Norman

So I have definitely mentioned my love of these dragons toys at least a half dozen times. I just can't help it. They are so fun, soft, cute, and cuddly!

I just had to take a second and give Mr. Norman a shout out however because this is the first time I had anything to do with the making of a dragon.

First a picture of the fine fellow:

Norman - A Baby Friendly Stuffed Dragon

The first thing I should mention, and you can be thankful for this, is that I did not sew any part of Norman. My sewing machine skills are zilch so this really is for the best. I helped select the felt wing color and spike fabric for Norman after picking out a combination of patchwork squares I thought looked nice together. After that, Miss Pine Hill Forest set to work piecing together Norman.

What do you think!?

I am so in love with the colors, the patchwork of the flannel pieces, etc. Maybe I'm just biased because I picked it all out, but he truly is one of my favorite dragons she has ever made! I would snatch him up for my little Year of the Dragon baby (due in two weeks!) but I think I will hold out for something a little bit girlier for my bundle of pink on the way.  :)

And now I will leave you with a few more Norman pictures:

The Sweetest Day

The Sweetest Day

Did you know that yesterday was my birthday?
I love having an August birthday and am crossing every finger and toe that our little lady will be born before the month is up.

I thought it would be fun to do a little birthday themed treasury on my birthday, but I didn't want it to be too birthday-ish. I love the way it turned out! And I so wish I could wear a scarf in my hair and look as good as Thrush makes it look!

My birthday was a day of thunder storms, doctor appointments, and a dinner in the city with a super cranky kid (until the chocolate was brought out). But life is good and I've no complaints!

Let's Get Crafty

I've been getting back in the habit of making treasuries again over at Etsy, and it's been so much fun! I used to love putting together lists of consisting of things I loved, themes, the weather, etc. Once my little boy was born free time was so limited that I quit making lists for the most part. Out of the five or so I've made over the last few days this is one of my very favorite:

Let's Get Crafty!

It really does make me want to get crafty!

I absolutely adore every item in this list, but if I had to pick a top five these would be the winners:

1. Vintage Scissors from HillTopCottage - It would be fun to use these scissors and imagine all the projects they've been a part of through the years. I also just love the piece of linen that the scissors were photographed on top of! Soooo pretty.

2. Felt Flower Pincushion from MartyMakes - The colors in this pincushion are so light and fresh. I would definitely enjoy plucking pins from this little beauty. If only I sewed!

3. Thimble Necklace from mylavalier - I just love the alternate use of a thimble by making it into a piece of jewelry. I would happily wear this necklace everywhere!

4. Sacha Butterfly Zipper Pouch from PineHillForest - I seriously use at least half a dozen of these little pouches and the different patterns and prints always add a smile to my day. I especially like to use them for keeping my knitting notions in one place, sets of double pointed needles all together, crochet hooks together, and small diaper bag items all stored in one easy to get to place. (I know the last thing isn't 'crafty' but it sure helps to know right where a pacifier is in a pinch!)

5. Vintage French Lace from voladoravintage - Beautiful lace ribbons are such a wonderful touch to so many projects. I love looking all the different options out there and dreaming up possibilities for which they could be used!

To take a look at any of the other items in my treasury list just click on the "Let's Get Crafty!" link to go directly to etsy! Enjoy!

Pins!

Little Bird Pins By Pine Hill Forest

I am so in love with these little bird pins made by Pine Hill Forest. For a long while now I've had a teal little bunny brooch attached to my very favorite yellow purse. But now I'm thinking a little bird pin might be a fun summer update to my bag. It's hard to pick a favorite, but I think I like the light blue bird pin with blue flowers and pink beads the best. It's so bright and cheery.

You can find these pins and more, here.

Nursery Update - The Crib

 I have finally finished getting everything ready for little lady's crib!


Her crib is actually her big brother's crib handed down. He ended up getting a brand new crib because it converts into a toddler bed (which came with the rail, woo!) which he is going to need at some point in the future before little lady. Plus I always thought this crib was a bit on the girly side and think it looks much better set up for her.

