In His Grip

Flower Themed Baby Girl Gift

I love coming up with baby gifts for my young, mom friends.  Recently I went to a baby shower for my friend Chelsea who will be having a baby girl later this month.  I made a coordinating blanket, onesie, ruffled pants, and headband.  I purchased the onesie and the pants and then added the flower applique to the top and the ruffles to the pants.  The blanket was made with a microfiber fleece on one side and a coordinating pok-a-dot on the other side and then bound with a super cute flower/paisley print.  

I purchased this brown elastic headband then crocheted this flower and attached it to the elastic.

The applique is stitched with a straight stitch and the edges left raw so that they will fray a bit once the t-shirt is washed.  I love the soft look of a bit of fray.

The edges of the ruffles are left raw as well, as they too will fray a bit once they are washed to match the t-shirt.

I am participating in the following link ups:  Between Naps on the Porch, The DIY Showoff,Boogiboard Cottage, Its So Very Cheri, Sew Chatty, Dittle Dattle, Sew Can Do, Keeping It Simple, Skip to My Lou, Coastal Charm, Ladybug Blessings, Today's Creative Blog,Sugar and Dots, My Girlish Whims, The Thrifty Home, Blue Cricket Design, Sew Woodsy, The Tablescaper, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Making the World Cuter,Itsy Bitsy Paper, So Much Ado, One Tough Mother, Sweet Peas and Bumblebees, Handy Man, Crafting Woman, Women Who Do It All, Seven Thirty-three, Someday Crafts, Tea Rose Home. Lil' Luna, Momma Hen Scoop, Sugar and Dots, {Primp}, Sommewhat Simple, Fireflies and Jellybeans, Tales From Bloggeritaville, Gluesticks, Momnivore's Dilemma, Beyond the Picket Fence, The Shabby Creek Cottage, Simply Sweet Home,Truly Lovely, Finding Fabulous, The Shabby Nest, Someday Crafts, Passionately Artistic, Goodbye city, Hello suburbs, Handy Man, Crafty Woman, Make it Great Monday,Vintage Gwen, Sew Country Chick, 5 Minutes Just for Me, Sew Country Chick, I Should Be Mopping the Floor

Bridesmaid Cupcakes

This week Anna received this beautiful cupcake from a girlfriend of hers.  Ashley is getting married in May and she wants Anna to be in her wedding as a bridesmaid.  Wow, what a cute and fun way to ask your friends to accompany you on your big day.  The cupcake not only was cute but even came with its own little "diamond" ring and tasted good as well.  If this is what it looks like for Ashley to ask her bridesmaids, I cannot wait to see the wedding.

Linked up to:  Today's Creative Blog, One Tough Mother, Silly Little Sparrow, Skip to My Lou, Sugar and Dots, My Girlish Whims, The Thrifty Home, Blue Cricket Design, Sew Woodsy, The Tablescaper, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Making the World Cuter,Itsy Bitsy Paper, So Much Ado, One Tough Mother, Sweet Peas and Bumblebees, Handy Man, Crafting Woman, Women Who Do It All, Seven Thrity-three, Someday Crafts, Tea Rose Home. Lil' Luna, Momma Hen Scoop, Sugar and Dots, {Primp}, Sommewhat Simple, Fireflies and Jellybeans, Tales From Bloggeritaville, Gluesticks, Momnivore's Dilemma, Beyond the Picket Fence, The Shabby Creek Cottage, Simply Sweet Home,Truly Lovely, Finding Fabulous, The Shabby Nest, Someday Crafts, Passionately Artistic, Goodbye city, Hello suburbs, Handy Man, Crafty Woman, Make it Great Monday,Vintage Gwen, Sew Country Chick, 5 Minutes Just for Me

My Christmas Stocking Challenge

These are the Christmas stockings that starting hanging on our mantel 29 years.  Ryan's was made by one of my husband's best friend's mom, Barb.  I remember the box coming in the mail and being so excited that someone would take the time to make such a special stocking for our baby.  We proudly hung it from a shelf in our first home as there was no fireplace.  When Lindsey was born, again I received a box in the mail that contained her stocking as well.  Since the birth of Ryan, Barb had lost her battle with cancer but her sister took up the tradition of making a stocking for our babies and then made one for Anna two years later.   Hanging these stockings have been part of our holiday tradition and one that my kids still look for every Christmas season.  The stockings have Santa on one side and the Christmas tree on the other.  If you look closely at Anna's, Santa has a couple of moth holes that I have been meaning to fix for a couple of years.

