Instant therapy for Winter Season blues ~

Force Bulbs~!

Inspired by Martha's Spring '08 issue of Living Magazine, I decided this year I would force Daffodil bulbs to have a little spring inside the home this year.



I still haven't been sewing much lately, but I have been doing lots of dreaming about Spring coming. So today, in five minutes time, I found a pot in the garage, a bag of potting soil (it was actually African Violet potting soil - but sometimes you have to use what you have) and started the process of forcing my Spring time Daffodils (about 10 bulbs in the pot) which went right into the fridge in the garage to sit for 4 weeks. Then I'll bring them inside, give them a little water, and hopefully have some fresh sunny flowers in the house this year in early April.

My afternoon is beginning to feel a little warmer already!

a tooth pillow ~

That little sneak peak I shared right before Christmas turned out to be something I have been saving to share about until "the magic moment" happened.

Last night at the dinner table, Lena lost her first tooth . . .which really happens to be the first tooth that grew in her mouth (I actually went back and looked in her baby book last night to confirm.) So that winter fairy embroidery I shared a little sneak peak of at Christmas became her tooth pillow, knowing that she would be losing one soon. She was so excited to use it for the first time last night.



The back I recycled from a pair of handmade corduroy pants she wore as a todder. The pocket was from the backside of the pants which worked perfectly for the tooth pocket.

It's so funny how this project came together literally as I cut the fairy out of the muslin material. I had no idea when I started the embroidery at the end of summer that I was constructing a tooth pillow. So lesson learned . . . who knows where your next sewing project will lead you.

I - heart - spring!

Last week we had a mock Spring – weather in the upper 60’s and mid 70’s. It was grand! I knew that the cold days to come would be hard to cope with after such mild weather. I was right!

A little taste of early spring inside my home . . . Crocus bulbs!!

Spring come quickly!!!

Writing our Valentines

Not as "handmade" as I would like, but they are done nonetheless. This year . . . well, I needed easy, and this was easy!

Right before Christmas I was reminded a little about "letting go", it's okay if everything isn't as perfect or as finished as I hoped. It looks like I'm carrying this new thought mantra into the New Year. It felt okay to purchase store bought valentines this year. I did try to stay as generic as possible, something tried and true that has lasted throughout generations. It was fun and she enjoyed writing and writing and writing . . . Happy Valentine's Day to you all!!!

Friday Night Sewing

More birthday crafting!! This is the 4th crown I've made. They are getting easier and faster to sew together. The first three I made were for my own children this past fall. This one was the first crown I've made for a 3 year old child outside the family. We hope he enjoys it!!


{The pattern is from Amanda Blake Soule's book Creative Family.}

{The felt is premium wool felt from achildsdream.com and vintage ribbon from Les Bon Ribbon.}

Tales of the Vintage Toy Chronicles Part II

What child hasn't loved these vintage Fisher Price radios from the 60's and 70's?? They don't need batteries, they are easy to carry and are fun to wind and watch the pictures go round and round on the dial!!!

I was rummaging about the girl's room this morning and these caught my eye on their toy shelf in the closet. The one of the right (yellow - Raindrops) was actually mine as a toddler, the green one I picked up sometime in my 20's thrift shopping. We've enjoyed having these in our vintage toy collection. The girls love turning the dials and watching the little music song in action.

more gathering and waking up! ~

Happy Groundhog Day !!

I have definitely been in a hibernation mode this winter. With the warm weather that hit Virginia yesterday (Sunday), I felt like I began to “wake-up” a little. This winter its been hard for me to do or want to do anything. Too cold to clean or pick up the house – not even a lot of expendable energy and brain power to do an extensive amount of sewing or knitting like I did in the Fall.

Here are some new skeins recently added to my stash, some small projects to work on these last few winter months, hoping for Spring, hoping for Spring~!!