Now that it's over

I guess it's safe to share pics of some of the gifts I made this year :)

Not sure if I've mentioned it or not, but I started knitting this year & I am completely addicted. Living in Illinois, I had a few hat requests this year.

The above fish hat belongs to the hubby & I cannot believe the amount of requests I've had for these things now!!



An ear flap hat for my stepdad.

Beret & dropstitch scarf set for Grandma D.
Hooters pj's for the eldest man child.
Mario tee for the youngest man child.
Hudson Hat in Harley colors for my Pops.
Hudson Hat in "rainbow" for the eldest girl child. She designed it herself :)

We haven't had our Christmas with the inlaws yet, so I have a few more gifts to share next week.
I also ran out of knitting time & gave my mom an IOU. Luckily she's crafty & very understanding. I should have a cowl & some fingerless gloves finished up for her in the next week or so.

The Winners Are In!!!

The girls just drew names for my etsy prize giveaway and the winners are.....

Girl prize - zacatecas
Boy prize - JessAnnT
Mama prize - elphaba71

I will be contacting you all in a bit to get shipping info & will get them all in the mail tomorrow :)

And, random.org chose comment #5 Congrats Snarky Mom!! I'll email you in a bit to get your address as well.

It's giveaway time!

Want to win this cute little monster? All you have to do is leave a comment & tell me what your favorite Christmas ornament is & why :)


Today is also the last day to earn an entry into my etsy giveaway. You can still earn an entry until 11:59pm pacific time with each single item purchased. I will be listing a few new things throughout the day as well.

Names will be drawn for each giveaway on Thursday morning :)

Last Day

To get that special letter from Santa!! AND, they're 15% off as well :-)
You could also get one from Rudolph, Frosty or Mrs. Claus as well!!

Custom Updates

I'm going to start keeping track here of the progress of my custom orders.

These will be in the mail tomorrow:

Maddielayne-3 Christmas stockings

GoJagsWins-Twirl skirt & the tee you set me to match

emric2278-Thing 1 & Thing 2 Crossover Set

I'll get pics up in the am, so you can peek if you want to ;-) I will also be posting another giveaway tomorrow.

Miss Fancy, your coasters will be on the way Monday.

I greatly appreciate your business & look forward to working with you all again next year.

Next year, I'm going to start taking Tuesdays off & will not even be turning the computer on that day, at least that's the plan.

Etsy Christmas Prize Package Drawing

I figured it was probably time to give you a little hint at what will be included in my etsy drawing prize packages. I'm not going to tell everything, but I will give you a couple hints ;-)

In case you have no clue what I'm talking about, I am going to give away 3 wonderful prize packages in December. Each item in the package will be hand made by me. Some are items similar to things I have stocked & some will be complete surprises!! Every single item you purchase from my etsy shop between now & December 15th will get you one entry into the drawing. Winners will be posted here on December 17th, items will ship via UPS to guarantee Christmas delivery!!

Each prize package will come to in a very festive package, you may want to hang with care.

The mama package will be sure to get the recipient cooking in style.

The boys prize package will bring out the monster in your little man (not the scary kind).

The girls prize package goes perfect with a spot of tea & also includes a little something to hang from the tree.

These are just a few little hints, I may post teasers pics between now & then, so stay tuned.

Custom listings count as well, so if you see something listed, but it's not your color/theme, feel free to contact me, I may just have what you're looking for :-)

Apples & Fabric

My inlaws live on a farm & have a wonderful fruit tree orchard behind their house. Every year, at least one tree protests & refuses to produce any fruit, well this year, the apple trees made up for the others shortcomings.

Yesterday was a day of apple baking & I must say, the Apple Peeler, Corer, Slicer from Pampered Chef is the probably the best invention EVER! It saved me hours of peeling & slicing apples for the abundance of pies we made yesterday. It takes about 30 seconds to finish an apple & the little one's thrilled that they could help crank the handle.

My house smells scrumptious & we now have pies stocked for Thanksgiving, Christmas & a few just because occasions. We also have enough applesauce to last until next harvest! I am quite happy to announce that I finally found something to use those itty bitty cookie cutters that the kids HAD to have last year! They are the perfect size to use on the leftover crust pieces for pie decor.

I still have a basket of apples if anyone has a great apple recipe, please share it.