Now that we have a new member in our family since Ryan's wedding, I was thinking I needed to make a stocking for Paula too.  I started searching the internet and books for patterns that would be similar or maybe the same one, but no luck, so I contacted, Barb's son to see if by chance they had a copy of the pattern for the famous Christmas stocking.  He said they did and would bring me a copy of it.  

First of all the copy right on the pattern is 1948 and looks very complicated for my self-taught knitting self, but call me crazy, I am going to try.  As I have found in the past with knitting, you just start and work one row at a time and try not to freak out by looking ahead.  

What was really crazy about the pattern was the pages and pages of Barb's hand writen notes that she took on the pattern as well as a page of all of the names of the folks that have been a recipient of one of the precious stockings.  There are 163 names listed as well as the hand drawn graphs of each name.  Wow, I think I really just might be crazy to think that I would even attempt to knit like Barb.  But this is my holiday challenge of the year.  I will keep you updated as to my progress and we will see how this goes.  Today I am headed to my local yarn store, Knit-Wit, to pick up my supplies.   I might not get finished this year, but I am determined to do this.  

Digging for Key Chains

Not long ago I found this great key chain tutorial on-line. Because I am forever digging in my purse to find my keys, I thought that if I had a bright, cheery key chain it just might make this unearthing process a bit easier. The fact that I carry a purse the size of a small carry on bag is beside the point. Cute, cheery, and size makes finding my keys a whole lot easier.  Knowing my friends might have this, mining for keys trouble as well, I found these initials, stitched them to wool felt, trimmed the edges and stitched them to my circles of fabric and easy peasy, key chains that are cute, cheery and quite frankly, the size matters.

I am participating in the following link ups:  Sew Can Do, Boogieboard Cottage, Sew Chatty, Dittle Dattle, Pinkapotmus, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Making the World Cuter, Its So Very Cheri, Keeping It Simple, The DIY Showoff, Fabric Bows and More, My Girlish Whims, Goodbye City, Hello Suburbs, Its So Stinkin Cute, Somewhat Simple, Fireflies and Jellybeans, Tales From Blogeritaville, Gluesticks, Mommivore's Dilemma, Beyond the Picket Fence, Happy Hour, Between Naps on the Porch, Skip to My Lou

Living Life Together

In the past I may have used the phrase living life together a little flippantly.  This group of women are the gals that I often talk about who meet at 6:30am each Saturday morning for coffee and spending time together.  Over the course of 30 days we will have truly lived the very highest and lowest of lows in life.  As a group we have and will continue to help each other live, the death of a 22 year old nephew, the death of an American hero, and the passing of a much loved father-in-law. And yet these gals will also live and celebrate the birth of a grand baby and the marriage of a child.  How is one such precious group of women able to live this roller coaster?  We are doing this together, along with our faith and hope in Christ.  We may not know how to do this the "right" way, but just walking through it hand in hand knowing that someone is always there to prop you up when you can no longer stand, is "right" in and of itself. Loving each other enough to be there to weep and mourn and in that grief recognizing that there are celebrations as well is a true testament of the deepest kind of friendship there is.  I love these gals and we are truly living life together.

Praying for a Soldier

Praying for a solider has changed my perspective on how I take my freedom for granted.  When I stop to think about it, I live as though it is my right and dog gone it, I deserve to live in a country where I have known no other way.  But if I stop there, that would mean that those who live in a part of the world where they have little freedom and live under oppression deserve that way of life too.  It comes down to the fact that there is no real justice in where we are born and the circumstances of the government we find ourselves ruled by.  I have come to be so much more thankful and appreciative of the men and women of our armed forces and the sacrifice they are making to give me the right to freedom.   One of the gals in my "tribe", saturday morning coffee group, has a son that has been deployed.  Just hearing regular updates of the conditions and morale of our guys and gals who have chosen to put themselves in harms way on a daily basis has really taken me to pray daily/hourly for our solider. He asks for prayer for his fellow soldiers as well and the difficulties they have being away from loved ones and having to be "on" everyday in the face of mortal danger.  Our "tribe" has been wearing these bracelets as a reminder to pray for our solider as well the rest of our military.  I have only had this bracelet for a week, but I cannot tell you how many times a day I have been reminded by this bracelet to pray for our solider.  I would challenge you to make yourself some kind of reminder to pray for our military on a regular basis.  Our solider depends on prayers to get him through his time of service to our country.  This is the verse I pray for our solider regularly.

