Mantel Musings

I'm working on changing up the mantel over our fireplace. I've collected a few mirrors of different shapes and sizes for some kind of 'mirror collage' on the wall and plants on the mantel itself. I love houseplants, am loving the whole terrarium trend and am completely obsessed with succulents--another pop trend right now. Problem is that with two little babes, houseplants within reach take a bit of abuse. My current succulent is missing the bottom row of leaves. I'm thinking that moving all my plants to the mantel is necessary for the survival of my plants and possibly my sanity. 

Here are some inspiration pics. All are pinned HERE so you can get more info and pin them yourself if you're interested!

Ahh, terrariums and cloches! Beautiful, whimsical and fresh. I like the idea of indoor plants in the winter when things get gray and cold. It would also be really fun and easy to change things up for the holidays. This blog lists some ideas of plants that grow well when covered, though, I like a mixture of covered and open. 

These frameless mirrors are from Pottery Barn, I love the distressed wood dresser with delicate glass.

Pretty!

I adore the eclectic mix of different shapes, sizes and finishes in this pic. I also like the idea of collecting mirrors on trips, a small one would be pretty easy to pack and transport.

I like the way these are hung so closely and the configuration isn't quite symmetrical.

I'll post some pics once I make progress!

Bucket Tote Mania

I am completely obsessed with these bucket totes over at Ikatbag. Genius and beautiful! I can't stop looking at them. I love the combinations of piping and great prints. They look so sturdy.

Lunch Bag-Ikatbag

This is the inside of the bag, but it shows how great the handles are. One short and one long, the long shoulder strap one pulls through the short one, I am going to make one!

Bucket tote--Ikatbag

I ordered some Michael Miller neon laminate fabric from Purl Bee (I had a gift card burning a hole in my pocket, thanks Hannie!) It came yesterday and is stunning...and blinding. I've got some great bucket tote ideas and there is piping involved! Woo! My giant shoulder bag was stolen from my car around Thanksgiving and I have been living out of a tiny purse--let's just say it's not up to the challenge of diapers, juice cups, water bottle, toys, books, changes of clothes, snacks...It needs a break and a replacement. 

Celebrate Easter

We're finished with Easter week around here, just thought I'd give a quick recap and post links to all the different projects and ideas in one place. Also, I didn't get to share this picture. It's my boy with the bunny on his head, of course looking at his favorite page with the moped. He says "Ride? Ride? Go Ride?" until I find the page for him.

 Celebrate Easter at a Glance!

    Day #1 
Decorate Eggs with Toddlers 

Day #2  Sock Bunny 

Day #3
Bunny Bum Applique

                                                     

Day # 4 

Reversible Easter Basket Liner Tutorial

Day #5

 Roundup: Creative Ways to teach little ones the meaning of Easter

                                             

Day #6

Easy Funny Bunny Cake

Happy Easter! He is Risen! He is risen, indeed!

Celebrate Easter: Funny Bunny Cake

Growing up, one of our Easter traditions was making this bunny cake. We have a running joke in my family about traditions because about 10 years ago we were sitting around the table on Christmas morning and my Dad said that we 'didn't have any traditions.' Of course, everyone was incensed, especially my Mom (the facilitator of all the traditions) so we immediately starting compiling a list. My Dad soon had to admit that we do indeed have them, and even now we say things like "See that's a tradition!" Anyway, this bunny cake is one of the traditions I remember. I loved it! I'm not sure my brother cared quite as much as myself about creating detailed candy features for a bunny rabbit cake. Even though P is a little small to actually help with this, he is definitely old enough to appreciate it. I wish I'd had a video of him when he first saw it. "OOOOOH!" he said and then leaned down to give Mr. Bunny a big kiss.

This cake is ridiculously easy, I kept it really simple and cartoonish and only bought a few different candies, but you could go crazy and make this as elaborate and gorgeous as you want!

