highlights

This has been a busy week for us. I have a million things to write about but had to narrow it down for now.

Most of you already know about the blog that I am privileged to be a part of called Lemon Tree Creations. It took us about 2 weeks to set up and get it all together. We had a great first week and were having so much fun reading all the sweet comments left by awesome readers. Then on Monday, I checked one of my favorite blogs, Today's Creative Blog and her whole Monday post was about Lemon Tree. I squealed with delight. This was a big deal and I was so excited. I couldn't wait to share it with my "LTC girls". The three of us live in 3 different states and have only talked through Facebook since this whole idea came about. Pretty crazy. I just love these girls and have you seen the projects they create? Unbelievable. So, needless to say we are having a blast with our new blogging adventure!

I completed my first item of clothing this week. I made a skirt for Avery and finished it on Wednesday. To say I am excited and proud is quite an understatement. This is a big deal for me. It was great practice and now I am ready to make another one, faster and better! This one is far from perfect, but I love it and will always remember my first skirt. I found the fabric after a long search at JoAnn's. I am very picky about my fabric. I finally found some I loved but it did not have any pink. I went for it anyway and it turns out that Avery is thrilled even with the absence of her "favoritest" color. We don't have a shirt to match yet so we are working on that. Then I can get pictures of her actually wearing the skirt...

On Thursday, our good friends had us over for a "green day" in celebration of St. Patrick's Day. There were all kinds of fun green activities for the kids including shamrock shaped cheese, hiding and finding green shamrocks, coloring with green crayons and markers...

counting and sorting Lucky Charms cereal...

as well as a whole lot of lovin'. It was such a fun little green party. Thanks again, Amy for having us over! (Oh, and Amy is going to be posting on Lemon Tree every other Friday. Today is her first post. Check it out.)

Of course, the major highlight of the week was all the sunshine and good times playing outside...

I love Spring and am so happy that it finally sprung! Enjoy your weekend! See you next week.

makin' lemonade

So, my friend Erin had a wonderful idea of starting up a collaborative blog full of craft projects. She asked another friend too and we immediately got started with the initial thoughts and design of the blog. We are so excited to announce the debut of Lemon Tree Creations. We will each present a project/tutorial one day of the week and some other friends will show up from time to time too. I have been so excited to tell you all about this little adventure...

Each Tuesday I will contribute on Lemon Tree. This Tuesday, I will share how this little birdie nest toy/decoration came about...

Happy Day will go back to basically being a family life blog. I will still preview projects and talk about them sometimes but you will have to visit Lemon Tree to get the full dose! Erin and Patrice have some fabulously creative ideas that you won't want to miss! Come visit us and become a follower so you don't miss a thing! It's going to be a fun ride!

ballerina pillow

I could not resist joining the Frugal Friday party. You know how I love Wendy and her Shabby Nest. I haven't had too many things going on lately except for pillows so here is yet another pillow I made this week. I know, I know, I really should expand my horizons and make something other than a pillow. One of these days.

This time it was for the ballerina of the house. Ever since I made the little man's airplane pillow , she has been asking me for a ballet pillow. She came back from Aunt Beth's last weekend with some new ballet stickers. As soon as I saw the silhouettes, I knew the perfect thing to do with them. I asked Avery which one she liked the best. She said she wanted the one that was doing an "arabesque" and that she wanted it to stay pink. She is a girl who knows what she likes, just like her Momma...

So the pink sticker of the ballerina doing an "arabesque" was the chosen one...

I cut it out and scanned it onto the computer. I printed it as a mirror image on iron-on transfer paper...

I cut it out and the ballerina herself helped me place it where it should be before it was ironed on. I used simple leftover white fabric that my Mom had given me awhile back for this pillow...

Cheap, simple, and girly. We were both thrilled with the finished product. Although Avery did have the clever thought to "decorate" the pillow by giving the ballerina eyes. I had to quickly talk her out of that idea...

When she took it to her room, she said, "Thanks, Mommy. I love it." It was precious.

So, she loves anything that has to do with ballet, but hasn't wanted to go to class the last several weeks. 3 year olds are such a mystery...

another pillow...

My pillow making has slowed down drastically but I did find time the other day to finally make a judd pillow for our living room. I used white this time instead of my traditional muslin. I used the large black ric-rac for the sides...

I love it. I literally made it during one episode of Diego. I've had a lot of practice now so I am getting quick. Although, one of these days, I should probably challenge myself and learn how to do a zipper. Ugh. I'm scared...

