Kids Had School So...

Mommy hit the Goodwill.

Picked up a few more sheets. Can Never have enough of those, right?

And I know you are jealous of the 1970s sweatsuit. Go ahead, you can admit it. In all seriousness, the jacket is fantastic.

I also got the girls a couple pair of shorts and a little skirt for me. Gotta love it!

Another 5119 Dress

The girls' picture day dresses were a hit. I crocheted them headbands and flowers to match their dresses. We got lots of compliments and a couple moms want dresses for their girls. Not sure how I am going to handle that. I think I will just charge for the fabric because I am not really interested in doing this for a living, I just love to do it:)

I've had this toile fabric for a while and I wanted to make something with it. I made another matching headband for this little number.

Don't mind the messy hair. This girlie just woke from a nap.

I love the shape of the dress but I wanted it to come in a little at the waist. I made a sash for the waist of the other dresses but the girls didn't dig tummy restriction. This time around I added a ties so I could pull it back a bit. I like the outcome.

Ella is pretty happy too!

Name Change

Some things have been rattling around in this old head of mine. I took a blogging hiatus for the last few months. It was life induced, really, and I needed it. I am feeling the itch to get back to it...obvious with all my recent posts, but things don't feel quite in order.

First, I am contemplating rejoining my crafty side with my everyday life/mama side. I split into two blogs because I had a readership that was based on my life as a woman and a mother. When the crafting craze began, I wasn't sure if it would last and I didn't want to lose my readers because my blog, all of a sudden, went crafty. Now that I have settled into myself a bit more, I realize that the things I make and using my creativity is a huge part of who I am and what I do on an everyday basis. I feel disjointed having the two separate. I haven't decided how I am going to handle that so I will keep you posted.

Second, I have not been happy with the title of this blog. I picked it when I was designing and selling hats. I wanted it to be "Shannon Leigh" but that was not available. I have since cut back on the hats because there are so many things I want to learn before I spend all my time on one craft. I am not ready, for so many reasons, to fully pursue that avenue. I still get orders from old customers which is great but I don't want to spend my few precious free moments working up the same hat over and over. I have admitted to crafter's ADD, right?

The issue with the title is that I am not currently designing anything. The title feels grandiose and misleading. I am learning by finding inspiration in others work and using my creativity to make things my own. I love it and I want the words at the top of this blog to convey what I am really up to. In conclusion, I have decided to change the title to the Crafty Nook. I would like to change the URL as well but I need to think that over a bit more. Sorry if I have confused anyone. I live my life intuitively and when things feel off, its time for a change. I have to be me...that's what this blogging thing is all about after all!

Tis the Season...

For thrifting! I stopped into a local church rummage sale this morning and I walked out one happy lady!

All my loot.

I was looking at milk glass at the flea market earlier this month and they wanted $40+ for a single small bowl like the two that I bought today. Needless to say, I passed. These two lovely pieces were mine for the bargain price of $5.


I fell in love with these jars. They are fantastic and look almost new. I will either use them in my kitchen when it gets it's terracotta makeover or I will fill them with crafty things in the Nook.

Some baubles. Who couldn't use a few more broaches and chains? Might be useful for a future crafty endeavor.

This bag is amazing. This is the back. The ladies at the rummage sale thought it was hand detailed. It needed to come home with me for sure!

And all this stuff for a mere $28. Can't beat that with a stick.

A Little Sewing for the Pups

Since having the floors done, I have been trying to be a better hardwood floor owner. You know, like trying to sweep every other day and cleaning up drips when they happen. The dog bowls are a major source of water drops. My furry friends take a drink and, what do you know, the floor is soaked. To combat this little issue, I whipped up a couple doggy place mats, complete with a terry cloth bottom. Absorbent and kind to the freshly refinished wood. And they don't look to bad either:)

Our sweet (some of the time) new addition is in the process of potty training. She is pretty good when I am paying attention but she doesn't know how to let me know when she needs to go out yet and her bladder is too small to hold it when she does have to go. So I made her a little doggy door bell. I'm working on training here to ring the bell when she has to go out.

And here are the furry bundles of love. I had so much fun sewing for them because they aren't too particular.

Little Blue Bird

This is the first toy I made for my kids. Not sure what possessed me to do it but one Saturday a few months ago, I sat down and made this. I guess I was inspired by a Ravelry friend of mine who makes tons a goreous toys for her kidlet. I never thought my kids would like a handmade stuffed animal. They have a million stuffed animals that never get played with.

Much to my surprise and delight, they LOVED this little blue bird. It was made months ago and someone carries it with them nearly every day. Don't look too closely cause blue bird is a little dirty from all that love. I promised Grace and Sam that I would make friends for this blue bird. I am thinking a cardinal and a robin. Then we all could have tweetin' good time and the fights would be at a minimum.

This pattern came from my Corchet Today magazine. Not sure which issue but if anyone is interested, I would be happy to go look it up.

Picture Day Dresses

The kids have spring picture day on Thursday so I decided to make the girls new spring dresses for the occaission.

I used the Butterick 5119 pattern again. This time I used the dress pattern but I made a couple modifications. I shortened the sleeves 1 inch and did not add elastic this time. Since the pattern makes an ankle length dress/night gown, I shortened it 2-3 inches to hit just under the knee.

These worked up so quickly and the girls just love them. These dresses are easy to wear and play around in so there will probably be more. The fabric is Heather Bailey and these are more treasures that I picked up from Beth's store.

Oh. My. Goodness.

One of my favorite stores has jumped on the at-home seamstress bandwagon. There isn't a whole lot but I think I may just have to have this

And this
And maybe a couple of these

Go ahead, check it out!

New Floors and a Dress

They really are lovely.

They add so much to this old house of ours.

But, oh my, was getting them done a real pain. I'm not gonna lie, there were tears... from me. Having 4 kids and 2 dogs home all week with no use of the first floor (kitchen included) was tough. Then moving 6 people and 2 dogs into my in-law's basement was a challenge. We made it through and I am so grateful for this home improvement. That which doesn't kill us only makes us stronger, right? Well, I'm not dead...yet.

This little number was completed before spring break/flooring extravaganza but since the office was disassembled, I had to wait to share.
I found this pattern on ravelry. It was a very quick knit. Sewing on the skirt was a bit tricky but now that I have done it, I think the next one will go much smoother. Isn't that always the way it goes?

Pattern: Two Summer Sundress

Yarn: Cascade 220

Fabric: A colorful little number from Jo Ann