Peanut baby

I was looking for inspiration today, not wanting to pick up any of the projects I have in process, and lo and behold ... a peanut baby. Miss E insisted on one, so in about 40 minutes, she had Peanut in her arms. So cute, so quick and simple. I still want to make another for Little Miss e for her 1-year birthday, which is in about a month. (*gasp*) I want to do the pouch, but Miss E didn't feel the need, so it sped things up a bit. It looks very simple, too, so next Peanut Baby will get a pocket to put her in and take her out -- a perfect activity for a toddler. The preschooler just wants dolls!

Check out the tutorial! Thank you to Trixi for such a cute project!

Now, if I can find time to blog about all the other exciting projects I've been able to whip out in the last few weeks ... Like the adorable and simple smocked sundress Miss E is wearing in that photo. A couple of adorable aprons (more to be made soon with the awesome retro kitchen print I just found on Etsy), a shirt for myself (finally) and more. I'm one of those crazy artistic sewers, according to Amy Karol ... yes, one project after the other, several at a time, and whatever whim I have. Hence the "Whim du Jour"!

Off to switch laundry before Little Miss e wakes from a good nap. (Finally sleeping. Yay.) Then off to make a yummy coconut rice with a Thai chicken mix, using the lovely Thai basil from our tiny garden.

Elephants and a new tiny doll

It's the end of May. I'm not sure where the time went, but Little e is 10 months old, and the school year just finished. YIKES! Miss E's preschool had a wonderful end-of-year party this morning, so I made gifts for the teachers. Actually, gifts for their children. You see, it's a very small school, in operation for just one year. It is perfect. The children, parents and teachers all get along so well and we have created this fantastic community, just the way it should be.

Miss E has grown very attached to her teachers. Each teacher has been bringing her baby to school since the fall, and the babies are now toddlers, walking around and over a year old. One teacher is moving away, going back to Louisiana with her family. Her older daughter is Miss E's age, and the two have gotten to know each other over the past nine months. At this age, or at least with Miss E, the concept of friends is not fully developed to the adult definition. My somewhat shy and often very reserved Miss E was very quick to correct me in the fall when I referred to a schoolmate as her "friend". She said, quoting me, "No, Mommy, I don't know her well enough yet to consider her my friend." Three months later, she tried to say the same thing, but I said that after several months, she should be able to tell me if that is a friend. What I came to understand was that because it's such a small number of children, they are all friends and all interact very well. Some are more outgoing than others. However, Miss E can tell me all kinds of cute stories about each one of them.

So Miss E's teacher and friend are moving away. A very difficult thing to truly understand, though Miss E can tell you all about it. I wanted to make something for them as a going away/thank you gift, and one night it finally came to me. (I have to have it all planned out in my head and it has to seem just right, or it just doesn't happen.) I'd just recently seen the uber-cute pattern from Heather Bailey for Effie & Ollie the elephants, and I knew I already had an elephant pattern in the "Toys to Sew" book I have. There's the saying of "you've got a memory like an elephant," and that stuck in my head. Elephants. Memories.

Later, I had the revelation that this would be the perfect time to use the Riley Blake fat quarter combo I purchased a few months back. If I cut a full elephant from each fat quarter (there are four fabrics), then I could mix them up so that each elephant had each of the four fabrics used on it, representing that each girl (my two and the two moving away) has given a piece of herself to the others. A lovely way to show that we will never forget their friendship and the wonderful year we've had, watching all four girls (and the rest of the school) grow and learn and develop.

I will admit that the pattern I had was far from optimal. Again, the book was disappointing in the instructions and pattern markings. There is way too much assumed and far too little detail written. Maybe I'm just spoiled by the designer patterns I'm becoming accustomed to, but it sure does help to know where to join up all these little tiny pieces, you know? The first elephant was very disappointing. We said it looked like a drunken pig with a stretched out snout. Sad. As I went along, though, I found ways to make the legs work better, and the end result was very cute, especially with all four elephants lined up together. Miss E and I named them (left to right in the photo above) Dotty, Flora, Ivy and Birdie. Dotty, the first one, went to Little e, who will just chew on her and not mind her gross imperfections. Ivy was Miss E's final choice. Flora and Birdie went to our friends.

