Christmas Clean Up

Hi Laura,
So I think I can finally post a few Christmas gifts I made. Sorry its been so long. Life got in the way. Gosh that makes me feel old.

I made this pillow with a book pocket for R. I know it's a little big, but he will grow into it.
I made this Heart on a String hat from http://susanbanderson.blogspot.com/. It was really quick and fun! I hope it keeps M. little head warm!

This was for my knitting friend, she is a regular friend too, but we mostly knit. Feather and fan pattern in a mystery yarn from Maryland Sheep and Wool. Put it on your calendars people!

All the little girls, got doll blankets this year. It was the perfect year. Just two fat quarters and a little batting with a quick hand tie.

Thanks all for now. Until spring comes!

Miss you!

Kate

New Year, New Babies, New Crafts

Hi Laura!
Happy New Year to you too! I love your repurposed leggins. They are super cute on V- and earth friendly to boot!

I hope to post more in the 2011 too! I think there will be A LOT of baby items, as I currently have 10 pregnant friends! I got my very own little camera for Christmas from my hubby so the posts should be more frequent. But before moving forward into crafting for 2011, I have to recap the latter part of 2010.


Since the begining of December 2 babies have joined us, AND my mom, sisters and I hosted a shower for my cousin who is due anytime now!

My friend Cecili, welcomed Catherine early this December. Cecili is an Air Force Major, so camo is more her scene then pink flowers and bows. So I whipped up a few pink things for her little girl.

This blanket, one yard of fleece cotton and one yard regular cotton. One side girly, one side not too much :)

I also gave her one of each of these burp clothes. So fast and fun to make. Prefolded cloth diaper and a scrap big enough to fit down the center, with a zig zag stich all around. I love it! The other two went to my cousin, Heather. More about her gifts below.

I gave Cecili two of these animal burp clothes, the other two went to my friend Melina who welcomed Canyon on Dec 23rd.

I LOVE these cupcake hats! I gave Cecili the yellow one (just a little girly) and Heather the pink one (a lot girly).

I have to admit I went a little over board with my cousins fall themed shower. If I could have done more I would have! So in addition to the 4 sewen burp cloths and pink cupcake hat from above, I also made her bibs with appliques.

And a basket weave blanket WITH ruffles in Ravens purple!

For her shower I painted up these mini clothes pins for the "Don't Say Baby Game". They are pink and orange with poka dots!!!!

My sister Emily and I made these

And I made this... diaper wreath. It's WAY easier than a diaper cake and a lot cheaper!

Also this fall, my friend Susan at work got engaged and married. This towel with scrubbies was her bridal shower gift.

And of course a little charity is needed this time of year. My sister E and I picked names for kids from a local Baltimore elementry school and made them hats per their request. It was fun! Thank you Lovely Yarns! http://www.lovelyarns.com/

And finally! This little sweater was made for Megans 1st birthday out of the same yarn from her baby blanket. I guess I buy too much yarn! Oh well! I also get too may speeding tickets!

Well, thats a post to make up for all posts! I still have a few Christmas gifts to post, but since they have not all been given out yet that post will have to wait.

Happy 2011!

Kate

Repurposed Sweater into Leg Warmers

Kate,
I was inspired today during V's dance class. Another mom was in the waiting room with me and was telling me how she cut off her daugher's knee high socks to make leg warmers to keep her daughters legs warm coming to and from dance class. They were adorable. So of course, I had to run home and try it.

Luckily, I have a box of old clothes, either don't fit, too warn or stained, sitting in the laundry room for just this type of project. (Side note: Actually one of my goals is to go through the box this year and make lots of repurposed items - pillows, dresses, pants, bathing suit, etc.) I found an old striped sweater that would be perfect for this experiment and thanks for blog searching, found this blog to model off of http://createanddelegate.blogspot.com/2010/09/tutorial-make-sweater-better-asleg.html.

So I took this sweater

And cut the sleeves off, sewed in some elastic to the top part of the leg warmers and ta-da, they are done in no time (should have been 10 minutes, but with two kids curiously into my sewing machine, more like 30 minutes).

