Christmas Gift

I bought this super cute little monster patch from auntifranni last week! Lil' Kay is way into Godzilla, and I thought this would be a fun (and inexpensive) way to customize a pair of jeans for him. Over my lunch hour yesterday, I went out to the kids' clothing store and bought a pair of jeans specifically for this patch.

Now, I've never sewn on a patch, so I asked some of my dear Etsy friends how to do it without sewing the leg of the pants together. My sewing goddess friend goodkarma told me to rip open the seam, sew on the patch and then sew the seam back together. Obviously, she has much more faith in my sewing abilities than I do. Fortunately, since I decided to place it under the front pocket, it wasn't necessary to rip out any seams, however, thanks to goodkarma and SeamsVictorian's encouragement, I think I could have done it if I'd had to. (Thank God, I didn't have to!)

Anyhoo, I'm really excited about the way they turned out. I can't wait for Lil' Kay to open them on Christmas morning. Of course, I don't really expect him to appreciate them immediately. I mean, what kid wants clothes for Christmas, but I bet they'll become one of his favorite things to wear! He'll be the coolest kid in kindergarten...

Twilight

I know the movie has been out for several weeks already, but I've been meaning to write this blog entry for a while. Mr. Kay and I went and saw it on opening weekend. As we were standing in line waiting to go into the theater, I told him, "Hey! I think you're the only guy in this line!" That wasn't exactly true. There were other men, but not many.



Having read all four books and totally loving them, I was prepared to be very disappointed in the movie. There is just no way that an hour and a half movie can even begin to develop the characters and emotional attachment that a book can. (Yes, I'm an English major and avid book reader, so I might be biased, but you know I'm right about this!) I'm pretty realistic when it comes to movie adaptations of books. I understand that they can't fit everything in, but there are some movie/book things that you want just right. When the first cast photos started to come out (months ago!) I was even more nervous. I was not thrilled with the way Edward looked.



However, once the movie started, I was totally hooked. Didn't look at my watch even once! Amazing, since I'm not really a huge movie goer. Without a doubt, there were some parts that made me groan, because "that's not how it happened in the book", but overall, it wasn't too bad. I really missed the character development of the other Cullens. Hopefully, that will play out more in the future moveies. And, let me tell you, there are some lines that read in your head much better than they sound out loud!



The casting, actually, was just about perfect! Robert Pattinson as Edward is definitely sexy, although sometimes he was wearing a bit too much lipstick and his hair was bigger than his head. Bella is dead-on. Couldn't have been any better. I adored Carlisle. I really wondered how his character would play on the big screen. This is a guy who is hundreds of years old, but looks like he's in his 20s, and he's a doctor! He was perfect. The bad guy vampires were awesome! Totally menacing and scary and sexy. The only character I had a problem with was Jasper, and it wasn't so much the actor as it was the fact that he walked around all the time with a weird Edward Scissorhands look on his face.



So, that's my take on the movie. I really liked it and will definitely be in line to see the next installment next November.



For months, I've been eyeballing all the very cool Twilight inspired items that have been popping up on Etsy. The quote bracelets from JackandElla are one of my most favorites, but I don't know how I'd even begin to choose a favorite quote! The book covers from this series have become so iconic, and love the way Eastweststudios has incorporated them into scrabble tile pendants! Simplybitten has lots of cool quote type items including window decals. And, I am very enamored with these resin "Be Safe" pendants from bethtastic! They're nice and subtle and so pretty!

So, if you haven't yet, read the books, go see the movie and buy cool Twilight stuff on Etsy!

SNOW, SNOW, SNOW!!

Look what we woke up to this morning! (Well, not the shoveled walk. Mr. Kay had to do that!) Lots and lots of snow!! And, it's still coming down this afternoon. (Okay, it's not as much as they're having up north, but still...) Personally, I love snow! I love it in December and January and February. Then it needs to stop.

It's terribly cold here in Kansas though, so there's not much chance that we'll be out playing in it, although I'm sure Lil' Kay will be begging to this evening. It's just a pretty snow with fluffy flakes.

