a change of sheets

The girls have had the same colored sheets for like ever, so I thought we better change them up a bit. And a few months ago, they had a crayon hidden in the sheets when they got washed and thrown into the dryer and came out with crayon stains all over and it was kinda bugging me. I just haven't had time to clean out the stains or go to the store to get some new fabric, so I thought why not use the tons of fabric I already had lying around!

I saw this and really loved it and tried to recreate it, though I don't have that many vintage sheets (I don't seem to have too much luck finding them here). I can't wait to go looking for some at the thrift, but what we got now will do. The only thing that I used that wasn't vintage was the stripe flat sheet because I still had yardage left over. Everything is a bit quirky and mismatched just the way I like it!

I have started making some new pillow coverings for our own bed, but I still am kinda stuck on what I want or the color scheme. We still pretty much just use a white duvet cover because I can never settle on a color for our bedroom. Maybe plain and white suits our room best, but I will keep trying different things out until I find just the perfect thing.

What kind of bedding do you use? Do you like things plain or colorful?

once upon a thread

Katy is having a special series called "Once Upon a Thread." I am so excited to share one of our favorite stories, along with a special little handmade concoction inspired by the book. Our story of choice is A Bad Case of Stripes by David Shannon.

In our house, we are all about eating healthy! Of course, we expose our kids to "sometimes foods" in moderation, but we make sure to feed the good stuff more! Lucky for us, they love eating fruits and veggies and we love eating fruits and veggies with them. We also love reading books about children who enjoy their fruits and vegetables too, so that is why this story means so much to us.

This story is all about Camilla Cream who denies her love for lima beans all because eating lima beans isn't the popular thing to do. As a result of her desire to conform, she breaks out in a bad case of the stripes. As time goes on, her desire to conform just keeps her horrid condition going as her body just continually adapts to her surroundings, until she is no longer recognizable. In the end, she learns to be true to herself and proudly proclaims her love for lima beans and goes her merry way eating them, no matter what the other kids say.

To learn about more details of the dress or read the full post, see here.

I think we can personally relate a lot to Camilla Cream. I often hear about a few people we know who don't exactly agree with our methods of raising our kids or have really strong opinions about the things we do in our home. Be it how we limit their consumption of "sometimes foods", how we dress them to our liking (the grandparents know they are free to wear cartoony clothes to sleep), or when it comes to our philosophy of toys. They say we're weird.

I think it is easy for some to form their opinions about what we do in our home because it is shared out here in the blog world. It happens and I am guilty of it too. When you put your life out there, there will be scrutiny. It is just inevitable. Otherwise, don't blog, right?! But really, it doesn't matter what they think cause we are just having a whole lot of fun being us! If we were just like them, or everyone was like each other, there would be no point to blog reading because we would all be doing the same thing. Sounds kinda boring to me!

Let's all just remember that kindness is still necessary and all things must always be done in love.

We had a stressful week in our home as Ben had a really busy week of work. This afternoon we will be able to breathe easy and I can start talking to my husband again. Yay! Have a good weekend friends and don't forget to come back tomorrow for a giveaway!!!

p.s. I am praying for God's protection over those who are affected by the earthquake in Japan.

give them wings

Days have been a bit more gloomy (though I know the heat will be back), so we have been spending mornings watching movies like Little Women (the girls are now asking for a fourth sister so they can be the little women) and The Little Princess in bed. After which, ensues a bit of crafting. The girls will do anything to get some crafting time! Since we are on a little butterfly kick from our recent outing to the Pavilion of Wings, I knew the exact thing that my girls were going to enjoy making.

They each picked out their own fabrics. Naturally, True picked something pink (she always picks pink) and Brave picked out something red. True has always loved pink and normally Brave picks out whatever big sister wants, but a little of her own personality is finally coming through, because as of late, she has declared red to be her favorite color.

I made a pattern, cut out the pieces, and sewed them together, as well as attached the elastic so that it could be worn, but I did this after they painted. I turned it inside out and the girls did the rest. They stuffed. They painted. They flew.

We used the same fabric paint that we used to make the elephants for Brave's birthday and we let the wings dry while the girls went to nap. Right when they woke up, everything was ready to go!

The wings have been attached to them ever since. Now, they are constantly fluttering about the house.

The wings remind me of a song my mom would sing to us when I was little. It was called Roots and Wings. A line in the song went like this... "You gave me roots to grow in love, you gave me wings to reach the sky, you set me free to be who I am, just by being who you are." I hope I can instill this sentiment in my girls. I want them to grow in knowledge of who they are in Christ and be able to see the possibilities in Christ as well. I am not gonna lie, sometimes I think, "Gosh... I take my children for granted and am not loving them the way God wants me to." It is so easy to fill the days with busyness that I forget to enjoy my children. I need to stop and remember that these days when they are little (because they really will be big and flying off before you know it) are for teaching them roots and wings.

p.s. last day for all my giveaways.

hello monday

This weekend we were busy bees. I spent Saturday morning out by myself with all three girls, which is a rarity as I seriously never leave the house with all three of them by myself, but I decided to be brave. Ben had a weight management conference he attended in the morning, then we did more errands together in the afternoon. All I gotta say is that time always flies on the weekend! Hurry up Friday and get here already!

