Hand-Drawn Softies

Supplies:
1 yard of plain fabric
1 yard of patterned fabric
Coordinating thread
Fabric paint
Paint brush
Poly-fil
Hand sewing needle
Scissors
Sewing machine

Seam allowance: 1/2″

Directions:
1. Paint your designs on the plain fabric. Allow to dry completely, then iron to heat set design in place. Note: I find it best to iron the image with some scrap fabric on top, just in case some of the paint comes off.

2. Cut about an inch around the entire perimeter of the drawn image. Place on top of the backing with their right sides together, and cut out the backing fabric.

With the right sides of the image and backing fabric together, sew around the perimeter, but leave a 2″ – 3″ opening for turning. Clip any curves and corners, and turn right side out. Fill with poly-fill and slipstitch the opening closed.

My girls drew the images, and I did the sewing. I love how striking the black and white images are, but if you want more color, just used colored fabric and colored paint.  We made these for Christmas gifts (for each other and friends). I think this is a simple homemade project that kids would love doing, and they would be proud to give something they made to others!

And if you want more ideas for handmade projects to do with (and for) kids, my book, Let’s Sew Together, is filled with them! It would also make a great stocking stuffer or Christmas present for someone who wants to learn how to sew.

Soul had the traditional birthday breakfast in bed. Her request? Pumpkin waffles. We all came in singing to her, and she had the sweetest smile. You could tell she was eagerly anticipating this moment of hers. Ben made her an Olaf from mushrooms (he forgot Olaf’s hair) and she was delighted to have her own stack of waffles topped with cream and syrup. She was also crowned by her sisters as Princess Soul-fia for the day (Sophia the First is one of her favorties)! True was the clever one to think of “Soul-fia.”

The girls made her many handmade presents. We were so impressed with all the stick puppets True made her, and the paper dolls from Brave. Seriously, these big sisters of hers are full of so much creativity. Since her request was to be a princess for her birthday, we gave her two princessy outfits (this and this one from fab kids), and allowed her to have multiple outfit changes just for her special day. She loves to change multiple times a day regularly, but that isn’t allowed, and I often make her change back to her original outfit. On this special day though, she was free to switch out her dresses as she pleased. I don’t care much for the frou frou type dresses, but she loves it, so frou frou it is!

They had swim and dance that day, so Ben played chauffeur, while I got things ready for her birthday lunch and party in the evening. She requested to have langostino sopes for lunch, so that’s what I made. Well, when it came time to sit down all together for lunch, she had two bites, and then asked to be excused! I was like, “WHAT?!” I think her excitement over the day, just made her lose her appetite. Oh well, at least the rest of us enjoyed it!

I have another post to share about the little princess party we threw for her in the evening, but you can get a peek at it here. On her birthday, she told me, “Mommy, I feel like a real princess!” That made my heart happy.

This week’s learned, links, and thankfulness…

A couple weeks ago, Soul and Glow had a cold, and now it’s Brave’s turn. Praying it doesn’t pass on to anyone else!

I would like to make a healthier version of this cheesy bacon jalapeño corn dip.

My felt floral head wreaths (or for hanging) are available for purchase from Misha Lulu here.

Thankful for our Soul and her fifth birthday!

I’m one spoiled mama. Ben and the girls threw me a surprise Rockin’ Mommy Day last weekend. Seriously, their “Jailhouse Rock” is so awesome.

All the Christmas decorations are up! I’d like to make a larger version of the dowel Christmas tree I made last year, if there’s time, but otherwise, it’s feeling festive up in here! #christmasingalldayeveryday

I’m done wrapping presents. Woot! Woot! Well, a few more are still coming in the mail, but the majority is done!

I ordered this cutesy planner for next year. I debated between this one (simpler), but I thought for 10 dollars less, I could do with all the cute graphics.

How was your week this week? It was hard coming off Thanksgiving break, and then someone getting sick (and a birthday), our schooling schedule’s been off. I’m that with homeschooling things can be flexible and we can always do school on the weekends when we need time to catch up!

Happy weekend friends! And don’t forget if you want some pretty antique jewelry for yourself (or a loved one), check out Jean Jean Vintage and use coupon code CAKIES15 for 15% off this weekend!

I’ve been a fan of Jean Jean Vintage for a long time, and check the shop almost daily (thanks to all the peeks she shares on Instagram) to see what goodies are up for sale. I’ll  make little inquiries about certain pieces that come in here and there, and I’m always bummed out when they sell before Ben has a chance to snatch it up to surprise me (hint, hint, Ben). You know my love for vintage clothing and furniture, but I rarely talk about my love for vintage jewelry in this space. I tell you, it’s a dangerous thing to love, but so fun. I love looking at pieces and wondering about its history. Antique jewelry is like art to me.

