One of those weeks...

Well it has been one of those weeks.  One where I know I still have a lot to do but also one in which I don't want to do anything.  After the rush of the holidays I'm just beat.  I have only been in my sewing room once since Christmas eve.  I know that I have a lot of things to get done but I just haven't been able to get myself in there.

I need to organize, plan, clean... 

I already know that I need to start on February runners and I have the material to do so but it just hasn't happened yet.

I have instead been learning to crochet.  I made hats for my girls and last night started on one for my husband. 

So needless to say I probably wont get much sewn this week.  I'll try but I don't think it will happen.  I'll get in there for sure Tuesday or Wednesday.  I'll keep you posted on everything else that is happening.

Have a great week.

Christmas projects

I wanted to share the two other Christmas projects that I made.  There is one more but I don't have pictures of it.  When I get the pictures I'll show them to you.

 The first thing is a table runner I made for my sister in law.  It is for Valentine's day or
all of February.

 There was a lot of applique on this.  I discovered double sided webbing and fell in love with it on this project. 

 This is a purse that I made for my mother in law. 

The pattern didn't have pockets on it so I made these myself with the extra material.  It was fun. 

I had a lot of making presents this year and look forward to next year as well.  I will just try to plan to start a lot earlier so it isn't so hectic.

Quilt for Christmas

You might be asking yourself what all this is.  This is the beginning step in making the quilt that I made for my dad and stepmother.  My husband put coasters on my sewing cabinet so I could wheel it out into the living room and that is what I did.  I spent a few hours cutting the material while my girls played around me.  It allowed me to get more done during the day since I didn't have to wait until Yana went to bed.

I will probably start doing this on a normal basis so I can get more sewn during nap time.

 Here are all the squares after they were sewn.  I laid them on the floor to set up the rows in order to sew them.

Here are the squares sewn together and the white added before the border.

 It is a good thing we have a large living room.  You can see the border.  I have it sandwiched so I can pin it in order to start free motion quilting it.

Here it is in the sewing machine.  It took a long time and I worked muscles I didn't realize I had.

 We set it up on our bed for the pictures and almost decided to keep it for ourselves.

 We just loved this quilt.

I did my normal coral looking stitch and then on the border I did a different stitch as you can see in the picture.  I don't know what to call it.

I had a lot of fun sewing this quilt.  It was by far the biggest quilt I have done yet.  The sheet on the back was a king size sheet.

It arrived in time for Christmas and they tell me that they love it.  I'm already looking up more quilt patterns to make.

I'll share more Christmas projects later.

Look what I did

We went to Hobby Lobby the other day and Sarah saw some pink yarn and just loved it.  She wanted me to buy it for her and so I bought it.  I don't usually buy random things like that just because my kids want it but Christmas was coming up and I thought that if I had time I could crochet her something for Christmas.

Well it didn't happen before Christmas because I didn't have time but I decided to crochet her a hat.  I found one online at Alli Crafts.  She has all sorts of free patterns there that are really cute.  I picked a hat and asked Sarah if she would like me to make it for her and she was super excited.

So I spent an hour online looking up stitches again and how to do magic rings and all sorts of stuff and then sat down and made her this really cute hat.

 She wore it all day yesterday.  She just loved it.  The flaps were easy and it was fun to learn.  It has me excited to make more.

 Isn't it cute.

I still need practice joining the rounds but it is cute and she likes it and that is all that matters.

Last night I sat down with the same pattern but for a smaller head and started making one for Yana.  I will make pom poms to attach to the top once I finish the one I'm working on. 

It is amazing what you can find online.

Well today is going to be a super busy day and it is already half over.  We started late and have lots to do.  I hope that you have a wonderful day.  I'll try to get on later and start sharing pictures of all the Christmas presents I made this year.

Merry Christmas

Ok so I know I'm a day late but I have been hanging out with my family and loving every minute of it.  My husband didn't have to work Friday or today so we have been having lots of fun.  I'm gonna start by saying that we had a wonderful Christmas. 

We really tried hard to mention to our children why we really celebrate Christmas.  That we are celebrating Christ's  birth.  Sarah was excited for the gifts but I think she understood to a point what we were really celebrating.

