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Favorite clock
Snack
Fresh squeezed
Thrifted chair
Empty lunch bowl (Rice pasta and goat cheese. It was good.)
Custom order crown (Of course I had to test it.)
And definitely not orange, but a little sneak peak at the "big project" that has been underway for the last two months. Hopefully within the next couple of days I can show you the completed project. I'm waiting for a few finishing touches to arrive in the mail...
My "weekend shirt"
Alex's pants
Favorite rug
The little one's pants
Just a few more quiet posts until after the weekend. I have a big project in the works that is almost completed, and hopefully by Monday there will be an update about that. Have a wonderful weekend and thank you all so much for your thoughtful comments about my article!
Article can be read here.
We had a very laid-back Christmas day here. We opened stockings, Stephen surprised me with a gorgeous hand woven basket (I'm all about baskets) which the little one wanted for herself. I found a great vintage doll highchair at a flea market and saved it for Christmas morning to surprise the little one. Alex was well fed today...
We ate, we napped, we took a Christmas morning walk, we had a delicious supper, and enjoyed our time together. Here are some pictures of the fun. Find more here.
(She really wants it. Don't worry...I'm sharing.)
I hope your day was just as joyful! See you back here soon.
The packages have been mailed,
the tree has been decorated,
the music is playing,
and the candles are lit.
Wishing you a Happy Solstice, Merry Christmas, and Joyous New Year. Expect some light posting from me until after the holidays. Enjoy your celebrations!
Meet our new go-everywhere-sidekick: Alex. A bear my sister gave me some 23 years ago. He's never been stored away like my other beloved stuffed animals. We have a special bond, Alex and I. We go way back. He accompanied me on every sleepover, every vacation, every trip to summer camps, and slept with me every night. He's been just an accessory in the little one's bed for months, simply because I had nowhere else to put him.
One day out of the blue, she wouldn't get out of her bed unless Alex came too. Then she wouldn't go for a ride in the car unless Alex came too. (Notice the slight protective look on her face while clutching her pal.)
We've discovered he loves bananas.
He wears cloth diapers just like the little one and she insists on changing them frequently.
He often accompanies the little one on rides around the living room.
He just adores dancing.
His wardrobe is growing daily.
He's almost potty trained. The little one is tired of washing his cloth diapers, so she's pushing for early training. (The boots? Completely her idea.)
Sometimes he has accidents.
But they are the greatest pals. He's well loved; getting kisses throughout the day, always the recipient of a snack, and going on trips. It's so wonderful to see Alex coming to life again, being loved by another little one, and appreciated for the special little guy he is.
I admit, I can't go a month without making a new bag. I'm finally growing tired of the one I've been lugging around for three months. I've made other bags for myself since then, but none that qualify as a good "diaper bag." After I spotted this skirt on flickr and ended up making it, I finally found the link to her blog and ended up going back through the archives. We have very similar tastes and styles, so I was very excited when I found the link to her shoulder bag tutorial.
I made two for Christmas gifts. I love this fabric and had two yards of it in my stash. The first one was done following the tutorial exactly (except for the measurements on the top part of the bag) and I loved how it turned out. A bag that can be made in less than two hours? Perfect! The second one is for a knitter, so I wanted to lengthen the pattern so yarn and needles could fit comfortably inside. I was pleasantly surprised by how that turned out, so I decided to make one more.
Yesterday we stopped at my favorite little fabric store to discover some just arrived bolts. These prints are not something I would normally pick out, but I was drawn to the orange color and decided to go for it. I love the button and knew immediately I had to have it.
I used some fusible fleece for this bag. Since it would be carrying about five pounds of snacks, cloth diapers, a wallet, and sippy cups, I wanted it to be sturdy. I again fiddled with the pattern a bit and added a good five inches to the bottom.
It came out perfectly. I'm very happy with it. I made three pockets inside for sippy cups, keys, and other odds and ends. I believe a bag can never have too many pockets.
And the best part about it? I finished it during one nap and I even had time to eat lunch! I love when that happens.
For a couple of months now, some local crafty ladies and I have been getting together for a girl's night out. I've always found it difficult to find people I can truly connect with, but since moving to this area I have found the greatest bunch of very talented, intelligent, and fun-loving women. We always have a blast and there's never a shortage of good food and laughter.
Saturday night was our holiday party. The boys were invited too, although they spent most of the time warming up by the bonfire outside. (Did you know you could buy a burn permit online with your debit card, just minutes before lighting the fire?! Very cool.) We exchanged gag gifts, the ladies did a holiday ornament swap, and we just hung out chatting and eating the night away.
