For any of you readers in the Thousand Oaks area, we're headed to SoCal to do a little MOPS Boutique this Saturday from 10 to 3. For all you other readers who are not fortunate enough to live in SoCal, we'll be back on Sunday :)

new ties...

If you have a boy, you know how incredibly hard it is to find cool accessories for them. For every one boy accessory discovered, there are 20 cute girl accessories. So, with that in mind, I decided to try my hand at making ties for little boys. I'm lovin' it so far. So far I've tried infant & toddler ones & they are so fun. They have an adjustable elastic neck, so can be worn for many months- just change the collared shirt. The possibilities are endless- I can make these to match big sisters & to go with a certain color theme. I'm thinking these are going to be great for Easter. Let's hear it for the boys.....

*disclaimer: I accidentally put an infant tie on Hayes, thus the reason it's so short. The toddler ones are longer than this. I don't think I'll get another photo shoot out of him, so these will have to do :)

a few new skinny dolls

I'm a huge fan of quirky, out of the ordinary toys for kids & totally appreciate anything handcrafted that they can enjoy. These two ladies are the newest addition to our growing stash of handmade items, just waiting to be given to the perfect recipient. What little girl wouldn't love dragging one of these around with her throughout the day & snuggling up to it at night?

a simple, sweet blanket

OK, I'll admit it- I love projects that take 1/2 hour or less. My house is full of them...but good things do come to those who persevere, so here's a monochromatic, chevron stripe baby blanket that took slightly longer than that. It did take some time, but in the end, it was well worth it.

bathing beauties

These little beauties were a custom "make this simple bathing suit more interesting" order from a friend. They are for a 5month old and her 4 year old sister. Now seriously, how glamorous can two little girls be? I'm thinking they need to head to Palm Springs in these babies...

a few "church" bags

Just finished a custom order for a couple "church" bags for two of my favorite little girls. I used a few select fabrics from Amy Butler & Anna Maria Horner, which are so great & colorful & high quality. These bags are great for girls to tote their various Sunday items to & from church in, such as their Bible, crayons, Sunday school papers, snacks, etc.

and a few more from a few weeks ago:

I'm loving the custom orders lately...just wait till you see tomorrow's :)

for the little man...

I'm a wee-bit into mustache paraphernalia lately & needed to try my hand at freezer-paper stenciling. I loved the process & the end result. Just simple & a bit quirky for your little guy. Pairs perfectly with a little black silky blanket don't you think?

playing catch-up

Spent the past week catching up on half-finished projects (insert guilt-ridden sigh here). I'm glad to have a few finished, but a whole pile still remains to be finished. A few "church bags", skinny dolls, and bathing suit improvements to come, but for now...here's what's finally getting put into the "finished" box. Whew!

These are a few mini-silky blankies which my kids are constantly tagging along with them. I'm thinking these quite possibly could be my kids' favorite things. For that reason, they make a great gift to give. Measuring just about 12" x 12", they are great as a "comfort object", but I don't have to lug around a huge blanket. I might just start packaging & giving these in sets of three, simply because they're sure to become a favorite & it's handy to have a few spares.

I also did a few custom newborn hats...Hayes got put to use as my model...based on the quality of this photo I'm not sure it's his calling :)

a bit more felt

Yes, this post is once again centered around felt- I can't help it- the stuff has 1,000+ uses! I assure you, someday I'll post about something different...

but for now, here's a few more felt flowers attached to little girl headbands with both new & vintage buttons. Love 'em.

yet another great use for felt...

I've been trying all week to come up with some great play on words using the word "felt", but have not been able to come up with any. Any suggestions out there???

Anywho, this project is by far one of my favorites in a while. A felt play mat for the kids. It was quick, easy & inexpensive & I hope a bit more interesting to drive cars on than my walls. I didn't use any sort of pattern, I simply cut a few curved strips of charcoal felt & hand-stitched them on the bigger felt piece with yellow embroidery thread so it look like a road. I glued a few pieces down with some fabric glue, but stitched most of it. It is a great piece to connect the dollhouse mansion with the big red barn. This one might become a gift too, if I can get my kids away from it!

mustard felt is my fav...

Once I got going on the felt flower train (& didn't get off), I wanted to try & make something besides hair accessories with them....Thus came this project. I have seen a few felt pillows here & there and wanted to try it out.

It's monochromatic & adds just the right amount of texture & color to the bed.

Result: better than expected.
This one's going to be a gift...I know just the right recipient :)

slightly felt obsessed....

I have been working quite a bit with felt this week & wanted to share a few projects. Felt first of all is one of the most inexpensive fabrics you can buy (unless it's wool felt...which I LOVE) and it is super easy to work with because it does not fray. No hemming required. It is also neat because it sort-of sticks to itself, so you can make tons of projects for kids out of it.

My first project was a few felt flowers. I made a few out of inexpensive felt as well as a few in wool felt & honestly, the wool felt is way better, but it is not readily available in very many colors locally.

So a while later here's what I had done....

I also made a few out of some leather & suede scraps I picked up last week at the thrift store. The bag was full of cut up pieces that probably looked like trash to most other people, but I knew there would be a perfect project for those scraps. And this was it.

One man's trash truly can be another (wo)man's treasure.

A few have gone on to become clips & adornments for headbands...

Another really great project is in the works using the beautiful mustard colored ones...