easter, how i love thee

I do love Easter. And this year seemed to be the best one yet. We read this with the kids during the Lenten season and it was great to be able to talk about the true beauty of Easter.

Also, this past week, I found my way back to my sewing room. In true Amy fashion, I had waited until the last minute to make an Easter dress for Lucy. And even though I procrastinate, I find such joy in making her Easter dress each year (This and this were two of my faves). A few years ago I bought this bunny tea towel at Anthropologie. I knew I wanted to make something for Lucy with it, I just hadn't found the perfect project. I pulled it out a few weeks ago and decided to use it for something soon. I was contemplating an Easter apron. While looking for a pattern for her dress, I came across this one and knew it would be perfect.

I was even more excited to get home and find that I had the perfect fabric to match the towel. It was fabric I had left over from making this doll for Lucy several years ago. And how perfect to have a matching doll on Easter!

Man, I love these kids...
And I must admit, this family of mine sure does make me happy...

There was much fun with dyeing and hunting of eggs and candy making this weekend. I hope your Easter was splendid as well!

christmas revisited week :: what happened?

New rule around here: I will not say what/when I am going to post on this blog. It seems that every time I get a plan together for a particular post and then mention it here on the blog, something always comes up and I don't do it. Remember, when last week I was going to do a Christmas revisted week? (Probably not since I have lost so many readers due to my flippity floppity posting routine.) Well, I actually sat down and planned the week out in photos. I was proud of myself. Unfortunately, one of the smalls got sick and I somehow managed to get even further behind on household responsibilities.

For those of you who are still coming by the blog to visit, thank you. And since nothing blog-worthy has been occurring around here in the last week, I am going to make you look at a couple of more Christmas pictures. I could let them go, but some were quite fun for us and I want to share.

Of the utmost excitement was the fact that this was my first white Christmas. Growing up in the south did not lend itself to many encounters with snow. I think it snowed one time when I was growing up. And then it was only enough to dust the ground. So, we were all thrilled to wake up to snow on Christmas morning.

This week we got more snow and have been mostly house bound since Monday. On the up side, after a day and a half of back to back loads of laundry, I can finally say I have caught up...at least with laundry.

The week before Christmas, I bought some of these from Bake it Pretty. The actual store is only a short drive from home and well worth it. It is such a fun place to visit! The lollipops were a huge hit with the family. I think my grandpa looks splendid...

And my personal favorite...

christmas revisited week :: day 1

Wow! How is it already January? December kinda went by in a blur. I had planned several things to post over Christmas, but we got so busy right before Christmas and then we spent a week with family that I couldn't seem to find the time to post. That and we have discovered the show Psych on Netflix and have four seasons just sitting there waiting on us. Well, not so much waiting since I have the overwhelming need to watch at least one episode every single night. It is so addictive. Anyway, back to Christmas. I decided that while I try to get us back on track with homeschool this week and find our groove, I would just post the things I was too busy lazy to post in the past few weeks. So, for those of you who, like me, are still enjoying the Christmas spirit, enjoy!

I had planned to spotlight some of our Christmas decorations. It was weird being in a different house and having to figure out where things should go, but it was fun just the same. In this house, our living room does not have the space for our regular tree, so the small one that used to be in our kitchen is now in the living room. Oh, and the pic above is the regular one in another room. I would have a tree in every room if I could :)

Michael and I bought this nativity when we first married. We bought it at our local Ten Thousand Villages. One day I came in the room to find baby Jesus on the back of the ox and then he went missing for a few days. This incidence produced an odd feeling. But moving on...

Once I saw this wreath that Eren made, I wanted to make something similar. OK, very similar. I love it, and am considering leaving it up all year. I think I have a total of three dollars in the project.

These birds found their way to our home this year. And I have had these books for years with no way to display them. I think this is a great way. And I have so many vintage books that I think I will rotate with the seasons/holidays.

I have a bag of bottle brush trees that I bought several years ago. This year I found this cute jar and decided to put a tree inside. I would love to have a whole display of these in different sizes. I will have to build up that collection up slowly.

One thing we have never had is a mantle. We have always hung our stockings from a door frame. This Thanksgiving while we were at my parents' I had my dad take me out into the woods to find a limb to bring home. I had no idea what I was going to do with it so for a couple of weeks it sat on our front porch. Then one night, Michael had the great idea to hang it above the couch and hang our stocking from it. I love it! I am also going to leave it up and hang something different from it the rest of year. I have a few ideas I want to try. But if you have a good idea, let me know!

As I mentioned in my last post, we did make our first gingerbread house this year. I used this recipe and I altered a pattern from this site. I was pretty happy with how it turned out, and now I know some tricks that will be helpful next year. The most important thing is how much fun the kids had with it!

Lucy made a sled with people wearing hats. I love it.

So, there you have it. A small tour of our Christmas home. I am pretty sure that Christmas will be on our minds quite a bit this year. I posted earlier about Smalltown Poets releasing a Christmas album this year. Last night Michael cleaned out the studio/library and got things set up. He has named the room, "Christmas Town" and has informed me that we will move the white Christmas tree into that room. And of course, Christmas tunes will fill our house for months to come. It will be fun!

happy easter

We love Easter. It is a beautiful day to celebrate. Usually we have a bit more candy and dress making thrown into the fun, but with the move I never seemed to be able to get all my ducks in row and plan accordingly. Not that you would notice, but yes, that is Lucy's Easter dress from last year. I may not have made it this year, but I did make it :) And we had some egg hunting fun as well...

