I LOVE MY WIFE!

I love my wife SO much! I can't begin to tell the reasons why. I am whole when she is around. She is definitely the better half.
Dannie I love you so much glad we found each other!

Norma Jean the Crafting Queen

I'm writing this post in honor of a wonderful lady who taught me so many things-Norma Jean. She was a very loving woman who treated everyone like family. She was 82 years old, but had the spirit to rival any 20 year old. She had so much life and so much love to give. She taught me, at a very young age, how to sew. You could say she gave me my start. She didn't teach me everything I know, but she taught me many things-in crafting and life. Norma Jean passed away on Thursday June 14th. Losing her has been very painful. Remembering the life she lived has made me re-evaluate my own. Have I been as loving and generous and kind as she was? Have I treated others with the same attitude and respect that she did? Have I jumped at the opportunity to serve others like she did? Have I enhanced my skills and retained as much knowledge as she did? I'm ashamed to say the answer is probably no on most counts, but I certainly plan to remedy this problem. I will be forever grateful for her example to me. I am proud to be her granddaughter. I have so many fond memories of her that I will cherish forever. I really can't put into words what she means to me and how much I'm going to miss her.

Dadoo very lovingly stated at her viewing, "Don't think of her just passing away, think of it as God needed one amazing quilt." What a fantastic way to put this into perspective! My grandmother was the queen of crafting. She ALWAYS had a project she was working on. Her sewing room is still in disarray from four or five projects she was working on. When she wasn't down in her sewing room, she had a needlepoint or some other needle work waiting for her by the couch. When she wasn't working on her needlepoint, she was painting. That woman was amazing! She had such a knack for crafts! It seriously only took one lesson and she picked up the craft in a snap! She was a very talented lady. I learned so many things about my grandmother in the last week than I ever thought possible. I felt like I didn't really know her at all. I feel a lot of guilt and resentment for not having spent more time with her than I did. It's just motivation to spend more time with my grandfather and Dadoo's grandmother (who's name is also Norma ;)). I've made a promise to my grandmother that I will do more sewing and crafting and hone my skills. I promised her that I will pass on my knowledge and love of crafting to my Pumpkin. I know she's proud of me and I know I will see her again someday.

I love you, Norma Jean the Crafting Queen <3

Sweet Holland

I keep forgetting to post pictures of a few things I made back in February for a friend who just recently had her 5th baby. When I found out she was pregnant, I knew I just HAD to make her something. She told me that all her girls clothes and items have become 'well-worn' over the years. I told her I wanted to make something for her and she said, "You'll have to make this baby fun for me!" Well.....challenge accepted!

First, I made her a carseat cover (big surprise, right?!), but I didn't want this to be just some ordinary cover. I found the cutest fabric at Brook's on Main St. in Bountiful and the moment I saw it I knew I had to use it for my friend. I also used a different pattern, if you will, for the cover than I normally use and it turned out so cute! I wanted to keep it for myself!

Second, I crocheted a sweet little dress that I had recently bought the pattern for from my favorite Mon Petit Violon on etsy.com which can be purchased here :) It was a brand new pattern and I took this as an opportunity to try it out. Another success! I also crocheted a pair of matching booties also by Mon Petit Violon (which can be found here) and sewed a pair of regular ballet flats with ribbon ties as well.

Third, I made her a pair of peep toe sandals that was also a new pattern from my other favorite--ithinksew.com! The pattern can be purchased here.

Fourth, I tried my hand at making a baby mobile. I actually made this with no intent of giving it to anyone in particular, but it turned out pretty cute and I decided to give it to my friend.

Last, but not least, I made a cute little headband. I not only made one for the baby, but I made one for my friend and all her other girls :)

My friend was overjoyed when she received everything and that makes me love my hobbies that much more. The things I do can be to me a bit overwhelming at times and sometimes I feel like I just don't have the time to keep up with the babies, birthdays, weddings, my full-time job as a momma and my actual full-time job, and my blog. Seeing everyone's reaction to what they receive specially made for them, though, is what renews my passion for what I do every time. Needless to say, I made this baby fun for her and then some :)

Princess Sophia

Sitting here at a baby shower for my cousin and his glowingly beautiful wife, I realized its been a really long while since my last post. Of course, I made the gift I gave them and would like to share some pictures of what I made.

I found flowers by the yard at JoAnn's and bought some to sew onto onesies as well as some open toed sandals the pattern from which was purchased at ithinksew.com.