God is your refuge and strength an ever-present help in trouble. Psalms 41:1

Sew Excited Sewing Class

This morning my daughter, Lindsey, hosted a sewing class in my Stitches by Sturman studio. She kept getting gals she knows asking to teach them to sew so she organized a sewing class.  The gals brought 1 1/2 yards of fabric along with stuffing and other embellishments for their pillows.  Lindsey did a great job helping the gals with their first sewing projects.  She asked me to be there for moral support and to help with any snags that might come up.  The class started at 9:30 am so we had an offering of muffins and coffee as well.

My studio is not used to having company so I had to spend a good part of Friday afternoon cleaning up and making the place presentable.  

Lindsey was able to work on a pillow of her own.  She made a pillow out of one of my Dad's wool shirts.  She kept the button placket and pocket to embellish the fron,t it turned out super cute and she plans on putting it on her bed.  I never did get a picture of the finished pillow.

This was really fun and such a great idea it may not be the only "Sew Excited" class there will be.

Grillin' Group Night

Tonight we are headed to our summer small group "Grillin' Group".  This is where we meet for some grilled food and share a little bit of life together.  It has been a great way to meet new folks that you would not otherwise have a chance to get to know just in passing on a sunday morning.  I love this opportunity to try out new recipes.  Tonight we using our Grillin' Group as taste testers of a Garden Medley Salad recipe I came across recently at The Realistic Nutritionist.  The ingredients are all things that we eat a lot of but never together, so I just had to try this one out. I have already done a little testing myself and it is awesome!  You really need to give this one a try!

Teacher Appreciation Week

With this week being Teacher Appreciation, the folks at Indian Creek Community Church, Gardner wanted to bless the teachers and faculty at Wheatridge Middle school where we meet for church each Sunday.  One of our people came up with the idea of collecting teacher supplies.  You know, those supplies that teachers use but are not supplied by the school.  Things that they purchase out of their own pocket.  What a fabulous idea, Willie!  For the last month our peeps have been bring in all kinds of supplies, scissors, dry erase markers, page protectors, etc.  But there are others that serve at Wheatridge and we did not want them to get left out of the love.  So some gals and I made rice crispy treats for the entire staff.  Now these were no ordinary rice crispy treats, we made them the size of Texas.  Knowing that all of our children spend so much time at their schools, we depend on these folks to help shape the future of our nation and we at Indian Creek Community Church just wanted them to know that we support them in all that they do for the students they touch each day.

 
We placed each rice crispy treat in a cello bag with a card attached.  One side said "Thanks."

 
This is what went on the other side of the card.

 
We made 80 GIANT treats for the staff at Wheatridge Middle School.

 
Thanks so much to all the teachers that make our children into the adults of the future.

Lindsey's 1/2 Marathon Victory

This past Saturday was a day jam packed with all kinds of activity.  We started out at 7:00 am to see the start of the Olathe Marathon and 1/2 Marathon.  We had several friends running this year as well as Lindsey our oldest daughter.  The weather was in the 30's and in Kansas you can always count on a high wind.  Boy, the wind on Saturday was brutal.   When you are a spectator at one of these kinds of events the fun part is chasing your peeps around town and then waiting for them to pass before moving down the route to see them pass by again.  Having been crazy enough to run a 1/2 marathon myself, I know how important this kind of along the route support is.  We saw Lindsey at mile 3, 5, 7 and we missed her at 10 but caught up with her again at the finish.  She met her goal of under 2 hours, with a time of 1:59:38, finishing 112th of 516 female finishers.  Fantastic! 

