OK, before I get to the meat of this post, here are some linky loves that I must pass along.  Tasha, of A Little Sweetness is giving away some of her personally designed fabric.  It is SO CUTE, and if you don’t win, you can always pick some up in her shop!  I think the Little Red Riding Hood on white is my favorite!

Also, if any of you are a Flea Market Fancy fans like myself (I still have a few pieces I’m hoarding!), go sign this petition to get Free Spirit to reprint the line (oh to dream!), and while you are there enter to win this selection of 29 FMF fat quarters and some great books.  If you win, will you share a  FQ with me?

Yesterday my daughter was invited to a birthday party of a girl from her preschool class.  I always have a hard time buying gifts for families/girls I don’t know very well.  Not everyone appreciates the homemade, and I don’t want to waste my efforts if they won’t be appreciated.  Soooo, off to the big box store we went for some plastic Princess crap.

After getting it all wrapped up I felt guilty for A. Shopping at Target & B. Not making something…then I remembered all of the great felt I bought from the HB booth at Blissfest (you can also buy it online) and whipped up a little flower.  Not only does it look great as part of the wrapping, but it’s a barrette for the little girls hair!

First, I strongly recommend that you use wool, or wool blend felt for this project.  The cheap craft felt you can get at most craft stores will pill and stretch and not give you the lasting look you are going to want.  Here is what you’ll need:

2 colors of felt
1 piece of green felt
1 metal snap barrette (or a pony tail holder)
1 coordinating button
thread/needle/scissors
any other trims that appeal to you

Here is the pdf with the pattern pieces I free handed for the above barrette.  Cut all your pieces out, for the front circle, I folded it in half and cut little triangles out of it to give it the fringed look.

Layer the pieces as you’d like them to be, place the button on the top and stitch through all the layers.  For the back, take the circle and cut 2 small slits in the back about an inch apart in the center, thread the pony tail holder through.

Attach the circle to the entire flower, stitching through all but the top layer.  It should look like this when you’re done.

To do a barrette back, you can do it 2 ways.

You can measure your clip and cut out a piece of felt the length of your barrette, be sure to cut a small slit in it for the metal arm to go through.  Then sew this to the back of your flower, sewing through all but the top layer.

Using the circle pattern provided for the back, you can cut a small slit for the barrette arm and then stitch the whole circle to the flower.  The barrette side goes against the flower, the metal arm is what you should see when your barrette is finished.

I made this one to match one of my daughters shirts!  Be creative, try different shapes, add embroidery, seed beads, ribbon anything that appeals to you!

AND, because you made it through this whole LONG post, I made a holiday poinsettia barrette to give away.  Just leave me a comment telling me you’d like to win, I’ll pick a winner on Monday Nov 29th.

I admit, at this point (6months along) I have not purchased anything for the, still-unnamed, baby.  It’s a strange complicated hormonal thing I am sure that has prevented me from buying anything.  I think I have to get the nursery ready (Jaylee, can Clint come rewire soon???), then I’ll feel more like shopping….i think….

BUT, I have some wonderful people in my life who have already brought sweet little things for the baby.

My friend Jaylee found these barely worn Saltwater Sandals when she was at Last Chance and snagged them for me.  She knows I love them!  I can’t wait until Baby is big enough to wear them (probably around age 2 I think??), they’ll be perfect with something like this.

Last week, I met Georganne for breakfast and she surprised me with this sweet little thing:

Red gingham, vintage embroidery, great colors, and practical.  I couldn’t love it more! If you too love the bib, the company is Matti and Me, I can’t seem to get their website up??

Thank you both for the sweet little things- I love them!!

I rarely buy anything for myself…I can justify spending for other people but never for myself.  It makes no logical sense, I know this.  However a few weeks ago I ran across this etsy shop, and I found these CUTE red earrings and decided the earth would not stop rotating and life would not end if I spent $10 on myself.

I love them.  I love them so much that I confess to wearing them for 3 days in a row now…  I also really like these hairpins in the same shop…think I can rationalize another $15 or would that be pushing my luck regarding the earth’s rotation?

If you’ve never seem Camille’s blog Simplify you must go read!  I’ve been a bit obsessed with her blog the last few months, she has the best images!  I’ve been so inspired by her works that I wanted to try my hand at a little free-motion quilting.

It’s harder than it looks, and uses ALOT of thread (I ended up using 3 different threads on this one!) and very addictive!  The trick is to get your foot and arms in sync- moving the fabric at a consistent speed with the speed of your machine.  I used some scraps from my stash to create this little place mat for my daughter (hope to get a more masculine one for my son done this weekend)- the ric rac was a challenge and I will do it a bit different next time.

