Birdseed Ornaments

I love handmade Christmas gifts. I found this little project in Country Living magazine and thought I would test it out to see if it could become one of my handmade gifts this year. Link is here if you want to try it yourself.

I found that the recipe made more ornaments than it stated. I filled 3 cookie cutters when it only called for one. I also added a lot more birdseed than called for. It just seemed too runny so I kept adding. I think I could have added even more. I also had to wait a LONG time for the mixture to thicken up to pour into the cutters. If you don't wait long enough it will spill out the sides and you will have a huge mess.

In the end I love the thought behind them, but I don't think I will be giving these out. This is definitely a cold weather craft. I set them on the kitchen table when I was done and they started to melt. You have to hang them outside immediately in the cold air for them to stay hard. Just having the heat on in the house and the little but of sun from the window softened them right up, which would make them hard to wrap and give away. You would end up with a soggy mess of coconut oil and seeds.

This would make a good winter craft to do with children. I envisioned a beautiful evergreen tree in the front yard filled with these, and tiny little birds munching to their hearts content. I guess that is where I went off track. I dont have an evergreen tree and I think my dog sitting in the window is scaring off the birds from eating the one I have hanging from my planter hook. It remains untouched. I want something to eat it so bad I almost would not mind the squirrels taking a bite. I have two more in the freezer if you have an evergreen tree and don't mind riding home with no heat. They are all yours.

Totes for Teachers

The nice thing about having a blog that no one follows is that I can post all my Christmas goodies before the holiday and not really have to worry about spoiling it for anyone.

I made these Winslow Tote bags by Kathy Mack for the 2 main teachers at my daughter’s daycare. I really think they truly like their jobs and the children they care for and I wanted to show my appreciation with some handmade goodness.

I love this boat fabric. Its another nice piece from the gifted stash from my husbands Aunt Tiny. The bottom of the bag is a pirate treasure map fabric I picked up at Joann's.

I dipped into my stash for this bag and used up the last of my Melissa Averinos Sugar Snap fabric. I should have bought 10 yards of this stuff. I love the color combination of the aqua, orange and pink. I am going to have a hard time parting with this one, it is so pretty.

The horse fabric I used for the lining is just darling.

I love this pattern. You can use all fat quarters, or small pieces of fabric you might have left over from some other project. Plus the patchwork effect is great. Anything goes. I hope to make a couple more of these to keep for shopping or running errands.

There is still lots more Christmas sewing to get done. I wish I had the time to make all of my gifts. Maybe if I start in January I might be able to do just that. It would be wonderful to have a completely handmade Christmas in the Hill house.

Christmas Quilt and Mindless Chatter

I have a confession. Christmas is not my favorite holiday. Actually it ranks pretty low on the holiday list of favorites. I tend to get a little weighed down by the consumerism, travel, constant running around and the idea that you must do it all with a cheerful smile. I much prefer Thanksgiving or Halloween where you can still stuff your face but with so much less pressure. Which is why I was surprised to be drawn to this Christmas quilt pattern. I guess sometimes the projects pick you and not the other way around. The pattern is Trees Up Lights On by Sandy Gervais. I am making this one for my family. It’s been a long time since I made a quilt that will stay in our home and is not for someone else. I am really excited to create some simple, quiet and cherished Christmas family memories with this quilt. I can just picture my daughter snuggled under it on Christmas morning.

All the blocks are complete. Now I need to square them up and piece them together. It really is a pretty easy quilt to put together. You sew a little here, trim a little there, then sew some more. It’s a perfect pattern for anyone who hates exact piecing. I cannot wait to find the perfect backing and binding fabric. I am thinking some polka dots.

On a side note I cannot keep my daughter out of the dog food and water bowls. There is an irresistible magnetic force that draws her in. It’s rather frustrating but amusing since I am amassing a large array of blackmail pictures for when she is older.

