Friday Favourites?

Although I enjoy sharing some of my favourite things, I am not enjoying writing them down every Friday as much as I had hoped.  No worries though.

So, I am going to continue to write about my sewing  journey, and sometimes baking, but I will also write about other interesting things I find on the web – just not always on Friday.  I’m sure I must have more to share than I do, so I am going to try to write more often.

Other than doing some seam ripping on my attempted summer pajama bottoms, I have spent the past two days cleaning and organizing.

A lot of what I had to clean up was my fabric stash.  I had a bunch of fabric freebies that I acquired and they were taking over.  Fabric was spilling all over the hall closet and on our bedroom floor.  Yesterday, I sorted it all into colours and then into solids and patterns and put them all neatly away in containers.  I labelled the containers and stacked them all in the back of my closet.  Now, we can get into the hall closet again to get to the puzzles and board games (yay!) and my bedroom actually looks clean for a change.

We are supposed to be getting some sunny days this weekend, so I spent today cleaning up our deck.  It was covered in dirt, pine needles, empty plant pots, kids toys and  clothes pegs.  I cleaned up and put away all the toys and plant pots.  I gave the deck a good sweep, I picked up the clothes pegs and threw out the mildewy, rusty and broken ones.  The clothes pegs had made a stain of rust on our deck, so I got out a scrub brush and scrubbed it clean.  I ran out to the store, bought a clothes peg bag, a pack of new clothes pegs and an outdoor tablecloth for our stained hand-me-down deck table.  I planted some flowers in a long planter box.  It took a great deal of my day today and it felt so good to get it done!  I am looking forward to enjoying some time out there this weekend.  I hope the weatherman is right and we finally get some sun!!!

It always feels so good to get things clean and organized!

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Friday Favourites

1.  As my youngest daughter’s first birthday quickly approaches, I have been wondering what she will wear.  Will I make something or will I buy something?  I love dresses with the backs open and a ton of ruffles sticking out.  Check out this dress from Anne’s Antics – it is absolutely adorable!  I just saw it this week and now I am obsessed.  I think I want to make one for my little sweetie!

(photo via Anne’s Antics)

2.  The lady from From An Igloo just makes me super happy.  This week she came up with a tutorial for this super easy to make reversible top.  I am so excited to try it out!

(photo via From and Igloo)

3. Another summer top!  Check out this gorgeous ruffled top.  I am so glad I have three daughters – there is always someone to make all this cute stuff for!   Thanks to Amber from Sew Totally Smitten for putting up this tutorial.

(photo via Sew Totally Smitten)

4) Homemade Pop Tarts.  Need I say more?  If you haven’t figured it out yet, I am a person with a serious sweet tooth.  Not a good thing.  But really.  Look at these!  YUM!  I think if we have any rainy days this summer – which we will – then the kids and I might just have to make a batch of them.

(photo via Prudent Baby)

5) Uno.  This is our current family favourite game.  Well, I should actually say it’s currently mine and hubby’s favourite to play with the kids.  It is so nice to be able to play a game that we can enjoy too.  It’s nice to be getting past the days of Candyland – although, once our youngest daughter gets a bit older, we will likely be playing Candyland type games again.  But for now, we will enjoy Uno.

Have a wonderful weekend!

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Friday Favourites

Well, it’s been a bit harder to post on my blog lately. Real life, you know. Always getting in the way! I am happy to bring you Friday favourites this week though.

1) My new coffee cup. Isn’t it cute? I got it on our recent vacation to Disneyland.  It makes me happy.

2) This super cute skirt I found on Etsy by ZoeChen. I love everything about it!  I love the shape, the flow of the fabric, the beautiful graphic.  Definitely check out her shop – she has a ton of great stuff!

(photo via ZoeChen Shop)

3) This incredibly unique Father’s Day treat over at bakerella.com I am not one for fast food, but this really is very cool!

(photo from bakerella.com)

4) From An Igloo.  I can’t remember if I have mentioned this blog before, but I love it!  She has some really great tutorials – especially for little girls clothes.  She just posted her recipe for some really yummy looking cinnamon buns.  MMMMmmmm!

5) I love this Quincy Dress over at Brown Paper Packages.  She has made it reversible and it is adorable!  I love her fabric choices and the sweet lace on the hem.  My sewing wishlist just keeps getting longer and longer.  I am so happy that I have so many little girls to sew for!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

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Until next time….

I apologize for the lack of Friday Favourites this week.  I am experiencing technical difficulties with my computer.  I will hopefully get the problem dealt with quickly and be back online very soon.

Have a great weekend everyone!

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Friday Favourites

Today’s favourites!

