Doll and Doll bed

When I was a little girl, my grandmother made me this beautiful doll. I can't remember what I named her, but thankfully I knew to take really good care of her.

My favorite thing about her is that she also has beautiful undergarments that make perfect pajamas.

My Great-Grandmother made me a doll bed with pillow and quilt. It was a perfect place for my dolls to sleep, and rest. This is one thing that I now keep in mind to make as gifts for other little girls in our life.

So much fun to be a little girl and play with dolls. I hope one day I can find another little girl to enjoy these things as much as I did.

Well that is probably the end of the homemade showcase for now. I enjoyed sharing everything that has been lovingly handmade for us, but I am ready to get back to making some things of my own! More crafty things coming soon, have a wonderful weekend!

Quilts

What I wanted to show you today is all of the beautiful quilts I have. I really want to make a quilt this year. In fact I have at least 3 in mind. I just need to execute, as with every other craft. These quilts are so inspiring to me, and it amazes me how talented my family is.

The pictures may not be the greatest, but I was not about to lay these out of the lawn, so they will have to do.

The first quilt is a smaller/child sized quilt that Jeremy's Grandma made for him when he was young. Brady is modeling just exactly how you sleep with the quilt.

 Second is my butterfly quilt that my Great Aunt made for me. It is a really well machine quilted quilt. Although I am not sure if sure did some hand stiching, like the binding, or not. We still sleep with this one, and it is our most functional quilt.  

 This quilt is the most sentimental for me. My great-grandmother made it for me, just as she made all the Grandkids a quilt. I really loved this quilt, and it shows. I finally made myself put it away and stop using it several years ago after it was starting to get really worn down. She did all hand quilting and it is really amazing, I cannot imagine how long it must have taken.

 Here is just some of the proof that this quilt has been well loved and used. Just getting it out and looking at it made me want to snuggle up with it and take a nice nap. I love that thing.

 This last one is a very special quilt. My Grandmother entrusted it to me recently, and I am very honored. It was made by my Grandmother's, Grandmother's sister-in-law. (I think that is right, Grandma correct me if I am wrong.) So that would be my Great-Great Grandmother's Sister-in-law. The age of it is not quite known, but considering my great-Grandma was born in the late 1800's, I would think it has to be over 100 years old.

 It is so beautiful, and the detail is amazing. It was all hand quilted, and must have taken years! My Grandma thinks it might have been a kit, that comes together and you sew. The picture seriously does not do it justice, and it is in such great condition.

 Once we expand our house and finish our basement, I hope to use it in the guest room because it is so pretty.

I love quilts and all of the work and love that goes into them. I thankful to have these, and ready to try to make some of my own!  

Blanket Bundle

I am going to try to do some catch up blogging today, due to being sick this week, (I am the worst sick person), and a computer crash. The laptop finally died. After Brady attempted to snap it in two a year ago, it never worked the same. A quarter of the screen was gone, but we dealt with it. I felt bad for my poor husband using it for work. For the past few months the battery has been dead, but we were okay with it as long as it was plugged in. I knew it was on it's way down, so before Christmas I saved all of our important things, and pictures to discs. The laptop had become our main computer due to the home pc being like 9 years old and super slow! The past few weeks, the laptop would no longer stay on if plugged in. It started to where the plug would have to be just right, then it needed to be held in with pressure, then finally it would not stay on at all. I tried to work with it yesterday but even while holding the plug in, it would not work. I am so thankful that I saved everything so recently. We really lost very little, just a few fun craft ideas that I have no time to do anyway! We got a new laptop last night, and I love being able to see the screen, and the fact that it can come unplugged, imagine that! Now I am back to blogging!

My Grandmother made Brady and I little fleece blanket bundles. They are cozy, and include the pillow, and are so perfect for traveling. Anytime Brady sleeps away from home, he brings his. It was perfect to have while I was working, so that he could have a bit of home with him for naps. In fact he sleeps with his almost every night.

It a great size when unfolded, and super comfy.

 The pillow fits in the pocket, and so does the blanket, ready to travel. So cute with his name on it.

 He had to have a picture of how he sleeps on it.

 I have one too. In a zebra print. They are perfect, thanks Grandma!  

 

Felt lunch

Also from my mom, Brady got a felt lunch. It is too cute. We got him a play kitchen for Christmas, (so he can be a chef and between him and his father I will never have to cook again), so it goes perfectly with it. It is all felt, and all hand sewn. Such great detail, she has a ton of patience.

First is a peanut butter and grape jelly sandwich, with a bag of chips. I love how the chips look like ruffles. Brady loves to count how many chips he "eats". 

 Next is a sandwich with american cheese, swiss cheese, bologna, tomato, and lettuce. The tomato and lettuce are my favorite.

 What a perfect meal! Thanks Grandma!