Superhero Fort Kit

My super awesome neighbors have a son who just so happens to be born on the best day of the year (my birthday). He was having a superhero themed birthday and I needed just the right gift since well, he is special, being a Libra and all. I thought about buying him another man barbie action figure but then I found this great diy gift idea here and here and here. It was pretty quick to put together and I hope it brings him hours of imaginative play time. I remember building forts when I was a kid and loved it. Heck I still feel like a kid, anyone down for some fort time? Here are all the superhero fort building essentials you need, a cape, flashlight, glow sticks, clamps, rope and a giant sheet. I picked up a yard each of this Batman and Superman fabric at Joanns and made the cape reversible. This way he can choose which hero he would like to be on any given day. I used the leftover fabric to make the bag.
This is a great gift idea if you have any little boys in your life in need of a birthday present.

The BIG 30

Today is my birthday. I have made it to the BIG 30. Can someone please tell me when do you start feeling like a grown up because I still feel like I am 16 (and would kill to have the body I did when I was 16).

I spent some time this weekend going to my BFAM’s (brother from another mother) wedding, celebrating with friends, getting a pedicure and just enjoying the time spent with people I love. I received some great gifts, not that I expected any. Shout out to my husband for the best ammonite bracelet ever. I also thought about some of the things I want to focus on for the next year of my life. Put on your galoshes because this might get deep, not too deep, just a little, maybe like a puddle. Here goes.

1) I will embrace this hair of mine, in all its long, going grey, kinky glory.

2) I will focus more on the people/things/experiences that fill me up, rather than weigh me down.

3) I will evaluate the time suck that is technology and try to eliminate the use of it that is not really contributing to my life.

4) I will sew more, and hopefully blog about it more, because it makes me happy, very, very happy.

5) I will continue to de-clutter my home and mind from the things and thoughts that don’t make me feel good.

6) I will try to not compare myself to others so much.

7) I will kiss and hug and squeeze my dog more, because I think she feel like a 3^rd wheel since Lenora entered the picture.

8) I will spend more time building up the people I love so much, myself included, rather than focusing on their weaknesses.

9) Finally, I will slow down. I am not quite sure who or what I am racing against but I am pretty sure it’s not a competition to see who can get to the end the fastest.

Whew, did you make it through all that. It feels good just to write it down. I feel like I have accomplished so much in 30 years but still have so much further to go. I guess life is really about the journey and not the destination. Now its off to the sewing machine to work on #4.

I could not resist this picture. Lenora is fearless. No Kirby will get the best of her.

Simple Sewing

My husbands Aunt Tiny blessed me with the mother load of fabric. I'm talking suitcases full of vintage goodies, apparel blends, you name it, it was there. In the stash was this little beauty just dying to be made into something pretty. It is a heavier weight and the border print just screamed tablecloth. And since I am still a little bitter over my missing quilt pieces I needed something simple to sew. All I did was trim the selvedges and miter the corners. An hour later and she was done.
Check out those mitered corners. Great tutorial here. I wanted a double fold for a clean finish so just fold and iron once, then follow the instructions for the miter. When you are done it will be double. Sometimes you just need a simple little something to sew.

Fancy Pants

I should be sewing on my Christmas quilt. The one quilt I have made in ages that is for me/my family and no one else. The quilt that I loved so much it took me almost a year to find exactly the right cherry reds and lime greens. But ever since the basement ghost came along and walked off with 4 of my quilt pieces I have become a little pissy about it. I don’t really have a ghost but how else do you explain 4 missing pieces from 420 stacked into perfect blocks? We don’t have a cat so I cant even blame it on that.

Which reminds me of the one time when I was still living with my mom. I laid out a quilt on her basement floor and left it for the night to sew the next morning. When I came back to it there were pieces everywhere with chewed edges. She has 3 cats and I swear they had a keg party on my quilt. I never did get it laid back out the way it was originally.

I digress. So since I became all pissy about the Christmas quilt I just had to sew something adorable for little Lenora. The Anna Maria Horner Quick Change Trousers were the perfect project. I made the cloth diaper bum adjustment mentioned here, and a short while later I had the cutest pair of reversible pants.

Check out those little birds. I have been holding on to this fabric for a while waiting for the perfect project to come

along.
Can you get any more adorable than that? I see more of these pants in my future. They were easy and pretty quick to sew.