The birthday boy and his sister...

 Here he is!  The little man on his big day wearing his commemorative shirt!  Sweet little angel.

I went to see the birthday boy today and his mom was telling me she can't find a navy headband for her daughter.  She goes to Catholic school, so she wears a uniform and accessories must match. I found a covered headband at Dollar General today, removed the covering, and added my own navy grosgrain ribbon!  I just hope it's not too big for her.....and that the adhesive I used STICKS!

Somebody's turning 2!

 My friend's son will be 2 years old this weekend. He loves Dora and Diego.  I could not find any Diego fabric, but there were several Dora options.  Unfortunately, the Dora fabrics were kind of girly.  So, I used Boots and this little star to make him a shirt to celebrate the big day.

 Luckily, I kept this "2" pattern from an earlier project, so really, the hard part was done.

Birthday cake

Made with apple sauce, water, and an egg white. Perfect.

Birthday blanket

So, I did kind of have these blankets in mind for Christmas presents, but with a friend's birthday coming this month, I am making this for her. The problem with this one is, I want to finish it today....as in, RIGHT NOW. Unfortunately, I have to work and train today, but all I want to do is see this blanket workup and know if I need to go get extra yarn or not!
I'm really excited about this though because I think my friend will love that I made it for her.

Claudette's birthday!

I am a little ashamed of this, but it was Claudette's birthday gift and cake this year. One year, this was her cake and gift. For starters, I'm blaming my unreliable oven. This was supposed to be a mini layer cake, but when I turned out the first layer onto the cooling rack and the mushy, unbaked batter center fell out, well, it became a one layer cake. Although I had another cake mix, I just didn't have time to deal with starting from scratch. She seemed genuinely happy as she's someone who would've been happy receiving a stick of gum. But, to top it off, of course I could not find a candle in this house to stick in it or toothpicks to keep the plastic wrap from sticking to it, so I resorted to cutting a blue straw in thirds and using that. Worked well and didn't look too bad. Score one for ingenuity!!
In her little bag is a Panera gift card and some Crabtree and Evelyn hand renewal stuff for gardeners.

Another green gift bag

A cuter one, in my opinion! This bag is special to the gift getter because I used HER scarf for the tie. She gave me a whole bag of them hoping I might be able to use them.

Green Birthday Bag

I know it LOOKS brown, but this is a "green" birthday bag because hopefully it will be reused and therefore be environmentally friendly! The ribbon reads: HAPPY BIRTHDAY. Below, a tiny shot of the inside.

The Banner

Is done. It needed to get done, but I just have not been able to get to it. Finally tonight, I finished working around 8 pm and forced myself to get on this. I have to go to the post office tomorrow too, so it was even more incentive to complete this. The "birthday" will of course look like the "happy" but was not dry enough to hang, but you get the idea. Ahhhh......done!

Every picture tells a story, don't it??

Just a little musical reference to make my brother proud and because I don't have any time for an elaborate word post, just pics.
New baby.....


Birthday gift.....I hope ponchos are cool!
It's fleece and needs a little finish work but while I was at it....
And, finally, HALLOWEEN!! I was dying to use that purple sparkle ric rack ever since I used it on an apron. The body is this awesome red sparkle plastic material. For Halloween, I think you should be able to get away with anything:)

Choc-o-LOT!

It's our dog sitter's birthday. I can't believe this cake turned out. It may be the most beautiful thing I've ever made, if I do say so myself. It also may have more chocolate in one sliver than anyone should consume in a lifetime, but what the heck, it's her birthday, not time to be health-conscious.

Paying it forward....

When my husband turned 25, I got him this cool t-shirt. When I turned 25, I took it back! Seeming to always be in the wrong place at the wrong time, or just being disorganized really, I've missed my cousins' 25th birthdays and other chances to pass this on someone who is 25. Well, I've enjoyed it for 3 years now (eh HEM!) and I'm passing it on to my lucky little friend who is turning a quarter of a century in about a week. She'll get a cool, broken-in t-shirt, a gift bag made especially for her, and probably a lower car insurance premium! WAHOO!! She really has more excitement later this year when she gets married!!
What does this mean for the first-used scarf bag? Well, that's up for grabs until it goes to some other birthday girl!

MINE!

My iron was naughty, so, this is mine! I usually think I'm going to keep one, but then know that I have to pretty much constantly run a going out of business sale and "everything must go!" Or, I try to retain the philosophy that I learned at my first real job: "everything's for sale!" The owner of the ice cream shop where I worked longer than I should admit, used to make me take his truck everytime I had to run an errand for him. Why? Because it was FOR SALE. Not really, but if someone wanted it, it would be. I am posting this bag even though my iron spit crappy, Pinckney, non-distilled water (yes, I know better but sometimes use poor judgement) on the back of it, because it's a different shape than I usually use--more rectangular than square. It is 7" tall and about 11" wide and I'll carry it and make my mom proud by advertising for myself, all the time easily carrying it "good" side out.
I have to be careful sharing my iron woes though with my birthday right around the corner. I don't need or want a new iron (I NEED to be more careful), I want, maybe even NEED this... Or, if you have a second, check this out! Oh, and crank your volume and rock out. I don't know know who is standing next to my car at the end, but, NO that's not me....yet! And, this really weighs much heavier on the NEED scale than the Mini, which is truly a want.

