It started out as a good day...

This morning was our "late" day, the day that Aaron doesn't have to be to school until 8:30. Of course this is our favorite day because we all get to sleep in an extra 30 minutes. Rise and Shine everyone was up, breakfast was made and their happy faces were out the door by 8:15. After shoveling snow, Dad took everyone to school with his breakfast burrito in hand. I had a few minutes to myself before I had to head off to the dentist, so I finished up this little napkin holder for the kitchen.

I cut the fabric into 12 inch squares and placed the ribbon in 2 1/2 inches and it came out to be the perfect size for napkins.

Dressed and ready to go, I headed out the door stopping in the drive way to snap a couple of pictures along the way...

What a crisp, beautiful day to enjoy the drive. I didn't even mind the cold weather - what's a little snow when there are so many fabric shops to visit on the way home. Along I drove with the Beatles playing in the background and visions of fabric dancing through my head.

Then I arrived (done done donnnnne) at the dentist's office, filled out the paper work, took those awful x-rays that pinch the inside of your mouth and thought, "wow, I'm done with the worst part. A few more minutes and I'm outta here." The excitement tickled my tummy a little and I lulled away the time waiting for the dentist to come by plotting out my shopping trip. Which store would be first? Do any of these little shops carry Japanese Fabrics?

The dentist came in, examined my teeth and muttered a bunch of stuff in dental code to the assistant. Then, "screeeetch" I physically heard my beautiful day coming to an abrupt end. What did he just say? Endio...isn't that a....Root Canal? What? You have to understand, one cavity as a child - one! When I was pregnant with Sara - she's 8 - I got a really bad cavity that resulted in a gold partial tooth, a root canal and finally in the loss of that tooth last year - I'm still in mourning. So now I have options - root canal which is not covered by my insurance or pull the tooth. ugh! Door number three please?

I was so shell shocked that I went into autopilot and without even thinking ended up at home. When I got here I realized that I hadn't stopped at any of the shops.

I've finally decided it's either Karma - all of those years of candy eating and no cavities while my brother avoided sugar and brushed relentlessly just to get a filling every dentist visit - I do admit that I teased him a little. Or it's this small town living. I've been here a year and my teeth are droppin' as bad as my "g's".

I've resigned myself to this...

(Notice the crocheted scarf and hat) Will ya still need me, will ya still feed me when I have no teeth?

Bobbins and Bows

Where are you sun? My pictures as well as my day yesterday are a little gray. But what a better way to brighten up a day -and these pictures- than with a few bright fabric boxes. I used the tutorial over at Day to Day. I just love Melissa's ideas.
These boxes are very petite, the fabric squares were cut at 6 inches and one at 5 inches. As you can see I've already filled them up with little crafting trinkets. These two are for a birthday gift. A little early, but I'm planning ahead and avoiding the last minute rush that happened at Christmastime.
Off to spend the morning with Alicia and her 4 year old twins and Jamie and her 3 year old triplets - not quite sure how that happened or where I fit in but I'm looking forward to it just the same.

Happiness is a sink full of clean dishes...

A sink full of clean dishes is such a nice feeling isn't it? Yes, I still have to put them away and yes, there will be more within minutes of the kids walking back through the door, but for now, for just these few quiet moments the dishes are clean.

Birthday Month

Amongst all of the birthday fun in our home this month, there has still been a little crafting going on. I love this idea that Amanda had where she came up with one gift idea then gave that to everyone on her Christmas list.

I turned to Sew Mama Sew for some inspiration. They have so many cute project with tutorials. I picked one -don't want to spoil the surprise- and started making birthday gifts for this year. As far as family goes, I'm covered through July - thank you Amanda!

My Wizard of Oz quilt made it's first appearance of the year over the weekend. After having poured so much into it, I had packed away for the holidays and to keep from getting quilter's block (hehe). So out it came. I picked it up and put it down a few dozen times and finally added a few new pieces.

On the birthday horizon...I'm off to make some "peanut butter brownies" for Josh's birthday tomorrow. I'm not sure why he calls them brownies, there is nothing brownie about them. They are actually a peanut butter bar cookie topped with peanut butter frosting and drizzled with chocolate. Yum. -I'll post some pictures and the recipe tomorrow-

Is that strange? Cookies for your birthday? I come from a long line of cake neigh sayers -and pizza haters for that matter. Who doesn't like pizza? My family. And they think I'm weird because I don't like ice cream? Am I alone on this?

