I can’t tell if it’s cold in here or if it’s just that I’ve been reading too much about first snow sightings and chilly weather. I think the low tonight can hardly be classified as cold (43 degrees F), but I’ll use any excuse to stay inside and have some hot apple cider.

I’m on a full time mission right now to round up Christmas hints and organize my shopping expeditions. I try to come up with ideas unaided, but sometimes you need a little push in the right direction. So far, my sister is the only one who has helped much in that department. I’m getting the impression that she’s been divvying up hints across the family so as not to get any duplicate gifts. It’s pretty impressive, really.

The only thing I have organized so far is the wrapping paper. This will now be the third year that I’ve stuck with one wrapping paper/gift tag theme. It’s so wonderful. I mean, it’s horribly obsessive-compulsive, but it makes things so much easier. The wrapping part is very calming that way, and I find it incredibly satisfying to see a growing stack of monochromatic presents. I’m sure this wouldn’t work for everyone, but I do enjoy seeing everything match like that. I also splurge on fabric ribbons. I had one to many run-ins with the curling ribbon and scissors.

These pictures are from last year, and I used the same circle punch/eyelet setter combo as I did to make my numbered stocking tags. The circle design was heavily inspired by the alphabet garland I saw over here at The Small Object. For my version, each one was labeled with a person’s initial and name... as in "K is for Kristen."

This year, everything is getting wrapped in a silver/white motif. Mr. Bunny Slippers is in charge of designing our new gift tags which I’ll share here when they’re done. Now we just need to get stuff to put inside. Oh.

Posted by The Little Happy Ones at 06:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

There is a lot to catch up on here.

For now, I’ll start with the smell of cinnamon and sugar and the pumpkin pie just now deposited into the warm oven.

It’s quiet here except for the halting sounds of my young neighbor practicing the piano. He’s started learning some Christmas songs now, although I’ve heard him sneaking them into his practice sessions since July. Do you know that song “Up on the Rooftop”?

Up on the rooftop reindeer pause
Out jumps good ol’ Santa Clause

I’m convinced it’s not a real Christmas song – just one that was written for new piano students. I can’t imagine a choir or a Christmas caroler breaking that out at a holiday event. In fact, I’m sure that it never goes on anyone’s list of favorite Christmas songs, but it’s easy to play and seems to find its way in to every child’s anthology of easy Christmas piano tunes. He’s moved on to a shaky version of “Deck the Halls,” and I’m feeling grateful.

I have until noon to bake my pie, sip some coffee, and enjoy the morning. I do like baking, but I rarely leave enough time to actually enjoy the experience. It’s usually done at a manic pace that leaves flour on my shoes (yes, it happens regularly!) and a ruin of dishes, measuring cups, and other assorted supplies towering precariously in the sink. It is not usually done meditatively -- where one has a chance to savor the smell of spices, ponder thoughts of thankfulness and shared hospitality, or most importantly -- stir at a gradual pace that does not leave bits of mixed ingredients flying through the air and deposited on fronts of cabinets and floors. This methodical state allowed me to catch a most grievous error in the creation of this pie, my first pumpkin pie ever. Perhaps I was reflective almost to the point of sedation, because I nearly added one tablespoon of salt instead of a teaspoon. Mayhem was avoided, but it was a close call and some spices had to be sacrificed down the drain although I did take a moment to inhale their delicious aroma before washing them away.

It is almost time to go and wake my husband(!) who doesn’t have the same affinity for leisurely, early mornings. And here is where we arrive at the explanation for my long absence. (I am supposed to apologize profusely here for being away – aren’t I? It seems to be a rule.)

I have been on a whirlwind since August, when Mr. Bunny Slippers and I started planning to get married. I think we did everything just slightly out of order and at a brisk pace that left some of our unsuspecting friends a little startled. There is a lot to tell about planning a wedding in just a couple of months while working a very full-time job. Despite our abbreviated schedule and intimate scale (families only), we did not skimp on details. There really hasn’t been space in my head to hold a single other task or thought.
So here it is November, on Thanksgiving, and I feel I am waking from a very long sleep in which I had some panicked nightmares and some of the most beautiful, lovely dreams I’ve ever had.