Here's what you need: 
2 round cakes
       use whatever recipe or box that you like, mine are 8" rounds, but you could go bigger or smaller
1 bag of sweetened, shredded coconut
basic white icing
       I made my own cream cheese frosting, you could use store bought. Warm it up a bit before trying to
       spread it on.
food coloring
large cardboard or cutting board covered with parchment or freezer paper
Optional: assorted candies, almonds, white/milk chocolate

Bake your cakes according to recipe/box instructions. I used a boxed carrot cake but added freshly grated carrots. It's actually really good! Let the cakes cool completely on a rack then take them out of the pans. One round will be Funny Bunny's face, you can go ahead and lay it on your prepared paper covered board. The other will become bunny's ears and bow tie.

Position ears and bow tie. My board is a little small, larger will help you keep the coconut from getting all over your house!

Now just go nuts with the icing! I started with a thin, careful "crumb coat" (it's tough not to spread crumbs once you start icing the cut portions), then followed up with a thicker layer. I used the flat of my knife to add a little texture as I went. I also set the bow tie aside for a moment because I wanted to ice it with colored icing. It doesn't have to be perfect because we are going to top this with coconut

Before starting the coconut, coat the paper background with a tiny bit of leftover white icing just a little so that the coconut 'grass' has something to stick to. Now pour about one cup of coconut in a small bowl and add 3-4 drops of green food coloring, stir until it's pretty evenly distributed then start patting it onto the paper background. Save the remaining green coconut for touch ups later. Once that's done, sprinkle the bunny with white coconut, patting it onto the vertical sides of the cake.

For the bow tie (I changed colors later because the blue was such a weird color, it actually looks better in this picture than in real life), dye a small amount of icing your desired color and ice the bow tie while still on a plate or the counter, then scoop it up with two spatulas and set in place on the board. You can leave it plain or add candy patterns.

Tangent: Dying icing in really bright colors never fails to remind me of that scene in "Hook" with Robin Williams where he finally sees the food then they start having a food fight. Great movie!

So! That's it! I kept a few dabs of white icing to stick jelly beans on the background and help some of the candy face stay put. Black licorice (cut in thin strips, I tried to find black "Pull and Peel" Twizzlers) for the eyebrows and mouth, a blob of pink icing with a jelly bean for the nose, M &M polka dots on the tie and almonds for the eyes. That was a new idea for me this year. I dipped them in a tiny bit of melted white chocolate, let that set then dipped again in a tiny bit of dark chocolate. I love the way they turned out. I'll be doing that again! After the candy was on, I added pink cheeks and a little pink to the ears. Just dye a small amount of coconut with one drop of red food coloring and sprinkle it on.

Stay on the lookout for chubby hands swiping your candy.

So fun and definitely something to do next year, hopefully we will have our own list of traditions going soon! I love how the jellybeans on the coconut grass look like little clusters of Easter eggs or spring tulips. Can't wait to eat it!

P.S. I'd love to see pictures of this if you make your own. Add them to the "You Sewed" Flickr pool, tab at the top right of the page.

Aden and Anais Swaddlers Tutorial

I'm departing for one day from Easter week and sharing a project. It's that time of year when everybody starts having babies and baby showers, so I feel like there's always a long list of gifts to pick up or make. I really enjoy doing baby gifts, I like to give things that are going to be pretty but practical so that they'll be used and loved on.

One of my top five favorite baby items when I first had P were those gorgeous Aden and Anais muslin swaddle blankets. They are huge and soft and sheer. They're perfect as sunshades for babies in the summer because they stay cool and they're a good size for nursing covers. Lots of boutique stores (and Buy Buy Baby) carry most of the prints, there are stripes, animals, polka dots, cupcakes... I really recommend them for a baby gift if you need one! Target carries a limited selection of prints for a significantly discounted price. Speaking of the price, they are a little steep. I figured, "How hard can it be to find this soft, natural muslin?" Well, the answer is pretty hard. I have not been able to find the exact quality, texture and softness of those blankets!

The closest thing that I've found is cotton gauze. You'll see it out now that the weather is warming up, I picked some up at Joann's for $6.99/yd in the apparel fabrics. There were quite a few bright solids and white, of course. The white was by far the softest so I chose that for my baby blankets. I'm thinking that the more it's washed and worn the softer it will get.