A Doll That Inspires

This next week is full of merry making. Sara is turning 8 tomorrow and Josh is turning 12 in a few days. They are both really excited. A Sacajawea doll was in the works for Sara, but I've only been able to buy the materials, and dream her up - a topsi turvey doll.

I was inspired by this doll that I had growing up. Little Red Riding Hood...

Flip her over and she becomes Grandma...

And get this - flip her bonnet over and she becomes the wolf! How cool is that? I was such a tomboy growing up that I didn't have any dolls except this one. As you can see, the wolf was my favorite part and it got a lot of action.

Sacajawea won't have a third wolf side to her, she'll either have a regular side and a sleeping side or Indian attire and early American attire, but I have to do a little research to see if she ever dressed in American garb. She did wear a string of blue beads around her waste, so I'm going to hand sew a few on.

Another Card Done - cha ching

While perusing the book that Amy sent to me, I decided to jump in and make what seemed to be the most complicated card in the book.

Those detailed little folds make me all giddy inside. And here is the best part - it was super easy! This technique is called Iris Folding and it is very similar to paper piecing in quilting - that is a super complicated look for little work - that's my kind of projects.

This one is going out to my Dad - he doesn't use a computer, so we're safe to share.

Coming Your Way

Today I received some mail love from my dear friend Amy. She sent this book which goes along perfectly with my one of my New Year's resolutions for this year - make all greeting cards that I plan on sending out. Now if I could just remember to throw on a bra in the morning, I'd have two of my resolutions taken care of ;-)

Speaking of mail love, Paula sent one of her Ballet Bows for Sara. If you haven't seen these, they are really cool - especially for those of us that are challenged in the hair styling department. I pull Sara's hair back and stick it in the clip, then the pony tail part of her hair goes into the net - she loves it. She picked out the red one and tries to convince me that red goes with everything, even the pink and brown dress that I finished for her today (pictures to come). A white one would work really well for her up coming baptism...maybe there is some shopping in my future.

I can't leave the mail love up to everyone else, so I've got a package of my own headed out to Amy. This scrapbag for a friend of hers and a little surprise for her...

Long Lost Blog

Hello dear blog...did you miss me? I've been so caught up in everyday life, I've neglected you. Dishes, laundry, sick kids, family time, dog walks in the snow, prebirthdady frenzy, speed Scrabble, card making it's been so much fun - but oh how I've neglected you....

For the sake of posting a craft, I'll share Sara's puppet theater. Forgive the pictures, it was snowy and grey outside and in the made opening of presents I was able to snap a quick picture.I've seen a lot of puppet theaters out there and was inspired by some posted on the Bend the Rules Flickr Group, but since I haven't been able to buy the book yet, I went with this modified version. I made it from a science project board.

I had planned on making the puppets out of wool and felt, but in the end these cute little puppets from the dollar store (awful, I know) crept into my basket. I did make a drawstring bag to hold them all in.

One of my goals this year is to make all of my own cards. These are some robot cards that I made - kept a few and put some in my Etsy Shop.

One last thing...I'm in love with these and with this movie (thank's Mel, I had a great time).

These Painted Walls

Happy New Year! With the New Year, came new walls for our family room. They are actually a variation of the walls at our last house, which has made our home fell more like home.

So there you go - what do you think? Sort of a suede orange brown color? I'm not loving the quilt against that color, and will be moving it to a different room once the brown star quilt is finished - that should be the 3rd day of Never, but here's hoping.

There is something tranquil in painting walls. The blank canvas, your mind is free and allowed to wander, making plans, a fresh start. Hmm....it really does fulfill the homemaker in me. Now to convince someone, anyone to let me use the rest of the paint in another part of the house. I find myself saying things like, wouldn't you like this color in your room, what about the bathroom - maybe I'll have to branch out to someone outside of my own family.

The kids are back to school and I'm back to "work". A couple of new things in the Etsy Shop and my first custom order - woo hoo! Maybe, just maybe I'll get to that Baklava recipe this week. Have you made any before? This will be a first, so any tips would be great!