Christmas ideas

My family decided to scale back Christmas this year. It seems to be getting out of hand and we really don't need more *stuff*. Most importantly, we wanted to make sure the true meaning of Christmas was vividly apparent during our celebration, not the commercialism that is so abundant. So in our quest to change things up a bit, we decided that we're going to try to include more handmade gifts under our tree.

At first we got a few wrinkled noses from the kids, but within minutes they were all very excited and making lists of what they could make each family member. Personally I wish my children were getting more handmade items from us, but when we decided this it was already mid November and being the planner I am, I already had several things purchased. What is really excited (at least to me), is my in-laws are participating too and we're only exchanging handmade things with each other.

Thankfully my husband has great mechanical and woodworking skills, so it won't be just me in my little sweatshop cranking out gifts - yep he's helping too, yeah! We'll also be making some things in the kitchen and the kids are excited about that (best to start them in the kitchen early, I hope their spouses thank me for that someday! LOL).

With all that, I wanted to share with you a blog that has lots of great, simple ideas for handmade gifts. If you're venturing down this road, you'll want to check it out ~ You Can Make This Blog. There are even short video clips too! Another blog with lots of ideas is Sew Mama Sew Blog in the handmade holidays section.

So what am I making you might wonder. I have pajamas all cut out for the kids for their Christmas Eve gift plus everyone is getting a few new sets under the tree. I also will be making them pillows, which I'll share with when I'm done. I made one for a baby gift and it turned out so cute. I have other ideas churning in my head and will share things as they are completed.

So are you making any Christmas gifts? Do you limit the number of gifts you give your children or do you have a set dollar amount? Share with me. The whole theory of scaling back is harder when the kids are bigger. They have expectations, but quite frankly I'm tired of this nonsense and so is my husband. We keep reminding them so hopefully there won't be any long faces on Christmas morning. I would like to think this is the beginning of a new season at our home, hopefully one we will continue to carry on for years to come (sounds like the ending of a Hallmark movie, huh?).

Happy Halloween!

Hope you had a fun and safe Halloween! My crew did and got enough candy to last a quite a while.

Fortune Teller Girl

Super Mario

Dan Druff the nerd

Mr. Train Conductor

This year I got off easy making costumes. I only made the Super Mario overalls and hat. I found a super easy tute for the hat so check it out if you need to make one for your kiddo. The "M" was a patch I made on my embroidery machine.

We lucked out and the rain ceased for the big Trick or Treat outing - thank goodness!

13 years of bliss

Yesterday my husband and I celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary. We had actually went out to dinner the night before while our children went to sleepover at the Grandparent's house, but didn't know we were going to be in for such a treat on our actual anniversary day.

When the kids came home, our sweet daughter has a surprise dinner prepared for us. I stayed downstairs in my sewing room until it was time for our dinner (she had to bake the entree). With very little help from my MIL, she prepared us a four course dinner. For our appetizer we had chips and salsa (a favorite in our house!), then we had a nice salad followed by some of the yummiest enchiladas I've ever had (seriously, I'm totally being truthful!), and then for dessert some delicious chocolate cake with a sweetened sour cream filling. She also picked out some tasty sparkling cider for our drink too.

The little miss got all dressed up in a dress to be our server and set up a card table in our living room for us to dine at. She made the "brothers" promise to stay outside and eat the dinner she prepared for them ("big noodles" a family favorite of the kids) and they even cooperated for her (and us). She lovingly and carefully made a beautiful table presentation, picked flowers, made up placecards, folded the napkins, added a candle for ambiance, had "romantic" music playing in the background, and even hung a sheet over the doorway so we could have privacy while we dined. It was a lot of fun for us and we really enjoyed ourselves. Our wonderful server even earned a $5 tip from dear ol' dad! Thank you for the wonderful dinner sister, we really enjoyed it!!!

I find it hard to believe we've already been married 13 years, but on the other hand I can't believe it's only been 13 years. Happy Anniversary sweetie, looking forward to sharing the rest of my life with you!

In "sewing" news, well not a whole lot is happening. I made a red Jalie hoodie that I really like, but am also in the midst of a "sewing for hire" project. While I usually don't take on such tasks, I did a little bartering with my lovely MIL. I'm making her a few skirts to take on her upcoming trip to Italy and when she returns from said trip, she's going to shampoo my carpets (both upstairs and downstairs). It's a hot deal for both of us and I'm totally pumped about it!

The kids are heading back to school tomorrow, so maybe I'll have some more sewing time. Summer has been a whirlwind of busy for our family, so I am looking forward to things slowing down, tho I would still like to keep the warm summer weather for a bit longer.