The dress I am wearing is a thrift store dress refashioned. Ben got on my case for not taking a before picture, but I will just describe it to you. It was super, super big with long puffy sleeves, and super, super long! What a difference a bit of sewing makes, right? The coloring of it is a bit autumnal, but whatever... I like it!

I can hardly believe it is already July! Our anniversary is coming up and we are stuck on what to do. A nice dinner here or go somewhere like last year... we better decide soon!

Happy Monday everyone! Is anyone as excited as I am for Friday to come already?!!

stuck on a title

It really is hard to get studio time in with three kids and when I do get free time, I just want to lay down. We thought I might be pregnant again, but I really don't think so, I think I am just being lazy (or pooped out from my three babycakies). I am almost sure I am not, but if I was, then I would be done after that, for reals. I don't go past 4. Heck! I don't even know if we will go past 3, cause three close in age is hard. I have to admit, sometimes I secretly want a fourth, especially when I am cuddling with Soul. She makes me want another, or maybe it is that I want another just like her. Plus, boys scare me, what if the fourth was a boy, then what on earth do I do with a boy! I mean with diaper changing and all... um, I don't want to get squirted on. Yup, I like having girls. Ben does too.

I said there would be a shop update soon and there will be, but like I said, I have been kinda lazy of late. One time recently though, I wasn't lazy and made another dollhouse pillow that will be in the shop once I figure out when the shop update will happen.

It is still big and have pockets for windows, but it doesn't open up like the giant dollhouse pillow. I am working on a GIANT one for the update... just for your information. I just got to get off my lazy bum.

And since Soul couldn't help hold the dollhouse for the picture above, here is one just of her. I love her to pieces.

I am almost convinced that she is part Ruby, part Ben, and part Conan O'Brien. That hair! Oh that hair, I definitely think she has Conan's swoop. Don't you think?

Here's to another day of hoping to get things done!!!

*****

last day for giveaway.

*****

the ring pillow

We are finishing up wedding stuff over here. I hope to finish sewing the bunting either tonight or tomorrow morning, then the biggest task of all is the flowers on Friday. Yikes! Friday makes me nervous, there is so much to do on top of all the wedding festivities. So far every night this week I have been dreaming of wedding stuff and I am not even the bride!

This is the ring pillow I made for the wedding, that probably won't be used as the ring bearer is unable to attend because his mom might go into labor any day now. It is inspired by Rachel's doily pillow tutorial and I think it turned out lovely for a ring pillow. It will probably just go in True or Brave's room now.

I attached my rings with twine and don't mind them cause they are really dirty! They haven't been cleaned in years. My engagement ring was passed down to me as it was Ben's mother's, and my wedding band is vintage from the 1930's. I love both my rings so much!

I am off to do more sewing! Hope your day is as productive as I hope mine will be...

the shopping itch

When the shopping itch hits, I go and sew a new dress.

The pleated top bodice works nicely as all my clothes must be easy access to Soul's food. With Spring coming, I really do want to go shopping, but alas living on a budget prevents that, so I think there for sure will be a lot of dress sewing in my very near future.

If I had an unlimited budget, I would want this, this, and this. I am definitely more a dress girl than a jeans girl.

just one

I am working slowly to put things back in the shop. This little, or should I say big, dollhouse will probably be in the shop sometime Monday morning along with a few other things, though there will only be one dollhouse.

The windows are pockets to hide fun little treasures and little dolls, and the house is about 30'' tall. Here is a bit of proof of its size. It is almost as tall as True!

These dollhouses are fun to make, but do take a bit of work. I honestly get intimidated every time I make one. True keeps asking me for one like Brave's, but I have a different type of dollhouse I want to make her and this one will take a whole lot more time and planning. Maybe it will be a gift for her fourth birthday coming in April. Let's see if I get the courage to make it...

What are your plans for the weekend? We have a few in mind, but it depends a bit on Ben's work and the rain that is supposed to be here all day on Saturday, but don't forget to check back as I will have something good for you here tomorrow.

Happy Friday!

sew in love

In December, it was Ben's birthday and for his little birthday gift I made him a compilation of sewn love letters that contain sayings that us girls frequently say to him. You can see the rest of the Sew In Love With You letters here.

