Pinterest, Pinterest, Pinterest

Have you caved to the addiction? I held out for quite some time, but finally gave in a few months ago. I can honestly say that I am much LESS productive since.

But then, I find things like this from ohdeedoh. It's so easy, doesn't take any additional time out of my morning, but it makes my girls positively giddy! And especially on a day where everyone is under the weather and just a bit on the grumpy side (or in Bee's case, a LOT on the grumpy side), a little pick me up can make a real difference.

So, I'm hooked. And I can admit it, embrace it even. I will continue to pin a million more things that I will ever be able to do. And that's ok with me:)

And in case you're wondering...I very rarely use a pre-made pancake mix. I've pretty much memorized the basic mix that we make because we eat a lot of pancakes, and I do mean, A LOT. But the snowman shown above was made with Trader Joe's Pumpkin Pancake Mix. And that's a strip of bacon, a few blueberries that we froze earlier this year when they were in season, and some vanilla yogurt. I opted for blueberries and yogurt instead of the marshmallows and chocolate chips from the original post. I wish I could say I did this for health reasons, but in all honesty...it's just what I happened to have close at hand. And no breakfast is complete in our house without yogurt.

Merry Christmas!

May your day be Merry and Bright!

Cookies for Santa and Holiday Wishes for You

We've wrapped and hung and baked and sung. The tree sparkles, the presents shimmer, and the cookies smell delightful. And now we wait...for Christmas, for Santa, and for the birth of our Lord.

Tonight, I send to you my warmest wishes for a very happy Christmas! I hope you find yourself surrounded by loved ones, filled with the spirit, and blessed by the Savior. And an abundance of cookies never hurt anyone:)

And in case you need a last minute gift, these little cookies are sure to delight a child in your life. My present to you...a quick almost-tutorial. Directions only, but pretty simple to follow. And you have just enough time to whip up two or three as you sit by the fire and enjoy the glow of you tree (and the cleanliness of your family room - cuz that won't last long tomorrow!).

You will need:

some felt scraps (red, white, green, brown, tan, cream, yellow, etc.)

a tiny bit of stuffing

embroidery thread

cookie cutters

1. Select a cookie cutter for the outline of your cookie.

2. Trace the cookie cutter onto the felt color of your choice TWO times for each cookie. Example - to make 1 chocolate chip cookie you would trace two circles onto tan felt. Cut out your cookies.

3. Draw and cut out embellishments for the top of your cookie. Example - to make one chocolate chip cookie cut out approximately 9 small circles of dark brown felt.

4. Use embroidery thread to stitch decorations to the top of your cookie. You can also embroider details like sprinkles at this time too.

5. Place the two pieces of your cookie right sides together and sew using 1/4" seam allowance. I did this on my sewing machine for speed and durability, but you could do this by hand if you would like. Leave a 1.5" opening for turning and stuffing.

6. Clip any corners and curves, then turn right side out.

7. Add a small amount of stuffing...don't overstuff these or they cease to look like a cookie and become more of a hockey puck.

8. Fold open edges in and whipstitch the opening closed using matching thread.

Merry Christmas!

Teaser...

Quilt in progress...cross your fingers that it's ready for Christmas morning!

The Set that Will Likely Never Be...

Did you create a holiday sewing list? I'm wondering if your vision for all the things you were going to make for the loved ones in your life was as unattainable as mine. I seriously overestimated how much I could accomplish! And even more than that, each day seemed to trigger a new idea for something else that would make someone in my life (mostly my girls) smile.

Meet Gingerbread Baby.

Are you familiar with Jan Brett's books? Each and every one is truly amazing! And many of them make a nice addition to your holiday/winter reading rotation. The Gingerbread Baby and Gingerbread Friends are two of our favorites! With gorgeous illustrations and a slightly new take on this classic story, they are highly engaging. [Insert former literacy teacher's comments on repetitive text, the value of following characters from one book to the next etc.]

And so, our Gingerbread Baby was born. After reading the books at bedtime one night, I thought to myself, "You know, Belle would really love to have a Gingerbread Baby to carry around. I think I'll make her one tonight." Was this a project on my previously established holiday sewing list? No, but it's just one quick little doll. And she'll really love it...