Well Yana is a year old now.  I can hardly believe it.  The last year has just flown by.  Saturday we mainly hung out around the house and then made more cookies.  We made sugar cookies for Santa Claus because we didn't have any.  We used my recipe so they were so much better.  We even shared the cookies with a few neighbors.

We came home from that and got ready for bed and acted out the Christmas story in hopes that it would help Sarah understand better what we were celebrating.  Then we sang a few Christmas songs, checked where Santa Claus was at and sent them to bed.

Then when they went to bed I finished their dresses and my husband got the stockings ready.

 Well I forgot to take pictures of my girls wearing their dresses so I'll take those on Sunday.  Yana's is way too big because I accidentally made it two sizes too large.  I like to have something home made for them on Christmas morning.  The dresses were those things.  Yana got a camp chair because she just loves Sarah's.  We got the Car's Operation game to play as a family.  Lots of chocolate.  My husband hid the camera that Sarah wanted from Santa in the bottom of her stocking and it was very cute to see her reaction when she finally found it.

 You can't forget the pez.  Sarah just loves pez.

 Sarah got lots of learning games and books which should come in really helpful. 

We got a really cool camping kitchen.  We are so excited to use it.  My husband wanted to set it up in the kitchen and use it.

We got lots of movies.  The girls got lots of really cute clothes including the tutu you see her wearing in the picture above.

We had a wonderful day.  All of our gifts made it to our family members in time for Christmas.  They all seemed to like them.  So now I'll start sharing pictures of all the projects I was working on.  I don't think that will happen today.  I'm still getting the house back in order after Christmas but wanted to take a few minutes to check on my blog.

We have been so blessed this year by family and friends and we hope that you have as well.

Yummy creations

One of the treats that we made a couple of weeks ago were what you see below.  We bought Almond Bark, cheez its, orange slices, and creamy peanut butter.

 We put toothpicks in the orange slices and then dipped them in the melted almond bark.  Then we let them sit.

 We would spread the peanut butter on a cheese it and then put another cheese it on top of that.  Then dip them in the almond bark.

It was a lot of fun and they tasted wonderful.  They didn't last very long.

We got this recipe from my mother in law.  She made them a couple years ago and they were really good.

Christmas lights

 Well a couple weeks ago for Young Women's we went to see some Christmas lights.  Here are a few of the pictures.  Josh was out of town so the girls got to go with us.  They like looking at Christmas lights so they had fun.  Sarah ran around with the girls and had a blast.

 The lights change on that tree and the surrounding lights as well.  There are so many lights here.

Yana didn't want to keep her hands under the blanket. 

It was a lot of fun.  The girls had a blast and the lights were really pretty.

Monday!!!

Hello, everyone.  Man can you believe that the year is almost over?  Yana will turn 1 on Thursday.  Christmas is on Sunday.  We have lived here the longest we have lived anywhere.  1.5 years.  I can hardly believe it.

Well this weekend was really good.  Friday night we had a birthday party for Yana.  We invited a few friends over and had some cake.  I'll be completely honest with you.  I didn't like the look of this cake.  It tasted wonderfully but I wish I would have thought about it ahead of time and spent some time decorating it rather than just throwing it together an hour before the party.

 I was originally going to put rose buds on it but I just couldn't get them to look nice for me so I had to change plans midstream.  I'm sure you noticed that there are 2 names on this cake.  The Sarah on the cake is not my daughter but a friend and her birthday is the same day as Yana's.  I wanted her to know that we didn't forget about her birthday. It was a funfetti cake.

 My husband started out feeding her off of his plate and then we decided that it was only right for her to try on her own.  This was how happy she was.  She is a little poser by the way.

 It is getting more and more messy.  She i showing us her messy hands.  Isn't that nice of her.

Ok well off came the messy shirt....look at that mess.  She was so funny.

It was a lot of fun.  Yana didn't open them.  She had no interest in opening them.  So we let the kids take turns opening them for her.  She liked the stuff she got just didn't want to open them.

Well Saturday was good and busy trying to get gifts for Christmas finished.  Sunday was Sunday.  Sarah had a belly ache most of Saturday and Sunday but this morning seems to be feeling better. 

I hope that you all had a wonderful weekend and are almost ready for Christmas.