After the second elephant, I ordered a copy of the Heather Bailey pattern. It looks far more detailed, and I can't wait to find the time to try it out ...

I also wanted to make a gift for the second teacher and her now-toddler daughter. With the leftover scraps of the fat quarters, I pieced together a little tiny toddler doll, also using all four fabrics. She got an orange flower for her hair, matching the elephant sisters. I sketched out all kinds of hair options, trying to recreate this adorable little girl that would be the recipient of the doll, and finally settled on a little hair flip that seemed to work. When I finally turned the doll right-side-out a couple of days later, I breathed a huge sigh of relief. She was perfect; exactly what I wanted for Little Miss B. Isn't she just adorable? (As adorable as Little Miss B ... almost!)

I photographed the new tiny doll with my Little e's doll from Christmas. Little e has put her mark on her doll, for sure! Hers shows lots of signs of wear, including some nice yellow spit-up stains. For months now, she has made me so happy ... her favorite toys for chewing on and sleeping with have been the ones I've made her; primarily this doll and the bird I made from the Spool Sewing tutorial. She knows how to make a mama smile!

As we wish our friends a fond farewell and best wishes for their move back to Louisiana, we hope that the elephants will get a whole lotta love ... and come back to visit their sister elephants in Austin many times!

For the girl who adores snails

Miss E is delighted that we suddenly have an abundance of snails living right here in our backyard. I swear they are the ones we picked up on rainy walks a few months back. But they appear to eat dirt and dead leaves, so as long as they are not destroying our plants, I'm fine with them moving in. Most likely they will do some good! I'm guilty of helping collect them anyway, so I best not complain.

For her birthday, we gave her three snail books, and I found the most adorable crocheted snail (named Leni) on Etsy. And about three weeks ago, I put together a cute snail t-shirt for her. The only thing I didn't get done was the sewing! Alas, the birthday passed and the unfinished shirt hung in my closet, begging for attention. Tonight, I finished it, so it's hanging in her room, waiting for her to wake and find it in the morning as a surprise.

It proves that snails *can* indeed be girly. The t-shirt is a very bright pink (from Target) and the fabrics are Sandi Henderson, like so many other items I've made. I still love those Ginger Blossom and Farmer's Market prints; so feminine and pink. As my first attempt at an applique, it's not too shabby -- just a bit of a pull on the shirt at the top of the snail shell. And if I hadn't included the two buttons for eyes at the end of the stalks, I would have been informed that my design was incomplete.

I'll leave you with a snail joke, from my niece, now told and retold by Miss E:
Q: What do you call a snail on a ship?
A: A snailor!

An enchanted birthday

We had a blast with Miss E's fourth birthday this year. It took more time and effort, but cost less and was definitely a hit with the kids and adults alike. I don't really know how it all got started, but one afternoon, I was brainstorming and we came up with the idea of gnomes as a party favor and it took off from there. I studied the Waldorf gnomes I found on the web, and looked at a couple tutorials, then ordered a ton of people turnings from Casey's Wood Products in Maine. Worked perfectly! I did them in batches and I would estimate that they took about 5-10 minutes apiece.

The next fun idea that came out of brainstorming with the family was to make gnome homes as a craft project, at the party. That way, the children would adopt a gnome, then build a home for him or her, and take both to their home. It was a blast! My husband sliced up a bunch of cardboard that we had in the garage, making nice little 5x7 inch bases (or roofs, you choose!). I bought a bunch of cheap craft sticks in two sizes and 10 bottles of craft glue. The rest, we collected. We took bags, boxes and egg cartons full of sticks, bark, acorns, grass trimmings, pine cones, snail shells and more. The imaginations ran wild, and we saw all kinds of beautiful gnome homes. I'll include a few images as examples, but every single one was awesome.




