Poll results are in.

Ok you know I have been running a poll for the last week here on my blog.  It ended yesterday so I thought I'd share the results with you.  The question was: What would you buy on the internet?  There were 4 choices and it was multiple choice.  It was mainly a poll to help direct what I might sell at my etsy store.
So here are the results:
14% voted for Adult Clothing
57% of the votes went to Home Decor and Children's Clothing.
71% of the votes went for Gifts.

Ok so I'm going to ask for your ideas.  I will be starting a new poll each week to help me discover what kinds of things in each area you would look for online.  If you have more ideas than what you can vote on please feel free to leave comments here or on my facebook page.  I want to offer what people want so I need your help. 

Grocery Sac Holders

I was shopping this morning and saw two cute dish towels so I bought them and turned them into Grocery Sac holders.  I made myself one when I got married and still have it.  We like to save our grocery sacs and use them in our smaller garbages and these holders make it easy and cleaner to keep them.  One is Red and gold striped and the other is Green and gold striped.  My sister in law has 2 in her college apartment and loves them and her room mates use them as well.
They are 100% cotton and machine washable.  They have an elastic band in the bottom to help hold the sacs inside and a drawstring at the top to make loading the holders easy.  If you know anyone who likes to save the sacs and needs a way to keep them this would make the perfect gift.

I also just added another Taggie to my website.  Come take a look.

Taggie Blanket

I made this Taggie blanket today.  It is 13" by 14" and is made of soft material.  The pattern is actually sold like that in the store.  I cut it to the size I want and then I added ribbon.  The ribbon is different colors and different textures.  Babies love to play with the soft blanket and feel and play with the ribbons.

The material was on sale when I bought it so I am passing the savings on to whomever buys this Tagge.  It is made of neutral colors so it could be used for a boy or a girl.  They make great baby shower gifts or just great gifts in general. 

As the babies grow the Taggies can still be used for their dolls and to help teach them colors.  They are small enough that they can be taken anywhere without taking up much room.

I have one that my mother in law made for my daughter who is due in December and I can't wait to use it.

Too Much To Do?

Do you ever feel like you have WAY to much to do?  I think my problem is that I have so much that I want to do and I want to do it all right now.  I have so many projects that I want to start and I know that if I start more than one or two than none of them will get done in a timely manner.  So I decided to prioritize....kind of.  :)  Christmas is coming up and so are some birthdays in my family so today I am working solely on the gifts for those people.  Tomorrow I will resume working on items to sell but if I let my store take over than I will never get anything for my family and friends done on time and possibly ever.  Today my goal is to get two gifts finished and one other one worked on.  So far so good.  I have worked on the larger one and am about to start on the two other gifts. 
Even with all of this I still need to make sure I am spending time with and teaching my daughter every day.  We are also going to put her cute apron on and make some banana bread to use up some bananas that are ready for it.  Some I will save in the freezer, some I will share with friends and one at least for now will be eaten.  We will also run around the living room rather than go to the park because the wind is really bad today.  We will probably play with her blocks and build a ramp out of her books for her cars.  Then later we will cook dinner.  A busy day but I believe I can do it since I prioritzed.

Toddler Boy Apron

I finished the Toddler Apron for boys and it is very cute.  I used satin stiching to applique the mast, sail, cloud and sun to the levi and the boat itself is the pocket.  It is lined with blue bias binding tape.  I don't have any sons and although it looked cute on my daughter I opted to take pictures of it around the house.  These would make great birthday or Christmas gifts for the toddlers you are shopping for.

Toddler Girl Apron

Ok so I have finished my first toddler girls apron and I must say that I think it is very cute.  This one is made with a darker levi.  It has pink bias binding tape on the edges and then a black sparkly pocket that has butterflies on it.  Then there is also a flower that has been appliqued to the apron.

