Two rainy Days in Vermont & the Best Treasure

We're back after three days in Vermont visiting my mom and grandmother. My mom lives on a country dirt road surrounded by fields and woods. This the rainy view from her front porch. Everything was starting to green up, no wonder since it rained for two days. We did enjoy a nature walk before the rain started but spent most of the visit inside because of the weather. We were all looking forward to attending the auction. Rain or shine you can always go treasure hunting. There weren't any major treasures to be found at the auction but that was alright, we discovered a treasure far greater. We were able to spend three days with my grandmother, mother, my sister and two nephews. Time with family is precious and is the greatest treasure you can have!


We had four generations of women together. We took this photo which represents each generation. I love the idea that our hands show the experience and wisdom of each of us. This photo is a treasure we'll cherish for a long time to come.


The auction wasn't a total bust. I got 12 sets of these melamine plates and the green glass jar. The plates will go into our picnic basket while the saucers and cups will be used for kid tea parties.

It was very soggy, but we did get to visit the Dog Chapel. We visited last year and had a great time taking pictures and looking at all the art work. The rain limited the number of pictures this year but it was still an enjoyable visit. Nature Girl is shown sitting on a fish bench holding a carved fish. She's wearing the Dora garden gloves her Mimi gave her. She had to wear them everywhere we went!
The neat thing about the Dog Chapel is that you can write a note to a deceased pet and leave it pinned on the wall of the Chapel. Our cat Jack died last March. During our visit last year Nature Girl made some scribbles and I wrote "We miss you Jack Cat." We pinned it to the wall before we left. We were surprised to see it was still there. Nature Girl thought we needed to leave another note this year. She drew a cat's face(it looked like a cat this time) then she dictated a note for me to write. It said " We miss you Jack Cat. Sometimes we're going to get a new cat. I think he'll like to play with your toys. I'm at the Dog Chapel. Love Nature Girl." It was very sweet and so honest. She really wants a new cat, but we have to talk her dad into it first. She has decided it must be an orange cat this time.
While visiting with my family I tried Chicken Scratch for the first time. I used the bookmark patterns from Kerri Made and plan to sew it into a bookmark this week. If you haven't tried it yet you should. It's very addicting!
I have some crafty things to work on this week and I hope to catch up on blog reading during the next few days. I'm wondering what you have all been up to the last few days.

Cracking the Eggs

Here are the thrifted drapes I talked about yesterday. I don't know why but I love them and can't wait to cut them up. I purchased two panels and a valance type piece. They'll have to wait a few days before being re-purposed.
Nature Girl and I are heading off to visit my mom for a few days. We're planning to attend an auction and hope to bring back some treasures. We also hope to visit Dog Mountain and get Stephen Huneck's latest book.

I spent the night cooking and prepping for our trip. We'll be celebrating my mom's 58th birthday so we baked a cake. Nature girl cracked the eggs herself. It seemed a bit risky handing half a dozen eggs over to a 4 year old, saying "Sure you can crack them yourself." She did an amazing job, not a single shell in them! I decorated the cake myself then made ham ranch BLT wraps and fresh salsa for the birthday luncheon. We're looking forward to the party and the visit with my mother and grandmother. We'll be back in a few days with pictures and hopefully some treasures. Wish us luck at the auction!

A Good Day

I had planned a day at home for cleaning and a trip to the park with our neighbors today. These aren't necessarily events to blog about but it turned out to be a good day. Our trip to the park was fun. While the kids played I sat on the bench and muddled my way through my first ever crochet project. The pattern for this crocheted flower necklace came from Crochet Me. Since I'm a newbie crocheter I thought this project would be a good way to practice crocheting but end up with a finished project. It's silly but I'm so excited about it! I actually crocheted something that I can use. . . yeah for me!
I tried to take a picture in the mirror but the flash was too bright. So I tried having Nature Girl take my picture but those didn't turn out either. In the end I settled for this picture of Nature Girl wearing my new crocheted necklace. There's no picture to post of me wearing my new necklace but that's ok I was having a bad hair day anyway!
We headed out to our favorite thrift store this afternoon and I bought some cool drapes to cut up and sew. They're in the dryer now so I don't have a picture yet. I think they might become one of Kerri's Crafty toolbelts By the way check out Kerri's blog and see her sling bag, it's gorgeous! It's the first one I've seen made with my tutorial.