I return here excited (and a little nervous), but ready to embark on the holiday festivities. I feel v-e-r-y, very behind. It may not be sane, but I usually begin my Christmas planning in August. I’m realizing that this year I’ll have to scale back quite a bit on my “to do” list as well as my expectations. But I’m starting this morning, and I’m going to try to enjoy the things I can do – like making a pumpkin pie and recording these thoughts.

I hope you’ll come back and indulge me while I share some Christmas projects (some old, some new) as well as some details from our wedding day. I want to get them down mostly for myself and my family, but we did do a lot of the design and decoration ourselves. I think there might be something craft-related in there worth sharing.

So here’s to making space for the little touches and pies. Happy Thanksgiving.

Posted by The Little Happy Ones at 11:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Earlier this month, my favorite nephew turned one. He is one of those exceptionally lucky kids who turned everyone into an aunt, uncle, or grandparent for the first time, which basically means we fall over ourselves trying to dream up the absolute best possible birthday presents.

In all fairness, I do think he’s cute and nice enough (see proof here) that he could be my 26th niece or nephew, and I would try equally hard to please him.

This year, I started what I hope turns into a long-standing tradition: I wrote him a little book. Here is a shot of all of the pages laid out before they were laminated and bound.

From the introduction:

Right now, you are one year old, so I understand that you can’t read this. Don’t worry. You’ll be able to read eventually.

When you’re ready, turn the page.

Some sample pages:

First, the rhinoceros is the coolest animal. You might like other animals. Maybe you like dogs or cats or even dinosaurs, but the rhinoceros is the coolest. It’s a fact.

When buying someone a present, it’s nice to ask them what their favorite color is first. In case you were wondering, my favorite color is green.

And just in case, he doesn’t appreciate his aunt’s whacky sense of humor, he got a pirate ship too. We weren’t able to stay for his party, but I’ve heard he got quite the haul. Happy Birthday, Kaden! Be nice to your parents.

Posted by The Little Happy Ones at 09:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Is it already Wednesday? Really? I lost the first part of this week to a business trip. This morning I'm drinking some strong coffee and revising my To Do list. Um, and writing about my fabric obsession. (Read as: procrastinating when I really should be getting ready for the day.)

My wish list over at Kitty-Craft has gotten out of hand. The fairytale motifs get me. I love all of the little storybook themes (Hansel & Gretel, Little Red Riding Hood, Alice in Wonderland, even the Bremen Town Musicians -- and I never even liked that story). I almost don't want to write about them, because I'm afraid you will all go over there and snatch up everything, and I won't be able to have them all to myself.

I have been debating placing an order for ages now. I guess I feel that I'm going to spend THAT much money on fabrics, I should at least know what I would use them for... and hording in a secret drawer doesn't count. Then when I think about what I would make (and I think about it quite a bit because I'm pretty desperate to place an order now), I keep envisioning things for children. (Although I've seen at least one ingenious, non-kid usage of the Hansel and Gretel fabric at Yvestown.) The thing is – I don’t have children and am not planning on having any either.

It is a little odd because a vast majority of the sites I visit and love are moms writing about their kids. And although I've found plenty of fellow softie-loving adults, I'd still say a good majority of the creations I admire are intended for little hands. I think a huge part of that is because I have a wonderful mom who was able to stay at home and made things for me. And it's with a little nostalgia that I enjoy reading about other moms who work equally hard to give their children a happy, magical childhood complete with trips to the library and craft projects and homemade costumes. I think that's one of the reasons I still like children's storybooks and any excuse to play make believe.

And since I'm not having kids, I need my sister to have more than just this one so I can justify spending lots more money at Kitty-Craft.

(Side note – Sorry for the dark photos. I don’t know how people manage to get such great pictures of their kids. It’s hard! They’re so squirmy so you pretty much have to use the flash and cross your fingers they’re still smiling when the camera finally snaps the picture. Fortunately, my little nephew didn’t seem to mind being a part of Aunt Kelly’s photo shoot...)

Posted by The Little Happy Ones at 08:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

On Sundays, I drive about 45 minutes north to spend time with my family. We go to church, eat a relaxed lunch at our favorite Chinese restraunt, and hang out while I do laundry. It's especially nice as they have a large screen TV, and we rent a lot of movies.

