Cookie Decorating Party

I hosted a cookie decorating party for some of my favorite little ones.  They had a ball and went home with cookies for Santa and their own little reindeer.

Teacher Gifts & Rudolph Stocking

This year was super busy (and somewhat stressful).  I didn't have a lot of time to make teacher's gifts, but wanted to give them something special.  I found some cute baskets at Michael's, personalized them, and added some Godiva chocolates.

I also wanted to introduce my daughter to some of the Christmas classics that I enjoyed as a child.  My daughter has a very short attention span, so it is usually very challenging to watch a movie with her her.  However, she loved showing me her dolls as they appeared on the screen, and surprisingly watched the movie over and over.  She even received a pair of Rudolph antlers.

Country Christmas 2014

My friends own a local organic farm and wanted to host a holiday event.  The event was an opportunity for the community to come together and support local vendors while enjoying festive music, visits with Santa, good food, hayrides through the woods, and so much more!  I did A LOT for this event, but my friends are such wonderful people so I enjoyed helping.

Here are some pictures of the actual event...

And here are some pictures of things I made...

 I made this wooden elf to welcome our guests the event

 I was in charge of the children's crafts

 Children could make Yo Gabba Instruments from re-purposed materials

 I spruced up some reindeer antlers to sell for the hayrides

 My elf said "hi" to hayride passengers as they entered the trail

 I didn't make these wooden snowflakes, but my daddy did!  

I can't believe he cut all of these out using a jig saw!

 I make wooden tree ornaments to decorate the trail

 My wooden angel along the trail

 My wooden Rudolph along the trail

More wooden ornaments along our trail

My Goodnight Moon Quilt

I made a Goodnight Moon quilt for my daughter about a year ago.  It is a pretty large quilt, so I decided to have it professionally quilted and I am absolutely in love!  I am displaying my quilt in a quilt show at a local farming event next week, so I hope the attendees enjoy seeing it!

This is a full sized quilt, so it was difficult to photograph.

I used a panel piece in the center and created borders 

around each of the bunny blocks (also originally from the panel piece)

Cute & Crafty

My oldest niece loves fashion and crafts, so we decided to host a spa/crafting party for her 13th birthday.  I put together spa baskets filled with polish, buffers, nail files, polish remover, eye masks, and hand towels.  I absolutely LOVE the Dollar Store.

Target also had some cute jewelry making kits on clearance, so I also created a crafting station for the the girls to decorate bracelets, necklaces, and sunglasses.

My niece loves zebra print so I decided to use zebra print and lipstick (actually they're ink pens) for the table setting.

When my niece walked into the house, she LOVED it...and that made Auntie's day :-)

Happy Halloween

Once again my friend came through like no other!  For my daughter's classmates, I found some cute bags at the Dollar Store and made treat bags to go inside.  I asked my creative friend if she could make coordinating tags and she did an amazing job!

I also put together a Halloween basket for my daughter.  We usually have very few trick-or-treat visitors but I always like to be prepared.  I used the tag design I purchased last year to create a few treat bags just in case.  I try to stay away from a lot of candy treats, so I purchased play-doh and activity packs for the little ones.

My Beginner Quilts

I am starting a new chapter with my quilting (so stay tuned!!!) and trying to push myself to new heights.  As I start this journey, I want to reflect on some of my beginner work.

This was my first quilt after taking my first quilting class (my mom taught me years ago and I experimented on my own prior to taking a class though). This is a four patch pattern with mitered borders.

This was my 1st quilt I made after having my daughter...simple large blocks. Being a first time mom with a breastfeeding infant, you have to keep your projects simple :-)

This was a quilt I made during a class I hosted for some friends.  The first class I taught introduced the four-patch pattern.  For this quilt we decided to practice more simple block piecing.  We played around with a woven block piece for this design.

This was another quilt I made during a gathering with my quilting friends...they wanted to learn triangles, so each of us made a quilt with this chevron pattern.  I've shared this quilt in a previous post, but it is so simple to make so I wanted to share again.  I also changed up my quilting pattern for the first time and used a zig-zag to accent my chevron pattern.

"Bee" is for Boy

I love creative people and try to surround myself with lots of them :-)  One of my cousins requested some assistance with a baby shower for a good friend.  Honestly, I am swamped between preparing for a job with a new company, balancing my daughter's hectic schedule, and planning for a farming event this Fall.  I decided to call on a close friend to help, and she came through like no other!  I told her my theme, sent her descriptions and pictures of my ideas, and she executed the plan perfectly.  If you want to purchase some of her amazing items check our her etsy shop here.

I absolutely loved her personalized wipes cases and the baby bundles!

She does great graphic art!

A unique guestbook option that she came up with

These baby bundle centerpieces include a receiving blanket, personalized wipes case, 

personalized bodysuit, and rolled diapers.

Chevron Quilt

I am blessed to have friends who love to quilt with me.  Several years ago, I held a class for some of my friends to introduce them to the wonderful world of quilting and now they are hooked too :-)  We meet periodically to work on the same pattern (each making our own quilt).  Last year, they wanted to learn how to work with triangles so I picked a basic chevron pattern that used large triangles.  This is the finished product.  I am going to display this quilt at an upcoming event at one of our local, organic farms- Country Christmas with Santa.

Sesame Street Baby Shower

My cousins are expecting a little girl in October.  Their last name is "Byrd" so immediately I thought about a "Big Bird" Theme :-)  I have been working on projects for about a month now...had to work in between preparing for a job with a new company, balancing my daughter's summer therapy schedule, and managing and planning a Fall/Holiday event for one of the local organic farms.  Here are a few things I have been working on for the shower...

 Michaels had solid color canvases on sale for $1 each, so I created this easy artwork

 I made this Sesame Street Quilt...I love quilting

 My cousin made these handmade soaps as favors for the guests

 I made this party banner

I love the name...it has special meaning to our family

 Kids Table Centerpiece

 My Diaper Cake- Onesies & Receiving Blankets

Since the due date is in October, I decided to get the baby her first Halloween Basket

I made the cookie monster onesie

I love Abby on my Diaper Cake...well, onesie cake

My Elmo Onesie

School Time

My daughter is getting ready to start school soon (pre-k program) and I wanted to make her a new quilt for nap time.  I also found a new backpack on sale at Pottery Barn Kids!  New shoes, new quilt, new backpack, and a new little cuddle time friend...I think she's ready!

Boy! Oh Boy!

So, I have three friends having baby boys.  They are due in July, August, and October.  I made quilts for one of my best friends and my cousin.  I am lucky to also have a close friend who makes custom onesies, so I ordered a few of those as well.