The Barn

Wow, wow, wowwy, wowser.  My boys are very lucky little guys.  We're all very lucky.  We have a Papa that is a magic man with wood. (and plumbing...and electrical...and....and....)

Today we celebrated my big guy's birthday....for the second time.  The first time around we all came down with terrible colds and didn't want to spread them to our entire family....so we just celebrated with the four of us.  We are so lucky to have such a wonderful family....my brother and sister in law drove over last night and Mom and Dad drove today....we all enjoyed a nice lunch, cake AND........presents!  Marsh was lucky enough to receive some great little games for his Nintendo doo hickey from Aunt Chell and Uncle Mike....then came out THE BARN.  Papa has been working away on this barn for some time now.  The guys checked out all the super cool features. (sliding barn doors, beveled driveways, neat overhang, removable roof and sidewall....)

Parked the tractor inside. Yep, Papa made that too.

 Even the big boys wanted in on the action.

Yep, that is one HAPPY kid.

Papa is the greatest....and I have two boys who think he walks on water.  Every kid should have grandparents like this.

 Uh oh....there's been a casualty.  Cow down.

Oh....it might be the TIGER roaming in the barn!

 We parked the tractor and wagon.

And practiced putting the roof and wall on....yep, half the roof and a wall come off to reveal the HAYMOW and the inside.  Spectacular.  Thank you Papa.

As if that wasn't enough.....Papa brought some presents for my workshop too....I'll show you those tomorrow. :-)

Making a List

Sale flyers always make me think ahead....when I see fleece on sale in July, I think toward Christmas....fleece robes, fleece hats, you get the idea. I always think to myself that I should make a list EARLY in the year of all the crafty things I want to make for my friends and family and then ACTUALLY start producing said projects before....oh....December!

There are SOOOO many awesome ideas all over the blog world. In fact I keep a tiny little notebook (categorized of course) of all the ideas that intrigue me.

When I'm in need of inspiration...to the book I go.

SO, I'm making a list. E.A.R.L.Y. I have several ideas for several people....these are some of my favorites. If you think I'm making this for you....well you'll just have to wait and see. :-) December 25th is right around the corner. ;-)

The ruffle scarf at Anything Pretty. Adore this.

The embroidered home outline at Something To Do. One for me too please.

The felt aquarium magnets at The Purl Bee.

People stationary at Just Something I Made.

Just to name a few....my list gets longer everytime I get on the internet....

but this will get me started. ;-)

Lookin' Snazzy at the Farmers' Market

In my vein of thinking all gifts should have purpose. Is that wrong? I've never had a complaint...so I guess that means no...or maybe that I have really polite family and friends? Well whichever it is, I enjoyed making this practical (yet snazzy) gift for my dear brother and sister in law. Gardening, practicality and being super cool are their fortes....so what better to give them than a handmade bag to visit their own garden with or one of the trillion fabulous farmers' markets in Wisconsin? (Yeah, they're cheesehead transplants...is that what they're called? Cheeseheads? I don't know...they live in WI, we'll leave it at that)

For the bag I did a very simple square bottom, tall design with straps long enough to go over the shoulder, in a neutral, burlappy (that's a word, I swear), natural fabric. For the image I strolled on over to one of the coolest blogs ever Just Something I Made and snatched one up here. L.O.V.E. H.E.R. Cathe has the most amazing ideas EVER. So basically I did what she did....except I used iron on transfer paper for light colored fabrics. Make sure to REVERSE the image before printing...didn't do that the first time and cursed myself for wasting a sheet for days. I'm over it now...I think...well maybe not...but I'm trying.

Love how this project turned out...I was so happy to give it as a gift and hope they get lots of use out of it.

2010 Calendar

I've been poky about posting my handmade Christmas gifts....after the holidays are over I like to take a month to completely collapse. ;-) And, now all the gifts have found their way to their new homes...so I'm free and clear to post without ruining any surprises!

When I think about gift giving I try to be practical...I usually don't make too many things that don't have some sort of purpose. This project fit that bill. Who doesn't need a calendar? And if you're going to have to look at a calendar wouldn't it be nice if it was snazzy? Now all calendars have their purposes...I have three in my kitchen...I know, again, I have issues. But really I NEED all of them...one is decorative, and in a pretty frame my dad built for me, one is my ISU alumni calendar, where I write all the important dates, appointments, etc. I keep that one each year so I can look back and find important info (like the first snowfall, when I got that awful haircut, and the first time I saw a robin last spring...you know, all the important stuff;-). And now that we have a kindergartner I have a school calendar, which I don't look at too much yet, but I know our day is coming when ALL THOSE EVENTS will mean something to us.