1) This gorgeous quilt over at the empty bobbin.  It was featured this past week over at Sew Mama Sew and I can see why!  All I can say is WOW! It looks like it was a ton of work, but so worth it!!!  I hope one day I can make something like this!

2) Pie. MMMmm!  I don’t think I could pick a favourite kind.  I had some strawberry rhubarb pie last night and it was very yummy.  I wanted to have some for breakfast too, but then I would have to give some to the kids as well and that would be setting a bad example.  I have only made a couple pies before.  Maybe this is something I could spend some time learning to make this year.

3) I love these sweet little dresses over at kojodesigns.  Actually, I am so excited to discover this blog in general!  It’s now been added to my blog reading list! Anyway, these dresses look like are pretty simple to make and they are so pretty.  I might have to try making a few.  That is one of the great things about having three daughters.  I get three tries to make some things and by the end I am an expert!

4) Okay, this is a very useful thing to be able to make!  I really don’t like flip flops on young kids because they are always falling off.   The kids love them though.  This wonderful, creative woman at shannonmakesstuff (her name is Shannon, of course) was super awesome and put up a tutorial to make these fantastic straps to keep those darn flip flops on your kids’ feet!  Shannon, in my books, you totally rock!  Thanks so much for posting this!!!

5) A big, beautiful field full of flowers!  Whenever I see one, I just want to sit down and relax.  Have a picnic.  Take some pictures of the kids playing in the field.  And if there is sunshine, then it makes it all that much better.

Have a great weekend!

(All photos courtesy of sites mentioned)

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Friday Favourites….on Saturday?

Wow!  How did I miss Friday?  It is amazing how fast all these days fill up with things that keep us busy!

So, here are Friday’s Favourites…on Saturday!

1) My husband.  I have not even mentioned him before and he is everything to me.  He is one of the most kind, thoughtful, caring, hardworking, dedicated, considerate people I know.  And yes, I know he is a gold mine!  He is incredibly handsome too!  Back off ladies – that man is mine!

2) The 10-minute headband.  Many thanks to Heather at Blue Bird Studio for putting up this tutorial.  I needed to make a quick gift for today, so last night I whipped up a quick skirt and made a matching headband.  It took me all of an hour to measure, cut and sew the whole thing.  Considering I started it at 9:00 at night, this was a very good thing!

Cute, aren’t they?

3) Cinnamon buns.  I love to eat them when they are all warm and gooey.  I cut a little piece and put a tiny but of real butter on it.  Yum!

4) Music.  There are so many songs I love. I love being musical and having musical people in my family.  I love that I can sit at a piano and play something.  I love that I was given the gift of being able to sing.  I am far from a concert pianist and far from an opera singer.  I have been blessed with enough of a gift to not embarrass myself though.  And to me, that is good enough.

5) Camping.  I think some people are the camping kind and some are not.  I love camping.  I love getting away from all the gadgets and gizmos that crowd our lives.  I love getting back to the basics.  I will admit to being a bit of a ‘wimpy camper’ though.  I like camping best if there is a shower and a flush toilet near by!!!  I absolutely insist that at the very least there is an outhouse.  This princess needs a throne.

So, there are my favourites for today.  What are some of your favourites?

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Friday Favourites

Well, not much sewing going on these days. We have a busy household and are even busier now as we are in the process of decluttering, organizing and even painting in our home!

Here are this week’s Friday Favourites:

1) The Griffin and Sabine Series by Nick Bantock. Have you read these? I have read them a few times and I love them! They are written in the form of postcards and letters, so you are ‘snooping’ to learn the story of the characters. The artwork is beautiful as well. If you haven’t read it yet, you might want to give it a try. It is a super fast read and you will have no problem fitting this reading into your busy life.

2) I wish I found this pattern before Easter!

Isn’t it the cutest bunny?  Perfect for a baby!  You could even put a bell or a rattle inside it!  And the best part?  It’s made from a recycled T-shirt!  Gotta love it!  You can find the tutorial for this clever little project over at Chez Beeper Bebe.  Looks like a great blog and I’m thinking it might be a new one for me to follow – like I need more!!!  She has a great little Etsy shop too where you can buy some of the many wonderful things this lady makes.

3) Another thing to add to my list of things I want to make – fabric boxes!

I really like that you can make them in any colour or pattern that you can find at the fabric store (or online!).  I like that they are soft and if one of your kids decided to whack one of their siblings on the head with it, maybe there won’t be quite so many tears.  I like that they appear to be relatively easy to make.  There is a great little tutorial at It’s All About the Journey… The picture here shows the boxes that she made.

4) Menu Plan Monday at I am an Organizing Junkie.  If you are ever in a meal rut and need something new, just head to this site.  There are literally hundreds of meal plans you can access!  I am so grateful for this site!!!

