A Few Things

I am packing up my whole life this week to move to Japan, and needless to say, I am kind of stressed out. I have a lot of anxiety, which makes it hard for me to eat, sleep, relax, etc. I needed to remind myself of little things that make me happy, so here is my happy list. Yes, it is probably super random, but these things bring me great joy!

1.) Maybelline The Falsies Mascara. If you are a girl, you know that a good mascara makes all the difference. I have tried probably 15 brands of mascara, and this one is by far the best! I really love that $5 can buy bright eyes :)

2.) Poetry 180 is the Library of Congress' website featuring a poem a day for high schoolers. The poems on this site are really inspiring, and I especially love The Summer Day. It calms me down every time I read it.

3.) This lunchbag sewing project is so cute and fun!

4.) Sufjan Stevens is my love right now. His music makes me really giddy and also puts me to sleep at the same time. Come On, Feel the Illinoise! is my happy CD. It is bizarrely beautiful.

5.) Tangled! We saw this in the theater last week, and I loved it. It was really sweet, and the music was great. I have a thing for Zachary Levi, the guy from Chuck who voices the main male character, so I was super thrilled that he sings in it. The songs are really catchy.

6.) My kids and I have watched Dramatic Chipmunk and Dramatic Eagle probably 80 times. Gets funnier every time!


Aww..I feel so much happier now! Off to take a stress nap!

The Waldorf Doll

       
Finally finished--after over a year! Granted that was not a year of complete work. There was a lot of handsewing with this one, so I needed to set her down a few months at a time, before I got the gumption to keep going with her. I really hate satin stich--the stitch used for embroidered eyes. It takes me a very very long time to get up the courage to go for it, and then I always end up picking out the stitches at least 4 times before I'm happy with it.
Anyways, I think I am addicted. I have been wanting to make one of these forever (remember this post?). I used a kit from Joy's Waldorf Dolls, which has since moved on to selling other things, but there are a lot of kits and materials to buy online. Despite all the handsewing, the final product is just so cute! I gave this doll to Coco for an early birthday present, and I definitely like it more than she does. Maybe one day she will get attached to it and name it. For now, she just tucks it into a doll bed and makes it sleep all day. That's fine with me...I think I want to make one for myself now!

The Sadie Shirt

I did the Sadie Shirt sew-a-long this week with Craftiness Is Not Optional, one of my favorite crafty blogs. While the sleeve length reminds me of a Chinese grandpa's pajamas, this was a really fun project, and my family appreciated me sewing a little bit a day, rather than trying to finish a project late at night. The shirt is super lightweight, which is perfect for Coco, who generally hates things touching her skin. She will scream bloody murder if any blanket touches her feet at night. It has to be draped just so over her upper body.

Very weird kid with a very weird mullet, but I love her!
   

So random, it's trendy...

There is a big mustache trend going on right now, which I think is so random and funny. I am a huge Glee fan, and I really loved Kurt's mustache shirt a couple of weeks ago:

So, I copied that idea for a shirt for Cash:

Hmm...some toddler fingers have been smudging my camera lens...
Anyways, I used a dollar store t-shirt, freezer paper stenciling, and the template found here. Cash loved this shirt, which I didn't expect. (But I honestly think it's less about the mustaches and more that I actually made something that wasn't for Coco).
Here are some other mustache-y things I love:
Prudent Baby featured some mustache lollipops--

--and the mold is only a couple bucks at Bake It Pretty

Etsy has tons of mustache items (giant mustache pillow, anyone?), but vinylsoul's Mustache Mugs are my favorite:


Owls, cupcakes, mustaches...what will be next? Oh the cuteness!

Done! And Moving On...

So, I decided to not buy any fabric/craft supplies in the month of September, going along with the Stashbusting September challenge. And...I did it! Well, almost. I did buy a 5-yard knit fabric bolt from Wal-Mart for $5 on the 28th. It was so cheap, and...and..it was cheap! I have a pattern for a knit dress that needs to be used, and I can also make shirts for the kids, skirts, etc. So, I'll use that fabric up!

Anyways, I am so happy I did that little challenge, because I used up a lot of fabric that I had just sitting around. I took pictures of almost nothing I made, since I was too busy sewing, but here is a list anyways. In September, I made:

-- a shirt dress for Cosette (using the Sienna dress pattern I used here)

-- a long-sleeve peasant dress for Coco

-- a zippered skirt for myself (using this easy tutorial with zippers, yay!)

-- matching mother/daughter yoga skirts (using this wonderful tute)

-- 2 gathered clutches (from Noodlehead)that I actually took pics of, because they came out cute and have functioning zippers!


-- and I made progress on the kiddos' Owie Dolls. I am using them as travel buddies for our big move to Japan and am making them sleeping bags, too. Eesh.

--Oh, and a cute crochet headband which I will never wear, so check the pattern out and tell me if you would wear it. It's in an butterscotch/cinnamon color like in the photo.

Sewing makes me so happy, and fabric makes me even happier! What does NOT make me happy right now is how long it has taken me to finish the several different dolls I am working on. I bought a Waldorf doll kit last September to make and give to my daughter for her 1st birthday. Well, she will be 2 in a month and that doll is not finished at all. Yikes! Let's see if I can finish it up soon, although I pretty much hate its guts right now.

Look, Mom, It Fits!

My mom and I were trying to figure out if that owl hat would fit a 6 week old baby, and it does. Yay! Here is little Ella rocking her hat:



She is such a cutie. I just love her little belly button!

Hoot!

Owls are all the rage right now, and they are so cute! My best friend from college just had her third baby, so I tormented myself with crocheting for the cutie:

*I say tormented, because it takes a lot of work for me to not have a death grip on my crochet hook. A too-tight grip equals an itchy, itchy hat!

Little did I know that baby girl's nursery is owl themed, so I was on the right track with this! Super awesome and cheap pattern here. What is great about this pattern is that it is a really great earflap beanie pattern, too, if you don't like the owl-ness.

She is also getting these girly booties:


I got this pattern off etsy here. Very cute pattern, but it uses too much fabric glue to be a favorite shoe.

Maybe it wasn't the pattern, though--it could have been my sewing. I have messed up everything I have tried to make lately (owl pillow for nephew's nursery--4 tries--taking a break!) so maybe that's a sign that I need to just buckle down with my hook and yarn and--argh--the hubby's sweater.

That said, I am doing the T-shirt diaries' Stashbusting September (see button) so that I can hopefully clear out some closet space. I have an unusual amount of craft felt in there!