September 10, 2014

An Announcement...

September 10, 2014/ Lindsay

It shouldn't take a tragedy to get my attention.

You see, I am a wife and mother first. The Lord has given me a wonderful husband and six precious children. I am so thankful for each one of them.

However, our days are numbered and tomorrow is not promised to anyone.

If today was your last day on this Earth, how would you have spent it?

If today was the last day you had with one of your loved ones, what would you remember?

I want to make memories, instead of making things.

I want to read books to my toddlers instead of reading e-mails.

I want to paint tiny fingernails instead of snowmen and pumpkins and signs.

After all, my best artwork is made using sidewalk chalk and inspired by the ridiculous requests of giggling girls.

I have met many wonderful people through my etsy shop. I am honored they have allowed me to have a small part of special times in their lives and I was blessed to be able to run a successful shop for a season in my life.

However, my customers can find other vendors to make their items. My children only have one mother. I am irreplaceable to them.

I have met many special friends through blogging. Women who have lifted me up in prayer or sent me e-mails to reach out in dark times. Women who have celebrated with me in times of great joy. I am so thankful for each one of them and hope to keep in touch.

I am thankful for the inspiration of others from their own little corners of this big, crazy thing they call the world wide web. I hope that I have been a help to others in return.

However, I want to fill my camera card with pictures of my five beautiful, silly girls and my handsome young man. (Yes, the boy is becoming a young man so much like his father these days.) There are plenty of bloggers out there. My children only have one mother.

Oh, I will still do crafty projects. That is part of a creative outlet for me. Plus, my girls have a loooooong, ever growing list of things they want me to make for them. I don't want them to wait for their turn anymore. I want them to come first. If I make "things," I want to make things that will be remembered.

There is nothing wrong with selling on etsy or blogging. There are lots of people who can do it all with grace and ease. But I am in a season of my life where I am spread too thin and I need to prioritize. It just isn't working for me.

I have decided to close my shop and stop blogging for awhile. I will trust God with the rest because I feel this is what I need to do. I am so thankful for the support that I have been given from so many people over the past 5 years.

Time is precious. It is a gift that is not given to everyone. I want to try to make the most of it.

August 22, 2014

Pink Lemonade First Birthday

August 22, 2014/ Lindsay

My last baby is one year old.

Yeah, I am tearing up a little just typing that.

Anywho... let's move on now. Since it was our last (sniff, sniff) first birthday I went all out! I have always wanted to do a pink lemonade theme and these silly kids keep going and getting their own opinions about things. This was probably my last chance.

We don't usually go "all out" for birthdays. Just our family and some cake, ice cream, and snacks. A pack of balloons and a little crepe paper if I feel ambitious. This time I put a little extra effort into the decorations, but only because they will be used in her nursery, too. We have parties in our sunroom since it is a large, open area. We actually set up picnic tables outside this time, but I kept the food inside. I just hung some pink balloons and yellow crepe paper (the other kids insist on this) and put some silk daisy bunches that I got on clearance at Joann's and Michaels in some clear vases.

On the windowsill I arranged some pink and yellow items like her first dress (yellow) and her first hat (pink).

I also mod podged some frames I already had and printed out THIS free printable from Daisy Cottage Designs.

I painted some wooden signs, too, just 'cause I am on a sign kick for my etsy shop and felt like it.

Yeah, I am totally redoing that one...

Oh, and each month I have been taking her picture in a washbasket, so I clipped those on the wash line that already hangs out in my sunroom.

For the food I found lemon and strawberry cake mix at the store so I did a batch of each in cupcakes. Of course, I added sprinkles. Gotta' have sprinkles!

Of course, there was ice cream, pink lemonade, regular lemonade, and other goodies. I also made striped jello in lemon and strawberry.

The most labor intensive thing I did for Hannah's birthday party was to make her a romper. I have wanted to make her one for awhile now and this was a good reason. I got the fabric at Joann's and I actually bought a pdf pattern. I am not going to source the pattern because I was not very happy with it and do not think that it was worth the money. The final product was still pretty cute, though!

I think it is too big, so maybe she will get to wear it some early next summer. The ruffles should be higher, too. Well, I learned some things anyway...

Here it is compared to the very first thing I sewed for her.

Oh, it is so tiny!!!

Excuse me. I am gonna go cry and eat some more of the leftover ice cream now.

Link Parties where I sometimes hang out...

Sew Can Do, Motivate Me Monday, Anything Goes Monday, Take a Look Tuesday, Naptime Creations, Carolyn's Homework, The Winthrop Chronicles, Handmade Tuesdays,Inspire Me Wednesday, We Did It Wednesday, Adorned From Above, Wow Me Wednesday, Your Whims Wednesday, Not Just a Housewife, Weekly Homemaking Party,Create It Thursday, The 36th Party, Friday Favs Party, Saturday Sewing, Think Pink Sunday, and Threading Your Way.

August 20, 2014

Rapunzel and Button Flowers Quiet Book Pages

August 20, 2014/ Lindsay

Something old. Something new.

Rapunzel and Button Flowers Quiet Book Page

I did a button flower page on Grace's book HERE, but the Rapunzel page is new. Naomi really likes princesses, but ironically hates having her own hair brushed. I just thought of that now. Um. Oh well.

