for Layla

Remember the owl I made from Tiny Yarn Animals?? Well, the girls perused that book several times over and they each picked an animal that I could make for them. Layla wanted a purple octopus, so I got to work to put it in her stocking. Next up is a pink and yellow fish for Natalie, which I started over on because I found a mistake in the instructions--eek! It will be worth it, though, these things are so fun to work on, while watching TV...when there's no laundry to fold, that is :)

AND, Layla's birthday is January 4th, soon after Christmas. I learned that first year to get her gift made or picked out before Christmas, or else she may get shafted a little bit ;) This year she really wanted a princess dress, so I hit the JoAnn clearance table while it was all an extra 1/2 off this last weekend (that's the only way I can afford this formal fabric!) and I scored these great purples for super cheap. The sash fabric is actually silk!!!

I found a Simplicity pattern (also on sale!) that doesn't have a zipper or closure. It's just elastic, but the belt gives it shape. The belt actually called for grommets, but I'm a smart mommy and didn't enjoy the thought of threading that ribbon through six grommets several times a day and determined that tying a bow would be much less irritating :) I think it's cute and I think she'll love it. We are going to have a dress-up party for her birthday, so boys and girls alike can come in their favorite dress-up clothes. I need ideas for a cake, though! I'm thinking some kind of Polly Pocket cake to go with the dress-up theme. Any ideas??

catching up

WOW, I'm a little bit behind :) I have lots to show you today. Lots of unrelated things, really, but that's okay. We have had some c-o-l-d days here in Colorado! I'm talking well below zero. See the frost on the window? That's on the INSIDE!!!

I could not let the girls play outside because it was just too cold, but that didn't stop them from getting their snow gear out. I love this picture of the girls.


Next off, gift wrap...I told you these things were unrelated. I LOVE Hobby Lobby's wrapping paper. It's $4 a roll when they put it 1/2 off, which it is now, and it is sturdy and thick and it has a convenient grid on the back and it lasts forever. I try to pick ones that are not necessarily Christmasy, so I can use them for all occasions throughout the year.


This is the super-cute tea towel my sister embroidered for me for my birthday! I always keep a tea towel next to my sink for drying dishes and this one is my new favorite. Isn't she good at embroidery? I should have taken a picture of the back too, because it's perfect, and that's the mark of a good embroiderer, right??


Casey was busy last Friday night, so after the kids were in bed, I got my scrapbooking stuff out. I need to get crackin' on the books for my youngest two, so I made this page for Layla's book. She took "chubby baby" to a whole new level, as you can see by that middle pic. Don't worry, she's totally average now :)



Last but not least, just in case you need yet another use for all those fabric scraps, my girls always have some good ideas :) They were entertained for several hours yesterday by my scraps, a cardboard box, their wooden blocks and their princesses. Very resourceful girls, I know :)



Hope your week was wonderful and your weekend is even better!!!

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boots

I finished these boot ornaments finally!! Well, I had to mail some gifts, so they really needed to get done. Actually, picking out the buttons was the fun part, so I was able to finish them up pretty fast. I really love them all, I had a hard time picking out one for our own tree. I ended up with the one above. Actually, I had a different one picked out, but Natalie changed it when I wasn't looking :) I'm happy with her choice.

This was my big finish for the week. Well, the only finish I can share here until after Christmas. Hop over to Sew & Tell Fridays (yes, I know I'm a day late) to see what some other fine bloggers finished!

yay! finally :)

I made my sister a quilt for her birthday (which was yesterday.) I've had it all done for a month and was SO excited to give it to her. She called yesterday when the box arrived and so I got to be on the phone with her when she opened it. She really loved it and I'm sooo happy about that of course :) I'm also happy that I can finally blog about it! I gave a sneak peek here and another little one here on accident, but I don't think she noticed ;)

This pattern is called a "Snowball" quilt. I bought the bird fabric first, after Jana and I received the same the same JoAnn quilt flyer in the mail and she told me how much she liked it that fabric. Then I came across this design and thought it would really showcase the birds without having to chop them up. I bought all the other fabrics to coordinate with the birds.


