Fall Leaves

I haven't really had a chance to decorate for fall but I have been enjoying the changing colors of the leaves though it seems to be taking a while. Today as I stood at the bus stop waiting for Colin, I noticed that only one tree on our street has changed color all the way to a magnificent orange. I wish I had my camera on me, but since I didn't I thought it would be fun to bring some of that color in to our home. After Colin's bus came we went over and gathered some leaves for our table, I really wasn't sure what to do with them. But I found a crystal bowl we received for our wedding and this is what I came up with. The plus is that it was completely free but the draw back in using real leaves is that they will dry out and have to be replaced every couple days. I won't light the candle it is just for looks I am not looking to start a fire in my house. If I had an electric one that would be fun to have in the middle.

Family Notebook

I have been struggling with organizing all my papers that I need to keep, they normally end up in a pile that I go through a couple times a week.  So when I saw this simple idea on the blog "The Gift Closet" I knew it would work perfect for us.  I needed a way to keep things simple and safe.  I have a pile of things Colin has done at school that eventually will probably have there own notebook but for right now this will work great.  There is a deferent section for my piles and I can always add more.  I finally sat down and made it last night between Colby's 15 min naps. But I got it done, now I just need to buy more page protectors.

Front Page

Contact & Medical Info

Colin's Section

Conner's section

Colby's section

Coupons

Craft Ideas

Chapter books

Colin is having his first book fair at his school and I am wondering what the first chapter books you read to your children were?  Why I ask is because I just realized that Colin follows stories really well.  Here is how it happened:  I borrowed "The Spiderwick Chronicles" on CD from the library to listen to around town. I haven't seen the movie yet and wanted to read the books first, since they are short, I figured it would be fun to listen to while running errands.  Colin loved listening to the story also.  If I had to rewind it when we got back in the car he would tell me that we had all ready heard that part.  I have read short picture books to them but I think that it would be fun to read a chapter book together. It would be something just for him and I, we would read a chapter before quiet time.  So what are some great books out there that a 4 almost 5 year old would enjoy? 

The Undercover Crate Tutorial

I have discovered another great craft blog called Paint in my Hair.  She has some cute ideas and tutorials.  One tutorial that I really want to try is these crate covers.  I think they would be so cute to keep all my magazines in, right now they are just piled on my coffee table. Or for the boys coloring books, ok so I know I could just go buy baskets but these can be unique and I get to sew.

Help I need Ideas for Halloween!

So I just realized how close October is and I haven't even thought of costumes yet. I would love to make them myself and have a theme for the boys. I am thinking that Colin will have his own ideas of what he wants to be. I am thinking I need some ideas that I can suggest to him. I am hoping to come up with something that Colin and Conner would love and that I could add Colby into. So please suggest any ideas that you have... and just for fun and because they are a sorta of crafts pictures of the boys previous costumes.

Halloween 2006 - Mario (Conner) & Luigi (Colin)

Halloween 2007 - Ewok (Conner) & Luke Skywalker (Colin)

Color Blocks

I made these fun color blocks for Conner so we could work on his colors.  I got the idea from Shelly of the 7layerstudio but she originally got it off the blog makingitfun.  Yes the same blog as the applique shirts is from.  I made them 5x5 thinking that 4x4 that they suggest would be to small. But now I am thinking 4x4 would have been fine.  The boys love them and hopefully Colby will enjoy them when he gets big enough to crawl around and grab things.

7 Layer Studio - Bow Tie Tutorial

So there is this amazing woman named Shelly that is actually one of my sister's friends from Hawaii.  When I was looking all over the internet for cute diaper bag/ purse ideas my sister sent me to her blog.  And she was nice enough to give me some tips on how she created her cute bags, that inspired my purses I posted about earlier.  She has some great tutorials and ideas for both girls and boys. But so far this is my favorite boy tutorial, the Bow Tie.  I have made bow ties out of fabric before and they aren't the easiest or quickest things to make.  So her ribbon bow ties are simple and very cute! I can't wait to find some awesome ribbon and make them for my boys.  I am thinking matching christmas, easter, 4th of july and any other holiday I can think off.

Receiving Blankets

My sister was asking about these receiving blankets that I made for Colby. I have to admit that I stole the idea from Jamie a friend that we lived next to for 4 years. She made the cutest ones for her daughter.  They are simple to make and are the perfect size to wrap a new baby in.  And I don't feel bad if they drop on the ground when Colby kicks it off of him while in the stroller or get spit up on.  I also make matching burp rags.

Materials:

1 1/4 yards of cozy flannel for each side, so all together you need 2 1/2 yards.

Thread

Instructions:

I cut off 10 inches from each piece of fabric to make the burp rags. 

