End of the Year Gifts

Tomorrow is Erin's last day of kindergarten....wait what?!?! How did this year go so fast? How am I going to have a first grader in the fall?! Time sure does fly when your having fun and learning new things. *Sigh* Anyway, enough weeping, onto the fun part!

The other room moms and myself decided to have a fun little craft for the kids to do this week that would result in a sweet keepsake. I met another mom at A.C. Moore and we purchased little canvas tote bags, iron on transfer paper and red fabric paint. Erin's teacher sent home a cute piece of paper that the whole class signed. I added the teacher's name and the year to the middle of the paper then cropped it, flipped it and printed it on to transfer paper. I ironed a copy of the signature paper to each of the tote bags. Then on Monday, we went in with the totes and the fabric paint and each child put their hand print on the plain side of the tote bag. When they were done, we had the teacher put her hand print on the bag as well. They came out so cute! And the kids really loved them!

 

 

We even had a larger tote bag for the teacher that all the kids put their hand prints on and had the same iron on transfer as the kids' bags. The tote bags really make such a cute and functional keepsake!The class also chipped in to get the teacher a gift certificate to a local spa - she could use a spa day after teaching 24 kindergartners all year!

 

 

I really love Erin's teacher! She is such a kind, caring, warm person who really loves the kids. Erin has enjoyed being in her class this year and she really helped to make Erin's first year in elementary school special. So, I wanted to give her something special that was just from Erin. And since I sew, what better gift that something hand made form the heart! Some of you may have seen some sneak peeks of the gift on my Instagram or Facebook page. I got the idea for the gift from this post I saw on the Ann Kelle blog a couple years ago and thought it would be the perfect thing! Instead of making notebook slip covers like in the post, I used a pattern that I created back here for the gift. I liked the idea of the teacher's name embroidered on the front so I had Erin write her teacher's name in disappearing fabric ink and I embroidered over it in red embroidery thread. I also like the apple applique so I added one to the front as well. I used linen from Joann Fabric for the cover and the apple fabric and yellow striped fabric were part of a bundle I purchased from Fabricworm over a year ago. I don't remember the name and I don't see it on their site anymore - anyone know what it is?

I put in a 5x8 notepad, a pen, and a small date book - all purchased at Target plus I added a picture of Erin and her teacher at their class picnic. I sent Erin off to school with it today. I hope she likes it!

 

Last but not least, I purchased some cute striped towels from Target and some sunblock to give to Erin's bus drivers. She has a morning driver and an afternoon driver so I got two of each, wrapped them in clear gift bags with a ribbon and will hand them out tomorrow. I thought that was a cute idea and something that they could use over and over again!

Well that is a wrap on the end of the year gifts. Did you give handmade/DIY gifts out this year? I'd love to hear your ideas!

Thanks for stopping by!
Meghan

 

 



Instagram Life

 

Thought I would share some of our happenings around here via Instagram pics. Do you use Instagram? I started last August and am having fun with the different filters and hash tags. I recently downloaded the A Beautiful Mess app which is fun to add little graphics and words to your pictures. I'm still trying to figure it all out, almost a year later ha!

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                                                                                                                     

 

My Instagram user name is @onceuponanotion if you'd like to follow my randomness ;)

Thanks for stopping by!
Meghan

Recipe: Tomato, Basil and White Bean Salad

Last week, we had a bit of a heat way here. A little too early in my opinion for 92 degrees and humid but what are you gonna do? We do not have central air in our house, so on days when the mercury is rising, we like to avoid putting the oven on at all costs. I'm sure you are all right there with me on that one! Even having the burners going can create too much extra heat in the house. Dinner can be a daunting task on days like this so we take to the outdoors to grill (and by we I mean my husband!) So for dinner on one of these hot and humid days, we had a nice grilled steak, a salad and our favorite summer-time side dish - Tomato, basil and white bean salad.