Tooth Fairy Pillow

As you will see from the next few blog posts, I come from a line of very talented women. Both of my Grandmother's are excellent artists and painters. They are also fantastic seamstresses. My Great-Grandma was an amazing hand quilter. Looking at some of her quilts just amazes me. My Great-Aunt was a great quilter and she made a living making beautiful ceramics. And my mom is a great crafter, when she wants to be.

Today I wanted to show off  a Christmas present Brady received this year. It is a tooth fairy pillow made by my Grandma.

Isn't so cute? I love the hand embroidery. And of course the back has a little pocket for a newly lost tooth.

Even though Brady is awhile off from losing any teeth, he loves it and sleeps with it most nights.

It reminds me of a certain pillow I had when I was a girl.

It also has a perfect pocket for lost teeth.

My Great-Grandma made it for me, and I slept with it long after all my teeth were lost. It has had a lot of use, and it shows, but it will make another little girl happy someday, I am sure.

Matryoshka doll

I have received many handmade things recently that are beautiful, but not made by me. There are so many things in fact, that I wanted to spend a few posts on them to show them to you.

First I start with a Christmas present from my mom. For a charity bazaar she made these cute felt, Matryoshka doll ornaments. Along with other items women sold in the bazaar they had a great contribution to the orphanage's in Russia.

I could have gotten better pictures, but that would involve going back into all the Christmas things, and that is not happening for a long time.
Interestingly, even though Matryoshka dolls are very popular in the United states right now, they are not in Russia. Crazy how that happens. I love handmade things from the people I love, check back for more soon.

The Hat Parade

For Christmas presents this year, I made a million hats. Okay just 15 or so, but it felt like a million. They are all crocheted in different styles. Most patterns and ideas came from this wonderful site. I am not good at following crochet patterns, so I mostly used them as a guideline, and learned on my own. (Therefore, I really have no patterns, sorry  if you are looking for some. But I can point you in the right direction, just ask.)

I made this frog hat the most. Brady, my nephew Zack, cousin Justin, and friend Hudson all got one.

 

 I made a hat like this for my niece Chelsey, and cousin Riley.

 This one was for tween nephew, Shawn.

 This one was one of my favorites, for little Megan, my friends daughter.

 One like this for cousin Jordan, and my friend's other daughter, Maddy.

 This one was for teen cousin, Nick.

 My favorite, so tiny, for newborn baby cousin, Olivia.

 And the last picture, teen cousin, Alex.

Here are my cute cousin's modeling their hats.  

Sadly I forgot to take pictures of one of my favorites. I made my stepsister a fun beanie in all different colors. It fits her personality perfectly. Even Jerm said, "that is funky, but she will love it."

Lastly my stepbrother got a plain black beanie. I even made a plain cream beanie for myself on the long drive home. I had done so much crocheting, that I vowed to not do any for at least a month, maybe two. At least now I get to crochet fun tiny baby things, so sweet. 

If you are contemplating crochet, go for it. I was self/book/you tube taught, and I love it, and it is a great skill to have. Good luck!

Toddler Head Rest

For someone who's New Year's goal was to blog more consistently, I am not doing a very good job, am I? I have millions of excuses, but lets just say, today is a new day!

Over the holidays, when we went to Texas, we drove! It was 1000 miles each way, with a very active two year old. We drove an additional 1000 miles, just while in Houston, no wonder we don't live there! We tried to plan our trip so that Brady would sleep in the car for most of our drive. It did not necessarily work out that way, but that was okay, thanks only to Toy Story 3.

I made something for Brady, so that hopefully when he did sleep in the car he would be a bit more comfortable.

 

He is pretending to be asleep in this picture, sadly he did not actually use it as much as I hoped, and would complain about his neck hurting, (I tried).

First you start with a C type shape. With fabric on one side, and cozy fleece on the other. Right sides will be together.

 For the second try and your first try (more on that later), when folded over, it was about the size of of sheet of paper.  8.5" x 11", hotdog orientation. Next you sew around the the edges, leaving a space for turning and stuffing.   

 Before you turn it right side out and stuff, you want to clip the curves. Clips for convex curves, notches for concave curves. Here is a great link.

 And of course always clip your corners.

 Now, turn right side out, stuff with poly-fill, hand sew opening shut, and realize that it is way too small!

I rarely get things right the first time, especially without a pattern, so it was no surprise that this did not work.

The second time, I made it bigger, making it as big as the full sheet of paper, and it turned out great!  

 Perfect for a sleepy kid on the go. Safe travels!

T-shirt Quilt

One of the things I made for Christmas, was a special blanket for Jeremy. I have seen t-shirt quilts on this blog, and thought it would be perfect for Jeremy. I started sneaking out some of his old t-shirts from his drawer, and I was correct in guessing he would never notice. I bought the pattern, and she was nice and offered to help in any way she could.

It is not anywhere near perfect, but nothing ever is the first time I make it.

 I am pleased with it, and Jeremy thought it was thoughtful, and really neat.

 Overall, I thought it was a great gift.