where has the time gone?

My little girl turned 1 last week. 1!! I can't believe it. She's growing so fast!

I had tons of project ideas for her party. One of them was to make a happy birthday banner. I used this tutorial as a guide. I changed the shape of the flags and didn't add extra embellishments to them. I thought the fabric I chose was busy enough. I used an Oh! Cherry! Oh! charm pack and layer cake. I love this fabric line so much that I bought some yardage to make Madelyn a dress (I still need to make it. Hmm.).

For her party, I also made layered jello and a watermelon bombe from justJENN. (I love her blog. You should check it out.) In all of my party-planning craziness, I forgot to take a picture of them. Our 50 guests loved them though, along with my strawberry cupcakes. All in all, it was a great party and I'm so happy to be a momma to this little girl. :o)

Watermelon Dress

So I had this great idea one night a little while ago while I was trying to go to sleep. I pictured this way-too-cute a-line dress that looked just like a slice of watermelon. I knew I had to make it. I was heading to visit a good friend of mine on the other side of the state and she also has a daughter who is just a few months younger than Madelyn AND she's a big crafter too, so I told her about my dress idea. She loved it! We decided to go to the mall and we went into a children's clothing store and then I saw it. The dress. MY dress. I was so bummed! But I knew I could make it for a lot less money than what they were charging. Plus, I'd be able to make it how I wanted. :o)

So, here's what I ended up with. I didn't use a pattern. Nope. This one is all from my noggin. It's fully lined and it snaps up the entire back.

At first, Madelyn didn't know what to think.

But then, she liked it! I had to fight to get it off of her! I'm so glad she likes it!

What? Organization? Me??

Yep. You read that correctly. I, Amy, have made something that is kinda sorta organizational. Whoa! That's totally not me! But I'm tired of stepping over Madelyn's toys in the living room so I thought it would be a good idea to make a fabric box with my leftover curtain fabric. I found this tutorial from all buttoned up, which is another really fun blog (seriously, how many fun blogs are out there?? I find tons each and every day! And I'm loving it!!). I had to change the dimensions A LOT to make it functional for a toy box, but otherwise I followed to directions pretty closely, which is another thing that's weird for me to do. :o) It was a fun project and I was able to complete it in 2 hours, or a whole naptime for Miss Madelyn.

She had fun helping Momma put her toys away. See? Ahhhh. My feet are happy! No more plastic-y landmines in the living room!

Madelyn's new best friend

I don't know why I haven't blogged lately. I guess I've been busy getting ready for Madelyn's birthday party. Eeeeeeeeeeeeek! She's going to be 1 in less than 3 weeks! Where has the time gone???

One of the many projects that I have been working on is Molly Monkey from one of my all-time favorite blogs, mmmcrafts. Larissa has soooooooooooooooo many cute ideas! If you haven't checked out her blog before, you really need to. Did you hear that? YOU REALLY NEED TO! Especially since she has most graciously offered the pattern for Molly for FREE!!!! The pattern is really well written and very easy to follow. I was hoping to give it to her as a birthday present, but since the pattern was so easy to do, I made it in under 2 days. And being as impatient as I am, I just had to give it to her early. She loves it! When she sees it, she starts kicking and clapping and laughing. It's too cute!


I haven't sewn the beret on yet, mainly because it covers up the little sprout of hair I added. When Madelyn plays with it, of course the first thing she does is take off the hat. Oh well. Molly is cute with or without the beret!

a few firsts...

.....not only for me, but for Madelyn as well! This is her first Easter and I was excited to make her something special. I decided a while ago to make her a bunny blanket, similar to this one I found on the Oh, Fransson! blog. I guess I got a little too excited when I bought the fabric to make it because I had a lot left over, enough to make her a dress. I have to say that I'm not very good at sewing clothes, mainly because I don't like to follow instructions. But the pattern I chose was very straightforward. I didn't even need to call my seamstress sister once to help decipher the sewing jargon! :o) Here's what the dress ended up looking like:

I added the ribbon trim along with a piece of fabric that I cut out from a coordinating fabric. I also made the ribbon rose with some leftover trim I used on the bunny's skirt. By the way, here's the finished bunny blanket...

...complete with a signed back...

