adelaide's doll

My friend Angie asked me to make her little girl a doll for her easter basket.

I love how this doll is the perfect size for a "first doll". She has hair that can't be messed up, an adorable dress that doesn't come off, and she is completely washable!

roar

I've been meaning to make Van a little ribbon toy for awhile- I finally did it!

I got the idea here, and she got the idea from this tutorial.

Since lil Van is a Leo, I thought it was perfect!

And how sweet is his little curl? His hair just keeps getting lighter!

sweet songbirds

This was a custom shadowbox request for a little girls room.

Aren't they so cute?

ecclesiastic open house

The open house was a huge hit! We made some money for Katelyn, and I met some amazing people. I got an intuitive reading that blew me away, and some delicious bath salts made from Redmond salt!

My table.

Hair clips.

Blankies.

Kitty pillows.

Salted caramel dark chocolate chunk cookies & White chocolate oatmeal cinnamon cookies.

Cinnamon swirl cupcakes. Someone offered a million dollars for this recipe. I wish!

Aprons.

Elephants and art.

We hope to all get together again before Mother's Day- I'll keep you posted!

a weakness for spring

I'm telling you. I have a total weakness for Easter decorations. Besides Halloween, it's the only holiday I'd actually decorate my house for. Lately everywhere I go I see bunnies, chicks, lambs and eggs that beg me to take them home and plaster every surface with their cuteness.

I found the following spring must-haves on the Purl Bee's website. And if I could buy them...I totally would. Alas, some of them are knitting patterns. Is there anyone out there that would like to trade cupcakes for knitting? Please?

Sparrow's Nest.

Why are Easter eggs so cute?? Am I weird?

Such sweet little knitted bunnies.

Can I please have this whole family? I just want to hold them in my lap while I watch re-runs of the X-Files. My cats would haul them off and hide them for their own.

Lamb Pillows.

Now I could make these.

Hmm, what am I doing today?

sleepover pals

(photo from the Wee Wonderfuls book)

I've been wanting to make these lil guys for awhile- but I couldn't find the perfect pre-quilted fabric for the sleeping bag. I wanted to use an old quilt, but I don't have any that I'm willing to cut up. So my mom and I went to the D.I. to find one- of course they didn't have any. But I did get an idea of what I could use instead- a quilted pillow sham. So off we went.

We found this one at T.J. Maxx- for $12. Perfect!

Aww. Aren't they sweet?

The quilted pillow sham was a perfect solution.

Super cute and cuddly BFF's.

I just love their cute little buns. I changed their eyes- I like the sleepy ones better than the ones in the pattern.

Wouldn't these little dolls be the perfect toys for grandmas house? Know any grandmas?

ms. katy kitty

I about died when I found this pattern on Etsy. I knew I had to have her. I bought the pattern way back in December, and finally had time to make her last week.

Her creators name is Larissa, and her blog/shop is called mmmcrafts, and she is my new favorite pattern maker/writer. Clear directions, perfect pattern pieces, amazing details. I highly recommend checking out her shop, and if you are in the market to make some really cute toys- you should.

She is tall- 19 inches. She stands well, sits perfectly- and is super sturdy. If you were to give one of her toys to a kid, they would last forever. No missing limbs here.

She is supposed to have a beret too- but I haven't made it yet. Picture that paired with those perfect striped socks and wingtip shoes, and she is so ooh la la.

Expect more of these to come- she was so fun to make!

open house for a good cause

My Auntie is hosting an open house for her friend's daughter who needs new kidneys. On this Saturday the 26th I will be baking for the event. If you'd like to stop by and buy some cupcakes or cookies or donate to the cause, email me: jessica(at)ragamuffin-baby(dot)com for the address and other info.

Thanks!

little miss storybook

(photo from the book Wee Wonderfuls)

I have plans to make this doll for a friend for Easter, so I decided to make a "practice" one first.

And am I soooo glad that I did. This is the first pattern that I have had trouble with from the Wee Wonderfuls book. One of the pattern pieces is missing, and part of the design is redundant, making it bulky and annoying to work with. Also, I think that the arms are too low.

Despite the frustration, she turned out pretty cute, don't you think?

I loved making the ribbon hair. The one I am making as a gift is for a 20 month old, so its a perfect first handmade doll for her!

I found the missing piece for the pattern, and I wrote notes on what to change, so making the next one should be easy and a lot more fun.

birdhouse

Spring is coming, I know it. The birds are back, tweeting and singing all day long outside my window. I love it- even though it's still snowing off and on, singing birds are a sure sign of warm weather and green grass to come.

