Happy birthday, necktie onesies!

I spent last weekend making more necktie onesies. I have a baby shower to go to tomorrow and my friend Candace also wanted some for a baby shower she was going to, so I think I made five in all. Here are the ones I made for Candace. I was glad she brought me colored onesies. I wouldn't considered doing anything other than white!
How did the whole babies-wearing-ties thing get started? Here's a trip down memory lane for you. More like memory dirt road where you have to navigate cow patties...

One year ago we had a girls' getaway to my uncle's ranch house to celebrate my friend's upcoming motherhood. You can see little Liam there in the baby bump next to the cow.
We spent about an hour on 4-wheelers (very ranch-y, yes?)
And the rest of the time inside eating, playing board games, painting nails, watching movies, and much to my uncle's dismay, sewing. Poor guy probably thought he was going to have some help tagging calfs or something.

I brought my sewing machine and we made burp bloths, bibs, onesies and t-shirts for Little Liam, all with appliques on them. The necktie process has since been improved, but they turned out really well for the first time! In addition to ties, we made this Great Dane camo collection in honor of big (dog) brother Jake, who sadly died shortly after baby Liam was born. And my reason for this post? Liam just had his nine-month pictures taken in one of the t-shirts we made!
Isn't he adorable?

Shout out, ladies! (And thanks for letting me steal the pics without permission, Em!)

A cent'anni!

These are a couple pics I took in Ohio where we celebrated Huzz's 29th and his fave great aunt's 90th! The birthday gal seemed to be having a blast along with the rest of us.
We also got to spend time with our ah-mazing friends who drove over from Indiana and let me take 675 pictures of their little Shirley Temple. Oh, and I was right. It's a boy!Does anybody have advice on keeping photo qualities high on blogger? It seems they always get grainy after I upload them...

My, that's one cush bracelet

I saw this tutorial on Tea Rose Home and knew it would be a quick and easy project that would make a good stocking stuffer-type gift for a special sewer in my life.

I am giving 100% credit to Tea Rose Home, but I found her instructions hard to read since they were interspersed with huge photos, so I'll retype them here with my trial and error notes.

• Small silk flower (I pulled one apart to make two)
• 5" diameter circle of fabric
• 2" diameter circle of cardboard
• Fabric for wrist band - wrist circumference+2" x 3.5"
• Velcro (or a snap!)
• Fusible fleece (I used plain old fleece) - mine was 7.5" x 1.5 "
• Stuffing
• Glue gun
• Sewing machine

1. Fold fabric rectangle in half, wrong sides out. Place/iron fusible fleece on one side and sew around permimeter, leaving a 3" gap along the long open end.
2. Turn the fabric inside out and sew around the perimeter from the outside, creating a pretty top stitch. I think it would be cool to use a contrasting thread but I was too lazy to change out what was already in the machine.
3. Sew the silk flower on to the center of the strap.
4. Sew velcro at ends. I had snaps on hand from another project and was -- again -- too lazy to look for my velcro.
5. To make the pin cushion, sew a running stitch around the circumference of the fabric circle. Tighten it and insert stuffing, then put in the cardboard circle before pulling it tight and sewing it shut.
6. Hot glue the pin cushion to the flower. Insert a pearl head pin and commence photo shoot.

And, scene.

There is no photo for #2 because I forgot to upload it and I am... what's today's theme, class? "Lazy, Mrs. Kellerwoman." Good.Yes, they're a little out of order but they still correspond to the instructions.
Next time I'll have to include my nasty mini glue gun in the photo of materials. It's coated in glued-on dog hair from when I used to sit on the dirty carpet in our old apartment and get crafty. I now try to stick to the dining room table.

Chuck Wagon Cuisine

Huzz was asked to be a guest judge in the Western Heritage Classic chuck wagon cookoff over the weekend. Me and Nikon came along for the ride.
And despite my objections and explanation that I was on a detox diet consisting of unprocessed foods, mainly fruits and veggies, I was recruited at the last minute to judge as well.
I judged the bread category. I could have chosen beans and probably remained faithful to my diet, but tasting 18 different varieties of chuck wagon beans sounded like it would make me want to, well, chuck. I think bread was a better choice than dessert. I'm not sure why they didn't just call the category "peach cobbler."Huzz picked meat, otherwise known as chicken fried steak.It was all made in authentic chuck wagons, although I saw a sprinkling of bottled water and hand sanitizer that I'm sure Charles Goodnight and Oliver Loving would scoff at.

Did I mention I live in Texas?But that I very much appreciate my American citizenship?

Nesting

After almost two years nestled in my buttery yellow 7'x9' office, I decided to decorate. This picture frame has sat empty since November, when I received it as a gift and stuck it up on the thumb tack which was already conveniently waiting for something to hold on to.
I didn't intend to use this small frame for my big bird silhouette project.
I bought two 11"x14" brown frames at Hobby Lobby last week for $3. I got home and spray painted them white and left them on the floor of the garage to dry. Huzz wasn't supposed to be home for another hour, but just five minutes after I went inside I heard a crunch and a car door. One of the frames was actually framing the bottom of the tire. They both had tracks on them, but neither broke. Maybe I'll use them in the future.
It all works out in the end, because I wasn't having any luck with my big art projects. I had taken the silhouette from the pillow in the post below and started to cut out the birds and branches, but it just wasn't working with my paper selection.
So I scaled down and made two little 3"x5" bird pics and now they're resting comfortably to my left on an otherwise blank wall.

For the birds

I hate real birds. I think they're pretty gross. It might have something to do with the terrible grackle infestation at my college and the abatement process that had me dodging 7-8 bird carcasses every morning on my way from Mozart Hall to the GAB.

I adore, however, this new bird silhouette trend that's taking over right now. I'm convinced it's a fleeting trend (groan), but that's not going to stop me from jumping on board. Check out this adorable baby's room chandelier on Living with Lindsay. I can't stand how much I love it.So I got the bird itch this week and flew to Hobby Lobby on my lunch break today (ok, I'll stop) to pick up some scrap book paper and some frames. I had a very specific color and pattern scheme in mind -- butter yellow, gray, stripe, damask -- but the selection just wasn't right. Did that stop me, though? Did I leave with a plan to see what Michael's had on my way home from work? No. I settled. But I think I'm happy with my selections and will leave you with these two inspirations that I plan to turn into something beautiful (well, acceptable at least).Ok, I'm also inspired by the real-life ground nesting bird that set up a nursery in my front yard this season brooding over her four adorable speckled eggs. She's actually pretty sweet, even though I feel she's taunting me. If those things hatch on Mother's Day I will be super peeved.

If you love checking the mail say "heyyyy"

Checking the mail is like dessert. And I'm not ashamed to say I use it as an incentive for myself.

"Yes, you can have a cookie if you finish all your chicken."

"Yes, you can get the mail if you mow the lawn first."

Needless to say I was thrilled when I got a FedEx sticker telling me my iPhone replacement was ready to be picked up.

So was Bossier. He got to ride. (Yes I know I could have just left my signature on the door, but remember? I love going to get the mail. Even if that means driving to the airport.)

Don't get me wrong -- it doesn't have to be something big. A save the date card will do. Heck, I'll tear into a Texas Rangers schedule magnet with my realtor's business card glued to it.

But this... this was the most exciting mail I've gotten in a long time.

The huzz finally got a new passport!