We warmed ourselves by the wood stove. It was a particularly chilly winter night and a bad storm was expected to hit any hour. I kept peeking outside expecting to see snowflakes falling, but they held off until early morning.
We discussed sewing, life in general, babies, houses, and Maine winter gear. Above is the marvelous Rhea sporting her leg warmers. If I knew how to knit anything other than a scarf I'd make myself a pair. I can see these becoming a must-have accessory in my wardrobe this season.
And introducing our littlest member of the group. He's always sleeping and we joke about never seeing him actually awake. It's so calming to glance over and see a sleeping baby in the midst of all the talking and laughter.
I really feel honored to have found these wonderful ladies. The welcomed break from parenting and life's stresses is always much needed and much remedied by the fun we have together. I look forward to many more nights like these in the future. Thanks gals.
On Saturday we drove down to my mother-in-law's house to do a little holiday celebrating. Mare is the greatest mother-in-law, the best hostess, and we always leave smiling and with full bellies. Her house is gorgeous, overlooking Casco Bay, and tucked right into the big city where all the action is going on.
The little one "helped" me wrap up the gifts before we headed out. I've used simple brown packing paper to wrap gifts for a few years now. I love the simplicity of it and you can dress the package up with ribbons and other things. I used scrap fabric for this tie and made a little fabric gift tag to match.
When we arrived, Mare was waiting with hor'dourvers and drinks.
Shortly after, it was time to open gifts. I made Mare a patchwork linen scarf and a tote bag. When she asked me what I would like, I told her I'd rather have her get some toys for Elisabeth that would keep her entertained. This stroller? A big hit! The little one just adores it. (We'll talk about who's in the stroller later this week.)
Then there was the food. It was all so delicious. This is actually one of my favorite parts about the holidays. Food seems to be everywhere and very plentiful this time of year. My mother joined us and brought the little one a special gluten-free (as well as many other things...) blueberry cake, because blueberries are her favorite food. It was delicious and she couldn't get enough of it. It also came in mighty handy on the long car drive home.
I couldn't resist taking some photographs of the lovely artwork Mare has in her home. And, of course, I had to get a shot of the view. It's just perfect. My flickr page has many more pictures of our day.
After supper there was a bit of relaxing, then came the goodbyes and hugs, and the long car drive home. I think this is just how I like the holidays: low-key, relaxing, full of good food and family, and just having fun.
First, there was the vintage pattern spotted on Etsy...
Then the sorting of the pieces...
Cutting the pieces out...
A bit of sewing. A bit more of sewing. A lot of guessing and staying up late. Discovering my new, fancy sewing machine did not come with a buttonhole presser foot (what?!), so the almost completed holiday dress sits on a hanger waiting.
Of course, I couldn't wait until morning to take pictures, so you get this poorly lit sneak peak. The "slip dress" to go underneath is my next project. Let's hope there will be less guessing and more understanding of the 50's pattern lingo the next time around...
I hope your weekend is filled with creativity and fun. See you back here on Monday!
Stephen and I usually spend a special night or two a week curled up on the couch with a good movie, and of course a couple of these. This week's selection was a find at our local bookstore. I found it on the sale table and it looked rather intriguing so I picked it up. The movie's title "The Wooden Camera" caught my attention, being that I love anything "camera" and Stephen loves anything "wooden." I assumed it was a safe bet that at least one of us would like it.
The movie did not disappoint. Of course, wearing my favorite slippers (six years, three pairs), sweatpants (are they still technically sweatpants if there are no elastics around the ankles?), and eating my favorite chocolate always makes a movie more enjoyable. But the movie was enough to make our evening a good one; filled with beautiful shots that offset the harsh reality of life in South Africa, and seeing the view from a young film maker's eyes was very inspiring. We give it two thumbs up.
A few of you readers might be interested in a new book I picked up at the same store. Basic Stitches by Katie Ebben is a wonderfully inspiring book for anyone beginning embroidery. The pictures are lovely and the sketched instructions are easy to follow and very beginner friendly. In addition, there are some neat projects featured which don't require any sewing at all. Oh, the ideas spinning through my head now...
Last week I realized that I have been making so many pants lately, but none for my own little one. Initially, I started making pants because I could never find any that fit over our bulky cloth diapers. Then I decided to get a little more into it because I could never find a style of pants I liked anyway: too pink, too frilly, too tight, or just plain not our style. You've probably noticed most of the pants I make are gender neutral, partly because I don't believe genders should have "assigned" colors and browns, navy blues, grays, and tans go with everything.
While at the fabric store I spotted some flannel on sale. Generally I stay away from the flannel because I have not once found a print I could live with day after day, but I spied this owl print and it ended up in the cart a second later.