But our new hobby (and one that even Mr. Bunny Slippers has joined in on once) is looking at model homes. My parents have been wanting to remodel their house for awhile, so they go under the pretense of looking for decorating ideas. But I've always loved open houses and house hunting even when it was just for pretend. When I was little, we used to go on walks as a family and I would beg and plead to go into any open house we came across. I would march straight to the master suite, and announce "this is going to be MY room." Now, it's more of a drag to really look for a house as everything is still SO over priced in Los Angeles. This past weekend, I saw some sad $1.6MM houses with rather scary bathrooms that hadn't been redone since the 60's. (And no, of course that isn't in my price range.)

But there is something about the model homes with their uniform exteriors, shiny new floors and appliances, and postage stamp backyards that I find really enjoyable. I even enjoy the fake family pictures they put on the mantles. And they always set up the most divine vignettes for reading. It's like an invitation to use your imagination.

There's also a certain fun to choosing your favorite model and features. "Heavens no, I'll have to take the 'Tuscany' model - I simply can't deal with that funny shaped balcony on the 'Palo Verdes.'" "We'll need to get the tile upgrades. This won't do at all." I could do this every weekend. And I don't ever feel sad that I can't really live there... there's usually something weird about the community (bad location, houses too close together, tiny yards) that makes it not entirely ideal. It comes just close enough to set the stage for some first class daydreaming.

Posted by The Little Happy Ones at 08:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Happy Birthday, Mr. Bunny Slippers!

I love you even though you didn't want me to make you a cake.

Posted by The Little Happy Ones at 10:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I am a birthday fanatic. I'm not saying I don't occasionally mess up, but typically I'm a pretty big celebrator of other people's birthdays. At least I try to be. I think really hard (perhaps too hard) about gift giving. I have certainly had presents fall flat, but it is not for lack of effort.

I really love birthday themes, and this will sometimes get me into trouble. For my friend Kristen's birthday (I showed a sneak peak of her package here), I went with a Sewing/Irish theme. (I don't recall saying that my themes MAKE SENSE, so just stay calm. "Sewing/Irish" is perfectly legit. In addition to some quilting supplies and pincushion, I sent her these Irish items as we have long been fascinated with Ireland and Irish accents. Ok, truthfully, we love ALL accents. This hilarious Irish Accent breath spray came from Patina.)

With Mr. Bunny Slippers' birthday fast approaching, I am in full scale birthday melt down. I secretly wanted to go with a Pirate theme, but then remembered that he has no real interest in pirates. (Yes, sometimes my themes are purely selfish. I just wanted to put all of the packages in a treasure chest and use treasure map wrapping paper.) He is incredibly challenging to buy for, and I have had to resort to begging for hints. Irritatingly, my dad is like this too. Even when you KNOW what you want to get him, he will undoubtedly want to choose it himself because invariably you will have purchased the wrong size or model or worse yet have gotten the thing at the wrong price.

He is also insisting that he doesn't want a cake which is a huge blow for me as I love to make desserts and really want him to feel celebrated. I had plans this year to attempt a Martha cake (the famous triple chocolate mousse – see more “real life shots” at the Year of Cakes Flickr Pool), but I don't see how I'll have time to make it in secret. And if you're going to spend all day baking an illegal and supremely complicated dessert, you better not do it when the recipient is there muttering about how he didn't want a birthday cake anyway.

And please don't get me started on how totally unfair it is that my mother's birthday coincides with Father's day weekend. Her hints are horrible. She frequently asks for completely dreadful and unselfish presents like a shoe rack or a laundry hamper. As if.

Posted by The Little Happy Ones at 08:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I'm heading out momentarily for a much needed vacation. Yay!

See you all next week (assuming of course that our ship is not attacked by pirates).

Posted by The Little Happy Ones at 11:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Well, it’s pretty much a miracle, but I managed to finish cleaning everything in time for the dinner party with my family. There were a few tasks here and there I wish I’d gotten to, but that’s standard, right? And I was happy that I managed to forget them and enjoy the time with everybody instead of dwelling on the fact that really – I should have found a better place for the vacuum instead of stashing it in the corner by my bed.