Busy as a Bee

OK so I lied about posting more to keep up with all the things I've been making since the holidays. I've taken on more projects than I had previously expected. I have three babies for friends and family that I have been 'preparing' for, so to speak, and so far I've only managed to complete items for two. On top of that I've had work, my husband, my VERY busy toddler, and family birthdays. Which brings me to the main reason for this post. My sister, jana's, birthday is coming up and I've  made her something special. She's been working on accent pieces for her living room recently and I decided to help out by making her a throw pillow I saw on Pinterest. Its very simple to make and so very cute. I really hope she likes it :)

The Emily Bag

My mom found this awesome website called IThinkSew.com that has some super cute sewing patterns for reasonable prices. They were having a 50% off sale at the time we discovered the site and I ended up buying 9 different patterns :) One of those patterns is The Emily Bag. My mom had mentioned she really liked the bag so I purchased the pattern with the intention of making one for her. The following day I dragged her to the fabric store and had her pick out 2 coordinating fabrics she liked.

So I set out to make the bag, never having made something this complex before. I admit there were moments when I thought What the heck did I get myself into? or This makes absolutely no sense at all!, but I persevered and finished the bag. Pumpkin is definitely a girly-girl because she LOVED toting Grammy's bag around :)


If you would like to purchase this pattern, click here, or for the main webpage, click here.

The Holidays Are FINALLY Over!

Sorry for my absence over the last couple months. The holidays were super busy what with work, making gifts, family parties, and just spending time with my VERY active 14-month-old. I may not have had time to post, but I made sure to take pictures of what I was working on and just to show you how nice I am, I'm even posting links to where you can purchase the different patterns I've used :) You're welcome!







The first thing I have in store for everyone is the cowl I made for my mom, mother-in-law, sisters, and sisters-in-law. In total, I have made 8 cowls, although, 2 have not yet been given because one sister-in-law lives in Arizona and I haven't had a chance to mail it yet and the another sister-in-law was out of town for Christmas and I just haven't given it to her because I keep forgetting :/ I purchased the knitting pattern for this on etsy.com for a reasonable price and it is surprisingly easy to make, even for a novice knitter like myself. If you would like to purchase it, you can do so here.




Next in line, is this cute little hat I made for our friends' new baby boy. This is called the Jack & Jill hat by Izzy & Ivy Designs. I posted pictures of the carseat cover I made for Baby Bear a few months ago and this hat is made from the same material I used for his cover. I also crocheted him a Bear Beanie, but unfortunately I forgot to take pictures of it. There's really nothing special about it. It's just a beanie with little ears on it so you can imagine what it looks like.



Next, is a pair of hats I actually made back in September, but never gathered the ambition to take the photo off of my phone to post it. It's called the Uptown Girl beanie. This pattern I also purchased on etsy.com for a reasonable price and you can purchase it here.




Next, is a small tutorial on making your own grippy socks. If you're like me, you probably have a pile of little toddler socks with no grips on the bottom, thus making your toddler slip and slide all over the kitchen floor every time they come toddling in!



Materials needed:
Clean socks (obviously)
Puff Paint (can be purchased at Walmart in the yarn and jewelry section for 97 cents for each color)


Step 1:
Lay your socks out flat making sure the bottom is facing up and centered.









Step 2:
Shake your puff paint well and apply in design of your choice on the bottom of your little one's socks. Be generous with the application because I discovered if there's not a good amount on there, it won't have that rubbery consistency and defeats the purpose of 'no-slip' socks :)




Step 3:
Lay socks flat (and out of the reach of your very curious child) and let dry for at least 4 hours.








Now you have your very own grippy socks! You can even do this with your own socks and with crocheted or sewn booties you've made or been given!


Next, I made a pair of mittens for my Pumpkin since the weather has gotten colder. I found a free pattern for them on Red Heart's website. They are super cute and super easy to make. They also have no thumbs so it's quite humorous to watch Pumpkin try to pick something up. I'm such a mean mom :)




Last, but not least (for this post, anyway) is the gift I gave my dad, Pop Pop, for Christmas. He had stated be wanted a new cordless drill, but wanted a gift card for it instead so he could pick out the drill he wanted. Me, being the smart-alec that I am, I printed off a picture of a cordless drill onto cardstock and cut out the picture. After I cut out the picture, I secured it to another piece of cardstock making sure to leave the 'battery pack' open and cut that out as well. All that was left to do was slip the gift card into the 'battery pack' and tie a ribbon on the handle of the drill. My dad got a kick of it and thought I was quite clever :)

So there you have it. This is what I've been up to this past holiday season and I must say that I'm quite proud of myself for accomplishing so much. Hopefully next year I'll get an earlier start on things and my holiday won't be so jam-packed. And I promise, now that I have more free time, I will try to post more often...toddler permitting :)