Curtain bling.

In our new apartment Avery's room faces East and in the morning it is very bright. It's especially bright right around the time of her morning nap. A couple of weeks ago I bought some blackout curtains that do a great job of darkening the room. Unfortunately once she is up I had been having a hard time finding a way to keep them open so she didn't continuously think it was naptime.

I decided I would make some curtain ties. I printed out a flower shape in four different sizes, pinned the patterns to felt in fuchsia, light pink and white. Once I cut out all eight -- two in each of the four sizes -- I put them together with a dab of hot glue between each layer. Then I took some embroidery floss and stitched a spiral in the center.

Once the flowers were done I stitched a piece of hook & loop to opposite sides of a piece of 1/2" grosgrain ribbon on either end. Then I hot glued the finished flower to one end of the ribbon on the opposite side as the hook & loop.

I love how it dresses up her otherwise blase curtains.

So close!

A was trying to help me organize my sewing box today and she was so close to reaching the last spool of tulle... and then got stuck. Of course being the most excellent mother I am, I grabbed the camera and snapped this shot before helping her out of her little predicament.

My pretty blue eyed girl

That's what I call A. Yesterday we were hanging out in the kitchen while I sewed and A played on her blanket and the sun from the back door was shining in. It was the perfect lighting to show off her beautiful blue eyes.

Here are some cute pictures I snapped.

Christmas crafting.

I want to start a tradition of baking and crafting with A during Christmas time. I figure there is no better time to start than from the beginning.

I found this recipe and had to try it. It was so easy and something I could do while A sat on the counter and watched. When she gets older it will be a great one to do together.

Here's the short version of instructions with my personal photos.

Chocolate Candy Cane Hearts

Prep: Melt 1 bag of chocolate chips (I used semi-sweet because that's what I like.) in a double boiler. 

Step 1: While chocolate melts, lay out mini candy canes on a piece of wax paper facing each other so they form hearts. (I put the wax paper on a large cutting board so they were easy to move.)

Step 2: Let the chocolate cool a little then pour into a piping bag (or thick ziplock bag -- like the quart size freezer bag.) Cut a small hole in the corner of the bag.

Step 3: Pipe the chocolate into the center of the hearts making sure that the tops and bottoms are closed so it doesn't leak out.

 

Step 4: Decorate with sprinkles.

 

Step 5: Let cool to harden.

Step 6: Enjoy!

Sew-cute!

I have decided that I want to learn to sew. Unfortunately no one in my own family knows how to sew. Luckily Justin's sister, Stacy, has taught herself how to sew, so she came over yesterday to help show me the ropes.

Last week Avery and I had walked to the fabric store which is just around the corner and bought fabric and a pattern I thought would be an easy enough first project. It definitely wasn't the easiest project, but I feel like I got a good challenge!

Here is the final project:

And Avery modeling it for us:

Craft Mama!

Friday's craft project - no-sew fleece blanket

Sunday's craft project - Tutu!

ETA: Next project: learn how to actually sew something. If only I could figure out how to thread Denise's 60 year old sewing machine!