I happened upon this backing fabric on clearance at JoAnn! I had already done a once-over and didn't see anything that would work, but then came across this fabric stuck someplace weird :) It was perfect, it has all the right colors!

my star student

I started teaching my lovely friend Angela to sew a few things a couple of years ago. At the beginning of this past summer, she asked if I could help her make a quilt for her daughter's 16th b-day on December 1st and here is the result!!!! She did an awesome job, I am so proud :)

We used Oh, Fransson's instructions for her Mod Sampler quilt. The cutting instructions were really complicated for beginners, I thought, (only because I'm not a very organized quilter ;) so we sort of cut as we went and it worked out just fine. Don't you love the colors and fabrics she chose??

And of course, here's the back. Cool, eh???

Unrelated, but I love this pic of Kelby trying to put my lens cap back on, hehe.

broccoli soup and apple crisp

I am sooo excited about this new cookbook I got! My sister once bought me a year's subscription to Everyday Food magazine and I recently ordered it for another year, I love it so much. SO, when I had a 40% coupon at Barnes and Noble, I found this new cookbook, Great Food Fast, and it's one big compilation of recipes from the magazine, organized by season. AND, there is a picture of every single dish! which I love. I made two recipes from this book today and both were fabulous. Here's the one I made for lunch with some garlic bread:

Creamy Broccoli Soup
1 Tbl olive oil 1 medium onion, halved and sliced 1/8 tsp groudn nutmeg 4 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth 1/3 cup rolled oats 1.5 lbs. broccoli, stems cut off and florets separated

1. In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil over meduim-low heat. Add the onion; cook until softenend, 5 minutes. Add the nutmeg; cook until fragrant, 30 seconds.
2. Stir in the chicken broth, 1/5 cups water, the oats, and broccoli. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil; reduce the heat. Simmer until the broccoli is tender, 5-10 minutes.
3. Puree the soup in batches, filling the blender or food processor halfway. Return the soup to the pot., and season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.

Note: when blending hot food, allow the heat to escape to prevent spattering. Remove the cap from the hole of the blender's lid, and cover the hole with a dish towel while blending.


This is another great cookbook I got recently. Everything in it is really fresh and again, organized by season. I have been on the hunt for months for a good apple crisp recipe with no refined sugar and this one turned out great! Exactly what I've been looking for. The girls enjoyed it with some plain yogurt last night.

Apple Crisp

Filling:
12 apples (peeled, unpeeled or both), cored and sliced
1/4 cups pure maple syrup
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 Tbl whole wheat pastry flour (I used regular whole wheat flour, which worked fine)

Topping:
2 cups rolled oats
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1 Tbl ground cinnamon
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
1/2 cup canola oil

Preheat oven to 375.

To prepare filling, place apples in large bowl. Fold in syrup, cinnamon and currants. Sprinkle on flour and gently fold until combined. Spread mixture into 9x12 baking dish.

To make topping, use the same mixing bowl and combine oats, flour, nuts and cinnamon. In separate bowl, whisk together syrup and oil, add to dry ingredients and mix until crumbly. Spread topping evenly over apples, cover with foil and bake 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake an additional 20 minutes or until apples are cooked through. Remove from oven and serve.

Serves 8-10

busy! in a good way :)

Now that Thanksgiving is over, it's a flurry of Christmas preparation at our house, as I'm sure it probably is at many of your houses too. I've had most of my shopping done for awhile, since I've been picking up things when I see them for several months now. I'm excited to have some of my little boot ornaments done! I really think they're turning out cute :)


Kelby is a good little "helper" with the buttons, as you can see!

After a super-fun and tasty Thanksgiving day spent with some dear friends, we came home and set up our Christmas tree. It's little because Kelby is little and it's high up because Kelby will shake the ornaments off and then eat them :) This is the way we've been doing it since Natalie was a baby, but this is probably the last year for our little tree! Next year we can put up a big three with all our ornaments and actually put the presents underneath it and no one will eat them ;)


Natalie has not been into getting her picture taken lately (erg) but Layla was especially cooperative :)

Despite our Christmasy joy, my heart is a bit heavy today, after learning the news yesterday morning from some sweet friends that their first baby was born and then taken Home to be with our Heavenly Father. Please keep my friends in your prayers, that the peace of God will be with them and will guard their hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.