Update

Well I still can't share any photos but I only have 1 gift left that needs mailed and 2 items that are for my girls and then I can get back to sewing for my store.  I also have about 10 more cards to get written and sent out.  I apologize for being MIA but I need to get this all done as soon as I can in order to get them out on time to make it before Christmas.

Things are going good.  Things are getting done and we are very excited for Christmas.

I've realized something.  As I have gotten older presents aren't as exciting as they were when I was a kid.  I think a lot of parents feel that way.  It is fun watching our kids open their gifts.  I've known that for a while but what I realized is that I'm really excited to see peoples responses to the gifts that we send them whether they are home made or store bought.  It is fun to get things for other people.

I hope that you are all getting ready.  We are trying really hard to make sure that our children understand what this holiday truly represents.  We talk them about Christ every day in hopes that they will understand and remember.  They don't completely understand what He did for us but they do understand that He is very important and that He loves them.  That is all I can hope for. 

Merry Christmas.  I'll let ya know Monday how the weekend went.  I should be able to mail everything off Monday and then start on my girls dresses.  This is so excited and fun.

My first giveaway!

I want to say thank you to Kadydid Designs for letting me join her 12 Days of Christmas giveaway.  It has ended and one lucky winner got to chose any hair clip from my store.  Adrea chose the Pink and Zebra hair clip.

Thank you to everyone who participated.

I FINISHED IT!!!!

I can't tell you what "IT" is yet but all that is important is that I finished it.  I've been trying to add up the hours that I have put into this project and I honestly think that I have close to if not more than 40 hours.  I mean if you think about it. 

Cutting: roughly 5-8 hours
Sewing: I'm guessing 10 hours
Quilting: roughly 33.5 hours
Finishing: 1.5 hours

These are all rough guesses.  I'm just looking at the calendar and thinking about the fact that my daughter usually sleeps 2-4 hours a day and usually sew the entire time.  Then for the last week and a half I have been sewing from about 8-8:30 to midnight.  I finished it this morning around 1:30.  It was a long night but it was so good to be done.

So today I started on the next project.  I have several more to get done and my husband has several that he has to finish as well.  I want to start on some cute dresses and matching coats for my girls for Christmas.  I will have them done by Christmas morning if I have to stay up all night sewing.  I'm so excited. 

I have already started thinking about presents and things to sew for next year.  I promise I'll share some pictures and tell you where these are all going after Christmas.  I'd hate to give the surprise away.

I hope that you are all getting everything done.  Have a great day.

Friday

It is Friday and it is just one more long day in a week of really long days.  Christmas is almost here and I am quickly losing time to get things done.  I don't think I have gone to bed before midnight for at least a week probably more.  I sew while Yana is asleep, I cut and cook while she is awake and I sew some more when the girls go to sleep.  Then I still get things cleaned and taken care of throughout the day and week. 

My goal is to get everything in the mail by next Friday at the latest but I would prefer Wednesday.  That means a lot of time in the sewing room.  A lot of late nights but it will be completely worth it.

My problem is that I keep adding things to my list.  We went to Walmart and I grabbed a pattern that I had bought a while ago and I bought some material to make really cute outfits for my girls.  I am excited.  I will start them as soon as I get the gifts mailed off.  I will have plenty of time to sew once these other gifts are finished.

Anyways I wont be able to spend much time over the next few days on here so please bare with me.  I'll get on when I can and at least leave a short message and keep you updated.  I can't exactly share pictures because these are gifts for people who read my blog.  So I will share photos and information after Christmas.

Have a wonderful week I'll see you on the flip side!

My first giveaway is happening today!!!

Do you remember how earlier I mentioned that I was participating in a 12 days of Christmas giveaway?  Well my giveaway is happening tomorrow.  I am giving away to the lucky winner a choice of a flower hair clip from my store.  There is a button on the left upper side of my screen that will you take you directly to her blog where you can see the rules in how to enter the drawing.  You can also see the other things being given away this month.

Here are just a couple of choices:



So I hope that you will share the news with your friends and followers.  Have a great day.

Todays featured store

This week the store I chose does edible art.