They were designed to be "lounge" pants. Not pajamas. We spend a good deal of Saturdays "lounging" and since I had lounge pants, I thought it only fair she should have some too. She loves the owls and says "hoo, hoo!" every time she puts them on.
And these pants were sitting in my shop for much too long. That leaf print?! I love it! So now they are her pants and she loves them. I can make more if anyone else is interested. I have a wee bit of the leaf print left.
And for all of you who ordered crowns (thanks!), they are in the works and almost finished! There has been an awful lot of sewing going on here lately...
After my dismal skirt failure last month, and a summer skirt that will probably always be a little too big, I decided a new skirt for the holiday season was in order; and it must fit! After being inspired by this, I came up with the above in an amazing 30 minutes. Yes, thirty. I see a lot more of these in the future.
To avoid any waist measurement issues, I went with a wide elastic. Oh my, is it comfortable. The fabric was one of the remaining corduroy prints at the store. Who would have thought corduroy season was over?! The pocket idea is brilliant, which was one of the reasons I really loved the skirt when I saw it. I always find it awkward when I don't have pockets for my hands. I tend to panic when I'm out in public and realize I have no pockets.
After finishing the skirt I decided the tree was looking rather naked, so when the little one went to bed much earlier than usual (up at 5 a.m., one short nap in the morning, and one long afternoon...) I got in a little extra sewing. I used the holiday prints leftover from the stockings and linen, measured the space around the tree, came up with this simple design, dipped into my bias-tape stash, and it was done in about an hour.
I even got to use my favorite stitch on my new machine (still swooning, by the way) which Stephen has affectionately dubbed "the computer." Overall, I'm really pleased with how it came out and I'm excited that it might last through the little one's childhood and passed onto her when she's grown.
And I just wanted to add that there will be no shop updates until the new year. I am working on a new pant design, as well as some other things, getting ready to paint my new sewing space, and just enjoying the time to do a bit of sewing for our family. So I will not be taking any custom orders until after the holidays. There are still two holiday outfits up in the shop if anyone is interested!
Our family has decided to celebrate Solstice instead of Christmas. What exactly that means for us will develop over the coming years as our family grows and learns. We already have some traditions in place that seem to suit our family's style, like a special ornament for the little one each year. This year's ornament came from the Etsy shop called My Little Acorn. A bird ornament! How could I resist?!
It's so well made and I just adore the colors. I bought two, one for an ornament swap at a party next weekend and one for us. The little one just loved it and felt very special finding the perfect spot for her new ornament on the tree.
I finally found the time to finish our new stockings. We plan on doing just stockings on Christmas with little, practical, and fun gifts inside. We are really trying to stay away from the commercialization of Christmas and all the gifts it entails. The stress and greediness, the expectations and commitments all seem to drive our family further and further away from our culture's biggest holiday. But we still want to honor the special day in a few unique ways.
The stockings' fabrics were carefully selected to fit each of our personalities.
Stephen is very fond of his and asked how I wrote our names on each one. (Well dear, remember the other night when we were sitting on the couch together, me with a needle, embroidery floss, and fabric in hoop?)
Elisabeth was ecstatic about hers. She insisted on taking it down and carrying it around with her. She kept pointing to the bunnies hiding behind the trees and giggling.
Three hours of stocking making for just one short time of the year? Definitely worth it after seeing my family's appreciation. Nothing beats handmade.
I admit, I'm really not into Christmas. Gosh, that sounds horrible, doesn't it?! But with all the Christmas decorating and crafting going on around here in Blogland, I somehow got in the spirit to do a few things...
A tree was first on our list. I really wanted to get a live tree this year, but our budget wouldn't allow it. So we got a small tree from in town, decorated it with any ornaments I could find that weren't breakable, and placed it in our living room where it would be in constant view. My little helper was actually very helpful. She placed more ornaments than I did on the tree and likes to take them off to do it all over again. And I was pleasantly surprised to find myself ordering holiday fabric from Superbuzzy to make a tree skirt and matching stockings.
I put a few decorations that belonged to Stephen's mother around the house. Our home is very hard to decorate for any type of holiday. There is limited wall space (being that our kitchen, dining room, living room, and music room are all one room) and not too many tables around. So finding places to put things is challenging.
I am particularly pleased about our Christmas cards. I found these letterpress holiday cards at a local store and immediately snatched them up. A fun picture of the little one will be included, and hopefully mailed out before the holidays.
So you see? I don't really earn the "ba humbug" title. All you festive bloggers out there saved me this year. Enjoy your weekend!
First off, I must apologize for any e-mails you have written that have gone unanswered. I just discovered that somehow my server was not forwarding the messages to my e-mail account. I never even saw them. I always reply back as soon as possible, so I must apologize if you sent something and did not hear from me. I'm doing my best to sort through over 800 e-mails that I never received, so please be patient with me.
