Why I don't make toys

 I worked really hard at making my daughter some cute paper dolls.  I found the fabric at the quilt shop, cut out all the dolls and their clothes, backed them and even made a cute carrying pouch for all the clothes and dolls.  I knew it would be so much fun for my daughter to play with and keep her quiet during church. 

But everytime I get them out, my daughter looks at me and says, "no, let's just clean them up."  Fine, I'll just play with them by myself because I think they are cute and fun!!

Bow holder

Before Christmas, I tried to make a bow holder for my 8 year old niece.  I took old picture frames, spray painted them, with plans to cover the inside with fabric, add ribbon, etc.  After 4 frames and 2 cans of spray paint, I wasn't any closer to being finished, so I admitted defeat and bought her some earrings. 

But recently I noticed that my box that holds bows for Little Bit was getting a little crazy.  I really needed a bow holder.  Knowing my past failure tries, I decided to go for something a bit simplier.  Her room is done in ladybugs, so I took some little wood cut out ladybugs (Michael's, about $.50 each) and glued some ribbon on the back. 

Then I used the sticky thing you use to hang up 3M hooks (don't you love my acurate descriptions of things!) to secure them to the closet door.  It took about 15 minutes and I LOVE it!

I'm linking up to Someday Crafts: Whatever Goes Wednesday!

Belated Valentine's day

In addition to my tree, I made a few more Valentine crafts.  The cost was about $1 for the scrapbook paper from Target's dollar spot.  Everything else I had on hand!

It's time to start preparations for next year!

Before December was even over, I found what I must have in my house for next Christmas. Some darling ornaments found in this book that my mom owns - Star of Wonder by Nancy Halvorsen. Ok, I really want everything in this book, but seeing as how I didn't inherit my mom's sewing gene, I am going to start small. Thanks to my mom's endless stash of fabric, the cost for this project will be minimal. And I'm hoping that the addition of 21 little handmade ornaments (3 of each of the 7 patterns) will make my tree a little less depressing next year! Here goes nothing!

Gifts to give away

So my sisters, mom and I (5 of us total!) came up with a great idea for giveaway gifts this year.

We all spent a little time baking and made about 6 dozen cookies to share. Then we put together plates with about 2-3 of each type of cookie. Yummy!! Next year, I'm going to have to make a plate for myself!
I paired the plate with a vinyl nativity that I got here. I put the nativity on a tile and backed it with some felt and a ribbon for hanging.

I love it! Yummy treats, decorations, and all of it for just about $2 each!

I'm linking up to the Inpsired Room's Friday Linky Party!