Twenty-three years ago we had fear that she might not ever be able to walk normally.  Lindsey was born at 5lb. 2 oz. full-term.  Her little life started out with a few complications because of her low birth weight and not being able to put on weight like the doctors wanted her to.  But at three weeks, I took her in with a red, swollen leg.  It turned out she had a broken femur.  There was, and still is no explanation as to how this happen to my baby girl. 

 
My little girl who weighed less than 6 lbs at the time was in a full body cast for four weeks.  What a mess.  Trying to keep an infant clean and happy when you cannot even snuggle her like you want to was hard, not to mention the emotioal stuff that came along with this whole event.  We made it through that difficult time only to have her walk with a limp two years later.  After a couple of adjustments at a chiropractor, you would never know that she had ever had a broken leg.  The worries of yesterday, turned into the victory of today to see her achieve such a goal. We are so proud of you, Lindsey!

Not Too Close, Please

I have to say, there is a small group of people that really know me and I think that they would agree that I really know them.   Some are in my family and others are people that I have chosen to be a part of my "family".  When we allow people to be close enough to really get to know us, they can tell by our expressions and body language what we are thinking and feeling.  This can be a good thing when you are in a group, someone else is talking, and your spouse gives you a look and you know exactly what they are thinking about what is being said.  Or, you and friend can be walking in a crowd, you pass someone, you both look at each other and just crack up knowing exactly what they are thinking without saying a word.  I love having people in my life that I can do this with.  However, there are people that never allow others to get too close.  They have walls up for whatever reason and just don't know what they are missing out on.  In fact, they may feel they are not missing out at all and wonder what the big deal about "living in community" is all about.  I want others to experience a close circle of friends that they can depend on in good times and bad.  Although, I am not the kind of person to give up easily, I do respect, "not too close, please" when I see it.  How can I make a difference to that "not too close, please" person?  Something I have been thinking a lot about lately.

Owl Hat Models

I just could not resist showing the beautiful twins that were the recipients of the first owl hats that I made.  They made their arrival into this world on December 29 around 10:20pm.  Both of the little guys were over 6 pounds and healthy.  It is always amazing to me the perfection of the little hands and feet of a baby but with two babies you've got twice the amazement and excitement.  Congratulations to the Lyman family.

More Baby Gifts

I have spent time during my Christmas holiday making baby gifts.  It seems that every one of my young girl friends were expecting children around the holidays.  Most of these babies have been born and I need to get myself together and get these gifts finished up.  This hat and blanket went to a little girl who from what I hear loves this blanket.  The pink side is a very soft fleece and the pok-a-dots are flannel.  The hat was made with a pattern that I purchased from RAKJ Patterns.  She has some wonderful designs and they can be made in sizes newborn to adult.

 
This set I made for a little guy and his big sister.  He gets to sport the cool owl hat and use the toasty blanket and sister gets the fun flower hat.  I have enjoyed making these gifts and still have a couple yet to go.  RAKJ patterns is now one of my favorite sites for fun hat design.

I am participating in the following links ups:  Between Naps on The Porch, Dittle Dattle, The DIY Showoff, Its so Very Cheri, Keeping It Simple, Skip to My Lou, Sumo Sweet Stuff, Giggles, Glitz, & Glam, Today's Creative Blog, Ladybug Blessings, Little Eme, Blue Cricket Design, All Things Heart & Home, Nikkis Knifty Knacks, Sew Woodsy, The Thrifty Home, Trendy Treehouse

Felted Flower Pins

I am a handmade gift kind of gal.  I love receiving something made just for me and I love to make something special for people I care about.  This year I have made a lot of the gifts that we are giving.  These felted flower pins are so much fun and I have made around 18 of them to give to those special gals in my life.  Actually, the hardest part of the whole process is finding good colors of 100% wool felt or felting the wool yourself.  Luckily, I was able to find some great wool felt on line at Papertrey Ink and at my favorite craft store Urban Arts & Crafts. 

 
First I collected all of my supplies, felted beads, felt squares, needle & thread, and scissors.

 
I cut five 1 1/2 inch circles for each flower and two leaf shapes as well as chose a bead for the center of each flower.

 
Using a needle and thread I ran a couple of stitches along one end of a circle and gathered it together, then continued to add petals gather them as I went.