Over my lunch hour today, I had to venture out to the post office and WalMart. Wasn't looking forward to it, but once I got out there, it was kind of fun to go tromping through the snow and have those light snowflakes tickle my face! And, there is nothing better than the sight of a completely unmarred blanket of snow across a yard or vacant lot, just waiting for someone to run across it and make a snowman or snow angel.

Yep, even though some of you will think I'm crazy, I love winter! I hate being too hot. I always say, "You can put on more clothes, but you can only take off so many."

Can't wait to get home from work tonight and snuggle up in my jeans and a fuzzy sweatshirt, finish up some sewing projects and maybe, wrap a few more presents.

Come on people! It's almost Christmas and it's SNOWING!!!

Over my head

Sometimes I agree to do things and then wonder, "What was I thinking?" I happily volunteered to make the poodle skirts we need for a particular scene in our church's Christmas program. I took the pattern and bought another one in the additional sizes I needed. I measured the girls. Then I read the pattern. Zippers?? Oh my word. My experience with zippers is minimal. I thought we'd be doing elastic here, people! My original plan was to buy inexpensive cotton fabric to make the skirts. Then I read the pattern. It was designed to be used with 72" felt. I'm no math major, but I do know that 72" fabric is NOT the same as 45" fabric. So, I set off to Hobby Lobby praying they would have felt by the bolt! My worry was for naught. They had lots of bolts of felt. I'd just never noticed, because I'd never needed any!



The skirts actually turned out all right. I fairly competently installed the zippers. The waistbands were a big pain, and I'm not totally happy with how some of them ended up, but, heck, they're only costumes! The poodles I used are iron-on appliques. Unfortunately, Hobby Lobby only had three poodles, and I needed four. So, one of the skirts isn't quite finished. That's okay. My sister is on alert to watch for one, and we will be at other shops this weekend. Shoot, the programs not until Sunday night. I've got loads of time!

My Tree Philosophy

We started putting up our Christmas tree on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. I finally finished putting the ornaments on this past weekend. I kept running into projects that had to be done! Our Christmas tree is one of my very favorite things. If I could only put up one thing for Christmas, it would definitely be my tree.

I don't believe in theme trees. Okay, okay, they're fine for other people and for "extra" trees, but my main tree is not and never will be a theme tree. Instead, my tree is a mad mass of ornaments made of a variety of materials with a variety of subject matter collected over the past 32 years. Some of them are downright ugly, but they each have a place on my tree.

My mom started a tradition with my siblings and me. Each year she bought us a special ornament for the tree. Each of those ornaments went into our own box, along with the various other ornaments we made or received. The idea was that when we left the house, we would take our ornaments with us and be able to decorate our own tree.

It's a fabulous tradition. My nine-foot tall artificial tree is covered in ornaments and each one is special. I love to look at them again each year. And let me tell you, it's not always the prettiest or most expensive ornament that brings back the most meaningful memory. There are a couple of very inexpensive, even cheap, ornaments on that tree that remind me that even when money was tight, my parents always did their best to make Christmas exciting and special.

I've continued the tradition with Lil' Kay. This year's ornament was an octopus. Lil' Kay is very into sharks, sea life and dinosaurs. We picked it out on Etsy, and it is an amazing ornament! I've tried to get him ornaments that match whatever his latest passion is. He has dolphin, Bob the Builder, dinosaur and airplane ornaments. Plus, I've saved the ornaments he made in daycare the last couple of years and the plastic ones he's painted at home. They are such a great way to see how he has progressed in his artistic abilities.

The other thing I accomplished this weekend, decoration-wise, was to get out my snowman collection. (It's not as big as I remembered...) There are also a few Santas and a moose mixed in, but you get the idea. I love find snowmen made out of different materials and in different poses. The little guy on the bottom left of the photo is one of my favorites, because it looks like he's walking down the street! I also adore the one on the left side of the red box. He has his arms wrapped around himself trying to stay warm! And, yes, that is a picture of a great white shark. Lil' Kay was "helping" with the decorating...

Busy Weekend!

This was one heck of a busy weekend for us! Unfortunately, I haven't gotten my photos uploaded to show you all the festitivies, but here's a quick rundown!

Friday night was the annual Realtor's Christmas Party. The meal was wonderful, and it's always nice to hang out with co-workers and others in the industry in a non-work environment.

