the 'green' easter dresses

my pretty little lovelies, with their cheeseball smiles and their easter dresses. 

each dress has a little apron, made with a vintage embroidered pillowcase that belonged to my mother.

the top is crocheted.

the buttons on the back are from my grandmother's large collection of fantastic buttons-- most of which she acquired from old clothing at a thrift store.

my inspiration was this darling dress, by NuxieMade:

such a fun dress to put together. . .

how was your easter?



my magic wand

i {heart} crocheting.

playing with yarn is almost as much fun as playing with fabric.  combining colors, creating textures. . . all of it.

and this little beauty,

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a size Q crochet hook, is like a magic wand!

do you have any idea how fast you can whip out a baby blanket with one of these?

we are talking single digit hours, here people.  SINGLE digits!!!

now i can make one for each of those new little bundles in my life, instead of picking only one per year.



i wish you could reach into the screen and feel these babies.  they are so thick and heavy, but still have lots of drape.  the gray, pink, aqua and white blanket was just done in single crochet.  took about four hours.

the purpley-pink one is a pattern called 'baby bumps' (i think?).  it is from a pattern book, but i no longer have the book-- and i don't remember what it is called.  but my goodness!  those fluffy soft bumps are so stinkin' cute.  if it didn't take so very much yarn, i think i would crochet one for myself in a big size.  but when you use 4+ strands of yarn at a time, it adds up quick.

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this is my current project.  isn't it adorable?  yarn AND fabric AND my magic wand all combined into one.  fantastic.  you can get the pattern here at sheilalikestoknit etsy shop.

it is an adorable idea and the pattern is very clear and would be great for a beginner.  if you have enough experience that you are thinking you could probably figure it out yourself-- you probably could.  i love to support designers by purchasing patterns, but sometimes i kick myself for spending money on something i could do myself.

someday, i am going to create one of my own crochet patterns. . . it is on my bucket list.  any brilliant ideas?  what do you like to crochet?

happy friday!

leis



one more round. . .

if you will indulge me one more time-- i have one more halloween post to share. 

my sister-in-law, steph asked me a couple months before halloween if i had some ideas for her twins-- ummmm, YES!!!

how fun to make costumes for twins.

i immediately shared an idea that i had seen on pinterest for 'thing 1 and thing 2' from dr. seuss.  so, while i didn't actually create these costumes, they were just too cute not to share:

ah!  love it.  hope it makes you smile!



the classics

for christmas i was lucky enough to recieve one of these:

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my goodness, it has been so fun to read again!  and wow!  there are quite a few books you can get for free on a kindle.  the first free books that i found that made me giddy with delight were some of what i would call 'the classics.' 

i have read pride and prejudice, the secret garden, gone with the wind and scarlett (sequel to gone with the wind).  and i just started reading the scarlet pimpernel-- one that i have not read previously. 

don't you just love the classics?  i love that they are generally 'cleaner'.  i don't enjoy reading books that have lots of swearing and other questionable activities.

i also just love the character development in each of these stories.  it feels like you truly KNOW the characters.  i think that is one of the things that defines a good book for me. 

for instance, gone with the wind is just one of the best books ever.  it just is.  margaret mitchell does an exquisite job of characterization.  when you finish gone with the wind and decide to read the sequel (written by a different author), the transition is a little like fingernails on a chalkboard.  now, don't get me wrong, i love scarlett too.  i love that it wraps up the story so well and it is intriguing in it's own way.  but the switch from one author to the other makes it very obvious why margaret mitchell is considered a great author. . .

have any of you read 'scarlett'?  did you enjoy it?

do the classics inspire you?  can i just tell you how hard i am trying to find an excuse to sew this dress:

how many yards of fabric do you think i would need?  and how much do you think i would have to weigh to have a 17 inch waist?  did you know that my three year old has a larger waist than that?  crazy!

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but don't be too suprised if next halloween you see all four of us girls in a four different scarlett costumes (assuming i lose about 100 pounds between now and then!).

and don't the words of the secret garden inspire the most darling vintage dresses for little girls?

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and maybe a cape, or coat to go with it?

are there any fabulous classics that i am missing out on? what is your favorite classic?

kiddo crafts, part 1

in my opinion, kids and crafts do NOT go together.  crafting is mommy-time, not kid-time.

but as the girlies are getting older, they are kindly begging and pleading to be included in all the craft madness strewn throughout the house.

pinterest to the rescue!

it is full of ideas for kids from all those perfect moms, who do fabulous crafts for their home AND fun kid crafts.

so, i have reluctantly included a few kid crafts into the mix here at home.  and-- it has been kinda fun.

one of the first on the list is magnetic paper dolls.

when i was a kid, i played with paper dolls that my mom had meticulously cut out as a girl from the McCall's magazine.  amazingly, those paperdolls lasted through two generations of play.  (it sort of makes me wonder what is wrong with my kiddos-- nothing they have is going to last until the next generation-- least of all paper dolls!!!)

anywho--  when i found this fabulous site, Teri's Paper Doll Scans, i sort of got a crush.  okay, a MAJOR crush.  combine that with the idea of putting the paper dolls on magnetic paper from one pearl button, and you have a magic!

now, the only problem is whether or not share with the girlies. . .

 i made lots and lots of sets, cause you know me-- i can't settle on just one. 

we made some for k2's teacher as an end-of-the-year gift, since she mentioned how very cool they were when k2 brought them for show-and-tell.  and oh!  they look so cute in their cozy little tin (gift card holder for $1).

