It's a Jolly Holiday!

A few weeks ago, we rented Mary Poppins from the library and watched it together as a family (holy long movie!) During the "jolly holiday" scene, JD got up and started dancing like Bert and Tenley and I giggled at his silly moves. It was such a fun moment!! That night I decided we HAD to be Mary Poppins and Bert for Halloween. Our kids would be such cute little penguins! Thus began the search for costumes... 

Gay, innocent, and heartless.

I mentioned before that I recently read J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan. The characters must have been on my mind a lot because they seemed like the only suitable thing we could be for Halloween. With less coaxing than I first anticipated I would need, I easily convinced JD to don green tights as part of his Peter costume (he loves Halloween. . .) And then, obviously, Tenley was Tinkerbell and I was Wendy. 

Here's a few darling pictures paired with some of my favorite quotes from the book. 

(Sorry the photos are terribly grainy and low quality. I can't seem to figure out why!)

"When the first baby laughed for the first time, its laugh broke into a thousand pieces, and they all went skipping about, and that was the beginning of fairies." -Peter

 "A cradle is such a nice homely thing to have about a house." -Wendy

"There is nothing more pleasant of an evening for you and me when the day's toil is over than to rest by the fire with the little ones near by." -Peter to Wendy

A Sunshine Dress.

Tenley has a new dress and I'm basically obsessed with it. Yellow. Polka-dotted. Handmade with love by Gracy. Can it get much better? I dare say it can not!

More hand towels

Remember last year when I made holiday hand towels? Well, there's a few more up in the shop now. 

Every time I make a batch of hand towels, I think, "I am never doing this again. This is too much work."  But then, before I know it, I've ruffled and sewn and stitched a few and I think, "These are too cute."  And then, I am happy.

Happy knowing I am capable of using my hands. Happy I can express myself creatively. Happy seeing orders being placed. Happy, on occasion, interacting with total strangers. Happy making a little extra money for my crafting budget. Happy thinking of how one of my creations might make somebody else's day.

The whole process is a lot of work, but it sure is happy work. 

Handmade with love.

A few friends and family members have requested an online tour of baby girls' room. So without further ado, here is our little orange, teal, and yellow wonderland! Almost every detail and project in her room was handmade or re-purposed with love, by her daddy or me.

A little break.

JD and I were both busy bees last night. He was studying for his first big Organic Chemistry test of the semester and I was getting things done off my creative checklist (. . . festive fall hand towels for the shop, birthday gift for my little sister, and a custom Halloween canvas for my aunt). We worked and studied side by side for a few hours and then decided to take a little break and indulge in some root beer floats. Yum! 

Ps. I would be lying if I said that was the only break we took. We also stopped every half hour or so to talk about baby names, look at our planners and try to guess when our girl is going to make her debut,  watch her move around in my belly, and daydream about what it is going to be like when she's here. It's  hard to think about much else when you're so close to becoming parents!

Pillow for Seester.

My little sister is in the process of re-doing her room. I wanted to make her something "cutesy" (that's her new favorite word). I attempted a rose pillow. I thought it would be pretty simple, but it turned out to be a huge, crying ordeal for me. Next time, I think I'll use a zipper to close off the back because it's so hard to try and sew up the back with all those petals in the way!

Step 1: Cut out two circles from felt (about the size you want the pillow to be). Cut about a two inch strip the same length as the circumfrence of the circle. Set one circle aside.

Step 2:  Cut as many semi-circles as you'd like. The more you cut, the fuller your rose will be.

Step 3: Arrange semi-circles on outer edge of the big circle you cut out in the beginning.

Step 4: Sew in a circular pattern, securing the petals to the felt circle.

Step 5: Repeat steps 3 & 4 as you work your way to the middle.

Step 6: Once you get to the middle, attempt hand-sewing a cluster for the center petals. Cheat by using hot-glue because you get so frustrated.

Step 7: Sew the long strip to the petal circle and then to the back circle leaving a good 5-8 inches to turn the pillow right-side out.

Step 8: Fill the pillow with stuffing.

Step 9: Use whatever method you can to close off the pillow.