As with every project I make for the house, Tyson had to test it out right away for durability, of course...

A quick check back with Mom to make sure it is okay. As if it would stop him if it wasn't...

He seems to be pretty happy with the feel of it...

He even gave it a little hug of approval...

And then quickly threw it down to the ground...

If my pillows can survive the little man, I feel pretty good. Aren't boys great?

blocks

I mentioned on Friday that our new niece was welcomed into the world last Tuesday. She is completely precious and her big sister, Ellie is crazy about her. When I saw this post about blocks my super talented friend Erin created, I realized it would be the perfect big sister gift for Ellie. Erin was inspired by this and then I was inspired by her.

So, I found a set of 6 (1 1/2 inch) blocks at Hobby Lobby for $2.99. I only needed 6 so I purchased those and was so excited to get started...

I searched through my stash of scrapbook paper and found some perfect prints and colors for Ellie's blocks...

I then made me a 1 1/2 inch pattern and went to town cutting out squares...

After all 36 of my squares were cut out and ready to go, I put them in sets of 6 that I liked and added sticker letters of Ellie's name to the plain colored squares. I then got out my handy dandy (too much Blues Clues) Mod Podge and went to work...

So, I put a couple coats on the little blocks having so much fun in the process and very eager to see the finished product...

Erin had sanded the edges of her blocks, which I absolutely loved so I also sanded away the corners and the edges...

There are only 5 letters in her name so the last block featured a picture of the little cutie instead of a letter. It definitely turned out to be my favorite block...

I made sure there was an animal on each block...

Also some of my favorite patterns...

And then some random pictures that I thought Ellie would like. My favorite is the little girl flying a kite...

I loved making these and will probably use them as baby or big sibling gifts a lot from now on. They are so easy and fun to make. Our baby will definitely need to have some of these blocks...

Of course, as with any project, I learned some things that I will do differently next time. I don't think I needed as many coats of Mod Podge. You can see the lines really well on her picture, which drives me crazy. Plus there were a couple little air bubbles. That's okay though.

The beauty of kids is that they do not care or even notice these kind of imperfections. Ellie was thrilled with her blocks and had fun trying to build a tower on her Daddy's leg...

Check out these great blogs for some fun and creative ideas...The Girl Creative, Cottage Instincts, Making the World Cuter, The Persimmon Perch Made it Monday, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Twice Remembered, and A Soft Place to Land.

polka-dots

I love polka-dots, always have. So, I went crazy and did 3 polka-dot projects. The first one was place-mats for the kitchen table. They were originally going to be Valentine's Day place-mats but I chose to leave the felt heart off and keep them simple, just the way I like them.

I started off with 8 rectangles cut out slightly bigger than I wanted the final place-mat to be. I then did a whole lot of ironing...

My Mom described a more professional way to make place-mats but since I am so visual the directions made no sense to me. I just made it up as I went along and had fun in the process.

I cut this stuff out to go inside the 2 pieces of fabric...

After I had ironed all the edges, I placed the piece of batting in between and then pinned the 3 pieces together...

Next, I took it to my sewing machine and just sewed a straight stitch all the way around. So quick and easy.

I was so anxious to get them on the table. When I finished the first one, I placed it under the napkin basket and thought it had such a happy feel...

Now these place-mats are so far from perfect but I love them...

And here they are, all four of them in their place...

Next up was a Valentine's Day banner. Avery is beside herself with excitement about this holiday so she was thrilled to help me put this banner up on our mantle...

Unfortunately, I do not have pictures of the making of the banner. I made it way harder than it should have been and it took me way too long. I also took a chunk out of my finger along the way. It was quite an adventure. I just used the same polka-dot fabric from the place-mats and then some red & white gingham scraps from my Mom. I sewed each edge and then cut white felt letters that I hand stitched to each square.

For the finishing touch, I cut 4 red felt hearts and added ribbon loops before I stuffed them and hand stitched them closed...

For my final polka-dot project, I just had to make Tyson a special Valentine's Day tie shirt out of some smaller red & white polka-dot fabric. I just cut out the tie from a tie pattern my Mom and I made awhile back. I attached it to the shirt with some heat 'n bond in a few places so that it wouldn't slip around on me, took it to the machine, and sewed it right on the shirt...

My Mom has made him a couple tie shirts but this is the first one made by me. I was so excited and can't wait to see my little man in it...

Seriously, don't polka-dots just make you smile?