Update

Here's the progress on my color themed quiet book:
These are the patchwork pages, including side by side pages stitched together:

 After I took this I realized I forgot my rainbow page, which will be attached to the brown page.
I haven't decided whether to do it diagonal or straight line but I have decided to do it rag style to add a little more texture to the page. I will only use the rainbow colors though, none of the extras.

After the individual color pages are just a few activity pages.
The first is a two page colored crayon sorting set:

For some reason, only 1 photo would load.... :/
Any way, the other looks just like this except it's mirrored (and the other colors) so I can put a "crayon box" to hold them in the middle. I plan on hand stitching the color names on the gray patches on the crayons to match against hand stitched labels on the background. I plan on attaching the crayons to ribbon so they can't be lost.

The final page is an artist's paint pallet. I plan on putting a paintbrush with it, if I can find one that fits the 6x6 page, if not I may make a felt one.

On this page the pieces are all stationary, so I used Heat n' Bond to attach the pallet to the background and to attach the odd shapes to the pallet (this was a great way to use up small scraps of felt).
If I can find a short enough paint brush, I'll attach a tiny pocket to hold it.

I didn't use any templates for these pages, but the ideas came from several different places online. I've seen several different versions of both these ideas. There are a TON of ideas out there, and once you start getting the general idea, if you're like me, you will realize you can adapt them to whatever your children are into or learning. I really am having a blast and have come up with more ideas than I could ever possibly accomplish making.

That's all for now,
Jo!

Start of the Quiet Book

I decided to start easy when it comes to a quiet book, so my first will definitely be more for younger children who don't mind feeling the different types of fabrics with minimal activities to do.

Here's the sneak peek at what I've got planned. I figured simple pages, each of a different color.
I will admit, I am not a quilter, so sewing these together is taking a little longer than others would, but it's a great place to start and practice, because little kids don't notice (or care about) all the imperfections.

I have done a little rearranging of these pieces, but nothing major.
-On the brown square, I switched the owl and camel so the two blue backgrounds were opposite each other

-On the orange, I switched the dinosaur and he blue fish so the two fish are opposite

-On the pink page, I rotates the middle square so the black corner isn't touching the only other design wit black on it. 

I figure that as they grow up and the different "feels" isn't quite enough, it may even turn into an I-Spy kind of book. (I.E. "where's the Christmas tree?" or "find the fox") 

For these pages I really just looked through all my scrap fabrics and found as many of each color as possible. Where I needed a little help, I had an I-Spy fabric piece my grandmother gave me that I used for fussy cuts of the cute little images (she had already cut a few images out so I really couldn't have used it for much else anyway). 

This was so much fun to put together. I'm having a blast working on this project and I can't wait to finish it!! (At this point, I have all but the yellow and orange blocks actually sewn, but no pictures of them. The reason for those two being last was the fact that I had no orange thread and although I had yellow, there was no bobbin to match yet, but they will probably be finished later today and I may update again tomorrow or the next day.) 

That's all for now, 

Jo!

Coming Soon (Hopefully, At Least)

So now that Christmas crafting is done and I've had a little chill time after the busy holiday, it's time to look ahead and see what's next. Right now I've been working on a counted cross stitch that was neglected over the holiday, and I'm about half way finished with it, but I'm making plans for the next projects.

First, I want to make my first quiet book. It seems simple enough, but that's not always the case. But it also looks like a lot of fun for both me and the K girls.

Also, I have my very first quilt in the line up. My uncle passed away last year and I'm going to be making a t-shirt quilt for my brother, who somehow managed to get quite a few of them (I think they may be what was left at my aunt's house after he moved out of there because I can't find another reason why they wouldn't have gone to his son).

I also think I may surprise my big Ks by turning some of their fashion doodles into some Barbie clothes. KK chose a book from the school book fair this year that was models to design on, along with stencils and stickers to aide in the process. I think it will be fun, and it may even be a way to get them to sit and learn a little on the sewing machine.

And last, but not least of course, Valentine's Day is coming up and I'm one of the mother's that HATES giving away candy, because we still have Halloween candy in our house at that time. So be looking for what the girls decide to hand out this year. (I usually come up with a few ideas and let them decide which to do.) Last year we did personalized book marks for each student. We bought a kit that came with 24 bookmarks (for each girl) and then I spelled out the names of their classmates first and then the Big Ks decorated, knowing who each one was for so they were sure to put designs they knew that student would like.


That's all for now, or at least what's to come,
Jo!

