New List Of Things I Love

I want this. Amazing. For purchase here.


Found on Land Of Nod's new completely awesome blog Honest To Nod where they do things like tie-dye tissue paper.

This needlepoint which makes me want to needlepoint from The Purl Bee, Purl Soho's blog.

Woodland shoes from Livie & Luca.


Birds on a shower curtain from West Elm.

I love Shop Sucre! (Thanks for the business!)

I am getting the biggest laugh!! My Etsy shop name Sucre & Spice is a nod to my favorite sweets shop, Sucre, in New Orleans. My Etsy address is www.sucreshop.com.
This article in The Weekly Gambit a New Orleans publication, got a little mixed up and listed my Etsy shop as Sucre's web address!

A Spoon In the Road

My little spoons, which I saw and loved and ordered and decorated, have become quite a hit. I imagine sometime when their kids are little, all stay at home moms wonder what their next move will be. I think mine may have found me.
I've been talked about, favorited, listed in treasuries, linked to, and purchased. Considering it was just one month ago I started listing spoons on Etsy, I couldn't be happier! I've been teaching Craft Owls two mornings a week, and am spending at least two others, while kids are at schools, inking stamping and striping! I am spending SO much time doing this, I thought I'd share some favorites.



Oh how I love to spoon! :)

Whooo Loves Owls?

Well, I do. Here's my kids favorite joke: knock knock. Who's there? Owls. Owls who? Yes they do! My kids love owls. But, well, everyone does. They're awesome! And I've been making a lot of them lately because I'm thinking of calling my newly formed craft sessions the "Craft Owls". I can not believe that there are blogs dedicated solely to reporting all products owlish. And the are cuttte. Cute Hoots is one I've started to look at every day. And I'm hoping maybe they'll like this project!

I put together an owl bean bag. Yes, just one. But there are two more coming. Because I am a juggler, bean bags always come in threes. I WANT JUGGLING OWLS. I got the idea here at Moonstitches. Really, I used their basic idea, and I was excited to make the adorable owl on her tutowlrial. But when I got to the end and I saw she was stuffing her owls, I was just surprised and thought that's not what I want to do. So I used a triangle beanbag pattern and boxed in one of the corners, and made my little friend. Would anyone like to see more specific instructions? Please leave a comment, if you would!

He can fly!
Nash likes his new friend. Hope you'll like it too!

Martha's (Not As) Beautiful Cookies

Here they are, the cookies I thought I'd make for a little dinner party we had for my husband's team:
I thought hers were beautiful! But then, I was surprised and super crazy happy that I liked mine even better!

I made the sugar cookie dough. Refrigerated it over night. Rolled it out the next day. Cut perfect circles. Let my kids cut out awesome bad-guys and hearts with what was leftover.




I made the icing. (I will never buy meringue powder again.) And I sat down to decorate. Maybe I made the icing too thick? I was afraid to add water and ruin the whole thing. It was workable, so I just went with it. But, my cookies didn't look beautiful, they looked like spider webs! Not what I had in mind. For all this effort, I wasn't happy with spider webs. Grrr. Inspired by my children's free-motion decorating, I decided to try something on my own. And I was happy! Why didn't Martha do this in the first place? It's much prettier :)

I used squirty bottles (totally worth the small investment)


drew a line to border the outside of the cookie, then flooded the inside and used a toothpick to cover the space.

Swirl time.

Drag up, then drag down.



Drag side to side.

Viola. Worth the effort.

Birthday Party Check List on Scribd

I've created a free download which is available to you at this link:
birthday party check list which looks like this: Birthday Party to Do List
I've been having lots of fun personalizing ice cream spoons for folks on Etsy, and wanted to make a little freebie to go along with it. Hopefully some other folks will get some use out of it too.

I printed out my pages and cut them down. To finish them I just ran a zig zag stitch up the side and added a few little stamps. I was thinking if you don't have any decorative stamps at home, you could let your little one do a few thumb stamps and make some cute faces in them and it would be even better.



I created a few more free downloads with links on the left toolbar.
Enjoy!

Smash Tape

I love it. I walked into Archivers today and saw it on a table, and snatched it up.
I was wrapping up some little presents for friends, and taped my tissue paper shut with it. If I were a scrapbooker, I think I would use it to tape a picture (very messily) onto a page.
I saw a pretty cool tute recently on making your own decorative tape at Annekata. There are a few out there now, but I think this was the first one. So you can try to make it yourself. But I was thinking, by the time I go out and buy packaging tape and spend the time to make it, I could have bought a roll like the one pictured above for $3. Also, I bought some recently from Martha Stewart's JoAnn line. I am so excited about it!
I've also cut think gauge wire into strips and covered it with the decorative tape on both sides, cut the ends with pinking shears and made some really cute twist ties. Will have to update later with a picture because I don't have one right now, and can't seem to find one online. C'est la vie!
For now, go out and buy some cool tape! There's Martha's line, there is a TON on Etsy like this pretty stuff. If you think of any new projects, let me know!

Kids Messenger Bag

Squeeeel! I am very excited. I was at my favorite kids toy/clothes store in St. Louis yesterday, City Sprouts, and I saw some amazing bags like this one by Bakker which is a French company. They are awesome and beautiful and expensive. I made one!!! It doesn't have the GORGEOUS hardware that the Bakker bags do or the elaborate pockets. But it took me one day to complete with only an idea in my head and tools in my hands, and that feels pretty good. Margot is napping, but I can't wait to put it across her little body and take some pictures when she's up.

Living with Punks: SYS~Bookworm Skirt

Living with Punks: SYS~Bookworm Skirt: "I’m so excited to finally start this series!  My mind has been overflowing with ideas and I know all the bloggers I have lined up are eager ..."

Must. make. this. now.

Who Needs A Quilt Top?

Cause I'm really good at making them. What I'm not so good at is finishing them. On April 9, 2009 I postedthis picture of cut pieces for a zig zag quilt. Over two years ago! I ran out of fabric and it wasn't as big and I wanted it, so it's been forever since I've worked on it. Here it is in its current state, currently measuring about 4 ft square.
I finally ordered new fabric to add on to my quilt and am excited to get rolling. Look at all the pretty colors!A lot of the fabrics in the first quilt are Amy Butler. I ordered a few more from her in a slightly different color palette, and also a bunch from Anna Maria Horner which I am very excited about! I love her prints (and, by the way, I love them even more in person than I do on the screen) and am happy I found these in cotton! She's been doing a lot in voile, and while everyone says not to be intimidated by it, I am anyway.
I ordered these from fabric.com so I got free shipping, and I also found a coupon on retailmenot.com so I feel like I got a pretty good deal!
Now that I have all this new fabric, be sure and check back with my blog in about two years to see the finished quilt! LOL

Party Perfect!

 

It's pretty random, but I've been selling these red and white paper straws for about a year now. I love them. Other people must love them too! They are sooo cute for parties. I saw these little wood ice cream spoons and thought they'd go great with the straws. I know I'd love to have them for a party, and I figured other people would too. Turns out I'm right! The "Elle is 2!" were commissioned by an Etsy buyer for her little girl. Cute! Perfect for Summer.