gift

Mother’s Day took on a whole new meaning this year.  So, for myself and the Grandmothers I had a photographer over to the house to take some pictures of Ian.  I cashed in a special groupon deal and I was pleasantly surprised by how well Jr. did.  If he wasn’t smiling at the photographer, he had his fist in his mouth and he captured our little guy perfectly.  It was pretty clear that he has photographed many babies!

Given the outfit he’s in, it does look like a school portrait but he looks cute all the same.  The best Mother’s Day gift anyone could ask for!  

What did you do for your Mom this Mother’s Day?

“Hey Mom, check it out…I can put my whole fist in my mouth!”

For the past month I’ve been humming and hawing over getting myself a Nook.  That all ended last week went my husband came home with a large Barnes and Noble bag and said “I have something for you…”

It was another one of his “Just Because” gifts or perhaps it was a way of gettin’ me to shut up about the thing.  Either way, I was thrilled.

 My Nook with handmade felt sleeve. New cover coming soon!

I’d done some research on the Nook and here are the three main reasons I like it more than the Kindle:

1:  Color Touch screen: Since the introduction of touch screen technology I have become spoiled. I instantly took to the Nook’s touch screen navigation and the UI (user interface) is much more intuitive than the Kindle.  It didn’t take long to adapt to the new way of operating the Nook.

2:  Library Access:  This is a very cool feature that the Kindle doesn’t have and that’s access to the St. Louis County Library.  There are tons of brand new ebooks for loan at overdrive.slcl.org.  The pdf formatting however only works with the Nook and Sony’s eReader and does not work on the Kindle. That said I haven’t downloaded anything yet and it may require a USB upload but that beats have to return a hard copy.  I always get fined for late returns.  Oops!

3. In-store Offers:  There’s a Barnes and Noble close to my house but if I take my Nook into any location I can download exclusive offers and free content. I also loved the fact that I could go to the store and play around with the Nook before I bought it.  Something you can’t do with the Kindle.

Anyway, if you’re thinking about getting an eReader, it’s worth looking into what works for you and if you’re crafty you can even make your own cover. There’s a great tutorial at Where the wild things craft.

My first ebook selection thanks to the advice of HMW is The Help.

Wow, have the days since Thanksgiving just flown by!  Jr should be here any time and until then I’ve been craftin-it-up with some easy projects that can be completed in just a few hours for obvious reasons.

First up are these adorable crocheted loafers.  The pattern is by Hook Candy.  They work up really fast and make a great holiday gift for any new mom or mom-to-be.  The yarn I used is Red Heart’s new Eco-ways and the little buttons are genunie leather for an added dapper look!

For my niece, I whipped up this cute little reversible apron to go with some Easy Bake Oven accessories I purchased for her this Christmas. The fabric is part of the Wild Thyme fabric line by Carolyn Gavin.  Since my niece is only 8 I’m pretty sure she’s not reading this (I hope) so I thought I would share a pic before it gets wrapped.  The classic apron pattern is free and can be found here.  I made the child’s size but there’s also measurements for an adult size.  It was another quick and easy project.  The “B” monogram was made with felt and hand-stitched to the front before sewing.

My current and probably final craft project for a while is this knitted basketweave blanket.  Also a free pattern found on Lionbrand.com its being made with Vanna’s Choice in Silver Blue and Linen.  I chose to alternate the colors to make it a little more interesting. It’s only 18 by 24 and will make for a nice small car seat blanket.  Which given the impending winter will come in handy.

What are some of your favorite quick and easy craft projects this holiday season?

When my dear friend E asked what I would like to do for a baby shower, I suggested a book shower for Baby B.  Since she was doing all the work I couldn’t help but come up with a fun little illustration for the event so I created this cute little bookworm for use on the email invite.

As a way of sharing the special day I created a pdf of Bookworm Bookplates for you to download and print.  You can either print on regular cardstock and use doublesided tape to adhere to the book or you can print this straight to label paper. Enjoy!

Baby Shower Details
Sunday’s shower was a wonderful low-key afternoon with the girls.  We played a baby name game using scrabble letters that gave everyone a laugh.  The names Axl and Zorro found there way onto one teams list.  Awe-some!  I don’t see either names making the final list but A for effort.

As for the books there was a great selection and I’m so thrilled that everyone got into the idea. The books ranged from the classics like Green Eggs and Ham and Best Mother Goose Ever  to modern sculpture art books.  Cool developmental Infant books like White on Black made it into the stack and no childrens collection is complete without Everybody Poops!

E did a fantastic job organizing and I can’t thank her enough!  So, if you’re looking for a non-traditional shower idea I highly reccomend this one.  It allows friends and family to personalize their selection while building a library that the little one will enjoy for years to come.

First of all, Happy Mother’s Day to all you Moms out there!  I hope you get to spend the day doing what you want to do.

This year for Mother’s Day I made this To-Market bag from my Mum.  I made this one last November for myself and have used it quite a lot.

Michael Miller Zen Blossoms Fabric MAX Payne dvd

A Mighty Heart psp

One can’t have too many bags, right?  Since my Mom and I share a love for accessories I thought this would make the ideal gift.  This bag is great to take to the farmers market or grocery store. I made a cell phone pocket and added The handles for extra sturdiness.  It folds up easily and sews up really fast too!

What did you do for your Mom this Mother’s Day?

Of all the crochet projects I’ve made and give to others there have been few that I’ve made for my husband.  Well, who can forget the Beer Can hat

but other than that I haven’t made him something he would actually wear (on more than one occasion) until now.

Ski hat made to coordinate with colorful snowboard pants.  Design by John Burgerman

Some time ago I borrowed a friend’s Cozy Crochet Kit which has a bunch of simple crochet patterns. This beanie/ski hat pattern was part of the pack.  It’s very simple and unlike most hat’s it doesn’t require working in rounds.  I was able to work on this while crossing the pond to England last month but just finished it over the weekend with the addition of a pom pom per Jason’s request.

I forgot how fun it is to make a pom pom.  I remember making them as a kid.  So if it’s been a while, but you want to give it a try here is a handy Pom Pom Tutorial courtesy of The Purl Bee.

Aren’t these cute!  These adorable french milled soaps were a gift from E last week.  So, with family coming to visit it was time they stepped out of their woodland box set.   The creator of this fun line is Two’s Company and many of their products can be found at Plum Party.