Each blanket takes 1 1/4 yard. I wanted two so I bought 2 1/2 yards; washed, dried and ironed it; trimmed off the selvages, split the piece in half and squared everything up. I found that snipping and ripping was the best way to get a straight line since this fabric is kind of wavy and stretchy.  Then just go to the ironing board (get yourself a nice book on tape or something) and start pressing the raw edges under 1/4 inch then under another 1/4 for the hem. (I did not miter the corners.) Next just sew around the edges with matching or contrast thread!

Now for the fun part! I wanted patterns similar to the Aden and Anais blankets so I busted out the trusty Tulip Soft Fabric Paint in matte, some foam stamps I picked up at Hobby Lobby a couple years ago ($1.99-99 cents for a sheet), and some cheap foam brushes. My dear friend, H, is having a boy so I decided to do animals on one and transportation on the other--you know, boy stuff!

I covered my coffee table with freezer paper, squeezed some paint on a paper plate and got stamping.

TIPS:

One thin, even coat looks the best! Dab paint onto the stamp with the foam brush.

Don't rock the stamp, press firmly all the way around so you get a clear impression on the edges too.

Don't forget to mix colors if you can't find the perfect shade (or don't want to buy a million tubes of paint). I have mostly primary colors that I mix until I get what I want, but mix enough at once for the whole blanket so you don't change shades part way through.

If the stamp isn't exactly what you want, change it! I went back with a foam brush and blotted out the faces on my goofy monkey and lion so I had less cartoonish animal shapes.

Decide the 'pattern' before you start stamping, but don't stress about it! I didn't measure or anything like that, just eye it and do what looks right! For the cars and train blanket I stamped all the trains then went back and filled in with cars. The animals I did one row at a time from top to bottom and just kept changing stamps/colors with each row. I think the train/car blanket went faster.

Let the paint dry a few hours before handling, heat set with a hot iron and wait about 72 hours before washing. 

P recognized these blankets as soon as he saw them and grabbed them off my work table to snuggle! He sleeps with an Aden and Anais blanket almost every night.

Since these are hand stamped, every impression is a little different. I think that just makes them more special. They're handmade without looking home-made. Think of all the things you could do! I love the idea of getting some letter stamps and creating a print with initials or just a single initial. They can also be packaged in so many cute ways, roll them up and tie with ribbon, maybe tie a small toy on top or stuff them in a basket with other baby goodies. You could even gift a baby book along with blankets decorated with colors and images from the book. Wouldn't a set of Goodnight Moon or Hungry Catterpillar blankets be awesome! Can't wait to make more!

Celebrate Easter: Teach Kids the Real Meaning of Easter

My little guy is only 22 months old, but I am always amazed at how much he notices and understands and remembers. It is not too early to teach him Scripture and Bible stories. Though he's too young yet to grasp the concept of God incarnate coming to earth in the person of Jesus, who sacrificed Himself to atone for the sin of mankind then rose again to bring "life on life for you and me" on Easter morning, I don't think it can possibly be too early to start talking about it. I don't want him to know a day before he heard the gospel and loved the Lord, so we will talk and pray and read, hoping that the Holy Spirit will make his heart soft and that he will understand and know for himself the peace that surpasses all understanding and the joy that can only come from knowing the truth.

 

 

As P gets bigger, I have been interested in finding creative ways to teach him about God, particularly around the holidays when the focus is so often diverted too much to the trivial or the self-indulgent. To me, there's nothing wrong with fun traditions and things like the Easter bunny and Santa, but I hope that in our family those things never outshine the hope that we have in Christ!

 

 

So, here's a roundup of a few neat ways to teach your little ones the meaning of Easter or maybe just be a sweet reminder to you as you're decorating and cooking and dying eggs that there is nothing more important for a Christian than the fact that Christ died but rose again.

1) Almond Cookies: Each step of this recipe tells part of the Easter story. Older children can help make these cookies and you have a neat opportunity to talk through the gospel while your hands are busy with the steps that represent each part.

