I'm back!

Another project I did with my neighbor's daughters was custom brownie cupcakes! We used a brownie mixed, and I scooped the batter into cupcake liners. Then we got out a whole bunch of yummy treats (cherries, marshmallows, chocolate chips, caramel sauce, sprinkles, coconut, pecans, etc.), and customized them all!

Mine, before baking:

I didn't take any after baking pictures, oops, but rest assured, they were yummy! And a great activity for the kids , too. It kept them both entertained for about an hour. :)

We were in Maine for the last 2 weeks, so not a whole lot of crafting got done (though I did do a lot of my other love, reading!), however I did work on these embroidery hangings while I was there. They are Jenny Hart designs, and I think they look very sweet hanging up in the kitchen.

I did finish one thing before we left which was the first of three valances for our kitchen windows:

It helps to conceal the ugly blinds lurking beneath. 

New Pajamas

The top two sets were a special order for my friend Ashley (gifts for kids she babysits for) and the bottom one was a birthday gift for a family friend's newly 3 year old!

Super Hero Cape!

This was made as a birthday present for a friend's little boy whose name starts with J. :)

I love the lining fabric! I have some left over, and may use it as part of a quilt, if I ever become motivated to make one. :)

2 Small Projects

Hello, clothespins!

We recently (finally!) got ourselves a clothesline. And because I tend to do Ben's laundry only about once a week or so (that kid has too many clothes) there are a lot of little shirts, pants and socks to hang up at once, so I need a lot of clothespins. I wanted something cute to hang them all in, so I made this little bag out of some of the leftover fabric I had from my stupid bag (which I actually use everyday). It wasn't very well thought out, but it came out ok never the less.


These hand towels were a last minute addition to a friends wedding gift (which also included a motion detector hand soap pump, and some Vermont Organic hand soap). It was fun to play around with all the different stitches on my machine, and while they're not perfect, I think that they're cute, and will hopefully be appreciated!

Satan's Handbag

I'm pretty sure Satan inspired me to make this bag.

I had found a pattern online for a bag that I liked and wanted to make, but then when I went to make it, I couldn't find the pattern. So I made one up on my own. My downfall? Deciding to use a zipper. Zippers and I are not friends, at least when it comes to adding them to purses anyways.

It was a frustrating process, and I'm not 100% thrilled with the way the bag came out, but I like the fabric, so I'll use it anyway.

Banner Made for Ben's Room - Pictured in Living Room

Ashley's Apron

I just realized I never posted this! It's an apron that I made for my dear friend Ashley for her birthday. No pattern was used, I just sort of copied an apron I already had. And she loved it! :)

Pillows!

Just a quick post, since my little guys is going to wake up from napping very soon. I finally made covers for our ugly pillows!

This project has been forever in the making (literally. I bought this fabric in like 2006... before I even had a sewing machine), and I'm glad I finally completed it. It was actually very simple; these are just like a pillow case with the opening on the back, and a bit of overlap added so the pillow doesn't fall out.


They're not perfect, but they are much better than what we had!

More Freezer Paper Stenciling

Hi, My name is Jill and I am a pajama making addict.





Four more pairs of pajama pants made, and 4 more shirts painted to match them for my little guy. I didn't force him to model them this time, but they all look super cute! I really need to stop though - he only need so many sets of pajamas!

Inspiration & Sewing

I started sewing, sort of, when I was little. I used to take old scraps of fabric my mom had and hand sew little crude dresses for my dolls. Then in high school, I took a sewing class, and used a machine for the first time, making pillows, pajama pants, easy stuff like that. In college, I used a friend's machine occasionally, and made myself a couple of very simple skirts. I always really liked sewing, but for some reason never jumped head-long into it.

Then, this past fall, I bought myself a sewing machine. It sat in my craft room for a long time, untouched. I think it intimidated me. I recently felt motivated though, by this:


It's a quilt that was made by the woman who lived across the street from me growing up, and given to me (and Ben) for my baby shower. It means so much to me, and I realized that I want to create more things like this, both for Ben and to give to other people.

I'm not quite bold enough to start with a quilt (soon though, perhaps, as I'm sick of the one we have in the master bedroom)... I went over to a friend's house about a week ago, and she was able to help me with three projects - pajama shorts for my neighbor's daughters birthday, and two pairs of pajama "Capri pants" for Ben (note to self, buy more fabric next time).







And yes, I did paint the shirts to match. I love freezer paper stenciling! I'll post on that soon.

There will definitely be more sewing projects in the future, especially since I have a dedicated crafting space in our basement now.