This little dinner gathering was so important… I really felt like I needed to have everyone here at least once before we ended up being split up by so much distance. My place is never the cleanest or the roomiest or the most convenient… and I will admit to being hesitant to invite people over because I’m horribly sensitive to any criticism. (And what is it with people who come over and ask you questions like “so when are you going to put up drapes, anyway?” I don’t even remember who said that, but I hear it in my head anytime I think about inviting someone to stop by…)

So anyway, my parents, boyfriend, sister, and baby nephew all gathered around the table and no one said a word about the drapes. It was lovely.

My souvenir from the dinner is a (mostly) clean workspace.

I absolutely adore this desk. It is really just a couple of bookshelves (painted white) and a dresser with some melamine boards stacked on top. One side is propped up by old text books. The desk is quite massive – 6 feet long on the right-hand side. I have a very hard time not covering it up completely in projects, so this is my desk in it’s mostly cleaned up state. And in honor of company coming over, Mr. Bunny Slippers installed that lovely wire/clip thingy for displaying photos and cards above the desk. Love it.

Posted by The Little Happy Ones at 07:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Suddenly, I have so very much to do. This week I’m having my entire family over for dinner as a farewell to my sister who is moving. And there is nothing like having the whole family over that suddenly prompts cleaning and repair tasks that never would have been attempted otherwise. Oh, I might expect my friends to overlook some dirt, but I know my family will see it.

And so, that’s how it happened that at 4 PM on an otherwise relaxing Saturday, I announced that really a couple of walls should be repainted along with one of the kitchen cabinets. And yes, it was also time to wash the windows. And repair some chairs that needed their seats reattached. And some other things I won’t even list here because they wouldn’t make sense or just plain sound too weird.

Oh, and the new rug is on its way. After some serious hopping up and down on the rug swatch, I decided it was time. Let’s hope that the upgraded shipping will get it here in time for our little dinner party.

And there’s another rug coming to the party too.

This panda bear rug was mine as a kid. He’s a little worse for wear, but I have a certain nephew coming to dinner who really likes panda bears. I plan to vacuum him oh, eight more times and see if he passes my sister’s cleanliness test.

(Top photo: the 2002 calendar from the Chinese food restaurant that was hanging in my kitchen. Now that it’s 2006, it seemed like maybe it was time to take it down.)

Posted by The Little Happy Ones at 08:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A post in which I explain what it is I’ve been up to since last Thursday accompanied by Exhibit A – this photo of a rug swatch and an Easter card from my sister.

First, I would just like to point out that for the first time ever, I actually managed to send an appropriately-themed holiday card to my sister which is truly an accomplishment. Somehow being a mom has suddenly programmed her to commemorate all holidays with timely mailings of gifts and cards and notes. Well, I’m not going to let her have all of the fun herself. She’s just going to have to suck it up and learn to check her mailbox too.

Secondly, I checked my mailbox and was elated to discover that this rug swatch (pictured above – Exhibit A) finally arrived. Perhaps you think elated is a strong word for a rug swatch, but I’ve been waiting for this little piece of carpet for 2 months. (Please see horrible mailbox sob story if you would like to read the saga of the missing mail – AKA the time I put jellybeans in the mailbox.)

So now I spend all my free time standing on this rug swatch trying to decide whether or not to buy the full size version. I currently have one of those fluffy flokati rugs. When I called around, I found out it would cost the same amount to get my rug cleaned as it would to buy a new one. I don’t know why rug shopping is so hard – it just is. And let’s be honest, having to work with a purple couch doesn’t help.

I also had time for a beautiful Easter with my parents (who assured me that I’m not too old to get an Easter basket and took me out to lunch after church).

Ok. Back to hopping on the rug swatch…

Posted by The Little Happy Ones at 07:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Here are the contents of the mystery present… a teacup and saucer! This is something I’d been daydreaming about for awhile. It’s the last of my birthday gifts and wow – they certainly seemed to keep rolling in...

I’d seen this ChilliChilly teacup (called “By the Lake”) at a number of design sites and loved it. I couldn’t find it anywhere in the U.S., so this came all the way from England at Design My World. My parents are so thoughtful and very patient to have ordered it from so far away.

When I get presents, I divide them into two categories: for the office and for the home. I try really hard to keep my home a more grown up space. I love kid stuff and cute things, but I don’t want my place to look like a kindergarten classroom. This is really hard because for a long time, it did look that way. And with a mammoth purple velvet couch, it’s hard to get a classier style going. But we’ll talk about the couch another time.

