origami heart garland

I've always liked the idea of origami. When I was a child, I tried to become adept. I never did. I did become very good at making swans. Periodically, I will learn a new origami figure. These puffed hearts are fun and make wonderful garland.


I made these from the pages of a dictionary and strung them on jute twine.



You can find my tutorial at Suite101.

Circle Skirt from a Tablecloth

I saw this tablecloth at Goodwill today and I asked C if she would wear a skirt made out of it. She was dubious but said yes.





I woke her up for this!



But look at it spin!! She loves it. And I do too, it was ridiculously easy to make, you can find the tutorial I wrote at Suite101.

valentine's cards

padded valentine's day hearts

I really have fun making these hearts. They are simple but creative. I scan the images I use from a couple of old nursery rhymes and fairy tales books I have.

The tutorial is at Suite101.

works for me - clean noodles

The girls don’t care for cereal with milk (or at least they didn’t--K has finally developed a taste for it). Dry cereal is too dry. They don’t care for hot cereals and I don’t think things like pancakes and sausage are good for breakfast unless it is a treat.
Unfortunately, hot-buttered toast and pb sandwiches get old.



However, when the girls were little, I didn’t always make them eat the exact same thing as we adults. Sometimes, when I made something I would let them eat their noodles plain without sauce. C always called it clean noodles.




One day I decided that the basic ingredients in noodles and most cereals are the same. The big difference is that noodles aren’t loaded in sugar and don’t have extra vitamins, neither of which is an issue for me. The girls don’t need sugar and they get their vitamins from other, healthier foods.

So when the girls want something different for breakfast, they have clean noodles.

little bag for my niece G

This is just your basic square bottom bag with details added.

Christmas Robes

These robes are Simplicity 2746. I didn't use interfacing on the collar/band and so it doesn't lie as nicely as it could but once the girls are cuddled up in the robes, you can't really tell.



I just love the fabrics. :)

Crossover Baby Back Smock

I made these three smock's for my newest niece using a pattern from the Mad Quilter.

I love the pattern and how it turned out.

My sister and her husband are part of a family dairy farm.



I embroidered the apple and text for this smock.

cold toads

a t-shirt (but not) scarf

Yesterday, I took this polyester/spandex dress.



And made this scarf for C.








I used a tutorial from Ruffles & Stuff for a t-shirt scarf. I discovered that the knit blend I used was heavy and didn’t drape as fluffily. Since, C doesn’t need a super long scarf, I layered two sets of squares on top of each other.


The hat is one of my old hats. I like giving them to the girls. They love to wear them on the weekends when they don’t have school. This is one of C’s favorites right now.