New New Year's resolution

Even though organizing my craft area was my resolution that I was able to accomplish, I have decided that maybe a long term resolution should be my resolution.  I am going to kick myself in the middle of summer, but my goal is to read a novel a week for one year.  I am going to keep track on this blog the books I have read in a category off to the side labeled 52 Weeks of Books.  I would love any book recommendations anyone has for me!!  I am already ahead of my goal and am on my second book of the week.  I started The Hunger Games on Sunday and am now onto the sequel Catching Fire.  These books are awesome and there is a movie in the works.

Christmas Break is Over. I'm Not Sad.

This has been a quick, but long Christmas break for the kids and I. There has been laughing, crying, fighting, nursing, organizing, creating and good food. Let's recap....we were out of school the week before Christmas. This wasn't too bad, the kids fought, I screamed, we shopped, my husband got older and then we got to spend the end of that week enjoying Christmas. We started off the weekend with a Friday night Christmas celebration with the in-laws. It was also husband's birthday, so we celebrated that by setting his cake ablaze and wishing for him that all those candles didn't burn down the house.

Christmas Eve was next.  The kiddos were out of the house, so we spent the day wrapping, cooking and crafting.  I left the husband to wrap all of the presents.  I checked on him about half way through only to discover that he had tired of wrapping and had started combining presents and wrapping them together to consolidate.  I may have yelled. 
This is also the day I created Picollo the Fox and Lolli the Lamb.  That fox fabric was a killer.  My sewing machine definitely yelled.
Onto Christmas Day.  Lovely, but busy day filled with family. My son is not a fan of crowds, and Grandpa's house was full, so he spent the afternoon hiding in a corner, under a coffee table, creating lego things.  Various relatives would bring him bread from time to time to keep him going.  We came home that night to a house that looked like it had exploded. 
Now onto the last week of Christmas break.  Tuesday, my dog Ted was scheduled to go under the knife.  He had produced a growth on his noggin and was resembling a unicorn.  The surgery went well although Dr. Bob was puzzled as to what the growth was, so we are awaiting the results of a very expensive analysis of the mystery growth (wish Ted luck.)  I also learned, but may have already known that Ted is fat.  He has always looked a little on the portly side, but a lot of that is hair.  Ted is the definition of a furball. The paperwork from the vet confirmed that there has been some definite weight gain and Ted's waddle is definitely more pronounced.  Ted is due for shots in March, my goal is to whip him into fighting shape by then.  I wonder if you can download the IFit app for a dog?
The rest of the week was a blur of cleaning, sewing, playing and more fighting.  We are now onto Monday, the last day of break.  Wish I could say we will be going out with a bang, but not so much.  At least the kids are happy.  My daughter is teaching my son to sew, my dog is recovering, my husband is glued to the history channel and I am sitting here typing and enjoying the beautiful sunny day out of my desk window. 

Happy New Year! Now What Should I Do With All These Days Ahead of Me?

I asked my kids what their New Year's resolutions were? They are 6 and 7, so this concept is a little over their heads. I got something like get lots of new toys and to go to a waterpark. If only life were that simple. I've never been too big on resolutions, but maybe something like organize my craft area would be a good place to start.   This place is a wreck!  I actually stole my husbands nice large desk and made it my "craft room" so I could get everything out of my poor kitchen. I love organization, but have a terrible time finding the actual time to do it. I have found these amazing organizing shelves at costco recently and my house now has one in almost every room. You pop the shelves together in whatever way you want, and voila, instant organization. So, I have one of these shelves waiting in the back of my car and I am now going to put it to good use.  Stay tuned....

Before and After. Yahhhhhoooooo!!!!

The craft room is officially organized.

I have followed through with a New Year's resolution.  Now, to just keep it that way.

There's a New Sewing Machine in the House

My daughter, Sam can sit for hours and pretend to sew on my sewing machine, so we searched around and found a kid's sewing machine for her for Christmas.  We have been so busy that we haven't taken it out of the box until today.  This is the cutest sewing machine I have ever seen!  She is having a blast.  Sam's baby dolls are sitting with her waiting for their new blankets that she is making them.  Needless to say, my scrap bin is diminishing quickly.

Check out the Dolls and Daydreams Etsy Shop. This shop is Awesome!!!

My son is obsessed with foxes!  Believe it or not, fox memorabilia is not so easy to find.  I have found beanie baby foxes, fox figurines, pictures of foxes, but no "good sized" stuffed foxes.  My Christmas goal this year was to find a decent sized stuffed animal fox for my son.  I hunted around and short of spending $40 dollars on a larger sized fox, I was having no luck.  So, I decided finally to make a darn fox.  I shopped around on Etsy and finally found the most adorable shop called Dolls and Daydreams.  If you haven't been there, check it out.  This amazingly talented lady has the most adorable patterns for sweet stuffed animals.  I quit looking after I found her shop and bought the fox pattern.  I bought the lamb pattern too because I had to!  Look at it and you will understand why.  I had the most fun making these two animals and I even found a realist fox hair looking fabric to use although my poor sewing machine was screaming at me about it the entire way through. 

The end result is that we have added Piccolo the Fox to our fox family that lives in my son's bedroom.  Lolli the Lamb has joined my daughter.  I added a few extras to make them unique and the kids love them.  Check out the Dolls and Daydreams shop.  It is awesome!

The Blog is Here!!

I thought it would be a fun idea to create a blog to go with my Etsy shop.  The SPT shop has been open a year now which doesn't really seem possible.  I seem to give more blankets away as gifts than I can get posted and sell in my shop, but the gift giving is more fun.  Everyone can see what I'm working on, give me new ideas or suggestions or ask questions.  Today is a blanket making day.  My shop needs some new items and I have some adorable new fabrics to try out.  Let me know what you think.  Happy Friday!