no sew applique shirt

A few weeks ago I made Lizzy an shirt with a girls face on it. I really love how it turned out! I did some sewing to make the eyes nose and mouth but no sewing at all to attach it to the shirt!

 It's ironed on!

 

Trent took the nice camera ( a Nikon D-80 if you're curious) with him today, to take photos for paintings, so the kid's digital camera will have to do for today.  I actually really like how the photos look with this camera. (I did have to warm them up a bit in Photoshop though.)

 I am for sure going to post about how I did it as soon as I get some quality time with the nice camera. 

Chinese Birthday Party

Last summer my daughter Lizzy had a Chinese themed Birthday party. For almost the entire year she had been in love with all things China. She pretty much knew that China would be the theme for her birthday 6 months ahead of time. 2011 was the year when everyone had small family birthdays and fairly simple decorations. We try to have low key parties every other year so the kids don't expect a huge circus of a bash every year, plus it  gives me a needed party planning break. :)

It was super simple and really fun! I purchased the takeout boxes,the fortune cookies, and the chop sticks at the dollar store. What really made the party special was when we ate the ramen noodles in the take out boxes with chop sticks! Oh and if you don't have a birthday to plan this would be a great Chinese New Year party idea.

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In love with the cowl scarf

I have been on a knitting and crocheting kick these past few weeks. I have especially been in love with making cowl scarves. I made one for my sister Mer, and I also made one for my little sister. I didn't stop there either, my daughter has one and so do I! :) I have a few available on my Etsy shop right now if you want one, and If you want one in a different color just let me know and I'll be sure and make one to order just for you!

I am planning on selling patterns as well as finished products so if you knit or crochet be sure an check back soon. In fact, I just finished a new scarf I made as a knitting pattern prototype and I really like how it turned out! It is long, really stretchy, and can be worn three ways. I'll be sure and let you know when the pattern is ready and in my Little Lola's shop. For some reason you can't tell I'm 7 1/2 months pregnant in these photos and I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing. hmm.

stuff in the shop

I just recently added some still life prints and crocheted items to my Etsy shop Little Lolas. I plan on adding some crochet patterns as well. I am super excited because I am working on crocheted toy patterns and I can't wait to share them when they are finished!

thinking about valentines

I figure now is a good time to start thinking about Valentines Day. I am not really sure what I am going to do this year though. I don't want to decorate yet but I should start thinking of what I want to do for the kid's class valentines. As many of you know we home-school, so by "class" I mean Sunday school class.

 

Above is a photo I took last year when we made cute heart shaped sugar cookies. They were super yummy!
Honestly though, I am not really feeling the love for Valentines this year. Probably because last year we had a Valentines tree and decorations up right after New Years and I started hating the holiday since it was up for so long. This year we didn't do a Valentines tree and its nice because the house feels clean and organized. :) Sorry, I don't mean to sound like I'm hating on Valentines I really love it I am just not ready to go full force filling my house with cupids and glittered hearts. I think minimalism is my Valentines motto this year. You know the 'less is more" route.

If you want to see what we have done for Valentines crafts and decorating in the past click here. :)

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yummy yarn

 

I mentioned earlier this week that my mom sent me a huge box of yarn. It really was enormous! These 2 photos show approximately one 6th of all the yarn in that package! I am so excited to get started on some projects for the baby! :) I have plans for a granny square blanket and some baby layettes. The bright colored yarns are sure to become little crocheted dolls and toys eventually. I am so excited! once I finish a few I'll be sure and share the finished projects. :)

a last second birthday party

 My youngest son's 2nd birthday was in the middle of December and I'm ashamed to say it totally caught me off guard this year. I knew it was coming up all month but somehow when the day before came I realized I was under prepared. With the help of my daughter we somehow managed to get a good looking party thrown together!

  Lizzy was very helpful in choosing the colors of the steamers and putting them up by herslf. I made the fastest cake ever, cornflake marshmallow treats tossed into a bunt pan, & attempted to make orange frosting, but somehow it ended up being pink. It went great with the streamers so I went with it. The party hats were leftover from a party we had a few years ago.

The party decorations a cake were thrown together super fast but the thing I am most proud of is the super quick crochet doll I made of Perry the Platypus! He was instantly loved!

a simple gift

I made my sister Mer a crocheted circle cowl scarf for christmas and my little sis saw it and begged me to make one for her too. She picked out the yarn she wanted and mailed it to me the other day. I made it a  little different than Merrilee's (which I never did get a photo of). This one is made with a shell stitch and Merrilee's is a basic double crochet. I am mailing it off asap so be sure to check the mail in a few days little sis. :)

greatest form of flattery

Today we woke up to find that the delivery man had dropped off a great big package filled with yarn from my mom and sister-in-law (it was part of a family fund-raiser). In the package of yarn were a few after-Christmas presents, including a cute little toy digital camera. Lizzy immediately seized the opportunity, and continued taking photos for at least an hour; these are a few of the photos she shot. Without any prompting or suggestions, she took some very familiar-looking photos of things in my craft room. (Interestingly, the lower quality of the images kind of makes for a neat vintage-y Polaroid-esque feel).

Getting organized

My guest bedroom / craft room has just received a much needed cleaning and reorganizing. Maybe it's because I spent every night in there during the week leading up to Christmas. I practically sewed my fingers off in that room and got frustrated when I couldn't find something I really needed time after time.
 I probably should have taken some before pictures to show what this room looked like. It always looks the worst when I'm in the middle of a project, and I was working on at least 5 Christmas sewing projects simultaneously, and don't get me started on how many presents I wrapped in there! The shelving unit was a mess, the floor was covered with thread, wrapping paper and a little of this and that strewn about everywhere! Now I feel at peace when I'm in there, and I can actually find and reach everything I need! :)

My craft room has moved around a-lot through the years. Lets hop in a time machine and look at all its different stages.

In 2006 it was in a little corner of the TV room 

 Then in 2008 when we moved the kids room upstairs I moved my craft stuff into its own room.

 

In 2010, when Trent was getting ready for a big show and our house was quite literally overflowing with frames and shipping boxes, I donated my craft room to storing his paintings and frames, and my craft space was back in the corner of the TV room again. But I tried to make it feel new by adding an inspiration board. This desk is still there but is now used only for homeschooling and computer time (AKA netflix).

This spring Trent built a shed to store his frames and such, so I had my craft room back! It was a big mess and was pretty much begging to get reorganized.

I don't know if its nesting or the starting of a new year but I have spent the past weekend cleaning and organizing this room and I am determined to get my whole house organized and de-cluttered before this baby girl comes in March!

Here's to a new year full of clean organized spaces!

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