Thanksgiving Christmas Blocks

Cut wood + paint + vinyl letters. I like how it turned out and love that it's flip-able from one holiday to the next.

Crochet newborn props

My friend Chandra is a great photographer and recently added newborn photos to her services. She has been borrowing some of my crochet items as props, and she sent me these shots of the cute babes she has photographed wearing my hats, shoes, etc. Can't wait to see more! I also can't wait to get newborn pics of my next baby. And no, that is not an announcement:)

You can find Chandra's full portfolio here.

Sailboat Blue Blanket

I finally had an excuse to make a baby boy blanket. The raw edges on the squares start like this and with each wash get a little more raggedy & cute. You'll have some strings to snip off the first couple washes but after that it's just cute, unfinished edge squares. It was fun to use a fabric glue stick and a Frixion eraseable pen for the first time, too. To make one, there's a little video you can watch at The DIY Dish.

Thanks Alli, for saving me when I was stuck on the binding! I'm embarrassed to say that this finished quilt sat for weeks just waiting for the border since I didn't remember what to do and baby boy kept getting older.  I'm really happy that with the color combo and wanted to keep it for myself.

Dresses!

I ventured into the world of sewing clothes this month. My sister Joanna asked me to make a blessing dress for her daughter Cora. I used the "Geranium Dress" pattern by Made by Rae.  It was tricky at first but after a few tries I mostly got the concept. Clothes are tricky! But making little girl clothes is dreamy, and I fully intend to continue:)

I also made her some little crochet shoes. I didn't get to see her on her blessing day, but she's coming up this weekend and I will get to meet the lovely little chub! Thank you Jo for having me do this, it was a delight.

*It should also be noted that my Mom helped put the trim and slip on! It was too late for me to do it so she finished it on her drive down. Thank you Mom!

Baby Blanketing

 Been Baby Blanket Making Lately. 

Three baby girl gifts done, more to go!

The squishiest blanket there ever was

I found a sweet spot in terms of hook size vs. yarn type vs. stitch ratio that produces SUCH a soft squishy blanket. And when you wash it, it gets even softer. I'm kind of sad I didn't have this blanket a year ago when my baby was a baby. It makes the perfect cute little cushion for tummy time, and is very stretchy for swaddling/snuggling. It will be listed in my shop tonight, and coming in more colors!

Pioneer Bonnets on Pioneer Day

Finished these last night at 11:30pm since I had an eager recipient who kept asking me to make them for today! Today is Pioneer Day! Happy Pioneer Day! It's a state holiday in Utah to celebrate the pioneers who reached the Salt Lake Valley in 1847. Our family decided we want to make it more of a celebration even if we don't have any parades or fireworks where we live. Hence, bonnets! 

I've always been intimidated by "the gathering stitch"and was reluctant to attempt but thanks to YouTube I figured it out and I love the poof on these. I used a tutorial from My Cotton Creations to make them plus a couple video tutorials. I love that all you need for a child sized bonnet is:

a fat quarter

ribbon

heavy weight interfacing

elastic

Now I feel like watching my childhood love, Little House on the Prairie!

My new favorite quilt ever

It has been a major quilt fest on this blog lately. But then again, my life is a major quilt fest, so it's really not surprising. This one was so fun. It's my favorite size and colors. (40 inches square, if you're wondering.) It is super soft, works for girls or boys in my opinion, and I haven't listed it in the shop yet because I am probably going to keep it I love it so much. Also, my niece Molly joined unexpectedly for the photo shoot, so...bonus cute girl!

And another!

Here's another recent quilt finish. This one was so much fun, I'm doing another with the same design in different colors. And maybe more after that:) I loved using square quilts for my babies. This one is pretty tiny, and therefore less expensive, if anyone is looking for a great gift for a new little man! I've got only little ladies being born in my life right now, I need to get on that!

A New Quilt

I finished another quilt this week! I love this quilt because it includes some of the very first fabric I ever got. My mother-in-law took me to an absolutely heavenly quilt shop near her home in Utah and bought the fabric for me. She spoils us! She is also the other Allison's mother-in-law, by the way, and she is pretty great. Anyway, most of this quilt was made from those sweet little prints. (The fabric line is Tasha Noel's "A Simple Life".)

Giveaway!

