Third Egg in the Nest

Silver bird nest pendant from Emilina Ballerina's shop on Etsy

Yes, I'm expecting! Not only that, but after birthing two boys I'm finally having a girl! I couldn't be happier about the news. My crafting has been a little (okay, a lot) sluggish the past several months. I'm going to use pregnancy as my excuse, though I can think of a few more to top it off. But now that I'm out of that awful nausea stage—though I'm still in the always tired stage—and I recently learned that Mr. Stork is bringing me a girl, I'm hoping that she will be my muse.

I think my most common comment on craft blogs is that I wish I had a girl so I could make/buy/win that skirt, dress, hairclip, or other flowered or ruffled item, too. Now I'm eligible! And oh-so-excited! I hardly know where to begin. So what are your favorite baby girl items? Where should I start?

And, because I know you'll ask, she is due February 19.

P.S. I did buy that necklace. I feel like I've earned it! And isn't it beautiful?

Tie on that Patriotism

This is one of those projects inspired by the fabric itself. It's from Riley Blake's All Star line. When I saw the paisley I knew exactly what to do with it: Ties!


These were taken on July 4 in my mom's backyard. The flag made for some really fun pictures, although it was stressful trying not to let the boys drag it on the ground!


I love the chest puffs...


The sweetness...


...And the enthusiasm. But enough about my cute boys. Let's talk about the ties.


I had originally planned to make them like a classic tie so I wouldn't have to mess with the clip and all that. But when I cut them out, measuring from a Children's Place tie, I forgot to account for the part that goes around the neck, though at least I remembered the knot!


My local quilting shop sells clip-on tie patterns and the clips, so I made an emergency run over there to buy the clips so I could finish the ties in time for Independence Day. I didn't know how to do the knot (and still don't!), but I just played with it until I got it right, then put in a few stitches to keep it in place.


I made three of these ties. On this one I top stitched the red "lining" in place. In the other ones I sewed then turned. It's nice to try different ways.


Since I cut the ties out on the bias of a yard of fabric I had plenty of leftover material. Here's the first tie, along with matching skirts that went to my nephew and nieces for their birthdays. I had never made little girl skirts before so I had a blast with these.


Here are the girls wearing them on July 4 (taken with a cell phone in Milwaukee--so far away!).


Little Patriots

I suppose I should have posted this for Independence Day, Labor Day, or even September 11. We're closest to that last one, so let's just say this it's 5 days earlier :)