Taking A to the show

I just found out that the show that The Head and the Heart are playing in March is an all ages show. This means I get to take A with! She's so excited and knows all of their songs. I told her that we are going to wear fancy dresses and curl her hair. :)

This song really struck a chord with me and has had me hooked since the first time I heard them:

Soft Paws

Last week, our cat Howard was almost declawed until I read up on the awful procedure. I don't know what I thought it was going to be like but I definitely did not think it was going to be like this! Crazy! There was no way I was going to send him off to do that, but he is a scratcher so I had to do something to keep him from not tearing up the furniture, (and us!)

Enter Soft Paws. They are little vinyl caps that get glued onto his nails and for each treatment, they last about 6 weeks. After seeing the color list I was sold on at least trying them. And, after a few days, I'm sold on them entirely. Howard has not been able to scratch at all and the girls and I can play with him without getting all scratched up.

I think he likes them, I mean, he's posing and all...

These guys:

The 2011 Doe Bay Sessions - Pickwick (Bonus) from Sound on the Sound on Vimeo.

we can't get enough of them and truly wish we lived in Seattle when we hear them.

doily garland

Here's the how to: Buy a package of small paper doilies. I think the one I bought had 35 for about $2, found in the wedding section at Hobby Lobby. Also, get a package of ribbon. I got the thinnest I could find, 18 feet of it, for $1 on sale. Then, sew the doilies onto the ribbon, leaving a few inches in between each doily. (It helped me see the ribbon if I slid each doily underneath the ribbon, then sewed on.) That's it! Cute doily garland for about $3!

These would be really cute in heart doilies for Valentine's day, right?

Pip

I made this little sweater with the intentions of gifting it but I didn't know to who at first. Then it hit me, that my dear friend who was in a crazy accident could use some loving. She has a little girl, who is 8 months old, that I'm pretty sure this will look cute on. So, that's where it's going!

There's something about knitting, making rather, that really gets me praying. I love praying for whoever the gift is intended for. Whether it be art, something knitted, sewed, or just crafted, sending out love that entire time I'm making it is something that feeds my soul. I love doing it and I think that's why I'm always making.

Ravelry notes here.

{this moment}

Joining in with Soulemama today for a favorite moment from my week.

Sewing for the girls

I've been sewing little things over the last few days and have been making/finishing little easy projects. It feels so good! We also started on E's room, which needed to be painted ceiling to floor! Lot's of painting going on around these parts. I am so excited for how it will turn out. The color is totally her, as are the things going up on her wall. Can't wait to post pictures on here! Here is the little corner that I have finished so far:

I love making new spaces!
Back to sewing! I've made each girl their own dress over the last two days. A gets the sparkly red one, as she adores anything red and sparkly. Her dress is just a t-shirt dress. I used an unused undershirt, cut off the bottom 3 inches and attached the red fabric. That stuff was so silly to work with! Here Jean, from the artful parent, shows just how to convert a t-shirt to a dress, (which is more or less what I did with this one, and definitely where I got the idea to do so :)

And here is little E's dress. I had this idea last year to make a dress with a knit top for the last year or so and even made the knit part last spring. Last spring! So, it sat there for the last few seasons, waiting for me to put it to something. I used two fat quarters that had originally been intended for napkins, but never were actually sewn. And the little flower I found at Hobby Lobby, in there scrap booking section. I think the pack came with 5 or 6 little flowers for a few dollars. So, I just made a tub with the fat quarters, cinched them up and sewed them to the knit top. I didn't sew the knit top closed but did have enough sense to put a button hole in. It fits her great and I LOVE how it turned out. I'm kind of kicking myself for not starting this last year, but oh well :) A wants one, too, so she's up next.

I think it would be so cute with pockets, or in ladies size :)

January Cowl

Last week, Aaron, the girls, and I all headed to Manhattan so he could get some books from the library for the upcoming semester that starts tomorrow! It really was a lovely day, with the temperature floating around the 50's and not a cloud in the sky. We started the day out by eating lunch in Aggieville. Then we walked around for a bit and headed to the school. Aaron showed me his building and "office" that he shares with the other grad students. It was interesting, to say the least. But we were on kid time, and had to get to the library. So, we went over to the library and the girls and I did yoga in one of their meditation rooms while the Mr. looked. After he found what he needed we went to a few thrift stores and then I found Wildflower Yarns and Knitwear, the LYS!! I was so excited, I didn't even know Manhattan had one. And it was open! Double score. So, my awesome husband took the littles for chocolates while I got a few minutes by myself to look around. I ended up with two skeins of rainbow Chunky Mochi and drooled over it the whole way home.

The yarn wanted to be a cowl, or I really wanted the yarn to be a cowl. So, after 3 attempts, both knitting and crocheting, I finally came up with this little guy. It's just a seed stitched panel, then twisted once before seamed up.

It is so comfy, that mochi yarn. It's my favorite cowl I've made so far, something about how soft the yarn is, with how bright those colors are. Love.
Ravelry notes are here.

The Bedskirt

For the last few years, I've asked for a bedskirt for Christmas and never did get one. So, I decided to just make one myself! I just measured how wide the fabric needed to be, cut, and pinned it to the box spring. That's it! I don't know why I waited so long so do it.

Kindle cover!!

A few days ago, I made a cover for Aaron's kindle. I followed this tutorial, only I used 9x12 pre-cut felt for the padding, (instead of 10x13.) This is what it turned out like.

And yeah, that's right, this is Aaron's kindle, not mine. I just use it more :)

{this moment}

-Joining soulemama tonight with one of my favorite moments from this week. Happy Weekend!

The Before:

We are in the transition of giving the girls each their own space. This is going to be A's. I decided to pull up some of the carpet to *see* if the wood under was salvageable, and low and behold, it was! After channelling my inner Soulemama,looking to pinterest for some inspiration, using some elbow grease, and digging around for some white paint, her room is almost finished. Below is just a little bit of what was put up for her. It makes me so happy :)