Baby Quilts: Bow Ties, Pinwheels, and Elephants

I have been wanting to try my hand at making a "real" baby quilt for a while now, because until now I've only made rag quilts and t-shirt quilts.  So, I got my chance when I found out two of my husband's nieces were expecting babies.  

For the first one, I needed a cute little boy design.  I found this adorable bow tie design via Pinterest.  Here's the link to the tutorial I used to make the blocks.  I decided to alternate the way the bows were turned instead of having them all go the same direction.  I think it turned out pretty cute!  

The bowties were all made from brightly colored scraps that I already had, and I made a cute bunting banner to match.  For the quilt backing I used a sweet little animal print, perfect for a baby boy.  This quilt traveled all the way to its new home in Turkey!

The second one I made was a little girl quilt, and I knew that her room would be decorated with pink and brown and elephants.  After looking at lots of different ideas, I decided that pinwheels would go perfectly with elephants.  Here's what I came up with:

I made pinwheel blocks of different pink prints and appliqued the elephants on top.

Then I made a cute little stuffed elephant to match.

I've decided that I probably won't be making baby quilts to sell; I would have to charge way to much for them if I wanted it to be worth my time.  But they are fun to make, and make wonderful gifts for special little people!

Sweaters Into Mittens Project

Last week, my husband came home one day and asked me if I had received a call from the school secretary.  They had a little girl show up to school with very cold little fingers because she didn't have any gloves or mittens, and he thought that would be something our new ministry, "Yesh Tikvah Ministries", could help with.  I thought that was a great idea, too, and immediately went shopping for some little gloves and mittens to donate to the school.  Believe it or not, I couldn't find mittens at all, but only gloves.  I think mittens work so much better for small children.  They are so much easier for adults to help them put on, and they keep their little fingers warmer than gloves do.  So I had an idea.  We can make mittens out of old sweaters!

So, instead of shopping for mittens, I hit the thrift shops in search of sweaters to make mittens out of.  One of the shops was having a half off sale, so I bought a pile of sweaters!

And I started making mittens.

This has evolved into an entire project at Yesh Tikvah Ministries!  Over the next few weeks, we are collecting unwanted sweaters and making them into mittens. After winter break, we will be donating the mittens to the schools in our area to be given to the children who need them.

You can help us with this project!  If you have an unwanted sweater in your closet, you can donate it to us and we'll make mittens out of it.  Depending on the size of the sweater, we can get 3 or more pairs of mittens out of one sweater.  If you live in our area, we can come and pick up your sweaters, or if you live far away, you can mail them to us.  

You can email us at yeshtikvahministries@yeshtikvah.org to arrange a pick-up or to get our mailing address.

Handmade Hanukkah Gifts

Last night we lit all eight Hanukkah candles!  I love to see all of the candles lit, but I'm always a little sad, too, because I really don't want Hanukkah to be over.  I really love this holiday.  (Want to know why I love it so much?  Click HERE to read my post "Why I Love Hanukkah")

This year I made some Hanukkah gifts again, although not quite as many as last year.  I think it's just so nice to share a handmade gift with someone you love!

For my Mom and Dad I made this Hanukkah bunting to help make their holiday festive.

Dad wanted a friend for the sock bird that I made for his birthday, so I made this sock monkey for him.

For my mom and Robert's mom I made lavender scented soy candles in teacups.

And for Robert's mom I made this sweet little zippered pouch in the shape of a doxie.

For Rebecca: one of my "Violet May" ruffled shoulder bags featuring her favorite color.

And for Haley: a Bible cover made with different Star of David fabrics.

For Robert I made a zippered bag to carry his tallit to and from Shabbat services.

And Robert, Haley, and Rebecca all got reversible fabric bookmarks. Here's one side:

 and here's the other side:

I didn't forget the kitty cats! They each got a catnip filled fish shaped toy. They LOVE their new fish toys!

Haley and Rebecca both made some gifts this year, too, including some peppermint goat milk oatmeal soap that Haley made.  She gave "Haley's Goatmeal Soap" to her grandparents and to friends from the Messianic fellowship we attend.  Her goatmeal soap smells so good!

Handmade gifts are so fun to make!

Happy Hanukkah!

 

The Front Porch

One of my favorite things about my house is the front porch.  It's a nice big front porch that wraps around one side of the house, and it's perfect for sitting at any time of the year.  My husband and I especially like to sit on our porch and enjoy our morning coffee on summer mornings before he goes off to work.  We love our two person rocking chair, the shabby chic single rocker found in a thrift shop, the cute little side table (also thrifted), and the chair I found across the street last year during community clean up week and painted white (I sanded it a bit so it would be shabby chic, too.)  

This summer I made some pretty porch pillows for the chairs.  They are made from inexpensive vinyl tablecloths and stuffed with stuffing from some old pillows I had in the attic.  They turned out so cute, and they add a nice pop of color to the white furniture.

 Some pots of bright flowers help add some cheerful color, too.

We needed a new doormat, so I bought a plain one at WalMart and stenciled "Shalom" on it.  I love it!