Inside Out Inspired Bows and a Quick Storage Show

For my brothers 2 girls I made a few bows inspired by Inside Out.
Here's how they turned out:

These were really fun! I kept the DVD case close so I could constantly be comparing features and I think they turned out pretty good (Fear is my favorite though).
Here's a run down on the "special features" on each (meaning the add-ons to emphasize the characters they are portraying):
-Joy: On the ends of Joy's yellow strands, I glued some yellow beads, to look like memories, since she's carrying a few through most the movie. My KL wanted me to make sure I had the blue bursts on her dress, but they only way I could think to easily do that was fabric markers and I was scared they would spread so I used a star shaped button in the middle.
-Fear- I used a piece of black pipe cleaner to make his air swirl, and covered hid connection with hid cute bow tie.
-Sadness- I used a piece of black pipe cleaner to form her signature glasses and added a few memory beads under them.
Anger- I added Anger's fiery head with angled yellow ribbon (my KK kept telling me it looked like a crown, and I can see that, but I see the flames too, maybe I should have added some orange in there too), and then I covered his center with his red tie.
-Disgust- I feel bad for Disgust because I feel like she's very minimal compared to the others but there really wasn't much I could do for her, So I added her purple scarf to cover her middle and used a "frilly" ribbon for added detail.


Now that that's done I thought I'd show you a little glimpse of my Christmas wrapping storage. I, personally, love wrapping gifts. I love making pretty bows and using all sorts of ribbons... and buying way more than I need when it's all on sale after Christmas. So I thought I'd share with you how I keep it all organized in case you're like me and haven't figured out a way to efficiently store it all.
So here's the big picture:

 (Pardon the fact that I'd just wrapped a gift so there's tissue paper and a package of raffia out.)
I keep all my wrapping paper in the tall storage, meant just for that. The short, wide one holds all my bags and tissue paper, along with my spools of ribbon. And that little box, is my secret weapon (or as close to one as you can get when organizing gift wrap). I bought a set of Christmas cards a few years ago that came in this box and I'm so glad I kept it. First of all, since they were Christmas cards, it's decorated to fit the season- which is always a plus, but also, inside there was a divider so there's two compartments. Here's how I use it:

It holds all the essentials. On the left is all my tags, along with a pen and marker (that always return to the box when used so I'm never searching for a pen to label). On the right is tape, scissors, glue, and a few fun decor (along with a few too big to fit with the other tags).  So all the the things I need are right in this box. The scissors are used only for wrapping paper, they return to the box after used.
The fun extras are Christmas stickers that I've bought, or came with Christmas cards (to seal the envelopes), and the plastic bag in there is full of fun shapes from a "build your own gift box" kit I bought for like $1 a few years ago after Christmas. (I have a tendency to glue the little snowflakes on to snowflake wrapping paper, giving it a 3-D look that everyone always seems to mention and adore.)  And there you have it. Just a quick glance at how I keep it all together for this major gift wrapping season. After I'm done with it all, the small box fits in the long box and slides under the guest bed, and the tall fits into the guest closet.


That's all for now,
Jo!

Hair Bow Gift

My family gift exchange (on my husband's side) included a list that asked for hair accessories [insert happy dance here].
I love making bows, but every time I pull the stuff out my husband says, "Do you have room to store that?" And the answer is no, I don't. Even after the adorable ribbon holder me and the girls made last year, I have no room because it's already been filled- maybe that's an excuse to make another holder, and therefor more bows...

Anyway, it was on the list of 3 year old, so even though she hasn't received it yet, I'm quite positive she won't see this, and even if she manages to see it- she won't know they're coming her way.

Honestly, I could have made her dozens of bows, but I settled on one for each month.
Here's the final bows:

Jan: A simple gold and white- fresh and clean like a new year
Feb: Purple and pink with plenty of hearts, for V-Day of course
Mar: A 4-leaf clover ribbon sculpture for St. Pats
Apr: A felt Easter Egg, even though Easter is in March next year
May: Blue floral bow, because April showers bring may flowers, right?
June: I wanted something fun but decided red, white, and blue for Flag Day also
July: A red, white, and blue bow for the 4th
Aug: A couple felt butterflies, just something summer-y
Sep: A cute fall colored bow
Oct: Orange and black for Halloween
Nov: Cute turkey for Thanksgiving
Dec: A felt tree for Christmas

And here's a close up of the turkey, because I think it's absolutely adorable:

I may end up sewing together a few headbands to throw in there also, but she's also getting some coloring stuff and nail polish. So, it's an "if I have time" idea.

That's all for now,
Jo!