A Few More Mittens...

I have been restless lately, not sleeping well at night. Which many of you know, while there are real down sides to this, there is always one up side. That means time to sew. Last night was no exception to this and I was able to get some mittens finished. Both of them, I absolutely love for different reasons. One is perfect for Christmas and the other was designed with a wedding in mind. Beautiful, good quality cream wool is hard for me to find, And actually, so is the dark kelly green in the Christmas mittens. So, these two pair of mittens are even more unique due to that.

In Need of A Little Sunshine...

I love rain, and even more-storms, love nighttime, love the lights off with maybe a hint of lamp light, love fall, love winter, a cuddly sweater, love the warm stove, love cozy. But after a summer spent in the sunshine, I have begun to see a real change in my moods now that we are indoors so much more. At first I feel happy to be pulling indoors a bit, nesting inside, instead of out. But this year I think I am sunshine deprived more than other years. So, I brought the sunshine in. At first glance, the color drew me in and made me smile, at second glance, the color scared me and I thought, here we go again with another bad color choice, at third glance, it does make me happy. Just a little corner of sunshine in my bedroom. I can spot it from the hall as I pass, and I love it every time.

About 2 months ago, when we were saying goodbye to the summer, Matt and I began prepping for a fall filled with indoor painting projects. Almost every wall in our house needed to be shown some love and repair. Finding color charts laying around was a normal sight. Piles of decorations began to gather in the garage, and walls started to look like they had chicken pox from all the filling of holes and dents. But, those plans have halted. The shop has been unexpectedly slow, and the truth of the matter is, that is where any "extra" for us, comes from. So we are doing our best to be patient and focus on other things that can be done. So, one night Matt and I on our date night, took our $20.00, got some coffee and ended up in the Menards parking lot debating what to do with the little amount left. We decided to buy a little can of sunshine with that date money. Every other project would cost more than we had, so refinishing a few pieces of furniture was the best for using what we had.

The dresser used to be Noah's(he is our youngest) but now that he can dress himself, this dresser, as cute as it is, is hard to open drawers on. So we switched one of our dressers for his. It was a grey and I noticed in certain light that it still needs another good coat of the yellow. But the yellow seems to suit it.

I also decided to paint this little TV table with the sunshine too. Makes it a fun little nuk in our home.

The Weekend Sale is Underway....

This weekends sale is underway...all purchases are 30% off with use of coupon code "WEEKEND30". SIMPLY TYPE IN THIS CODE DURING CHECKOUT TO RECEIVE THE DISCOUNT. Have a lovely weekend!

Thursday's Upcycled Bed Linen Fabric Sale is Underway...

The shop has a sale today on all upcycled/reclaimed bed linens. They are 20% off. This sale includes bed sheets, pillowcases, fat quarters, quilt squares, bed linen yardages, and flat rate boxes made up of linens. Lots of new linens are added weekly. Happy shopping and lovely day to you!

WEEKEND SALE...

THE WEEKEND SALE HAS BEGUN. ALL PURCHASES WILL HAVE 20% TAKEN OFF OF THEM WITH USE OF THIS COUPON CODE..."WEEKEND20". JUST TYPE CODE IN PROVIDED BOX AT CHECKOUT TO RECEIVE 20% OFF OF YOUR ORDER. HAVE A LOVELY FALL WEEKEND.

WEDNESDAY DOUBLE SALE...

THE WEDNESDAY DOUBLE SALE IS BACK TODAY!

ALL VINTAGE CLOTHING IN THE SHOP IS 50% OFF.

ALL HANDMADE ITEMS IN THE SHOP ARE 20% OFF.

HAPPY SHOPPING ON THIS CHILLY RAINY OCTOBER DAY(AT LEAST IN MY COZY LITTLE CORNER).

A Quilt for a Little Girl I Have Yet to Meet...

Today is a very special day!! One of my closest friends gave birth to a precious little girl!! It is their 4th baby and 3rd daughter. They did not know the sex of the baby throughout the pregnancy, so today was such an exciting day, to finally hear the news! A GIRL!!! Her name is Penelope Ruth-I just love it!! I can hardly wait until I can go meet Penelope!! So after school today and a small nap, I went to work on her quilt. I did not want to make the quilt until I knew if it was a little lady or little man . With no interruptions(great thanks to my lovely children), I was able to finish it by dinner time. Yay!! Here is the quilt for the little one I have yet to meet!