 
I then joined the last petal to the first petal creating a ring and finished off.  Next you do the same kind of gathering stitch to the petals and attached them to the flower.  You can either sew your wool bead or hot glue it and then glue or sew a pin backing. 

 
Each flower ends up looking just a little bit different then any other and the make a nice addition to a coat, hat or sweater.

I am participating in the following link ups:  Its So Very Cheri, The DIY Show Off, Skip to My Lou, Wildflowers and Whimsy, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Dittle Dattle, Making the World Cuter, Mad Skills Monday, Coastal Charm, Todays Creative Blog, Ladybug Blessings, Giggles, Glitz & Glam, Blue Cricket Design, All Things Heart & Home, Nikkis Nifty Knacks, The Thrifty Home

 

Chrsirtmas Breakfast with My Tribe

There is a group of women who are more than just friends, we actually do life together.  We started this years ago by meeting every Saturday morning at our local Panera for coffee.  We don't meet at just anytime, we meet at 6:30 am.  We chose this time because for the most part it does not interfere with our family schedules or any other weekend activities.  There are very few Saturdays that we miss and we have come to be known as the Panera tribe.  We often see the same people every Saturday and there are two little girls that come with their Dad and they call us the bakery ladies.  We have watched this family start out with with just Dad and the oldest girl, at that time about 4ish, and then baby sister started coming too.  Now we look forward to see if the new little brother will make his way into the Saturday morning outing with Dad to the bakery.  This Saturday I invited my tribe to my home for a Christmas breakfast.

I think we have started a new Christmas tradition to sleep in one Saturday each year and come on over to my house for a little Christmas fun. These gals can be counted on for anything.  We have walked with each other through the birth of children, the difficulties of raising strong willed kiddos, teen years, and the passing of loved ones.  I know that at any time day or night I could call on these gal and they will cover me and my family in prayer and love.  There is nothing better than to know that there is a group of gals that will have your back no matter what, but will also give you a boost when you find yourself stuck in the muck of life. 

 
Life cannot be done alone and these gals are the ones that have helped me so far and I will count on them into the future.  Two of our member were missed on Saturday but we will catch up with them next Saturday at our regular table in the corner, where our friendship has grown for years. I  love each and every one of one. Thank you for being in my life.

Pilgrim Pacer Fun!

Lindsey, Anna, Sheri and I ran in the Pilgrim Pacer this morning.  It was a great day for a race.  The weather was crisp, okay, it was downright cold and the route was pretty fun as it went through a golf course.  My time stunk, but you know I am really running for the fun of it and never plan to win, but I do like to improve my time.  Today was not one of those improvement opportunities. The most enjoyable part of the whole running thing is to do it with people you really care about.  I love having friends who are willing to get up at 5:30 am and do a workout with me.  That accountability thing is what gets me out of bed on those cold mornings.  Barn boot camp is the best!

 
Anna and I ran the 5K and Lindsey and Sheri ran the 10K together, so we were able to get some pictures of them as they finished.

 
They are looking like they were having a great time running together, side by side unitl...

 
...the finish line came into view and then a girl has got to do what a girl has got to do and give it that last burst of speed and if that leaves the 20 something in the dust then so be it.  Lindsey, you are going to have to work on that final race to the finish if you are ever going to beat Sheri.  Seriouly, she is like 17 years older than you. Ha, ha.

 
She still looks pretty cute after running 6.2 miles.  What a great day.

Christmas Gift Making Extravaganza

This time of year the area around my chair is a little cluttered.  I have gathered all of the supplies for my Christmas gift making extravaganza that started two weeks ago.  My free time from now through the holidays will be taken up by making gifts for those that I love.  There is nothing better that a handmade gift that not only has a lot of love put into it but I have made it a habit of praying for the person, that will ultimately receive the gift, while I make it.  Not all the gifts I give are handmade, but this year I seem to have an abundance of ideas for the handmade varitey.  So let the Christmas gift making extravaganza continue.

Owl Themed Baby Gift

This past weekend I went to a baby shower for a friend of mine that is expecting twins before the end of the year.  Because owls are all the rage, I decided to make an owl inspired gift set.  The first things that I made were the owl hats.  I purchased the patter from RKAJ Patterns on etsy.  She has a lot of great crocheted hat patterns, including monkeys, snowflakes, Santa and much more.  Once the hats were complete I really wanted to make some outfits that would coordinate, so off to Target to pick up a package of onesies and some little pants.

