A set of pj's and toy for little Ross

I made this pajama outfit for our nephew Ross.  I found the "Crab Patrol" fabric at Joann's.  I used the picture of the crab on the fabric to make a big one to applique onto the t-shirt.  I used red felt for his body, white felt and black paint for his eyes, and a narrow white ribbon for his mouth.  I used my sewing machine to stitch all the way around the crab.  The pajama pants were made using Simplicity pattern #5271.

I could not resist making this crab toy to go with Ross's pajamas.  I used Simplicity craft pattern #8091 to make my very first bean bag toy.  I found the pattern brand new at a thrift store a while back with the hopes of learning how to make these.  The pattern includes several other fun animals to make like a snake or lady bug.  I used fleece for his body, embroidery floss for his feelers, and plastic eyes for the outside of him.  For the inside, I stuffed his legs with fiberfill and his main body with bean bag pellets.  Most of it was sewn with my machine; after filling the body with the pellets, I had to do a ladder stitch on the underside of him.  

Last I heard, Ross was playing with his little crab, hanging him around his neck--wish I could have seen him.:)  It's so rewarding to make things that you know people will love and cherish for years to come.

Canon's tic-tac-toe tin

I love this idea that I found in a craft book--a travel-sized tic-tac-toe game!  I made it for our nephew, Canon, and he really loves it.  I used scrapbooking paper and rub-on letters to decorate the top of an Altoids tin.  I tied embroidery floss through each button before attaching magnets to the underside of each one.  Around the side of the tin, I placed a sticker border in the patriotic theme of the box.

To add a little something more, I found some small chipboard letters and made them into magnets by placing them all on a magnetic sheet and cutting them out.  I stitched this little pouch using fleece and vinyl to keep them all in.  On the other side, I cut a plus sign slit on the vinyl and sewed a button to the fleece side so that the pouch can open and close.  I thought it would be fun for Canon to practice spelling and play word games on the inside of the tin box.

Here's the inside of the box, decorated with patriotic colors and stars.  I spelled, "Hi Canon" on the inside cover for him to see when he opened it for the first time.  You can see the button and flap I made on the pouch to keep all the magnet letters stored.  The pouch, buttons, score pad (just a down-sized sticky note pad) and pencil can all be stored neatly and taken where ever Canon goes.  Sounds like fun, eh?  I wonder if I can make any other games into a portable one like this...any suggestions?:) 

Princess Annalina's Cape and Accessories

I loved making this cape for our niece who loves to dress up.  After stitching around the edges, I made a casing at the top of the cape and pushed cording through it.  I made a crown out of felt and used my sewing machine to stitch along the edges.  To complete the project, I used iron-on rhinestones to write the letter A on top of the felt crown.

The wand idea came from a craft book I borrowed from the library...but I changed it quite a bit to accomodate for the materials that I found.  At Hobby Lobby, I found the wooden star already on a dowel, ready to decorate.  I first painted the edges of the star purple and the dowel white.  When the paint was dry, I used a sparkly varnish on the dowel.  I glued white and purple ribbon and a silver bead cord to both sides of the star.  I then glued sparkly purple felt to both sides of the star.  I used the silver bead cord to glue along the edges of the star and to spell the letter A for her name.

This princess circlet was also an idea from the same book I borrowed from the library.  I used white ribbon to wind around the metal hoop.  Then I glued on ribbon flowers and tied organza ribbon to the back.

I found a cute bag with a monkey princess on it and used it to put all these accessories in.  I also made a little jewelry bag to put play jewelry in.  Annalina loved her gift--can't wait to see it on her some day.:)

Mia's and Bailey's matching outfits

This is Bailey's t-shirt and capri outfit.  I used Simplicity pattern #3743 for the capri's, then added white ribbon to add trim to the bottom of each pant leg.  I used the same fabric and ribbon to sew onto the front of the t-shirt and on the tops of the sleeves.  The pictures don't show this, but the narrow fabric that goes around the front of the shirt ties in the back, creating this empire-waist tee.

I borrowed this doll to make sure the outfit looked all right.  I used Simplicity pattern # 3895 to make this cute outfit.

This is Mia posing in her outfit with her American girl doll.  Since I saw her at Christmas, I got to see the look on her face when she opened up the gift.  She was ecstatic and couldn't wait to try everything on.

Isaiah's apron

Here is the first picture in my Christmas gift "showcase" for all the nephews and nieces.  This apron for nephew, Isaiah, was the first thing I completed.  I used two dish towels to create this one-of-a-kind gift.  I loved the cartoon chef on the white towel, so I kept it for the bottom part of the apron.  I used the burgandy towel to create the pockets and straps.  I used an embroidery stitch on the pockets as well as on the neck straps.  I hand-painted his name with black paint. The pockets are roomy enough for all the cooking tools I included with the apron.  I used my apron as a guide in making this, so I actually don't have any measurements for this.  This was a lot of fun to make and hope to do more like this in the future.  You can find lots of fun kitchen towels to make an apron for girls, or even a small one for an adult.

New Years Goals

At the beginning of each year, I like to sit down and write down goals for the new year.  Have you ever done this?  Some people call them resolutions, but I like to call the things I'd like to accomplish goals.  I make them realistic to achieve; some are things that I'd like to continue doing with the Lord's help.  On the top of my list, I wrote, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."  (Philippians 4:13)  I know that without God, I can do nothing.

The first thing I do is come up with categories to write down my goals under.  My categories are the following:

spiritual

relationships

physical

financial

personal

community

Under each category, I wrote specific goals and how I'm going to accomplish them.  For example, under "spiritual", I wrote that I'd like to be a better witness, and a way to do that is by passing out tracts on a regular basis...at the store or where ever I may be.

It takes a while to do this, but it is refreshing to give the new year to the Lord.  I wrote down all my goals in my planner so that I can refer to it on a consistent basis to see how I'm doing.  I hope this is an encouragement to you as you ponder on what you'd like to improve on in your life and/or do new things this year.

We're back:)

We just returned home from our vacation in San Francisco. Q and I wished each other a happy new year at the Denver International Airport as we waited for our luggage.  We had a great time with family and friends....even had some time to work on some crafts with my niece, Mia.:) Today, I'm recovering from the trip, as well as the stomach flu.  I got sick on our last day there, and I'm hoping that the jelly toast that I just ate will settle in well.  I'll be posting some things soon from our trip, as well as pictures of the homemade Christmas gifts I made.:)  

Happy New Year!:)