I have to admit. . . during the process of making this pillow, I felt like a huge crafting failure because nothing seemed to be going right. However, Lindsey sure loves it with her new bedding. And the look on her face when she saw it pretty much makes up for all the heartache and frustration. :)

Love you, seester.

Cool find.

JD's parents are packing and cleaning their house in hopes of putting it up on the market soon. A few weeks ago we were up there and I came across this old sewing machine in their garage! They'd gotten it years ago at a garage sale, but had forgotten about it. Larry gave me permission to take it home with me and clean it up a bit. It was so dirty and yucky, but we polished and shined it right up. Now, it's a lovely addition to our room decor. I think it's absolutely gorgeous.

Side note:  A few months ago I bought a really nice Bernina sewing machine. Aside from my wedding ring, it's definitely the most expensive thing I own. My Dad helped pay for it and when he saw this White Rotary in my room, he leaned over to my Mom and whispered, "Tell me this isn't the sewing machine she spent all that money on." No, silly, this one is for decoration. . . the one I bought actually sews things. He's funny.

Craft space upgrade!

Remember the space I was using in our old apartment for crafting and creating? Well, I definitely got an upgrade when we moved! When we first visited our little basement, the previous owners took us on a brief tour. There was a landing area between the office and the apartment that was basically dead space before. They mentioned something about how "we could maybe fit a desk in here and create an office space or something." In my head, I was thinking, "THIS HAS SO MUCH POTENTIAL!" Fast forward a few weeks: I painted the space a ridiculously happy yellow, pulled in a few pieces of furniture, organized my craft stash, and created a totally useable and friendly workplace. It's so great.

I pulled some of the orange accents from our old living room to use as storage in my new workplace. I also painted the frames I covered in fabric a few months ago. There was too much black going on.

One of my favorite parts of the new space is the desk. When my mom was here, we used frog painting tape for the ceilings and trim in the living room and were impressed by the flawless straight lines. My mom suggested painting stripes in one of the rooms, but JD thought that idea was a little too crazy for right now. I decided to use the tape on a project he wouldn't care so much about. . . Hello new pretty striped desk! You make me giddy. 

If you are wondering about where I sit when I'm in here, the answer is: on a kitchen chair I pull in from the adjacent room. Things aren't exactly perfect yet, but I could still sit in this little corner of the apartment for hours and be happy. Where's the happy place in your home?

Baby girl onesies.

This week, I've been working on some baby girl onesies for Kylie's first daughter. Kylie was one of my closest friends growing up and it still seems so unreal to me she'll have a little baby this summer. The baby's name is going to be Evalyn (Daniel's dad, Evan + Kylie's dad, Lynn= Evalyn). So sweet. For Evalyn's gift, I picked out some plain white onesies at the store and fancied them up a bit.

I did yo-yo flowers, a pretty tree, and the Great State. It was such a fun excuse to use my machine.

(I was working on the tree onesie in the storage office earlier this week and a customer came in to sign up for a unit. She asked me if I had an etsy shop (!!) and I told her I didn't. Then, she asked me if I at least sold at craft fairs (!!) and I told her I didn't. Then she scolded me and told me I shouldn't be hiding my talents and I should start sharing what I can do with others. Dear lady, do you know how much your sweet comments meant to me? She gave me such a confidence boost about pursuing this little butterfly dream in the back of my mind of making things and selling them. I was so flattered by her I was literally turning rosy in the cheeks. New favorite customer!)

Kylie was cute as could be at her baby shower this morning- just as darling as she was on the Ellen Show (!!) She got tons of precious baby girl clothes and other sweet gifts. Her sister-in-laws put together lots of pretty decorations and yummy food. It was a lovely morning :)

Love you, Kylie.

Just practicing.

I took a sweater out of my drawer to wear and realized it was missing a button and was really rather fuzzy and not very cute. My first thought was to set it aside to donate. Then, I got bored one night this week when JD was at work and decided to make something out of it. I bought this book a few weeks ago to get ideas of things to make out of fabric scraps I already have and it has tons of cute ideas.

