Baby Shower Gifts

I had several babies to celebrate in January!! The pattern for the sweater came from Debbie Bliss' book "Essential Baby" I didn't use cashmerino, instead I went to HL and got the "I Love This Yarn" cotton in pink and brown.

The crate has hanging folders for each year of baby Maddie's life through 12th gradeto hold all of those art projects and mementos. Thanks for the idea from Becca of Blue Cricket Design.

My first attempt at digital collage

So I haven't shown many pictures of my house. I have never done the collage like so many of you have so I thought I would give it a try. We are sick here...bronchitis, double ear infections...ugh! Lots of couch time...glad I took these pictures a couple of weeks ago cuz you KNOW my house doesn't look this neat today!

Wet Mittens and Boots Solution

Ya see, I live up here in WI and this is what it looks like at my house right now...Our house was built in 1858. It is one of the older homes in our city. We had the maple floors redone a few years ago and they are one of my favorite features in the house so I try to take good care of them.
So I think I have shown this to you before but it was in the summer and you weren't thinking about mittens, gloves, and boots. I would love to say that this was my idea, but no, Martha thought of it first. To keep our wet stuff off of the hardwood floors I put out this boot tray with river rocks I bought at the dollar store.
The rocks drain the water off of the boots.

The shoe tree is great for the mittens. Set on a radiator they dry them quickly. Since I am a private music teacher I have MANY families in and out of my house daily. These solutions really save my hardwood floors. See my holiday decorating remnants. Don't worry, I am not one of those who keeps their tree up until March. I just haven't made it to the foyer yet. It was the first week back in school: I will get there...

Tis the Season to Knit!

I wish I could do this as often as the rest of you out here in blogland. It was a busy December filled with directing concerts, family gatherings, sledding and snow removal. One of the ONLY things I love about January is that I have more time to knit, sew, create and read. Here is my latest project. I plan to line these with fleece I got from the remnant bin at Wally. I used Bernat's free felted knit mittens. The pattern called for Lana but the yarn has been discontinued. I used some yarn from Knit Picks.

Christmas Decoration Exchange Party 2009

You have to understand I am not a big party attendee and I am certainly not one to throw parties but this WAS FUN! I sent out email invites and asked another friend to send out a bunch of invites. I made a fancy pants invitation in Publisher. I asked everyone to bring up to 5 decorations, ornaments, wreaths, lights, candles, etc., and a simple snack to share. I made tickets in Word using a lesson I learned on the web to help with the numbering. When guests arrived they filled the tables in the den and took tickets for the number of items they brought. We had a short devotional and then I started calling numbers. While some "shopped" others visited and got their snacks. Of course, I forgot to take pictures while everyone was here but this picture is of the food table decorations.
I know, very simple, real cranberries--they were 49 cents at Aldies. The candle holders were from SA-1.00 a piece! The silver tray was from GW-2.99 and the ice pieces were left overs from an arrangement I made about 6 yrs. ago. I used Bridge plates to serve the snacks. We had pretzels and dip, brie with cranberry chutney, garlic dip, spinach and artichoke dip and mmm...chocolate pie. The picture frame in this picture is one of the items I chose. I just kept calling numbers until everyone felt they had all they wanted. This is what was left...still some pretty good stuff, huh?
I am looking at the preview of this post and laughing because it looks like I am only 3 expecting people to show up... It was a small gathering-7 people. I just didn't take pictures until I talked to my best friend on the phone. She couldn't attend and wanted pictures. I had already washed half of the dishes and silverware. Too Funny!

PB knock off peace dove pillow

I am finally back with a project...

I have been gone for a while...school started, the flu has been going around ever since... the kids and hubby are super sick. UGH!
When I received the PB catalogue in the mail a few weeks ago I scoured it of course and marked pages. I love the contrast of red and white and fell in love with the dove pillow here. Apparently many others love it too because it is no longer available. Well, you can just make your own. Did you know that HL has embossed felt? Ok, well maybe I am late to the party because I got all excited when I found a pretty red color. I bought a remnant of white cotton at JF. I cut the fabric into two 12' squares. I created a dove template and a leaf template out of paper and traced the shapes on the red felt. After cutting out the felt I glued the felt to the white cotton with this

It bonds REALLY well!! To add a more polished look and to protect the edges of curling, I used embroidery floss to blanket stitch the outlines of the shapes and the cut outs. When I was finished I sewed the two pieces together and filled the pillow with stuffing and voila! A cute pillow that will stay up until the end of February.

I have joined the Linky party over at Kimba's so head on over and take a peak at great ideas! Christmas decorating is around the corner.

Comfort Pack-super easy gift!

I have been wanting to make one of these packs for a while and finally got around to it. I bought a foot of flannel and created a pocket. I made a sack of muslin and poured the flax seed in and blind stitched the edge. The muslin pack fit into the flannel pocket and then I blind stitched it. A super easy, inexpensive project! I paid $1.86 for the flannel and $4.00 for the flax seed-I already had the muslin. I bought my flax seed in bulk at our local organic co-op. The reason for the flax is that the seeds are so small they really help the pack conform to your body. It also stays warm for a long time since flax is about 40% oil. You just pop the pack in the microwave for a few minutes for a hot pack or in the freezer for a cold pack. This one is a gift for a friend who starts chemo. today.