Birthday Cake

What's a birthday party without a fabulous cake? My good friend Mandi made a very similar cake (well almost identical - shameless copying here) for her son who just turned 5 in May. I knew my birthday boy would love it since he's a Cars fanatic, so big sister and I set off to recreate a masterpiece. Of course mom was right - yep, he adored it!





Sorry I haven't gotten much sewing done - forgive me, it's been birthday season among other things at our home. DH's birthday is Friday, but I think his mom is taking charge of the dessert - she mentioned Snicker's Cheesecake?!?!

5 years

That is how old my "baby" is today. How can 5 years have passed so quickly? We're having his party tomorrow complete with a super cool "Cars" cake that my daughter and I are making for him. I wanted to make him a special shirt to wear and this is what I came up with. I actually cheated and purchased a black shirt from Joann's last week with my 50% off coupon and then appliqued a "5" to the front in checkered flag fabric. He really likes it.

And those sweet feet that I still can't resist (yep I know they will turn into ugly big feet soon, but for now they are still pretty darn cute - at least I think).

On a sewing note, I did finish my Burda drawstring blouse several weeks ago, a dress for myself - I think the pattern was Butterick, and 6 pairs of pj's for my boys. It's been hard to get anything done now that the kids are finished with school. I'll work on posting pictures of those and reviews soon.

Happy Birthday Andy!

Yet another trip around the sun

Picture courtesy of oh its amanda on flickr
Today I celebrate 34 candles on my cake. Unfortunately I won't be doing much celebrating because my wonderful, all loving family passed their creepy crud along to me. Gee thanks. I suck at laying on the couch, but here I sit today with my laptop, snuggled up to my youngest watching countless episodes of Curious George. While I can think of more fun things to do than lay on the couch, I do enjoy snuggling up to my sweetie because in the blink of an eye he'll be off to school and on days like to today I'll be suck watching Billy Mays, Jerry Springer, or some ridiculous soap opera.

Happy Birthday to me - my wish, to be feeling better tomorrow for my yummy chicken enchilada dinner my MIL is preparing for me.

P.S. Due to my funky system today, I forgot to thank you all for your wonderful comments you left last time. I'm feeling much better about the postal thief and am taking the necessary precautions to avoid that happening again (aka we have a lovely new mailbox).

Happy Valentine's Day!

Ahhh, *the* day of love is upon us again. Actually every day really should be a day of love where we celebrate those who are near and dear to us. Yesterday I decided to share the love by making a big batch of sugar cookies. With the help of my youngest we rolled dough, cut hearts, baked, and then frosted a HUGE plateful of cookies. I'm sure you can imagine the smiles we got when the big kids and daddy came home in the afternoon. And boy are they good, I've already ate WAY too many!

Also, I made myself another boat neck top. I just love this pattern! There was more stash busting too - it's a poly knit from Joann's that I've had for eons.

Lastly, I had a fellow sewing mama pass along a "Thank You" award to me on her blog ~ thank you Sabrina!!!

I hope everyone has a lovely Valentine's Day!!! :-)

Merry Christmas

I love the time leading up to Christmas. The anticipation is so fun and the glow on the kids' faces is priceless. This morning we forced our children go slowly with gift opening so we could savor every moment. And look at this picture, they are all smiling and it was the first (and only) picture I took of them in front of the tree today. Apparently cooperation occurs when they want to know what Santa Claus put in their stockings. ;-)


The kids were all thrilled with their gifts, but I think my daughter might be on cloud nine still. She has been bugging us for well over a year for a Sleep & Study Loft from Pottery Barn Teen. It's a little too rich for out beer budget at $2,000 (shipping included) so my uber talented hubby built her one! It was hard to pull off the surprise. As you can see, the thing is huge (it's a double bed up there). The project was started the day after Thanksgiving so it's been weeks of torture for the kids wanting to know what dear ol' Dad has been up to. The kiddos all went to my in-laws for a sleepover on the 23rd and we got busy getting the big surprise ready.

She has been going on and on about wanting pink walls with polka dots too ~ wish granted. It was fun to get her room ready for the big reveal, but the icing on the cake was her reaction. She was more than thrilled and burst into tears. And seriously, I can't believe I went to the ends of the Earth to find a pink office chair for her, she better appreciate me from here to eternity! lol And without further ado....

I received many lovely gifts from my family, but the best one of all is just being together with my family. May God's blessings be bestowed upon you this Christmas Day and always. Merry Christmas!

