quiet books

now that gifts have been unwrapped and all that goodness i thought i would share a few homemade gifts. these quite books took me too long, but they were something i really wanted for the girls and bryan's sister showed interest in one for her little guys, so i dove in.

 covers

i made the books with felt, backed with interfaceing. i snipped around the edges, so that i could leave them raw and lessen my work :).

 velcroed balloons and texture page

 cars with button on wheels

 shoe lacing...sans the lace.

 zipper pocket and 5 monster finger puppets.

small, medium and large ice cream scoops to be snapped on.

the end.

merry christmas

christ in red robe by minerva teichert

i know i've been showing a lot of little crafty things this christmas season. i was in the making mode for the first few weeks, but i've been trying to get into a more spirtual mood. i LOVE all the giving, recieving, yummy foods, decorations, songs and family time that we get to have during this season. However, it is very important to me that my family try to think about Christ this time of year especially. He is the reason for all this fun and excitement. i feel so blessed to have a knowledge that He is my savior and that He loves me. i am so totally blessed. one of the things that always gets me in the right mind set is listening or watching the first presidency christmas devotional. my favorite was president uchtdorf's talk. please go check it out. it is SO worth it.

neighbor gifts

i made these little banana breads to give to neighbors and friends. i found these cute little white mini loaf pans and decided they would make a cute gift. i put the breads in a celo bag, wrapped them with red string and put a card on the top. they were easy and i think they look pretty cute. i used the banana bread recipe from flour bakery in boston. it's from this book and it's a tasty one. i also REALLY like this recipe.

utah hats

i made p a hat last year for christmas and it was a huge hit. i decided that i might turn it into a tradition...a christmas hat every year. in SD we don't need a lot of warm hats, but when we go to utah for christmas we need all the layers we can find...southern california has made us soft.

 this year i did orange and white earflap hats and i stuck a little bow on. isla's will not fit her for long, but it will work for the next couple of months.

stockings

here is isla's stocking. and penelope's new stocking (her old one wasn't made well and was falling apart...oops.) i keep thinking i will crochet us all stockings, but i haven't. i really like our stockings though. they are fun and bright and totally imperfect. yes, i know penelope's says penel a pe, that's what i get for free handing the embroidery. i will fix it...next year.

the wrappings

wow! the last few weeks have been crazy...or i've been crazy the last couple of weeks. i wrapped our gifts yesterday and that took an eternity. i really like wrapping gifts, but when there are a lot to wrap and it takes 3+ hours, i like it less. anyway, i am really glad that i have all our christmas gifts bought/ordered. i had a goal to have it all done by the end of november. ha. ha. ha.

brown paper packages tied up with strings

my little helper

ps this weekend bryan and i are going on a date! i am super excited, because dates are scarce these days. what are your fun weekend plans?

7 months old

this little gal is 7 months old and she's a riot. 

-she is grabbing for EVERYTHING! at this very moment she's trying to get at the keyboard and singing a cute little song that will turn sad if i don't give her something to play with.

-she enjoys playing with things that are not meant for babies best...like anything bryan or i have.

-she still won't take a bottle or a pacifier, but she's eating her vegetables like a champ!

- she can sit up all by herself for 10 min+.

-she still doesn't love being on her tummy, but she's tolerating it better.

-she has the sweetest grin and loves to play with her tongue. she can even flip it and do tongue tricks. cute.

-she is sleeping really well and i am super happy about that.

-her hair is filling in (sort of,) she has 2 teeth and her eyes are darkening (maybe she'll be a brown-eyed girl like her sis.

-she's in love with her family and it totally melts my heart.

we love you isla may!

whoo whoo

owls! this year the ornaments i made for the tree were owls. i have tried to make an ornament for each member of the family each year. i have done birds the past 4 years. here are the owls. inspired by these guys (pinned by helen fuhriman.)

PS HAPPY DECEMBER

tree pillow

i made this tree cushion for the holidays. i used this tutorial from the purl bee. i think i may do this wall hanging when i have more wall space, but i really like the way the pillow turned out. this is one of my first pieced block quilts and i ran into a few troubles, but it was a good experience for me and i am excited to have a festive pillow. 

christmas tree

on sunday we got out our christmas tree and decorated it. penelope is at a great age for this. she had a blast with all the ornaments and kept saying "i love christmas trees." she is still rearranging and moving ornaments to make the tree "perfect." it is amazing how many memories are revived while decorating the tree. so many of our old ornaments have fun christmas memories attached to them...i loved it.

we also read the polar express to get a little more christmas spirit. i LOVE the polar express. my two favorite christmas books are the Polar Express and the Three Trees. but there are SO many good ones. what are your faves? 

 yep, we did decorate right after waking up, so jammies and bed heads are on display here.

 one new addition to our tree this year were these little bird houses that i found at michael's for $1 each. i bought 6 and painted them all gold. 

i am thankful: vol 3

i had planned on posting more lists of what i'm thankful for, but i dropped the ball on that and i wanted to do one more before we plow into christmas schtuff. i have innumerable things to be grateful for and it helps me to put some down on the record.

1. (pictured above) i know i've mentioned these three before, but they are my life.
2. etsy
3. blogspot
4. pbs kids (for a much needed break from parenting-ha ha!)
5. good food
6. hot water
7. my sewing machine
8. trader joes
9. costco
10. LDS.org
11. prayer
12. scriptures. i just reread this talk and was inspired
13. the opportunity to live in san diego where i am near so many wonderful things to do with my family and where i enjoy near perfect weather year round.
14. tender greens- i may or may not feel a little weird that a restaurant made my list, but it feeds my body and soul:)!

now i'm off to clean up from our suuuper relaxing thanksgiving break.

new nephew

last night our newest nephew was born. congratulations to justin and anna! i am heading up to help out with their older two boys this in a little bit. i will be busy munching on muddy buddies on the drive up... so i'm pretty excited. But i am more excited about getting to hold a wee baby again. babies are such a blessing and i am so happy that he arrived safely and that he and his mom are doing well. here is the outfit i made for the little man along with a matching giraffe rattle.

new things in shop and a sale

 

i am offering a 20% off sale on all items in my shop starting today and ending at the end of the month! this is big, so jump on it!

enter: Thanks20 at checkout to receive discount.

ALSO, i've added a bunch of new things to my shop, so go check 'er out.

more stuff

new headbands and bow hats will also be at the queen bee!

new things for the market

here are a few new items that will at the queen bee this time around. i am updating my shop too, for real this time. i will keep you posted, but i am thinking the update will happen on monday along with a pre-thanksgiving sale. get excited.

  

hand dyed jewelry

 tweed and emerald bow tie hair clips

 hand stitched bloom clips

 bow hats in gray, cobalt and cream

 the slouch cap in grey and sea foam

 more colors of chunky slouchy berets

 more colors of thick buttoning ear warmers

 

more colors of chunky buttoning headbands

also, today you can get 25% off the jennifer earrings using promo code: Day6