After being a bit intimidated by the winter wonderland outside our door, I finally ventured out to put some packages in the mailbox. My boots come to mid-calf and my jeans were still soaked after the mere five minute walk to the mailbox. There's really something about snow that revitalizes and refreshes the spirit. Perhaps because everything just looks so crisp and clean. It's almost as if breathing has become easier and life slows down.
And being snowbound for three days will lead to many "firsts" for little ones.
She learned to:
-eat chocolate chip cookies
-open the locked dishwasher
-open the oven door (oh my...this should be interesting)
-open three doors, each with different doorknobs
I guess staying inside for too long can become dangerous. Off to town today!!
As I mentioned before, our temporary nature table was on top of the little one's play kitchen. It was kind of in that "end of fall, not quite winter" mode. After being buried by 11 inches of snow (yes, eleven) I decided it was time for the real winter table to begin.
We've been moving furniture around, trying tables in different spots, and switching rugs from room to room. This area behind the couch was previously taken up by the harpsichord Stephen built. It has since been moved to another room and all of a sudden the back of the couch looked rather bare.
An antique table belonging to Stephen's great aunt took the harpsichord's place, and on it went our wintry things: acorns, pine cones, favorite bowls, a bare tree branch, pine needles, felted gnomes, a white silk to represent the snow, and little wooden pine trees.
Okay, I will admit the arranging was more for mama's enjoyment, but the little one just loves to come over and peek at everything. Sometimes she takes off with a gnome, but always puts it back a bit later. The bowls were thrifted finds and in them contain winter's treasures.
I really adore seeing how other people put together their nature tables. If you've posted about one on your own blog, leave a comment because I'd love to check it out!
Have a wonderful Wednesday!
Just wanted to add that I am placing an order for some wool felt. I know people inquired about my crowns in the past, so if anyone is interested, please e-mail me at erin@bluebirdbabyslings.com and we can create a custom crown for your little one!
Father Winter is officially here. Eight inches of snow buried us yesterday. Stephen had a "snow day" and spent the day watching the little one while I spent a little more time bonding with my new love. I got a lot done. Having about four hours to work, of course with sporadic interruptions from a short someone, felt so incredibly invigorating. Actually having completed projects on the table? Heavenly.
So we spent the day inside with a brief outing so the little one could do lots of snow eating. Stephen took charge of the camera and captured some really beautiful photos.
See my new banner above? That's all him. I edited and cropped it, but he gets the credit. I thought it only fitting to replace the banner where Elisabeth was running around without a jacket on the grass. It seemed so out of place after the snow today.
And 'tis the season for holiday outfits! There are four in the shop. My style and tastes definitely reside in the more "classic and simple" look, but I had fun with the matching shirts. I think they are very festive and would make a little one quite thrilled to wear.
*Edited to add that the totes are now in the shop. We were able to get some better pictures this morning. Thank you for your patience!*
Now how's that for a title?
You'd think after a lifetime of living in Maine we'd be used to the sudden drop in temperature this time of year. But when the chilly air turned our cheeks and noses red on Saturday, I felt a bit surprised and mourned the end of my favorite season that seemed unfairly short. In an effort to keep toasty while roaming the woods, we pulled out the winter woolens:
The hat mentioned in my previous post , a thrifted Italian jacket, a pair of felted wool pants made from a recycled sweater, wool socks from Etsy, and...
her new shoes! I think she stayed quite warm while we were outside and enjoyed the freedom of running around in a more pliable outfit instead of her penguin looking fleece jumpsuit. But mama was still cold. I guess I should invest in some wool for me too.
Somehow, I've managed to find the time to finish five "Library Totes" for the shop. I really do love these bags. They are so practical and can be used for anything. I made four more for gifts and one for myself! And please take into consideration that the dark days of winter here in Maine affect the brilliant colors of the fabric in these photos. They really do look much more beautiful in person! If any of you bloggers want to purchase one, I'll offer free shipping. Just type in "bloggerLT" in the comments to the seller section.
Have a marvelous Monday!
Byron Katie: A Thousand Names for Joy: Living in Harmony with the Way Things Are
Eckhart Tolle: A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose
Sarah Napthali: Buddhism for Mothers of Young Children: Becoming a Mindful Parent
Shea Darian: Seven Times the Sun: Guiding Your Child Through the Rhythms of the Day
Jessica Prentice: Full Moon Feast: Food and the Hunger for Connection
M. Leeuwen: The Nature Corner: Celebrating the Years Cycle With a Seasonal Tableau