When my husband got home tonight he brought in our mail. There was a package for me from Barb at So How Was Your Day? I won some goodies in Barb's give away. Nature Girl was just as excited as I was to see what was in the package. Barb sent us a tissue holder and a card wallet in a flamingo print. As I predicted Nature Girl was thrilled with the flamingo gifts. I love them but so does she. Nature Girl called dibs on the card wallet since I already have a big wallet I didn't need it. For a four year old she really knows how to plead her case. A small discussion and a pout ensued, then we finally agreed that we could share them and take turns. I also had to promise to look for more flamingo fabric to make something for her.
Thanks Barb for the goodies. It turned out to be a really good day!

Biscotti & Crocheting

Biscotti and crocheting may not usually go together but today they did. I invited my friend Cindy over for coffee and biscotti in exchange for a crochet lesson. Really I haven't seen her all winter and wanted to visit and catch up, the crochet lesson was a bonus. Cindy stopped by this morning and after catching up for a bit, a couple cups of coffee and a few pieces of biscotti the lesson started. I learned to single crochet and double crochet. From the picture you can see I struggled a bit and need to keep practicing. It looks like a kid made it, but you have to start somewhere. Right? I really want to be able to make this basket and this bag. So I'll continue to practice. I hope to continue to have coffee & crochet lessons each month. Getting to visit with a friend is always nice and maybe I'll learn how to make these tortoises for Nature Girl. Now on to the biscotti recipe I promised.


My mom loves biscotti, so I would buy Nonni's biscotti for her. True to my nature I thought "I can make that myself." So I did. I found a recipe and modified it to create Pecan Toffee Biscotti. My mom loves it so I've put a few pieces in the freezer and will take them to her this weekend. You can freeze any leftover biscotti and take it out as you need it, however we've never had any left to freeze. We tend to share it with friends and family so it disappears fast.
Today's biscotti was super yummy so I've already had two pieces. I'm sure I'll be having another piece with tea tonight. It's a nice treat for my husband and I after Nature Girl is asleep. Now it's your turn to enjoy some biscotti so get baking. Let me know if you have any questions on the biscotti recipe.

Pecan Toffee Biscotti

Ingredients

4 to 4-1/2 cups unsifted all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1 1/2 Tablespoons almond extract
1 8oz. package toffee pieces (I prefer almond toffee pieces.)
1 cup chopped pecans

Directions:

Heat oven to 325 degrees. Spray 2 large baking sheets with cooking spray. In medium-sized bowl, combine 4 cups flour, baking powder, and salt and set aside. In large bowl, with electric mixer on medium speed, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add almond extract to butter mixture and beat well. Reduce mixer speed to low. Gradually beat flour mixture into butter mixture until well blended.

With spoon, stir in toffee and nuts. If dough is too soft to shape, stir in some of the remaining 1/2 cup flour. Divide dough into six equal pieces. Shape each piece into an 8 x 2-inch log and place across a large baking sheet. Bake logs 30 minutes or until firm and golden brown. ( I tend to cheat and make 3 larger logs. You have to increase the cooking time but it's a little less work.)

Transfer biscotti to cutting board. Using serrated knife and a sawing motion, cut diagonally into 1 inch thick slices. Arrange slices on baking sheet. Bake slices 15 minutes. Cool slices on wire rack and store in airtight container. Will keep for 2 months or so. In the freezer, they will keep up to 6 months. Enjoy with coffee, tea or hot chocolate!

Busy Girls

We've been busy girls sewing, planting and baking. The owl stitchery is now a sling bag for Nature Girl. She loves it and proudly announced today that she will never leave home without it. We'll see how long that lasts but for today she brought it with her. She's pictured here on a bench outside our local library modeling her sling bag and her owl sticker. I'm very pleased with how it turned out. It's just what I pictured for the owl stitchery.

Planting:
We planted seeds yesterday using the newspaper pots from Dave's Garden. I say "we" but really Nature Girl helped plant the first eight pots then went off to ride her bike, which she informed me is good for the earth. I finished planting while she rode her bike around the driveway pretending she was visiting her friends and cousins. It was very entertaining! She looked at my bike that has been hanging in the garage since before she was born and told me I should start riding my bike too. Nice thought but not likely no matter how good it is for the planet.

Sewing:
I haven't posted any pictures on the Sparkle Power Sew Along Flickr Group, but I have been sewing. I made these green capri pajama pants using thrifted knit fabric and a pair of my favorite pajamas as a pattern. They're super comfy. Not bad for 50 cents worth of thrifted fabric! Sorry the picture is pretty poor but I hope you get the idea.