2) Resurrection Eggs: I used to get these in Sunday school years ago, the 12 eggs are filled with small items that represent everything that happened during Holy Week and an accompanying scripture reference. A thorn, a sponge, a small cross, a stone, and the last egg is empty. The 'The strife is o'er, the battle done! The vicory of life is won!" This talented blogger also had the idea of using these eggs on your Easter table, each person opening an egg and sharing what's inside. She has free printables for the cute presentation.

3) Resurrection Rolls: Here's another recipe, but it's definitely semi-homemade. All you need are marshmallows, cinnamon, sugar and crescent rolls. You wrap dough around a marshmallow and when they bake, the marshmallow melts and you are left with the miracle of an "empty tomb," children will be excited and it's a good conversation starter.

4) Easter Garden: I couldn't find the original source of this (it's all over Pinterest), but I like the idea of growing wheat grass this time of year and incorporating it into a centerpiece or mini garden for your kitchen window. It looks a little 'bonsai' to me :).

5) 12 Day Countdown to Easter with stories and activities: This blogger created a 12 day countdown to Easter with suggestions of gospel stories for each day along with some activities. It's a good resource!

6) Easter Garden and Linky Party: Here's another Easter Garden but this blogger's daughter helped make it, I love the empty potato tomb! For this post she was also hosting a 'linky party' of ideas for sharing the real meaning of Easter with your children-there are close to a hundred ideas all in one place! I didn't screen them all so you may have to pick through.


Let me just leave you with a bit of text from my favorite Easter hymn:

"Look there! The Christ, our Brother, comes resplendant from the gallows tree,

And what He brings in His hurt hands is life on life for you and me!

Joy, Joy! Joy to the heart all in this good day's dawning!

Good Jesus Christ, inside His pain, looked down Golgotha's stony slope,

And let the blood flow from His flesh to fill the springs of living hope!"

 Joy, Joy! Joy to the heart all in this good day's dawning!"

Summer Lovin' Roundup

It's been sort of dreary and rainy this past few days and over the weekend. It really makes me nostalgic for changing seasons on the way to summer and those half warm/half chilly spring days in Kentucky. Here's a little Summer Lovin' to fuel your cabin fever.

1. Scallop Hem Shorts
2. Old-Fashioned Stripey Paper Straws
3. DIY Summer Tent for Kids
4. Color Block stripey T
5. Beach Umbrella Art Print
6. Delicate Silver Sandals

Valetine's Day Pinterest Love

I don't think I need to talk up Pinterest because everyone is addicted, but I do have a little Pinterest love for you today. A few Valentine's Day ideas to get those creative juices flowing!

 1. Fabric appliqued Valentines
 2.  Easy Felt Heart Garland
 3. "You Break My Heart" Candy filled paper Valentines
 4. Fun idea for a child's friends or class: Heart shaped crayon Valentines.
 5. Super simple felt fortune cookies! Love this!
 6. Swirly Sugar Cookies



Sewing and Stewing

I've had a bad cold this week so sewing and posting have been on the back burner, but I've been 'stewing' over some projects and I'm particularly excited about one that I'll post about soon!

I can't believe it's already February, Valentine's Day is coming. I was thinking about what I wanted to do for Baby P this year and couldn't help remembering what I put him through in 2011.

It wasn't all bad, I got a few smiles in there! But really, the things we will do for pictures! There are no end of photos where parents have positioned babies in uncomfortable looking ways surrounded by piles of things--from fruit to puppies to... construction paper hearts.

I posted some new overalls on Etsy this week. Of course P gets the sample, I'm really happy with how they turned out, they have elastic around the bottom so the legs "balloon" out a little. They look so cute and summery in this seersucker without a shirt underneath. LOVE! Also love that P is obsessed with wearing my sunglasses. Watch out Jacqueline Kennedy, you've got some competition.

On a different note, the entries for this weeks Project Run and Play competition were posted this morning and I am wild about this dress from Danielle at My Sparkle. Her designs have been my favorite all along the way, but this dress is fantastic. I love the sheer white over the blue underskirt and the cute pom-pom trim. I think it would be a really fun idea for a summer skirt for me! Love, love, love!