5) When your day has been crazy busy and you are just exhausted.  The kids are finally in bed and as you tip toe past the bedrooms, you see one of the most beautiful things in the world and it makes everything completely worthwhile…….

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Friday Favourites

It’s a cold, stormy day here.   Not at all Spring-like.  A good day to be inside getting caught up on chores.   Time to take a break though and get to Friday Favourites.

1) A nice hot cup of tea.  Over the past few years I have become particularly fond of Earl Grey tea.  Even my two oldest daughters are loving Earl Grey tea.   Today is a great day for a cup of tea.  Maybe I will make one.

2) I was over at Skip To My Lou today (a great site!) and today there was a really fun Easter craft.  I think these felt Easter egg crayon holders are so great!  I know that even my oldest daughter would love this!

3) Easter egg hunts.  I love to hide tons for my girls.  I don’t particularly care for the amount of candy that they end up with, but I like them to have lots to find.  It is so fun watching them hunt for eggs and Easter treats.  Now that my girls are getting older, I have to hide the eggs a bit better.  I think I might have as much fun hiding the eggs as they have finding them!

4) Amish Furniture.  Now, I don’t actually own any of this furniture.  I do like to drool over it though.  Made from REAL wood.  There are some beautiful, beautiful pieces here!  Maybe one day I will be lucky enough to have some of this furniture in my home.

5) Rain.  Now I know most people might think I am crazy for feeling this way.  I really do love it though.  Not weeks on end of non-stop rain, but a day or two where it pours.  I love the sound of it.  I love the smell of it.  I find it really relaxes me.  And lucky me, as I sit here writing this, it is pouring rain outside.

Well, off to make that cup of tea!  Happy Easter everyone!

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Friday Favourites

Well, this is one seriously over tired Mom here.  My little one has not been the best sleeper this past week.  She has decided that the middle of the night is the perfect time to wake up and play for an hour or so.   All that lack of sleep is adding up and I am definitely in need of a good nap…. or two…. or three!  But enough complaining – here are this week’s Friday Favourites!

1)  SLEEP!  Would you really expect me to say anything different?  A luxurious nap in the warm Spring sun would have to hit close to the top of my list today.  Don’t you just love finding a warm sunny patch and letting the sun shine down on your face?  Pure heaven!

2) This morning I woke up in a good mood with a fair amount of energy and was singing one of my favourite songs – Orange Coloured Sky.  A great upbeat tune by Nat King Cole.

3) Fruit hats for babies and toddlers.  There’s just something cute about a baby or toddler wearing a hat that looks like a piece of fruit!  Have a look here to see a great selection of fruit (and veggie!) hats available out there!

This bunch of beautiful hats are sold by knitrgal on etsy.

4) Watching my children play and interact.  This is one of the best parts of being a parent.  I love to hear the giggles that come out of my girls when they are playing together.  I love to hear what they talk to each other about.  I love seeing their little faces light up at new and exciting things.  I love that my older two daughters are great at making our baby laugh.   I love hearing my children laugh a good belly laugh.  I love that our home is filled with the sounds of children.  I am so blessed to be a Mom.

5) Chow Mein Noodle Birds Nest Cookies.  These look SO easy to make.  I think I’m going to try making some with my kids for them to bring in to school.   The butterscotch chip version might be a good choice for nut free classrooms.  I think I might fill some with Mini Eggs and some with jelly beans.  Yum!

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Friday Favourites

Wow – is it Friday already?   This week has really flown by!

Here are this week’s favourites:

1) My crock-pot. Seriously. I love it. I throw in the ingredients in the morning and then come the 5 o’clock rush I don’t have to do anything but set the table! Such a nice relaxing way to end the day! Last night I made Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic.  My house smelled awesome and it was such a simple, yummy dinner.  Okay, with this one I didn’t have to just set the table, but the main part of our meal pretty much cooked itself.

2) I came across these cool family blocks while blog surfing this week.

I would love to make a set of these for our baby girl. I think they are a great, personalized toy and a great thing to keep when baby is done with them. Now, if only I can convince my family members to let me take a picture of them!!!  You can find the tutorial for these blocks here.

3) Another blog surfing find – felt monsters!

If you have never visited Laundry on the Line before, you should check it out. The woman who writes this blog is a teacher.  She took her students’ drawings of monsters and made them into little felt softees!   Can you imagine how exciting this would be for a child?  Such a clever idea!  It’s a great blog and I find her to be an entertaining writer.

4) ‘Home for a Rest‘.  This is a great song by Spirit of the West.  On St. Patrick’s Day we cranked up this song and danced around the house! Even the baby’s feet were kicking away!

5) Daffodils.  What a beautiful, sunny spring flower!

Have a great weekend!

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