Clothespin Bag

My grandma always made me and my mom clothespin bags. For as long as I can remember, we both had them; when they became worn my grandmother would make new ones. Well, my grandma has been gone now for eighteen years and my clothespin bag is long gone, too; my mom's is hanging by a thread. My mom wanted me to pick one up for her at Walmart. I knew I had a pattern to make one in one of my sewing books, Sewing In No Time, so the other day I made one especially for her. I took a quick pic as she's been here for the weekend is taking it home today. It brought a smile to her face when I gave it to her and makes me happy to know it has a nice new home. Happy hanging, Mom!

Little One's Bedroom Curtains

We switched around the kids rooms, painted the walls and redecorated a bit. This is the little girls room. We painted it a pretty pale purple. It was the Lowes paint, again. Love it! I bought seven yards of fabric from Sew Inspired Quilt Store for these curtains. One of the yards is a sister print to the main fabric. Oh, "sew" pretty! I did the one yard print for the top that goes along the rod, and a few inches piece on the bottom. They give an English, shabby-chic feel to the room. There's another window in the room, dressed the same way. The girlies really like the way their room turned out and I do, too.

Bathroom Curtains

We've been busy bees around here lately trying to spruce the 'ol Cottage up. I think we've (ahem... Gary) has painted the kids' bathroom nearly every year we've lived here. For some reason, it needs a make-over, often. It's gotta be because it's a very used room! This time around I chose a pretty antique(ish) yellow. It's one of the colonial colors from the Lowes line. The paint is almost half the price of Benjamin Moore and in my humble opinion, is just as good. Once the bathroom was painted and thoroughly spring-cleaned, I picked out some material from my stash and made curtains. Just a bit of measuring, ironing and sewing, about an hour and a half time from start to finish, and I got some pretty new curtains. When the sun shines in the material casts a lovely glow against the yellow paint. It lights up the bathroom so nicely! I pulled a beautiful rose/purpley color from the flowers in the print and matched up some new bathroom rugs. It really looks nice in there now. I'm sure by next year, I'll be ready for a change, but for now, it looks pretty spiffy.

Birthday, Ducks & Chicks

My BIG Birthday was today! My family made it was really special. I got some wonderful gifts from them, too...

like a pair of little duckies! I named them Fred and Ethel. Yea, that was a bit of a surprise!

Our baby chicks are nearly a week old already. We got in 25 meat chickens and 20 egg-layers. Our garage is pretty full right now. I've been told the chicks and ducks can be kept together and will be great friends. Good news on that front!
It's been a great day! I feel really blessed! Hope you all enjoyed yours, too.

A Blessed Triduum To You

Praying the Stations of the Cross is a something we do every Good Friday. Here, my three little ones are at the last station.

Good Friday and Hot Cross Buns go hand in hand, right? These are the same ones I made last year. The recipe is from the Urban Homemaker. They are really good!
Oh, and in case you're Catholic, today is the day to begin the Devine Mercy Novena. You can find the prayer here: www.ewtn.com/devotionals/mercy/novena.htm.
A blessed Triduum to you and yours.

The Sampler Girl Easter Freebie

One of my favorite designers is The Sampler Girl. Her designs are so clean and reflect my favorite time period. She had a freebie posted for Easter and I thought it would make a cute doorknob hanger. I stitched it up in a couple nights while my mom was visiting. We watched Cranford while I stitched. What an enjoyable two nights spent stitching, watching Jane Austen and drinking tea and coffee together.

My seeds came in today from High Mowing Organic Seeds. I got melon, sweet pepper, pumpkin, Amish Paste tomato, and Brandywine tomato. I have some flower seeds, too and plan on planting those this evening in little pots. That's all I'm starting from indoor seeds this year. I'll buy some plants in late May and put some seeds directly in the ground then, too.

For knitting I've been working on a very pretty bunting for a friend that's due in July. I'm just on the back right now and it's stockinette stitch so it's going rather quickly. I can't wait to start the front where the pattern begins. And for cross-stitching I'm working on a Blackbird Design stocking. That's terribly cute, too. So I've been busy picking away at a few little projects here and there. I'm not bored with any one project, that's for sure!

I spent another bit of time in the dentist's chair this morning. My third visit in a little over a week! Bleck! Not my favorite seat, for sure. Luckily I really like my dentist; I went to school with him so I've known him forever. Great guy... just would prefer to not visit with my mouth open and my palms sweating, know what I mean?
Well, I've got a few things to do for Easter and hope to take a few pics along the way. 'Til next time, keep your chin up and don't take any wooden nickels. (I have no idea what that means but my dad used to tell me that all the time!)

Goodie Swap

Kaleigh and Christina of Bumble Bee Bags (see side bar), recently swapped one of their beautiful items to each other. Kaleigh was the lucky recipient of the beautiful wristlet/handbag. The fabric that Christina chose goes so pretty together! As soon as it came in, Kaleigh filled it up with her necessities and she has gotten a lot of compliments on it. It's the perfect combo for spring!

In exchange, Kaleigh sent Christina these pretty knitted Delicato Mitts that she knit for her. They are made from Frog Tree mohair and are soft and warm! They both are happy with their goodies!