To top it off, we had chocolate cupcakes decorated with snails (of course), and hot pink toadstool cupcakes that were strawberry. How the heck do we top this next year?

Happy Easter weekend!

I'll catch up someday, but here's a quickie if you're running late on Easter gift ideas. Grab a toilet paper tube, some felt, and some craft glue. Cut two ears, two arms, circles for eyes, and some big feet from felt. Glue onto tube. Add a pompom tail, and voila! -- an Easter bunny gift holder. Fill it with jelly beans, socks, or anything else that's small and fits into a tp tube!

I have to admit, this was E's idea ... and she did most of the gluing together. I think it took us all of 10 minutes to make, and she just plain loves it. If I ever have the time someday (IF!), I could do a tutorial, but I know that the rest of you can duplicate this pretty easily yourselves.

Have a happy Easter!

Enter Henri, the ginormous French garden snail

So it's been raining a lot around here. Most snails are still in hibernation, since it's a bit chilly for their taste. I happen to have a daughter who is quite enamored with snails, and it's driving her nuts. "When will the snails come back, Mommy? I can't WAIT." What am I to do? I can't change nature, can I? But I can sew ...

Enter Henri, the ginormous French garden snail. I felt like I was back in seventh grade home ec class, making "soft sculptures". Back then, I made a big stuffed clock, with poseable arms. Yesterday, it was a giant snail. (Funny, but there are a couple of other crazies like me who have snails on Etsy, and most of them came up with the same ideas I did!) I happened to have some knit fabric with, of all things, snails on it, and that worked for the big tube that became the shell. I went with fleece for the body, so I could sew the bottom to look like his big snaily foot, and not worry about frayed fabric. So his eye stalks are a big droopy, and no, I didn't make the feeler stalks yet, though both DH and daughter have said I need to add those. Maybe later on ... for now, though, Henri is happily hanging out in the house, where it is warm enough for his taste. His size? Well, he can be seen here with our 14.5-pound cat ... I think that says it all!

Henri crept into Miss E's room late last night, ready to surprise her this morning, and has been leaving his slime trails around the house all morning. He claims he loves French food, cooks better than Julia Child, and *should* have a mustache.

Yummy felt foods

Sorry to leave y'all hanging, but now that the birthday girl has opened her present, I can show you how those tomatoes turned out and what they are for. I have been wanting to make a sandwich for a year now and found this fantastic tutorial from Tania's Myrtle & Eunice blog (tut is on her sidebar). Hers are beautiful, as is her photography. The tut is perfect, and though mine were not as lovely, they were fun to make and came out well. I just love the lettuce! Oh, and I added a burger and will eventually make some lunch meat as well since Miss E requested it.

To add to the fun, the sandwich inspired me to make s'mores. My daughter was only mildly impressed with the results, and then I realized ... d'oh! She's never HAD the real thing! My description only got her halfway to understanding, so I emailed the DH, who stopped at the store on the way home and bought supplies. After dinner, we fired the grill back up and showed her (as best as you can with a propane grill on the back patio) how real s'mores are made and ... better yet ... how they taste! She was instantly smitten and has enjoyed the felt ones much more since then!

And finally, I loved this idea I saw others making, and whipped up two, one for my daughter and one for the birthday girl: roll, cut and frost cookies! So simple and so cute; I need to have some small rolling pins and cookies cutters on hand for the next gift because these are truly fun. Both girls, mine almost 4 and the birthday girl just turned 3, knew exactly what to do and immediately had fun making their own decorated sugar cookies. What a blast! (I realize these are the plain cookies; perhaps better photos to come later on.) I boxed them up in cute bakery boxes. :)

That's probably it for the felt for awhile, but I do have a birthday cake to finish before Miss E turns FOUR. I started it a year ago and must finish it this time!

Enjoy!