The Fox Says, "Nice Tie!"

Kent loves the fox! And he loves his new fox tie too! I wanted to make him a fun tie for moving up to Sunbeams at church. I made Clark a snake tie, but I wanted something different for Kent. The fox tie was born!

Would you like to make a fox tie of your own?

I started with this tie pattern at The Purl Bee. I made the tie according to the pattern all the way up to the SEW TIE section at the end. Then I added my embellishments. I kind of had to play with the lining a little to make sure I didn't sew it down, but it wasn't that difficult. I felt I had a better idea of the finished tie with the lining already sewn in. You could add your embellishments at the beginning if you wanted.

1. Start by adding two buttons for eyes.

2. Create your ears by making triangles. I used the main fabric for one side and a minky for the fur inside the ear. Clip the corner and trim the edges as shown below. **Check for the direction of your fur when you cut your triangle. Also, it may be easier to use the shape in step 3 to create your ears. Live and learn!!

3. I found this shape made more sense for how I was going to attach the ears. I didn't want to recut the ears, so I just tucked in the corners of the triangles and topstitched along the bottom so they wouldn't pop out...very technical. You probably wouldn't  need to sew the bottom together if you made this shape from the beginning.

4. To give the ears a little shape, I made a fold in the center and tacked it down. This made the ears curve a little bit.

5. Place the ears on the tie. Read through step 6 so you can get a better idea of how it will look when finished. Stitch the ears fur side down. Try to keep your stitches on the ear and not over the edges. Don't you love the beauty of handmade where one ear is larger than the other!!

6. Flip the ears up and topstitch again above where the raw edges end on your ear. This will hide the raw edges for a nice finished look. Keep your stitches on the ear and not over the edges.

7. Your ears should look like this. I roughed up the fur along the topstitching so that it was less noticeable.

8. Using some embroidery floss or Pearl cotton thread, add a nose. I used a satin stitch for the nose.

9. With the same thread, add some whiskers. I used only 2 pieces of thread on each side. You can kind of pull the whiskers through. I wanted to reduce bulk with knots and things on the inside of the tie.

10. Finish up the tie according to the original tutorial!!

He loved his tie! He walked around showing everyone his fox. I just can't get enough! Such a cute Sunbeam!

A Creeper-y Quilt

Hsssssss.....boom!

It's a Minecraft Creeper Quilt! Clark is really diggin' Minecraft lately (pun intended), so I made him a Creeper quilt for his birthday. More details here. He loves his creeper!

I decided on a black and white crosshatch for the backing. Love it!

Want to make your own?

Fabric:
1 1/3 yards each of four different shades of green
1 1/3 yards of black (blocks and binding)
4 1/2 yards of backing fabric
Twin Size Batting

Block size: 6 1/2"
Finished Quilt Size: 72" x 84"

Cutting:
Cut 26 blocks from the black fabric
Cut 37 blocks of each of the green fabrics
Cut 8 strips of black fabric for binding (2.5" wide)

Piecing:
I created a diagram on graph paper so that no two greens would be right next to each other. When sewing, I keep the diagram on my left and the stack of squares on my right and just keep sewing, just keep sewing... (a la Dory from Finding Nemo).

Quilting:
I really liked how straight line quilting worked on this one. I quilted 1/4" on either side of the seams. I used a variegated green thread on the green parts and then black on the black. I didn't want the green to interrupt the black of the face.

Next project...a redstone pillow perhaps?!

Family Glass Block

I'm helping out with our ward's Super Saturday again this year. But this time I'm only doing one project. This might be the one...

I saw this project just after we had decided on last year's Super Sat. projects and knew that it would be a great one for this year.

So here's my version with instructions on how to make your own.

Gather your supplies:
-glass block
-glass etching cream
-rocks
-2x3 picture frame
-ribbon
-button
-vinyl stencil
-(not pictured) family picture, paper towels, glass cleaner, needle, thread

1. Clean your glass block and apply the stencil. I made this stencil on my Silhouette using the Great Vibes font. Then I did an Internet search for the swirl. I can't remember the site where I found this one. Use masking tape if you are worried that the glass etching cream will spill out over your stencil.