I came across this recipe a few years ago in one of the summer month issues of  Martha Stewart Living and it has become a favorite ever since. It is a great side dish for burgers or steaks and can be a great main dish as well when served over some penne pasta. It is perfect for making on a hot summer day (you only need to turn your burners on for two minutes tops) or any day of the year!

Tomato, Basil and White Bean Salad
(recipe from Martha Stewart - source)

Prep Time 10 minutes

Total Time 35 minutes

Yield Serves 4

          

Ingredients

• 2 cans (19 ounces each) cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/2 pound small roma (plum) tomatoes, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, torn into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1 teaspoon coarse salt
• Freshly ground pepper
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 small garlic cloves, minced

Directions

1. Combine beans, tomatoes, basil, and salt in a bowl, and season with pepper.
2. Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add garlic, and cook, stirring, until fragrant but not browned, 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. Pour over bean mixture, and gently toss. Let stand 30 minutes before serving to allow the flavors to meld. Salad can be covered and kept at room temperature up to 4 hours.

 

 

 My kids do not care too much for this salad so we usually have leftovers. I will boil up some penne pasta the next night for dinner and pour the remaining bean salad over the hot pasta and add some quartered fresh mozzarella balls or a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese. Makes another great quick meal!

 

 

 

Enjoy!

Meghan

Memorial Day

Please take a moment out of your day to remember all the fallen heroes who gave the ultimate sacrifice so that we may enjoy our freedom. God Bless America and our military!

A little vintage dress

Have you been following the Vintage May Series over at Skirt as Top and Craftiness is Not Optional? I was so excited when they ran the series last year and even more excited that they did it again this year! I love all things vintage. I really love the 1950's. My parents were little kids then and I love to look through their baby pictures. The style of clothing was just so cute for little kids and my grandmothers' dresses and coats were so pretty too. I even like the furniture and the look of the appliances. Growing up, I taught myself to read with my dad's first grade reader: The New We Come and Go. I wish I could find the book, I am sure it is at my parent's house somewhere. Here is a link to a copy for sale on etsy.com. I love the illustrations in this book. And the stories were so simple and easy to read for a little person. It was my favorite book when I was little.

My inspiration for Erin's little vintage dress came from my dad's book and also from this dress that Lindsay from The Cottage Home made for last year's Vintage May series. I just love this dress! The piping, the puff sleeves, the Peter Pan collar - swoon! I knew I needed to make a little dress like that for Erin and I even had some Denyse Schmidt fabric in my stash that had the perfect vintage vibe for such a dress. But, I never got around to it. I even had a great photo shoot in mind of Erin riding her tricycle down my parent's street - all the houses on their street were built in the 1940's plus I grew up in the same house my dad did - perfect "vintage" setting!

So this year when the announcement was made that the Vintage May series was happening, I grabbed my fabric, cut out my dress and got to sewing - the day before the series was ending of course! (procrastinator over here!) I did cut all my pieces out on Monday but I didn't have enough of the fabric I wanted for the lining so I sat on the project until today. Today I had the brilliant idea of only doing a facing in the dress so I didn't need as much of the fabric as with a full lining - genius! Ha!

I used The Cottage Mama's Janey Jumper pattern and the sleeve portion of the Addison Dress by Modkid. I also added a Peter Pan collar and red piping in the collar and between the sleeve and arm band. I used grosgrain ribbon for a tie closure instead of the button and loop closure the pattern suggests. The fabric is from the Picnic collection by DS Quilts for Joann (sadly they no longer have it). The dress is a size four with size five length. It fits perfectly and came out just the way I imagined - love when that happens! 