Saturday was an early day working on the fundraiser for the preschool/daycare of which Mr. Kay is a chairman. Then, I spent the rest of the morning and afternoon sewing poodle skirts for the church Christmas program. I had to make four of them, and I am so glad they are done!

We had a wedding to attend on Saturday night. Very nice ceremony and a fabulous reception. Oh my word! The food was amazing!!! Lil' Kay and his cousin had a great time out on the dance floor.

Sunday involved church, Christmas program practice, a quick trip to Walmart and more program practice in the evening!

In between the major stuff, I managed to finish putting the ornaments on the tree and put out my snowman and Christmas plush collection. My goal is to post pictures of that stuff later on this week. We'll see....

Where my talent ends

gingerbread tree, originally uploaded by BeckyKay Designs.

I'm a crafty person. I make stuff. I come from a long line of crafters - quilters, seamstresses, tinkerers. When I was little, my mom used to decorate cakes. People paid her to make birthday cakes and wedding cakes.

Let me just say that I did not inherit the cake decorating gene. I am no good with frosting. Sunday afternoon, my mom, grandma, sister, sister-in-law and I all gathered around Mom's dining room table to make gingerbread houses and gingerbread trees. Mom bought the kits, and we were all set.

This is the third or fourth year we've done this. I've tried to do the houses. They look more like gingerbread shacks. So, I thought, "How hard can a tree be?" Silly girl.

Yes, that picture you see up above is supposed to be a Christmas tree. It kind of looks like a Christmas tree that got stuck in a Kansas windstorm and then had buckets of frosting dumped on top.

Ah, well, Lil Kay is happy with it, although I had to convince him that making a tree was way more fun than making a house. My sister said, "I thought your tree looked pretty good. Until I saw Heidi's!" (my sister-in-law) Yeah, thanks, Sis!

Black Friday Sale

Let's face it, as soon as you are done gorging yourself on turkey and mashed potatoes tomorrow, you're going to start thinking about the big after-Thanksgiving sales, right? Well, rather than torturing yourself by heading out to the local mall and department stores at the crack of dawn, why not plop down in front of the computer in your pj's and find some great on-line deals! Go over the The Little Black Box for a list of online handmade sellers who are hosting some fabulous Black Friday sales. You'll get a start on your holiday shopping, support indie artists and buy handmade! Does it get better than that?

I have been busily preparing for my own Black Friday Sale this weekend. My shop is fully stocked and I'll be adding a few more things tonight and tomorrow. The deals will run from Friday, November 28 through Monday, December 1.

I'm sure you're wondering what the deals are, right? Here it is - FREE shipping on every order! I don't care where you're located, the shipping will be FREE! And, every order over $15 will receive a FREE Itsy Bitsy Bag (my choice of fabric)!

So, stop on by my shop this weekend and buy a bag or two or three!

A story by Lil Kay

There is a neatly colored picture of a shark and some trees to go with this story. Not for the faint of heart! ;)

There are no houses in this picture, because there were no houses at this time. But there was something that was real in the deep blue sea. The waters of the ocean began to blow. Suddenly the world saw something it had never seen before. Suddenly it popped out of the ocean. It was a dog shark. It swam the vast ocean looking for people to eat. Suddenly the water made a big wave and banged into houses. The cars were driving on water and needed big boats to be protected from the shark, but the shark kept following them. They used arrows to kill the shark. They had to keep trying to kill the shark over and over. The shark followed them for infinity days, for three hundred days. The animals let everything go and went off everywhere. People found big wood to build house and they found infinity hay.

Christmas Ornaments

Christmas tree ornaments are one of my most favorite things. I have a huge collection and a big nine foot Christmas tree to display them on! (You should have seen us trying to get that 9 foot tree home from Hobby Lobby in the back of my car several years ago!)

Anyway, due to my affinity for ornaments, I was thrilled to sign up for the ornament exchange hosted by Beki of PamperingBeki. I send out an ornament; I get an ornament. Lovely! I received my exchange ornament in the mail yesterday. Isn't it gorgeous? I love the fact that it is two-sided. Right now, I have it hanging on my cabinet door. I'm hoping we will get the tree put up later on this week. I have quite the collection of ornaments piling up on my kitchen counter!