Sorry to post two obnoxious announcements in a row, BUT....my friend Stefani has been hosting a pretty fun giveaway on her blog, and I am a part of it. It's open for a few more days, and she is giving away $50 to my shop, as well as lots of other fun things. (I totally entered for the beautiful stationary and tee shirts!) Go check it out here.

You can put in up to ten entries, so the odds are good! You can win any of these cute items, or get a huge chunk off of a quilt. I hope you win!

Ok, that's it, I promise. Back to creations as usual:)

Family Night Chart

When I was little we had a family night chart that was a little wooden house. I couldn't find anything like it already out there so I made one myself. My dad cut the house shape out for me using a pattern I drew.

Once a week we do a family night or family home evening when nothing else is planned and we all are home together. After dinner our family night usually includes a song, prayer, lesson about a gospel principle or religious topic, closing song and treat. (Last week was about working with/for each other in the family & keeping our home in order which translates to simple job charts for the kids. I'm going crazy trying to pick up everything myself!) I've seen family night charts with "activity" and "treat" as categories but right now we share the responsibility of making the treat and if we have an activity it's usually part of the lesson. Every family member has their own heart (although these pictures don't have the names). What really made this complete was the gloss finishing spray. I love it- It's kinda like laminating a project; it adds the last layer to make everything look better and the colors really pop.

I debuted this family night chart last week and it was a hit! They've asked me the past two days if we can have family night again. 

Shop Sale!

In celebration of finally listing some of the new things I've been working on in the shop tonight, I wanted to share a discount code with our dear blog readers. Use the code BLOGJUNE to get 15% off your total order through the end of the month. I've added all sorts of fun things, especially for newborn photo sessions. There are also two gorgeous quilts coming soon! Check it out here.

Crochet Toddler Blanket Pattern

Usually my son takes no notice of things that I make. He is supremely unimpressed by it all, and I don't blame him. He's a little boy! So if I ever do make something that he gets excited about, it really makes me happy. This was one of those things. Now when people come over, he invites them to, "Come look at my new room! Mom made it for me."

The blanket fits perfectly on the IKEA Gulliver bed.

It takes about 5-10 minutes to do a row, depending how fast you are. So a couple of rows here and there, on car trips, while watching your favorite show, and it's really not so daunting. And the pattern is as simple as they come. It really only consists of a chain and then one stitch- HDC (half double crochet). There are all sorts of tutorials on YouTube. You could really start learning to crochet today and be making this blanket by tomorrow!

Here is the pattern that I used:

Materials:
size J crochet hook
Red Heart Super Saver small skein of yarn in 6 colors
(You could use any worsted weight yarn, this kind isn't as soft as some but you can't beat the price.)

Row 1: Chain 180
Row 2: HDC in 2nd chain from hook, HDC all the way across, chain 2 and turn
Row 3: HDC across, ch 2 and turn (178 stitches)
Rows 4-16: same as row 3
Rows 17-32: repeat rows 2-16 in a new color (switching colors can be scary at first, there are lots of tutorials for that too)
Etc.

So basically the entire blanket is just HDC stitches, with 16 rows of each color and six colors total, making 98 rows. And that's it!

Flag Jars

I can check this off my project to-do list. You just have to imagine flowers in the jars though. (Those cost money so they are coming later.)  All in all these were pretty cheap to make. Now I can use this decoration for Happy Memorial Day/Flag Day/Independence Day/Patirots Day/Any Day...I guess that means all summer long.

Pink and Gold Baby Shower

I found these pictures of a baby shower I threw for a good friend a while back.  The main accomplishment here is that I think I spent $30 total on it.

Here's what I bought:

• gold spraypaint for frame (that I had already), and flower vases
• tissue paper for garland on ebay (there are lots of tutorials for those), as well as pink utensils, plates, and gold cupcake liners
• pink and gold candies 

Everything else I had already. The napkin holder is from IKEA, as is the doily plate. I made three different kinds of cake and made little labels for them using tags and toothpicks stuck into Rolo candies. I also made a little print for the frame that said, "Welcome little lady". The cupcakes were Cherry Almond Vanilla and are SO delicious.

It was a really fun party to prepare!

