Playing with food

New hobby this past month -- making the lunchbox fun again. I've gone bento! Miss E absolutely loves it -- animals, picks, strawberry hearts. Anything but the ol' sandwich that she was so bored with. The best part is that the lunchbox comes back empty almost every time!

I even made a plate of strawberry hearts for her kindergarten class's Valentine's Day party. They were a hit with the boys and girls alike! It was fun hearing the kids exclaim, "Look, Mom! This strawberry is a HEART!"

Robo dwarf hamsters (apples, raisins, white chocolate nibble, almond slices), strawberry hearts, cheese butterflies, and crazy egg chicks with parsley.

A fun one for me to share with Little E when we went to lunch school with big sis. All kinds of goodies in this one!

One evening she stopped by as I was making her lunch and requested "a rainbow in my lunch". By turning the blueberries one way or another, we managed to meet the requirements of the song she learned in school. ("Red and orange, green and blue. Shining yellow, purple too. All the colors that we know live up in the rainbow!")

The platter for her party:

And a little spruce-up for my own breakfast! Whole wheat waffle topped with nonfat Greek yogurt, fresh raspberries, toasted walnuts, a tiny drizzle of maple syrup, and a dash of cinnamon. Hubby requested one after seeing the photo. He enjoyed his, too!

Silly penguin lunch for Little E one day, inspired by her penguin erasers from Santa!

Rounding up the supplies and a few new additions, like the most awesome lunch book ever!

Charming!

I had another whim, this time as a gift for Miss E's upcoming sixth birthday. I was going to do six charms for her sixth birthday, but veered off from that and just selected charms appropriate to her life. I have to wait a few weeks yet to give it to her, but I know things are about to get busy around here, so ... I'll try to have some patience! It's so very her, though!

All the dolls come marching in ...

I'm way behind. Again. Little e was supposed to start preschool in September, but after 3 weeks of having to go back and get her, we cancelled. She is now at home. Her naps are random and only recently has she started to do crafting while I attempt sewing and doll-making ... So ... it goes slowly. However, over the past several months, I've managed to finish up and squeak out a few dolls. Nothing to sell; just for my girls.

Ruby Scarlett is the toddler doll I started on last year, right before the holidays. She sat on my table, bald and unfinished, until the summer, when I finally finished her up, dressed her in her own clothes (she was borrowing a pair of overalls that had belonged to one of my childhood dolls), and gave her to Little e for her July birthday (she turned 2). Little e seems to prefer to think of her as a for-sale doll, only hugging her occasionally. Thus, she traveled with us to the midwest for the July vacation and birthday parties, and then went back to her perch on the sewing table. She smiles at me every day. I just love that little face! :) Sometimes Big E gets her down and plays with her. I know that someday, Little e will appreciate her more.

Maddie is the other I made for Little e's birthday, also rejected. Harumph. She is just too attached to her tiny baby to love any other dolls fully ... for now. Maddie was fun to make and from the Toys to Sew book pattern. I braided her hair so she didn't look goofy like Jessie does. Big E made her a dress, but I still haven't gotten back to making any clothes for her. All in good time, right?

I also made a teeny lavender doll for Little e's birthday. She is super soft, made with cotton velour and loads of soft, wool and mohair yarns. She has quite the headful of hair! I added a tiny lavender sachet when I stuffed her, so when you cuddle and squeeze her tummy, she smells delightful. She was a huge hit initially, but now is sleeping in Little e's bed or in the tiny laundry basket most of the time.

My awesome chocolate plum girl sold ... and shipped off to North Pole, Alaska, of all places! We like to think she went to live with Santa and Mrs. Claus and all the elves! In reality, she is tucked away in a closet until Christmas, when she will become the property of a five-year-old girl. I hope she will be well-loved! I miss seeing her smiling face on my sewing table. She was there for so long that my table feels empty! I think that Little e misses her most, though. She really loved *that* doll ...

I'm working on another doll right now, in hopes of making two for the girls for Christmas. And maybe a couple tiny elfin girls, too. Dreaming of making teddy bears again, too, since it's been over 20 years and now Big E loves bears. We'll see how much I get done. Little Miss Whiney just woke up!

It was inevitable ...

So little e carried both dolls to the bus stop to show Big E. And suddenly, the magic happened and she was overcome with love for the doll she had previously rejected. Of course. It's only natural. So Big E was very upset and little e clung to Baby Violet, and Baby Rachel (often known as Tiny Baby) was completely ignored.

