Sunday, September 26, 2010

vinyl


my first vinyl wall letters! I *love* them!

Saturday, September 25, 2010

this girl rocks the headband!


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candy corn bunting


I saw this tutorial online yesterday and HAD to have some of my own! I used my leftovers to make a mini bunting for the front door. so fun!

This is my first attempt at other-than-Christmas seasonal decorating since the kids were born. I hope the toddlers don't dis-mantel it! :-p

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

working on the Jessie costume

Jessie the yodeling cowgirl has a long red braid. My daughter has short blonde curls. This will never do! Solution? Red yarn, a scrap of felt, and a liberal application of tacky glue. Looks almost authentic, doesn't it? ;-)



note: the honey had nothing to do with the project. It just hadn't been cleaned off the table from dinner. LOL

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

sketch

Here's the sketch I did of our house with the paint and structural changes I want to make. Compare to the photo below (that I traced for the sketch). Khaki brick, white trim including garage doors, new brown shutters, and remove those weird half walls that you walk between as you approach the front door. Sketch shows no landscaping other than the crepe myrtles, since I plan to rip everything else out and start over. No clue what the new flower bed will look like, so I didn't include it. Thoughts? Suggestions?

Monday, September 20, 2010

as requested...

Charlie asked for a "puppy hat". I did this pattern, and the fit is great on him. I think the ears are too small, though. I may rework them and make them larger. We'll see how motivated I am. Charlie's first response was not bliss at me finishing his hat in record time, but instead he said, "Where he eyes?" So apparantly the puppy dog hat needs eyes. LOL

Buzz alterations complete

I bought Jono's Buzz Lightyear costume, but it was one piece. I didn't want his preschool teachers to murder me in my sleep because of nightmares with him and the potty in a one-piece suit. So it underwent alterations. I added a quick yoga-style waistband using some white t-shirt fabric, but I think I'm still going to need to run some elastic in there. Such a skinny little man! I also hemmed up the arms and legs a bit. Jono's costume--done!!

Looks like I laid the pants out upside down for the photo. Note to self--the grey knees go in the back.



Saturday, September 18, 2010

finished, finished, finished!

You've seen some progress pictures of my first-ever quilt along the way, but it's finally ALL FINISHED! I finished the binding this afternoon. Woo hoo! I just love it!

The front is I-spy fabrics, arranged rainbow-ish. Thanks to Care at Obessively Stitching for hosting the fabric swap that started it all. I'm so glad I didn't have to collect all those fabrics myself! My quilt top was heavily influenced by this beauty, as you can plainly see. And the super fun swirly quilting was done by Maddie. Thanks for the help, ladies!

The backing is a panel of playmat fabric. You can see Charlie landing his airplane on the runway and Jono driving his train on the tracks. Perfect!

Can I say again how much I love the way this came out?!

Friday, September 17, 2010

a hat for Hazel!



That's just a flower on a hair clip, attached through the holes in the hat. You can totally change the look of the hat by changing the clippie attached, or by leaving it plain. Love it!

oh, and isn't that a Lucy face in that 2nd picture? I was so surprised when I uploaded the pics. Take off Hazel's curly hair and she looks a lot like her cousin!
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Sunday, September 12, 2010


Yes, friends. That's an elephant hat. It's for my step-sister's baby-boy-to-be. Sheryl and her husband are HUGE University of Alabama fans, so I thought an elephant would be appropriate. It cracks me up!

Pattern by Speckled Frog Crochet on Etsy.

Tuesday, September 07, 2010

preschool homeschool

We have Mother's Day Out two days a week this school year, but I wanted to continue to do something intentionally educational with my kids on the days that they're here. I've chosen to do the following mishmash of curricula:

spend two weeks on a letter of the alphabet using Learn Your Letters, Learn to Serve
spend two weeks learning a Bible verse set to song (instead of the ones included in the curriculum above--I'm wired to sing!)

Tonight I started the poster for our wall. My kiddos can't read yet, so it's as much a reminder to me to work on our lessons as it is for them. I'll put a flashcard from the adorable set from the blog at homemadebyjill.blogspot.com the top, make a list (in writing or photos/drawings) of people, places, and things that start with our letter on the blank page bottom left. Our scripture goes bottom right.



Our next two weeks with the letter A may look something like this:
  • tomorrow--eat apples for snack, make apple print art and mail finished art to some of our beloved aunts.
  • Friday--bake apple bread and deliver it to some family friends whose name begins with A.
  • next Monday--make collages of animal pictures
  • next Wednesday--eat ants on a log for snack, make egg carton ants with pipe cleaner legs, go outside and look at ants
  • next Friday--make hand print angel art (send to another beloved aunt or two), walk down the to sand volleyball court at the park and make sand angels
  • next Saturday--go with Daddy to Brazos Bend State Park and see the alligators
  • all the while learning the shape and sound of the letter A!
Doesn't that sound like fun?!

Sunday, September 05, 2010

ingredients:
2 vinyl nap mats
2 full-sized flat sheets
2 12x16" pillow forms
2 no-longer-in-use baby blankets
bits of sew-on velcro

recipe: a lot of trial and error!

yield: NAP MATS!


Hazel and Charlie will be napping in style and comfort on Tuesday! Mats and pillow forms are easily removed for weekly washing. I did these without a pattern--just the measurements of the mats and pillows. I'm so proud of myself!