Wordless{ish} Wednesday: Baa, baa, black sheep

{Some of you may remember that my oldest and dearest friend, Aubree', was expecting a baby boy this summer--well, I'm pleased as punch to announce that she and her husband welcomed their not-so-little bundle of joy on Friday; baby Andrew weighed in at a whopping 8 lbs, 14 oz and was 21 1/4" long!}

{I knew that Andrew's nursery was going to have a lambs theme, so I used some of my time while on bed rest to make him a mobile based on this adorable tutorial.  And in true procrastinator's form, I didn't have the whole thing done until Andrew made his arrival on Friday--so much for being on top of things!}

{I hope Andrew, Aubree' and Sean like it--it's so cute that I'm starting to think that I need to make one for my own little guy, who is more than welcome to make his arrival any day now, hint hint.}

Sewing machines

{With my mom here, I've definitely noticed a drastic increase in the amount of sewing going on in this house.  It's just so nice having someone else to work with, especially when that other someone can cut out patterns because you're too cumbersome to get down on the floor any more.  It also helps that a bunch of friends are expecting babies or just recently had babies, so I've got a lot of gifts to finish up and send off--my mom and I have been turning out blankets and car seat canopies like an assembly line.}

{We haven't forgotten about Sammy, though--my sewing skills still revolve primarily around sewing straight lines, but my mom is considerably more advanced, so she's making Sammy a pair of summer shortalls, complete with a pocket embellished with a vintage Grover iron-on.  He's going to be stylin'.  What projects are you working on?}

Up, up & away: Sammy's second birthday

{Sammy's been obsessed with airplanes for about the last six months, so when it came time to choose a theme for his second birthday party, it was pretty much a no-brainer.  I decided to use the same color scheme as last year because 1. I like it and 2. I could re-use some of the party supplies and decor that I had saved from Sammy's first birthday.  The invites are actually do-it-yourself stickers that I designed and cut out; the scalloped cards were leftovers from the big wedding that Captain Husband and I started planning for but wound up never having.}

{I also designed and cut out stickers to be used as cupcake toppers and tags on the party favors.  Believe it or not, I did everything using free software like Pixlr and PicMonkey; the airplane is based on a photo that I took of an airplane that's currently "flying" over a junkyard about ten miles from our house.}

{Using this tutorial, I made a dozen airplanes from craft sticks and wooden clothespins that I spray painted in the birthday boy's colors; I then stuck them on my ubiquitous yarn wreath hanging on our front door and made a mini banner using cloud stickers that I found for 50% off at the Hobby Lobby.}

{Since Sammy had several toy planes in his collection, I used them as decorative anchors for the helium balloons that were leftovers from last year's party.  I also made a banner out of some adorable gingham fabric that I had thrifted a few months back following this tutorial.  My mom was kind enough to fold a bunch of the giant paper airplanes that I then hung throughout the house the day of the party.}

(The Happy Birthday banner is another decoration that I made leftover from last year; I used the rest of the clothespin planes to make a mobile that I hung in front of the kitchen window.  I plan to re-hang the mobile in the boys' bedroom, but for now I'm still enjoying it's cheerful colors in the kitchen.}

{It's like déjà vu all over again: I used the same vanilla and vanilla buttercream frosting recipe that I used for Sammy's party last year and I honestly think they were even better the second time around.  I had scored an airplane cookie cutter at the thrift store a few weeks ago so I (and by I, I mean my mom) made citrus sugar cookies for this party as well--they were pretty darn good, too!}

{And last but not least, the party favors--since Sammy and his friends all seem to be of the age that really enjoys coloring, I decided to make some crayon rolls following this tutorial.  You can just toss them in your diaper bag or purse--no more scrambling for loose crayons while your kid throws a fit at your local restaurant--the perfect party favor for today's toddlers.  To save you all from photo overload, I'll be sharing some of the candid photos from the party tomorrow, so be sure to stop back!}

Wordless{ish} Wednesday: Vintage handkerchief pillow tutorial

{I came across a great little book entitled Sew a Beautiful Gift (Claire B. Shaeffer, Sterling Publishing Co.; New York, NY, 1986) while out thrifting last week and I just couldn't pass it up as it was chock full of easy-to-follow patterns for everything from tote bags to children's aprons.  One of the tutorials in the book was for a one-piece pillow that was perfect for a vintage handkerchief that I bought for a dollar at an estate sale last week, although any piece of square fabric will do.}

