Birthday Apron

N's little friend S is turning two next week, so I made her a chef's hat and apron.  I love the lemon print, which I originally bought for dresses for my daughters.  I have a lot of it, so you'll be seeing more citrusy projects in the future!  I couldn't decide which fabric I wanted for the main portion of the apron, and which for the pocket, so I made it reversible.  Now the pressure's off me to choose - whew!  Free pattern is here.

A dress for N

Way back in April, I blogged about a skirt I shortened.  I used the leftover fabric to make a dress for Natasha, and today I finally got some action shots.

 

A parliament of owls

These guys are about to fly off to become baby gifts for T, A and L.  I don't think any of the recipients read this blog, so I'm safe to show them now.  Two of the ladies are having surprises, and one is having a boy.  The purple owl is for A's daughter S, who is going to be a big sister!  The pattern is here.  I left out the strip of fabric that should separate the front and the back pieces, making it deeper.  I prefer this shape.

Step into my craft room

Actually, don't.  It's such a mess that Irina is itching to get in there and clean it, but I have a bunch of gifts yet to finish before the craft room becomes the guest room for our visitors next month!  Here is what I finished this week.

First, a birthday present for M, who is turning one year.  I made some play food out of fleece and a little drawstring bag to keep it in.  I guess people usually use felt, but fleece is what I had on hand.  This was really fun and easy, which is good because I'm planning to make a whole grocery store full of food for the girls for Christmas this year.

 

This is another fitted cloth diaper.  This time I used a bought pattern, and it was definitely worth the money.  It fits the girls much better than my previous attempts.

And finally, a skirted wool soaker.  I don't know that is was worth the effort.   It's super-cute, but takes twice as much yarn as a plain soaker.  Also, we spend a lot of time outdoors these days and hand-wash-only-wool is not practical for outdoor play.

Happy Father's Day!

This morning I let Jeremy sleep in, and when he made his way downstairs (after a leisurely shower), there was cinnamon French toast with sliced peaches and a Magic Bullet frappe waiting for him.  We had planned to go out to eat after church, but Natasha has been sick and was getting kind of cranky.  So instead, we made burgers and fries after the kids went down for a nap.  That way we could eat all the ketchup we wanted (N is allergic to tomatoes - boo).  For dessert, we had devil's food cupcakes (recipe in Rose's Heavenly Cakes) with peanut butter frosting.  This is not really my cup of tea, but Jeremy loves peanut butter and chocolate together.

I was trying to take one of those mouth-watering photos you see on baking blogs, but I'm pretty sure I failed.  Do these look tasty to you?  I am not sure they do.  I don't have much in the way of fancy photography skills. 

Also, I know a lot of people like to pipe frosting onto their cupcakes, but I prefer to just pile it on.  It's supposed to look decadent, not frilly.  I am not stingy with the frosting, either.  I like my cupcakes to be about half cake and half frosting.  Though this frosting recipe was not my favorite, it's a good one for those who don't like overpoweringly sweet icings.  The peanut butter gives it more body than your standard butter/shortening frosting, so you don't need as much powdered sugar.

Happy Father's Day!