Hooray for Applique!

I've been wanting to try appliqueing for awhile now, but have been too chicken up until I spotted this post on Chasing Cheerios a few weeks ago (as you can see, I changed it a bit). I found some inexpensive bags at the fabric store (I had a coupon!) and used some of my mom's scraps. I am SO pleased at the way Amelia's new library bag turned out! She loves it too!

Amelia even picked the fabric for hers. Did I mention it took me about 10 minutes and involved NO SEWING??

In fact, it was so easy, that I've already ventured into my next applique project. Stay tuned!

(Bean) Bag Lady

Well, Christmas preparations are in full force around the Ward household. I really, really hate to put Thanksgiving on the back burner, but this year I am feeling the need to get all of my Christmas stuff in order ASAP. For goodness sakes, I started my Christmas cards over the summer...

I have been working on these gifts for a few months now too. I originally saw the idea HERE and changed it slightly. Instead of painting on the letters, I opted to use the applique technique I have grown to know and love.

I have made three sets of names out of beanbags and am pretty happy with how they turned out. I wish I would have gotten these to Amelia before she learned to spell her name, but I know she will love them anyway!

Here's a close up of one of the A's in her name. I was having trouble getting a good shot of all the letters together.

I decided for Amelia's set that I would stick with her love of rainbow colors.

This is for a friend of hers, again I had trouble getting all of the letters together, so I opted to snap a picture of a few of my favorites. This set is in girly colors.

And last, but not least, is Emma's set (another friend of Amelia's). I decided to go patriotic with her set. She and the recipient of the set above are sisters, so I decided to make them very different since some of the letters in their names are the same.

I am excited to make some more of these--they are really, really fun to put together despite the many steps involved! Plus, they actually involve actual sewing, not just applique. AND, I did the whole thing BY MYSELF!

Latest Applique Project

My playgroup has a baby shower a few times a year for the current expecting moms in the group. This go around, there were 4 of us and I thought it might be fun to give a new applique project a try as a little gift for the other mommas.

I like how they turned out and they were again super easy! There are two girls on the way and one boy (hence the two swimming suits and the only super manly frog tie).

This was my first attempt at this project and think it will be fun to play around with all of the possibilities!

Moving Right Along

Well considering we have about 3 months until Baby Pom Pom shows up, we decided we better get going on the little one's room. We've been clearing things out slowly and I finally decided to pick a color to throw on the wall. But, as Jason pointed out, there is no room in our house that only contains one color, so I actually picked two...

We have a long way to go, but it feels great to see progress. I will, of course, post nursery pics when it is all said and done. I'm sure this will be within days of the baby's arrival.

We picked a gender neutral green that will hopefully be just right for Baby Pom Pom. I am pairing it with a chocolate brown which tends to look pretty boyish, but I am hoping I can girl it up a bit if need be.

Luckily, we had LOTS of help with the painting.

Do you think Baby Pom Pom will mind if Amelia' name is painted on the wall?

I know a certain someone who thought it was great...

In addition to getting the closet organized and the room painted, I was lucky enough to snag a few new things to put into the room. My playgroup, for which I am eternally grateful on a daily basis, threw a baby shower for the four moms expecting fall/winter babies. Baby Pom Pom got tons of diapers, wipes, wash clothes, clothes, and other baby necessities. It is really exciting to have a couple of new things for him/her and it makes the whole thing more real finding a spot for these things.

My dear, talented friend, Susie made me some really special gifts. I taught her on Thursday how to applique and then on Friday she blew me away with an appliqued onesie, bib, and burp cloth. Seriously, she is amazing. Not only did she applique, but she stitched around the fabric, added embellishments, etc. Did I mention she has two small children? I have a bit of an owl theme going on in the nursery, so this was great!

I have been busy giving the old changing table a fresh coat of paint and changing the accent colors to match the new room. The crib has been constructed and I even found a perfect crib skirt and several sheet sets that look like they were made to match the room. I have fabric picked out for the windows. Things are coming along, slowly, but surely. This weekend I am hoping to start bringing up the many, many rubbermaid containers of clothes. I would like to start figuring out what I have and what I need--although thanks to my playgroup moms, it won't be much!

A Pillowcase Dress...or two

 This summer and fall was filled to the max with stuff for me.  It mostly involved planning a charity benefit for a friend who lost her husband to cancer.  I took a short break from soliciting donations to get reacquainted with my poor, neglected sewing machine.

Since I'm fairly familiar with pillowcase dresses and I seriously love their cuteness (and Amelia's days of wearing them are probably numbered....) I decided to try my hand at a few more for the fall/winter.


I saw a similar jack-o-lantern dress online and couldn't locate the fabric I wanted at the store.  I settled on this orange and it turned out okay, but in all, this is not one of my favorite dresses.  And to add insult to injury, I need to change out the (already fraying) ribbon for next year and probably lengthen it a bit as well. But, with that said, it held up for the season and a trip or two to the pumpkin patch.

