Mary Did You Know costume

Here is my first "real" dance costume made for Aubrey!  We both love the swish and sparkle of this material.  It moves wonderfully!  We carefully singed the hems to avoid sewing a hem which might have caused the swishy flowy feel to decrease.  Back to yarn now...

Aria's Ballet Sweater

I absolutely LOVE this sweater but Aria isn't convinced that I haven't made some huge mistakes on it!  "Mommy, can you make the sweater longer?  And the sleeves should go down..."  

Pom Pom Hat for Avery

Here's our Itty Bitty Baby modeling baby Avery's pom pom hat!  Stephanie found the inspiration on Pinterest, I searched yarn.com for the yarns and voila!  I think it's fairly close.  Not bad considering I didn't have a pattern!

Noxon, Montana VBS 2013

This has been some amazing fun!  I've worked on a pirate ship, pirate costumes, pirate crafts and now Bible story props.  Guess the story!

Aubrey's Resurrection Garden

Aubrey and I went to a delightful women's event at our church today and learned about these little resurrection gardens. When we got home, Aubrey collected all of these items with the help of Alister and Aria and assembled this! Jesus is alive!

Wing Tip Chair In White

I have finally done it, I've recovered that wing tip chair for the second time! From forest green to purple and now white, this chair has come a long way. Of course, no one is allowed to touch it!!

Smock Apron - the "Next Generation"

When I was a girl, my mom created a simple and practical smock style apron for her time in the kitchen. At some point in my adult years, I made off with her smock and still use it like crazy! The benefit of this kind of apron is that it doesn't pull on already stressed shoulders or neck muscles. I believe it encourages healthier posture. I am feeling guilty about my little theft so it's time to give back the old apron and make new aprons with some up to date fabrics!!!! Here is Aubrey modeling my first attempt. It took 3/4 of a yard of higher end quilting material and one packet of double fold bias trim. The "pattern" is ridiculously simple! Lay out your yardage, still folded as it comes off the bolt, and cut the folded edge. One piece becomes the front, cut a semi-circle in the center front for a neck opening. On the "back" piece, fold it lengthwise and cut a similar semicircle as the front, then cut the lengthwise fold, creating the back opening. Sew shoulders, add bias tape to neck (with length to tie it) and to arm holes. Sew the side seams and then hem the whole thing. Cute! Mom originally put pockets in hers which are also nice. I am considering adding a special pocket for my iPhone since I love working in the kitchen while listening to books.

Baby Sock Monkey Hat

This turned out so cute! This is the first time I've ever used the milk yarn and I can see why babies would like it! It's so soft!

Hello Kitty Bibs

For Aria's 5th birthday, we went with a Hello Kitty theme. I did a lot of Pinterest-based research and found some terrific ideas which triggered the creative bug in me! I loaded up Alister (7) and Aria (4) into the minivan and went straight to the craft store, where we found some darling HK fabrics. I figured on making double sided placemats at first and quickly changed my mind to aprons instead! Note the placemat shape of the lower part of the apron. I used white fleece material for the double sided face with ironed on fabric eyes and noses. I would have added bows but I had too many to sew!