P.S.

I almost completely forgot to mention that today is the last day to enter a project for Sew-vivor! I finally decided to enter my Lollipop/Fresh Flowers quilt. It got the one and only vote here on the blog, but I also posted the same photo collage to my personal Facebook page where everyone seemed to like something different. I guess that means they're all great!

Belated Moments

I keep meaning to post new baby photos (though I guess that I did post one last week), it's just that every time I look at a picture of her, it already seems outdated. She is growing and changing so much!

Today we had her four month appointment and she is only 4oz shy of doubling her birth weight. And even though she is still two pounds smaller than Gabe was at this age, she has actually gained more weight at this point than he had. I just keep looking at this adorable monster in 6 month clothes and wondering what happened to the baby.

Compared to this...that's MY hand.So little!

Stuffed teeth

Coming soon to a classroom near you...maybe. Probably not very likely, but it would be kind of amazing if they did. I made up these super cute teeth by altering a pattern from the Softies book. Each one has a happy face on one side and a sad face on the other.

My sister, who I visited over the weekend, is in dental school. She's required to do community outreach as part of her training, but just happened to mention to me that the entire dental school has approximately four props to use as teaching aides!

I sent her a picture message of the images inside the Softies book and she developed a really cute teaching idea for young kids. Food flash cards and these teeth. Just a super simple "Is this a happy tooth food? Or a sad tooth food?" with plush visuals to really get the message out to Kindergartners. I can't wait to hear how this goes over! I know that my own four year old has really been into watching them come together!

Monday Moments

I went to my sister's this weekend. Our children are now 5, 4, 2, 1 and 3 1/2 months, it was kind of like spending the weekend in a daycare center, and probably about as relaxing as that would be. Ha!

Also in current news, my husband and I went on our first post baby date this weekend. I got a haircut for the occasion and it has really boosted my mood to not have to look at an unruly mop in the mirror. Though, I am still going through that awkward hormonal phase with my hair. It finally started falling out (I have ultra-thick hair normally, so I'm always excited to reach this phase), but is also really oily lately. Eww! At least it's greasy and cute I guess.

The afternoon following our date my husband drove me across town to the JoAnn Fabrics where I got some supplies for a few projects that will hopefully make their way to the blog soon. Supplies including the Simplicity pattern I have been ogling...and it has sizes all the way down to newborn, so I may make one in Caroline's current size just to get an idea of how it goes together and some practice on the zipper before I go for the big first birthday dress!

Penguin, Frog and Owl Gift Bags Tutorial

Alright, so I know it's late, but I made these and then decided I should whip up another and give you a little tutorial. And, in the spirit of trying new things (one of my New Year's resolutions) I decided to do the templates in PDF form for you to download here!

Valentine's Day is tomorrow, but these are so super easy to make up and so cute! They make adorable gift bags, and could even be put together by older kids as Valentine holders for classroom exchanges. Ready to learn how?

For each animal you will need:

Printed PDF templates
Scrapbook paper scraps
One lunch sized gift (or brown paper) bag
Scissors
Glue stick or double sided tape
Opaque gel pens (for optional decorative "stitching")

Black marker for the Frog's mouth
Scalloped or pinking edged scissors for Owl eyelashes
Stickers to seal the edge of the bag

Print and cut out the template pieces for the animal(s) of your choosing.

Trace around your templates on the wrong side of your printed papers. For each animal you will need:

One head

One small heart

One large heart

One beak (for Owl and Penguin)

Two eyes (reversing, or tracing the opposite side of the template, for one of the Frog's eyes)

Two feet (reversing one for all animals)

Two wings, arms or flippers (reversing one for all animals)

Two cheeks

For the penguin only: Two more cheek pieces in a black print for eye centers

Face piece for inside of head

For Owl only: Two pieces of paper measuring 1/2" X 1 7/8" for eyelashes

Glue or tape the penguin's face piece inside the head, using the dashed lines inside the template as a placement guide.

For all animals: Place the eyes and cheeks using the dashed lines on the templates as a guide.

For the Owl: Using your scalloped or pinking edged scissors cut a small amount off of one edge of your eyelash pieces. Place these so that the scalloped edge is toward the bottom of the head and the top corners are lined up with the outer edge of the eye. (See finished photo at bottom.)

For the penguin: Place the black pair of cheek pieces inside the eyes.