So while I didn't get to travel down to my parent's house for a tricycle photo shoot (its  Retro Red Radio Flyer Tricycle too), I had a vintage book on hand for Erin to sit and read in her new vintage dress :)

The Jolly Book for Boys and Girls (it was my grandmother's)

 

Mommy someone wrote their name in here!

grosgrain ribbon closure

something very sweet about this pic, i had to add it!

and this last pic is just me having fun with tints on pic monkey ;)

 

 



Thanks so much for stopping by!
Meghan

Bedsheet to Bubble Dress

When An from Straight Grain first released her Bubble Dress pattern, I jumped right over to Etsy and purchased it. I think it is such an adorable pattern and I had just the "fabric" in mind to make one! I had other projects that I was trying to finish before a started a new one, I tend to do that and wind up with a bunch of WIP, I'm really trying to just finish one at a time. Anyway, I did not get around to the dress right away and thought that KCW would be the perfect time to whip it up. Welll, that didn't happen either and it came to be the Friday before Mother's day and I had no choice but to sew the dress because I wanted Erin to wear it that Sunday for my niece's Christening. Story. Of. My. Life. I'm working on not procrastinating as well....its a work in progress :)

I love this little dress! It didn't take too long to complete either. I started at around 7:30 and finished at about midnight. I took a couple of breaks in between, tuck kids into bed, chat with my mom on the phone, tuck boy child back into bed for a second time, etc. The only thing I wish I did was sew the size four instead of the size five. The bodice is a bit big on her but she says she doesn't mind she likes it roomy. I would be happier with a better fit though so I think the next one I sew her I will use the size four but the size five length.

Erin had a grand old time twirling around in her bubble dress and also telling everyone that I made it out of a bed sheet! It is true - the fabric is from the top sheet of our old bedding set. I love the paisley print and when we upgraded to a king bed, I had no use for the full sheet set but didn't want to part with it either. I knew I could re purpose it. The lining and collar for the dress is made form a very pale blue pillow case that went with the sheets. The pillowcase is super soft so it made the perfect lining for the dress.

hammin' it up!

I really do love this print and I have enough left over to make myself a skirt. Not so sure I will wear the skirt on the same day that Erin wears the dress but I do think it will make a pretty skirt and I don't want any of the fabric to go to waste ;)

Thanks for stopping by!
Meghan

Spring top sewing

So last week, I posted about the Amelie Bag from Sew What You Love: The Easiest, Prettiest Projects Ever. It was the first project that I made from this book and I love it! The second project that I made from this book is the Everyday Tunic. There are two main reasons that I chose this project, the first being the Spring Top Sew Along is still going on over on Made by Rae and this year I was determined to finally sew along (I have a Washi tunic that I started too). The second, it only has two pattern pieces. That's right, only two. A quick and easy project which was perfect because I sewed this tunic up during KCW. I know, I know, you are only supposed to sew for the kids that week but I was using the same purple knit for this tunic that I used for Erin's Beachy Boatneck and figured while I had the purple thread and the ball point needle already in my machine I might as well just bang out the tunic for me.

It really was very quick to sew. It is just two seams. Then all I had to do was fold the neckline in, the sleeves and the bottom hem and run a zigzag stitch around to finish them. Easy Peasy. My kind of project, especially when sewing for myself. This is the first article of clothing that I have sewn for myself! Okay well the first that I have completed anyway. I did start the Washi tunic the week before but didn't have any interfacing for the facings. So that is sitting off to the side for now - I will finish it this weekend!!

Anyway, the Everyday Tunic is super comfy and washes very nicely. I have worn it quite a bit and really should get some more knit so I can make a couple more. I think my husband is sick of seeing me in the same shirt all the time! I sewed the medium but probably could have gotten away with the small. I do wear a tank top under it only because the neckline will shift. I think if I made the small that could remedy the issue. We shall see on the next one.

And now for some awkward pictures of me posing in my tunic :) Seriously, I had no idea what to do. It felt weird to stand there and have my husband take pictures of me. Despite the mini model melt downs that can occur, I much rather photograph the kids than have mine taken ha!

trying not to laugh

oh what is that on my shirt?

the cool i'm not looking at the camera pose ha!

 

See what I mean? Awkwaaard lol!
Thanks for stopping by!
Meghan