little hostess apron

I finished this (and it's identical twin, but with red trim instead of black) a few weeks ago, but forgot to post them. Fat Quarter Apron tutorial from Prudent Baby.

Nativity blocks!

I saw this blog post this week and had to make nativity blocks. Here's what I came up with:

We have had this set of blocks for a few months. I bought them because they were on sale but have just been "eh" about them. They're nice wooden blocks, but they're SMALL. Turns out they were absoutely *perfect* for this project! Woo hoo!

I picked up a package of Oriental Trading Co. nativity sticker scenes at Texas Balloon and Novelty. If you haven't been in there yet, you must go! Stocking stuffer jackpot!

Blocks, plus stickers, plus a couple of coats of mod podge equals four adorable sets of Nativity blocks!


There are slight variations among the sets depending on which blocks I could find in which colors. Some of the blocks had been misplaced by my toddlers, so sometimes I had to improvise to get a full nativity set. I am thrilled with how they came out, though. They were quick, easy, and super fun! My favorite type of craft project. ;-)

I'm keeping the blue set for my kids.


The red set has Lucy and Ben's names on it.


Mom can pick which one (yellow or green) she wants for her house, and then the fourth will be donated for a charity raffle at MOPs on Friday.

from Saturday's photo session!

recent yarn work

The teddy bear and newsboy hats on the top row are two of the oh-so-fabulous patterns written by Speckled Frog Designs. Her stuff always comes out so well! The other two were random freebies off of Ravelry. Love the pink beanie with the butterfly detail (hard to see in the picture). The elf hat and booties were a cute idea poorly executed. Oh well.

A few weeks ago we took a weekend trip to Arlington to see Mom and my brother and his family. Mom has the world's BEST quilt shop (Cabbage Rose, in Fort Worth, TX). She and I had a Saturday morning outing to play with fabric and I brought home some cute prints to whip up a pillow case for each little. I finally got around to sewing this afternoon and they're so cute! Jono's is the full-sized Cat in the Hat one. Hazel and Charlie use toddler sized pillows. Hazel's is the orange and pink trees and birds. Charlie gets the transportation. I'm about to go roll them up, tie a ribbon around them, and throw them in the stocking stuffer stash. :D

a kid named Walker Mauppin needs some cowboy duds from day one, don'tcha think?

These were both patterns I'd wanted to work up for a while now, and when Ruth mentioned that she was doing a cowboy nursery, it was the perfect opportunity. The patterns can be found here and here. Yarn is random unmarked stuff from my stash. I'm not even sure what the fiber content is on the yellow. Oops!

I am thrilled with the way the boot(ies) came out, but I'm not loving the hat. It doesn't sit pretty like the one in the picture on the pattern. Maybe some wire around the edge of the brim for shaping? Eh, Ruth can take care of that if she wants to.

vinyl

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

this girl rocks the headband!

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

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

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?

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.

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?!

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!

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.

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?!

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!

kids get crafty for Grandma and Grandpa's party!

busy with some homemade playdough

I used this recipe this morning and was really happy with the consistency. I think it's a keeper!

*sniff*

This dress came out quite cute, despite my constant complaints during sewing that there were too many cute dresses at Target to justify the work of sewing one. I'm just not a garment-maker. And after all that... it's too small. *sniff* I think it's probably more like 6-12 month size than the 2T that was intended. oops.

Maybe I should give it to Morgan at her shower Saturday. Lily ought to be in 6-12 mos in the spring/summer of next year. ;-)

Pattern is the Snappy Toddler Top from the Prudent Baby blog.

those aren't my babies, but they are knit-by-me hats! The latest twins to hit Crossbridge Church--Jillian (upside down) and McKenna Vann. Such cuties!

Ikea

We use a loose definition of the term "crafty" here at CraftyErin--a definition that includes the building of Ikea furniture. Yesterday, with the help of some twin toddlers, I put together the following:

Leksvik TV stand


Lack coffee table


Basisk wall lamps


Finishing and hanging the roman shade that is in progress (and ~75% complete) for my bedroom window is also on my summer to-do list. Hopefully you'll be seeing that soon, because that window looks so sad!