Though, we did this for his birthday, it is a perfect idea for Valentine's Day for someone you are sew in love with. All I did was cut white muslin fabric into 8.5'' x 11'' (just like real paper) and sewed in the lines to make it look like real paper too. Lastly, I free motion machine-sewed on each little love message and voila! Love messages for someone lovely and in our case, my Benny is super lovely!

braided headband tutorial

*This post was a guest post sometime ago over at Smile and Wave, but just in case you missed it, here it it.

Sometimes you feel stuck with your hair and just need something quick and different (okay, maybe new) and this headband is the perfect thing (it only takes about 20 minutes)!

What you need:

2- safety pins

6- strips of fabric about 18'' long (can add more strips depending how many bands you want)

1- 6'' piece of elastic

sewing machine

1. gather 3 strips of fabric.

2. pin together ends.

3. braid together.

4. repeat steps 1-3 for remaining 3 strips of fabric.

5. lay both braids side by side with ends matching together.

6. straight stitch ends together.

7. snip excess fabric and repeat for the other end (braided bands should be about 15-16'' in length).

8. take your elastic and sew into one end of the braid and repeat on the other end.

(what the braided band looks like when done sewing)

9. wear then go out and have fun! enjoy...

(I am horrible at these kinds of shots)

Hope you liked this quick little project... if you get bored of it on your head, just pull it down and wear it as a necklace around your neck. For another way to recycle scraps, you can make a braided necklace or check out the Free People blog for directions I made on how to use the scraps to make braided handles for a bag!

rain

I love the rain. I love that we stay in our pajamas while it is gloomy and cold outside, but we are warm and cozy inside. I love the rain so much I made a rain cloud (inspired by this cloud). Our little rain cloud makes me especially happy!

Have a cozy weekend! Stay warm and dry wherever you are...

wrap and ben

The postpartum body has left me a bit frustrated with what to wear, plus the fact the food needs to be easy accessible for baby. Thus, I think making a wrap dress was definitely needed. I actually made a pattern as I made this dress, so I am sure you will be seeing more wrap dresses to come. I already have two different fabrics waiting to be turned into a wrap dress of sorts. This is my first try, though Ben wasn't so keen on the fabric, but he did like the cut.

Another reason I needed a dress, was that Ben and I had a date on Friday (after we picked something up in L.A., visited with friends, and went to the doctor because I have mastitis yet again). Therefore, I wanted to look and feel pretty for him. He is just the absolute handsomest fellow around!

The dress was good. The date was good, but Ben's kisses are even better.

Happy Monday everyone! This week's forecast in southern California is rain. I love rain.

p.s. my baby seester is so cute... you should read her blog.

the chalkboard canvas

I have had this vision of a chalkboard canvas for so long now and asked Ben to make it for me for Christmas. It was all I wanted along with an email to this company to try and finish our wedding video, which was almost 5 years ago. Anyways, like usual, Ben was able to deliver both requests, though we are still waiting for a reply to his email.

On Christmas morning, I got my chalkboard canvas and True got something special along with it. Anytime Ben asked her what she wanted for Christmas, she would say, "Snow." We have no idea where she got that idea, but that is what she wanted. Living in southern California we really couldn't give her that, so the next best option was Ben drew her snow.

True and I were both happy girls.

I love children's art and wanted some grand way to display it, so I thought of a chalkboard canvas. Plus, I just love any kind of chalkboard so much!

Ben just took a large canvas and painted it with chalkboard paint. That way it is light enough to hang up and take down to draw on anytime. The girls had a blast drawing on it for the first time, but they did fight about who gets to draw on what side.

Introducing their first official installment on the chalkboard canvas. The wonderful thing is that we can change it up weekly!

We have our very own priceless piece of modern art hanging in our family room done by two of the world's greatest artists.

Happy weekend everyone!!!

the medium-sized dollhouse pillow

I wasn't sure if I was ready to attempt this again, but I did. This time it was for a friend's daughter (she gave it to her as a Christmas gift). It wasn't so bad and I made a general pattern of it as I went along, so maybe recreating another time would be much easier (maybe put a few in the shop sometime later). It wasn't quite as large as Brave's, but the dollhouse pillow still came out really cute. Then again, what little girl wouldn't like some sort of dollhouse pillow in any size?!!

I also made two more, but smaller versions, and it didn't open to reveal an inside. Though the windows were pockets to be sure and give the girls some little places to hide their gadgets and gizmos and such.

To compare sizes, Brave's pillow is on the left and the medium-sized one on the right. Though, the medium-sized one was still pretty big, as it was about the size of a standard pillow.

I know some have emailed me about making some of these and I have turned them down, but maybe I might be comfortable enough in the new year to eventually put a couple in the shop. Can't make any promises, but maybe just maybe. Keep your fingers crossed.