Brown and White Baby Shoe

This is a project I started months ago- cute baby shoes! I was inspired by these shoes from See Kai Run- aren't they awesome? I love, LOVE these shoes. Even on sale I can't justify pricey shoes that will fit a tiny baby for two seconds...

so I decided to make my own. Using the Stardust Baby Shoes tutorial found here, I made... one shoe. It was harder than I thought. It has been sitting on my desk for months. Today I decided to ditch this project since it seems I will never make the second shoe. Yeah! One more project off the desk. Little M will just have to wear his Old Navy shoes. Now trying to figure out what to do with one shoe...

Handmade Valentine Gifts

I couldn't get it together to do much for Valentine's Day this year, but my mom made wonderful handmade gifts for the kids this year. She is amazing!

This is a felt "Lightning McQueen" for my Cars crazy oldest. Awesome! She is thinking about trying to sell plush felt cars and trucks on etsy. What do you think? I think they would be a hit!Knit pink bear for D. She named her Ruby.And a hanging triangle toy for baby M. It has ribbons and plastic toys dangling and batting.

My kids were thrilled! We've been playing with them all week.

Valentine Garlands

I'm taking a tiny break from cleaning up to make some seasonal decorations... Valentine's Day heart garlands! Actually this first one is probably not technically a garland, but I don't know what to call it- a hanging? I got the idea from a Paper-Source catalogue.Here's how I did it:

1. Pick out paper. I painted a piece of sketch paper with water colors when my kids had their paints out. A medium weight paper works well.2. Cut into strips about one inch wide.3. Fold in half.4. Using a pen (or dowel, knitting needle, etc.) roll the paper tightly up to the center fold.5. Take the pen out- it should look like this.6. Repeat with the other side. The paper will form a heart that looks like this.7. Cut a length of thread twice as long as you want your hanging to hang. I strung a small glass bead onto the end to give the whole thing weight. Then thread a sewing needle onto the the thread. Using the needle, pull the thread up through the bottom of the paper heart. 8. Using a small piece of double sided tape or a photo mounting square, stick the top of the heart together, making sure to catch the thread in the tape.It should look like this when you are done.9. Follow this the remaining paper hearts, stacking them on top of each other. The finished project- stacked paper heart "garland."

And this is the simple felt heart garland I made. I cut out all these hearts to make embroidered felt conversation hearts, but it was going to take way too long. I just ran them through my machine and made the garland instead.

T-Shirt Headbands

I recently gave my sweet little girl a horrible haircut- her bangs are short, short, short and crooked! Instead of trying to fix them, I am leaving them be for now, maybe growing them out entirely. Do you cut your children's hair? Ugh! Sometimes I don't think it's worth the money I save. I have REALLY wiggly kids.

Anyway, my solution for now is big, fat headbands. I made a bunch from old t-shirts of mine, and because they are made from knit they are super easy! Just cut a wide strip of t-shirt, sew ends together (I didn't even use my machine, just a few stitches by hand), and embellish with fun flowers or ruffles. Here's a sample. Great for keeping static-y winter hair away from your face or horrible Mommy bang haircuts.