coolness.

Here is a scan of my article in Sugar...a quarterly insert in our local c-ville magazine. :) I think if you click on the photo you should be able to enlarge it enough to read...

They compared me to Vera Bradley...only with more warmth and Southern charm.

Awesome!
xo

big doings.

I'm in love with these felt letters I tell ya...
you know I really love something if I do it more than once...

or 26 times for that matter. :) I just LOVE how this ABC banner turned out!
It's already heading to a new home, thanks Chance! but I have relisted it in the shop as a made to order item until I get another made. :)

I have also gotten a couple of girly banners done...this one is for a friend...

And this one for another friend...do you know who?
I just LOVE these letters...every single one is just SO darling!

And since I am doing a little show and tell...I redid my mantle again...part of the chain reaction from the leak last week. I love a good mantle. :)

And my biggest accomplishment lately?
Trying to replicate Doug's grandmas pot roast.
Before this one the only red meat I had EVER cooked was hamburger. Seriously.
I followed directions that Doug's mom gave me to the letter.
And I am proud to say that Doug gave it a 7.5...compared to grandma I would say that is not bad for a first time...he also said that my gravy, which I have also NEVER made, was perfect, along with my mashed potatoes. :)

Sounds like a success in my book.

:)

for AHJ the first.

baby Aaron...otherwise known as AHJ the second, would like to say...

to AHJ the first...

and all the other Norwegians out there...

...Lang bo Norge!

xo

more yummness.

One of my birthday gifts from Doug was a ruffler foot for my sewing machine.
Oh man, is it addicting.
I just love it so much...and this happy pillow was born.

layers of ruffly mess...

and loads...

and loads of buttons! :)

It's a beautiful mess...very much like my life lately.
Let's see...in the last couple of weeks:
two different relatives getting surgery
.
Potty training Moses, successfully.
.
Aaron learns to sit up.
.
Moses stoped sucking his fingers, on his own mind you AND stopped carrying Doggy, his best buddy, around everywhere.
He still must be in the bed when Moses gets there but for Moses not to take him everywhere is a big deal.
.
We moved Moses to a booster seat instead of a car seat.
.
We had that dumb leak that required us to pull up the carpet, put down new foam, etc.
Which in turn caused a huge chain reaction through the house of cleaning and de-cluttering.
.
Out of nowhere, which is usually how I get them, I got two photography jobs.
.
My shop is going to be featured in Cville...the local magazine...which required a photographer coming out to photograph me working and with some of my stuff. VERY exciting.
.
Aaron said his first word. Dada. Of course, cause HE is the one that gets up with him at night and nurses him every three hours. :)
.
Plus orders.
.
Plus I am a mom.
.
And a wife.
:)
Life is good. Busy. But good.

xo

how to make baby pants from an old t-shirt!

First, you can probably tell from the photo above that I am a doofus. I made poor Aaron's little pants upside down...the print at least. It wasn't until I was putting this tutorial down in blog form that I realized just how I did it...so learn from my mistake, ok? :)

Regardless, this is a REALLY easy way to make cute pants for your baby...or, like I will be doing, make some cute pj pants for your older kiddos....the best part is that they are practically free...or ARE free if you have some elastic on hand.
And they take no time at all...this bitty pair took maybe 15 minutes tops.
And they are still cute...even if Batman is upside down...but he doesn't even know who Batman is...or pants for that matter...so let's just call them cute. period. :)

You will need an old t-shirt and a pair of pants that fit your little one just right.

Fold the t-shirt so that the image is on a seam...see how I folded Batman in half?

Place your childs pants on top of the shirt...making the fold of the t-shirt the side of the pants...trace around...I used a sharpee and made a dotted line to follow...and I went out about an inch or so to make them a little bigger AND to allow for the seam.

Cut out what you just traced.

Then lay the one you just cut out on the other side of the shirt to make the opposite leg.
You following?

Now you have the two pants parts. :)

Now sew the front seam (goes from belly button to diaper)...then the back seam (from back to diaper. :) This is where I goobered it up...I got the front seam and pant seam mixed up somehow and in little guy pants there isn't that much difference in length between the two. :)

Now sew the seam that goes up one pant leg and down the other...from ankle to diaper to ankle again. :) This is all using a 1/4 inch seam.
Next, I used the zig zag stitch to add a cuff to the bottom of each leg...I didn't pin but used the sewing foot as my guide. :)

Then I folded down the waist edge and stiched it down...straight stitch this time.

...then folded it over again to make a waistband/pocket for the elastic. Sew all around again, leaving a small opening for the elastic

Using the pants I used at the beginning I cut a piece of elastic to size...you could use your baby model...mine was napping.
Then using a safety pin I threaded the elastic through the pocket I made.

Once threaded through the pants, I pull the ends way through...so that I can sew the two ends together with the machine...I hate hand sewing. :)

Just make a sandwich with the two ends of elastic and sew over it...pull the elastic back into the pocket and sew up the hole you left. :)
The end!

Let your baby model try them out.

I'll bet he or she will pose nicely for you since you just went through all the trouble of making him or her pants.

