Sweet Deal: $1 Simplicity Sewing Patterns at Hancock Fabrics!

Normally around $17 retail, you can score some great patterns over on Hancock Fabrics for a buck! I'm definitely getting the baby bibs and shoes! With more than 2 dozen different $1 patterns to choose from, I'm sure you can find something you like! Here are my favorites:

Baby Bibs

Sweet pea, strawberry, carrot, watermelon,

apple, orange, lemon, purple flower and pink swirl

Bags

Clutch, overnight bag and luggage tag patterns 

Child's Aprons and Accessories

Aprons, bags, potholders, and felt accessories

Childs and Misses Aprons

Waist aprons in three sizes and potholder

Misses Aprons

Bib and waist patterns

Misses Aprons

Aprons, hat in 3 sizes and bottle cozy 

Misses and Babys Shoes

In three sizes each (s, m, l)

Misses Bags

Shoulder bag pattern

Misses Easy to Sew Skirts

Slim and flared skirts, each in two lengths

Oh So Tweet! Planning a Baby Shower

With my sister-in-law due early this summer, the season of baby showers is quickly arriving for those of us hosting! My mother, sister and I are planning a shower for the end of May - which poses some interesting problems not the least of which is that the planning spans 3 distant cities and 2 states! 


So far the planning has involved phone calls, and Facebook messages and e-mails - and I'd say we're doing pretty well! We've considered the wishes of the future parents who are much more pro-yellow and red than the typical pinks and purples for girls - and their outdoorsy and laid back style. 


While at first I was leaning toward a yellow/grey color scheme, the addition of red to the yellow followed by a few inspirational photos online with a hint of turquoise has resulted in a fun, vibrant and certainly summer outcome! Strawberries and lemons! 


The three of us have found lots of great ideas across the web for food, fun, games, and decor. Here are a few of my favorites:

Aqua/red/pink/yellow inspiration on The Finer Things

Summer Strawberry Social on The Finer Things

The Bird-Inspired Yellow and Gray Shower on HWTM

Another Yellow Shower on HWTM

Preggatinis over on Real Simple

Marshmallow Pop Color Inspiration from MakeMerryEvents

Lemon love from Project Wedding

Turquoise inspiration from PepperDesignBlog

Cake posted on CakeCentral

So far, though, the best inspiration has come from - shocking - cute fabric! Since we're all crafty gals who will no doubt end up making bunting and centerpieces and favors and table runners, fabric is always a great place to look for inspiration. That, and it gives all three of us something to work off of in a separate cities. Check it out:

I can't help but mention that I found both of those fabrics for less than $4/yard on sale. Super bonus! And since the preview images of both designs were fairly large, I was able to use them for a sample invitation! I've been slowly teaching myself Photoshop skills in my free time, so this shower is also a great excuse to play around in the software. Here's the first draft:

Of course now I'm all motivated to create matching pieces - enclosure card, menu, napkin rings, game cards, place cards, signs for food (oh how I can't wait to plan the food!), hang tags for favors, labels.... that's right, I'm a baby shower maniac.... funny since I've never been to one myself!


And don't worry, I'll make sure to post FREE PRINTABLES of all the designs for you to download and edit for your own uses if you so desire :)  Stay tuned for more baby mania! 

Lofty Thoughts: Valentine's Edition!

 i carry your heart with me(i carry it in

my heart)i am never without it(anywhere

i go you go,my dear; and whatever is done

by only me is your doing,my darling)

i fear

no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want

no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)

and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant

and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows

(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud

and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows

higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)

and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart) 

e. e. cummings

Sweet Deal: Reflections on Pi Shirt from Woot

It's coming.... Pi Day! Nerds across the land will celebrate their dorkiness on 3/14 (or should I say 3.14?) and you had better be ready for all of the pie celebrations that accompany it. Hence:

Get it today for $10 + free standard shipping over on shirt.woot.com. Pretty sure I'm going to pull the trigger and get this in a few minutes... like you're surprised...

Doing the Bathroom Backstroke

Apologies for the absence - with weather dipping into the -40s last week in NW Wyoming, the pipes in the little log cabin just couldn't take it anymore. 

After removing the cabinets

First it was the bathroom pipes, which resulted in a mad dash to get to the main... which first meant removing the custom cabinets that someone thought would be a good idea to install in front of the water heater. Then it meant gutting the counter in the case we had to remove it from the wall. After a hour of gushing water, the washer/dryer area and kitchen then began to flood...

Futile attempt to soak up water

Once the main was off, water was shut off for the night. Unfortunately, the plumber forgot to close the crawl space door and it was discovered the next morning that the main had exploded, too, when it froze overnight. Another night without water. 

Carpeted bathroom floors are a terrible idea.
Especially with an inch of water.

When that was fixed, it caused the pipes in the kitchen to go! Once the stove was removed and the kitchen counters cut into (old cabins like this have the pipes along the outer wall, which is totally inconvenient when there's a problem), it seems like all is well. 

Empty bathroom counter, ready for removal!

Fingers crossed - and a sigh of renter relief!