I whipped up this simple skirt yesterday from another thrifted fabric I bought a few weeks ago. It's not fancy but I like it. We went to see Horton Hears a Who today and I wore my new skirt. I even have a piece of the fabric left to make something for Nature Girl. I have a few other projects I've been working on that aren't finished and many more that are on my to do list. That list never gets shorter because I'm always finding something new I want to make. Check out Kerri Made for her chicken scratch gingham and her crafty tool belt tutorial.


Baking:
I'll leave you with one more picture for tonight. The batter doesn't look appetizing, but this Pecan Toffee Biscotti is delicious. I'll take a few more pictures of the finished product and post the recipe tomorrow or the next day. Trust me this biscotti is so yummy it's worth checking back for the recipe. I'm enjoying a piece right now!

Revised Snack Bag Tutorial

I decided to make a few more snack pouches and matching napkins this morning. I pulled up my reusable snack pouch tutorial to refresh my memory. I started to cut out the fabric and thought this doesn't seem right. Well it wasn't. The measurements would make a nice sandwich size pouch not the snack pouch I wanted. I had figured out measurements for both sizes back when I made the pouch. I must have confused the measurements when I wrote out the tutorial. Anyway If you downloaded the reusable snack pouch tutorial and want the snack size please download the revised tutorial. Sorry for the goof! Happy Earth Day!
Edited:
Snack size pouch measurement = 7.5 inches by 11 inches.
Sandwich size pouch measurement = 7.5 inches by 19 inches.

The construction is the same for either a snack pouch or a sandwich bag. So the tutorial instructions would be exactly the same for either. The difference in measurements will just change the final size. So really this is a two for one tutorial by changing the largest measurement you can have either a snack pouch or sandwich bag.
The 7.5 x 19 inch size for sandwich bags should accommodate bigger pieces of bread. If you're a Wonder Bread sandwich eater you may want to cut that down to 7.5 X 15.

The Last Piece

This weekend my in-laws came for a visit. Having visitors means I get to cook my favorite dishes. Coffee Cake Crumble is one of my favorite things to serve for breakfast. It's delicious! So delicious in fact, that this is the last piece. Not to fear. . . I'm sharing the recipe so you can enjoy it too! Be warned it disappears quickly.

Coffee Cake Crumble

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon


Crumble Topping:
1/3 cup flour
½ cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon


Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) grease a 9x13 inch pan.
In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder and soda. Set aside.
In a large bowl, cream the butter and 1 cup of sugar. Add eggs, sour cream and vanilla. Mix well.
Add the flour mixture and combine. Batter will be thick so stir it by hand.
Spread the cake batter in prepared 9x13 inch pan.
Combine 1/4 cup sugar and ½ teaspoon of cinnamon. Sprinkle the cinnamon/sugar mixture on top of the batter.
Prepare the crumble topping by mixing the flour, brown sugar, butter and cinnamon together. Sprinkle the crumble mixture on top.
Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.

Yard Work

We had a gorgeous weekend filled with sunshine and yard work. Spending hours raking the yard really wasn't bad, since we had extra helpers. Now the yard has been raked and fertilized so we should see green grass soon. Nature Girl happily played around the yard as the grown ups raked away. She discovered a perfectly round rock, three dandelions, a blue jay feather, wild violets in bloom and a small grasshopper named "Grassy."
We took a break from yard work and painted the round rock with red spray paint. Yes I even let her help with the spray paint. Once it dried Nature Girl added black dots to create a ladybug. We put the rocks in her garden. She was thrilled to see her lambs ear plants from last year are already growing and she has three purple hyacinths that are preparing to bloom.


We still haven't started our marigold seeds but once they're ready we plan to add those to her garden too. Marigolds are hardy and should do fine is a 4 year olds garden. Really we need hardy plants to make up for my lack of gardening ability. I'd like to extend her garden all the way around the tree this year so we better get planting. I saw a neat video where you can use old newspapers for planting seedlings instead of buying peat pots. You can check out the simple how to video from Dave's Garden. It's a great way to recycle and garden at the same time. Perfect for Earth Day!

I Won!

