weekend snapshot

We had a magical Christmas and hope you did too! This is as close as the Little Miss got to Santa Claus but he still granted half of her (my) Christmas wish and gave her one front tooth! I just noticed its appearance yesterday but I am sure she woke up with it on Christmas morning as her first present. So now she has her lower front left tooth and her upper front right tooth - it looks a little off kilter but cute as can be!

merry christmas!

I wanted to take pictures outside with real snowflakes falling and beautiful scenery as our backdrop but sometimes in life you take what you can get... in this instance a snapshot at Husbands grandmother's birthday bash earlier this month in front of a black curtain.

I hope you all have a wonderful and safe holiday. I am planning on wearing pajamas as much as possible, sleeping in whenever I get the chance, and spending lots of quality time with loved ones.

Merry Christmas!

thrifty gifts

I had planned to make the Little Miss quite a few simple handmade gifts for Christmas, but my schedule has been much fuller than I anticipated this month and I am not the type to stay up late, lose sleep, and stress myself out - I know she will love the few toys we bought her from the store.

So I felt especially lucky when I found some great handmade toys that creative mothers of Christmases past did have the time to make. My sanity is saved and I still get to gift some handmade goodies that are more fun and creative than what I would have made anyway - win-win! They just needed a little washing and mending to give them new life and now they are ready to be loved by another sweet little girl.


The mouse house is probably my favorite. I stalked the worker who was putting it out when I spotted it on her cart and grabbed it immediately before I even knew what was in it. To my delight it was an adorable mouse family complete with a bed and couch! There was some writing in marker on the roof so I covered it with the address Husband thought up - '1234 Hole in the Wall St.' They live in the financial district of Squeakville USA and I am sure they will have many adventures with us for years to come.


The Little Miss is actually the one who found Charlotte Piggybottom (more than once she has grabbed something off the shelf that we end up taking home with us - she has a good eye already)! Charlotte needed some of her stuffing put back in and after about 75 stitches she was good as new and healed up quite nicely.


And finally, this basket of vegetable softies has already proven to be a big hit. I haven't been able to wrap them up because the Little Miss carries the basket around on her arm all day putting them in and out, in and out - she has always loved her vegetables!

button calendar

I love the look of this fabric button calendar from I Love Patchwork. Only problem - it wouldn't help with the whole 'I usually always forget birthdays' syndrome I suffer from since I couldn't write on it... and yes I know that is neither a real syndrome nor correct word usage.

christmas traditions

I've been thinking a lot about family holiday traditions. Husband and I have decided on a few to start in our own little family which I am excited about! We are opening pj's and a new game to play on Christmas Eve, making aebleskivers on Christmas morning, and doing some kind of service during the holiday season. As far as the perfect Christmas dinner goes the jury is still out (Husband thinks ham but I'm not totally convinced).

I would love for you to share with me your family Christmas traditions! What does your family do to celebrate the holidays together?

(image)

choices

I was already having a hard time deciding between these for the Little Miss...





...when I spotted these! Help!

all she wants for christmas...

...are her two front teeth (and any others that want to join the party).

dear mantel,

Someday you will be adorned with a magical bottle brush tree forest.

-xo

dear christmas tree,

Someday you will get pretty things like these to wear.

- xo

fabric find {hope valley}

Denyse Schmidt never fails to make fabric that I need to cut into and Hope Valley is by far my favorite yet. I just love everything about it. And after seeing the collection along with her inspiration - this old postcard - I think I love it even more. It speaks to me of simpler times, fresh air, and new beginnings. What would you make with it?







(photo credit)

weekend snapshot

We put up what few Christmas decorations we own this weekend. Husband has dubbed this area 'Christmas Corner' since we only have enough decor for this one spot, but it makes our home merry and bright and I am definitely getting into the Christmas spirit! The beautiful falling snow today helped with that too.



How About Orange posted a link to this free download-able advent calendar last week. At first I just taped it up on the wall but I thought it looked sad and unfinished so I whipped up a little home for it. I used an old frame I had and a fat quarter of Christmas fabric. All I did was staple the fabric to the back of the frame and then taped the advent calendar on, cutting the corners to match. It's amazing what a difference it made!

weekend snapshot

The two people I am most thankful for... We had a lovely, relaxing weekend with family and no end of delicious food - hope you did too.

I've been spending most of my free time this week doing a pretty major shop update for a Thanksgiving weekend promo. Visit the shop Nov. 27th - 30th and get FREE WORLDWIDE SHIPPING with a purchase of $25 or more!

And... since I am really thankful that anyone evens reads this blog I am giving you, my lovely readers, an extra perk! Mention that you read this blog in the message to seller box and I'll give you another 15% off!

I love this time of year and as I have been reflecting on my life these past few days I have shed quite a few tears of gratitude. I feel so blessed! I love my husband and little girl beyond words, and I am so grateful for my family, my faith, and my testimony. I don't know what more I could ask for...

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!


If you want to see a couple of the things that touched me this week go here, and here.

vintage coat pattern

I've been asked if I used a vintage pattern to make the Little Miss' church coat and the answer is yes! I made view 1 (the yellow one) but opted not to add the fake pocket flaps on the front or use lace on the collar. I am still tempted to make the large detachable collar shown in view 2, but we'll see if I ever get around to it. And how cute is that petal hat! Funny how the hat is what made me buy this pattern in the first place, but I have yet to make it!

