The Mint Needle

I'm starting a quilt!!! I have spent sooo much time admiring quilts and thanks to Pinterest, I've been pushed over the edge. I do not have a finished project to show you, only a picture of what I got so far. I have fallen in love with the 'scrappy' quilts that have bursts of colors engulfed with a solid background, like white or cream. Take a look at my 'blocks' so far. The goal for completion is summer. (This is my first quilt after all & I love to switch around and work on a couple projects at a time.) I know I probably didn't do this correctly, but I just began serging together all my scraps. When I got a 'blob', I pressed & cut it to a 6 inch square. Now I can't wait for more scraps to come! A big thanks to the great sales rep at Joann's last night. My 7 year old & I went on a late night excursion and while my fabric was getting cut, the woman told me all about Lasagna Quilts/The Jelly Roll Quilt. I came home and ch...

Along with our new pup, came a computer virus that had us out of the loop for 72hours. I forgot how it felt not being 'connected' to the rest of the world. We had more family time, which is always wonderful, caught up on laundry, and got to sew sooo much more. So....in today's post, I share with you The Cloche Hat, (which will be added to the etsy shop, hopefully sooner than later.) The hat comes in 3 different sizes, and this particular one uses the 23" size, which was right in between. I thank my little helpers for taking the pictures, as my wonderful husband was on doggy do-do business. Now....this type of hat is early 1920's. I used a vintage pattern and studied it carefully prior to construction.  The crown is worn high on the head. Actually, there is a bit of room between the top of the head and inside of the crown. I wouldn't say my head is large, but.....I will be using more of the smaller sized patterns....hint, hint, for the little girls! ...

Wow...what a crazy week we've had! I have been busy, busy, busy with a little new member of the house! Meet Charlie, our new German Shepherd pup. He's been taking up ALOT of time, and I MISS my projects dearly.....including this blog. But, all you animals lovers, I'm sure understand. I hope everyone had a special Valentine's Day. More posts to come soon!  

These dresses have become extremely popular for little fashionistas. I call them a cross between prairie & gypsy style, packed with bright colors and multiple layers. They are adorable for special occasions or daily wear. I never bought an actual pattern for this dress. Instead, I studied internet pictures and a few tutorials. (And in all honesty, it really wasn't hard to make.) I did not sew this fitted. Instead, I kept the upper portion wide and added ties. Originally it was supposed to be a Valentine dress for my 5 year old, but ended up fitting my 7 year old better.  And...I think she may even be able to sport it next summer for a mini look. Either way, I suppose it's a win win situation, because now both the girls get to enjoy this dress for years to come.  I used Anthology The Woodlands Cream Kids Novelty, Riley Blake Feeling Groovy Rainbow Love, & Erin McMorris Weekends Grass Green Lollies cotton fabric. The dress is so colorf...

I gotta admit, it feels pretty good when you throw a bunch ingredients together and make 'your own' recipe.....& get compliments. I was honored that I had a request to make my fool-proof cornbread for my nieces & nephews birthdays. In the past, I was asked, "how did you make this?" and I guess, "a little bit of this mixed with a little bit of that" with no measurements was not a good thing. So.....this past week I decided to write the ingredients, with measurements, so that all of you can enjoy this easy recipe as much as we do. 1 stick of unsalted butter, slightly starting to melt, and add 3 heaping Tablespoons of small curd cottage cheese mix together and set aside. Beat 3 eggs, 1/2 cup of milk, and 1/2 cup of water together add a pinch of salt and a pinch of sugar mix until a little bubbly forms and add your butter cottage cheese mix. Last....add 2 cups of self rising white cornmeal mix. bake on 325(gas stove) until toothpi...

This garland was sooo much fun to make and.....it was super easy! Why spend money on decorations when you can make them? Customize your garland with felt, paper, or different color combinations. The possibilities are endless. Use beads, silk flowers and even shiny plastic ribbon to wrap presents. For this project I used scrapbooking paper with coordinating colors. Start by taking your paper, or felt, and cut it into different sized squares. This is important because you will utilize the most of your paper. You want your hearts to have a small, medium, & large. Next, fold them in 1/2 & cut out your hearts. You want the fold anyway, because it's a great way to line up all your hearts for sewing and it will make them 3 dimensional. Sew them together! But be sure you leave a couple inches of thread at the top of each heart. You will need this extra thread to tie it to the garland. This is what they should look like after you've re-fold...

    There's a couple times a year that I enter a store....we'll call it "Bullseye"....and cannot leave without an abundance of items for one, I don't need, and second, have no purpose for, but will find one, because "gosh darn it, it's just too cute!" These days are based on Halloween, Christmas, Easter, and yup....I'm a sucker for Valentine's Day.  And as this day approaches, one cannot help but be indulged in all things red or pink. (In our house, it's glitter too!) I absolutely love the heart & rainbow pencils, the stickers, notepads and decorations. But....this year, I am trying to stick to my new years resolution..."If I don't need it....I don't buy it." (This only refers to house items, and regarding Joann fabric stores, this is null and void....hehehehe:))  So, in honor of the day dedicated to love, I am going to attempt creating posts that refer to that special day be it by color, texture, or just plain p...