A few hours and a small stack of wool felt later, I snuck into Belle's room and tucked Gingie into her clothes for the next day. A fun little surprise!

If only the insanity had stopped there...

Because at this point, I realized that we were headed to the Nutcracker in a few days. And, the gingerbread cookies just happen to be one of my favorite parts. And this little gal really did look just like the costumes in the ballet. And Belle would really fall in love with ALL the characters. And, of course, I should just make her an entire Nutcracker play set...right???

Can you see how I get myself in trouble around here???

I sat for a few hours and sketched patterns for Clara, the Sugar Plum Fairy, the Nutcracker, and the Mouse King. Then I meticuously traced each of those patterns (why didn't I pull out the scanner here?), so that I could have a copy of each to save. Then I cut each tiny piece. And well, you can see where this is headed.

At this point, Gingerbread Baby remains a loner, though the skirt part of Clara's nightdress is finished. Of course, once we actually saw the ballet, Belle's favorite was the Sugar Plum Fairy and I haven't even cut those pieces out yet.

So, as the title suggests, this set will never be complete. Especially not before Christmas. But maybe over time I'll finish it up for next year. But then, who am I kidding? I will have thought of a million and one other projects to do between now and then.

So, am I the only one whose brain works faster than her hands? Do you all struggle to control zillions of creative thoughts that just can't feasibly be brought to fruition? Or am I the only one who gets herself into these kinds of situations?

A Very Special O-ccasion!

Once upon a time there was a very special little girl. And she loved to attend special "vacations." It only took about 300 attempts to teach her that they were special, "o-ccasions." And one day she will eventually leave out the exaggerated pause between the syllables when discussing these unique events. That will be a sad day for her Mommy!


This very special little girl had a fascination with all things girlie. Twirly dresses and ballerinas included. So, she was blessed with the opportunity to see the Nutcracker for the very first time...from the FRONT ROW!

And such a special "o-ccasion," called for a very special frock, indeed.


Red and white damask with touches of black corduroy. A fluffy black tulle tutu for volume and a party dress pattern. All the tiny details coming together for maximum twirlability and a very happy child.

Let's just say...She loved her dress. She loved the ballet. And we have watched many Sugar Plum Fairy performances since our very special o-ccasion. One holiday memory that we will never forget!

What holiday memories are you making this year?

What We've Been Up To...

So what have Belle, Bee and I been up to recently?

Well, we feasted with family. Our tummies have never been so full or so happy:)



But, we did save some room for dessert!


We've spread some sisterly love...and accidentally excluded all the pictures where the love wasn't so sweet!


Then we made some time to decorate this monstrous thing in our jammies. We even went back later and added a tree topper, but somehow it didn't make the "film."


We froze our cute little tushies off at the Raleigh Christmas parade on the ONE cold day we've had so far this fall. It has been seriously warm here and we are looking forward to a little chill tomorrow!

And even spotted our hometown hero along the route!

Can you guess who's driving these reindeer???

Someone knows who it is and she is being sure to show off her most winning (and innocent looking) smile.

But this one just doesn't seem to get it...no, Bee, you're supposed to be GOOD!

We've read a lot of books and worn more than our share of costumes.

We even sported some rocking Daddy-made "crowns," at bath time.

This has to be the best picture I've ever taken...I just love it!

But, "Wait," you say. What's missing here? Oh, yes. The craftiness.

Well, lest you believe that all projects have come to an end, here's the list of WIP and completed fun stuff over the last few weeks: felt Christmas cookies, a pile of holiday bookmarks/ornaments/gift tags, a good portion of a rather large Christmas quilt pieced, a GORGEOUS dress for Belle to wear to the Nutcracker, a super-fab embellished stocking for a dear local client, mountains of glittered holiday play dough, a wool felt gingerbread baby, a partially completed Clara doll, and a partridge in a pear tree (ok - that was just to see if you were paying attention).

Now, why on Earth aren't there any pictures of those goodies. Well, you see, when one is so busy living life and crafting on the side, one somehow runs out of time to edit the 600+ photos clogging up the SD card, preventing you from photographing all the crafty goodness. UNTIL TONIGHT! All 9,000,000,000 pics have been edited, saved, and organized (and shared) and there is finally room on that card for some pics of the fun projects we've been working on.