I received a comment yesterday from Barb at So How Was Your Day? She sewed up a bunch of goodies and had a give way. I won and I'm very excited! I've entered but have never won any bloggy give aways before. So thank you Barb!!! She gave me a little hit saying it had pink animals on it. Barb is a flamingo lover so I'm guessing it has flamingos on it. Nature Girl is also a lover of flamingos and her favorite colors are orange and pink. Needless to say I have a feeling I might be losing my new prize to Nature Girl. We can always share it.
So now it's your turn for a chance to win. Tracy at Itching 2 B Stitching is having a contest to name her new dress form. Leave a comment suggesting a name from now till April 25th to enter. You could win a crafty apron. I know I could use one, I'm always walking around with pins and needles stuck into my shirt or pant leg and I can never find my scissors when I'm crafting. So go enter, I did.

Sling Bag Tutorial

I created a tutorial for my sling bag. I hope you'll enjoy creating one for yourself. If you make one please post pictures in the Flickr group Sling bag from Life With Nature Girl. I look forward to seeing what you create. If you have any questions e-mail me. Happy sewing!

Click to download a pdf of the Sling Bag Tutorial

Spring, Beautiful Spring!

Nature Girl has been asking to go to the park all winter. Well now that spring has finally arrived her wish came true. The park opened this week. The last two days the weather has been beautiful so we packed a lunch and trekked off to the park. Everyone else had the same idea so there were hoards of kids and a good time was had by all.
I got to field test my new summer sling bag. It works pretty well. I need to downsize my wallet a bit since the current one is bulging. I wish it was bulging with wads of money but in reality it's filled with old receipts, and store discount/reward cards. Honestly, it's stuffed so full I can't close it. So I plan to clean that out today. The weatherman is calling for another beautiful day. We have a friend coming for a play date today and will be spending lots of time outside again. Yeah for spring!
I'm working on a tutorial for the sling bag and hope to have it up later today. Special thanks goes out to Susan at chickenfoot. She has been a great help checking and editing my pouch, napkin and sling bag tutorials. So check out her blog then check back here later for the sling bag tutorial.
Happy spring everyone!

Making Something for Me

I like to craft and create things but I often end up creating things for other people. I've been wanting to make myself a purse but haven't taken the time. I've been sewing but the three Jenny Purses I made were given away as gifts. Today I decided to make something for myself. I want a bag that I can take to the park this summer. It has to hold the essentials like my wallet, keys, cell phone, sunglasses but be light weight. So I created this. I don't know if you call it a sling bag or pouch bag but can be worn across the chest or over the shoulder. I plan on field testing it tomorrow. Our local park just opened today and Nature Girl is dying to go.
I stuffed quite a bit into the purse for the photo. It fit a cell phone, cordless phone, tennis ball, measuring tape and sunglasses with a little room to spare. Why would I stuff those items into my purse . . . because they were on my counter! Why else?

Here's a shot of the inside. It has a pocket for my cell phone and a ring to attach my keys to, since I hate it when my keys fall to the bottom of my purse and I have to dig for them. It's hard to see in the photos but there is also a deep pocket on the front of the purse. I think it could use a little embellishing on the front pocket but otherwise I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. Not bad considering I made the pattern myself. This is just the kind of bag I envisioned for the owl on the yellow fabric. Nature Girl has already asked me to make it for her. Maybe tomorrow, because today was about making something for me!

Sew Along

I recently joined the Sparkle Power Sew Along. The projects for April & May include clothing and accessories. I've been wanting to make some skirts and bags so it seemed like a good idea to join. A few months ago I purchased a few pillowcases at my favorite thrift store so I could try the pillowcase dress tutorial at Red Instead. I thought that Sparkle Power Sew Along would get me motivated so I'd get the dresses done. Well it worked here is Nature Girl modeling a pillowcase dress with a matching headband I finished today. I'm sure this should have been finished in 30 minutes or less but the sewing powers in the universe were working against me today. Two hours later it's finished and she's happily wearing it as a nightgown. Have you ever had one of those days when you want to craft but the craftiness just isn't there? That was me today. Seriously how hard can a pillowcase dress be! Not very . . . but today it was a struggle. I think I'll try it again on a day when the crafty powers are working in my favor.


The owl is a work in progress. Do you recognize the fabric? It's the yellow fabric I found at the thrift store last weekend. It reminded me of the 70's and justed called out for a brown embroidered owl. The owl is from a doodle I made while waiting for Nature Girl to finish dance class this week. Now I think I'll turn it into either a zippered pouch or a simple little purse. I don't need an owl purse but Nature Girl loves owls and will claim it as hers once it's finished. Really after the struggle I had with the pillowcase dress I think I should wait for another day. I'd hate to ruin it. I also need to work on my softie for the Plush Swap 3 but I'll wait till the craftiness returns.