So back to the project. I was totally inspired by the BEAUTIFUL calendars by Snow and Graham. So simple, so elegant. That was the look I was going for...tried to go for. I used Microsoft Publisher to format the pages. Each leaf of the calendar is 4"x 10", therefore two leaves could be printed on one sheet of paper. I printed the sheets on my home printer, cut with a utility knife, tied with a ribbon and there you go! Pretty, functional gifts.

Mail Bag with Letters...for the Littlest Mailman

This was a very special project for my very special little guy. He loves to go to the post office to retrieve the mail....so like a bolt of lightning it struck me to make him his own mail bag and "letters" for Christmas. A little denim, a little felt, some shiny pretties and voila! I've had mail delivered to me all over the house now. ;-) I'm thinking I now need to build this and this.

Felty Goodness

My big guy is turning 6 this month. How did that happen? I don't know. He's so grown up and responsible these days. AND loves to help in the kitchen AND serve us things....so....for Christmas last year I made a bunch of felt food for my little guys to play with. THEN I made the mistake of making some new and different felt foods as a Christmas gift for a little gal (who lives three blocks away and therefore cannot share her felt foods with my little guys at all moments ;-). My little guys were heartbroken as the hamburger and chips, pop tarts and snazzy little cake left the scene. THE FELT FOOD HAS LEFT THE BUILDING.

So back to the turning 6 deal. These are on my crafting table as we speak....the patterns anyway, as these are the little gems that left the building last Christmas. Felt hamburgers, cakes, poptarts (and even some donuts!) will be on the birthday gift list for my very special almost six year old guy.

This hamburger was SO FUN to make. I used chipboard in the bun sections to

keep the bread rigid and round.

If you are new to the felt food world definitely make pop tarts first...super easy and you will be SO pleased with the results.

Happy Felty January!

Cupcakes, Purses and Spending Cash

What little girl doesn't love cupcakes, purses and a little spending cash? Hopefully this one does! This was a fun Christmas present for a little gal in our life...definitely a girly girl. We have a shortage of girly girls in our house, so it is always fun to do a project that involves pink! I started with a cupcake template from....hmm.....if I think long and hard I may remember (check back later). Cut the cupcake pieces from felt and then sewed them together.

The purse itself is a cream colored denim with a soft cotton lining in a pretty blue print. The very handsome handle is a piece of ribbon found in the clearance bin at Hancock Fabric....the whole spool of ribbon was $.25!! So this handle nearly broke the bank at a whopping penny. Yay, i love bargains.

And of course every girl needs some finances. Grabbed this AWESOME idea from the VERY COOL blog, Just Something I Made. I am no whiz at manipulating PDF's, however, so this took a little fanoodling in Publisher to get it just right.

Fun project! Now I need to find a few more little girls to do projects for....I've got some pink fabric burning a hole on my craftroom table! ;-)

A Gift for Our Favorite Teacher

Do you ever have those moments of self realization when your mind bends around the concept that you are, indeed, a total ignoramus? A moment of pure "I must have lived under a rock with a pair of REALLY fuzzy earmuffs on for a little too long?" That is precisely where I found myself upon realizing that gifts are bequeathed to Sunday School teachers (of which I am one for the first time this year) during the holidays. This realization came about 2 years too late to save my poor child from the embarrassment of NOT BRINGING A GIFT to his teachers the past two years he's been in Sunday School. Because of his ignoramus, rock abiding mother, he didn't bring a gift.

SO....in an effort to remedy said embarrassment I was determined to set things right when it came to his KINDERGARTEN teacher. We were going to come up with something special for his very special teacher. And here we go......

The journal jar. A cute little idea found over at Inspired PaperTreyInk
I copied it, I admit it...or at least the best I could without the fancy kit and paper, etc, etc. I'm a DIY girl dontcha know?

In the jar's former life it held a FABULOUS mustard from the Mustard Museum in Mt. Horeb, WI.....but I digress.