My daughter loves the apron that Grandma made for her.  She uses it when she is playing in her kitchen and when she is helping in my kitchen.  She has also used it when we were carving our pumpkins.  They are very durable and machine washable.  Check out my store for more pictures.

Learning new things.

I have been sewing on a quilt on and off and I finally got to put the borders on and learned something that will make my life easier in the future.  I thought I'd share what I learned with you.  The instructions for the quilt border was to sew all the border pieces together in one long strip and then measure the two sides and then cut the measurement and sew them on.  Then I was supposed to measure the head and foot of the quilt including the border and cut those measurements and sew them on.

Did I do this?  Well no, I didn't.  Instead I decided rather than cut them to the measurements that I would come up with I would just leave it all connected and sew it to one side and then using my rotary cutter and a ruler I cut off the excess  material and then did the same for the other three sides.  I made sure to iron the seams to be accurate and it worked out amazingly.  I decided to try it this way because I tend to measure one thing and then when I cut the material and sew them together they don't always match.  This way they match perfectly.  It also seemed to cut out an extra step that wasn't so necessary.

It was very fun.  I was very confused when I first read the directions but after trying and altering the instructions a little it worked out very well.

Fashion Show

A few weeks ago I had been invited to a 'MyVintage Baby' fashion show.  To be honest I wasn't really interested in the fashion show as much as I was in the opportunity to hang out with friends and meet other women in the area.  I wrote the date and time on my calendar, put the invite on my fridge and told my husband about it.  I was going to make sure that I would be there and my husband was very supportive.

So last night I walked around the corner to my friends house where the fashion show would be and had a wonderful time.  I was able to meet ladies in my neighborhood whom I had not yet met.  I was able to share my website with a woman who loves aprons and just have fun looking at the clothing that was offered.
They have a lot of cute clothing that gave me some ideas for future projects.  It was all together a wondeful evening.
It is amazing what trying new things can do to uplift us.

Toddler Aprons in progress

You saw the pictures of my daughter's apron.  Here are a few pictures of what I've been working on.  These pictures are of the progress so you can see them being sewn.  I am sewing one for a girl and one for a boy which should be available at Idaho At Heart within the next two days.  Tell me what you think as you see pictures of things being sewn.  Do you like seeing them in progress or would you prefer just the finished product pictures?

Toddler aprons coming soon.

Ok so tonight my daughter was helping me make sugar cookies and about half way through I remembered that Grandma had made and sent her her very own apron out of jeans. I will be making more similar to this to sell on my store but I just couldn't resist showing how cute my daughter looked in hers. She kept putting it back on later to help mom in the kitchen. It was so fun. She uses it in her own play kitchen and now in mom's kitchen.

Toddler Pull over Bibs.

Ok so I learned how to make pull over toddler bibs in my child clothing class and I love them. My daughter who is now 2 1/2 years old would never where her bibs that had velcro, snaps or tied in back. She also likes these pull over bibs. They are made out of towels. I cut holes in them and sew knit for the collar and they slide over the head. She helps put them on and now she knows how to put them on. They are washable and 100% cotton.

I have 2 blue and gold striped bibs and two dark cream and light cream bibs. I originally had them planned as the blue ones for boys and the cream ones for either sex. I had red ones but I kept them for my daughter. :) They work great for gifts to children (or their parents). They also are good to have around a grandparents home for when the grandkids come to visit. They have saved us washing so many clothes. Eventually I would like to embroider on them but for now they are plain.

I have recently opened up a store at www.IdahoAtHeart.etsy.com and am starting a blog page to keep people posted as to what I am working on and what will become available soon at my store. So far I have 3 Fall table runners available as well as two Christmas themed Table runners.
I am currently working on toddler pullover bibs, toddler aprons made from recycled jeans, and newborn baby items such as hats, booties, and mittens.
I would also like to add that there are many things that I would like to sell so keep checking back to find out what new things I have available to sell in my shop.
I will try to keep updated pictures to show how things are sewn from start to finish. I hope that you can all find something that you like.