The crib sheet is Lullaby Breeze by Jill McDonald. I found it at Babies R Us and knew it would be a perfect fit! I also found a second sheet at Land of Nod on clearance. It's called Wooden Shoes crib bedding and I picked up the Wooden Shoes fitted sheet (which is actually tulips and not shoes). 

Then I enlisted Pine Hill Forest in the crafting of an owl pillow. For now it sits in little lady's crib, but eventually it will go in her rocking chair. We used a pattern from the book All Sewn Up by Chloe Owens. This book has a million great patterns by the way! I'll be doing some tea towels on my next trip home :)

We picked fabric which has already been used in other projects in little lady's room and I think it is a perfect fit.

Last but not least was making a custom crib skirt for little lady's crib. I knew I wanted a ruffly girly crib skirt but was not finding the colors and patterns that I was envisioning. So I hauled out our sons old crib skirt and once again asked Miss Pine Hill Forest if she would be willing to take on the task of sewing a custom ruffled crib skirt. We used this Ruffled Crib Skirt Tutorial from Positively Splendid to give us an idea of how one might go about constructing a ruffle crib skirt, and then set out on our own. We picked up about a yard and a half of each of the three fabrics and then attached each ruffle layer to my son's skirting. To save a bit of money we only ruffled the sides and front as you never see the back of the crib anyway. For less than $30.00 I think it came out fantastic!

For now little lady's crib sits in our room, but when the day comes to move her down to her own room she is going to be in the sweetest little nursery fit for a princess!

Sneak Peak

As I have mentioned before, I do the majority of the photography for Pine Hill Forest over on Etsy. Because I have a little one arriving this fall we are trying to get a head start on some holiday projects so that there isn't a ton to do with a brand new baby who will need lots of my attention. :)


Above is a sneak peak at said projects to be listed at the beginning of the fall. Do you have any idea what they are?


They are close-up shots of a new line of ornaments!
Every year there are beautiful one of a kind ornaments over at Pine Hill Forest, but this year she had introduced something new. The dresses are all made from vintage hankies. Not only that, but she hand embroiders beautiful floral and bead details onto the dresses!


I am beyond excited about these little creations, and will definitely be picking one out for our little girl on the way!




Here is a little peak at one of the ornaments in its entirty:

Just gorgeous, right?! Look for these ornaments and more in a few months!

Sewn Lovlies

While it's not my shop, Pine Hill Forest is a shop that I help out with. I photograph many of the pieces, and set up the listings. I wish I could say I've done some of the sewing, but my talents do not extend to hand embroidery, stitching, cutting patterns in a straight line or sewing machines. These talents all belong to the shop owner Colleen, who happens to be my mom.

Here are a few of my favorite items in the shop right now. I'll start with the hand sewn animal friends she makes:

Morton - A hand sewn squirrel whose acorn doubles as a tooth fairy pillow or gift card holder!

Claire - A one of a kind dragon. My little girl will own one of these for sure as she is being born in the "year of the dragon" :)

Pickle - The perfect baby friendly pig.

Now for the zipper pouches. I own about a billion of these and love them all. They hold my knitting and crochet supplies, pretty packaging tapes I use on all out going sales, diaper bag supplies, etc. I also like to use them as alternatives to wrapping paper when giving small gifts. You just can't go wrong with a pretty little zipper pouch!

Rose Bouquet Zipper Pouch

Griffith Park Zipper Pouch

Woodland Zipper Pouch

Okay, last but certainly not least are her hand embroidered, completely one of a kid, pins and key fobs. Initially she would just embroider a fun felt zipper pull for each of her zipper pouches. I kept remarking on how much I loved them. So much that I asked her to make one in pin form for me to stick on one of my purses. And that is when she started specifically making pins and key fobs. I also love to use the pins on some of my hand knit shawls which I use as scarves in the winter. It's a cute little touch that makes me smile on those super cold days.

Pink Square Felt Pin

Little Blue Bird Felt Pin

Scotty Dog Key Fob

I think I could've picked out at least 30 more items to feature, but these are my top favorites in each section of her shop! Do you have a favorite?