2009 Sewing

1. easter basket bunnies, 2. sewing machine cover, 3. vintage bunting + doily = such goodness, 4. smocked sundress, 5. everything tote, 6. ruffle sleeve tunic top, 7. mini flags, 8. postcards & stamps, 9. funky floral dress, 10. headband, 11. little plush berries, 12. mini scalloped garland, 13. doily detail, 14. kindergarten quilt/floor mat, 15. customized, 16. simplicty 4206

It was another really great year for sewing. I still love it, it's still fun, and I plan to keep it up. Just so you know...

Giveaway - $25 Fresh & Easy Gift Cards

Since moving back to Las Vegas, I've found myself shopping at fresh & easy a lot. Dylan & I went together on our first trip. We were both pleased with the layout of the store, how clean it is & how nicely everything is presented on the shelves. We love the simple but modern design of the product packaging & think the tasting station is awesome!

Just before Thanksgiving, I was invited to attend a blogger event hosted by fresh & easy. See their post on it here. We got to prepare a whole Thanksgiving dinner! It was super fun & yummy. I already knew that I loved fresh & easy before that night, though.

My favorite recipe from that night was Sauteed Sweet Potatoes w/ Spinach. Here it is:

3 Tbsp. Olive Oil
6 large sweet potatoes, peeled & diced
2 cloves of sliced garlic
1 tsp. nutmeg
2 red bell peppers, sliced
2 bags fresh & easy chopped spinach 16 oz.
salt & pepper to taste

1. Heat oil in a large skillet (over medium heat) and sautee sweet potatoes until soft, about 8 minutes.
2. Add nutmeg & bell peppers. Cook for another two minutes. Transfer to a bowl.
3. Sautee spinach in the now empty skillet until just wilted. Add cooked spinach to bowl. Season with salt & pepper to taste. Toss spinach & sweet potatoes until combined.

In Ohio I had become used to shopping at a store called Aldi . The things that I loved about Aldi were the small store square footage. It makes for quick trips! I don't have to walk from one end of a gigantic store to the other end & then back again when I forget something on my list, with kids in tow. The retailer saved on overhead by having a small store & passed those savings onto shoppers with lower priced products. So I was thrilled to find the same set up here in Las Vegas at fresh & easy.


Some of the other things that I love about fresh & easy:

* I can always find parking close to the store front & love their reserved spots for "adults with children" & "hybrid vehicles".
* They are friends to the environment.
* All fresh & easy brand products are made with no artificial colors or added trans fats.
* Shoppers pay for their groceries at a self checkout station. They are fast & efficient. Not like most at other grocery stores. I've never had to wait for assistance because the machine didn't like the weight of my product when I set it down on the conveyor belt.


Some of our favorite fresh & easy brand products are:

* rosemary focaccia dough. Just spread the dough out on your baking sheet & pop it in the oven. It's so good!
* caramel popcorn.
* whole wheat bagels.
* tofu. It's only 98 cents. I'm pretty excited about this as I'm about to get started on an almost entirely meatless diet. More about that later. :)
* all the easy & convenient produce packs.

Fresh & Easy stores are located in Nevada, California & Arizona. Today I have two $25 fresh & easy gift cards to give away. I will choose two winners at random. To enter the giveaway, please leave a comment telling me what your favorite fresh & easy product is, or what your favorite store feature is. I will announce the two winners on January 5th. Good luck!

Also, be sure to sign up for the fresh & easy newsletter. They send really great coupons & you'll receive a coupon for a free reuseable shopping bag with a $10 purchase as soon as you sign up!

***All photos by Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market

It Was a Good One

Scones, nerf gun wars, legos & kickball....we had a great holiday. Hope you did as well! It's crazy how I woke up this morning wanting to clean & organize like crazy. Like this huge chore had been completed. Hope this productive feeling sticks around for a while.

I'll be back soon with a giveaway! Merry Christmas!! (Sadie says it's still Christmas today. I guess she doesn't want it to end.)

Postcards & Stamps

Hooray! I finished the postcards & stamps to go along with the mail carrier bags. I used two layers of thick interfacing between these & felt for the back. They're nice & stiff but still soft & fabric like.


