More room decor gifts

Hi! I made a few more things for my daughter's room for her birthday last week.
A little over 2 years ago, when she finally got her big girl bed I made her a pink rag quilt with cotton, chenille new and vintage, flannel and minkee. With all that fabric, I ended up with a good amount of pink scraps.  I was able to use some of those to make more items for her room.
First, I made a bunting. I love buntings... they are fun.

Then I made a little Tilda doily for her bedside table.

I love this fabric. I think it is perfect for this doily.

You can find the pattern for the doily in this book .
Now, one more new pillow. I am on a pillow phase.

I had the little Flower Fairy picture for ages. I got it on e-bay.
Finally I decided the right combination of fabrics to go with it. I used jumbo ric -rac for the trim.
The last project was a wreath for her door.

We had the metal sign for a while hanging on her door. For the wreath I just used a beaded vine from Michael's. I wrapped it around in a circle and tied with a ribbon. Simple and fast.
She loved all the new stuff when she came home from school!
Thanks for stopping by!
Ana Paula.

I am linking to these parties:

Orange County Fair 2010

Hi! Other day I found the pictures from last year's local County Fair's crafts.
Each year they have less and less crafts, and sadly not many Christmas items (my favorites). But last year they had some real masterpieces.
Since it is almost County Fair time again,  I will post some pictures.  Here are my personal favorites.

This one is my  very favorite quilt. Look at all the details. Amazing.

Now a lovely cross stitch piece. Just perfect. Full of beads and magic.

A Boy Scouts quilt. Simple piecing, but I love the colors, and how the themed fabrics were used.
I should try to make something like this for my Eagle Scout.

The jewel colors on this Log Cabin quilt are beautiful. One of my favorite quilt patterns.

A cool motorhome quilt. I love it. So creative!

A pretty machine embroidered picture. I like the small quilted designs on the border.

The same winter wonderland scene, this time framed. Nice to see  the same pattern used  in two slightly different ways.

A Halloween Quilt. I don't get  why they fold it.

I want this cross stitch pattern! :) Simple and beautiful.

This California Missions quilt is so wonderful! Folded also. They hired an interior designer to do the display ... go figure!  I love the mix of quilting and cross stitch.

I will close my post with this beauty. This pattern is from Patricia Andrle from the old Cross Stitch and Country Crafts magazine. You can find easily on e-bay.  I love it, but I will never make one. I am not this talented. :(

Hope you like my selection. Have a great day!
Ana Paula

Recycling: One Stained dress - two projects

Hello!
If you read my blog you know that I love to recycle my daughter's clothes.
It is a great way to turn something old into something new, cute and useful. Even better if you can turn it into two brand new projects.
Here is the dress. The before picture that I remembered to take this time.

It was a cute dress that got ruined when I washed it together with a black velvet blouse. The pink parts got all stained...completely ruined, what a shame!
I put it away to think of what to do with it. The embroidered parts were still perfect.

I had almost forgot the little dress, when one day looking in one of my several plastic storage containers I found it and had not one, but two ideas.

First I cut out all the embroidered parts. I went and got my pink chenille scraps and some pink corduroy. I sewed  chenille borders on the two parts with gray background and made a corduroy back. Pink pom-pom trim was used all around the pillow.

 

 

Now, the project using the picture with black background. I don't have any during picture.
It's a simple tote bag  - little girl size.

Again, I used corduroy and chenille. These two projects were given to my daughter with her other birthday gifts this week. Brenda will use this tote bag to take her scriptures to church. Not bad for an old stained dress, don't you think?

Thanks for stopping by!
Ana Paula.

Hollyhocks, berries and a new apron

Yesterday we got our first hollyhocks! This year I saved them from the snails, and recently from rust.
They are doing well now. I like the color. Last Summer we had pink ones, not many because the snails ate most of the baby plants. Was just one left. I planted more latter and  would love to have some  pink hollyhocks this year, but with assorted seeds, you never know.
More on gardening. Well, Grandma's garden.

My mother-in-law has a boysenberry bush in her backyard.

Very pretty, isn't it?  Now every Sunday when we visit Grandma we pick berries. Lots of berries.
Because of her Parkinson's and other complications she can't pick as much as she used to. She can't bend and her balance is not very good. She falls a lot.

We try to help her with these small things. She used to be very active and it is very hard on her not being able to do simple things.

We end up with more berries than we can eat. They are very good. We make smoothies, or cook them with sugar to serve warm over pancakes or ice cream.
I am freezing a lot too . I will try to make a pie or a cobbler.

Now, a little bit of sewing .

I had this fabric for a looong time! It was a fabric panel with all the parts printed on.
I  made one small change . I added a muslin back so I could have all  the seams  inside.
It came out nice and I really like it, it's perfect for the 4th of July.
Thanks for stopping by!

Ana Paula

Spring wrap-up

Hi!
With Brenda's birthday just around the corner, it's time to think about summer.  Her birthday is around when summer starts. Not too hot, not rainy... she will always have a beautiful day. Brenda is a lucky girl.
So, I will share some spring stuff that I had not posted before.
First, my birthday cake and my birthday flowers.

I made this rose cake using a bundt  chocolate cake mix and it was delicious!

The cake  pan I used is from Nordicware. The flowers were very pretty.
Another cake. It is our annual Easter bunny cake. Brenda has to make it every year.
It is a tradition.

You can find the recipe here .

Around Easter we had a tea party . We invited a couple of Brenda's friends and asked them to bring a doll.
The dolls had their own table.

Here are American Girl  Felicity and Laura Ingalls waiting for their guests.

They had  treats and the table was set with china and real flowers.
Brenda and her friends had a pretty table too. I made some Easter basket cupcakes.

Here is Brenda waiting for her guests. 

Another view of the table. Simple, but cute.
Before eating they watched a Strawberry Shortcake  tea party  manners movie.

They did their best to act like little ladies at the table. They had a fun time!
I forgot to take a picture of the party favors.  Easter candies, bubbles, and a  chocolate Peter Rabbit  inside a mini Easter basket.
We are having a good time this Spring, but it is almost over. School will be out at the 24th and start again in September. We are planning some fun stuff to do around here.
Keeping an only child occupied during summer is a bit of a challenge sometimes, but we do our best.
Have a good end of spring!

Thanks for stopping by!
Ana Paula.

Brenda's Cooking Class.

Last Christmas, Brenda got a cool cookbook from Santa:  Kids in the kitchen by Gooseberry Patch. It is a very cute cookbook with lots of easy recipes and even things like homemade face paint , bubbles and dog biscuits.
She can't  really do sports or other physical activities because of medical restrictions due to her Neurofibromatosis / Pseudoarthrosis. We are planning other after school activities for her in the near future, but for now I decided to have a "class" with her every Tuesday when Dad goes to Cub Scouts.
So, every week we pick something new to do. Most of the time it is a little craft, and we always have a little treat at the end, like cookies or ice cream. Sometimes we cook something, and eat our creation.
She really looks forward for the classes, and calls it girl's time.
So, some weeks ago I told her she could pick any recipe from her cookbook.
The day before the class we went grocery shopping and she picked all the ingredients she needed.
You can see how happy she was making the recipe she picked:  Cups of dirty with worms.

Please excuse my mess. I had bags of fabric all over and the sewing machine on the table.
Happens when you live in a small place.
But, we had a great time and had lots of dirt to eat! :)

Thanks for stopping by !
Ana Paula.