For the Owl and Penguin: Place the beaks last, again using the dashed lines as a guide

For the Frog: lightly draw a curved line between the cheeks with a pencil. Using your black marker draw five small rectangles along the curved line to create the frog's mouth. Erase the marks in between your rectangles. (See finished photo at bottom.)

Fold down 1 1/2" from the top of your bag.

Glue or tape (tape may work better if you are using a glossy surface like the gift bags I have chosen) the heads onto the bags so that they overhang the folded down edge.

Now assemble your heart by centering and gluing the small piece inside the larger one. Attach the assembled heart to the bag 1/2 to 3/4 inches from the bottom, making sure to leave a small space between the heart and the head.

Add arms, wings or flippers depending on which animal you are making. Use the completed photos as a guide to placement.

Put glue or tape along the top 1/2" of your foot pieces. Attach the glued areas to the underside (bottom) of your bag at or near the corners.

Draw optional decorative stitching with your gel pen.

Now you're ready to open them up and fill with treats!

Vote for your favorite!

There is a little sewing competition going on in blogland hosted by Family Ever After. It's called Sew-vivor and it's really exciting and different. You enter by submitting any one thing you've sewn, from there, judges narrow the entries down to ten finalists who then create one new project per week for four weeks. The twist being that, just like Survivor, one or more finalist is voted out per week by the judges.

It sounds fun, right? And bonus for those of us with little sewing time on our hands, the last four weekly projects are listed on the blog right now so you can make them ahead and be all prepared if you progress to the finals!

The Family Ever After Blog suggests that you enter a project that showcases your talent, creativity and personality. I spent a lot of time on the blog looking over some of my past projects and narrowed it down to ten that I think are eye-catching while showing off at least some of the suggested criteria, but I can't decide which one is best to enter.

So, please do me a favor and tell me your favorite in the comments! And if your favorite wasn't one of mine, feel free to tell me that too!

1. Disappearing 9 Patch Quilt 2. Bohemian Diaper Bag 3. Third Birthday Dress 4. Tuxedo Style Purse 5. Batik Log Cabin Stars Throw 6. Bunny 7. Lollipop Quilt 8. Cupcake Puppy 9. Owl Bag 10. Elvis Costume size 12 months

Lots of pink and green

I'm not doing so well. I still have to finish the eight blocks I started two weekends ago, and I have been approached about another project that is pretty time sensitive (more about that when it is finished..I hope!). My time management isn't so bad, it's just that there is so little of it to manage.

So, when I mentioned to my husband that I might want to make Caroline a dress for her first birthday, he mentioned right back to me that I might want to start it when she's six months old. I think I gave him an obscene hand gesture, but I am starting to see his point.

I had the idea that it could be cute to take her banner from her baby shower (that is now hanging above her crib) and use it as a prop in her first birthday photos. Which means a pink and green dress to match. Here are my issues with that..pink and green are very spring colors, and Caroline was not a spring baby.

Mostly, I think this is fine. I think that her photos will be taken in a studio and no one will realize that she's wearing a spring dress in the fall, they'll just think it looks cute. Part of me wonders if that's a bit ridiculous though, putting her in an out of season dress just to match a banner I made for a late summer baby shower? I'm all for opinions on this.

Here is the dress pattern I like best so far.

I love this one, with the little 3/4 sleeve jacket. I see tons of potential and have already been auditioning prints for it.

Two color super mod combo. I'm not sure how I'd work that, since there isn't just a two print option in the pattern, but I have never been one to follow the patterns exactly.

And some more two color options. I really love this watercolor daisy print, but I think I would have to add at least some of the other color, these combos are cute, but a little boring to me.

And some three color options (which would obviously go with version A on the pattern).

I can't decide! I also can't decide which of these shoe patterns would go best with the dress pattern. Yes, shoe pattern. I am really thinking of making her shoes to go with this as well. I guess it's alright that I don't know yet since I have three more months before I have to get started, at least according to my husband.

Wow! Can you believe that a quarter of Caroline's first year has gone by already?! She's getting so big and developing so much personality!

Fabrics are Crazy Daisy Pink, Crazy for Dots & Stripes Lime Jumbo Dot, Twirl Going Places Twirled Together (in pink and green), Twirl Going Places Green Twirl & Shout Plaid, Color Basic Dark Pink on Baby Pink Minnie Dots, Tutti Frutti Pink Cherries, Tutti Frutti Green Gingham, Tutti Frutti Fuchsia Dots, Pocket Full of Posies Key Lime Medium Floral, and Lush Citron Happy Dot.