Birthday Cake!!!!!

My oldest son's birthday was in January. (He's our middle child.) All he could talk about for months (besides Santa and what he was going to ask for/get) was his birthday cake. Last year he just wanted a spiderweb cake - easy enough. This year he wanted a 4-wheeler cake. And not just any 4-wheeler - it had to be just like his 4-wheeler.

The Cake

The real 4-wheeler

I think it turned out pretty good. He really liked it and his friend that came over for his birthday thought it was "sick". Wonder what kind of cake he'll ask for next year?

Christmas Eve Pillows

I can't believe it's taken me so long to post this! We had a wonderful Christmas and really enjoyed the Christmas break together. Usually my husband works during the break between Christmas and New Year's. This year he had the week off so we had lots of family time. We also have a birthday in our family early in the New Year (more on that in a different post). We went back to work/school/daycare on Monday but by Monday night 2 of us came down with the a tummy bug that has been going around. By the end of the week all 3 kids and I had had the bug. We are all back to normal now though.

Anyway, on Christmas Eve after we go to mass, we get together with my husband's family for some snacks and togetherness. After we have a snack each child is allowed to open one gift. For the past 3 years I've been making something for my kids for Christmas Eve. This year I made pillows with their names appliqued on them. Two of our kids have unusual names so they will hardly ever have anything with their names on them unless I make something for them.

I searched high and low for some reasonably priced pillows that would be the right size. I really didn't want to spend anywhere near $20 on a pillow that would be used as a pillow form. I got lucky and found 1 pillow at Wal-Mart on clearance for $6 early in December. Then I spent the next 2 weeks searching for 2 more cheap pillows. I finally found some at Sears on clearance for $7 - which is still at least $3 cheaper than the small pillow forms you can buy at Fabricland (I think they are more than $10 but I can't remember). I measured the pillows to determine the size of the pillow cover I wanted and included a zipper in the bottom so the cover can be washed seperately from the pillow. Two kids love blue and one loves orange. I couldn't find any sturdy solid orange fabric so I had to settle for blue for him too - which worked out perfectly anyway since the boys share blue room. I used a cotton canvas since I wanted something very strong and sturdy for the base of the pillow. I thought this would help to secure and support the applique as well.

For my daughter - Caelen (I know the n looks like an r in this picture but the pillow is really full).

For my oldest son - Tyler.
For the youngest - Rhett.

They love these pillows and sleep with them every night.

Sew Liberated Book GIVEAWAY!!!!

Sew Liberated Book GIVEAWAY!!!!
Go check it out. I'd love to win this book!

Christmas Apron

I signed up for a great swap on Swap Bot awhile back. My swap partner received her package so I can share what I made for her now. For this swap we had to make a half apron and the inspiration was peppermint candies – you know those red and white candy mints you get sometimes at restaurants. As soon as I signed up I knew that I could use some of the Christmas fabric I had left over from the Christmas apron I made for a swap awhile ago since it was red and white. It has snowflakes on it and every time I have one of those candy mints I think of snowflakes. I needed to find a striped fabric to go with it for the ruffle and waistband/ties. I looked at a few stores, but just couldn’t find the right stripe. I finally found this one – it reminds me of candycanes. With the narrow green stripe through the fabric I thought this added some richness to it.

I couldn’t find a tutorial on the web for exactly the apron I wanted to make and I didn't have a pattern so I winged it. I knew I wanted the ruffle to be full. Without pictures to show how I made this apron, directions would be little wordy. Of course I didn't even think to take pictures as I went along until I was almost done the apron. I may just have to come up with a tutorial in the New Year - I don't have time before Christmas.


Are you still working on your Christmas gifts too? I still have a pile of sewing to do, a few more gifts to purchase and everything to wrap. Oh and I haven't done any Christmas baking yet either!

We have a winner!

Thank you all so much for sharing your favourite part of the holidays with me. I started to respond to comments, but with a slow dial up connection (we don't live in an area that has access to high speed internet or cable) that is not going to be possible - it would take at least 4-5 days and I just don't have time right now. Please know that I do appreciate all of your comments. Thanks for visiting my blog and I hope I have some new regular readers.

In fairness to all the others who did tell me their favourite part of the holidays, there were a few people that did not answer the question, and they were removed from the draw. I used the random number thingy. The winner is baukje. Baukje I will email you today. Please contact me no later than 9 PM Eastern Standard Time with your full name and address and I will get your package sent off to you!

Sorry to all of those who did not win this one. I plan on doing at least one giveaway in the New Year - so check back again!

Aprons, Aprons

If you are here for the Giveaway Day, please feel free to check out the rest of my blog. The Giveaway Day post is in the next post below.

I recently participated in an apron swap. My partner has received her package so I can share this now. For this swap we could make a half or full apron and we could make requests - like a child's apron, full apron, half apron, certain colours etc. My partner wanted an apron for her son who likes bright blue or one for herself - not too girly. I wanted to make an apron for both my swap partner and her son. I'd never made a child's apron, but looked on the internet to see what sort of ideas I could find. I knew a full apron would probably be the best bet for a 5 year old. I made up my own pattern for this apron. I think it turned out perfectly. My 5 year old modelled it for me so I could see how it fit. All the fabric is from my stash. For the tie around the neck I decided to make it shorter and used velcro so it could be taken off quickly and easily. The tie around the waist is a regular tie.

For my swap partner I had some fabric in my stash that I thought would be perfect - not too girly but still pretty. I decided on a half apron for her. The apron pattern is from the Bend the Rules sewing book again. As I've gone along making aprons from this pattern, I've found a few shortcuts. I love the look of this style of apron.

Both my swap partner and her son really like their aprons. I hope they get a lot of use out of them!

Giveaway Day!!!!!

Thanks to the ladies at Sew, Mama, Sew for organizing this whole Giveaway Day!

Sorry the picture isn't better. It's dark outside when I leave home to go to work and it's dark when I get home and to tell the truth I just decided when I got home tonight exactly what I was going to giveaway.


I'm giving away a half yard of the black fabric with the red, yellow and pink flowers on it and a fat quarter of the green fabric. The green is actually more of a lime green than it shows in the picture. The black fabric has been previously washed and dried in the dryer. The green fabric quarter has not been laundered. I wanted to throw some buttons in that went with the fabrics, so I sorted through my button collection. There is 1 red button and two yellow buttons to go with the black fabric. To go with the green fabric I found a cute blue flower button, a green heart, and 3 other blue buttons (2 small buttons and 1 larger one). I'm also giving away a little box of bobbins - there are 12 in the box. I'm also throwing in a little handmade something. I haven't decided what it is yet - so it will be a surprise.

This giveaway is open until December 6 at 9 pm eastern. I will randomly pick a winner shortly after. To enter, please leave a comment telling me your favourite thing about the holiday season. It could be a favourite recipe (please share - I like to try out new recipes), an activity etc. Please ensure you leave an email address so I can email you if you win. Any anonymous comments without an email address will not be entered. The winner will have until December 9th at 9 pm eastern to claim their prize. If the prize is unclaimed I will announce another winner. Good luck! And go check out the other giveaways at the Sew, Mama, Sew blog!

Edited to add - This Giveaway is open to international entries as well.