I had big plans to make a lovely needle felted ornament modeled after those gorgeous blown glass ornaments you sometimes see. I started on that ornament about a month ago. Maybe longer.

Well, I was supposed to have mailed out my ornament no later than yesterday. That didn't happen. The time totally snuck up on me. So, I was absolutely determined that I would finish my ornament this weekend, so I can mail it on Monday. I even finished the needle felted ornament, but decided that while it was good enough for my tree, I wasn't happy enough with it to mail it off to someone I'd never met. Instead, I started going through my stacks of craft books and magazines. In the Winter 2008 edition of Better Homes & Gardens' Quilts and More, I found a pattern for a cute little stocking ornament. I whipped that baby up and am so excited about how it turned out. I might even make more. I was especially proud of myself for actually completing a project from one of the dozens of craft magazines I purchase every year. And yes, it is already packed up and ready to ship to its intended recipient tomorrow! I'm only a couple days late on this! (I'm usually much better than this when it comes to swap deadlines!)

Happy Mail Day!

As kids, every year my mom would buy each of us a new ornament to add to our Christmas tree. When we left home, each of us had a big collection to take with us to decorate our own trees. I'm continuing the tradition with Lil' Kay. I try very hard to find an ornament that reflects his current interests. The last few years have been all about dinosaurs and sea life. When I found this ornament from bunny X productions, I was soooo excited! The little legs dangle and move, and it's done in Christmas colors! Holly arrived yesterday, and Lil' Kay was thrilled. I had to "encourage" him to be careful, as I was afraid he would break the ornament in his enthusiasm. The detail is amazing! I cannot wait to put this on the tree!
This crochet hook case from Good Karma came in the mail yesterday, too! This is actually a birthday gift for my mom. Shhhhh! I'm counting on the fact that she probably doesn't even know what a blog is, let alone that I have one! :) Besides, I kind of gave it away the other day when we were shopping and she was looking at a crochet hook case. I said, "Don't buy that!" Yeah, I'm pretty subtle sometimes...

Anyway, I love the case. Makes me wish I crochet so I could have one, too. I'm a bit of a sucker for organizers and I love the different fabric textures on this one. Can't wait to give it to Mom!
And, because Bren is a good person and sweet friend, she also sent me a couple of handmade reuseable produce bags. Actually, she's trying to convert me from my wasteful un-environmentally conscious ways. Sending me cute stuff to use is certainly a good tactic! I actually can't wait until the next time I need to buy fruit or vegetables so I can use them! You can get your own set in her shop.

Wii

So, we finally broke down and bought a Wii on Monday. I found them in stock at our local GameStop. (That place is actually pretty cool!) Let me admit, that this is my first video game system since the original Nintendo! Not much of a gamer.

Last night, I finally got Mr. Kay to set up the system, but not before we had gone out and spent another wad of cash on extra controllers and a couple games. Once it was all set up, Mr. Kay and Lil' Kay set about beating the crap out of each other using our new (used) Godzilla game. It's pretty funny to watch your 34 year old husband jumping up and down, flapping his arms trying to make a virtual monster fly! And, there's nothing more precious than hearing your five year old scream, "Stop trying to kill me!"

(And, I still haven't gotten to play with it...)

The Little Black Box

Maybe you can't tell, but that box up there is absolutely bursting with handmade goodness! Yesterday, I received my November Little Black Box in the mail. It was like Christmas when I opened it up! The Box included items from over 20 different handmade retailers. I spent a good chunk of time oohing and ahhing over each individual thing. These are some of my absolute favorites!

This little cup of Spoonfudge from Glutenada was right on top when I opened the box. Let me tell you, the fudge is gone. I ate it. For breakfast this morning. (I didn't share it with anyone!) Absolutely to die for! Soft and sweet and smooth! And for those of you who are gluten-free, so is this fudge!


My other most favorite item? This adorable floral zipper pouch from Midnight Creations. Now, zipper pouches are great and all, but this one is fabulous, because it has a key ring attached. I can put my keys on this and have a place to keep my ID and cash and whatever else I need in a pinch. (And, there was a coupon code included for a 20% discount on one item! In fact, most of the samples in The Little Black Box come with some kind of discount.)