It only took about an hour to make the second outfit, so here they are, the Tiny Twins, dressed in their matching olive jersey tops and their cute little baby pants. Baby Violet has longer pants (though if you pulled them up a bit, they'd be more like bloomers) and Baby Rachel is wearing shorter baby bloomers.

I think both are super cute and I'm so excited about the pattern. There might be a lot more coming ... who knows!

When the kids are away, Mom will play

I might actually be able to start posting again! Hooray! Big E started kindergarten this week. Little e is actually napping a true nap for a change. As I was putting her to bed, I looked at the tiny doll nearby and I decided that today would be a doll clothes day. We have two of these tiny baby dolls, about 8 inches from head to toe. Big E got hers from Santa at age 2, but once little e got to be about a year or a year and a half, that became HER doll. Big E is fine with that most days. We bought little e a second doll of about the same size (a tad leaner), but she is no longer madly in love with this one.

The second doll came in a boyish onesie, which is good because she named it after her baby boy cousin that she was infatuated with. However, as all dolls go in this house, Baby Finn became Baby Violet with a simple change of clothes. Big E has really loved her lately, and these dolls have absolutely no changes of clothes. The dolls are sold, but there are no extra clothes. Thus, I've put my Waldorf doll book to use ... the clothes in there are so extremely simple, yet so cute, and so easy to put on and take off the dolls. The girls have loved them.

Today, then, I looked at Baby Violet and thought she would look particularly cute in an olive jersey top and some puffy baby pants in a coordinating fabric. The outfit is actually the opposite of what my Chocolate Plum Waldorf Doll is wearing ... She's over on Etsy, if you want to take a peek. (She is hoping that someone will give her a home someday. The sewing table is fun, but ... She longs to be held and snuggled and loved. Enough about her, though.)

Little e is still asleep, and Baby Violet has a whole new outfit. Big E is going to be so excited after school today! Yay, Mommy!

Fairies and such

We are very fairy-friendly in this house, so it's not unusual to find a little winged friend flying around. I have made some new ones lately and just felt like a fairy post was due.

Pansy Fairy is based on a picture in a book that Miss E got from a friend when she turned 2. She was falling asleep at night with the book pressed up against her tummy, hugging the fairy, so I figured a tiny stuffed version might be better.

I thought a proper Tooth Fairy was in order, too, since Miss E just recently turned 5. Her dentist says she will most likely lose her first tooth in the next six months or so, so we needed to be prepared! She is Pansy Fairy's little sister, in case you wondered, and both live in Miss E's new dollhouse. On the roof, where fairies like to sleep.

And, for Easter (they don't know this yet!), Miss E and Little e are getting some Baby Carrots. I think they are way too cute!

The Esty site is live!

plushalicious is in business!
http://plushalicious.etsy.com/

YAY! Yes, I finally got my Etsy site up and running the other night, and made my first sale to a stranger! Woot! Thank you, mammalove, for buying my sweet little Bunny Love in Blue!

Bunny Love in Pink:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/72193450/bunny-love-in-pink

Here's my doll:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/72196744/chocolate-plum-waldorf-doll-15-inch

I'm starting small, but three items is better than none. Maybe someone will decide to buy my beautiful Waldorf doll. Little Miss e will be sad, and so will I in a way, since I've gotten used to having her smiling at me all day and night. She really is beautiful. But I know I will make plenty more, and I need to first finish the wig for Little e's doll, who has also been laying on the table for months now. Before she turns 2 this summer, that's the goal. Only a couple more hours of hand-stitching the hair and she is finished ... plus some clothes!

But good times ... too many things in progress right now, and never enough time to get it all done. But I did make two beautiful little fairies for Miss E's dollhouse for her birthday. She loves them. I'll post those soon. And she got two handmade by mama shirts and a skirt. Second skirt is in the closet, half done. Little e has a dress that is 75% done.

Most importantly, I finally finished the purse for me that was sitting abandoned in the back of the closet for a year and a month. It took a whopping 1.25 hours to finish. Isn't that sad!?! It's gorgeous. I need to post photos, don't I? But now, no time ...

Happy sewing to y'all! And a happy and gorgeous weekend! :)

-------- Added some for-sale photos on August 26 -------------