May I suggest for your first quilt...

When I had baby Jane, my friend Kathy sent me this beautiful quilt.

 I loved it so much, and I thought it was the most thoughtful thing in the world that she would take the time to make me a quilt!  I wanted to make one...but have NEVER attempted to QUILT before..so I just left it hanging on Jane's wall...dreaming of becoming a quilter one day.

The other day I decided to stop dreaming and to start quilting.  So, I went to the fabric store...picked out 8 coordinating fabrics....and DID IT!  So...below are the 2 quilts I made:

I think for me, the hardest part was finding 8 coordinating fabrics.  It is easy if you buy online and can stick with one designer's collection, but our quilt shop only carries a couple from each. 

To make this quilt, You will need:

1 yard pretty fabric, 1 yard batting, 1 yard white muslin or white kona cotton, a quarter yard binding fabric (for the edge) and then 6 quarter yard pieces for the stripes.  (NOT fat quarters.  regular old quarter yards)

You pretty much just layer the cute fabric, batting, & muslin.  lay out the stripes.  Pin like crazy.  sew.  pin on the binding.  sew.  then wash to get frayed edges, and trim long strings. 

If you want an ACTUAL TUTORIAL...

PLEASE post a comment below and I will do one in the next week or 2.

A sweet baby gift.  and if you find cute an enough fabrics...maybe a cute YOU gift!

Easter Kid Table: my Lollipop tree!

So using that lollipop tree tutorial, I made a couple lollipop trees for the girl and boy tables. 
It was easy to find the styrofoam cones at the craft store...and they were fun to make!

This year I went with really simple little favors, and just personalized them to make them a little cuter!

Lollipop Tree

So...a minute ago I had an idea for the centerpiece for the kids table...after a couple different google searches, Here is a good how-to on lolipop trees.  I have the cute fruit lolipops from Williams Sonoma and was trying to think of ideas of how to incorporate them.  I think I'll give this a try...but I will have to use cones from a local craft store...so lets hope they have them!

making a shirt dress...

I have been staring at this tutorial for a year and finally made a couple dresses!
Just go through your husbands closet...and snatch a couple shirts he may not wear anymore...and in a couple hours, you will have a couple new dresses for your little one!

My favorite part was using the basic idea and then doing my own variations.

Check out the tutorial at MADE.

Miranda's flower tutorial

My sister has been working on making felt flowers for an upcoming shower.  I love them...Im so glad she teaches how to make them here.

bath salts...in 2 seconds!

Last night at our RS meeting, we learned how to make BATH SALTS.

ok..brace yourself, this is easy...

1. ziploc bag

2. 1/3 cup sea salt

3. 1 cup epsom salt

4. a couple drops of essential oil or fragrance

5. a couple drops of food coloring (optional)

6. mix.

Isnt that fun.  I love baths and usually just stick in crystals, bubbles or anything else I have close.  I think these make cute little gifts though...for someone who needs to RELAX a little!

 

Elle's Valentines

Elle's Valentines my way.

Elle's valentines the right way...with her special touch.
We spent an hour looking at princesses online...and this was the winner. (I think its because of her beautiful long hair)

Cookies on a Stick Valentines

Well, because I am on the cookie on a stick kick...I thought Id tell you how to do them.

First, I searched the internet for a good sturdy recipe, and this is the best I found.  They are SO yummy, but they taste a little more like a butter cookie, or shortbread than a sugar cookie...but I really love them.

Michelle Bommarito’s Sugar Cookies For Sticks

3 c. all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 sticks butter, unsalted, softened (8 oz)
1 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg 1/2 t. kosher salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
dash of almond extract

Sift together the flour and baking powder. In a mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Stir in the egg, salt and both extracts.
Slowly add flour mixture (1 cup at a time) and stir until incorporated
Form the dough into a disc and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Roll the dough onto a lightly floured surface to approximately 5/8″ thick. Cut the cookies into shapes and place the cut cookie shape on a parchment lined cookie; Poke a stick into cookies.
Bake the cookies for approximately 8-10 minutes or until the edges begin to turn golden brown in color. Remove cookies from the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes.

Royal Icing
1 pound confectioner’s sugar
5 T meringue powder or 1/4 cup pasteurized egg whites
Ice cold water according to desired consistency and 1 teaspoon vanilla
Stir together, using as much water as needed for desired consistency

So, once my cookies while my cookies were baking...Miranda gave me the most brilliant idea.  Make my design on parchment paper first...so I wouldnt have to freehand the batman symbol.

So, I melted chocolate chips...and piped the chocolate onto the parchment.  You could use royal icing in colors if you wanted a different color.  I happened to need dark. I put mine in the fridge to harden.

 

Then, I first piped around each cookie, filled them in with yellow icing and stuck my symbol right in the middle.

 

Wa La...Robbie's batman Valentines.  Then of course I googled "batman valentine" and found this vintage picture.  He loved it! 

So, here are 2 dozen batmans on a stick! 

and with the left over dough I did some of my own valentines!  These were fun...but, I have no idea how to do polkadots.  They kept making stringy points.

Happy Valentines Day! 

 

Birthday headband

Here is my b-day gift for my sister Em. I hope it goes with her rock style!

My cute cousin Caroline has a business selling these headbands, clips and other things called "Vintage Blooms" and she is going to do a give away here in a week or so...so stay tuned!

These are fun...

When I was in UT, I kept spotting these on people...and loved them. My friend Jody sat down and showed me the trick of the trade and now Im on fire. They are kind of addicting, so dont be surprised to see a couple more posts about them...especially because I couldnt figure out how to take a picture of myself to get headband!

A new use for the birthday banner...

I was putting this banner away in a ziploc bag, carefully storing if for the next time I throw a tea party for elle (what?) when I realized...It might be okay to hang it in her room! I wouldnt have thought that the cardstock would loo cute, but guess what...I LOVE IT! I dont think her room would look right without it anymore!

I think it is cute to characterize a corner of a room. Especially in this case, because as soon as she grows out of tea parties (which she never will if she is like me) I can take it down and replace it with hannah montana posters. jk