mommy gifts

So here's my random compilation of birthday gifts from my kids. I guess you can say we're pretty practical around here.... pens, scissors, superglue (Worker Boy has already asked to use to glue - no way! He's only four!), and of course, notepad for lists! The kids had a lot of fun wrapping each item individually so I had loads of stuff to unwrap!

It's just amazing what kids come up with when they get creative. I was so pleasantly surprised by the gifts my girls, Pumpkin (10yrs) and Sunshine (8yrs), came up with. Just let me gush for a moment....


Pumpkin Girl was struck with inspiration a few weeks ago and asked to use the sewing machine and pick out fabric from my stash. We moved my old sewing machine (cheap Singer from Target) onto her desk and she excitedly picked out fabric after kicking me out of my craft room! It took just a few days for her to finish the project and she was just bursting with pride and anticipation. She had made me my own reading pillow - a pillow that has a pocket to hold a book. She did all the measuring, cutting, ironing, lettering, assembling, stuffing and finishing herself! WOW! And there's a coordinating bookmark.


Not to be outdone by her big sister, Sunshine Girl, who is quite handy with paper crafts, decided to make her own gifts. I never noticed her sneaking away with several sheets of paper at a time, along with oodles of scotch tape! She made me a mini blank book that I can use for drawing and writing notes. She also made a bookmark with a decorative chain tassle! Plus there's a paper hanging with foil art. It's kind of like looking at clouds - it's whatever you see in it! Sunshine is also very good with words and she wrote me a poem:

"A quilt of
magical love,
and memories
that come
from a long
time ago."

It's so much fun to have the kids so involved in gift-giving and creating. It's been a pretty amazing birthday.

On a final note, I managed to finish the shirt that was my parents' birthday gift (the bigger gift was my Janome Sewing Machine that was a combo gift with Christmas!). So here's the final product. It was pretty easy to make and I really like the fabric. I'm looking forward to the fabric softening over time.

Happy Birthday, Sarah!

What do you get for a great friend who is incredibly crafty herself?? Something handmade, that's for sure! And now I can finally put up the photo of this cute top that can either be a summery dress with leggings, a funky top over jeans, or something colorful to put over a longsleeve shirt during the drab days of winter! I used Simplicity's Pattern 3807.

And since I loved the fabric myself (from Joann's), I made this camera case using SewMamaSew's Fat Quarter Project of the Day Tutorial.

Some friends of ours are traveling home right now from Ethiopia with their new 1 1/2 year old son! He joins his now 3 1/2 yr old big sister in the family who is also from Ethiopia. So I'm endeavoring to make some toddler booties, matching bib and a coordinating skirt for sister. I've been scouring tutorials trying to find some cute and easy ideas. If anyone has ideas to pass on, feel free to let me know! I'm itching to go to the fabric store tomorrow to see what cute, hip (they're pretty hip parents) fabric I can find!

My kids had fun decorating cupcakes with their babysitter on Valentine's Day. They even made one for Gavin and I to have when we got back home! Guess who's got eaten right away!