 

there are nurses and babies, teens and toddlers, dresses and jammies, pets and more!  all in vintage colors and styles that make my heart go 'pitter-pat'.



i think my faves are the ones below-- the liddle kiddles.  they are chubby and cartoony with darling little outfits and names like 'surfy' and 'bunson'.

now, i just need to invest in one of these doo-hickys:



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so that they are not always playing underfoot while i am trying to cook dinner.



tips i learned the hard way:

** save your michael's coupons!  those magnetic sheets are around $11 a piece and don't fit that many paper dolls.  unless, of course, you are much more self-disciplined than me and can resist the temptation to make all of them.

** use tiny, sharp scissors to cut them out.  it will save your hand.

** if i were going to make them again, i would print them on cardstock, as the magnetic paper is not that thick.

** it will use LOTS of colored ink to print these babies-- hope you've got a good printer!

so ya, the girls love them, i love them, i even enjoyed cutting them out-- but they are a little pricey when you include the ink, the paper, and the magnetic paper.

happy monday!

leisel

homemade laundry soap

i have been trying to figure out how many hours i spent in the last year on pinterest. . .  and it is not a pretty picture. 

i justify it by the many things i have learned.  somehow, before pinterest, i thought the only thing you could find online were crafty/sewing things (can we say 'tunnel-vision'?).  pinterest opened up many new areas-- food, cleaning, organizing, photo tips, etc.

wow!  you can find ANYTHING on the internet.  so many ideas, so little time. . .

and one of the things i have actually tried is my very own laundry soap-- super cheap and less chemicals than store-bought kind.

i have seen many, many come across my pinterest board.  the one that i tried and really liked was originally found here. 

here are the ingredients:

borax (available at wal-mart, stain-remover aisle)

arm & hammer super washing soda (available at wal-mart, stain-remover aisle)

fels-naptha  (available at wal-mart, stain-remover aisle)

grater

bucket

long spoon

i tried a small amount first. and it works great!  my clothes are just as clean as my tide washed clothes.

my next goal was to make a LARGE batch-- like a year's worth of the stuff.  (food storage and money savings all wrapped up together!)

i got myself a 5 gallon bucket and filled it-- 9 cups washing soda, 9 cups borax and 18 bars of Fels-Naptha, grated.

from what i have read, the liquid kind is actually cheaper, but seemed like a lot more work.  and somehow, my math came out quite a bit cheaper than the original post suggests.  here is my math:

4 gallons of laundry detergent= 1024 tablespoons

10 loads per week x 2 tablespoons per load = 20 tablespoons per week
20 tablespoons x 52 weeks per year = 1040 tablespoons per year

18 bars of soap-  $17.46

1 box borax-  $3.76

1.5 box washing soda-  $5.25

total-  $26.47 per year

grocery store brand-  $17.99 for 110 loads

5 bottles per year- 

total-  $89.95 per year

by my calculations, $.05 per load for my new, improved, self-made laundry soap.

ta-da!




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I also tried the dishwashing soap-- didn't work so well.  it clumped up and left a film on our glasses.  we do have pretty hard water though, so perhaps that is why. 

i recently saw an updated version that looks promising here.  i might try it again someday. . .




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one last tip i found that works really well:  use a dryer sheet to cleam soap scum-- say what? 

but it truly works!  like a charm.



so, what is your favorite pinterest tip?

gifts and presents, presents and gifts

i love to give gifts.

lots and lots of gifts.

to everyone i know.

elaborate, hand-made gifts.

and while this sounds like a great thing, i have a VERY hard time filtering.

for instance, my sister had this darling baby girl in early december.

i volunteered to make the crib bedding and curtain for her room.

sounds like a nice, sisterly gift, right?

right. . .  well, not enough for me apparently.

i created a list of about 15 additional things that i wanted to make for the sweet baby girl, including a pettiskirt, several quilts, crocheted items, embellished onesies, burp cloths. . .  well, you get the picture.



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anything baby that i see, that i KNOW my sister would like get added on my to-do list. 

(free tutorial/pattern available here)

and while i am at it, i decided to make pettiskirts for all of my nieces, 7 of them, because you know, it is cheaper shipping if i order lots of chiffon on-line.  and then i feel guilty because that would leave my nephews out (5 of them), so i come up with something to send them, too.  but then i think that it is probably boring for the kids to get clothes, so then i start thinking it would be fun to knit some softies to show off my new knitting skills. . .  and the list goes on. 



(pattern available here)



why can't i stop?  i have completely overwhelmed myself.  and my home.  because i have purchased all the items to make the gifts.

so, my goal is to get as many of my gift to-do's done before valentine's day. 

two weeks. 

we'll see how far we get.

do any of you have this same problem?



(tutorial available here)