I saw the tower Rapunzel page idea on Pinterest- several different versions I mushed together so no specific link. I used cotton yarn to make the hair and stitched it onto the background (a scrap of darker brown fused onto the blue backing.) Then, I fused the tower and the roof onto the page and used a zig zag stitch all the way around- especially the window.

I sewed a strip of green to the bottom to make some grass and add some dimension.

The tree makes a nice little storage pocket. I fused and zig zagged the trunk onto the edge, then made a treetop pocket to hold all of the little hair clips and some more ribbons.

The button flower page is just about the same as the last one, but I got lazy and skipped the leaves and only made three flowers.

They are still reversible.

So that wraps things up! I plan on making another quiet book very soon and I have some cute ideas for that one. Thanks for reading along and if you want to see the rest of the pages in the series you can click HERE.

Link Parties where I sometimes hang out...

You can see the rest of Naomi's quiet book here:

Grace's quiet book can be seen here:

August 19, 2014

New and Improved Zucchini Alfredo

August 19, 2014/ Lindsay

We are continuing "Zucchini Week" here and so far it is going well! I am still freezing more than we can eat, but it will be good in casseroles and zucchini bread this winter. Tonight we had sausage, potato, and zucchini packets on the grill, but last night my husband wanted my new and improved version of zucchini alfredo. The original recipe is HERE, but we like this one better. It is creamier and the texture is better with the addition of some pasta. If you are going for low carb, use the other one.

New and Improved Zucchini Alfredo

1 lb. penne pasta, cooked and drained

8 cups thinly sliced zucchini

2 cloves garlic

1 stick butter

2 cups milk

8 oz. cream cheese

6 oz. bag shredded parmesan cheese

1/2 cup mozzarella

1 tsp. salt

Saute the zucchini in butter with minced or pressed garlic cloves until soft, but not mushy. Meanwhile, melt cream cheese with milk in a medium saucepan. Stir in parmesan and mozzarella. Add salt. When the sauce is creamy, combine with the cooked pasta and zucchini. Heat thoroughly and serve.

Link Parties where I sometimes hang out...

Sew Can Do, Motivate Me Monday, Anything Goes Monday, Off the Hook Monday, Take a Look Tuesday, Naptime Creations, Carolyn's Homework, The Winthrop Chronicles, Handmade Tuesdays,Inspire Me Wednesday, We Did It Wednesday, Adorned From Above, Wow Me Wednesday, Your Whims Wednesday, Not Just a Housewife, Weekly Homemaking Party,Create It Thursday, The 36th Party, Friday Favs Party, Saturday Sewing, Think Pink Sunday, and Threading Your Way.

August 18, 2014

Mermaid Friends Quiet Book Page

August 18, 2014/ Lindsay

This is the page where I got a little carried away.

Naomi really likes her fish tank (she calls plecostomus "grumpy fish") and when I came across this old, blue, swirly fabric I immediately though "ocean."

Of course, the tea-dyed muslin (a little off color in these pics) made great sand at the bottom. It also doubles as a little pocket.

There is where I got a little carried away. I got out the felt and started creating little ocean creatures and had way too much fun with it.

On the left side I made seaweed inspired by THIS tutorial (which is actually for forest animals in grass, but it works here, too.) The little sea animals can play in the seaweed made of bits of ribbon, ric rac, and dyed lace. That keeps in line with the theme of the rest of the book even if the bright sea creatures are way off. They are fun. I don't care.

I hand embroidered the faces on the jellyfish and starfish. Then, I machine stitched another layer on the back (with ric rac between them for the jellyfish.) The dolphin and purple sparkly fish were done by hand. The sequins were from some trim, but I ended up hand stitching most of them on anyway since it wanted to come apart.

On the right side we have a sunken ship with a little port hole for playing peek-a-boo and some more seaweed-ish stuff (ric rac and gathered satin ribbon) I added just cause it needed something.

The mermaids were just so cute that I ended up making three of them. They are completely hand stitched. I had some time to wait around on my husband in the car and added lots of details.

Just two more pages/one post to go!

Link Parties where I sometimes hang out...

You can see the rest of Naomi's quiet book here:

Grace's quiet book can be seen here:

August 17, 2014

Zucchini Pie

August 17, 2014/ Lindsay

It is zucchini season!!! Yay!!!

We have an abundant harvest this year, so as a little challenge, I am going to try to make zucchini a different way each night this week. Tonight was zucchini pie! I have posted this recipe before, but I made a few tweaks so I thought I would repost it.

Zucchini Pie

4 cup sliced zucchini

1 stick butter

2 eggs

1/4 tsp. pepper

1 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. oregano

1 Tbsp. parsley

1 cup shredded mozzarella

1/2 cup grated parmesan

1 tube crescent rolls

Saute zucchini in butter. Meanwhile, press crescent rolls in bottom of pie pan. Mix remaining ingredients in a bowl. When zucchini is cooked and softened, stir in the egg-cheese-spice mixture. Pour over crust. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

Prepare to be bombarded by zucchini recipes again!