Gift Giving –Baking Set

My cousin’s birthday was yesterday, and so I thought I would give her something fun, yet useful. I used one of the aprons from the shop and added a pocket. The wooden spoons are from the dollar store.

I made some oven mitts based on a small pair in the cupboard, using some quilt batting so they are insulating.

I had a bit of extra doughnut fabric, so I created a bag to not only hold the whole set, but also so I didn’t have to wrap it!!! :)

All set and ready to be given!! :) Happy Birthday Daniella!!

Gift Giving –A Little Man’s Outfit

My cousin and her husband had a little boy a couple of weeks ago, and I wanted to give them something special. I went for partly handmade, partly store-bought. I know, I should have gone all the way handmade, but sometimes it is just easier to buy part of it.

I gave them a pair of my Light Grey Tweed Pants. They are super cute, and super comfortable, as they are fully lined with blue, white and grey plaid flannel. I bought the shirt at H&M. She already bought the blue bowtie from me before the baby was born. :)

All wrapped and ready to go!! Because the wrapping is all part of the fun. :)

Gift Giving –Purple Ruffle Dress

A little friend of mine LOVES purple!! :) So, just for fun, I made her a lovely purple ruffle dress.

This dress is based off of a couple of ideas from two dress Tutorials. The asymmetrical bodice comes from Jess over at Craftiness is not Optional. Her Emma Dress planted the idea in my mind, except that I accidentally put the buttons on the wrong side. Oops. :) The pattern I used for the bodice came from the Spring Fever Dress from Me Sew Crazy. I used the size 4, and took it in slightly, keeping the length.

I added small flowered buttons down the asymmetrical front and larger pearly buttons down the back.

And then I headed over to Bonnie Togs and found a cute cream onesie with a peter pan collar and small black dots.

Cherishing the Moments

Some days are just special. The day someone says “I love you” for the first time. The day that your first child was born. The day you graduate from college or the day you receive the news that you just got your first job.

There are smaller increments of time that are special too. Hours. Moments. The first smile. The fluttering of eyelashes belonging to someone who is sick. A look of love. A conversation. A tear.

And hour spent with your Oma talking about life. About the past. About the future. About our heritage. About God. About the things that count. Tears are shed in love and in sorrow, but also in thankfulness.

Those are the moments that count. Those are the words that you keep in your heart forever. Words that bring tears, but also bring joy.

Cherish those moments, and remember that God is there. He has given you those moments, those hours, those days. Those memories. They are for a reason.

Take time in like to stop and pay attention. Take the time to visit with those who are special. Soak in each memory you can with everyone around you. Create memories for yourself, but really, create them for others.

Life is a rat race, but remember that first smile, that first “I love you”, those last words, those tears shed.

Cherish those moments.

Skirt Re-Fashion

I made a gift for a little girl I baby sit. I had this skirt from somewhere in a size 8, she is a skinny size 3/4. :) I simply followed some basic skirt re-fashion steps, and voila!!! :)

Here is the original:

I cut a number of inches off the top (leaving enough fabric for the new elastic casing) and an inch off of each side. It did end up a tad big, but that can always be fixed. (sorry for the blurry picture)

And Finished!!! :)

  

Add a sweater and you have a cute half-homemade outfit for a special little lady!!! :) (again sorry for the blurriness) 

Simply Said...

With GOD all things are possible!!!!

Book Review: It's (not that) Complicated

I am going to warn you.... This is going to be the strangest book review you have ever read... I haven't even read the whole book yet. But hear me out would you? There is something to this that I want to share.

I read a book a couple of years ago entitled So Much More, written by Anna Sofia and Elizabeth Botkin. This book changed the way I think... I would argue that it was the beginning to my change of thought on so many issues. I think I was in grade 11 or 12 at the time. I won't go into it now, as I want to focus on these girl's most recent book: It's (not that) Complicated.

The over-arching question this book asks is, "What's a girl to do about boys?" Good question right? I think we, as girls, ask this question daily. And how we answer this question determines how we view relationships, guys and essentially all relationships in our lives. And, yes I said ALL RELATIONSHIPS, for our view on relationships with guys stems out of our view of the family, the roles of men and women, etc.... and the relationships in our families, i.e. dad and mom, brothers and sisters, comes out of that as well.

That is why I am writing a book review of sorts before I have even read the whole book. I was strongly convicted at this point, and felt I couldn't keep reading before I gave this topic some good thought and application in my own life.

The first couple of chapters lay the ground work for the proper, biblical view of relationships. And then we arrive at chapter 4: Relationship Boot Camp - Back to square one: How to be sisters to your real brothers. I find this is the hardest thing to do. Our families seem to get all the moodiness and unpleasantness. We don't help out at home near as willingly as we help out at someone else's home. We tend to hold more resentment against our family. Yes, we know them better, but that doesn't give us any excuse.

Our home is to be our training ground. It is where we learn to get along with others, ignoring their quirks and learning to  deal with their problems. Where we learn to serve others and share the love of Christ with them. How are we to someday serve our husbands and family if we can't even make do in our own homes right now?

Our brothers are also place in our lives (if we have brothers that is) to help us 'practice' on them. I won't go into tons of detail, you can read that on your own when you get the book. ;) I do want to highlight some principals that the Botkin sisters share in interacting with our brothers, as well as other boys and men in our lives. They call these principles the "Five Habits of Highly Effective Sisters".

1. Demonstrate Respect: How are our brothers and other men around us going to respect us if we don't give them due respect and (lovingly) demand respect out of them?

2. Let them assert themselves, lead and teach you things: Give them opportunities to lead. Allow them to teach you things, even if you are older than them. Yes, they might fail, but encourage them and allow them to learn as well.

3. Talk with them: How are you to cultivate a relationship with someone if you don't even talk to them about both the insignificant and the great things in life?

4. Become part of their world: Take interest in what they do. Don't dismiss their likes and dislikes because you think they are 'dumb' or simply don't get it because you are not a guy. For example, don't say fishing and hunting are boring and dumb because you don't get why they like them and you think they are extremely boring. Take interest and ask them questions about it, no matter what you think.

5. Repent of past wrongs: We need to forgive each other to have a proper, healthy relationship with them. It doesn't matter who they are, but it is especially important to forgive one another when you live under the same roof. And don't let things fester. Forgive one another right away, as to not hinder your relationship with that person.

I found these five principles really, really helpful and very convicting as well. They are practical, and so very important.

*** I have now read the entire book, and it is just as good as the beginning is!!! I encourage every girl to pick up this book and read it. Even if you just get to chapter 4, you will still have learned so much, you will not regret buying it!!! You can get it online from the Botkin Families publishing company, the Western Conservatory as well as from Amazon.com. I got my copy from Reformed Book Services and Brantford, and it was cheaper there than even on Amazon!! :) ***