Christmas is coming soon, and I am absolutely nuts about Christmas tree ornaments. I have a HUGE collection that I love to add to and display on our 9 foot tree each year. So, I couldn't have been happier to find this pretty wooden bell ornament in my box. It came all wrapped up in pretty paper from Wood N Goods.

Now, how gorgeous is this dainty little bracelet from Debbie Gootter Designs? It is made from sterling silver, Swarovski crystals and vintage lucite frame beads. Nice, right? It came neatly packaged in a paper jewelry box. I could do the responsible thing and use it as a Christmas gift for someone special. Or keep it for myself. We'll see...

This beautifully packaged handmade soap is from Gabriella's Closet. It's a full-sized 4 oz bar of handmilled Butterbell soap made from olive oil and goat's milk. The scent is very fresh and clean. Again, another of those items that I could add to a gift basket. Or keep. Decisions, decisions!

I've been buying The Little Black Box for three or four months, and everytime I get at least one pair of earrings that fit perfectly with my wardrobe. This month, those earrings came from Jaimie B Designs. Cute little aqua earrings that I can't wait to wear!

I love smelly stuff. Especially when it is spice or food scented. Kreations by Kathie sent in this tin filled with cute little star shaped Harvest Delight mini tarts. They smell just like pumpkin pie, and I can't wait for my kitchen to smell like I actually know how to make a pumpkin pie!

I know lots of people love soap! (And, I mean more than just the whole personal hygiene aspect of it.) Soap in fun colors and shapes is a great thing to have sitting in your bathroom for guests to use. Soap Sushi included a Visions of SugarPlum soap favor in my Little Black Box. Purple and blue soap with pink soap shavings on top. So cute! And, of course, it smells wonderful, too!

And, my final favorite from this month, a special treat for the feline members of my family, a catnip toy from Colorado Catnip Toys. I left my pile of loot unattended on the couch for a couple minutes. I came back and found Cheeto in the middle of the pile. He had managed to isolate the plastic bag containing the catnip toy! I turned it over to him, and he and his sisters spent the rest of the evening taking turns with their new treasure! They couldn't get enough of it!

This is by no means an exhaustive list of everything that came in The Little Black Box this month. Like I said, over 20 items! There were also a magnet, greeting cards, ACEOs (love these), coffee and tea samples (they smell awesome), mini notebooks, a cellphone charm, a button ring. You can see a picture of everything on my flickr account here.

I highly encourage you to check out The Little Black Box. There are still November boxes available. I have never been disappointed in my package. They contain high quality samples from great companies!

If you are a handmade seller, I strongly recommend that you consider including your own quality samples in the Little Black Box. The main thing is to make sure that what you send is truly representative of your company, and something that you would be thrilled to receive if you purchased a box. High quality samples are what keep buyers returning for more! And a good sample makes it that much more likely that they will check out your store.

Mass Production

You probably don't recognize it, but let me assure you that this mass of fabric is a pile of Itsy Bitsy Bag handles. I spent yesterday sewing together the three main parts of an Itsy Bitsy or any of my bags for that matter - the bag, the handle and the lining. Now, I've just got to combine the three components, and I will have over 20 Itsy Bitsy Bags to contribute to the December Little Black Box. I'm actually thinking about making another batch of them in a different pattern. We'll see if I have time before the deadline.

I had actually hoped to finish them today, but the wind died down, so it was a good day to take some photos. I managed to get a few things listed in both the BeckyKay Designs and the She Made It! shops.

It's back to my job tomorrow, but Tuesday is Veterans' Day, and that means no work for me! I'll be working at home though. Probably finishing those Itsy Bitsy Bags.

Kindergarten Homework

The assignment was to take a turkey and disguise him so that he won't become this year's Thanksgiving dinner. Lil' Kay and I discussed at some length how we should hide our Tom Turkey. We talked about turning him into a shark and an owl. A dinosaur and a robot. Lil' Kay finally settled on turning him into a spider.

So, this afternoon, we set out to do just that. We got out the cardstock, pipecleaners and, of course, wiggly eyes. Fortunately, our turkey's body was already shaped similarly to a spider's, so we just covered it up with some black cardstock and added the identifying red hourglass to his back.