Happy Thanksgiving

First off, my apologies for being two weeks between posts. It is never my intention to go so long, but I seem to blink and days fly by. I have been busy sewing and will detail more about that in my next post. My progress includes three skirts, two tops, and pants (all for me!), one shirt for my middle son, 7 pairs of pj's for my boys, three pj pants for my daughter, and finishing a UFO for my youngest son. I still have 4 pairs of pj's cut out for the boys and two shirts for my oldest son that need to be sewn, plus I need to cut out one pair for pj's for my daughter. So as you can see, my silence hasn't been for nothing. ;-)

Wishing you and yours a wonderful Thanksgiving. My family is blessed beyond measure and I hope the same holds true for yours. Enjoy the day!

Happy Veteran's Day!

I want to extend my most sincere *thank you* to all our veterans as well as those currently serving in the military. My family doesn't take this duty lightly and we recognize that it is because of these brave men and women that we live in the land of the free and home of the brave. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your service to our great country!

A few days ago I received a nice surprise in my mailbox. Don't you just love surprises? Well the wonderful folks at Ottobre magazine somehow found out that I'd won the PR Sewing for Children contest and sent me these goodies! Now how sweet was that? All the way from Finland - it totally warmed my heart. Included with the card were three little buttons for my children to wear on their clothes, backpack, etc. and a beautiful 2009 planner/calendar. Thank you Ottobre team!!!!! See I keep telling you all they are so awesome, they seriously have the best customer service and not to mention the best kids patterns.

So my ironing board cover was getting a little ratty. It wasn't that bad, but the ironing board I got came from Wally World. I really wanted an oversized ironing board so I upgraded earlier in the year. I had looked at Bed, Bath, & Beyond, but they wanted like $80+ for the ironing board and I just couldn't see spending that much money. So I happened to be at Walmart (my least favorite store) one day and saw they carried the oversized ironing boards too. I can't recall the exact price, but it was $40 or less. I came with an extra cover which I have no idea where I put. I could have dug around to find it, but I found the cover always wanting to grab what I was ironing and shifting around. Plus the pad it came with is ultra thin. The bottom line was this ironing board needed a makeover!

I have seen others make ironing board covers on their blogs and figured it couldn't be too hard. I found some off white denim in my stash and figured that would be perfect. Durable, yet light colored so I wouldn't get any bleeding of the cover onto a garment (wouldn't that be a nightmare!). Then I picked up a package of 100% cotton batting at Joann's over the weekend.

To make the cover, I first traced around my ironing board leaving a 2" margain around the board (let me say this now, you need more than 2" to do it my way, I think 3" would have been perfect).

Next I cut out my fabric.

Then I serged around the raw edges of the cover so the edges wouldn't ravel. After serging, I pressed a 5/8" SA, stitched the pressed edge down to form a casing in which I fed 1/4" elastic through the casing. I put it on my ironing board and adjusted my elastic to get the fit right. Once I got the length of the elastic where I wanted it, I sewed the ends of my elastic together and closed the casing up.

Lastly, I placed my ironing board upside down again and traced the shape onto the batting. I cut two layers of the batting plus I used the original batting/pad as the bottom layer on the ironing board. I have a total of three layers plus my cover and it seems like the perfect thickness.

Here is the finished board. I would have liked the elasticized edge to go under the board a bit more, so next cover I will trace with a 3" boarder so I have enough extra fabric around the edges. I actually didn't have enough fabric to make it any wider tho since what I had was a small scrap. Oh well, live and learn.

Here is the underside. You can see it's skimpy on the sides, but I got it pulled up more in the front for better coverage of the cover. In all, a quick and easy project, tho I did start it yesterday but was interrupted by having to get the kids from school and take them to swimming lessons.

I hope this inspires someone to make a new cover for their ironing board. Such an easy project!

Halloween (albeit a little late)

Yes, I'm days late, but here are a few pictures of the kids. Only two of the group turned out well and then all the individual ones didn't turn out well at all. So this is all I have to share. :-( The first two of of my youngest and we took them the day before Halloween so I could enter his pumpkin costume in the PR Costume contest.

The above one is from Halloween night. Here we have a blue Lego, Pirate Girl, Pumpkin Boy, and Mr. Baseball (all made by me which is a first, tho the Lego involved no sewing).

In other excitement, I had my all day sewing pants session that I started with the Palmer/Pletsch sewing school on Saturday. I can't even express how exhausted I was when I got home that night - it was a long, but fun day.