V was more than eager to try them on. I love having a little one who loves me making her things!

So that's how I quickly turned an unused sweater into a cute and practical item for my daughter. I'm tempted now to turn the rest of the sweater into something too, we shall see!

Look I actually posted something!!!! Here's to hoping there will be lots more to share soon, Laura

New Year, New Start

Wow! It's 2011! I can't believe how time has flown. I've been married 5 years, I have 2 kids, both growing quickly into little people. Where has the time gone? As I reflect back on the year, I am a little disappointed on how unaccomplished I feel. I always want to craft more, see more friends, enjoy life a little more. This year I'm dedicated to start new and try to do it all again. So this year, I do have some resolutions: (1) craft more, spend more time doing what I enjoy, more time decorating the house, making kids clothes and just enjoying the craft store (but without spending too much money!) (2) spend more time without the kids, meaning dedicating more time to my hubby, myself and my friends (3) enjoy the kids more, basically stop looking at each minute of the day waiting until I get some time alone at night, all in all, enjoying each moment of everyday, the stressful and the fun!

Now with those 3 goals laid out there, I hope that I will find more time to blog as well. Which technically goes right along with my resolutions - crafting more and having more time with friends (since you Kate, are my friend, and my partner in crafting!). We definately need to get back to crafting days, and I need to be better at calling and having more interesting things to talk about. So with this is the start of a fabulous year of enjoying life, crafting and friends!

I'm back, but a little behind.

Hi Laura,
I am sorry its been so long since I have written. This summer was very busy with lots and lots of travel! My husband and I traveled to South Africa for the world cup in June for several weeks, so no crafting there. And then most of July and August were super busy getting ready for a BIG work event held in early September in St. Petersburg Russia. Since then I have one busy bee! I hope to have lots to share over the next fews weeks. But to keep you tied over until then, here are few picture of my work from before I dropped off the map to travel the map.

This is the Eloise Eyelet Cardi I made for V's 3rd birthday. I just had to make her something hand knit. I know she is three, but this girl loves her handmade. Great job!!!! She is girl after my own heart. I think next year we can get her started with her own needles and yarn!!!
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/eloise-eyelet-cardi


This is a dragon I made for R's 1st birthday. Its from the same Knit Picks yarn his baby blanket was knitted out of. The original pattern name was Norberta, but I like to call him Norm. It seems slightly more masculin, but only slightly so.
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/norberta

Man I must your kids! They are both too cute!!!!

I have more pictures, but they are stuck on the camera. I hope to post again this week.

I know you have been a busy bee too. What are you up to?

Kate

Inspiration: I Spy Quilts

Kate,
It's me again! I'm back on a crafting role, hopefully I'll have to catch up again soon! :)

I had to post this inspiration. I remember you were going to make (I'm not sure if you ever finished them, I can't remember) "I Spy" inspired items. This blog (CraftHours) I follow features a dad (yes a DAD crafter!) who shows lots of options for I Spy quilts. I'm thinking I'm inspired to try this with a bunch of the scrap fabrics I have and I'm sure to collect more scraps.

Hope to see you soon!
Laura

I am alive...and crafting!

Kate,
WOW! It's been a long time since a post. Believe it or not, I have been up to some crafting this summer. I feel like you and I both have valid excuses for slacking off on the blog this summer. With you traveling to South Africa (so jealous!) and my hubby being away for most of the summer, there is little time or energy to keep up with the posting. But I promise, I am back! I need crafting to keep my sanity!

So what have I been up to this summer? Here's a few little things...

More snack bags and sandwich wraps for member of the MOMS Club. Just a little something I've been doing for the moms. Ecofriendly and super easy to whip up.

Yoga mat bag. This was my sister's birthday gift, including a new yoga mat.

A beach/sand toy bag. I whipped this up so cheap - less than $5 and in less than an hour. Thanks for Martha Stewart Crafts for the idea. This will be great for when we head on our beach vacation. Surprisingly I didn't already have one. I think a mesh bag is critical when having little kids.

Can't wait to see what you've been up to. And I will be posting again in the next two weeks with some more projects in the works.

Laura