A little Silhouette love

A while ago I got a Silhouette machine - I had wanted a Cricut, but it seemed like after purchasing all of the separate cartridges, it would be a very costly investment. The silhouette can use all of the fonts that you have on your computer already as well as images, etc....

I have been enjoying a few projects with mine so far and have plenty more in the works!

Alphabet bean bags for H.
I had a ton of ovals of coordinating fabrics left over from shopping cart covers that I sold in my etsy shop. I had been holding on to them thinking it was a shame to just get rid of them...
I used the heat transfer material for this project (and used the 'negative' of the letters so I still have the actual letters left for another project). Each bean bag has the capital letter on one side and the lower case letter on the other.

Our cloth diaper pails - they were unlabeled before and we would occasionally find non-diaper things in them after company came. This way, there is no mistake (and I think it's sort of cute!)

Baking supplies. Nathan (and visitors) would find themselves searching through each container for the sugar, so - another problem solved!

The glass block nativity. They sell this shape in the silhouette download shop, too easy, sweet and holiday appropriate.

Our advent calendar.
I used the machine to cut out stencils for each number and then painted them on the pockets. I didn't feel like taking the time to hand stitch each number, and I like that these look neat.

All of the ornaments on our completed tree

Fabric Options

Bold colors

Happy browns and blues

Strawberry butterfly

Paisley

Candy striper

Butterfly Garden

Green, blue and brown

Antiques

Candy dots

Black, white and red

We've been cooking!

I've been busy 'cooking up' some felt food for H this week. It was fun to make, but by the time I was finished, I was finished! He doesn't know quite what to do with pretend food, but likes to take it out of the bags and look at it. His favorite is the strawberries. There are some amazing tutorials here and here online (there were many more wonderful tutorials online, but these are the ones I used).

Fruits: Cantaloupe, orange, apples, strawberries, banana and kiwi

Veggies: Corn, cabbage/lettuce, cucumber, potatoes, carrots and a salad

Bread: pancakes, bread slices, and pizza

Misc.: Bacon, eggs, cherry pie, cookies, chocolate cookies/burger patties, cheese slices, pats of butter, jelly/pasta sauce/sliced turkey or ham

Shhh... It's time to be quiet!

I actually made this about 6 months ago, but now H is actually old enough to enjoy it a little! There were so many cute quiet books out there, and I love ones with a little personalization. I enjoyed making this one, using muslin and felt for the pages, wool felt cutouts, various fabrics, printer fabric, beads and shrinky-dinks!

Family members can be put in the correct snaps on the family tree.

Tic-tac-toe, and plant seeds in the garden. (The flower actually grows!)

Mail time! The 'postcards' are made out of shrinky dinks that I printed and then shrank. The flag on the mail box can go up and down.

H likes to look at the pictures, there is one postcard from each grandparent and great grandparent.

The doors to the house open and close

The fish hook on the fishing pole.

This is H's favorite page! He loves to take the fish out, put them back in and chew on them a little...

The car and plane can go back and forth to visit the aunts and uncles. Lift the flap to see who is home.

Mix and Match clothes. I might add a bag with more clothes to play with.

Match the birds!


I made it so that I can add pages or change pages as necessary. I need to make a page with a zipper, something that ties, and something that threads. Any ideas?

At this point in time:

At this point in time:
H loves his Mama and Daddy, and basically anyone who loves him!

Every time when I get him up after a nap or in the mornings, he likes to get a pacifier and blankie.

He loves to stand in the storage space of his step stool and make faces in the mirror. Sometimes he even gets little props (like old pacifiers and books) to see how he looks with them in the mirror.

Waiting for Daddy to come home from work is the most exciting time of our day!

He really likes to clap his puzzle pieces together and hear the loud noise. (He does this with his eyes closed tight - just in case he accidentally hits his face?)

He cries every time we come in from playing outside.

He likes to go push Leonard down and love on him.

He loves to climb on our bed and throw himself on the pillows.

He loves playing peek-a-boo and sharing his snacks with family on the webcam.

He still does not like vegetables, he likes fruits and most kinds of meat, he LOOOVES cheese and goldfish crackers.

He gets apples and peanut butter for snack time, and will eat off the peanut butter and spit out the rest of the apple.

He has discovered the joy of closing doors.

He can say uh-oh, stuck, duck, "arf," mama, dada, ...

He can sign, pacifier, blankie, water, bath, apple, banana, cheese, daddy, meat, more, finished, please, thank you, I love you, fish, Leonard, milk, clean, 'brush off,' bubbles, phone, dog,...

I know that was a lot, but I don't want to forget them!

Playing with blocks while Mama puts her make-up on

A little owl that keeps the door open.
Modeled after this

Peeking under the table skirt
I'm glad it wasn't a woman's!!!

A little light reading: Cats, Money Managing, and cheese

A day in the life

Good Morning, Sunshine!

Every morning, or after each nap I usually walk in to find H jumping in the corner of the crib, socks and extra pacifiers thrown on the floor, and with a big smile on his face!

Who wouldn't want to be greeted like that?

A little bit of cloth diapered cuteness!  He loves to gnaw on the drawer pulls on our armoir.  

Wearing his 'love beads' as PopHart (my Daddy) calls them.

Having a little visit over at Nanny's.  We rarely get a good picture as a family.  H was either laughing or just about to cry.... we'll go with laughing.

Our new diaper bag!  The fabric store had some new prints come in, and I just couldn't resist!!!!

Backpack style is a must for me, so I can have my hands free!   My last one that I made was larger and bulkier (it was my first diaper bag!) so I made this one a little smaller, and with many more pockets!!! Three on the outside and seven on the inside - pockets make me happy!   Now, everything won't be floating around in there, it all has it's own place.  I love fabric!!!!

I hope we have a little girl someday!!! (This is NOT an announcement!)

I made this cute little dress for N's neice's daughter.  Precious!!  You just can't do pink ruffles for a little boy!  The dress was surprisingly fast and easy - I mostly followed Amy Butler's pattern in her 'Little Stitches for Little Ones.'  

Goodnight!

(I feel like we post a lot of sleeping pictures, but they are too cute!  N and I usually peek at H before we go to bed, and he somehow always seems to be either surrounded by or on top of ALL the blankets and toys in his crib.  I wonder if it is comfortable....)

It's Friday?

After becoming an at-home mom, weekdays and weekends sort of blend together, holidays and work weeks blend together, and for awhile - days and nights would blend together (but thankfully we have that part figured out now!).  But, on weekends, N is home more, and we really have to keep a nap schedule down  - to work around church services... So, while I am waiting for N to return home from an unexpected rehearsal (the only reason I mention this is that I really wanted to get out by myself... but I can be strong!)  I will tell a little about our week. 

Is that the cutest heiny or what!!! 

This boy loves his books!

Ahhhh!  This is what happens when you don't service/clean your sewing machine since you bought it...

It was pretty scary in there, but now it is a lot cleaner and even a little quieter!

I don't know what it is, but H loves to stick his foot out of his crib.  Sometimes it leads to a pained cry as he can't get it out by himself!  Most of the time, though, he can get it out. 

Cute to see those little piggies sticking out!

I guess it is time to go wake him up from his nap now - so that he will go to sleep at bedtime.

We will go to a breastfeeding support group in the morning while N plays for a brunch and wedding.  Church, and more church, N's sister is in town so we will cook for them tomorrow night.  Sunday we will have lunch with my grandmother, aunt, uncle, and my cousins' two little girls. 

We went to see the little girls yesterday, and H was just smitten with them (2 1/2 and 5 yrs. old).  He was just watching and smiling, not sure what to do with them, but loving the cute girls!