Just some simple little touches make the porch even more welcoming and cheerful, and it's one of my favorite places to be.

Wristlet Clutch Giveaway!

*Giveaway Closed*

It's Giveaway Day over at the Sew Mama Sew blog, so I thought I would join the fun!

I'm giving away this cute little wristlet clutch that I made from a vintage bedspread.  It measures about 9 inches across and 5 inches tall.  It's lined with a coordinating periwinkle blue with tiny polka dots, and has a little pocket inside.

It closes with a magnetic snap, and is trimmed with a yoyo flower with a vintage button center.

I thought I would combine this giveaway with a  little bit of market research, so:

To enter to win this little bag, just leave a comment on this post answering this question:  

When purchasing a shoulder bag would you prefer:

A. A long strap to wear the bag messenger style across your body;

B. A regular shoulder strap to wear the bag on one shoulder; or

C. An adjustable strap to wear the bag either way.

Bonus entry: If you are a follower of this blog or my facebook page, leave another comment for an extra entry!

Please make sure I have a way to contact you by leaving your e-mail in your comment.  Only U.S. entries, please (international shipping is so pricey!)

Winner will be chosen on May 10, 2013, by a random drawing using Random.org.

After you enter my giveaway here, you can go to Sew Mama Sew and enter many other fabulous giveaways there!

Clean, Healthy, Beautiful: Homemade Face Wipes and Honey Lemon Sugar Scrub

One of the first "beauty" products I made for myself was homemade face wipes.  I use these every night to take off my makeup. They are convenient, easy and inexpensive, and I know what ingredients I am putting on my face, because I put them together myself! There are great instructions with lots of pictures over at WhiteHouseBlackShutters.com.

Here's how I make my homemade face wipes:

You need:
Select-a-size paper towels (Bounty, Brawny, and Viva are the best)
1 Tbsp. Coconut Oil
1 squirt of face wash or mild soap or shampoo
3 drops Lavender essential oil
2 cups water
Container that will fit half a roll of paper towels, with a lid that seals (mine is a Rubbermaid)

Cut the roll of paper towels in half with a large knife. This is easier said than done, but you can do it! Just keep sawing away at it until you cut it all the way through.  Place one of the halves in the container, cut side down. You'll just be using one of the halves now, so save the other one for next time.
Heat the 2 cups of water in the microwave or on the stove until steaming.  Add the coconut oil to the hot water and stir until melted. Add the face wash and essential oil and stir.
Pour the liquid into the container with the paper towels in it.  Put the lid on (you may have to press down and scrunch the paper towels down).  Turn it upside down.
After 5 minutes, take the lid off and remove the inner cardboard roll.  Your wipes are ready to use!

The coconut oil is so good for the skin!  These wipes make my face feel very fresh and soft. They're great for traveling, too. Just take out as many as you will need for your trip and put them in a ziplock bag.
These can also be adapted for baby wipes by using baby wash or shampoo instead of the face wash.  Or you can make cleaning wipes by just using a mixture of water and your favorite cleaner and/or essential oils.

Another homemade face product I recently made is my Honey Lemon Sugar Scrub.  I usually use a face scrub in the shower every morning, and I ran out of my super expensive kind, so I thought I would try making something to replace it.  Here's what I did:

You need:
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp. honey
3 drops lemon essential oil
olive oil

I mixed together the sugar, honey, and lemon essential oil and added enough olive oil to get the consistency I wanted.  I put it all into a repurposed shampoo container because I didn't want to mess with scooping it out of a jar while in the shower.  So, I just shake it up a little, take off the lid, squeeze some out into my hand, then apply to my face.

A little warning here:  The first time I used this I thought I was going to end up with an icky, sticky mess.  It felt like it wasn't rinsing off. My skin is naturally oily, so I thought it might feel like a sticky oil slick all day.  It did not.  I dried off my face and it felt sooooo very soft! Not sticky and not oily at all!  Oh, and a really cool thing to note: If you leave it on your face for a few minutes, it is much easier to rinse off because the sugar grains dissolve.

This scrub is also great to use on rough elbows and feet. I love this stuff! Apparently my daughter Rebecca does, too, because it's quickly disappearing and I'm going to have to make another batch soon.

Treasures from Grandma

A couple of weeks ago I was in Port Angeles, Washington, at my grandparents' house for a few days.  I was helping sort and pack things up so the house can be put up for sale.  Grandma and Grandpa are getting older now (Grandpa is 90!) and they have moved in with my aunt and uncle who graciously offered a part of their home, and Aunt Marilynn helps Grandpa with the care he needs for his diabetes and anything else they need.

While I was there, Grandma told me that I could go through all of her fabric and take whatever I thought I could use.  In fact, she said, "Please! I want someone who I know can use it to take it, because I won't be using it anymore."  Grandma has been a quilter for years and years.  She has also sewn her own clothes, clothes for her 7 children, and gifts for her grandchildren and many, many other people over the years.  So you can imagine the huge supply of fabric and scraps that she had built up!  There were huge bins and boxes to go through!  My Mom and I and my Aunt Joanna had a great time going through it all, and I set aside my favorite pieces as we went through it.