At work, I let my inner 12 year old decorate – and that’s where all of the fun, girly stuff goes including the pink rug I’d never put in my home.

This teacup is for the home. Thanks mom and dad.

Posted by The Little Happy Ones at 07:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Rushing around this morning... I'm putting up a little mystery package. I promise to show you what's inside later. In the meantime, you can admire my mom's incredible gift-wrapping talents.

Posted by The Little Happy Ones at 09:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today it rained. I managed to avoid stepping in any major puddles (a huge accomplishment for me), but I felt distracted all day by the sound of the rain. It is a big relief to be inside at home without any further expectations of productivity. And to top it all off, I have brownies in the oven. Yum.

I’ve been spending time lately thinking about why I started this blog and how I got interested in crafty blogs and web-sites to begin with…. I wanted to expand my About page and give a better explanation of what this site was supposed to be. I’ve been trying to put together a timeline (really just for myself), but it’s all pretty hazy. I remember things in patches. For example, I know that in January of 2004, I made marble magnets on a Saturday with my friend Kristen so I know I must have discovered the whole crafting community before then. But there are entire months in between that are blank in my head. I registered this domain in September 2004, so you can tell I sat on the idea of starting this for a very, very long time.

And the ideas behind this place have changed a lot too. Originally, I had wanted to have a site as a way to keep in touch with a friend who was going to be traveling the world. Unfortunately, I didn’t know anything about starting up a site, and to be honest, I got distracted by all sorts of activities and made up a lot of excuses. So www.littlehappyones.com sat lifeless for a year.

Then, this past fall, I started my annual Christmas planning and thought again about the site. I kept thinking that it would be a great idea to use littlehappyones.com as a place to give a little “behind the scenes” story about all of the presents I was making – not to mention a nice way to credit my sources of inspiration. I even made little tags to go on each present. I took pictures and got everything organized and wrote posts offline for months. My boyfriend, Mr. Bunny Slippers, encouraged me and built the site. I kept showing him the “biggies” – little birds and angry chicken and saying “can it look more like this?” More than once, I believe he questioned why in the world I hadn’t just set up a Typepad account, but I’d been holding onto this domain for awhile and sometimes, I have a knack for doing things the hard way. The earlier posts were back-dated (I know, I know, I cheated, but they were written offline on those dates). Everything, finally made its’ way online a couple of months ago. February was the “true” start date. And there are still older posts I had written that didn’t make their way up here.

I love my family and friends, but they’ve never checked this site! (At least not yet…) So, for now, I am enjoying this as a place to record some little pieces of my day. I also use it as a notebook of sorts – collecting links and images and shopping ideas. And when I get back in to making things again, I know this will be a fun place to archive some of my creations and projects. It has also been an interesting exercise in thinking about what to write and what I would be willing to let anyone see. (For now, I haven’t had to worry about that a whole lot. But there are things I would say to a stranger who loves to make shrinky-dink pins that I might not say to my mom. I might admit here to obsessing over making stuffed animals because I know there are a bunch of people out there that understand… but there are people in my life I am very close to who might think I’d lost my mind. So it’s interesting. But I still really enjoy the parts where I take pictures of things and keep an eye open for something happy to post about.)

I’ve always felt that one of the hardest parts of being an adult is that there aren’t any more semesters. When you had semesters, it was easier to remember things that happened. And, for me, semesters were a built in motivation system. Fall and Spring were times to try harder, to have a fresh slate. I think that’s the reason holidays have become so important to me. I can measure the passing of time by remembering the presents and decorations I made, the desserts I baked… And if one season is particularly hectic, I can say “hey, I’ll be sure and celebrate National Flag Day better next year.” (Or, in this case, “hey, maybe next year I’ll actually celebrate National Flag Day at all.”) Maybe this blog will become my semester system.

So today, I struggled to remember all the bits and pieces. That’s a lot of what this site is – bits and pieces. And hopefully, some of these bits and pieces will make its way onto the About page soon.

Continue reading "Behind the Scenes" »

Posted by The Little Happy Ones at 09:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I meant to put this picture up yesterday. It’s a sweet St. Patrick’s day card that my sister sent. I believe she cut out these little leprechaun hats herself. Sometimes I think I would forget certain holidays altogether if it wasn’t for my sister who always seems to have remembered to stick something in the mail.

