Darth Monkius, Lord of the Sith

Jer wanted a Sith outfit for his sock monkey for his birthday (actually, for Christmas, and I never got it done, so birthday it is!) which was in March. I finished it in April, took pictures in May... you get the idea :) Luckily he didn't mind the present being late!

The monkey is one of the very first ones I ever made. Jer has had it for a couple years now. I gave it a little "face lift"- straightened out the eyes, re-sewed the mouth, fluffed up all the stuffing that had gotten lumpy, etc. I made the pattern for the tunic, cloak, and light saber. I guess you could say this is the prototype or test run of The Star Wars Sock Monkey! I plan to make another one (or more, if people like them) for the shop, now that I know what changes I want to make to the outfit.

Enough chatter, on with the pictures!

"The force is strong with this one..."

"I sense something, a presence I've not felt since......."

"No. Leave them to me. I will deal with them myself."

"Impressive. Most impressive."

"No! I am your father!"

Isn't he cute, in an ominous, dangerous sort of way?

**Yes, I do realize and in fact proudly proclaim, I am a nerd!

Buttercup Bags

Just in case you haven't heard of The Buttercup Bag, ***here*** is the tutorial, from Made By Rae. And I also used ***this*** tutorial to make the bag a bit bigger, add a zipper, and cell phone pocket.

It seems like everyone is making these bags now, I have seen them on lots of blogs and even on Etsy! I love them... haven't made any for myself yet, but here are two that I made for gifts:

This one is for my mother-in-law. I haven't given it to her yet, but I'm pretty sure she doesn't read my blog. So I think it's safe to show now :)




I made this one for my mom's birthday. She got it last weekend. She likes it, woohoo!!




Now I just need to make one for myself!

Mr. Googlie Eye

One of the boys I nanny (who is also one of Kade's best friends) had his 6th birthday recently. He is the kind of kid who has everything, so I wanted to give him something unique and special. I decided on a silly monster plushie. Kade designed the whole thing- he chose the colors, the shape of the body, how many eyes, what the mouth should look like, everything! Here is the result:


The boy named him Mr. Googlie Eye. He loves him very much, takes him everywhere, even sleeps with him! It gives me such a warm fuzzy feeling to know that I was able to make something he loves!


There is a pocket on the back for notes or little treasures.


I'm thinking about making some monsters for the shop, what do you think?

It's so hot I can't think.

I was trying to title this post and sat staring at the screen for who knows how long. So! Hot! Can't! Think! I am not a hot weather person. My favorite season is fall. I love sunshine and warm weather, yeah, but when the INSIDE of my house is 87 degrees (after cooling it down), that's too hot for me.

Anyways, this post isn't really about something, I just wanted to post some pictures of things I've been working on lately! I have at least 13 new projects to share, and I decided to spread them out over the next week or two. Here are the first couple things.

I made this zipper pouch for my niece's birthday. I LOVE this owl fabric! I have been hoarding it, and figured it was time to use some more. >>Here<< is the tutorial I used, in case you want to make one too!


These are some cards I made for Mother's Day and Graduation this year. I ironed some fusible web onto fabric and ribbon, cut it to size, and ironed it onto the card. (I pre-printed the message onto the card stock first) While the card was still hot I pressed it in a book to flatten it out. Then I sewed a border around the edges. I like using fabric for cards because of the texture it gives the card, and also it's a great use for those small scraps you don't know what to do with!


I'm going to go check on our homemade popsicles now, and get stuff ready so Jer can barbecue up some dinner when he gets home! I hope you all are staying somewhat cool today :)

I'm the proud mother of a graduate!

Please allow me to brag about my kid for a minute! :)

On my birthday, Kade graduated from preschool! His class had a cute little ceremony on the last day of school. I could tell by the look on Kade's face that he was so proud of himself!


I think that school isn't going to come easy for Kade. He really has to work hard to learn, and quite a few times during the last year he has gotten very frustrated with things like colors, shapes, letters, and numbers. He's very smart, but he learns things in his own time. He is determined, though, and each time he learns something new, I can tell that he is getting more and more sure of himself!

During his year at preschool, he accomplished so much! He learned how to write his own name without any help, he can recognize the numbers 0-10, he knows the sounds that about 15-20 letters make, he can color inside the lines, he can rhyme words, do some sign language, and has even shown improvement recognizing the colors red and green. (His optometrist said that Kade probably has red-green color blindness, so being able tell those colors apart is a very good sign!!!) I also learned that some of his strong points in school are going to be determination to follow the rules, and to finish his projects! I waited after school many days for Kade to finish something he was working on. Putting something aside to finish later is something we'll have to work on :)

We wanted to thank his two teachers in a very special way for all that they have done for Kade. We decided to make them a keepsake card/mini album, with pictures of Kade, and statements by him about the year.

For each card, I cut a piece of scrapbook paper down to 9x12 inches. Folded in half, that made the cover. Then I folded two pieces of colored paper and put them inside. I stapled the spine. Kade traced the words on the front, and drew the pictures himself. Then he signed his name.

Here are the inside pages (Kade decorated them all with stamps):




The last page is my favorite!
He finished these sentences:

I like Miss _____ because:
Miss _____ is good at:
Miss _____ taught me:

The answers were really cute! Then we (my mom helped) stamped his hand print and wrote, "A teacher takes a hand, opens a mind, touches a Heart."

I think they turned out really cute, they were quick to put together, and his teachers are going to love them!


I'd love to hear if you have any other ideas for easy-to-make teachers gifts! If you are a teacher- what were some of the things you loved receiving from your students?

And the Winner of the Sock Monkey Baby Set Trio is.....

Man, it took a long time to write down all those entries. I should have used the random number generator! My hand has a cramp!

Mix, mix mix....


Oooh.... he must have picked a good one.... so excited, can barely stand it.......


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Sonja!!!!!!!!!!
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Congratulations Sonja, you won!! I'll be contacting you shortly!

Thanks again to everybody who entered! I'll be having more giveaways in the future, so you will get another chance! Stop by my blog any time, you're always welcome here :)