Duff is the wonderful lady behind the shop, and Jean is her middle name. When she was a little girl, her dad called her “Jean Jean” sometimes. Her father passed away ten years ago, and when it came to thinking up a name for her shop, Jean Jean seemed most fitting. Duff had an itching to start a small business, and with her BA in Archeology, coupled with her love for rocks, fossils, and antiquities, naturally, this led to her to sell antique jewelry. Initially, she started off selling costume jewelry, and now also sells fine jewelry too. If you’ve checked out her shop before, you know how exquisite her pieces are. This one has been a favorite of mine for a long time!

I asked Duff what were some pieces that get her really excited and she said… “I love Victorian moonstone rings, lockets with name and date engravings, and simple Art Deco 22K gold bands. I also have a thing for 1930s Czech glass necklaces. But engraved signet seals are really my current jam, both to sell and to collect for myself. I’m having one set for myself right now. Merry Christmas to me!”

I looked into the history of my etsy purchases, and my first purchase from Jean Jean Vintage was four years ago when I got the triangle shaped locket. A couple years later, when Glow was added to the family, I got the black one from her too (it’s one of the necklaces I wear most often). I’ve been wanting to get a vintage monogrammed locket, and have had my eye on this (or this) one. Also, I  wouldn’t be opposed if Santa left this diamond ring in my stocking (it would be great for stacking with my current rings!).

My Christmas wish list is pretty much filled with antique jewelry pieces. I blame Ben, since he gifted me a victorian turquoise ring a couple years ago, I have been even more obsessed since. If you need help finding something to put on your wish list, I say Jean Jean Vintage is a good place to start. With coupon code CAKIES15, you could get 15% off the Jean Jean Vintage shop through the weekend, so find your favorites, email it to whoever your Santa is and give them the coupon code too. That’s totally what I do to Ben all the time. HA! If you want to keep up with Duff’s new listings, you can follow her Instagram here (@jeanjeanvintage).

row one: edwardian locket, bloodstone ring. row two: pearl midi ring, victorian moonstone necklace. row three: victorian coral ring, mixed cut engagement ring.

It’s that time to get everything ready for the winter garden. Ben took out the tomato plants, amended the soil, and we’re working on getting the covering ready for the plants. The 2′ rebar rods are hidden except for the top 6″, then sheathed with PVC piping, and will be covered by Agribon row cover. I’ll share another post as this process develops. We are planting everything from seed this year, so it’s another sort of trial and error thing; we will see how it goes.

Other than that, Ben amended the soil with bulk amendment from a local soil distributor. Any free Saturdays we have are usually spent working on projects. Ben’s working on outside ones and I’m working on inside ones. There’s always something to do or fix; maintaining and growing a garden takes a lot of work and dedication (and money). Though once you get everything in and flourishing, it’s so satisfying to be able to get food from your own backyard.

I’m thankful Ben takes the time to research and do all the grunt work for our garden. If he didn’t, I totally wouldn’t, and our backyard would just be grass and concrete. His birthday is coming up next week and his one request is that we all work on the garden together. That request is easy enough that I think we could make that happen. Hopefully, it doesn’t rain on that day. We’ve been getting a couple of really good rain days in, something we love and desperately need, but that means we get off schedule on the garden plans because Ben’s not able to get out there and work on it. Any of you doing a winter garden this year?

This was our first mini Thanksgiving feast with just the six of us. Hopefully, we can start a new tradition of doing a mini feast on Thanksgiving Eve because Thanksgiving Day is spent with Ben’s family for lunch, and mine for dinner. While I cooked and prepped, the girls got the table ready with place cards and notes. Their thank you notes were so sweet. To decorate, they just gathered whatever fall-ish decor I had around the house and put it all over the table.

I’m not brave enough to attempt a whole turkey, so I used this turkey breast crockpot recipe, this stuffing, and we did the Brussels sprouts recipe that’s in my book. Of course, we also had mashed potatoes and gravy, and pies! It was all your traditional things made as healthy as possible, so that means whole wheat stuffing, lean sausage, no butter in potatoes, and lightened up pies. There were a couple rounds of toasts, as the girls loved drinking sparkling lemonade (they rarely get juice), while Ben and I sipped on a Santa Margherita Prosecco. It was nice to be able to take some time to celebrate a day of Thanksgiving with the six of us.

Somewhere along the evening, the girls were so excited and crazy (in a good way) and they started their own mosh pit. I don’t even remember where that came from, but all of a sudden, the four of them were jumping and bouncing around in a corner together laughing and yelling. Ben and I were just laughing at how silly they were, and as much as they drive me nuts, I know I have lots to be thankful for.