{After you've followed the first two steps, turn the pillow right-side out and then fill with whatever you happen to have on hand.  Once your pillow is stuffed, hand-stitch the opening closed; if you're feeling truly wild and crazy, feel free to add a button to the center of the pillow to give it a nice, tufted look.  Then sit back and admire your handiwork!}

Wordless{ish} Wednesday: The beginnings of a vintage bassinet makeover

{I've been rather absent from the online world lately and that's mostly due to the new project that I found for myself over the weekend--refurbishing a vintage bassinet that I discovered at a new-to-me thrift store.}  

{The bassinet was structurally sound but needed some help in the aesthetics department.  I stripped the bassinet down to its bare bones and fixed a minor split in the wood trim and then tried to figure out what to do next.}

{Looking at the dingy and somewhat tattered vinyl liner, I had my eureka moment--I could cut the liner along its seams and use those pieces to create a pattern for a custom fabric liner.  It seemed like a pretty straightforward idea so I figured what the heck and started cutting away.}

{Thankfully I had a helper kitty to offer me assistance in the deconstruction of the original liner.}

{Last week I had found some gorgeous teal and green printed fabric at a different thrift store and bought it figuring that I could easily find some use for it.  Turns out I had just enough of it to piece together a new liner for the bassinet!  And the icing on the cake is that I was able to find complementary polka dotted fabric at the Hobby Lobby, so I bought enough of that to try my hand at putting together a skirt for the bassinet, as well as some lovely teal batiste for making some fitted sheets for bassinet mattress.}

{I pinned the old pieces of the vinyl liner to my fabric and started cutting--I added an additional 3" to the height of each piece so that I would hopefully have enough lining to fold over the edge of the bassinet.   With some trepidation I started sewing everything together, beginning with sewing the side panels to the bottom panel, followed up by sewing up the sides.}

{I've never attempted anything like this before, so I was very pleasantly surprised to see that the new liner not only fits but it actually looks pretty darn good if I may say so myself.  I plan to add some bias trim to the edge of the liner and I still have some ways to go with the skirt, but so far this transformation has me tickled pink.}

Wordless{ish} Wednesday: Sew crazy (and a giveaway!)

{I've been bit by the sewing bug, big time.  It helps that I've been having some incredibly great luck out thrifting--a few weeks ago, I came across some beautiful light turquoise pre-quilted fabric that was only $1.99, so I bought it with the hopes of eventually turning it into a toddler-sized blanket for Sammy.  Sammy and I went to the fabric store on Sunday--I had some coupons burning a hole in my pocket--and he picked out some awesome Hello Kitty fabric that went with the pre-quited fabric perfectly.  I managed to sew it all together Monday night after Sammy went to bed so I was able to surprise him with it first thing Tuesday morning; he promptly grabbed it and curled up on the sofa with it.  I think that means he likes it.}

{Speaking of thrifting and sewing, I had recently come across a great tutorial over at The Sewing Dork on how to turn two pillow cases into a cute tote.  Armed with this information, I soon found some adorable vintage pillowcases at my local thrift store that would be perfect for this little project, which brings us to today's giveaway:}

{Your very own, one-of-a-kind tote bag! After I finished sewing everything together, I decided that the bag was missing a little something something on the strap; I came across a tutorial over at Mom 4 Real on how to make fabric rosettes and voila--I had my something something.  (Don't worry--it's affixed using an alligator clip, so you can remove it to wash the bag or wear it in your hair if you're feeling fancy.)  The bag measures approximately 12" wide by 10" high (not including the strap)--just the right size for a quick trip to the store; there's even a little pocket in the interior where you can stash your keys or your chapstick.  Disclaimer: I'm definitely a novice when it comes to sewing, so the bag isn't perfect, but that's just one of the quirks of handmade, right?}

{Okay, so here's the nitty gritty on how to enter:

Mandatory entry: You must be a follower of my blog. Just leave me a comment telling me you are.

{Optional entries--please leave a separate comment for each entry}
1. Answer this question: What will you carry in your new bag?
2. Like my blog on Facebook.
3. Tweet, Facebook, Google+ or blog about this giveaway (include the link in your comment, please).

This giveaway will end Sunday, April 22nd at 11:59 PM MST and the winner will be contacted via email, so please make sure that I have a way of contacting you.  Good luck everyone!}

This giveaway is open to all of my readers and is sponsored by L to the third (me!).