I wanted to make sure to include all of her stats, so I hid them on flowers and corners of the quilt.

fAbRiC SaLe .....

All Fabric in the shop is 20% off today. Happy shopping!!

I spent some time late Sunday evening sewing up some new fall scarves and wraps. I used reclaimed linens on these which makes them so soft and comfy. They are soft and gentle but still hold a good amount of shape to them making them so versatile. They are reversible and some of them would even work nicely for younger girls as well. Here is a peek at some of them.

Nothing Better Than Peanut Butter and Chocolate...

I mentioned earlier today that we decided to use the afternoon for baking. And that we did! I too, have found a deep appreciation for Pinterest after hearing so many rave about it. It is a great place to store all of those inspirations, decorating tips, recipes that you just must try, solutions to those great cleaning dilemmas, funny pictures that just make you smile, storage ideas, books you want to read, etc etc. I find that in those minutes that come every once in awhile during the day, when I am sluggish, uninspired, or in need of a solution for around the home, I can take a quick stop at pinterest and get some ideas to move ahead. So today, we tried another recipe idea I had found there. The recipe came from this fabulous blog-baked to perfection. Cole and Madi both helped on this one today. They are a type of peanut butter brownies-YUM!

We made some in mini muffin tins and the rest in regular sized tins.

We all enjoyed one before bedtime as we took turns getting our baths for church tomorrow. The recipe was one I had pinned on my board and have now tried with great success. However, beware-one is more than enough to bring on a sugar rush-WHOA. I think we will stick to the mini muffin tins next time!

Warm Banana Bread on a Chilly Day..

It is a fresh and chilly fall day. We have had a bit of a "hard- to -get- going" kind of day around here. But we decided to spend the afternoon baking since our cupboard was bare and and our plans were too:). I just pulled some warm banana bread from the oven. I used an old favorite recipe of mine from a cook book that came from the first church we served in. The book is hardly recognizable any longer since I was quite fresh to being a wife and mama when we moved to our first church. That book and all of those sweet women helped feed my family with all of their shared cooking and baking experience! Here is the well worn recipe...

WeEkEnD sALe-and A FeW NeW ThInGs..

The weekend sale in the shop has begun. You can receive 25% off of your purchase with the use of this coupon code..."WEEKEND25". Just type it on at checkout in the provided coupon box to receive the discount.

I have just added a few new felted wool items and lots of fun bed linen bundles this week as well...

A new pair of felted wool mittens-womens

A fun set of felted wool hat and mittens for a 5-7 year old little girl

some fun green striped fat quarters

And some vintage floral fat quarters...

Fall Is Here...

Fall is here along with all those things that charm me...

The wind today has a song of it's own and sometimes it is even strong enough to knock out the power. School is out for the weekend and I can hear the kids muffled laughter outside against the sound of the humming wind. There is apple cider mulling on the stove, and chicken in the crock pot. Madi said it feels like fall now as she sips on her cider. Leaves are covering the ground making that perfect rustling sound as you walk. They smell and sound like my great grandparent's farm from when I was a wee one. Bedtimes are getting a bit easier with the sun's disapearance earlier on the clock(something this mama loves). Walks are a bit chilled and I can bundle up in a favorite sweater. And my mind is happily collecting ideas for the upcoming holidays. It is my favorite time of the year!!

Linens Sale Today...

I am having an upcycled bed linens sale in the shop today. All reclaimed linens are 25% off. This includes bed sheets, pillowcases, quilt squares, fat quarters, yardages, and bed linen flat rate boxes. Happy shopping.

Creative Homeschooling...

I do not remember very often to share about homeschooling, but today I was able to again combine the worlds of sewing creativity and learning for my younger two, and thought it would be fun to pass the ideas on. Bell is in first grade and Noah is in preschool, but both of them have some basic learning that they can do together. Sounds of the alphabet is still a bit of a struggle for Bell, so having Noah right along side her is a type of cheerleading she needs. Today I felt I really needed to figure out some kind of creative way to help with their memory, something tactile. So, I came up with two fun ways to learn the alphabet.