In the midst of my baking, I was pleasantly surprised to have the UPS man show up with a box of fabric that I ordered on Friday!! I guess 3 day select counts weekend days now as well :-) There is nothing better than a stack of beautiful fabrics fresh off the bolt. Swoon.
The Moda figgy pudding will become a quilt for us & perhaps a dress or two, if I decide to share.
The Lantern Bloom is mostly mine & will shortly become a mama skirt. The girls already have dresses from this line, so now it's my turn. I also have some scraps saved from my last batch & will more than likely transform them into a quilt as well.
I also got a bunch of Michael Miller's Christmas line as well, but the pink was turning almost blindingly neon with the flash (stupid cloudy days). Those are for custom orders, which I will post more about in a few days.

And the winner is

Jessica!!

Thanks for all the input ladies, I greatly appreciate it & have lots of new stuff in the works :-)

Opinions = Oven Mitts

Yes, you read that right & no I have not lost it. It's giveaway time & all you have to do is post a comment here telling me what handmade gift items you'd like to see in my etsy shop. Got a special theme or color scheme in mind, go ahead & post that too. I will choose a winner randomly on Sunday evening.



This is just the first of several giveaways I'll be having this holiday season, so keep your eyes open for the next blogaway. I'm also holding a fabulous giveaway in my etsy shop. For every item purchased from my etsy shop from today until December 15th, you're name will be put into a drawing for one of three handmade prize packages!! More details will be coming soon on what is included in the prize packages, but there will be one each for boys, girls & mamas!!

Major Reconstruction

I know I've been MIA for awhile, but I've been working my tail off trying to build up some inventory for my online shops. I've also started homeschooling our 2 oldest daughters, it's just preschool, but we are all having so much fun & C is even starting to recognize words!!

Babycakes is 5 months old already & is such a joy. She is the sweetest little thing & by far the easiest of the 3 (or maybe I've just mellowed out a bit more lol).

From now until mid December, I will be stocking my etsy shop like mad, so be sure to keep checking back. I've got lots of great gift items in the works, as well as embroidered holiday gear for the kiddos.

After the holidays, I will be focusing on stocking cloth diapers & woolies.

I'll be cleaning up my blog this week & holding a giveaway, so stay tuned :-)

I'm Back!

Wow, have the last 7 weeks flown by! I can't believe the baby is almost 2 months old, it just doesn't seem possible. I've still been sewing like crazy, just haven't had much time to post. Now that E is somewhat on a schedule, I should be able to update on a regular basis. Yay!

Here's a few things I've been working on, as well as planning a fall line for my etsy shop.

First, is this adorable patchy Dr. Seuss set that was a custom order. I just love how it turned out, but it used up the last of my beloved yardage, sigh. I plan to use the few scraps I have left to eventually make myself a quilt.
Next, is this cute little newborn romper made to match an apron knot dress I made awhile back for Miss Lucy's big sis.
Also for baby Lucy, this was made from a pottery barn crib skirt! I just adore it & cannot wait to see modeled pics ;)
This is a very belated baby gift for Miss Charlotte. Hopefully, she'll be able to wear it a few times before it's too small.
These newborn gowns are my latest addiction, I will be adding several of them to my etsy shop this weekend, it both boy & girl prints, so be sure to check out the shop if you're interested, they will each include a matching beanie hat.


I've also been making more cloth diapers for our wee one. I am completely hooked on these & I blame you Kristen :-)

Catching Up

A couple custom items for a friends daughter

Fitted Diaper Stash for Ella

Items I sent out for a Baby Swap on Sewingmamas




Goodies I got back from the Baby Swap
Only 2 more days till baby, so it may be awhile until I update again <3

Only 3 Weeks Left!!!

Until I will be mommy to 3, well 5 really, but I can only take credit for 3 of them.

This pregnancy has FLOWN by & I must admit that I am NOT ready for Ella's arrival yet. There is still so much that has to be done & so many projects I want/need to finish first.

I've had a nasty cold for the last week & a half that put me out of commission for a few days, so now I have to play catch up on top of the things that were already planned.

This weekend, I will post some pics of the projects we've been working on, lots of painting & sewing been going on & an attempt at knitting that was less than successful.

Stash Game day 2 ~ Chickadees

I spent the better part of yesterday cutting out several items for my stash game sewing. I decided it was finally time to cut into my beloved chickadee fabric. I wish I had more, but I love how everything has turned out so far.