Bright Nursing Cover

This is the third nursing cover I've made. This isn't anything like Alli's quilting masterpieces but it felt good to get the sewing machine working! It's my favorite baby shower gift I guess since I seem to give them every time. Last April I made myself cutting instructions so I wouldn't have to measure and figure it all again. So glad I did. It was pretty quick to whip up that way.... except for the fact that I had a baby on my lap while sewing. I felt like my Grandma Beverly. Love her. She had 6 children and was always sewing something for someone. My mom said she always had one of the kids on her lap while sewing. I think that's why I didn't mind too much- just trying to rise to Grandma Beverly's expert sewing level!

Next time I think I want to make the strap at the top a little shorter. After it was sewn  it seemed to hang too low. I took a short cut and just folded it over and sewed on top. I only had a few hours to spare before the party so no seem ripping was going to happen. I love the bright colors! The mom-to-be doesn't know the gender but I thought this will work for either since it's really for mom.

Grandmother Necklaces

I'm running the risk of debuting a mother's day gift before it arrives to our mothers but oh well. (Mom, if you happen to see this, it's on its way!) I made these necklaces of my mother's mother and my mother in law's mother as gifts for them. We always seem to give gifts or thoughts to our moms about how we appreciate them as our moms. But this year I thought I'd give our moms the gift of their mothers, both whom are busy in heaven. My thinking was that wearing these necklaces they can have Mom close to their hearts on Mother's Day.

I changed the photo color from b&w to sepia on one to go with the old time bronze color better. The other had perfect coloring already. I love how they turned out.

Thanks to the how-to on the blog Saving With Sarah this was something I felt was do-able. And it was.

American Girl Matching Ruffle Skirts

I made these as a gift last year and didn't ever take a very good picture of them, but it's a project I'm going to want to come back to and remember and make again! Matching skirts for a girl and her American Girl doll. I used stretchy ruffle fabric and just added a black elastic. No hemming or anything needed, just sew it straight up the back! I would have gone crazy over this when I was little.

*special thanks to Ashley for the gift idea and showing me how to do it back when I could barely sew!

Girly Zig Zag Quilt

A friend at church asked me to make this quilt for her new baby girl. She picked the fabrics and I helped her design it. It turned out really soft and cozy with flannel on the back. She also wanted her initials and a heart stitched in the corner, which I loved. Happily, she loved it too and every time I see her she has her baby snuggled in it. Warms my quilty heart!

Recovered Kitchen Chairs

Ta Da! New Kitchen Table! Well, sort of...

I recovered our kitchen chairs with TONS of help from my mom! (I was so tired by the end she was practically doing it for me.) But, still I love this long awaited project and that it's finished.

In the short time we've had this table and chairs we've piled on the spills and stains like you wouldn't believe. Eww & Gross. I was embarrassed to have company sit on them. Sure we have kids, but still you wonder what you're sitting on. Problem solved.... now they are cute AND practical. I covered the chairs with clear vinyl over the fabric. They are a little noisy to sit on but totally worth the easy clean up.

I bought one cut of fabric, enough for two chairs, to try it out at first. When I went back to the store a few days later the whole roll of fabric was gone! Of course it was out of stock online too. I couldn't believe it. Thankfully I traveled to another store in another city and they had the fabric. Phew. Next time I'll get all my project materials at once, just in case.

Christ Centered Easter Ornaments

I searched for some Christ centered Easter DIY decorations and it took awhile to find something I loved. Here's what i made! These ornaments turned out to be really inexpensive too! 7 paint stirring sticks from Home Depot for free. Scrapbook paper, acrylic paint and wire all bought on sale so this project was about $2.50! I thought if i made them ahead of time (about a month ago) I'd for sure get them up by Easter . Nope. Looks like this year's project was making them. Next year's project will be displaying them. Even though these are perfect for Christmas too I purposely used Spring colors so I'd use them for Easter. Next year I'll plan on getting a branch for the mantle or something else to hang them on. The blog Todays Fabulous Finds is where I got these free names of Christ printables and instructions on how to do it.

Crochet Dish Cloths

The first thing I learned to crochet was a dish cloth. (Photograph of my first few attempts still pending. They are funny!) I use 100% cotton from Sugar 'n Cream, and I have found them to be so durable, useful, and pretty. It's just nice to do something that is a drudgery with something pretty! The pattern that I'm really liking right now is a simple HDC all the way through with a J hook. It comes out really soft, and simple. You can wash them a billion times and they still look great. I love them!