Hair Bows

After noticing in some pictures that Sydney's bangs naturally separated themselves, I encouraged her to grow them out. Finding the right hair accessory to reach that goal took a bit of time.

But we did find some little clips at Target. After looking at them carefully I decided that I could make them myself and Sydney could have clips to match different outfits. I found lots of resources for making hair bows and found that the little clips were called alligator clips.

Sydney got lots of compliments on the hair bows and I decided to make even more to sell.

Here is my big collection!

Sewing Box

I found myself doing more hand sewing while creating hair bows.  I thought it would be great to have a little box to bring around with me and carry my supplies.  I looked at sewing boxes and they all seemed to be bigger than what I wanted.  I found a cute little box at Hobby Lobby, but it didn't seem finished on the inside.  The price was right, so I bought it and wondered about lining it.  I took some of my favorite fabric leftover from a sling and cut some cardboard for the lid, glued the fabric on and glued it to the lid. I thought I'd make a few holders for my scissors and also my stitch ripper.  I sewed elastic in and then I just tucked down the raw edge and quickly glued it in around the top edge.

Thinking ahead to Christmas, I made one for my daughter too and accessorized the box with pink scissors, cute pins, and a custom matching pin cushion.

Black Belt Pretzels

Kyle was to be testing for his Little Dragon Black belt. It was a big deal for the new eight year old. Usually parents bring along something to help celebrate. I thought pretzels would be a bit healthier than cake, so I thought about making the little snake that is on his Gi.
The recipe is from Motherhood and Applepie and requires no rising time. Just flour, water, yeast, salt, and sugar. It's a great project for snow days too.

They were a big hit!

Jewelry for Support

When I was diagnosed with breast cancer, I knew that there would be many parts of my journey I would need to travel alone.

I remembered that some of my friends had prepared for the birth of their babies with a Blessingway. One part of the Blessingway was for each participant to bring along a bead for the mother to be. The beads would then be strung together to make a very special necklace or bracelet for her to wear.

I shared my desire for something similar to my sister. She collected all the beads for me and strung them together. The bracelet is made up of beads from my family members. The necklace is from friends.

The bracelet in particular became a regular part of what I wore, especially when I went to appointments and even for one of my surgeries. I felt very well supported and it was a nice reminder of that support.

Breast Cancer Support Bracelet

Breast Cancer jewelry

In December 2006, I was diagnosed with stage 1 breast cancer. There are so many, many pink ribbon items out there. Before I had my first surgery, I made a some little pink ribbon dangles for friends and family to think of me.

It was fun and easier than I expected to make jewelry. I made a bunch of different earrings during this time and donated some for sale to the Breast Cancer Coalition of Rochester.

Birthday Chair Cover

I am not always together when school is ending. So many moms have carefully chosen or created gifts for their teachers. I am generally not one of those moms. The end of the year seems so crazy.

One year I asked the teacher what she might need for her classroom and offered my sewing talents to her. She did say that often they do have more than one birthday to celebrate on a given day and that she only had one special birthday chair cover.

That sounded like a fun project! But the cover she already had, had "Happy Birthday" spelled out in big block letters. I wasn't really interested in cutting many tiny letters, so I thought of other options. Back to JoAnns and I found some cute birthday themed fabric: balloons, candles, and confetti! I wondered how I could incorporate all the neat fabrics. I decided on a quilt like idea. Came together perfectly! I liked it so much, I made one for my family too. What a fun tradition!

Photo Thank You Notes for 2 year old birthday

I always encourage my children to participate in doing thank you notes. Once I had my son paint with watercolors and then once dry, I cut the page into quarters and glued them onto notecards. On the back, I gave him credit with his age.

When my daughter turned two, she received so many lovely gifts and she was more than happy to play with each one for a quick photo. I printed out the pictures, glued them onto card stock and used a ducky rubber stamp on each card to go with our themed ducky party.

I hoped our guests enjoyed seeing their nice gifts again and being thoroughly enjoyed!