thesellers.net

I may not have had my sewing machine on hand, but I still found a way to be crafty for Teacher Appreciation week. Mod Podge became my new best friend!

Leah has been attending My First School through Howard County RAP. She has had a fabulous year and was so excited to give her teachers their new clipboards.

Molly and Leah both loved helping paint these word blocks for Molly's teacher. They spell at least 14 school related words. I dropped them by the school along with some White Chocolate Macadamia Nut bars. I had to smile when Molly came home with a Thank You note and I read, "Once again, you prove to be the craftiest mom ever!"

Our friends, Eric and Christy, welcomed a little cutie into their family in December. We were all set to meet Miss Olive the day after Christmas, but snow arrived and we had to cancel. When it snowed again this Wednesday, I was worried our plans would be thwarted again. Thankfully, the snow was gone the next morning and we finally got to meet Olive. Leah loves babies, so she was very excited to get to hold her.

Leah also wanted to read to Olive. I'm not sure what part of Moo Baa La La La is so intense to warrant Leah's face, but I'm glad she's putting her all into it.

We kept reminding Leah to be gentle with Olive. Using only one finger is as gentle as it gets.

I also brought Olive a little gift. Back in December, I was asked to pattern test these overalls, which I agreed to do even though I had no baby to be my model. It's hard to imagine sweet little Olive big enough to wear them, but she'll be super cute when she does!

Like the last several years, I handmade several of my Christmas gifts this year. Some of them have made it on the blog already, but many have not. So, I'll share them all.

You may recall that we spent an early Thanksgiving with my family in Memphis. I took the opportunity to give my niece and nephew a few gifts early so they could get the most wear out of them.

Emmie loved her new Tianna dress!

And really, how stinkin' cute are these monster hats?!

I used teacher gifts as yet another reason to use my Silhouette. This Summer Countdown will be a lot of fun for Molly's class.

I also did a bit of baking for the teachers. Leah's two teachers and Molly's three paraeducators loved the cranberry white chocolate cookies.

In discussing what to give Pop for Christmas, I thought a nice, large fleece blanket would be useful. So, I made one in Pop's favorite Navy colors.

I found these mini trifle bowls and thought they'd be a perfect gift for Beth. Though I couldn't just leave them plain, so I etched fun desserty words on them.

Beth rarely entertains with just 4 people, so I made her a second set as well.

My grandmother likes to hang wreaths on her apartment door, so I made her this yarn wreath with felt flowers. My mail carriers (aka my parents) were glad that it traveled well in a suitcase.

For several years, my extended family has made donations or done a service project in honor of another family member. I honored my aunt's passion for enriching teacher's lives by trying to enrich the lives of school children. I made six pillowcases to be "purchased" at the annual Back to School Clothing Drive distribution for underprivileged kids.

And lastly, in light of recent events, I thought these Soon to Be mugs would be a perfect birthday gift for EA.

She loved the mugs, and Scott was even more thrilled that he got to share part of EA's gift!

The kindergarten classes at Molly's school have a Thankful Feast every year which they invite their families to come to school for. There was a good turnout, including our whole family.

Molly's friend Catherine - not sure what this expression was.

Kaylin's giving three cheers for the Thankful Feast!

After the feast, the kids went back to class for 30 minutes. We were invited to stay if we liked. Leah immediately jumped into the class (Ms. Colella said it was ok). Here she is dancing around the circle, loving being a kindergartner for a few minutes.

I had made the girls new Fall outfits earlier in the week, which they requested to wear to the Thankful Feast. Molly's Music box jumper was my first Oliver + S pattern. Leah's skort was the same Isabella pattern I made for her birthday. She loves the shorts underneath!

I was all set to help host a baby shower for Christy last weekend when we realized that we'd be in Memphis visiting my parents. So, I volunteered to help with a few of the decorations. I made a wreath for the front door at the shower, inspired by this wreath.

The baby's room is yellow and grey themed, so the shower was a nod to that using Gold and Silver. I saw this garland and knew it'd be perfect. (Thanks to EMK for the action shot!)

When I saw these monster hats, I bookmarked the page to make them later, but then I decided that they were so cute that JJ had to have one. And Emmie needed one too, right?! Now Molly and Leah are asking for monster hats.