We camouflaged his tail by drawing a web design onto it. After attaching some pipecleaner legs and multiple wiggly eyes, the only problem was that his big turkey feet were still showing. We decided to go the easy route and simply cover them with some colorful fall leaves.

Fun kindergarten homework! I love getting the chance to work with Lil' Kay to make his ideas come to life. And it means I get to use up some of my supply stash!

In Search of Dinette Chairs

I had some extra time on my lunch break today, so I headed out to a couple local antique stores to see if I could track down some chairs for my new table. No luck on the chairs, but I do wish I'd had my camera with me to show you some of the treasures I found but didn't buy.

At the second shop I went to, I told them what I was looking for and the shopkeeper gave me the key to their warehouse behind the store. I went back there and poked around a bit, but didn't find exactly what I was looking for. I did find a set of super bright turquoise floral print chairs that looked straight out of 1976, but I knew Mr. Kay would kill me if I brought those home. I loved them, but he'd think they were the ugliest thing he'd ever seen.

Someday, I'm going to have my own house that I can decorate any way I want. I'm not planning to ditch the husband, but wouldn't it be cool to have my own crafting house?

Anyway, back to the chair search. I found a great set, but they came with a table. I hoping that somewhere, I'll be able to find a set without a table. Or even several different individual chairs. I have a feeling that I won't be getting the chairs this winter. Most likely, I'll have to stalk the auctions next spring and summer to find just the right thing.

Dear Santa

Halloween is over and the stores are starting to put out their Christmas decorations. Even though I feel like it's rushing it, it appears that Christmas will be here before we know it! Therefore, it's time to start making lists and work on my holiday shopping.

Last night, Lil' Kay was going through a toy catalog marking all of his "must have" Christmas items. (I know, totally materialistic, but he's 5.) I came across the perfect thing to add to my Christmas Wish List, too. Isn't it fabulous?

So, Santa, if you're reading this, you can get the Hello Kitty sewing machine here.

Today's the day! Be sure to get out and vote for your candidate! I actually voted on Friday. That early voting thing is so convenient! Even so, I saved my "I Voted" sticker so I could wear it again today. Yeah, I'm a dork...

I'm thinking supper tonight will be cake. We're either going to celebrate or drown our political sorrows. Either way, cake is a total necessity.

My new-to-me crafting table

My new-to-me crafting table, originally uploaded by BeckyKay Designs.

A few weeks ago, my cousin Kelly called me in the middle of the day to tell me she was at an estate sale and had found a table with my name written all over it. Did I want it?

She gave me a quick description, and I figured for $25, why not? She brought my table down to our family reunion yesterday, and Mr. Kay assembled it for me last night.

I am so stinkin' excited about this thing. I love its curvy legs and rounded ends. I love the bright yellow marbled top. I'm totally turning this into my new craft table. This is probably the last time that it will ever be completely cleared off!

Pumpkin & Caterpillar

Pumpkin & Caterpillar, originally uploaded by BeckyKay Designs.

It's getting chilly here in Kansas. The expected low for tonight is 25 degrees. I adore fall, but it's super-hard to get out of my warm toasty bed in the mornings when it's this cold.

All our pumpkins are happily waiting on the porch for our pumpkin carving party on Thursday evening. Just gotta get the house cleaned for our guests!

I got to do a little needle felting last night after Lil' Kay went to bed. I'm working on some Christmas ornaments. I really hope they turn out well!

Lil' Kay found this little caterpillar in the yard about a week ago. After the photo shoot, he let him go in the grass. Poor caterpillar! I'm pretty sure he nearly had a heart attack from all the attention.

Lil' Kay Quote of the Day

"Girls are my favorite humans."

New Stuff at SheMadeIt!

Well, the craft show this weekend, was not everything we had hoped it would be. The weather was beautiful, there were quality booths and lots of people, but not enough buyers! We made enough to pay for our booth fee, but not a whole lot more than that. Although, Mom did get an order for two more crocheted monkeys.

The good news is that since we didn't sell out, I've got tons of new stuff to add to our She Made It! Etsy shop. I highly recommend you check it out, as I will be adding more and more over the next several days.