Reusable Snack Bag & Napkin Tutorials

I suffer from plastic use guilt. What is this you ask. It's the sense of guilt that overcomes me every time I open the drawer to pull out a plastic bag. We all know that plastic is bad for the environment but it's very hard to give up it's convenience and go "green." In an effort to be a little more "green" and alleviate some of my plastic use guilt I created tutorials for a reusable snack bag and reusable napkin. It's quick and easy, taking less than 30 minutes(less time if you're not interrupted by a child) to create both the pouch and a matching napkin. I made several snack pouches and matching napkins for my daughter's preschool snack. These are my first tutorials. I hope you'll make some and help alleviate plastic use guilt all around the world! Feel free to contact me with questions.

Click to download a pdf of the Reusable Snack Bag Tutorial


Click to download a pdf of Reusable Napkin Tutorial

Edited:
This reusable snack bag tutorial was revised. The link should take you to the revised tutorial. Snack size pouch measurement = 7.5 inches by 11 inches.
Sandwich size pouch measurement = 7.5 inches by 19 inches.

The construction is the same for either a snack pouch or a sandwich bag. So the tutorial instructions would be exactly the same for either. The difference in measurements will just change the final size. So really this is a two for one tutorial by changing the largest measurement you can have either a snack pouch or sandwich bag.
The 7.5 x 19 inch size for sandwich bags should accommodate bigger pieces of bread. If you're a Wonder Bread sandwich eater you may want to cut that down to 7.5 X 15.

Saving Trees

Today we headed off to dance class as usual. We had to stop and wait for traffic to pass while a tree crew worked along the side of the road Nature Girl asked from the back seat of the car why we were stopping. I explained that their were men working to take down some trees and we had to wait for the other cars to pass. Her response was "Don't they know that they can use fabric for napkins instead of cutting down trees?" Well I had to laugh! I just made her a fabric napkin and a reusable snack bag for her preschool snack bag. Now she's trying to get everyone to save trees. So I'll do my part to help the trees. I've almost completed tutorials for the reusable snack bag and cloth napkin I made. I will post them tomorrow. So stop by to see my first ever tutorials.

Painting Rocks

Nature Girl had a preschool friend over for a play date. Since we usually like to plan a craft or project for our play dates we decided to paint rocks. This was a big hit. Nature Girl and friend painted large rocks with acrylic Painty pens. Amazing how a simple inexpensive project can provide so much entertainment. We plan to spray the rocks with a clear spray paint then add them to Nature Girl's garden. Spring is finally beginning to arrive. The snow is melting and the hyacinths are starting to peek through in her little garden.

While the kids happily painted their rocks I painted a frog and a cat. We'll add these to the flower beds in the yard once all the snow melts. Once again amazing how a simple and inexpensive activity can provide so much entertainment, even for a mom!

Thrifted Fabric

I love thrifting! Nature Girl is also a lover of things thrifted. Saturday mornings we like to head off to our favorite little thrift store with our next door neighbor MB. The three of us spend an hour or so looking around then head home with our purchases. We look forward to this weekly trip. Yesterday I found these fabrics. I'm not sure what the plaid wool piece will be yet but the blue swirly fabric will probably end up as a skirt for me. The red check is destined to become an accent on an apron and the yellow will be used for a stitchery project. The red fabric piece is actually a scarf I laid all the fabric on for the photo. I turned that scarf into a bag but couldn't get a decent photos of it.
Barb at So How Was Your Day had a cool post on Japanese Cloth Bags. It's a YouTube video that demonstrates how to tie a scarf into a shopping bag. After watching it I had to try it out. I dug out a red scarf from Nature Girl's dress up bin and whipped up the cloth bag. It was so easy. I think I might carry one in the car for when you need a bag. Of course if I ever get around to using my thrifted clothes to make shopping bags I plan to keep those in the car too. I have a Rubbermaid bin full of thrifted treasures just waiting to be transformed into reusable shopping bags. That's a project for another day. In the meantime the scarf bag will do.

Caffine and Spring Cleaning

Recently I've discovered that if I drink caffeine in the evenings I can't sleep at night. The other night I drank a Coke at 7pm. I went to bed at midnight then crawled back out at 1 am because I was wide awake. So what is there to do at 1 am that won't wake up the whole house? Spring cleaning of course. It's amazing how productive you can be in the middle of the night when there are no little people to interrupt you every five minutes! I decided to tackle our arts & crafts/storage closet down stairs. It's been a wreck since Christmas. Anytime you opened the doors you were taking the chance something would fall on your head. No longer... after 2 hours of cleaning everything is tidy, organized and labled. Now we can easily get to Nature Girl's craft supplies. Did I mention this is her craft closet? I have a basement full of my supplies. But that's a cleaning adventure for another sleepless night!
Here are the before and after pictures.