 
I used an owl for a pattern that I had found over at Skip to My Lou and made it small enough to fit on these newborn onesies.  Next stop was the quilt store where I found that great brown mirco fiber fleece that is soooooo soft and flannels of both the lime green and blue that matched perfect along with the brown print to bind the blankets and use as part of the owl applique.  Last I added little squares of the flannel and print to the leg of the pants to make them coordinate with the rest of the owl ensemble.

 
Not wanting big sister to feel left out I made her a hat to match her baby brothers that will be interupting her world very soon.  I think these owls hats are going to be a part of my future as I have several friends with little ones on the way.  Like I said before owls are everywhere.

I am participating in the following link ups:  Between Naps on the Porch, Its so Very Creative, DIY Showoff, Keeping It Simple, Mad Skills Monday, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Skip to my Lou, Coastal Charm, Today's Creative Blog, New Nostalgia. Ladybug Blessings, Nikki's Nifty Knacks, Blue Cricket Design, Me and My Bucket, Fine Craft Guild, All Things Heart & Home, The Thrifty Home, The Trendy Treehouse, Santa's Gift Shop, Sew Woodsy, Saturday Mornings, Fireflies and Jellybeans, Life as Lori, Paisley Passions, Tales from Bloggeritaville, The Shabby Nest, Its a Hodgepodge Life, Its Fun to Craft, Finding Fabulous, TidyMom, Simply Sweey Home, Along for the Ride, A Vision to Remember

An Easy Pesto Recipe

I love the flavor and the smell of fresh basil.  I have planted sweet basil in my garden for the last several years and have enjoyed finding new ways to use it. I have put it on pizza, pasta dishes, salads, etc. The wet, hot summer has been perfect this season for my basil and it is going crazy.  I have eought basill to supply my neighbors. Tonight I decided to use a bunch of it by making this great, easy Pesto recipe that I got from my friend Debra.  To be really honest with you I did not even know what Pesto was until I attended one of Debra's cooking classes last summer.  Pesto has eaisly become one of my favorite things.  The flavor is awesome not only to mention the amount of garlic it requires.  I love garlic!  Jeff is not as big a fan of garlic as me and has to remind me often to go easy on the garlic.

 Pesto

4 cups bail leaves (not tightly packed, but "somewhat" packed)

1/2 to 3/4 cup olive oil

1 cup parmesan cheesse

4 - 5 cloves garlic (I alwasy use 5 cloves! Yes!)

1/4 cup walunts (or pine nuts)

Place all of the ingredients in a food processor fitted with a metal blade and process until you reach the desired texture you like. 

See very easy and so tasty.  Try Pesto on a pizza crust topped with fresh tomatoes and mozzarella.  It is soooooo good.

Christmas in Gardner

Earlier this week the Indian Creek Community Church, Gardner campus passed out hot chocolate at the community Christmas lighting at Cornerstone Park, in Gardner.  Now being a small town, I thought how big of a deal can this be?  Well, was I taken by surprise, this little town goes all out for Christmas.  We arrived in the park around 5:45pm to set up our tent and it was completely dark, the kind of dark that you have to use a flash light to see anything.  As the crowds gathered, we were ready with hot chocolate, whipped cream, and candy canes for all.  The mayor said the word and the park lit up with all of its light as well as a firework display.  About that time, Santa arrived on a fire truck with its lights and sirens on and all was well with the world.  The children from the Gardner schools sang Christmas songs and then all got in line to go through Santa's workshop.  Now, we are not talking just Santa sitting in a chair passing out candy canes, he has a full workshop with elves and everything. He doesn't only give you a candy cane but you get a Gardner Christmas ornament.   I should have known this little town would be the real deal, after all I have been to one of their football games and that should have given me a clue.  Gardner is kind of a big deal when it comes to community fun!

Here is the ornament that Santa was passing out.  No I did not tackle a kid in the parking lot to get one.  I did what any other gal would do who wants something for Christmas.

I sat next to Santa, no not on his lap, and let him know what I wanted.  Yeah!  I am not  too proud.  Besides, I wanted a Gardner ornament and you do what you need to do.