All through dinner last night my daughter kept telling how beautiful it was and thanking me for making it.  I’m trying hard to document and remember this because I suspect in a few short years she will be embarrassed to use anything I’ve made for her.

Have a fantastic weekend-never under estimate the power of singing loudly to the radio when your alone in the car!  It’s a total mood perker upper!

that i love this man.  it has been nearly 11 years and he really is my best friend.  it’s no fun having good news if i can’t share it with him.

and he is really good at keeping my feet warm.  i love waxing poetic about my husband, but nothing makes him cringe more than when I do.  so this is a brief tribute to my best friend, i love you and i love the life we’ve created together.

When I start formulating a plan for our Holiday Family Portraits. We’ve decided on a location already, the Mesa Arts Center in downtown Mesa, AZ. Today I am focusing on our wardrobe, we’ve done green (twice), white and navy.  This year I wanted a color that looked good on everyone, that we haven’t done before, and that would look good with various backgrounds.  I’ve decided Chocolate Brown will be this years color; and after some online retail searching, it looks like Old Navy is our one stop family shop (hooray that I can shop GAP and Banana Republic from the same O.N. window)!  I’m thinking we’ll all be sporting jeans, because we are a casual family and I think our pics should reflect that.

It goes without saying that Sarah will always shoots our family, she is simply the best.  Here is a shot she got of me and my sweetie at last years session.  If you are in the Phoenix Metro area you should schedule your appointment today, she books up quick!  We usually end up going out with her after Thanksgiving dinner because it is the only time she is free!  So, email (sarahephotographyATgmailDOTcom) her today to schedule your family portriat session!  Oh, and if you need a little eye candy, here is her flickr account, doesn’t she do extraordinary things with ordinary people and lots of natural light?

A few more days left to sign up!  Come make this Vintage Sheet Skirt with me on Thursday Oct. 2, $25 for the class and you can bring your own materials, or $15 and I’ll bring everything you’ll need.  You can sign-up online, or call the studio and do it over the phone.

Also, if your free Saturday morning (ie, not preparing food for 300 local people who’ll be watching this, like me) then you might want to swing by this charity garage sale, it promises to be good!

Oh, a little Post Script, to whomever it was that snagged my pajamas today at the Nie Recovery Etsy sale, THANK YOU!

Balloons filled with good wishes, hopes and prayers for The Nielsons.

At first I felt a bit silly about being there because I’ve never formally met Stephanie, but then I thought about how it wasn’t all about me.  I thought of their families, and I thought that a large turn out would probably give them comfort.  Knowing that so many people were praying and supporting them.  I may not know her in person, but I love the online Stephanie and hope for much good for her and her sweet husband.

I strongly believe in the power of prayer.

One of the things I have always loved about the blogging world is how small the community becomes when there is a tragedy.  We daily step into other people’s lives by reading their blogs, after awhile you begin to feel like you know them.  I think some of the best blogs are the ones you read and you think “If she lived in my city, I bet we could be friends”.  I am also keenly aware that while it feels like we know people, it really is only the part they want you to see.  None the less, they open a part of themselves up for the world to share.

For some time now I have been reading NieNieDialogues,  a delightful little blog written by Stephanie.  A woman who is really a woman in all senses of the word- femininity is the name of her game.  Her blog is incredibly upbeat and artistic.  She is a mother and a wife, she writes and photographs her life- showing us all the good and fun that is to be had.  She is local and lives not too far from here.  I had hoped to meet her through Blissful Living in the next month or so.

This weekend she and her husband were in a terrible accident, her family and friends are appealing to the masses for prayers and good thoughts.  Again, I believe in the power of prayer.

A few weeks ago I got an email from Jen Byard of My Three Sons Designs asking me if I would make a travel blanket for her son.  Have you seen the cute stuff she makes and sells?  I was flattered that she wanted ME to make something for her son.

I gave it a lot of thought and decided on something definitely boy- but not cheesey boy (does that make sense to anyone else?).  I had worked with the Star Rocket fabric before and really liked it.  Not only is the print cute it is the softest cotton ever, I swear it has got to be 300+ thread count.  Harrison has 2 older brothers which means he probably gets a lot of hand-me-downs.  I wanted this to be something special meant for him, so I embroidered a patch with his name on it.  I searched high and low for just the right minky to back it in, I wanted red, but theI couldn’t find the right share.  Sally’s had a soft dotted blue that matched perfectly.

So, Harrison- this one is for you buddy!