How Cute!

This fabric kills me with its cuteness. I may have a problem with the stock I am working on for the etsy shop update. Because I love it all so much, and I kind of want to keep it. I am making a crib quilt with this adorable fabric from Moda, and I want to keep it myself. And I am working on some adorable onesies (pictures coming soon) and I want to keep those. too. Mind you, I don't have a baby, but that hasn't stopped me before. Perhaps I should only sew things that I totally hate?

Poomba Berry Loves. . .

I was at the always lovely Crate & Barrel today when I spotted these amazing white solar-powered paper lanterns. However, I couldn't find them on the website. I did, however, find the lanterns above, which look pretty much exactly like the ones at C&B. These are a little more expensive, so if you have a store nearby I would check them out there since they were only $20. A few of these would look lovely hanging outside during a memorial day celebration. Festive during the day and useful during the night! (Does anyone know how long the lights last?)

Poomba Berry Loves. . .

I thought I would start something new here on the blog. Since I run across so many things that are lovely, I am going to start linking them here under the title "Poomba Berry Loves."These fresh-looking note cards are a set from one of my favorite new finds Red Stamp. I am a sucker for office supplies. When school started back in the fall when I was a kid, I loved shopping with my mom and sister for shiny new pens and notebooks and folders. And then, when I got my books, I would meticulously cover them with brown paper and decorate them with stickers and magazine cut-outs. All of the beautifully-designed products at Red Stamp make me giddy as though I were starting school all over again. These green and yellow cards look pretty enough to eat! You must also check out all of their adorable kiddie products.

(found via Creature Comforts.)

Easy Peasy Apron

You will need:
1 tea towel
1 fat quarter (for pockets)
About 3 yds. grosgrain ribbon (for trim)
1 fabric-covered button
A scrap of another coordinating fabric (for yo-yo)
1 safety pin (for attaching yo-yo)


Cover a button using the fabric for the pockets. Make a yo-yo (great directions can be found here). Sew the button onto the yo-yo. Attach safety pin to the back of yo-yo. Set aside. (I made my yo-yo removable because I made this as a gift and I was afraid of washing the yo-yo. You could sew this on later, if you wanted to.)


Whip up some easy-peasy pockets. You can find a pattern for a “patch pocket” right here. Or, make one up. (Hey, I never promised a detailed tutorial, right? Right.) Moving right along . . .. After sewing the pocket, I added ribbon trim at the top. I attached my pockets about 5-1/2 inches from each side. I basically wrapped the apron around me and did a rough measure. If you don’t eat as much candy as me, your hips are probably smaller and your pocket measurement might be different.

I also added a length of trim around the bottom of my apron for some contrast. Add another, much longer (about 60 inches long) piece of ribbon to the top as a tie.


Safety pin your yo-yo above the pocket and, viola, a cute little apron! Tea towels can be found inexpensively just about everywhere. Wouldn't these be cute for apron-making?


This is my first tutorial, so I hope it was well written. If you have any questions, shoot me an email!

Dang.

Does anyone else (Blogger users, that is) have trouble uploading pictures? Like, sometimes blogger just has this random freakout and it won't let me upload pictures. And I totally had an apron tutorial to show y'all. Dang.

Instead, I'll link to this site. Rebecca Thuss is an incredibly talented photo stylist/creative person who, unbeknownst to me, was at the helm of Martha Stewart Weddings back in 2005 and 2006 when I was engaged and buying every issue that came out. The centerpieces for our wedding were these branches with crepe paper flowers from an issue of MSW and I just loved them. They were an insane amount of work, but the tables were beautiful and I was so pleased with how they turned out. Plus, they were cheap. (I'd show you a picture, but you know, Blogger is being so awesome right now.) Rebecca's bio says that she is no long at MS, so I wonder if the beauty of that magazine has gone downhill any since I got married. It was, by far, my very favorite wedding magazine.

And, once Blogger begins to behave itself, I'll be back with that apron tutorial.