Out front of my apartment, we desperately need some little leprechauns to come and help out this little shrub. It has been leaning precariously like this for several weeks. I guess leprechauns probably don’t help plants (aren’t they busy guarding pots of gold?), but you would think the gardeners who come by to mow the lawn would intervene. Poor little plant.

Posted by The Little Happy Ones at 11:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Some unexpected delights from the weekend:

• Drinking coffee and staying up too late with friends – It’s even better when they bring you birthday gifts of pink legwarmers and the New York City Ballet Workout.

• Finding these Count Von Count stickers at the Sanrio store (see below) – I’ve mentioned this Sesame Street collection before, and finally gave in and brought something home. I love looking at this stuff; most of the products are pretty witty. These stickers are quite happy and nostalgic that way. (Plus my mom would kill me if I started walking around with a Count Von Count purple vinyl purse… and who could blame her? The stickers are much safer for all involved.)

• My dad hunting down a copy of Harry Potter (thank you dad!) – This movie really is better when the weather is slightly gloomy/rainy outside, and you’re curled up in front of your parent’s rather large TV.

• This delicate Waterford tea cup – I found this lonely, little tea cup at the Robinsons-May closing sale (which was a pretty big disappointment – everything was marked way above normal prices before taking off the 60-70% discount). I think the pattern is really special (called Chrysanthemum). You can’t tell from the picture, but the little pink dots are raised. The soft colors complement another recent birthday gift from my parents - this plate from Tord Boontje’s Table Stories collection.

This plate didn’t look like what I expected to at all – it was actually much better. The pattern in the light grey is really understated. In fact, in direct sunlight, you can't see the pattern at all. I love that it has a happy deer pattern on it without screaming “hello, I’m 12 -- check out my awesome deer plate.” (Why is it that half the things I like seem to say that?) I like this plate for being so nice and quiet about it. And no, I have no idea what I’m going to do with my quickly growing collection of plates and cups. I guess I’ll have to start having people over and making dinners. (Um, right.)

Posted by The Little Happy Ones at 08:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

(Click on photo to enlarge.)

It is raining like crazy outside. I really lucked out; yesterday was beautiful just long enough for my family to take me to the Wild Animal Park for a little pre-birthday celebration.

Here are some things from this weekend that are making me happy:

• Thoughtful presents from my sister, brother-in-law, and nephew -- my sister even made me a personalized box filled with goodies and decorated with a photo she took of a rhinoceros (my favorite animal). I lucked out in the sister department.

• This picture I took yesterday of a bunny and a duck hanging out together. My brother-in-law gets credit for spotting these little guys.

• Seeing this Panda-head souvenir cup in my sink this morning and remembering funny times yesterday

I’m off to put on my fuzzy socks and curl up on the couch. Isn’t that what you’re supposed to do when it’s raining?

Posted by The Little Happy Ones at 08:00 PM | Permalink

I finally got a chance to properly photograph my Christmas present to my mom. I made her a basket bag (inspired by the ones Hillary makes at wee wonderfuls) along with a knitting needle/crochet hook case.

To be honest, there were some close calls with this one.

In the weeks before Christmas, I quickly had a meltdown as I realized how much I still needed to accomplish despite my best efforts at planning ahead and starting early. My mom kept offering to help me finish up my Christmas projects not knowing that it was hers that was hanging in the balance. It’s safe to say that this was a stretch of my sewing ability, but I’m beyond happy with how the whole package turned out. My boyfriend, trying to be supportive, offered me what he thought was reassurance: "You can really tell it's handmade because the lines aren't straight." Right.

My favorite part was the silver love bird charm stiched onto the needle case. Just a little something extra...

Posted by The Little Happy Ones at 08:23 PM | Permalink

I’m celebrating Christmas with my family tomorrow, so Christmas day is no break from the madness of preparation.

I enlisted my boyfriend’s help to finish up one last present for my mom. I made her a pincushion inspired by one I saw at http://www.craftapalooza.com/ and wanted to include some shrinky-dink pins. So we sat down with some coloring pencils and shrinky-dinks. I drew what I thought were some cute designs – a leaf, a flower, a little bird. Then I look over at my boyfriend who is drawing a detailed replica of the outfit he’s planning to wear the next day along with some bunny slippers. I am starting to feel really uncreative.

