A $3,290.00 Dress

I fell in love with this Valentino dress from Nordstrom a while back.  But . . . cough . . . it costs $3,2900.00.  Not to mention it's not modest.  But look at how gorgeous it is.  I love the green.  I love the lace.  And with the black, it's just fabulous!  I love Nordstroms.  Just sayin.  This was one of those moments though, when I thought it was worth a try in the copying department.

 Thanks to my mom, I now have the modest version for my very own.  And I'm quite proud to say it cost 1% of the price of the original.  Not too shabby eh?

You can't really tell in the picture, but my belt is a lovely little patent leather bow belt I found at Nordstrom Rack.  (I told you I liked Nordstroms).  It just seemed like it was meant for my dress.

It was fun to have my mom sewing for me again.  Just like the good old days.  My other favorite dress she ever made me was also lace.  Lace the entire length.  I just can't believe that that one was almost ten years ago.  Thanks for sewing for me mom.  It's kind of fun to have a Valentino inspired dress.  It made Easter especially nice.

Ethan's Dinosaur

A mom cannot sew a toy for one of her children without sewing one for the other too.  I mean, I'm not sure what I was thinking when I made Madeline that doll.  So when Ethan searched through the same book and found this dino, I kinda had to sew it for him.  He's pretty pudgy and cute, standing at about 9 inches tall.  I would have liked to have made him green with spots or something, but this is the fabric Ethan picked out and since I didn't actually have any green with spots anyway, I was glad he was happy with what he found in my drawers.  Easier and free that way.

 Both kids have their hearts set on more things in that book they want me to sew for them, but I told them I was done sewing toys for a time.

Daisy

Thursday morning after Ethan left for school, Madeline turned to me and said, "Mommy, I want you to sew me a new dolly today.  Come on Mom, let's go look at the book and I'll pick the one I want, okay?"  I was laughing at this and figured that looking through my Wee Wonderfuls Doll book sounded more appealing than playing Strawberry Shortcake anyway, so down we went.  I was trying to convince her that I probably couldn't make a doll TODAY because I might not have the right fabric and such, but she was pretty set on it.  

We looked through the book, she picked her favorite doll, and then we started going through fabric.  Turns out I had all the fabrics to make it and so I had no excuse.  She sat with me and picked it all out, helped trace the pattern pieces, handed me pins, and helped stuff the doll.  And there you go, meet Daisy (also named by Madeline):

 I think she turned out pretty cute.  It's totally not my style to sew something so spur of the moment, especially when I have all these self-made plans of things I think I need to do before the baby comes.  But it was really fun, and it made Miss Madeline oh so happy.

Bruno Bear

Meet Bruno Bear:

 I saw him on Pinterest (free pattern here), and thought it seemed like a really fun project.  I took a few liberties on the pattern, mostly because I'm new to crochet and the pattern wasn't as specific as a beginner could have used, but I was happy with how he turned out.  I've never crocheted a toy before and it was really fun.

I sewed the pillow too, but that was a long time ago.  It's been downstairs, but seemed to go nicely on the glider in the baby's room.

A Glider Makeover

When I decided I wanted to reshape and recover my glider rocker, I had no idea how BIG of a project it would be.  In the end, I've decided this is not the type of project for me.  I doubt I'll ever attempt something like this again.  I don't like sewing without a pattern, and I much prefer sewing cute dolls rather than giant confusing chair covers!  Having said that though, I'm SO GLAD it's done.  And I am happy with it.  A great shout out for my husband and my mom who helped me with this and made it possible.

Here is my original glider:

 Wrong colors and not very exciting.  Not to mention that I never liked the hard arm rests - quite uncomfortable when feeding a babe.

And here is the new and improved glider:

 I reshaped the back and arms using a sheet of thin board I bought from The Home Depot.  I first made pattern pieces out of poster board and then made Todd cut them all out on the board - a tricky procedure since my pieces were pretty random.  Thanks again honey!  Then I attached them to each other and the chair using a various assortment of supplies . . . followed by foam, batting, stuffing, and a lining made of white fabric.  Then came the part where my mom helped me by making a rough pattern with me out of scrap fabric.