2. Liberally apply glass etching cream over the entire stencil. Make sure to brush up and down and back and forth for the best coverage. Let sit for 10 minutes.

3. Wipe off the glass etching cream and return it to the jar. You can reuse this stuff! Then rinse off the block with water. Remove the stencil and then clean the glass with glass cleaner.

4. Fill the block with some rocks or sand or shells or beads or anything really!

5. Place the picture frame on the rocks and ensure that it is straight.

6. Tie a ribbon around the block and sew a button onto the middle of the bow.

Ta da!

Supergirl

Here's the cute little outfit that I made for Kara for when she came home from the hospital. I think it fits her pretty well at 8 weeks old...sheesh!

When I was telling Clark that I was going to take Supergirl pictures of Kara he decided that he wanted to make a prop for the photos. He even told me he wanted to have her put her hand up like she was flying. I think she cooperated pretty well!

I'm thinking that if there is one word that our family should be able to spell, it would be "super." I guess we'll be working on that!!

And a picture with her Supergirl bear! I love how they are basically the same size. I know I should have taken a picture with the bear when she was first born, but I didn't for some reason. This one will have to do!

Here's the whole ensemble that I made for her. The shoes fit her when she was first born but they no longer do. I even made the 0-3 month size and they are just too small. You can find the pattern here: they are the Ballerina Baby Shoes. I used this tutorial for the flower on her headband (which is also too small now). I used grosgrain ribbon instead of fabric. The patch was from PowerPatches on Etsy. She did a custom order for me and we LOVED the result! You can get the Superman logo in any colors you want!

Torture for a Good Cause

Every baby has to go through the Father's Day hand or foot painting for the Father's Day ties. They all hate it, but we love the ties.

Here's our final version of Jason's tie. The grandpa's ties are a little different - they only have one hand or foot print per kid. We didn't know at the beginning that we were going to add prints to the ties or we would have been better about spacing and colors. I think they look great though.

I made the ties using an old tie of Jason's as a pattern. Then we used fabric paint for the prints and a fine tip fabric marker for the names and years.

Picture of Me

Just so no one can accuse me of not putting enough pictures of myself on the ol' blog. This is the portrait Clark drew of me for Mother's Day. I'm a little offended by the streak of gray in front...but otherwise a perfect interpretation.

Monster Jam for a 3 Year Old!

We had Kent's birthday party on Sunday evening with the family. He has been so excited for this Monster Jam for months. Once the cake was made...there was no stopping the excitement for this little fellow. Jason, Clark and Kent did an amazing job on the cake. 

Getting ready for everyone to sing to him

Blowing out the candles

Aren't these the coolest? Thanks Auntie Kelli! We also had monster cookies, oreos and chocolate donuts posing as spare tires and CRUNCH bars.

Present time - Kent had lots of help with his presents. He loved opening gifts with his brother and cousins.

A cool new blanket featuring the coolest monster trucks. Jason is VERY jealous of this blanket. But there is no way that Kent is giving it up. It quickly replaced the blanket on his bed.

I think almost every gift had something to do with monster trucks. And I think he was A-OK with that!

Gigi and Boompa made this cool Monster Jam table. It's made on one of the train table bases, but with monster truck stuff on it. Kent LOVES it! He was actually a little speechless for a while as he checked it all out. That doesn't happen too often.

The big kids thought it was pretty awesome too.

My mom is putting together a video of how she made it, so when she's done I'll post it here in case you want to make one of your own.... I mean, look at this thing, it's so awesome!

Kent, we are so lucky to have you in our family! We love your spunk and your humor and sometimes we even love your attitude. Here's wishing you (and me) a year of Terrific Threes!

Our Little Sack of Sugar - two weeks old

I decided to take some pictures of Kara at 2 weeks old. She got the prettiest cocoon at the baby shower and I was really excited to use it. (Thank you Kathy!) She's changing a little bit each day. She's awake a little more now, but that also means she cries a little bit more now. She's a great sleeper once she is down, but boy...sometimes it takes hours to get her to go to sleep and stay asleep!

Here's our little sack of sugar!

This is what she looked like most of the time I was trying to take her picture. I'm surprised I got any of her looking peaceful.

And even a little smile!

Look at this beautiful cocoon!

Oh she's just so sweet!