Before:After:

A cute little owl friend! I don't have kids yet, but I sure do enjoy making children's playtoys and listening to the Children's Folk Songs radio station on Pandora. I'm just practicing to be a mom, I guess.

Bernina love.

When JD was knocking last summer, he ran into a lady who sewed a lot. He chatted with her politely, mentioning his wife was interested in learning some sewing skills and wanted a sewing machine. She got real serious with him and said, "Now, listen young man. You do whatever you have to do to get her a Bernina. You have to go with Bernina." Knowing nothing about the sewing world, he dismissed her comments and almost forgot what she'd said.

Well...a few months later, I took a sewing class at BYU and really wanted to get a machine of my own. After talking to a few different people who sew regularly, I realized Bernina was probably the way to go if I was seriously interested and committed to sewing. I rallied my husband, parents, and grandparents together to support my cause and they all helped me purchase this beauty.

I haven't done much yet besides test a few different stitches, but

I'm already in love.

Home.

Everything about being in Texas made me happy. I didn't have a single thing to do except hang out with my family and help around the house. I went to Alamo Cafe with my parents and shopping with my momma. I watched Isaac play baseball and visited with EG and Papa. We went to lunch and I split a cheeseburger with my sister.

My sisters and my mom and I went out and ran errands. I found a pillow the perfect color of turqouise to put on our couch in Provo.. imagine my delight when I flipped it over to check its condition and found a "K" embroidered on it! Fate? or what? We took some fun pictures in a photobooth at Wal-mart and stopped by Half Price Books. . .where I bought a collection of novels by Jane Austen. I have never actually read anything by her, and figured it's about time I tackle some of the classics. (So look for updates on my progress!) I taught Isaac how to play war with a deck of cards and he was obsessed with playing. I played cards with Morgan and Isaac a lot after school. Morgan and my dad and I worked on a puzzle she picked for her room.

My dad grilled chicken, and I made mashed potatoes. I played a few games of Settlers of Catan with my parents and Jake. Our friends, Amy and Clint, came over to play later in the week. I watched a lot of Spurs games with my dad. One night, the whole family went to Dairy Queen for blizzards. I loved being together with all of them.

I'm sad I didn't get to see Lindsey as much as I would've liked. She is a busy-bee and had a lot of school work and stuff going on. It's too bad it wasn't summertime yet for the sibs! One day, my mom and I went to the fabric store to pick up some material because I wanted to make some skirts. The next day I spent the entire afternoon learning how to follow a pattern and sew a skirt from one of her friends. I made two really fun summer-y skirts and I can't wait to wear them. I went to the San Antonio temple with my mom and dad and

did some sealings for my ancestors. My mom has been doing some geneology. . .and it was really wonderful to be in that sacred place together! I also got my hair cut and highlighted. I had to get a few inches cut off. (Such a bummer! I wish my hair would just grow longggg!) I went to Austin to visit some friends and spend the night. The last night I was there my family went to Rudy's barbeque for dinner. So yummy! I love me some Texas bbq!

Mostly, Texas makes me happy because it's home. It's still a little weird to go back to Boerne, and not San Antonio. . .but the bottom line is- love is what makes a house a home. My family loves each other a lot. Sometimes my siblings argue, and sometimes they are mean to each other, but mostly, they are really kind and they stick up for each other. Morgan was having some drama with the boy she likes. . .and Isaac pretended his baseball was the boys' head, because quote "No one messes with my sister." I know that's a little bit cruel, but the point is he loves his sister and doesn't like to see her sad. Jake and Lindsey also have this special bond, where they share secrets and no one else can know. My family reads scriptures and prays together every morning. We didn't always do so great at that when I was younger. . .and I think it makes a difference. I know it makes a difference. I am grateful for the chance I have to build a life with JD. We are a happy little family and we love each other lots. But there's something about a busy house and lots of kids, and food and games and baseball in the heat, and homemade cookies, and warm Texas sunshine. . .something that pulls me home.

Registered.

Lately, I've been thinking about how much I wish I could sew. I've thought about taking a clothing construction class, but have been too intimidated to take any action. Finally, I've decided I must do it, or I'll regret it forever. I registered for the class just now.