By the time I was finishing the real cover, I was pretty tired of the project and I have to admit I let a few crooked seams slide.   :)  They're in the back anyway.

Now I have a super soft glider that matches my baby's room!  Whew!

Elephant Mobile

I saw this mobile right around the time I found out I was having a boy and really liked it.  It was, of course, out of my price range but that didn't stop me from making my own version!  I can see why the original was $115 now because it did take quite a bit of time, but in the end, I'm really happy with it and I think it was worth the effort.  It was fun to make the pattern, and change a few minor things to make it work just right for my nursery.  

 Cute little sleepy elephants . . .

 Right now, it's hanging off a hanger from the ceiling fan, but eventually it will go over the crib.

Nursing Apron

This nursing apron was really a simple project and something I didn't actually have to make because I have one from when Madeline was a baby.  But it was very pink and while I didn't want to have some baby boy print, I did want something that didn't scream girl.

 When I saw this fabric, I was in love.  I'm totally turning in my mom, falling in love with fabric.  I can now spend hours in fabric stores walking around holding bolts of fabric and wondering what I should make with it just so I can buy some.  Never mind the fact that this particular piece was the most expensive per yard in the store . . . that's probably why I loved it so much!

Even with the higher priced fabric, it still ended up being way less expensive than buying one of these. And it took less than an hour to make.  Totally worth it.

Pretty for me, blue for baby.

Baby Quilt

I finished my baby quilt!  It was so fun to make, but I can't take all the credit this time around . . . I took it to be quilted at The Quilt Shop by my house!  Best $30 I've spent in a while! 

 When I got the quilt back, I bound it and then added this little elephant on the back corner.  I made the pattern off a picture of a mobile I saw online!

 I'm currently copying the mobile too . . . but until that's done, I'll just snuggle with the blanket!

January's Ten Things

January was a busy month for me!  I always get the clean/rearrange bug in January, and this year it was no different!  I'm tired!  But I have lots to smile about when thinking about January!

 '1.  I cleaned my master closet, my linen closet, my pantry, a storage closet downstairs, and scrubbed my dishwasher and washing machine this month!  Things are looking good!
2.  I enjoyed several fabulous outings.  A dinner party with couples, a Relief Society Party full of laughs, and a spontaneous night out at the movies with my friend on a week night!
3.  We got to go sledding, and it was wonderful fun.

 4.  I moved my sewing room into what we lovingly called "the purple and gray room" making it my favorite room in the house!

5.  I had fun sewing this cute and TEENY TINY necklace (also from Wee Wonderfuls):

 6.  Madeline's birthday was, of course, a major highlight of the month!

7.  The kids went back to school after a very long (and fun) break!  But hey, mom's like breaks too and they happen when the kiddos are in school!

8.  We did A LOT of painting.  First in our bathroom make-over and second in a bedroom downstairs.  Then we moved the kids into NEW rooms.  But that will have to wait for another day!  Here's a preview:

 9.  My brother came to town on business and I get to see him while he's here.  If you've met my brother, you know exactly why that would make me smile.  He IS happiness to me.

10.  My friend gave me my first knitting lesson yesterday.  It seems harder than crochet, but I can tell I will enjoy it.  As soon as I get out of the awkward bubbly uneven stage . . .  :)

Mermaidens for Madeline

I'm having a hard time believing it, but tomorrow my baby turns 4!  I'm as excited as she is for her pink princess party.  And I've been spending this month gathering the pink things required to make it just right.  I've also been doing a little sewing for her:

 When I got the Wee Wonderfuls book for Christmas, Madeline saw Mermaiden on the cover and sighed longingly.  I couldn't wait to get my hands into this book anyway, so I tried my hand at Mermaiden.

I made the pink one first and then figured one wasn't enough.  Surely she would want a friend!  I'm excited to give these to Madeline tomorrow and glad that I finished them in the nick of time.