The second dress I made, though, is one of my all-time favorites.  Copied straight from an internet dress, it wasn't really my usual taste.  I actually made the dress itself LAST fall and it sat for an entire year waiting for it's elephant applique.  I love the black, white, and red (I even used red thread for all of the stitching).  It is definitely a dress that works year round and I've received many compliments.  My only problem?  It takes some convincing to get my little lady in the dress--you know, since it lacks the color pink or anything "fancy".

(I'm not sure why she is modeling with a cup, please just go with it)

Side Note: Do you see all that stuff in the background?  That is not how my dining room typically looks.  That, my friends, is the beginning of what helped raise over $20,000 for my friend who lost her husband.  My dining room was Donation Central and it got so crowded that I couldn't even walk through the room.

Here a Project, There a Project

 The fall has brought a few smallish projects my way.  None of them probably deserve an entire post to themselves, so I will just do a quick overview of each individually.

Determined to get reacquainted with my sewing machine after a very long hiatus, I thought I would give another pillowcase dress a try.  There is nothing like looking at cute Halloween fabrics to get my desire back.  I attempted a pillowcase dress long ago with the help of my mom, but ultimately got frustrated and let her finish it up about half way through.  This was my very first dress I sewed ENTIRELY on my own and honestly it wasn't so bad.  My mom, of course, was holding my hand the entire time.

Unfortunately, I don't have any great pictures of Amelia wearing it, but we sure did get tons of wear out of it!  I seriously love the shape of pillowcase dresses on my little lady and I am starting to wonder if her pillowcase dress days are numbered.  I think at some point she's not going to want to wear them anymore, but thankfully we aren't there yet!

These are the best pictures I have--look closely! (but not TOO closely)

The second project isn't so much my thing design wise, but I am a practical girl and this project screams practicality! I saw the idea in Family Fun Magazine as they were promoting the new Rapunzel movie coming out soon. We are forever losing bows and they constantly litter the house and bathroom.  They can be found under any given bed at any given time.  I just ordered a new batch of bows on eBay, so this project came at the perfect time.  Amelia loves her blond hair.  Amelia loves Rapunzel.  And I love having her bows in one spot.  The Rapunzel bow holder is obviously a win-win.  It was kind of a pain to make, but certainly serves its purpose and had my little girl squealing in delight.

 Next up was a little bling to go with Amelia's Halloween costume.  As you will see in a few posts, Amelia chose to be Dorothy this year and as I was perusing Dorothy items on Etsy, I came across an adorable pair of socks.  But for $8 plus shipping, there was no way I was forking over the dough for them.  My friend, Susie, makes super cute ruffle socks for Amelia at nearly every occasion and she whipped up these cute ones to match Amelia's costume.  Like the Etsy pair I saw, I added the red plastic bow and they were done.  Necessary?  Absolutely not!  Authentic Dorothy costume wear?  Nope!  But cute, nonetheless!

The last project is a twirly skirt I have been trying to get the nerve to try for some time now.  Turns out it is loads easier than a pillowcase dress!  Yay for no armholes! (And it will be even easier next time when I hopefully buy the right amount of fabric). I even decided to applique a shirt to match.  I have already picked out my next twirly skirt design and I am waiting for my fabric to arrive!

Big Sis in Training

Amelia and I have now BOTH completed classes on preparing for the new baby. A few months ago, I went to a Parents As Teachers event that gave many, many ideas on ways to incorporate older child(ren) into the arrival of a new baby. And now that I think about it, I guess its just about time to get that list back out and review it a bit!

This past weekend it was Amelia's turn to complete her big sister class. The hospital where we are delivering put on a great "Super Sibs" class for expectant big brothers and sisters. Amelia was pretty pumped when I showed her the shirt I (finally) made for her. Applique to the rescue again!

I am pretty sure that the main reason it was such a hit is because anything that is pink is a big hit around here these days!

Given my anal ways, we arrived at the class WAY early with PLENTY of time to spare. We decided to give ourselves a mini-tour while we waited. I gave myself a tour of the restroom, while Jason and Amelia took a peek at the nursery.

In all honesty, the class itself was pretty annoying (mostly due to the obnoxious puppets and nauseating music), but was perfect for Amelia. She listened great, answered some questions, and even volunteered herself to throw away the baby puppet's "dirty" diaper. Hope she is that eager with the real deal!

After the puppet show, we all took a tour of the hospital floor where I will be staying once the baby is born. The kids saw a post partum room, the "family kitchen" that is fully stocked with snacks and drinks, and the nursery, of course. I like that they explained to the kids that mom will be resting and even showed them the way the bed can move up and down.

Once back in the room, the kids had a chance to hold a life like baby doll.

Amelia will tell you that her favorite part of the class was seeing the baby in the nursery, but she was pretty pumped about the backpack she received with a CD and book inside. And just when I thought I had heard all I was going to have to hear from those darned puppets.....