I hope your day was a beautiful as ours!

its all about the hair

I had several nieces on the gift giving list this year. I went with some cute little felt headbands. These are all around the crafting world and now I know why. They are fun to make and super cute! Not much to say about these photos except that Lucy was quite the willing little model.

I also made some ponytail holders to go in with the headbands. These are just coverable buttons with elastics attached through the loop on the back of the button. I have to admit that I was sad when I ran out of buttons to cover. Making these could prove to be quite the addiction and it helps to decrease the scrap fabric pile.

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas!

jumping jacks

I do believe this has been the busiest Christmas season I have ever experienced. And the weird part is that I don't feel like we have done things much differently than last year. Maybe I am a poor planner this year. Who knows. What I do know is that we took our Christmas card picture in record time this year. And yes, I just took it yesterday and am just sending the cards out today. See? I am a poor planner! Maybe it was the freezing cold yesterday morning or the great coaching the kids got from me right before we went outside (I like to think it was that), but it only took four shots to get the one above. I was stunned. I was not about getting the perfect shot, I just wanted one that wasn't "all teeth and no eyes." And I think I have found the solution...have the kids do three jumping jacks and then immediately get together for the picture. It works! I have a few pics to post of Christmas gifts, but I am going to do that tomorrow. You know, make up for all the non-blogging. Again...poor planning. I hope I can overcome that in the new year.

cowboys and ballerinas

We just spent a fun-filled week visiting both my family and Michael's family. We were there for Halloween. This is the first year that I have not sewn their costumes. I felt a little bit sad about that, but we have been so busy lately that I just didn't have the time. I still didn't buy a costume, so I guess that made me feel a little less sad. The cowboy...

Notice his first two fingers on his right hand are bandaged. Yeah, not so good things happen when a six-year-old gets his hands on a rotary cutter. And the ballerina...

She was doing a little dance for me. And I have mentioned before how much I love my grandpa. Well, you know I must if I am willing to post this photo of me without even a smidgen of powder, much less the other bits of makeup that go into making me more presentable. But I had to because I love this photo of us!

More photos of our fun to come later this week, as well as a celebration of a little one turning four.

all that for free?

Last weekend I hit the jackpot on freecycle. Someone posted a variety of vintage Christmas decorations. I didn't know exactly what I was getting except that it involved some Shiny Brite ornaments. Well, I got a total of 31 of those ornaments. The photo above gives you an idea of the selection. I also got these little paper buildings...the ones with sparkles.

I have wanted some of these for a while. In retrospect I should have taken them out of the package for a better photo, but too late now as they are packed up in the attic. I also got this little kitchen wreath. It has some damage, but it otherwise rather cute...

I am very excited about these items and am looking forward to being able to use them next Christmas. OK, just so you don't have to worry, that is the last of the Christmas related posts for at least ten months. Coming up? Some one quilt related posts since I have been a little behind.

last of the christmas gifts

I finally got my camera cable! Woo hoo! I had a few more photos of the Christmas gifts I made. There is my adorable grandpa wearing the hat I knit for him. He seemed to really like it. It was my first hat and I was so worried that it wouldn't turn out.

These walking blocks were a big hit with the kids...
My dad and Michael's dad made several pairs for various cousins, and everyone loved them (even the adults).

And last, but not least, I made these headbands for my niece, Tori...
I used the pattern from the long thread. they were so easy, they almost became addictive! Here is Tori modeling one of them...

I hope everyone is having a great Monday afternoon. We are slowly trying to get back into our homeschool routine. Last week was such a great week of just vegging out with the family, that it is a little hard to get back to a schedule. It might take us the whole week!

happy holiday monday

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. We had a week filled with fun (even though it was 80 degrees!) Some highlights were a movie, a trip to town with just me, my grandpa and the kids (that was a blast!), lots of baking (and eating) and just being with family. It was very relaxing...surprisingly.

I was all ready to post this morning with lots of new photos (including some of my amazing haul from freecycle). However, I was sorely disappointed to find that I left my camera cable at my parents' house. Fortunately, I have a few photos to hold me over until my mom mails it. I mentioned that I had a couple of gifts that I couldn't post until after Christmas. Here are a couple. I made two items for my Aunt Deborah. A pin cushion...

And a crochet hook clutch...(I found the pattern at Craft Leftovers)

I want to make one of these for my knitting needles. I am in desperate need of one. My needles are all over the place!

Have a Happy Monday! I plan to since the refrigerator is stocked, the laundry is done, and my house is all clean...even the sewing room! Oh, I forgot to mention that Santa brought me this for Christmas. Who knew that digging up fossils, picking cherries and having pink hair and an orange gingham dress could be so much fun? I am totally hooked.

more gifts

i have been busy today! i have made most of my Christmas gifts! yay! however, all the things i made today are for people who read this blog, so I can't post the images until after Christmas. (yes, that includes you aunt deborah :)

i made the bath salts above to go in the gift with the lemon sugar scrub. i don't have a recipe for these. i just guesstimated. but, they have epsom salt, baking soda, vanilla extract and lavender in them. in that same gift, i am also putting the hot cocoa mix packs from lolly chops that i mentioned yesterday. they were fun to put together. here is the front...

and the back...