...and one happy little girl! :o)

Happy First Easter, Madelyn! :o)

Little Tote Bag

My 7 year old niece Peyton asked me if I could teach her how to knit. Well, of course I can! But a girl can't knit without her own knitting bag, am I right? :o) I found this tutorial from The Longest Year (which, by the way, is an excellent blog) earlier this morning and I whipped one up in under 2 hours. I used my stash, which makes it even better. But, of course, I couldn't leave it plain. I added some applique designs to the front. I just printed off a "P" from Microsoft Word in a fun font and used that to trace onto some fusible web. I found the flower applique pattern here. Can you tell what her favorite color is? :o) I'm going over to her house this Sunday to start teaching her. Wish me luck!

I even put a pocket on the inside. I love pockets!

progress...

Remember a while back when I wrote about wanting to make this blanket for Madelyn's first Easter? Well, earlier this week I finally found some time to get started on it. Of course, I had to change it a little bit, mainly because they aren't supplying the pattern anymore. That's okay. Here's what I have so far:

It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. It's just an applique with layers of clothing on top. I must admit that the skirt was a little more difficult though. You can lift it up and see her legs underneath. I am also planning on making an Easter basket filled with colored eggs. Hopefully I'll find some time this week to work on that.

Whaddyathink?

:o)

Ribbon Tag Monster

Madelyn is really into getting her hands on anything she possibly can. I made her a ribbon tag blanket when she was first born and she loves it. I found this pattern for a ribbon tag monster a while ago on CraftSchmaft but I was busy doing other projects. I finally found some time this morning and I was able to make it while Madelyn was napping. Here's how it turned out:

But could I actually follow the pattern? Of course not! I added arms and made it look more girly with eyelashes and fuzzy pink minky fabric. I also added some jingle bells inside. I like how it turned out. I think Madelyn does too. She hasn't let go of it since I gave it to her!

Secret Pal Package

First off, I'd like to apologize to my secret pal for taking so long to post about the latest package. Sorry!

I received the latest package from my secret pal when I got home from vacation. It was perfect timing! Here is what I got:

I got a really cool crochet pattern book, 5 skeins of yarn, and a knitted book cover. There are lots of cute patterns in the book that I would love to make, but they are going to have to wait a little while. I have other projects that need to get completed before I start ANOTHER one. :o) Thank you secret pal!

I think I might start sewing again. Ken bought me a new sewing machine for Christmas but I don't know much about the features. I was supposed to take a "getting to know your new machine" class earlier this week but they cancelled it due to the snow we got. Now I won't be able to take the class until February 10. :o( I don't know how to attach the walking foot to the machine (that's the main reason why I want to take the class). Once I learn that, I want to make Madelyn a blanket similar to this one for Easter. The pattern used to be available on oh fransson's blog but it isn't anymore. That's okay. This gives me more room for creativity. Maybe I'll add a little basket to the quilt top. Hmm. We'll see. Now I just need to find some Easter fabric. That's turning out to be a lot harder than it sounds.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a little girl that needs some attention.

taa daa!

I'll admit it. I'm an amateur seamstress at best. I can do just about any kind of craft but when it comes to following a sewing pattern, I usually end up covered in threads and leaving the room with a pounding headache. But Joann's was having a sale last week and their McCall's patterns were only 99 cents. I decided to check out what they had. I found this pattern, and since Joann's was also having a big sale on their polar fleece, I decided to suffer through it in the hopes I'd come out alive. Not only did I come out alive, but Madelyn now has a way too cute winter hat! It's a little big yet but that means she should be able to wear it for awhile, and since we live in Michigan, she might need it until May. Pretty cute, huh?

Mini Pincushion

I am beginning to need more and more pincushions. It must be because of all the little sewing projects I have lying around. I found this cute idea while shopping in a little town near where I grew up. Instead of taking the easy route and just buying one, I took the harder route and came home and tried to make one. Luckily for me, it looks like it turned out pretty well. Since it uses a golf tee, it fits perfectly into a spool of thread. I think I need to make some more!

Candy Corn dress

I joined the candy corn contest a little while ago and I was inspired by one of the entries by ella bella baby. She made the most adorable candy corn dress and I just knew that Madelyn needed one too! Here is my attempt:


I think Madelyn makes a fantastic model! :o)