Jessica uses some of our scraps to make the prettiest little baby or doll blankets you've ever seen. She does the piecing by machine, then hand ties them and sends them to our lovely quilter Grandma Reva for binding by hand. I also have about three crib quilts ready for listing, too, with frogs, cowboys and vintage-look fabrics!!

This summer, Jessica came up with two adorable designs for tooth fairy pillows which I absolutely adore! One is a tough looking tooth with his own set of fangs. The other is a pretty little tooth with wings that actually flap! Both designs feature a little pocket to hold a tooth and the tooth fairy's payment.

A tooth fairy pillow is an absolute must if you have a kid in the tooth-losing age range. I'm told it is much easier to remove and replace a tooth when it has its own special pillow than it is to wrestle it out from under a child's pillow without waking them. The tooth fairy and I are good friends.

As you know, I made over 50 crayon caddies for our craft shows this fall. I sold a lot of them, but there are still a number left. I've started listing them in the shop. Many of them are suitable for little boys, because as the mom of a boy, I know how hard it can be to find cute handmade gifts for boys. Crayon caddies make great stocking stuffers and small gifts for birthday parties. I have also found that my son is more likely to put his crayons away in a caddy than back in the box. (Results may vary depending on the child.)

We've still got lots more to add, including some bundles of flannel burp cloths that our sister-in-law Heidi makes. Flannel burp cloths are fabulous! They actually get softer the more you wash them!

So, be sure to check out She Made It! It's been bare in there for a while, but it's filling up with all kinds of great kids and baby gifts!

Fine Arts & Crafts Festival

So, tomorrow is our second craft show of the season. I am completely unstressed and, most likely, unprepared. Well, not really. I just haven't done much work for it, so I feel like I should be unprepared. In fact, I had enough stock left over from the last show that I haven't felt it was necessary to do any sewing for this one. Also, all the displays are at my sister's house, so she's in charge of hauling everything over here tomorrow morning. We'll just go in, set up and throw our stuff on the tables and racks. Easy peasy.

Tonight, I need to replace a few price labels, wash the table cloths and just make sure that we have everything we need. Completely low-stress. Kind of nice, huh?

Birthday Money

As you know, my birthday was last Friday. My mom didn't know what to give me, so she went with cash. Totally awesome, although I did have a hard time deciding what I wanted to buy with my birthday money. Spending it all on Etsy seemed like a no-brainer though! Here's what I ended up with! An adorable giraffe pincushion from Sugarelf (how can you not like a shop with a name like that?); a very sweet Clever Kitty t-shirt from Cathy's Sweet Shop (I've wanted one of these forever!); and a fun little thought bubble barrette from Mel Bell.
Now, I just have to sit back and wait for my treasures to arrive! It'll be like having my birthday all over again!!

We had a great time on our overnight trip to Guthrie, Oklahoma. It really is a very fun town with lots of good restaurants (did you know you can fry green beans?) and tons of antique shops. We came home with some pretty great stuff. I need to take pictures so I can share it with you all!

And the winner is....

So, my birthday weekend is drawing to a close. (I don't believe in this one day birthday stuff. Why not stretch it out for two or three days?) As promised, I'm giving away the cute Villette bag in my previous post.

The winner is Tango K! Be sure to check out the Tango K blog for some beautiful and unique jewerly creations!

If you didn't win, but you're still dying to have a Villette bag of your own, be sure to stop by the Villette Bag section of my shop!

Giveaway!!

In honor of my (32nd) birthday on Friday, I'm hosting a little blog giveaway! One of my precious readers is going to receive this sweet little Villette Bag for their very own. I love the vintage shabby chic feel of this particular print. It reminds me of a block I might find in one of my grandma's handmade quilts.

Here's what you have to do: Leave me a post about your most favorite birthday ever. Be sure to include some way for me to contact you if you should win. Mr. Kay is taking me on a romantic getaway this weekend, so I'll draw the name of a lucky winner on Sunday.

I don't do these giveaways very often, so be sure to sign up!

I'll give you TROUBLE!!

