For Rae and Dana’s Celebrate the Boy Month, I made a soft book for Jacob.  He loves so many simple things that I thought I’d just compile them into one toy.  Using old jeans, Heat ‘n’ Bond, and a variety of fabric scraps, I appliqued pictures and constructed a little book for him.  Which he seems to love.

Wanna see how?

Tutorial after the jump. :) (more…)

is being with the love of your life.  We’re celebrating 5 years today!

I stenciled the lyrics to our favorite song (U2’s The Sweetest Thing) as a Valentine’s Day/Anniversary present.  (Unfortunately, those celebrations get a bit lumped together for us.  But we try to make up for it by celebrating our engagement in the Fall.)  I got the idea from this picture of Candi Mandi’s bedroom.  But I’ve seen other versions of it since then.

He made me breakfast in bed.  (I love that man.)  All that’s left of it is this pretty mess.  I’m okay with that.

Happy Anniversary, Evan!  Thank you for 5 years of awesome. ;)

A little story:

Evan and I decided not to declare our “love” for one another until we were ready to get married.  Although a nice idea, it wasn’t altogether practical.  We just found creative ways to communicate the same message.  Much like Buttercup and Westley in The Princess Bride:

Grandpa: [voiceover] Nothing gave Buttercup as much pleasure as ordering Westley around.
Buttercup: Farm boy, polish my horse’s saddle. I want to see my face shining in it by morning.
Westley: As you wish.
Grandpa: [voiceover] “As you wish” was all he ever said to her.
Buttercup: Farm boy, fill these with water - please.
Westley: As you wish.
Grandpa: [voiceover] That day, she was amazed to discover that when he was saying “As you wish”, what he meant was, “I love you.” And even more amazing was the day she realized she truly loved him back.
Buttercup: Farm boy… fetch me that pitcher.
[It’s right over her head, so he has to stand next to her]
Westley: As you wish.
[Cut to them kissing]

“I am in like with you” became our “As you wish.”  And to this day, we are as in like with one another as ever.  ;)

Happy Valentine’s Day! <3

Rae, Dana, and a slew of other fabulous bloggers are helping to “Celebrate the Boy” all February.  And guess what?  I’ve been asked to contribute!  Afterall, I do have a boy.  And he needs celebrating.

Here’s an example of this sweet child’s life:

That is Jacob.  Note that he is surrounded by pinks and florals of various sorts.  He can often be found hugging baby dolls and drinking from tiny teacups…

or trying on broken Cinderella gear, mommy’s boots, or heart-shaped sunglasses.  Not that he doesn’t love cars or balls or roaring at us or whatever.  But he is surrounded by girliness.

Thus, it will be refreshing to focus on The Boy for a bit.  There will be tons of ideas, tutorials, round-ups, etc. over at Made by Rae and MADE.   And all in celebration of our little men!

I’ll be sharing a tutorial on how to make a soft toy.  What will that be?  I have some ideas brewing, but I’d love to hear from you!  What would you like to see?  Something I’ve made in the past?  Something fresh?

Pirates?

Tell me!  I’ve got a couple weeks to pull my bit together, and I LOVE HEARING FROM YOU! :)

So I guess we’re alright for now.

Here’s the view from our kitchen window:

What you see here is snow falling on ice.  And some very long icicles forming on the neighbor’s house.

If we do lose power, we’ll be eating peanut butter or spinach & avocado on pita bread with oranges and cold-brewed coffee (Oh yeah, I’d better grind it up while I can!). We’ll bundle up in blankets, color in coloring books, and play Scrabble.

For now, I’d better take advantage of the hot water, the stove, and the coffee grinder.

Stay warm & safe, friends!

Over Thanksgiving, Emily did a little surgery on her best friend, Yellow P. Bear (A.K.A. Pooh).  While visiting her Bibi and Papa Joe, she found the scissors and snip-snip-snipped him on his back, tummy, and head.  Now what you need to know is that P. Bear is very special.  He’s been her favorite and her best since she turned 1, and she has rarely slept one night without him.

So something had to be done.

But it had to be done with Emily’s approval and not during bedtime or alone time.

So together we chose what colors would look best on P. Bear, and she monitored all my stitching with equal parts concern and admiration.  Here is the result of our restorative surgery:

Nothing like a little TLC to enhance a relationship.  Emily went to bed staring lovingly at P. Bear, and–I feel certain–loving me a little more too. :)

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

It was a good year, I do believe!

As promised, here’s the soldier I made for Jacob.  This was a quick project I found on Ric-Rac, and she’s not kidding when she calls him a One Hour Softie.

I also made Jillian, my sister-in-law, a “Keep Calm” sign.  Someone, somewhere in my life was bound to get one of these as a gift… seeing as how I’ve been obsessed with the mantra and all.  She happens to be a grad student, and we went to England with that part of our family.  So it seemed fitting. :)

These are the handmade gifts I made this year: granny square ornaments, a soldier, a WWII sign, and a Tic-Tac-Toe game.  It all feels a bit Cath Kidston to me, but I do love Cath Kidston and am decidedly okay with that. :)

Happy New Year, everyone!!!

We’re about to celebrate Christmas as a tiny family tonight, but I thought I’d hop on here and share the Tic-Tac-Toe board and pieces I made for Emily.

The board can double as a potholder in her play kitchen.

In fact, I kind of like it for myself and thought about stealing it. ;)

I also made this little soldier for Jacob at the last minute.  So last minute that I wrapped him up about 5 minutes ago.  I’ll have to take pictures later.

Merry Christmas!

My birthday was Tuesday, and I am 29 now.  I think it may be a scarier age than 30.  It’s the end of something: my twenties.  A lot happened in this decade of my life.  I earned my college degree, got married, moved halfway across the US, had babies, started a blog, bought a house, started another blog, put a house on the market (any takers?), and all the while learned a myriad of homemaking skills.  I’ve been busy.  And yet.  And yet I feel compelled to make a list like Jordan Ferney’s 30 Things Before I’m 30.  And then when I turn 30, maybe I can just relax. ;)

I woke up sick on my birthday but felt better by the evening.  So Evan took me to the mall.  Where I felt like a 15 year old all over again.  I even shopped like one, spending most of my time at Forever 21 buying skinny jeans and leggings and then letting Evan put it on his card like we don’t share a bank account.  True story.

[Circa 1984: That’s me on the far right, having a joint birthday party with my sister and cousin.  I must have been turning 3 or 4, and that’s a Strawberry Shortcake strawberry shortcake birthday cake.  Love it.]

By Wednesday, I was feeling well enough to get my craft on.  So I made some pretty little plaques for the shop.

Happy Birthday to me! :)