B EFORE




AFTER

The Recipe Box Swap

Over at i have to say there is a recipe box swap going on today. Well who couldn't use a new recipe so I thought I'd join in the fun. Today's shaping up to be a sunny 50 degree day just like spring. Of course there is still snow on the ground so I decided to do one more winter soup before putting my soup pot away for the summer. So here's what we're having for dinner...
Hearty Slit Pea Soup and homemade bread. Before you say yuck I have to admit I've never been a fan of pea soup until this recipe. Now it's a favorite when paired with warm bread and butter. Delicious! The recipe comes from Steph's Country Kitchen Goodness.

Chopped and ready to go into the Crockpot.

It doesn't look like much yet but it's going to be yummy!

HEARTY SPLIT PEA SOUP

1 package (16 ounces) dry, green split peas

4 cups water

2 cups chicken broth

1/2 pound cooked, finely cubed ham

1 large potato, peeled and diced

3 medium carrots, peeled and sliced

1 celery stalk, sliced

1 small onion, chopped

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

1/4 tsp. onion powder

1/8 tsp. dry thyme leaves

1 bay leaf

Rinse split peas in cold water. Combine all ingredients in a Dutch oven or large sauce pan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cover. Simmer, stirring occasionally, 1-1/2 hours. Remove bay leaf. Yield: 6 servings.

*Useful Tip: If soup is too thick, add enough water until soup reaches desired consistency. Soup thickens upon standing, so leftovers will probably need more water before re-serving.

One Success & One Misfit

I read something the other day that said it's good to fail because it teaches you new approaches and solutions. That each failure brings you closer to a workable solution that you can use. The elephant turned out to be a bit of a misfit but after that I created this orange kitty for Nature Girl. Nature Girl loves orange cats and wants a real one. She was thrilled with this little kitty and has named her "Ginger."
Ginger has been the recipient of lots of hugs and was honored with being the animal chosen to attend the leap land activities at dance class today. She's also decided to take Ginger to show and tell at school tomorrow. Ginger and Nature Girl seem happy together. Now back to the drawing board with the elephant.

Elephant Update

Here's an update on the elephant that was in progress yesterday.

While Nature girl was sacked out on the couch yesterday I worked on getting the elephant put together. Unfortunately I think he's headed to the Land of Misfit Toys. The questionable construction and shoddy stitching have sealed his fate. For the life of me I couldn't figure out how to get his ears on so the seam would be on the inside and wouldn't show. The way the ears curved around it's head stumped me. Maybe it was the lack of sleep the two previous nights or just a brain malfunction but I couldn't do it for the life of me. In the end I did a zig zag stitch up the ears to attach them. I'm not sure he'll hold up to the love of our four year old niece. It's funny how it seemed like a good idea on paper but in reality it didn't quite work out. I may have to give it another try someday when I'm up to the challenge. In the meantime I think I'll follow the pattern for Nelly the elephant in Toys to Sew by Claire Garland.

Work in progress

With Nature Girl being sick and taking naps the last two days I've had some time to work on some projects. Here are a few works in progress. Above is the start of a blue elephant softie for one of our nieces. She loves elephants and I thought I could make a softie from a drawing I did.

This is a snail doodle I stitched on muslin this weekend. I was looking for a doodle that would make a good icon for me as a blogger. I wanted something made by me and unique to me. So this snail stack is what I came up with. It's my husband, daughter and I. I think it will work. Of course I reserve the right to change my mind at a later date and create something new. As for the stitched snail stack it's being turned into a pillow and sent off to a niece who claimed it as her own.

Sick & Sacked Out

Nature Girl has been sick for two days. Here she is sound asleep on the couch this morning. We know she's sick because she never takes a nap anymore. She gave up napping at 2 1/2 years old and has never looked back. Now here she is sacked out. Poor thing! We've been watching PBS Kids for the last two days. When that gets boring we've been listening to audio books. We discovered a great new audio book by Amy Friedman called Tell Me a Story. It's very entertaining with music and different voices for each short story. I enjoyed listening to it too. It's helping to keep us both sane. I'm hoping Nature Girl is on the mend and will be back to her usual self tomorrow.