And the Winner Is. . .

Anna from Anna's Nest. Her blog is amazing so you should check it out.
I tried to link it on here but it isn't working. Try annasnest.com you won't be sorry!
I also should say that I was lucky enough to win 2 patterns from Kekya Lou's etsy shop. I am very excited to try them out. Thank you to everyone who entered my giveaway. I hope I can do another one soon. It was sure fun to see so many comments on my post! Good luck with holiday shopping (or crafting). I am really having a hard time typing after driving almost 400 miles today. I think I should sleep and try again later when I can spell.

Happy Birthday GIVEAWAY!!!

It is Giveaway day in Blogland. Go to Sewmamasew.com (click on blog) to check out the master list of the handmade giveaways today. I think there is something very valuable and endearing about something that has been made by hand. It is unique, it is worked, it is special. What better than a handmade item to celebrate the unique and special people in our lives. I am talking about birthdays people!


I am giving away a fabric celebration bunting and a special birthday hat. The banner has multi-colored and patterned triangles that will surely make any party more festive. It is trimmed with stripes cut on the bias so you can stretch it from the rafters and party like its 1999, only greener!
The party hat has coordinating fabric and a jaunty 100% wool tassel on the top. It is sure to make any child the captain (or princess ) for the day. Also, the colors for both the banner and the cap are gender neutral so bring on the boys!


TO ENTER:
Leave a comment ON THIS POST. I thought to require you answer a question but I couldn't think of a clever one. Instead, if you leave a clever comment I will put your name in twice.
I will hold my random drawing of those who entered on Sunday, December 7. Good Luck and Happy Birthday to those December birthdays (like my grandma, my cousin, Jesus Christ, and many others!)

A Matter of Taste

Things Lily will not eat:

Applesauce
Mashed Potatoes with Gravy
yogurt covered craisens


Things Lily will eat:

Plain yogurt
beets
Erbaviva diaper cream

Feeling Elfy. . .or Felt Elfy

This probably should go on my sidebar under "what I am making lately" but I am just so excited about it that it is getting it's own post.
For Christmas, Lily is getting a little kitchen set. It is a darling wood one that reminds me of the pink one from Pottery Barn but is priced less than that of a real kitchen (like PB). To go with her new digs I thought I had an idea to make the play food out of fabric and felt. I hadn't seen much plush food but when I started researching it online there are quite a lot of culinary crafters out there. I even saw some plush food recently at a specialty toy store. I just finished the breakfast tonight and although the syrup looks more like black-strap molasses ( I may need to rework that!), I am really happy with the results. What do you think?


This is when I wish I WAS a photographer. They look better in real life. I guess I shouldn't wait until the black of night to document my projects.
I thought the strawberries would be the hardest because of the embroidery, but they were the most fun. I think I will make more. The eggs, which I thought would be the easiest turned out a little trickier than I thought. My favorite is the print for the banana peel. Can you see the sugar spots! I was so happy to find it. A lot of the fabrics I am using are recycled (thank you to my sister's and mom for their thrift store give-aways!) but there were a few things I had to have, like the vintage prints and 100% wool felt. Maybe I will try felting my own wool next time.

Next week: Lunch. On the menu? PB&J and cheese sandwiches (with veggies), pretzels, apple, cucumber slices any more ideas?

Nilsson Family Photography

In the past few months I have stumbled upon several blogs from friends I had in high school. Although I knew these folks were talented I had no idea that so many of them were into photography. I think I have four friends from high school that are doing photography semi professionally and several others who are enjoying photography as a hobby. To be honest, I thought that if any one should be gifted with a camera it should be me! My mother is amazing, as many of you know, and I would think photographic skill would be genetic. As it turns out, I did not inherit the artist's eye but the photography gene may still run in my blood. It seems the photogene skips a generation. Lily love the camera, or being behind it, anyway. She always wants to hold the camera and the other day I finally let her. I showed her how to push the button and let her have at it. As you will see from the following photographs, her talent is undeniable. Her sense of focus and (insert photographic terms from Wikipedia) is amazing. I think I have my retirement locked it with this one. And really, lets be honest, maybe I should pursue that modeling career. I love how she has captured my true self.

My Burrito Overfloweth

While driving by some houses Lily started her mantra “a nack! a nack! a nack! a nack!”. She wants a snack and she wants it now (for those not fluent in Lily-ese). 20 minutes from the grocery barren apartment and without even a breath mint in my purse, the Carl’s Junior drive-thru was like an oasis through the snow flurries. As we drove up to the menu I was shocked to see that the six dollar burger was actually under six dollars (something we had always joked about in Maui, where said burger is $7.25) and the menu had an additional mexican food side. This was a further bonus because Lily loves beans and will eat almost anything wrapped in a hah-tee-tee (tortilla). We scanned the choices of value menus, double patty value fries with 14 taquitos, AHA! a $2 burrito! Perfect. Get it. Let’s go. Remember the mantra is sustained throughout the whole drive-thru, Carl’s Junior rediscovery experience so it was more stressful than it sounds here.
When we pulled to window #2 I thought my problems were over (I realize there are real problems and driving with a hungry two year old isn’t one of them, but right then, in the rental car, looking at horrible houses, in the snow, away from anyone I know, I felt like it qualified) but when my would-be salvation was handed through the window to me I knew something was wrong. The bag was heavy. The bag should not be heavy. I looked inside to see at least a full gallon of refried beans wrapped in a to-scale map of Salt Lake county. How am I to give this behemoth to my toddler to eat unsupervised? And perhaps more importantly (I mean, it was a rental so who really cares?), who knew you could buy a burrito the size of a Beamer for under two bucks? I was shocked (nack! nack! nack!) what was I going to (nack! nack! nack!) do? I couldn’t hand this water balloon of a burrito back to her. I could just see the beans pouring out of the bottom of the giant tortilla like a faucet onto her tiny lap. I tear off a piece of tortilla near the edge to abate the yelling and buy some time. (I WANT BIG PIECE! BRITO!) At this point I did what I can assume any mother would do. I opened the burrito, scooped out 3/4 of the beans with my fingers onto the thin plastic wrapping paper (which is on my lap), re-wrap the tortilla and give it to Lily. Then, I lick the beans of my fingers. I glance out the window to the car next to us. That’s right, Lady, I’m eating refried beans off of my lap with my pointer and middle man and I like it, AND it was under two bucks so you tell me what is wrong with that.

Birthday Take Two

Lily's official bday was here, in Utah, and my family couldn't resist celebrating. We had a fun little Hello Kitty/Cinderella party. Little Lily has been fully taken by the Disney Princess movement. It all started with a Cinderella audio tape. The songs led to the book which brought on the costume, movie, slippers, and doll. (thanks mom and Alyssa!). It turns out that Cinderella is my mother's favorite Disney movie of all time. I guess she bought the movie for Lily before she was even born. Ahem. So, when I told her that Lily was loving Cinderella, it made my mother's day. When Lily opened the movie, she kicked her legs with glee and screamed. It was so cute. She didn't really want to open the rest of her presents. She was glad she did, though! Yes, she was Cinderlly for Halloween. I will post pictures. . .someday.