The stamps can be attached & removed with velcro. Of course I had to use pinking shears around the edges. :)


I'm going to sign off for the next few days. I hope you all have a wonderful & merry Christmas!

Merry & Bright

I woke up feeling so happy this morning. It's Christmas week & Christmas day could not come fast enough! I am prepared this year. I shopped some amazing deals & used coupons. Often I would shop for toys on sale + used a coupon (thanks for all the $10 coupons Kohls) & was able to get all the kids need for not a lot of money. I think they will be happy on Christmas morning.

Emotions can be all over the place for us these days. Moods can swing in no time & one grumpy person make rest of the family grumpy as well. But I'm pretty sure that every member of this family will be happy come Christmas morning & I'm ready for that happy day. I'm ready to play & eat & enjoy one another. I'm ready to reflect on the year & all that we have been blessed with. Are you ready?

Mail Carrier Bags

Two little mail bags for my little girls. To be worn across the body. The envelope symbol & the word "MAIL" were embroidered on to tell them apart. The postcards that I plan to include with this gift are cut out, but have been sitting on my ironing board for a week.


I am feeling a little depressed these days. Just a little down. And making is feeling like a chore rather than great fun. I'm sure the excitement will return soon. But I'm settling in to the fact that this may be the only handmade gift that I finish for them this year. Even though I had intentions of making a whole lot more. And that's okay. Right? Yes. It is. There will be birthdays & other opportunities to make & give. I tried this year & I can let it all go & not be so hard on myself.


If feeling super ambitious, a mailbox can be made as well.

Self Storage for Poor People

This is what our girls get to share a bedroom with. Luckily the bedrooms here at my parents house are really big & the ceilings are tall.

My youngest sister is having a garage sale this weekend & I knew that we had lots of stuff we could try to unload. So yesterday we began going through all of our boxes. This area had been about 3 box widths deep & pretty unorganized. We opened up every single box. Decided if the stuff inside needed to be sold, unpacked & used, or stay packed up. Then Dylan did a magnificent job playing box tetris & arranging the remaining boxes floor to ceiling on one wall in the girls room. Because unemployed people certainly don't want to pay for a storage unit.

It opened up a lot of room, we found a ton of stuff we don't care about & hope to make some money selling and the girls were stoked to have a few more feet of bedroom floor. Plus whenever I see that wall of boxes it makes me giggle.

Dear Santa

Last week we saw Santa at our ward Christmas party. Sadie was quick to announce that he was not the real Santa! His beard was not real & we of course are used to Santa having a real beard.



Sadie was happy to see the real Santa finally. She's been asking for a Barbie for the last few weeks. Then last night she asked Santa for 3 Barbies, a Barbie bike, a Barbie house & a Barbie car. We'll see what Santa comes through with, but I'm confident that she'll be happy with whatever she gets. Claire asked for a baby doll, but she's also been telling us that she wants Santa to bring her a jack in the box. The extra little girl here is cousin Ella. :)

We found Santa at Bass Pro Shops this year. It's an interesting place for sure. Our local store is connected to the Silverton Casino which has this Mermaid show. The girls thought it was pretty cool & left the store saying they were mermaids.

Two Mice in Hats & a Bat

Watercolor by Sadie
age 5

(I like their tails.)

Utah In 2 Days

We're back from our whirlwind trip to Utah. Yes we drove up to Salt Lake one day & then back home the next. We're crazy kids....yep. Hope we always are too. :) The girls were so excited about the snow.



In our short time there we had some delicious pizza, played some serious rock band, wandered through IKEA & visited an awesome aquarium. It was a great escape & we were so, so happy to see awesome friends & family.


We brought along a few handmade Christmas gifts. For little Moses I made a Buddy from Lotta Jansdotter's Simple Sewing For Baby book. (See another project I've made from the same book here.) My girls kinda flipped out over this guy when I finished him, so I think I may need to whip up a few for them. He really is the perfect size for cuddling up to & I think he'd be a great sleeping pal. I forgot to take a photo of him at home before our trip, so that's why he's lounging in the car.


For Maria I made a colorful mini scalloped garland. I love how it turned out & it totally makes me think of Maria. She loves color!



I cut out way more scalloped flags that I needed for this gift, so I may be adding some similar garlands to the shop soon.