Hooded Towel for My Princess ... Finally!

Coat Season

We had our first snow of the season this past week. With snow comes coats, and hats, and mittens, and scarves, and boots, and wet socks, and, snow pants, and mud, and mess!

I sat down today to brainstorm some ways that I can be more effective in organizing all of our winter stuff.

I love some of the ideas I found.

From the practical ...

that seems like such a simple and ingenius idea. Why didn't I think of that?! The fact of the matter is that I didn't, so thank goodness My Blessed Home did! ...

to the pretty ... I can't not even begin to express how much I love this entryway. Love, love, love it! Not practical for my space, unfortunately. I love how the wallpaper steals the show so that the bags, boots, and coats are somewhat masked. (Although, who would want to mask them? They are darling!) Yep, I am pretty sure this idea at Apartment Therapy is going to save my world!

to the basic ...

this would work really nicely right outside our garage door and rather than using a small basket for hats and gloves I would use a hanging shoe organizer for the hats, mittens, etc.

to the clever ...

Yep, it's a sticker. See? I told you it was clever. And apparently Ferm Living thinks it's super clever, so clever in fact that they are charging $127 ... for just the sticker. Hooks not included. Geesh.

Want even more ideas? Check out this article at Apartment Therapy. AT is definitely my new BFF.

Happy Tuesday, all!

Oh, Baby!

My younger sister is pregnant and she found out last week that she is having a girl. She is admittedly disappointed, as she and her husband were hoping that their first would be a boy. So, naturally, that is where I step in. I am making her a "Yay, It's a Girl!" gift.

It's perfect timing because I am waiting for my playhouse fabric to come in the mail. Otherwise, I would feel guilty about working on anything but "the beast", considering how many hours I am anticipating will be spent on that thing. In hopes that that many hours and more will be spent by my children playing in that thing.)

Moving on, as soon as I hit "publish post" I will be making my way down to my sewing machine to work on a couple of rag edge receiving blankets. Tutorial courtesy of Sew Much Ado.

Happy Veteran's Day, everybody! How grateful I am for the endless sacrifices that have been made my so many brave men and women.

The Playhouse Brainstorm

This thing has been haunting my thoughts of late. I can't wait to get started so that I can in turn get it done and not think about it anymore.

Is anybody else like that? When you get excited about a project you just can't stop thinking about it until you do it? Like, seriously, on your mind 24-7?

I have pretty much worked all the details out in my mind and now, after I write this blog, I am going to sit down and put them on paper. (When I am figuring this out I just have to do the pen and paper thing. Other than writing lists, I just can't brainstorm on the computer.)

And because somebody asked, here is where my inspiration has come from:

Ikat Bag's Princess Pavilion: Although inspirational I will not be using many ideas from this one, mainly because I am just not talented enough. ;)

Nothing Fancy's Playhouse Tent: I love the way the door ties up on this one!

Homemade by Jill's felt playhouse: This is definitely my favorite playhouse out of all the ones I have found. I really love the look of the felt. My favorite detail is the way the tree wraps around the corner. And thank goodness for her Q&A post, complete with some templates. Love that!

Angie over at This and That was brave enough to line her playhouse so that the kids have a nice cozy fire inside. Wow!

Sew Much Ado makes a playhouse that is all boy! Gotta love camouflage. And yet another lined playhouse ... brave, so very brave.

And for the record, our playhouse will have a PVC pipe frame, much like this one, as opposed to being made to cover a card table. The hubby is going to use his genius engineering skills to steer me through that challenge. Which is a good thing because he thinks it would be really cool to have a tunnel on one side that leads into the house. Yeah, he is so figuring that out for me.

Ah, Christmas ...

.... it started to creep into my mind a couple of weeks ago, but I forced it away until I made it through Halloween. Now it is November 4th (almost 5th) and I am consumed with thoughts of what I need to make, who I need to make it for, how I am going to make it, etc., etc., etc.

I don't go all handmade for Christmas. Heck, I don't think I even go 50% handmade (don't hate me), but I do like to craft a few things.

At the top of my brain right now?

My daughter's Christmas dress and a playhouse that will be for both the kiddos.

After doing lots of research I presented the playhouse idea to the hubby and he is all for it. Yay!

As far as the Christmas dress, I am tossing back and forth between a more traditional dress or a more modern/trendy dress. The traditional dress would probably be with a flocked taffeta and the modern/trendy dress would probably be out of Michael Miller's Ginger Blossom line. Ah! I can't decide!

Speaking of dresses ... I am willing to take one or two orders for a custom handmade holiday dress. Anyone game? e-mail me -- toodlesbybethany[at]gmail[dot]com -- and be fast!

Halloween -- A Success!

black alova suede: cowgirl skirt, chaps, both vests: $2.50
brown fake leather: chaps, cowboy vest:$2.00
pink gingham homespun fabric: cowgirl shirt: $1.75
black tulle: cowgirl skirt: on hand, but it was probably about $2.00 worth
eyelet lace: cowgirl shirt: $.97
hats: $3.74
bandannas: $2.00
white shirts: for "the cows": $6.00
black broadcloth: cows spots: $2.00
cowboy boots: borrowed
cowgirl boots: on hand
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costumes for a family of 4: $22.96

And I didn't even have to use garbage bags.