Wall Art: View of the Pacific

photo 1 - color
photo 2 - old school
photo 3 - gray scale
photo 4 - vibrant
I took this photo of Elijah overlooking the Pacific ocean on our west coast trip last summer. The original photo was very blah, so I tried to bring out the sky and ocean and make the grass brighter (photos 1 and 4 show this best) but included an old school and grayscale option for comparison. I would like to print this out as wall art, perhaps on canvas or maybe framed by a natural driftwood-esque frame. Which version do you like best?

Baby roll-neck sweater

Grandpa Sweater for Baby

I fell in love with the buttons on this baby sweater and decided to knit my first sweater pattern (on a small scale: For babies!) It's a pretty easy pattern and so fun to knit. So I made two. One for baby Jacob and one for baby Desmond.

A Choo Choooo Birthday Party

Elijah's 2nd birthday was a smashing success! Ever since Elijah went on the Durbin Rocket steam locomotive in WV this summer, he, like all other little boys, has developed a keen interest in trains. So when I found the invitation and DIY printables here and cute conductor overalls, we were off and running (my excuse for not sewing and crafting myself is the fact I'm about 14 months pregnant...ugh). We made pulled pork mini sandwiches with cucumber slaw, mac&cheese and baked beans as well as Korean beef, kimchi, shrimp skewers and mandu. The Korean food was practically inhaled by all ages, so from this point forward we will not split the bill between American and Korean food - it's one or the other! My friend Meghan of CosmoCookie provided me with the amazing vanilla and chocolate (with cinnamon!) cake recipes which were both frosted with buttercream. The gift bags consisted of wooden train whistles, red bandanas and stickers.

Thank you for all who helped celebrate!

Inspiration for a "big boy" room

The transformation from guest to "big boy" room is underway! I finished painting the walls with Serena and Lily's "Oatmeal" paint and I'm really happy with the way it turned out. I decided on a red/gray/blue color palate for the bedding and went with Serena and Lily's red star sheet set, slate/bay blue cabin quilt and white bed skirt. The cute woodlands lamp was on clearance at Serena and Lily (thanks for that, Grandma!). The sweet robot alphabet print is available on Etsy. I'm looking around for a bookshelf and love the idea of the star and fabric storage bin combination (also from S&L). Something like the Boja pendant light from Ikea would be a big improvement over the current flush mount. Stay tuned...

Tie One On!

An apron, that is.

Several of my nieces are into American Girl dolls so I made them each an apron with a matching one for their doll. Inspired by Kit's apron, I used this vintage apron pattern and dug into my stash of fabric (the orange dots and pink lace are Amy Bulter, the pears are from Superbuzzy.com). Thanks to Mumsy who sent me oodles of bias tape and trimmings!

My oldest niece got an apron from this pattern.

Elijah's Doljabi

Elijah's traditional Korean first birthday celebration (doljabi, or dol for short) was a smashing success. One of the highlights was a game where the birthday boy chooses an object to predict his future. The typical objects are yarn (long life), rice (abundance), money (wealth) and books/pencil (scholar). We added a ball (athlete), microphone (musician) and rocket (astronaut). After much deliberation, he chose the rocket! I made his doljabi board, raffle tickets, and ballot jar labels.

I picked up these cardboard letters from the Paper Source and painted them for the cake table. I will eventually get around to putting them on a wall or shelf in his room!

The food was ridiculously good...as usual.

Onsie for My Onsie

I thought Elijah needed a special shirt to wear to school to celebrate his first birthday, so I cut a "1" out of fabric from Amy Butler's Lotus line and his name out of brown corduroy and sewed them to a plain onesie. Ta da!

Oh, baby!

The template for these DIY invitations are adorable and free! The cupcake toppers can also be used as gift tags. I modified and customized the design of the baby shower invites in Adobe Illustrator and got the coordinating ribbon and paper from Paper Source.

Baby Swing - Before and After

I updated our hand-me-down Fisher Price "ocean wonders aquarium" baby swing using fabric I bought ages ago from Superbuzzy and Amy Bulter's cherry full moon polka dot from her Lotus line. Although relatively simple, creating a pattern from the existing seat cover nearly contorted my 9-month-pregnant brain into a pretzel. The fish on the mobile don't really go with the fabric, I don't think the baby will notice.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Another Onesie

People keep having kids and I keep embroidering onesies. This one is for a little guy named Zach. Thanks to Elana for the inspiration (I think she has this pattern too!)

Nighty Night

Here is Athena's first sewing project - a fabulous butterfly pillowcase with ruffle trim. Nice, job, Athena! We can't wait to see your next project!

Treeling

Therese Laskey's "Softies" is packed with zany sweetness. I got it from my mom for Christmas and am now taking advantage of my vacation time to render a few of these very simple patterns. This treeling will be a belated Hanukkah present for my friend Jessica, who adores all woodland plushies.

play time.

The Duke recently scored a sweet new Husqvarna sewing machine and immediately went to work on some play clothes for Anna who visited the following weekend. Capes are an essential accessory in every wardrobe, and now Anna's is complete. She also made a cute fringe skirt and bandanna from this storybook fabric to complete her cowgirl ensemble.

Ragtastic!

Here is a rag doll I made from a pattern Sharon sent me, you can find it on http://www.kingpod.com/; click on mailorder; click on pattern six (currently sold out, unfortunately). This doll was certainly one of those projects that required faith to continue. When I first started making the doll, it initially looked like the kind of doll Sauron would want to play with, if he was interested in dolls or had a body. I didn't want to go to bed with it in the apartment....But I pressed on and it took shape quite nicely! I had seen elsewhere that it was good to cut the dress longer than the pattern indicated and had good luck with that. I would also recommend cutting everything slightly larger to facilitate larger seam allowances - the dolls shoes, for example, ended up being quite small because the fabric I was using was prone to fraying and I had to use rather substantial seams to make the shoes sturdy. It's a great way of using odds and ends of fabric, buttons, ribbons etc.

Paper Doll Apron

The Duke made this apron out of paper doll fabric by Timeless Treasures that we bought online from Lady Button Fabrics. The finished apron has two pockets on the front and was made from Simplicity pattern 3802 (view 'C'). The ruffled straps and piping is absolutely adorable! The remaining fabric was used to make a potholder, placemats, napkins and a tea towel. Anna's kitchen is open for business!

Birthday Pressie for the Peanut

This ditty is for my precious little niece, Holly, who is turning the big o-n-e at the end of June. I made the dress from Burda pattern 9709 and the gingham and fruit fabric is from Sew Contempo, a store in Houston. This was the first time I've made anything from a Burda pattern, and I think both the instructions and illustrations could be improved for clarity. It was an interesting adventure, however, and would definitely be easier if I made it again. I hope it fits!