Just wait until you see the present Belle is making for Bee for Christmas...it's pretty darn amazing and I'm not the least bit biased.

So, I hope you've been just as busy living life as we have. And I'll be back soon with some of the fun holiday sewing that we've been up to:)

A Head Start:)

I'm notorious for waiting until the last minute to make holiday outfits and gifts. Remember the fish outfit I whipped up for Bee the night before her birthday??? Crazy, I know!

Well, thanks to Becky over at Owly Baby, I'm getting a head start on Christmas!


Becky asked for volunteers to test a couple of her new patterns, and I jumped on board in a hurry! The City Jumper pattern is super cute and it was a great excuse to get started on holiday dresses for the girls. I'm not sure when it will be available to the public, but I'll try to keep you posted so you can snap it up:)

For my version, I started with a black and white palette. The little punch of red piping adds just the right amount of flare without the dress screaming CHRISTMAS! That way, hopefully, we will get a bit more wear out of it. I just can't stand to make (or buy) dresses that we wear one time!



With the piping, and the pockets, and the adorable red zipper on the back (that I, of course, forgot to take a pic of...) it is just the sweetest little dress. Don't you think Bee will be the cutest little bit around?

Now to decide on a pattern for Belle...anyone else looking for a dress pattern reviewer in the next couple of weeks??? Apparently, I need a little push:)

Pips in Action

Coordinating Christmas Eve outfits from the yet-to-be-released Sherbet Pips.


I only wish my models would have cooperated enough for me to get a shot of both of them together with no one crying...oh well!

I love these skirts because they were perfect for a holiday family gathering, but the "not red and green" color palette will last them through the winter too.

More pips to come, I promise!

Merry Christmas to All and to All a Good Night!

'Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. The mama was nestled all snug in her bed, while visions of AMH flannels danced in her head. Wishing you and all of yours a warm and snuggly holiday. Merry Christmas!

Handmade Holiday Update

Before we go any further...have you entered my GIVEAWAY yet??? Yes? Good! Now on to the post...

Princess pillows??? That's what she wants! I have no idea where this idea came from. I've probed and prodded and tried to get more details, but to no avail. Belle is insistent that Santa bring her princess pillows. When questioned, she explains that she wants to put them around her knee when it hurts. Hmmm.... She plans to use them in the family room. Hmmm.... They must include her favorite princesses. Hmmm... Santa was perplexed, so he passed the task to Mommy and went with something much less nebulous.




I just hope that Mommy can rise to the challenge!

Ariel didn't photograph very well, but she was the most time-consuming, so I started there. Still to come...Cinderella, Rapunzel, and a castle pillow.

The sad news...Belle will be moving to a grown-up bed shortly after the holidays. The real deal. I'm not handling this "growing up" thing exceptionally well, and if I let her move to a grown-up bed, then I might as well start shopping for a wedding dress. I seriously need a pause button for life.

The good news...these pillows will be the perfect start to her new grown-up bedding set. AND, you all will get to see all the parts as they are created. Quilt, wall art, accessories, the whole shebang! That is assuming that her knee is willing to share the pillows with her bed:)

Holiday Treasures

We all treasure different things during the holiday season. It may be the precious ornament from your great-grandmother, the platter on which you always serve the holiday ham, the parade of cards arriving each day...or the artwork of a precious child.

What holiday treasures do you hold dear?

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

It's interesting to be on the other side of the Christmas rush...I always used to get a little freaked out when I started to see Christmas decorations in stores before Halloween was even over. Especially since I've moved to the South, we often start to see Santa Claus while we're still wearing shorts.

But now that I'm on the seller/blogger side of things, it starts even earlier! I took my first Christmas order in early October. And I know that moms are starting to shop for the perfect little outfits for holiday card photo sessions...I know, because I'm a mom doing that very thing.

So this year, I had to give in and start the Christmas madness before Halloween. I'm really hoping that by getting a jump start, I might actually have some down time to enjoy the holidays this year, but I'm realistic enough to know that will NEVER happen.

Belle + Bee is going with a MODERN HOLIDAY theme this year. Fresh takes on traditional colors and symbols. I'm having a lot of fun with this collection! The bright colors and bold prints make me smile:)

So here's a sneak peek at some of the first pieces. What do you think???