My pants are fitting very nicely and with minimal alterations. I still need to unbaste the side seams and put on the bum pockets, then restitch the side seams and apply the waistband. I think I'm going to like them. Tricia (my teacher) is so sweet! We ran out of time in class, doesn't everything always take longer than anticipated, so she's having her open sewing class on Wednesday and invited us all back so we can finish our pants during that 3 hour time block. I'd like to go, but am not 100% sure if I can make it at this point. If I was really ambitious I would have another pair of pants cut out and started so she could fit those for me too.

On the pants I picked, my alterations included removing some of the inseam from the from only (about 3/4" tapering to nothing at about the knee level), scooping the seat about 1/2", a slight swayback adjustment in the back seam as well as in the back of the waistband. It was pretty painless so hopefully now when I make pants I'll know what to look for, or I'll just make a gazillion pairs of these if I end up liking them a lot after I have them all finished.

So up next is to finish the pants, work on PJ's for my kids (who are in dire need of new ones), pants for my youngest, shirts for my oldest (and probably the other two boys too), oh and some stuff for me. Guess I better get busy, huh?

Also, thanks for those of you who emailed and posted comments about the Accutane. I'm still on the fence about what to do.

Happy Birthday Mr. Baby!

It's so hard for me to believe my "baby" is four today. Why does the time go by so fast? I hate it. Hate it! I am not ready for my children to be getting so big. Amazingly enough, they just aren't listening me to either and just keep growing as fast as weeds.

Here are a few pictures of the proud birthday boy this morning. He got to open a gift early that Auntie left for him. He was beyond elated about his new heavy hauler and that today he's finally *four* (he's been talking about his birthday for months and how he'd be four on June 25th).

Tonight we're celebrating his big day at none other than Chuck E. Cheese. Dad and I are the heroes of the day as we *never* go to CEC (if you've been there, you know why!). Happy Birthday Andy, I love you more than words can say.

Happy Mother's Day!

Here is a touching Mother's day email I received the other day~

Somebody said that a child is carried in its mother's womb for nine months.
Somebody does not know that a child is carried in its mother's heart forever.

Somebody said it takes about six weeks to get back to normal after you've had a baby.
Somebody doesn't know that once you're a mother, normal is history.

Somebody said you learn how to be a mother by instinct.
Somebody never took a three-year-old shopping.

Somebody said being a mother is boring.
Somebody never rode in a car driven by a teenager with a driver's permit.

Somebody said if you're a 'good' mother, your child will 'turn out good.'
Somebody mistakenly thinks a child comes with directions and a guarantee.

Somebody said 'good' mothers never raise their voices.
Somebody never came out the back door just in time to see her child hit a golf ball through the neighbor's kitchen window.

Somebody said you don't need an education to be a mother.
Somebody never helped a fourth grader with his math.

Somebody said you can't love the fifth child as much as you love the first.
Somebody doesn't have five children.

Somebody said a mother can find all the answers to her child-rearing questions in the books.
Somebody never had a child stuff beans up his nose.

Somebody said the hardest part of being a mother is labor and delivery.
Somebody never watched her 'baby' get on the bus for the first day of kindergarten.

Somebody said a mother can do her job with her eyes closed and one hand tied behind her back.
Somebody never organized seven giggling Brownies to sell cookies.

Somebody said a mother can stop worrying after her child gets married.
Somebody doesn't know that marriage adds a new son or daughter-in-law to a mother's heartstrings.

Somebody said a mother's job is done when her last child leaves home.
Somebody never had grandchildren.

Somebody said your mother knows you love her, so you don't need to tell her.
Somebody isn't a mother.

~Author Unknown~

Happy Mother's Day to all the Mothers out there - enjoy your special day!

Happy Birthday Dear Will!

How can six years have possibly passed since my sweet William was born? We celebrated his birthday with family over the weekend complete with pizza and a "Hamburger" cake made by me!

And just in case you'd like to make your own hamburger cake, you can find the directions at WomansDay.com. The article that I kept appeared in an issue at least 7 years ago (I made this cake once before for my hubby's birthday right after I saw it). I didn't follow the directions for using pound cakes and store bought frosting. Instead I made my cakes using two boxes of regular cake mix (Funfetti variety of course) and then made a batch of chocolate frosting for the burger and peanut butter frosting for the bun (much easier than trying to tint white frosting tan). It's been a hit both times I've made it and it really is easy to make. I'm definitely not a cake decorator, but I do enjoy making fun cakes like this for my family instead of buying a bakery cake. It must be the "Susie Homemaker" in me - I figure they'll remember the cool cakes I made them, but the bakery cakes are just a dime a dozen. Besides, I think homemade cakes taste better and they are definitely made with more love.