My mom's birthday is later this month, so my sister and I decided to make her a variety of Christmas ornaments. I was excited to play with vinyl on my Silhouette for this project.

I also made reusable bowl covers for her.

In early October, I again participated in the Kids Clothes Week Challenge. The challenge was to spend an hour a day for seven days working on kids clothing. It could be time spent cutting patterns and fabric or sitting at the sewing machine. During the week, I worked on several things for my girls, my niece and nephew, and a baby gift. Chad called it my "crazy week of sewing" since I couldn't just spend an hour a day sewing when I was in the middle of a project.

My mom had given me the leftover fabric from making this blanket and pillow for Leah, so I made jammies to match.

Leah might be a tad excited about her hat too!

Emmie was the lucky recipient of this corduroy Tianna dress. I was finally able to give it to her this weekend as an early Christmas gift.

Michelle also asked me to make jammie pants for JJ to match Emmie's Christmas nightgown. They are the tiniest little pants.

My last project was this Katelin dress, a long awaited shower gift for Eric and Christy. We are so thrilled that a little girl will be joining their family in December!

Pinterest has been fantastic for finding sewing inspiration. I saw this dress sold on Etsy and knew I wanted to replicate it for the girls.

I started on them Saturday morning, finished Leah's by the start of the Auburn-LSU game, and wrapped up Molly's before heading to bed. They wore them to church on Sunday. Chad was impressed with my mad sewing skills!

I intentionally made them a little long so they'll get to wear them for two football seasons. War Eagle!

As I mentioned in this post, Chad and I visited Bahama Hand Prints while in Nassau. I decided to purchase three yards of "Dancing Hibiscus" cotton-poplin fabric.

I came home and immediately started searching for a dress pattern to use. Being inspired by the dresses I saw in the boutique, I bought the Lillian dress by Children's Corner. It had the same a-line shape with little bows at the side seams.

If you look closely, you can see the extra detail of the covered buttons down the back. Chad mentioned that this added more character than the boutique dresses. I love when he appreciates my craftsmanship!

Shortly after getting married, Chad and I decided that we would try to take a trip for our anniversary instead of giving gifts. We always pick up an ornament as a keepsake. So, in addition to the dresses, I made a Christmas ornament for us. I used this tutorial for the fabric ornament.

The dresses and ornament took less yardage than I thought and after I finished them, Chad looked at my sewing table and said, "It doesn't even look liked you've used any!" My response, "Believe me, I will use every inch of this fabric!"

So, to thank my parents for coming to stay with the girls, I made them a few gifts too. For my mom, I made a Multipocket Tote from this Martha Stewart book. Mom always has lots of things in tow, so a tote with multiple pockets is perfect for her.

For my dad, I made a tie with this Puking Pastilles tutorial. I've never hand-sewn that much before, and ow, my fingers were about to fall off! I made Chad try it on to make sure it actually fit before gifting it. When Dad received it, he said it certainly would be a conversation starter!

My last project was to make the girls Oliver + S bucket hats. They love them and walk around calling them their "Bahama hats."

The hats are reversible, so I added a pop of color using Moda's Hoopla Cherries in Yellow. The girls insisted on showing everyone who came over (or Skyped with them) this weekend.

I still have roughly a fat quarter of fabric left, but no current projects lined up. But don't worry, I'm still brainstorming on how to use up every last scrap!

When I saw that Lily Bird Studio was looking for pattern testers, I jumped at the chance to sew this cute dress! The Amanda dress has a full circle skirt, pleated sleeves and a cute sash to add that little extra flare.

The dress is available for sizes 12 months to 10 years. I tested the size 5 for Molly and it fits her perfectly. I had not worked with bias trim this much before and was super pleased with how it turned out.

Molly decided it was the perfect dress for her preschool graduation and I couldn't have agreed more!

Lily Bird Studio has patterns for both girls and boys. If you'd like to make this Amanda dress, or another one of her patterns, save 15% off by using SELLERS15OFF at checkout through 6/12/12.

My sister and I worked together to pick out fabrics and make this car seat canopy for JJ. It was perfect to cover a sleeping baby during our trip to the zoo.

I made the cover reversible so Michelle could be stylish when visiting her Louisiana friends!

I also made my mom a reversible sewing machine cover for Mother's Day. Thank goodness for a sneaky Dad who could take measurements for me!