Identifying the problem.....

So, if you've been here before, you know I complain, whine even, about my inability to take photos, well, good photos. Exhibit A: they're unclear, fuzzy if you will.....

Then there's the problem of getting things in the picture that dont' belong. Or, do you think there's nothing extra in this one? I was kind of thinking there was.
Oh, there it is again. And, to think I used to call him little brown.

UGH! He tricked me! I thought he walked away for good.
Well, this is what it is. It's a softie. It's meant to have a handcrafted look as it's all hand-sewn. For me, it's the practice I need sewing by hand. I'm liking it more and more. It's also good for me because these take much longer than doing something on the machine, so they're an excellent practice in patience! Now, back to better photos.

Good intentions

So, another birthday! This little bag has the gift inside-perfume. I thought why use a store bought, paper bag or wrapping when I can make a cute little birthday bag that can be reused?! A gift that keeps on giving, no?? I thought it was so cute and if I can say so myself, this was crafted to perfection, and I'm really not just saying that. I measured, pressed, changed thread colors, the whole 9. Well, at least she liked the perfume (and I'll leave it at that. And, I'm reminded not everyone is really that into handmade things, nor do they appreciate them, so I gotta get over it.....).

Bag #2 of the day. (Bag #3 is actually in the works, but I was delayed for the dinner party at which bag#1 was not appreciated, but I'm not bitter or anything.) I really love this one! It has a velcro closure, but best of all, it has rick rack! I'm a sucker for rick rack and since I don't know that I can get away with it on my clothes at my age, I'm loving it on this bag!
****This just in........

Bag #3! Click it to see the special embellishments. I was having trouble getting a decent photo of them, I may need to invest in a new camera. This bag closes with velcro. I have a new closure to experiment with tomorrow and am hoping for another productive day despite the one hour time loss:(

Happy Birthday Mom!

Today is my mom's birthday! I've talked to her several times and know she's having a good day. Although I didn't get to see her today, I know I will tomorrow and I think we're both o.k. with that. Someone though, is a little distraught over not getting a piece of cake, giving her a birthday kiss, or something......

Wendy Healy

I know, it looks like Broooke Shields, but if you've seen the new show "Lipstick Jungle", you know this is Wendy Healy. And, depending on how long you've known me, you know my maiden is Healy. On the show, Wendy has a daughter named Maddie. Now, if you really know me, you know that to be one of my nicknames. So, there is the significance of this gift bag. Obviously, I used the cover of Fitness magazine featuring Wendy Healy, eh hem, Brooke Shields, laminated it with a special material used for sewing projects, and made the rest out of fabric. It would make a good lunch bag, gift bag, or catch-all type bag in the car, the bathroom, or whatever. The fun part is, there's one for everyone!! One time I made a bag entirely out of People magazines for my mom. It was cool and she still has it on display in her bedroom. For my newly pregnant friend, I think I'm going to make her one out of Parents magazine or the like and put a special new mom gift inside. Any more ideas? I'm always open!! Or, send me a magazine!

The inside:

And back:

A real cupcake!

Happy Birthday, Josh!!!

I was going for the less is more cake until he saw it....."no frosting on the bottom?", "do you have any left?"......

No, but, I guess I can find some even though it was really something that should've been done before the top, it is his birthday! So, while I'm totally disappointed in the job, he's glad he got more frosting and that's all that matters. In hoping to make the lower piping a little less sorry-looking, I added fish to the "sea". (blue is the birthday boy's favorite color)

Another attempt....

Still trying to figure out the perfect cake, or in this case, cupcake! There's a birthday at work this week, hence the Happy Birthday on the cake plate. What a boring household--I have no candles! UGH! I really wanted to put a candle in the center of this one to make it a little more convincing that it is in fact a cupcake! But, since there are never enough hours in the day, this one got beaded sprinkles again. This one is slightly improved with scent! It has a vanilla bean scent that actually smells like cake! While I'm making one cupcake, I'm thinking of the next. I was thinking today that although these are probably a little silly, they could really come in handy. They're just kind of fun to have around and pull out to make someone's day a little more special. Even better, this cake will never get stale or mold so it can show up birthday after birthday, at the breakfast table, someone's desk at work, or even at your friend's gym locker and then they can pass it on once it has brought them a good day.

Green cupcake wrapper? YES! I am so ready for Spring! It's 10 degrees and there's more snow on the way.....

Confection #2.....

Another crocheted confection. This one sits so pretty because it's filled with rice! I used cotton yarn for the icing to make it look nice and creamy and personally, I really like the sprinkles!

Secondly, I'm posting a skirt I finally started working on. My mom has been waiting patiently for this all winter. Today, it finally hit me that since the fabric is wool, I better get to work on it. She's been so understanding while it's been put aside for wedding preparations and other personal interest projects. It started out having big circles in different grays all over it, but I obviously bagged that idea. So, then, I thought crocheted flowers would be cute. Then, bagged that idea too. Finally, I combined the ideas: fabric + flowers =

It still needs a zipper, a waistband, and a hem, so hopefully, she'll get to wear it before Spring. Sadly, I'm often easily distracted.

Happy Anniversary!!

Six years ago, I got to be the maid of honor in my best friend's wedding. In her honor, I made her this everlasting cake!! Afterall, she picked the best bridesmaid dresses I've ever seen or worn!