lily to be a mermaid one day and I thought, why not?  Then I went a little crazy and made a bunch for her friends and cousin in all different sparkly material.

 



And to end, the American Girl Pledge (love this!):

I can be myself, follow my dreams,

and always do my best.

I can reach for the stars, lend a

hand to others, and be a good friend.

I can make a difference.

I promise to try.

Gwen, the Tooth Fairy

Last spring, my daughter lost her first tooth, so of course we needed something to put the tooth in.  I made a little pillow that is soft and flat to fit perfectly under her pillow.  We found out her tooth fairy's name was Gwen after she lost her second tooth...she made a little picture and Gwen wrote her back a cute little note!  Yesterday, September 8, she lost her 3rd tooth!  She's getting so big...

Peace Love Mountains

I was trying to think of some ideas for a little gift for someone and love the idea of using fabric as wrapping paper (furoshiki), so I decided to buy some flour sack towels and personalize them a bit.  Since I had so many paints and fabric medium left over from the quilt I made (see the Tree of Learning post), I decided to put them to good use!  I cut some potatoes into the shapes I wanted (Peace, Love, Mountains) and stamped them on - simple enough!  I can't wait to do this again!  I'll have to make more for gifts and our new house!

The Tree of Learning Quilt

Every year at my kids school they hold an auction to raise money called "The Gala".  They go to a Catholic school, so raising money and asking for donations is always an ongoing thing.  One thing that is kind of neat, in my opinion, is each class is required to come up with a project to be auctioned off at the event.  It was actually the highlight of the whole Gala and the projects the classes came up with were amazing.  Last year my daughter was in Kindergarten and I kind of got suckered into helping with the project (I don't mean it in a bad way - I love this kind of stuff!).  Anyways, my friend Katie L. and I came up with the idea to do a quilt and have the kids decorate a trunk to put it in.  As you can guess, I was in charge of the quilt. 


It came out better than I ever imagined!  I picked out different colored (subtle print) fat quarters for the "leaves".  Then I took some big pieces of cardboard and wrapped them with press n' seal and taped on the the fat quarters.  I went to Michaels and got some different color acrylic paint and some fabric medium (found in the same section as the paint) to mix in and make the paint permanently adhere to the fabric.  Then the fun and messy part - getting the handprints!  I went in and got each of the kids hand prints and wrote their names underneath each with a fine tip fabric marker.  I cut out each handprint and designed the trunk and grass.  I ironed on fusible webbing to each piece and appliqued each part - tricky at times with my small machine.  I was going to tie the quilt since my machine can't handle something of that size and I couldn't afford to have it quilted, but then my friend, Katie, saved the day.  Her mother-in-law, Joyce Crooks, 2 states away, offered to quilt it for FREE!  And...we only had a week to the Gala!  It was shipped off and she worked like a mad woman, mailed it back, and it arrived 3 days before.  It looked AMAZING!  The quilt and trunk made $400 for the school.  I wish I would have taken more close up pictures.  Now I'm trying to think of other ideas for next year.  It won't be a quilt, though!  If anyone has any good ideas, pass them on!

This home is a shelter...

...for those we hold dear, wishing Peace to all who enter here.
(from a card by www.curlygirldesigns.com)

Wow - it has been a LONG time since I've posted anything.  Somehow I had it in my mind that once we got "settled" I could start up my sewing again and just normal life.  Well, it's been over a year now of looking for houses and I think we have finally found something!  Keep your fingers crossed, but if everything goes well we could be moving in a few weeks.  It may not be the house in the country that I dream of, but it will be perfect for us to get through the upcoming years.  Home, sweet home, here we come! 

So, what have I been up to this past year?  I thought I'd dedicate the next few posts to some small projects I took up and hopefully get me motivated to start the countless projects I'd like to do once we get moved in.  (there is a 4th bedroom in this house, which little does anyone know yet, will be the "Carrie Room" - just think of all the fun stuff I can make in that room instead of the corner of my bedroom like my last "studio"!)

So, stay tuned...it may not be hats, but that will soon come!