Amelia keeps asking when she is going back for her next big sister class. I guess she thinks its like dance class where she goes every week. I keep trying to tell her that her next "class" is going to be more like lifetime on the job training.

On the way out of the hospital, we stopped by the gift shop to show her all of the neat things inside. Needless to say, she has a thing or two picked out for the baby.....

Look Whoooo's ONE!

I apologize for yet ANOTHER post with a million pictures.  I guess that's what happens when Christmas and birthdays fall so close together. 

I am big on themes at birthday time.  There was Amelia's "Very Hungry Caterpillar" first birthday (pre blogger blog).  Her farm themed second birthday.  A rainbow third birthday.  And most recently her princess 4th birthday. I went with the same "theme" as Henry's room for his first birthday party--owls.  And for what it's worth I am already gathering ideas for his second birthday party.

Here's a sample of Henry's invitation.  I'm proud to say that I did them all by myself!  I only had to purchase the scallop punch (which I will be using often) and a pack of nature-y paper that I used throughout the party. 

I used some of the same paper from the pack for Henry's birthday hat that he had no interest in keeping on his head.  I thought it turned out cute nonetheless, although I should have probably paid more attention to the direction the owls were in before I cut out the hat.

I whipped up a little sign for the front door.  I started to feel a little bad for not having a single outside decoration.  Although, Amelia's June birthdays are a little more conducive to outdoor decorations.

As the guest list started to expand, I thought I might set up an extra table in the dining room.  After 3+ years of living in our house, we still cannot agree on a dining room set.  I didn't have much time to come up with something for the table, but the blue just looked too plain.  I found some pictures of Henry and hung them for our Halloween tree.  I filled the jar with some of Amelia's nature walk treasures and made Henry's name using some of the paper from the Nature paper pack.

 This isn't the best picture, but I sewed some streamers for Henry's big day much like I did for Amelia's princess party.  I love this project so much because its easy and the sloppier you get, the better it looks!

The birthday banner has become a bit of a tradition around here since Amelia's 2nd birthday.  Each has been unique to the party.  One of these times, I will hopefully be able to reuse one of the previously made banners.  I've kept them all, you know.

Henry's attire was quick and easy.  I couldn't find the right kind of owl fabric, so I decided to try and match the colors of the party instead--blue, green, and brown. 

Amelia's attire was a bit more involved.  I had visions of making her a beautiful owl pillowcase dress, but time got away from me.  Then, I remembered I had this rather plain brown corduroy dress that I found on clearance at Target.  I showed my mom an owl I loved and she replicated in on the dress (and the owls wings match Henry's shirt!).  I LOVE how it turned out!  She decided to try felt this time for the main part of the applique and it has already held up much better than traditional fabric usually does.

I really wanted to get a picture of the kids before the party started, but this is good as it got.  Amelia, apparently, wanted to eat something--a brownie pop would be my guess.

Early in the party planning, I started toying around with the idea of making cupcake picks.  I have never tried it before, but it was fun!  And easy!

 

After I made the cupcake toppers, I decided to give cupcake wrappers a try.  It was soooo easy and I like how they added a little something, something to the cupcakes.  Only some cupcakes got wrappers and only some cupcakes got toppers.  Considering there were 60 cupcakes, I didn't want to go overboard. And do you see the brownie pops?  Those were a fun find at Costco that I felt were a nice touch.

 Here's the whole display.  I made the tablecloth myself to match the colors of the party.  I needed a new tablecloth anyway and I tried to make it generic enough that it could be used everyday.  I probably need to go back and hem it again, though, it was pretty long on the sides.

As far as party favors go, I really liked the idea of giving something edible.  My friend, Erin, made chocolate chip cookies for her daughter's first birthday.  I was worried about doing something similar so close to the holiday given that most people already feel "blah" with all the sweets they've consumed.  I decided to make these chocolate "H" letters instead.  My friend, Erin, made these for her wedding favors (I guess she like edible gifts!) and let me borrow the molds.  I made milk chocolate, white chocolate, and dark chocolate varieties.

Hey look! The birthday boy!  Relaxing in his new rocker pre-party.

I had my "Year of Henry" pictures displayed on the blinds.  A terrible picture, but maybe you get the idea.

Again when it came time to sing "Happy Birthday", Henry seemed to enjoy the song more than anything else.  He clapped when everyone finished the song and then got busy exploring the cupcake.

 

Henry had quite the crowd watching him eat his cupcake! I think the total in attendance was 49 people!  I am not sure who grabbed my camera and took a picture each way of the people watching, but I'm glad he or she did!

Then it was time for presents!  Henry got some great gifts including tons of clothes, toys, and books.  He isn't much of a gift opener, so Amelia and I did all the work while Henry reaped all the benefits.

We are so blessed to have such wonderful friends and family to share these wonderful milestones with!