Over my lunch hour, I stopped off at the store to pick up a couple things. I wondered by the toy section and had a thought! Lil' Kay is constantly bugging us to play games with him, but quite honestly, I find CandyLand and Chutes & Ladders a bit boring! In fact, mind-numbingly boring. I was suddenly reminded of one of my favorite games as a kid, and it still sounded like fun! Trouble! We used to play it with my grandma and grandpa when we visited their house. Does anyone not like to play Trouble?

I brought it home, and when Lil' Kay saw it, he couldn't wait to play! We even managed to talk Mr. Kay into playing with us. A nice little time of family fun at the kitchen table!

Mr. Kay is a ruthless Trouble player. Most of his plays were directed at me. Don't worry, I definitely fought back. In fact, we spent so much time trying to beat each other, that Lil' Kay snuck up and won the game! Okay, so maybe we went a little easy on him because he's five.

This is such a nice, simple compact game. You don't have to worry about losing the die, because it's trapped inside that snazzy bubble! I have to wonder why more games didn't utilize the pop-o-matic bubble? And, let's face it, popping a die is way more fun than rolling it or spinning one of those silly spinner things! That's right. The pop-o-matic bubble is the most underused piece of technology I can think of.

Needlefelting Attempt #2

Needlefelted Shark , originally uploaded by BeckyKay Designs.

I'm pretty proud of this one, since I did it all on my own without a kit and without instructions. I did use a couple of Lil' Kay's toy sharks as reference, but that's it!

Now, here's the crazy part. Last Monday, I made my wee little bunny. Lil' Kay was totally fascinated, so I gave him a bit of wool to play with. A day or so later, his right eye gets all puffy and red, and he develops a bit of a rash on his body. Friday, I keep him home from school and we make a visit to the doctor. The doctor says it is some kind of allergic reaction. We cannot figure out what it is from! We haven't changed soap or detergent or anything, and he hasn't eaten anything unusual.

Friday night, I pull out my brand new order of wool from The Felted Ewe in preparation for making the shark. I comment on the quantity of wool I received, and Mr. Kay says, "That's wool?"

I say, "Yeah."

He says, "Ummmm....I'm allergic to wool."

And then it dawns on us. Wool. Itchiness. Allergic reaction. Yep. Lil' Kay is allergic to my new hobby. Doesn't that just figure?

Sick Day!

The other day on Etsy, I stumbled across a thread announcing the 2nd Annual Pumpkin Junkin' Contest. After reading about it, I thought it sounded like something fun that Lil' Kay and I could do together. Well, this morning, Lil' Kay woke up with an extremely swollen right eye and a rash on multiple parts of his body. (I'll save the details for later, because that's a funny story, too.) Anyway, I decided to keep him home from school and take him to the doctor.

After the doctor's appointment, we had to run to the store to pick up his prescription. While we were there, we came up with a plan and gathered supplies for our pumpkin.

At first, Lil' Kay wanted to make the pumpkin into a microraptor. Now, most people may not know what a microraptor is, but basically, it's a feathered dinosaur creature...thing. We put a couple bags of feathers in the cart, and the whole time I'm wondering how the heck we're going to pull this thing off. Fortunately, at the last moment he changed his mind and decided on a T Rex. Before he could unchange his mind, we put the feathers back and bought some green spray paint.

After lunch, we started on the project. We cut the snout, arms, feet and tail out of white posterboard and pinned them to the pumpkin with straight pins. I was totally impressed with Lil' Kay's grasp of placement and dinosaur anatomy. I was going to put the tail at the base of the pumpkin, but he pointed out that it should go up higher, as T Rexes did not drag their tails. He also insisted that the eyes should actually go on the snout and not on the pumpkin like I wanted.

Once the pieces were in place, we went out to the yard and spray painted the entire thing green. Let me tell you, it takes a lot of spraying to cover up an orange pumpkin. Many, many coats.

When the paint was dry, we brought our creature back in the house and added the giant wiggly eyes (is there anything more fun than wiggly eyes?), teeth and tongue. I must say, I'm pretty giddy about the way it turned out. He looks cute and silly and dinosaur-like! Mr. Kay pointed out that it looks like he's about to tell a joke, "Wait! Guys! Tell me if you've heard this one!"