First we decided to create a new letter each day- "the letter of the day." Today was the letter "A" of course. The kiddos helped me pick out the fabric, I cut the shape(nothing fancy) and sewed them up, and the wee ones then stuffed each of the letters while we talked about the letter and it's sounds. I don't know if you realize this, but stuffing is one of the most fascinating things to a little kiddo-mine could come up with 1001 ways to play with stuffing(polyfil). Here are some of the pics...

Next I worked on some capes over lunch time for each of them. Very simple, but they each had two squares of velcro attached in the middle for "the letter of the day" . They became super letter heros! Each day we will attach a different letter of the alphabet to the cape for there lessons....

Since they have been wearing the capes long after school is over, it also helps to remind me to keep bringing the letter into our conversations throughout the day. I need a little help sometimes too:) School should never really end.

And those capes---yes! they were made from reclaimed bed linens:)

Vintage Sheets Solution To Small Space Storage.....Hang In There... This is a Long Post...

Maybe you have been there too, wanting to pare down, wanting to get rid of excess, wanting to want less, need less, be content. For me, being the mom of 5, homeschooler, keeper of a small army of pets, creative recycler, and home- "cozy"-maker, means that that is an ongoing lesson with ever-changing perameters. I have found that even after being generous with the garbage can and donations, being careful with choosing what makes it through the front door, there is still a struggle to find storage in a small space. Every once in awhile, I have a success, and AHA! moment and I enjoy getting the chance to pass it on from one, mom -in -practice, to another. And maybe this is not even a solution that you may need but it may just evoke an AHA! moment of your own!

So, here is the back story to how this solution came about. We adopted our dog Ellie almost a year ago now. She was a true blessing from the Lord. It was amazing how she seemed to slip her way in without any upset, adjustment, or frustration. As a matter fact, you probably would have never known she came to us as a 6 year old mama dog, she just "FIT" us. But we think she had been custom made just for us-thank you Lord-your creation is always good! Anyways, Ellie is a big old mama lab, that has a real adoration for comfort, which always gives us something to laugh about. After being a dog free home for sometime, I thought I was going to be quite strict about letting her on furniture, in the bed, etc. But, here you go...

Yep, we have spoiled her a bit, but oh how cozy she makes this home feel! So now that you have veiwed our entire family album-haha-let me get to the point.

We have a small, 3 bedroom, house for seven of us, some of you know that from previous posts. And the reason I mention it(often) is to hopefully be an encouragement to those of you sharing small spaces as well, and be hopefully sharing some useful solutions for making it work comfortably. Hopefully these will provide a few ideas for multi-functional uses of everyday things-or, not-so-everyday things that are still important to keep around. So, I had one of those ideas today. I had a few goals needed to be reached before the winter shut in starts. The odds and ends in the garage from summer projects and events needed to be stored before it is too cold to work out there, I needed to make some kind of dog bed for Ellie, because even though she is too cute cuddled up in our furntiture, she is wearing them out faster than all five kiddos put together, and I am attempting to finish some of my "unfinished" projects. And guess what, I was able to combine all 3 of those odd goals into one solution!! Curious yet!?

I took an unfinished quilt(it just needed to be bound-for like 3 years now) and yes, it was made from vintage sheets, big surprise:) and decided to turn it into the casing for the dog bed. Then to fill it(and here was a budget saver-not to mention a "need less" situation I mentioned earlier). I have some old comforters and quilts that are not being used for beds anymore, but we have kept them for summertime picnics, forts outside, etc. They take up a lot of room and having them sitting in the garage collecting dust, hasn't worked so well-so I used them to fill the oversized case. This will keep them stored and clean(I have some soft plastic garment bags that they will stay in while inside the dog bed slip cover) . And here you go with a few pictures of the process....

..................Here is the unfinished quilt I used in the project.

......................I folded the quilt in half and sewed it up like a pillowcase.

.................I used velcro to make the closure. I prefer sew in velcro, it handles best in the wash-which this will get a lot of.

Here is my stack of comforters needing a storage solution. They have become my filling for the dog bed.

And here is a perfect picture of success....

And when Ellie is not enjoying it, someone else will. I knew this project would have no shortage of attention. How about an afternoon nap in the sunshine:)