Rose Wreath

Wow.  Can't believe how long it's been since my last post.  My brother was quick to remind me when I was visiting Seattle last weekend.  Apparently it's been over a month!

Between the last post and this one we took a week long trip to Austin, TX to visit Em, Cory and Jesse's parents.  It was nice.  A little colder than we planned, but a great trip.

Then, about three weeks later I took Jude to Seattle for a long weekend.  The weather was beautiful and the family was even better.

Somewhere in there (I think it was before we left for Texas) I made this wreath for my entryway.  It's a pretty little rose wreath and the inspiration came from Pinterest, but originally was pinned from here.  I like hers better than mine, but I guess that's why she's selling hers for $55.


 It took more roses than I thought, but they were fun to put together in small doses.  I googled for a tutorial on felt roses and came up with this one. 


The roses are quite simple and I can imagine there are some other fun uses for them.

P.S. Jude just figured out how to blow his nose into a kleenex while I was writing this post.  It's quite an eventful day around here.

Pocket Pants

I recently made a pair of pocket pants from the Sew Liberated book my darling cousin sent me. 

The pant pattern is adorable and easy.  But, I'm feeling kinda "eh" about the finished product.

I think I chose the wrong fabric.  I love this fabric - I think it's perfect for a little boy, but the style of pant and the plaid make them them look kinda clowny.  A skinny pant may have been a better choice.

I might be able to pair them with a tiny black sweater vest for a wedding this summer. We'll see.



Second, I found the pockets to be a bit "poochy" in front. I ended up sewing down the top third of the pocket to the pant. Makes for a much better fit in the front. Unfortunately, these pictures were taken before that small edit.

All in all, I think I'll try this pattern at least one more time. Hopefully my fabric choice will make for a better pant next time.

Happy Love Day!

Last week Jude and I made valentines for his grandparents and great grandmas. It was a simple little design that incorporated Jude's drawings.

I pulled out red and pink watercolor pens, colored pencils and markers. I threw in a blue too just for a little more excitement.

He quickly went to work and even drew a bit on his belly before he was finished.

He preferred the technique I like to call "whack and splatter", which created an unfortunate looking valentine. Red watercolor pen + splatter = bloody valentine. Eek. Oh well. We sent them anyway.


I cut out a heart in red cardstock to wrap around his drawings.

Click on the picture below for the full splatter effect.

Nice. Hope you have a happy Halloween Valentine's day!

Attempting Some Winter Fun

Occasionally I have the energy to attempt some creative fun with Jude when I get home from work in the afternoon. For the days that I'm up for it I've got a pretty good track record for keeping him entertained - at least I think so. But, one day last week my efforts were a total bust.

We hadn't played outside at all this winter, and since we're experiencing the warmest winter on record (tied with the winter in 1918) in Iowa that just didn't seem right. So, we put on our snow pants and boots and went outside.

I was hoping for some puddle jumping or snow stomping and didn't get either. This 20 month old was just not interested. At all.

Weird. Was he in a bad mood? Is it a phase? Is he a total wuss? Not sure.

We went back inside and I tried plan B for creative fun.

I saw this recipe for Jello Playdough on Pinterest awhile ago and it looked like fun. We replaced the snow pants with an apron and got to work.

We made green and purple.


The recipe made a large batch of each. Perfect smell and texture. They turned out just as good as I was hoping. I highly recommend it.

But . . . Jude would have nothing to do with it. I don't think he touched either one. Literally. Didn't even touch it. Apparently the mason jars were more fun. Humf.

Don't say I never did nothin' for ya, kid.

I stored them in mason jars and they're still soft and pliable today. Not sure how long it will last, but hopefully long enough for him to actually enjoy it someday. No guarantees.

Raglan Tee

For my 30th birthday I invited some friends over for a little day of craftiness. It was absolutely perfect. One friend got out her colored pencils, another knitted, another cut out some sewing projects and I sewed.

Crafting among friends is one of my favorite things. It was a perfect way to celebrate my birthday!

That day I worked on this raglan tee. What a simple and fun project! I got my inspiration here.

I used an old graphic tee from Jesse and drafted my pattern using these instructions..

The sleeves turned out a little tight above the elbows. I'm not sure how that happened, but I'll need to tweak my pattern the next time around.

It's hard to see the pattern in the pictures above. Here's what it really looks like.

Don't mind the yogurt stains. I was too lazy to wash it and take the pictures on another day.

Urban Hoodie

Whose kid is that? He's adorable. Oh, that's right. He's mine and I tell him everyday that I'm a lucky mama.

It's mostly true until he throws a fit in public, at church, while I'm holding a fresh cup of coffee and can't wrap my arms around him to force him in the right direction. In those moments I just tell him very quietly and sternly that he'd "better get up right now and listen to his mama" and try my hardest not to make a really big scene, although that's impossible. Nothing like the pastor's wife and the pastor's kid getting into a scuffle in the lobby.

I'm still lucky.
So, I've had this little pattern floating around in my brain for while. It's the urban hoodie pattern and come to find out . . . it's only $6! The pattern comes in sizes 6 mos to 5T. I think it would look great in all of those sizes. In fact, I can find this little number useful in every season. So $6 is a great deal for one size and it's like I robbed the place to get 6 sizes in one pattern. You should go buy it now, you really should.

I put this picture in here just because I'm in love with it. You really can't see the sweatshirt at all.

I used the leftover red knit from his Christmas pajamas last year. And, I lined it with some great khaki stripe that I found on sale at Joann's awhile back.

I used the 2T pattern and on his small 20 month old body (26% for weight/40ish% for height) it fits him well. It's a little long in both the body and sleeves, but it should fit well for a good 6-9 months I would think. It probably will get us through summer.

What a great, casual style. I'll definitely be making more!

P.S. Jude recognized himself and said, "Jude!" while I was creating this post! It's the first time he's used his name without a little prodding from us. How fun!

A Christmas Knock-off

This Christmas I had the pleasure of sending gifts to my twin sister, Em, and her husband. She's fun to have for Christmas because I pretty much buy whatever I would love and it's well received. Course, the same could be said about any of my sisters, really.

Around Thanksgiving she was here and we were "pinning" together. We ran across an image of this. So cute, right?!

Even though I would love to support the American handmade artist I couldn't swing $100+ for a Christmas gift. So, I thought, "I'll make that". (Why do we sewers do this to ourselves? It's like a competition to see how crazy we can make ourselves.)

I drew up a pattern and ended up making four versions. The third was right and that's the one I sent to her. The hood and collar don't look exactly like the original I was going for and I couldn't figure out how to get them "wider" and still keep it all one piece. Still don't know the answer, but I like the pattern I came up with.

The one I'm wearing is version 4 - I made it after Christmas and am keeping it. Merry Christmas to me. It's a perfect winter piece - comfy for lounging or casual for work.


By the way, you would die if you knew how many pictures I took of myself in the mirror. More often than not it was a picture of the door knob with me smiling, out-of-focus in the background. Good times.