My New Sewing Room

When we moved into our house, one of the main areas in the basement looked like this:

 And before long, I had transformed it into a space that I really loved.  I painted it my favorite colors and it just seemed to be a comfortable place.  I even bought chairs and repainted the wood black to make a little sitting area.  But it never got used.  It looked nice, but never got used.

 So just last week, we decided to make the space my sewing room!  This is why I refinished my sewing machine table a while back.  And I am loving the change!  Even though there is no door to close, it is nice to have a space all my own.  And decorated the way I chose.

 In time, I hope to clean out the junk from under the stairs and keep some of my bins in there to free up the space (like the one under my work table).  And I also hope to get a window well liner so I can look at something pretty instead of the dirty gray window well.  But all in good time!

For now, I'm just happy to have put this space to good use. 

This has been all part of our downstairs transformation!  The bathroom was next and that transformation was HUGE.  Pictures of that to come.  Other plans are in the works.  The new year always brings out the "clean up, change things around, fix and paint" bug in Todd and me.  And I've sure been enjoying it.

A Groovy Christmas

I'm officially excited for Christmas now!!  My Christmas sewing is DONE!  And for Madeline, that means she is going to have a very Groovy Christmas.  Have you ever heard of Groovy Girls?  Madeline loves these fun colorful dolls.  She has five and enjoys switching their clothes around among them and playing with them.  So this year, instead of buying more of the pricey outfits for them, I decided to make a new outfit for each of her Groovy Girls.  Below you can see two of her dolls and all five of the outfits I made for them:

 And while I was at it, I decided to make some sleeping bags for them too.  Madeline likes playing camping and what's more fun than groovy sleeping bags, right?

 The girls seem to like them:

 And to finish off the sewingfest, I made this little groovy rug to accent their home.  It goes well with the groovy chairs I made for her this summer.

(pictured here wearing their store-bought clothes)

Overall, I'm really happy with how all these things turned out.  Kind of a lot of work for someone who doesn't know how to make up patterns, but fun all the same.  And like I said, I'm finally excited for Christmas.  I think she'll really have fun with these.

Ready for the 24th

I might not be ready for Christmas just yet, but I finally am ready for Christmas Eve:

My kids will be wearing these jammies for Christmas!  I bought the shirts at H&M and sewed the little penguins on to match the pants I made.  Hopefully I can finish my last big sewing project in the next day or two so I can have a couple days to relax!

Are you ready for Christmas?

The Dinosaur Party

The Banner was hung:

 And Dinosaur Balloons decorated the room:

 The games were ready:

 Pin the Horn on the Triceratops drawn by my Dad!  And Don't Eat Rex!  (Other's were Musical Dinosaurs and Stegosaurus, Stegosaurus, T-Rex.)

 We even had dino plates and napkins!

 But the most exciting part, by far, was the hunt for REAL Dinosaur Eggs!

 Just watch out for the Mean Mama!

 Every kid at the party successfully found an egg without getting caught, and each got to take home one of these little guys to watch grow:

Success.

More Sewing Projects

For my nephew, Quinn:

It's Sewing Time of the Year

While it's true that I sew every single month, I always end up sewing more, and for other people, come November and December.  Here's a fun project I made for my niece (pictured in the post below) for Christmas:

She'll be quite a cute little baker in this.  Hope she doesn't see my blog!  ;)

A Little Fall Decor

In September, I sewed this table runner.  I wanted to have a little more Autumn-ness in my house this year.  The colors make me happy and in the mood for sweaters, boots, pumpkin bread and soup.

 Ethan, however, was not nearly as impressed with my fall decor.  He looked around and said you couldn't even tell that there were any decorations at all!  Besides the table runner (which has found a more permanent home across my piano due to the large number of projects done on my table each day), the mantle is all there is in the way of decorating.

We do have four pumpkins on our porch from Grandpa's pumpkin patch, but because they are outside, Ethan says they don't count! 

Perhaps I'll have to collect a few more things!  I adore the copper pumpkins and Tai Pan, but I don't adore the price tag.  Oh well, Ethan will just have to wait until Christmas for a house full of decor.  And seeing how fast things are going this year, it won't take long!