For the Tuesday Afternoon Sewing Guild

On most Tuesdays after school, my niece Rudie comes over and joins Olivia and me for a craft project. We started the tradition after Santa brought Rudie a sewing machine, but we've expanded from sewing into soap-making, candy-making, and other crafts. My aunt got wind of this and said she wanted to send the girls a "few little things" for their crafts. Today, a box arrived. I love that she named our little club and confirmed "Crafts & cooking OK too"!










Inside the box...bittersweet from her yard:













Cotton she picked. I've never seen "real" cotton on the stem. It's surprisingly soft and completely charming.












Feathers from the ducks, geese, birds, and peacocks she volunteers with.












And in case we weren't already Cloud 9 with all these goodies, she's sending us to...












I'm quite sure there's never been a luckier Tuesday Afternoon Sewing Guild. Thank you, Aunt Suzanne!

Crafts & Cupcakes

My Brownie troop rallied yesterday to raise funds for the upcoming Susan G. Komen 3-Day Walk by donating crafts, home-baked goods, their time, and their remarkable sales skills. Some of the girls made potholders, bird houses, and friendship bracelets; and the moms baked all sorts of goodies, including beignets and caramel cake.

Olivia and I made keychains using the weaving technique we learned at Girl Scout camp, cinnamon-scented soap, our favorite granola from Smitten Kitchen, and dark chocolate cupcakes with white chocolate frosting.



















































The day was gorgeous, the turnout was even better than expected, and the event was a great success.

Daniela's bulletin boards

After e-mailing me from Chile with a question about my bulletin board tutorial, Daniela sent me these pictures of her finished products. Fabulous!

Turkey Placecards

Olivia and I were feeling crafty this afternoon, but we couldn't decide what to make so we went outside to swing. That's where the gorgeous autumn leaves caught our attention, and she saw them as turkey tail-feathers. Ah-ha! Together we hot-glued sweet-gum balls, leaves, and helio-seeds to make placecards for our Thanksgiving dinner guests.

Little Wooden House

This was a birthday gift for a crafty little girl in Olivia's class. O and I had such fun putting together the bag of supplies, and the birthday girl's mom reported that it was a big hit. Best of all: total cost was only around $12. I purchased the wooden house from our local Michael's for $6; paints were on sale for $1.49; and the rest of the goodies were scraps from my sewing room.

Today's the Day!

I've been so excited for Sew, Mama, Sew to post my bulletin board tutorial. Here's the one I did for "Sewing for the Home" month, using a tea towel.


















And this one, made last year for Liv's pink bedroom, inspired the tutorial.

Preparing for Valentines Day

Hannah Montana cards are signed and addressed to classmates.

Valentine sachets are colored and stuffed for the teachers and Grandma.

Marshmallow recipe is printed and ready for a run tomorrow morning....