Her name is Emily and she is in New Jersey and she makes cake decorations.  As you know I have recently learned how to decorate cakes so this store was really fun to see.  How it works is you bake and ice your cake and use the items in her store to decorate.  Your cakes and cupcakes will look like they came from the store.

Here are a couple of things that she sells.



These are some gum paste daisies.



These are awesome fondant autumn leaves.



I couldn't leave out a Christmas item.  Those are really cool fondant Hollie leaves.

So please come take a look and see if there is anything you could use this month when decorating your Christmas treats.  Just click here.

Soup

I had someone ask me about the recipe for the soup that I posted the other day.  I actually got the recipe from my mother in law and she gave me permission to share it with you all.

1 Tall can tomato juice

Tall can Chicken or Beef broth

1 chopped onion

3/4 head of celery

1.5 lb browned burger

1/2 bag (big) carrots cut

1 C Lentils

1 C Barley

Salt and Pepper

Garlic Salt

1 box of whole wheat penne noodles (little ones)

I used a crock pot but you could also use a big pot on the stove.

Put everything but the lentils, barley and noodles in and start cooking.

Add the lentils and barley after two hours.

Add noodles 1 hour before serving.

You don't have to use noodles and if you do you don't have to use a whole box either.

It will be really thick and it makes a lot.  Just add water to help thin it out.  I kept adding broth instead of water and it still tasted really good.

We started cooking ours at 12 and ate at 6.  It was really yummy and we have lots of leftovers.

We just poured the leftovers in ziplock baggies and placed them in the freezer after they had cooled.

A fun weekend.

I love Monday's.  I now that might sound weird to some people.  I love the weekend but Sunday's mean that the weekend is almost over and although Monday does mean that it is officially over it also means that we are one day closer to the weekend again.

So far this morning I have vacuumed.  I know I know not much but that is what I have done.  I have also chased my youngest away from the Christmas tree umpteen times. 

Anyways, what did you all do this weekend?  We had a lot of fun.  Saturday we went and walked through some stores trying to figure out what our children want for Christmas.  We don't have any ideas this year for them.  Sarah wants Santa Claus to bring her a camera but other than that she hasn't said anything.  So for right now I think we are going to get her some new shoes since she always needs more shoes.  We're working on the list.

After that I went to a Lia Sophia party that a friend invited me to.  It was fun to see the jewelry and visit with friends.

Sunday we went to church and spent a lot of fun in the hall with Yana walking around.  We can't seem to keep her quiet and still during the classes.  After church we had lunch and got dinner in the crock pot. 

It was so yummy.  Thanks for the recipe Valarie.
Then we started making cookies.  We made sugar cookies.  I would roll them out and then my husband and Sarah would use the Christmas cookie cutters to cut out fun shapes.  After the sugar cookies were done we made gingerbread cookies the same way.  Then my husband iced the cookies.  It was fun.  I like making cookies as a family.  Much more enjoyable.

 The finished sugar cookies.  They are really yummy.

 The work station.  I love our table. 

And the gingerbread men.

It was a lot of fun.  We laughed and had a lot of fun.  Of course we ate way too many cookies last night but it sure was yummy.

This week should be really interesting as well.

Baking days....

The last couple of days have been busy.  Josh was in Texas Monday until last night.  So every night I sewed as soon as my girls went to bed.  Tuesday I decided I wanted to try making my own candies so we went to Hobby Lobby and bought a couple molds and some chocolate.  This first picture is what I made that night.  Not too bad.  It was fun and they taste really good.

 There is peanut butter and milk chocolate.  Some solid and some mixed.  I also bought dark mint but didn't use it Tuesday night.

 Ok well this is what my table looked like last night before I went to Mutual.  I had offered to make cupcakes for the activity and I also wanted to use the new silicon molds my mother in law sent me.  So I made a lot.  I also used the rest of the chocolate while backing.  I used the dark mint as well.  The tins in the upper left have the candies in them.  They aren't full.

 This was the counter that I worked on.  It was a mess.  That's just how it was.

Here are the cupcakes that I took to Young Women's with me.  They were yummy.  I finished frosting the last one right as I needed to head out the door.  They were fun to make but man was yesterday afternoon busy.

I still need to frost the molded cupcakes but that will happen a little later today.