So I had to make a birdhouse. For the bluebirds that I made up all by myself.

Danny had the idea to put the leaves on the roof in patches. I wanted to tile them like shingles, but they look much better this way.

And some pretty spring blooms...

I had a remnant of some white with black wood grain fabric from Ikea. I dyed it brown- I love how dark it came out. And I lined the inside of the house with a cute brown/green/blue striped fabric BUT you can't really see it. At all. Oh well.

Now, where to put such a cute little house?

I'm contemplating putting this and future birdhouses in the shop... what do you think? Yea or nay?

welcome back!

Taking a week off of blogging, and only doing whatever came up, was pretty nice. Of course, I was dying to blog about what I had been doing, but I made myself save it all- mostly because the weather was crappy every time I tried to take photos so I couldn't get any good ones of my projects until this weekend.

I got a lot of sewing done, none of it for any reason, all for myself. But very fun! I babysat a little, hung with my mom a lot, had a loo-loo adventure, bought myself some new clothes, (naughty) and got the best massage I have ever had in my entire life.

At the same time- my house is in shambles. There are tiny fabric triangles and millions of threads littering the carpet. My kitchen floor is covered in shrapnel. Dishes and Dr Pepper cans cover every surface.

No laundry has been done.

Matilda is so used to me sitting on the couch sewing something that if my legs are not available to sleep on she wails until I sit down. Then promptly jumps on my lap and finds her way to my legs so she can cut off my circulation and drive me crazy.

No good dinners have been made.

My husband is starving. And a little grouchy. I don't blame him.

I accidentally fed him moldy food one night. MOLDY. Blue freaking mold. How bad of a wife am I? In my defense, there is no way it was my fault- I bought it that way.

He didn't get sick, but I almost did. Just thinking about biting into a chunk of mold...hork, gag, okay, you get the point. Aunt Flo emotionally compromised me that day, so I felt so bad. So bad I wanted to cry.

This week I have some projects to wrap up, and an event to bake for after the mountain of laundry and dishes and cleaning up that I have been avoiding.

spring break

My blog will be quiet for a bit. I've got a busy week absolutely nothing planned.

I got some new music by some of my absolute fav bands, and I'm just gonna turn the amp up to 11, and bust out some amazing sewing projects. And hopefully and few walks in some nice spring weather with lil Van.

P.S. I love gaining an extra hour of light, but losing an hour really screws with me. Every year it does.

blankety

It snowed A LOT on Monday night. As I was turning the lights out to go to bed, I looked out the window and noticed that it was kinda pretty out there.

So I grabbed my camera, put on my rain boots and made my way through the snow. At midnight.

That afternoon, the world was springy. All the snow had melted away, and I was happy to see our very dead lawn. 12 inches of snow in only a few hours.

The whole world is silenced. The night sky is white. The trees look so much bigger- the snow lines every single branch. I notice that all the big trees on our street are all on one side- their branches stretch across the road to shade the neighbors yards. My footsteps are mostly silent, sometimes squishy. I walk down the middle of the road, snapping my shutter, quietly admiring what the storm created.

It's the first time on my life I have truly appreciated the beauty of snow. I want to take more photos, during the day. But I know that tomorrow morning it will start to melt, and it won't look as magical or grand. No plows have been by, I'm tromping through snow that's as high as my rain boots. It's like a scene from a lame Xmas movie- everything so snowy and white.

I was right- it did melt the next day. Not a lot- just off the branches. I'm glad I took the time to get the few shots that I did, even though my husband thought I was insane.

shameless

Confession time.

I love me some bad t.v. I'm totally addicted to the following:

Pretty Little Liars. Yeah. It's on ABC Family. The same channel that has Secret Life. But I don't like that show. It's too daytime soap for me. And P.S.- this is totally what I looked like in high school.

I've loved Charmed forever. I'm watching it over again, much to Danny's dismay.

This one is new for me. It kinda bugs me, but it's bad t.v. right? Re-runs are on 2 different channels during the day- so I switch off. Lame, I know.

But this last one, I am not ashamed to admit.

I love Lady Gaga.

Not all her music speaks to me- and her kind of music is not my usual fav. But I do have a great respect for her as an artist, she has and will do great and sometimes strange things. Danny and I like to watch her videos together, especially when we are feeling down. She always cheers us up, and lightens the atmosphere.

Feel free to judge me, I do.