Happy birthday Will - mommy loves you and is so proud of you!!!!

P.S. Will just learned to tie his shoes last week - yippee Will! :-)

Happy Birthday To Me!

Ahh, another year has come and gone (my mom is right, they go by faster the older you get, eek)! I had a lovely day that ended with my mom-in-law fixing my favorite dinner (white chicken enchiladas) and my mom baking my favorite dessert (Huckleberry Delight). I am so blessed my in-laws and parents like each other and we can share a meal together - what a fun time we had too! And of course I was spoiled with gifts by my family, but my very favorite thing I received was the card my daughter made me (she's 10 and in 4th grade). I should take a picture of it, maybe tomorrow when I dig the camera out - it's so cute with her drawings on it. On the front it says "Happy 33rd Birthday!" and inside it says:

Roses are red,

Violets are blue,

You are so sweet,

and I am too!

She's such a sweet girl and I will treasure that card forever (as I do every thing they make me).

And thank you for all the birthday wishes you sent though pm's on Pattern Review, messages in my blog comments, and emails. It was indeed a wonderful day and even more so with all my sewing friends sharing the love with me. I appreciate you all so much and am so thankful for all the friends I've made that also share the love of sewing. :-)

Happy Valentine's Day

Hope you're surrounded by the people and things you love on this holiday!

Happy 2008!!!!

Goodness, how can another year have flown by? That I don't know, but I will say it's happening faster and faster the older I get. And talk about celebrating like old folks, we were in bed by 10pm last night. In our defense tho, my hubby had to work today (he always has to work New Year's Day) and gets up at 4am for work and the kids go back to school tomorrow, so it really was necessary not to ring in the new year with the rest of the Pacific coasters. We did get a notice from our neighbors (albeit a rude notice) that it was indeed the new year by them continuously lighting off boxes (yes whole boxes at a time) of firecrackers and then screaming. Our poor dog - she's an outside German Shepperd, but she slept inside last night because she was so freaked out by all the fireworks that kept going off.

I was hoping to get some sewing done today after I've been a cleaning fool the past few days packing up Christmas decorations and doing some household reorganizing. However instead of blissfully sewing, I'm reorganizing my sewing studio. I am publicly announcing I have too much sewing cr@p and need to get a handle on things. I have WAY too much fabric and patterns and accumulation of stuff stresses me out. So my quest this year is to sew using what I have. I spend way too much time moving piles around and reorganizing and it now occurs to me (yes, *just* now) that if I didn't have so much stuff, it wouldn't be a problem. I wouldn't have to spend so much time organizing if I didn't have all this stuff to content with. I plan to weed out things I don't want so I can get on to doing what I love to do - sewing! And make no mistake, I am not saying I won't buy a single piece of fabric or pattern this whole year, but instead I am going to give it my best to use what stash I have when I'm sewing (both fabric and patterns). There is just no sense in hording fabric, there is no shortage and Lord knows there will always be fabric and pattern sales. I will be keeping my Burda WOF and Ottobre subscriptions tho, those I honestly can't live without. ;-)

Cheers to a healthy & productive 2008!!!!

Merry Christmas!

Wishing you and your loved ones a very Merry Christmas - may you be blessed beyond measure!

Come for a ride on the Gingerbread Train!

It's finished! To be honest, I was actually kicking myself that I suggested to the kids we make a Gingerbread Train (I usually buy a kit at Costco for the house which is WAY easier since everything is ready to go). I saw the idea in Family Fun Magazine last Christmas and clipped the article out. I promised we'd make it once school let out for Christmas vacation and holding true to my promise I made the dough Tuesday night so we could make the train Wednesday. We got off to a rocky start with my rolling pin handle breaking so we waited for Grandma to come over and bring her rolling pin so we could get the dough all cut and baked. Then this morning I assembled the train and the kids went hog wild decorating it. I turned out to me much more fun than I anticpated and I'd really like to have the Gingerbread Train become a tradition we do every year. And keeping my post "sewing" related, I covered a cardboard bolt from the fabric store with tin foil for the base for the train. :-) Click on the above link if you'd like the instructions on how to make your own train, it really is easy, just more time consuming than buying a kit at the store.

P.S. Okay I'm really a huge dork - I just see now that online they have templates you can print out for the train and here I had my ruler out drawing all the pieces yesterday - well that makes it WAY easier! LOL

Happy Thanksgiving!

May you all be surrounded by good food and good family and/or friends on this special day. I am so thankful for all the blessings I have in my life and know you are too. Have a wonderful & safe Thanksgiving day! :-)