Me: “You’re drawing clothes?”
Him: “Yeah. This pin cushion is supposed to be for sewing, right?”
Me: “Right.”
Him: “Well, it seems we should draw things a person might actually sew.”

So out of my league.

Posted by The Little Happy Ones at 08:05 PM | Permalink

As promised, I made an apron this weekend.

My sister is quite the chef and really loves preparing meals for her family. I wanted her to have something a little special for the kitchen so I made her this set of potholders and an apron.

I will admit that while sewing the potholders I felt pretty stupid. When I was a kid, I had one of those looms where you weave little loops to make a potholder. I couldn’t help but feel like I was 6 again making a present for my grandmother. My sister is cool! She’s cooler than a potholder loom!

I have to say, though, that putting anything into a “set” instantly makes it better. The more pieces I made, the more the potholders started to make sense. They also started to look a whole lot better after my mom patiently sewed on the bias tape for me (evil bias tape!).

I’m not sure how practical the oven mitt is going to be for her. This was my first attempt at quilting something. Maybe this will be her “for show” oven mitt when company comes over. Do people have oven mitts for show?

I had wanted the apron to have a little tulip shaped pocket, but that was a total disaster. Maybe next time after more sewing practice…

Posted by The Little Happy Ones at 09:41 PM | Permalink

My mom really loves nativity scenes so we had a lot of them in our house during Christmas. Ok, to be honest, it wasn’t just at Christmas. She started keeping up some of them year round. In fact, my mom has a lot of little traditions like putting Baby Jesus in a drawer and waiting until Christmas morning to add Him to the nativity scene. One Christmas morning, half-way through unwrapping presents – she exclaimed “I left Baby Jesus in a drawer!” We stopped while she ran around the house placing the many little Jesus(es) in their rightful locations.

The one pictured above was my favorite. The little wood pieces were kid-friendly, and I liked playing with and rearranging the animals. Except that the one in the picture above isn’t really the set I played with as a child. My mom sent that one to me when I was in college, and I gave it away or lost it somehow. I was careless then.

This year I was slightly (ok, seriously) obsessed with Christmas decorating, and I wanted a nativity scene – but not just any nativity scene, my nativity scene. The one I had played with as a child. The one my mother had carefully wrapped up and sent to me. I harassed her with all sorts of questions about where it had come from and how I could find a replacement, but in the end, it was E-bay to the rescue.

It’s embarrassing, but I got so emotional about the whole thing that I ended up in a bidding war and spent WAY too much money on this thing. It was very sweet and lovely to have again, but there was no way that it was worth the $50 I spent. I swallowed hard and waited for it to arrive.

Yes, it was the same as the set I had had, but it smelled funny, the donkey didn’t look quite right, the paint was peeling -- and I tried to figure out how in the world I was going to explain to my boyfriend that I’d spent $50 on this thing. I felt SO silly.

But you know what? It stopped smelling funny after awhile, the little animals are still fun to play with, and every time I look at it, it feels a little more like Christmas. To me, that’s $50 well spent.

Posted by The Little Happy Ones at 08:50 AM | Permalink

Sewing is not really my specialty. I figure if you throw enough thread at something, it will eventually stick together. Of course, in my experience, it might not be in the exact shape or dimensions you intended for it to be. There’s a good chance that anything I try to sew will be 50% smaller than intended. That may be fine for some things (stuffed animals come to mind), but it’s really not going to work for projects out of this beautiful (but intimidating) Amy Butler fabric.

For Mom -
• A basket bag for projects (inspired by these creations over at wee wonderfuls)
• A knitting needle/crochet hook case
• A pin cushion – ok, fine. The pin cushion could very well be 50% smaller than intended. It would only hold three needles though…

For my sister -
• Pot Holders/Oven Mitt
• Café Apron (inspired by this apron seen at tie one on.)

I think I’ve successfully sewn maybe two things without having my mom stand over me and fix it. Unfortunately, it’s probably really wrong to have your mother sew her own Christmas present. I hope my pot holders don’t end up being the size of postage stamps, but such things have been known to happen around here.

Posted by The Little Happy Ones at 10:32 AM | Permalink