Just look at that gratitude! :)

And pretend he isn't wearing a tie-dye onesie with Batman pants, okay? I needed a model. :)
They are super cute on...sorry I couldn't get any shots of him standing in them...you'll just have to trust me. :)

I hope to make a stack for Moses and Aaron with a bunch of Doug's old t-shirts...grab a pack of hanes t's to go with them...and we have some new pajamas for Moses...Aaron could get away with wearing them as regular pants...Moses...not so much.

:) Post a link if you make some and let me know if you have any questions!
xo

ta-da!

I was so excited when the UPS guy came to my house yesterday!

I just KNEW what was in the box!

And it is better than I had hoped for.

A bigger project than I ever thought I would make!

Already washed, dried and crinkle-fied.

I just love it.

Looking at it makes me feel like I have accomplished something big. How nerdy is that?

I hope Moses will love it forever...and maybe even wrap his babies in it one day. :)

So to all of you quilting along...or thinking about it...it is totally worth it.
I am SO glad I have already started my next one!


Banner winner:
You have to click HERE to see if your are the winner!

If that is you contact me via etsy to claim your banner!

If that is not you...you can get $10 off of a banner if you order before Monday the 24th!
Just put "contest non-winner" in the notes to seller and I will send you a refund via paypal!

Happy day!

working together...makin a quilt. week two.

ok dears.
are you ready for the next big step?
except for the ironing...you have done the hard part.
unless you are a weirdo who likes to iron.
i'm just saying. :)
for the next step...
grab a random set of SIX of your strips.
if you are a technical person I am sure you can find some way to make sure that no six sets are the same...me...I just grab them willy nilly like.

taking two of your set of six, line them up so that the selvage edges are even (the side with all the writing on it)...every time you start sewing a new strip, start with this end. this way only one of your sides will be uneven...because the other side won't be...
this will help you get the most squares.

see, nice and even.
don't mind the mess in the background.

sew them together on one side using approx a 1/4in seam.
i'll confess that with Moses' quilt i did a half inch.
i didn't realize until i was cutting the squares that i did this...but it didn't matter that much because i did it with all of the sewing and not just one or two times.
the lesson here?
if you do something off...at least do it the throughout the whole project.
now keep the sides even as you sew...this is one of those times you could pin if you wanted...i just line up a few inches, sew a few inches, line up, sew, etc.

see the ends won't match up on this side...that is ok and normal.

repeat that with all six strips in the group.
then repeat the whole process with ALL of your groups of six.
see? easy.
you got this.

next week we'll talk about how to iron them nicely...so really you have two weeks to do this step.

let me know if you have any questions.

thanks for all the birthday love!
I had no idea Doug would post...he is a man of few words but when he lets them out...man, I am blessed that he is MY husband!

i'll catch this blog up tomorrow and choose a banner winner then too!

xo

On your special day

Today is Crystal's birthday. She probably suspects I'm secretly posting this, so I don't claim to surprise her with it. She is by no means old, older than me, yes, but not in that 'old' category yet. Despite me telling her she can turn 29 again, I think she is prepared to face life as a trigenarian. I tend to take birthdays not always as a celebratory time, but more a time of reflection and thankfulness as another year passes.

Ten years ago, I doubt Crystal would have thought her life would be in the place it is today. Ten years ago for me I would be in the same shoes as her. I'm fortunate enough to have a beautiful, loving wife who is raising two wonderful boys. She amazes me with how much she accomplishes in such little time. For those of you who are parents, I'm sure you are knowledgeable to the talents that toddlers possess in tearing up any room in a matter of minutes. Toddlers weren't prepared for Crystal though; before I turn around, the room is cleaned, vacuumed, in order and re-decorated.

Sure, I can't contain her craftiness, and sometimes that leads to furniture being redistributed in rooms and re-purposed, it may lead to 52 simultaneous projects and 12 custom orders, and the constant humming of that sewing machine. Neither of us would have it any other way. I'm thankful for this blog in that she can share her life with others, and document our sons' first years. I'm thankful for the joy it brings when she receives praise, positive comments, and consistent support.

As Crystal turns 30 I am thankful for this blog for the reasons mentioned above, I'm thankful for Etsy and the joy it brings my wife. I'm thankful for being able to get to this point in my life with Crystal and sharing so much together. I'm thankful that marriage is so easy with her. I'm thankful that she is a sounding board, a constant support, an ever present voice of reason, and is always challenging, both to her and myself. Her continous self-motivation is admirable, she has an inability to settle for adequacy when excellence can be achieved. As each year passes, I continue to be able to say "this year has been the best so far." A great deal of that is due to Crystal's push towards fulfilling our potentials.

I'm a pensive, analytical person, but I've thought this one out over and over, and have yet to resort to a different answer. Crystal, simply put, is who I needed. She truly is everything I need, if you think about that magnitude of what that says, it is awe-inspiring. Supurlatives would not do justice, and I'm sure people don't want to read over and over about that.

Going back to my idea of birthdays and using them to reflect and be thankful, I love my wife, and am thankful everyday for her. I tell her everyday I love her. In taking Crystal's idea and using this blog to encourage others, I encourage you guys to do the same with your spouse.

I love you Crystal.

-"The" Doug

dealing with disaster.

we're dealing with what i hope is a minor issue...but it has set off a chain reaction in my home...so much for doing anything fun for my birthday tomorrow huh? :)

be back so soon!
xo