The jar is filled with little curly pieces of paper (A LOT of curly pieces of paper, so many in fact I'm a little nervous that upon opening said jar for the first time Mrs. S may have been doused by an exploding array of tiny curly papers) with a question or something to think about for a journal entry...most were focused on a teacher's life....ie...what made you want to become a teacher? etc.

Matching journal.

All packaged up and ready to deliver.

Someday I'll catch on to all my motherly duties. Slowly but surely.

Dry Erase Can Be Beautiful!

We're daring again! This was a bigger bit of a dare than the previous weeks.....as most of my readers are my gift recipients!! So.....I chose the ONE gift that will soon find it's way into the home of my dear friend who I'm almost positive doesn't read my blog!! :-) If you're reading this Jamie....SHUT OFF YOUR COMPUTER, TURN AWAY, RUN FROM THE ROOM!!


Now, back to the party! I mean it Jamie....don't read any further!!


This project was so fun and one of my favorites! I've already put this on my list of "to make for myself when I have time." A dry erase calendar, family monogram, pretty frame all in one!


This is what the frame and contents looked like when I brought it home from Goodwill...perfect size, not too big, not too small. Looks funky....but oh the wonders of windex and spray paint!

Supply List: Frame from Goodwill, piece of fabric, craft paint!! Easy peasy!

After removing the contents and painting the frame I used permanent black markers to make the calendar grid on the BACK of the glass. Next, I designed the "monogram" on the computer, mirrored it, taped it to the FRONT of the glass and painted on the letters on the BACK using an ITTY BITTY paint brush and regular craft paint. SO MANY POSSIBILITIES!!! After everything was dry I reassembled the frame with a piece of cloth as the backing. SO PRETTY!!! The entire front surface of the glass is smooth and fully "windexable" , as all the paint and grid are inside the frame now.

Finished! Now just need to add some fun EVENTS!


That's better!


Happy Holidays everyone! I'll post LOTS more homemade gifts AFTER Christmas...when they're all opened and home with their new families!! :-)

Visit Kim over at NewlyWoodwards to check out LOTS of VERY COOL handmade gifts!

The Tooth Fairy

Apparently, with kindergarten, so brings the loose teeth. Just a few short weeks ago Marshall noticed his VERY FIRST loose tooth. Where does the time go? Didn't he just grow those teeth? Alas, with the imminent tooth-losing event threatening to happen at any moment we needed a way to communicate to The Tooth Fairy that a tooth was indeed lost, and hidden under a pillow....so.....The Official Tooth Fairy Pillow was constructed. A boy tooth for Marshall, a girl tooth for a very sweet classmate who is also about to lose a tooth. There are little pockets on the back of the teeth to keep the "real" tooth safe.

Marshall's question to me....."what does The Tooth Fairy do with all the teeth she collects?" Hmm....might need to Google that one. ;-)

Cake Auction, Why Must Thou Forsaketh Me?

The North Cedar Post Prom Committee had their annual cake auction last week....the cursed cake auction, as it's now known in our house. This exact week LAST year Marshall ended up in the hospital with pneumonia, therefore ending my efforts to produce a cake for the cake auction. THIS year, exact same week, Clancey ended up in the hospital, but not until AFTER I quickly produced these two little beauties. I've thought about my cake for next year, but I really don't think Levi wants to be next on the list of admissions.

Below are a few of my past cake auction contributions....these did not require hospital stays.

The famous "Hostess treats" Cake. This was a BLAST to make.The very first cake contribution....sort of a Maypole meets flowery circus tent theme. ;-) And yes, the pole is leaning....just couldn't be helped.

Pink White and Red All Over

The sweet treats are flowing at the VO abode.

Cake, cuties and preschool looties.

It's been a fun week.

Felty Hamburger Deliciousness

Fun, fun, fun, fun felt food! The boys are having so much fun with the

food that I can't stop myself....on to the next food!

Seriously, this is amazing

PAPA + WOOD = AMAZING GIFTS WE ARE THE LUCKY RECIPIENTS OF.

Yum Yum Yummy Felt

I have something to admit. My name is Jen and I am addicted to making felt food. ;-) I think the felt food production will stretch far beyond Christmas now....there's just so much to make....I CAN'T STOP! I hope the boys will enjoy playing with it as much as I enjoy crafting it. There is a set of cinnamon rolls about to be debuted here as well!