Now, keep in mind, I live in Delaware, and this was taking place in Washington State.  I had to be selective about the things I set aside because I had to ship it all home to myself!  I limited myself to two boxes.  It was so much fun opening the boxes when I received them a few days after I got home from my trip!  

My boxes were full of fabric pieces of all sizes...some larger ones that are a yard or two, some medium sized pieces, a lot of smaller ones that are maybe the size of a "fat quarter", and some really small ones that I just couldn't pass up because they were so cute.

Here's one with cute little mushrooms all over it:

And one with little children gardening:

And here are some pre-cut quilt pieces that I didn't even know were in the box!

These little scraps are so cute, but so tiny! I'm not sure what I'll do with them:

Maybe I can get some ideas from this little booklet:

I've begun a new collection in my Etsy shop called "Violet's Treasures".  My Grandma's name is Violet (I just love her name!). Every item that I make that incorporates any of the fabrics that I got from Grandma will be a part of this collection.  Here's the fun part: everyone who is related to Grandma gets a 25% discount!  So, if you're related, just contact me before you order, and I'll give you a coupon code.  To find the items in my shop that are part of the collection, just type the words "Violets Treasures" into the "search this shop" box.

This little wristlet clutch is the first in the Violet's Treasures collection.

You can find it here in my etsy shop.

These scraps of fabric are truly treasures to me because they're from my Grandma. I'm so excited to see what I can create with them!

Passover Prizes

During the Passover Seder, it is a tradition to break a matzah in two and hide part of it for the children to find.  This matzah called the "Afikomen".  It is wrapped in a linen cloth and hidden by the leader of the seder, usually the father.  For believers in Yeshua the Messiah, the Afikomen is a symbol of Yeshua, His death and His resurrection.  At the appropriate time in the seder, the children look for it, and the one who finds it is rewarded with a "ransom" paid by the leader.  

At our family seder, since we just have two daughters, I like to tell them to search for the Afikomen together, so they both get a prize.  I usually put together a gift bag for each of them for my husband to give them in exchange for the Afikomen.  This year in their gift bags they each got a little lamb that I made out of vintage sheets from a vintage pattern. 

Aren't they cute?  This is the pattern I used:

Adorable, right?  I didn't put the silly hair on the lambs, though.  I thought they were cuter without it.

Also in their gift bags was a beautiful bookmark for each of them from an Etsy shop called Light of Zion Handcrafted Jewelry. This one is called "Torah on Your Heart":

Torah on Your Heart Bookmark

And this one is "One in Messiah":

One in Messiah Bookmark

They are so pretty, like jewelry for your book or Bible, and they are so special and meaningful!  My girls love them!  They came with a little card with a scripture attached, and a sweet handwritten note from Elisheva, the artist who created them. Elisheva also has an Etsy shop called Messianic Cards, featuring her works of art on gorgeous cards.  I haven't ordered any yet, because I simply can't choose! Here are a couple of nice ones for Passover:

Messiah Our Passover Cards

Celebrate the Feast Cards

I hope you are all having a happy and blessed Passover week!

Smiley Bags for Enchanted Makeovers

"Enchanted Makeovers" is a nonprofit organization that does "makeovers" on homeless shelters for women and children.  They make the rooms of run down shelters beautiful with painted murals and handmade and vintage items.  Their mission is "to transform shelters for women and children into an environment that inspires psychological and behavioral change."  The work they do is truly beautiful.  

When I found out about them I wanted to do something to help.  I saw on their Facebook page that they needed people to sew curtains for their latest project - the Detroit Rescue Mission Genesis House.  So I volunteered to make curtains.  I then got an e-mail saying that the curtains had been taken care of, but would I be interested in creating some drawstring bags to give the children in the shelter to keep their things in?  Would I!  Bags are what I do!  So I happily committed to making 20 drawstring bags with smiley faces on the front.  Here's the result:

They are made of brightly colored canvas with felt faces on the front.  Each is lined with a different cotton print.  The lining forms a casing at the top, and each face has a tongue that matches the lining.  Aren't they so cute?

I had so much fun making them.  I hope the children enjoy them as much as I did!

Please visit Enchanted Makeovers' website at www.enchantedmakeovers.org to see the wonderful work they do.  And while you're there, consider what you might be able to do to contribute, too!
   

Sweet 16 Party!

Last week my sweet Rebecca turned 16!  When we asked her what she wanted to do special for her birthday, she said she wanted a party.  So a party we gave her!  We tried to fill it with her favorite things.  Here are some of the highlights of her fabulous Sweet 16 Party:

We decorated in aqua, animal prints, and bright, pretty colors.  I made centerpieces with big tissue paper flowers in spray painted jars and "sweet 16" in painted picture frames.

This girl loves chocolate, so we had chocolate cupcakes and a chocolate fountain.

Haley frosted the cupcakes and I made the cupcake toppers.

Robert hung up the bunches of pretty balloons from the ceiling.

Her party dress was made by me, in her favorite color.

We set up a photo booth with lots of fun props.

I think they had fun!  Happy birthday, Rebecca!