I made 2 matching Olivia dresses for Cassidy & Sophia. Cassidy had one on before I had a chance to finish the hems lol. I did eventually get her to take it off long enough to finish it up.

Then, I just had to make another pair of undies. I just love how simply & comfy (according to Cassidy) these are. It's the That*Darn*Kat pattern, you can get it here in her etsy shop :-) It's a wonderful pattern to use up your scraps on!
Last, but surely not least is another fitted diaper for baby Ella. I am becoming addicted to making these, I especially love the bamboo fabrics I'm using for the inside layers. Miss Ella is going to have one pampered little tushie <3

Let the Stash Game Begin!

Starting tomorrow, there will be a stash game in progress on sewingmamas. I'm super excited to join in on this one, because I NEED to make a newborn diaper stash for baby Ella. I also need to work on a spring & summer wardrobe for Cassidy & Sophia as well as nursing essentials for myself. A diaper bag would be nice too, but I'm not going to push it lol.

I have spent the last week tracing patterns & organizing the fabrics I plan to use & I am ready to get started. I even plan to cut into some of the yummy knits I've been hording for the past couple years.

I've already made a few things to practice new patterns, including this recon of a Gymbo blanket! I can't believe how much I was able to squeeze out of it. There was also another pair of undies, but Cassidy grabbed them as soon as they were finished, so no pic. (a 3 piece newborn outfit, diaper, pair of nursing pads & 2 undies!)


I made this from the latest kids edition of Ottobre magazine. I was VERY intimidated by these patterns for awhile, I'm so glad I finally took the plunge, it was not nearly as bad as I had made it out to be.


Lots more to come between now & the 12th, so stay tuned :-)

Thing 1 & Thing 2

Dr. Seuss Twin Sets
Originally uploaded by pinkebody

How cute are these girls?

When I was asked to create these sets, I was absolutely thrilled. Dr. Seuss is my all time favorite & I had so much fun working on these. I've got about 8 hours invested in each set & it was worth EVERY minute! Especially after seeing the joy in these adorable little faces.

Custom designers wanted

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Team Spirit

This adorable Vida dress was a custom order for a Hawkeye loving mama I know. As soon as she asked what I could do in the teams colors, I instantly thought of the Taxi line from Timeless Treasures. I just love all the prints in the collection & was so excited to have an excuse to use them :-)

I did something a bit different with this dress & made it so it can be worn 2ways. The straps knot in the front & the back, so it's like having 2 dresses in one. Hope you like it Gena!

Fabric Hound Giveaway!

Yay, One of my favorite online shops is having a goody giveaway!

You can check it out here or click the free stoffe button in my sidebar.

National Bankruptcy Day is Coming

And I realize that some of you have no idea what I'm talking about or what can be done about it. Patty of ModKidsBoutique has written a much better post than I could have written, so I'm going to direct you there to read more on the subject. She has included some great links to get our voices heard!

I have written my Senator & Congressman, tho I did not like the response I received from good old Dick Durbin. Hopefully, if enough people voice their opinion, these big wig political types (that have no concept of what it's like to be a stay at home mom trying to make some extra $$ to pay for things such as diapers & food) will take another look at the terrible way this law is written.

Now, I am ALL for protecting our children & fully agree that something needs to be done to keep the lead levels down, but hurting the small businesses that ARE making safer toys is not the answer.

A few fancy things

My friend Allison sent me a couple dresses to recon as well as a sheet & a table runner to "surprise her" with a dress or two. Here's what I came up with, as well as a little surprise for her :) She had mentioned she needed new oven mitts, so I made her a mis-matched pair.

Hope you like everything Miss Fancy Pants.

Better late than never

Here's a few more Christmas gifts I made. Our last get together was on New Years Day. I, of course, procrastinated, so I was up till 3 am finishing up gifts. I didn't take pics of everything, but managed to finish 6 pair of fleece pj pants, 2 fleece scarfs, 2 purses, 1 appliqued sweatshirt & 1 lonely dollop on New Years eve. Not too shabby, but I've decided to start working on Christmas gifts in February this year, to avoid the last minute rush.


Sweatshirt for BIL
purse for SIL
for other SIL
Coasters for mom
Coasters for MIL
And a lonely dollop of poo for my nephew Brett lol. I bought this book & my boys decided I just HAD to make it for their older cousin. My 2 younger nephews have each requested one for their bdays this year. I had no idea a dollop of poo would make such a great gift!