This particular pattern I bought off Etsy (so many cute options), but I have found a lot of vintage patterns that cost next to nothing at thrift stores, garage sales, and my mother's sewing room closet!

christmas cards

I realized this year that I am all grown-up with a family so I should probably start sending out Christmas cards. That thought lead me to realize I had the perfect excuse to get us all dolled up in festive outfits and have a family photo shoot and so now I am determined to be all grown-up and send out Christmas cards. With that said, if I had as much money as I wanted to spend on them, I would choose these cards to send out with our picture... mmm... can you smell the scents through the screen?







(spotted on you are my fave)

new in the shop

Some of my favorite new additions to the shop! Thanks for stopping by!

weekend snapshot

The Little Miss got to wear her coat this weekend and walk in the snow for the first time! She had a very quizzical look on her face at the sound of the snow crunching under her boots and she kept lifting up her foot to see what was underneath. I love being able to stand on the sidelines and watch her discover all the wonders this world has to offer - there is nothing I would rather do. How was your weekend?

little friends

As I was editing some pictures of vintage clothes for a shop update I realized how in love I am with all the little birds, smiling sailboats, ducks with umbrellas, wiener dogs, balloons, whales donning caps, cute mice, polka-dot giraffes, bears wearing bow ties and flying kites... you probably get the idea. Every time I send one away I feel like I am losing a cute little friend and maybe I say goodbye as I am wrapping them up. Is this too much information? But, no matter how much I adore them I am always happy to send them to a loving new home!

This picture is a mix of some of my favorite little friends who are either sold, currently for sale, or coming soon to the shop! Can you spot the new ones?!

pumpkin cookies

I've tried several different pumpkin chocolate chip cookie recipes and this one has been my favorite by far. They are everything they should be - moist and delicious with just the right amount of spice... and very tempting to steal!

weekend snapshot

I didn't take a single picture this weekend. It was actually nice to not care about trying to capture any moments, not that there were any moments that needed capturing. The weekend was more fun for me than for Husband - he humored me by letting me thrift downtown while he followed the Little Miss around as she explored the aisles of toys and shoes (her two favorite things). Oh, how I love him! Then we capped off the outing with a Philly at Moochies - delicious.

And so this post has some eye candy - I couldn't resist this 60's beauty and am currently waiting for it to come in the mail with great anticipation...



...but I wish this was coming along with it.



How was your weekend?

coat with flower brooch

I made this coat intending for the Little Miss to wear it to church in the crisp, cool air... but she hasn't worn it yet. We walked to the park today and I was wishing I wore shorts - cool fall weather, where did you go? I think I am ready for you to come back now. I bought a flannel shirt and everything.


I wanted the coat to have a simple pattern that would go with most of her dresses and I am really happy with the fabric I chose; its a cotton canvas so it'll be sturdy which is good because I made it roomy enough that she'll be able to wear it next year too.


I thought it would be fun to dress it up a bit more when the Little Miss is feeling extra fancy, so I had my sister make me a custom flower bouquet and then I added some ribbon and turned it into a 'prize-ribbon' brooch. I think I might wear it when I want to feel fancy too.

hint

Just in case you were wondering what to get the Little Miss for Christmas...

...any of these will be fine.

weekend snapshot

Hope you had a fun Halloween! I ended up finding this gem of a 70's dress at the thrift store the day before, flipped my hair out and called it good. And if you think I look more like a pioneer you are not alone.

This was my pretty poor attempt at carving a witch into my wart infested pumpkin. I couldn't carve the eyes, nose, or mouth without it cracking and ruining the whole thing so I gave up. Maybe next year we will invest in pumpkin carving knives...but probably not. I think I am more cut out for the classic triangle eyes and toothy grin.

the pumpkin patch

We went to a pumpkin patch/corn maze/animal farm over the weekend. The Little Miss loved seeing all the animals and riding in the wagon and we loved the great selection of pumpkins to choose from...we got a daddy, mommy, and baby pumpkin - and somehow the mommy pumpkin ending up being the warty one!

come visit me

This month I am participating in an exhibition at papernstitch! So if you want to...




...as well as all of the other cute shops like -


ninon



Helen Rawlinson


utopiapedia

and much, much more!

weekend snapshot

This weekend was quite momentous... Guess who finally got her first tooth! Yes, it took almost 15 months but better late than never, eh? And the one next to it looks like it will be making its appearance soon too. I'm going to miss her gummy grin but I think a cute little snaggle-tooth is a fair trade!

doll costume

I'd like to introduce you to Little Miss Doll...





Today we did a Halloween dress rehearsal. I'm so thrilled with how the costume turned out - exactly like I pictured it in my head!

Dress - vintage from my shop
Shoes - thrift
Headband - I made the bow and attached it to a headband I bought at Walmart
Wind-up Key - toilet paper roll, styrofoam ball, + cardboard cutout spray-painted gold, elastic bands around her arms are attached to the toilet paper roll by brass paper fasteners
Rosy Cheeks - cream blush

velvet pumpkins

I never knew I loved velvet pumpkins until today! I'm still all for the real thing (and excited to carve jack-o-lanterns this weekend) but these are just too pretty.

(photo credit)

costumes

I am definitely keeping these adorable costume ideas from small for future reference -kokeshi doll and matryoshka doll.




I guess I have an affinity for doll Halloween costumes which you will see when I finish the Little Miss' costume! Hopefully I can get it done tomorrow and when you see it you'll wonder why it took so long because it's really quite simple.