Place right sides together and straight stitch around outside edge leaving a opening for turning. I leave about 5 inches to turn. Iron opening so it matches the sewn edge, then sew opening closed. I used a decorative stitch and sewed around entire edge again.  Then to hold the blanket in place I sew from corner to corner creating an X.  (The picture below shows edging and part of the X. Create burp rags the same way.

Homemade Pizza

So my sister makes the best homemade pizza and I finally made it for myself. It turned out great but I still think it taste better when she makes it.  I also made the mistake of grabbing low fat mozzarella cheese and it just didn't taste right or even melt right.  We had pepperoni and mushrooms on ours and the boys enjoyed helped making it.

Pizza Crust:
1 Tbsp. yeast
1 Cup warm water
1 tsp. sugar
3 Cups flour
1 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 Tbsp. Parmesan cheese

In small bowl or cup combine yeast, warm water, and sugar. Then mix and set aside. In large mixing bowl combine the rest of the ingredients. Then add yeast mixture and stir as much as possible with a spoon. Kneed the dough by hand until smooth. Roll out and layer with any toppings you wish. In the pizza above I had rolled out the dough bigger then the stone and put cheese into the crust. Usually the crust is not so thick. The longer you let the dough sit on the stone the more thick your crust will be. I prefer the thin crust...so I throw it into the oven fast.

Bake at 325 for 13 minutes - I usually broil it for 1-2 minutes just to make it crispy on the top.

Batman Shirts - Appliqued Shirts

So for months now Colin has been asking me to fix his batman shirt.  He received this shirt at a birthday party in Ellensburg over a year ago. Well the patch has been coming of for some time, and it was finally barley hanging in there.  This gave me the opportunity to try out some applique that I found on one of my craft blogs.  The blog is called makingitfun and there are tons of cute baby tutorials on the left side of her posts. One is for appliqued onesies which are just adorable. But I figured I could use it to fix Colin's shirt for him, and make one for Conner and Colby too.  I didn't have any fusible web which is like iron on stabilizer but double sided, so I just did without though next time I will use it. I found a batman template online and then just cut the material out and zigzagged around the fabric. The boys love their shirts and they love that Colby has one too.

Before

Conner and Colin enjoying their shirts

I used a 6 - 9 month shirt so Colby's is a little big right now.

Another Project for scraps

There is a great tutorial for these fun Scrap Bowls on dearfii blog.  I love them she just uses scraps an made cute easter bowls. I am thinking you can do these for the seasons or each holiday.  Maybe I will make one for our halloween candy! So now that I have this blog the items I want to make are starting to add up!!!

Sweater Apron

Green Kitchen: Craft Blog has a great tutorial for this Sweater Apron, I am dying to make it for Colin since he has to have an art smock for school and right now he is just using an old shirt. Unfortunately I don't have an sweaters I can cut up since they will be passed down to the younger boys. But Michelle is giving it away so maybe I will get lucky. If not I will have to go to goodwill and see if I can find a cute sweater to cut up.

Purses

I am on a purse kick right now.  I have scoured the internet looking at different styles and designs. This is my first design, I love these they are colorful and not to hard to make.  There are still some things that I will change about them but I have an idea to start selling them on Etsy a website that helps crafty people sell their items online.  I would love some input! I need to know what you look for in a purse, 2 straps or 1, pockets, do you like a flap to close or clasp.  If you have any suggestions leave a comment thanks.

Crazy Mom Quilts

I have been reading a blog called Crazy Mom Quilts for over 6 months now. She has some great tutorials and even step by step quilting squares that I love.  Now if I just had an unlimited supply of fabric.  But I am defiantly going to make one of these cute Checkbook Covers.  She has a great tutorial for them and I can't wait to try it out.  Also I can use some scraps to make them how great is that.

My Sanity

I hate the first post, I am not sure what to say.  First I guess I will just explain the blog.  I am a Mom of 3 boys and I love sewing over the last years I had started giving up on finding things to sew for my boys, besides vest and bow ties.  I really was lost, I wanted to create cute girly things, like dresses and cute clothes.  Then after finding out last winter that I was having another boy, I decided it didn't matter. I was going to just have to try harder and find things to create for them. And also to create some fun girl things so I could keep my sanity, so I started becoming addicted to craft blogs. I have over 40 in my feeds and I am constantly adding more.  My sister Joy convinced me I needed to start a craft/hobby blog separate from my family blog.  Since my third son was born I have done some sewing and will start with the items I have created this summer. Also I will be sharing some of my favorite blogs where I receive my inspirations. My gaol is to share one new craft blog and one new item I have created each week.  We will see how well I do.