cape!

dress up item for N
inspired by my own childhood obsession with Batgirl, ponchos & capes
based on this pattern with help on the appliqué from this site
The cape itself was simple to do, but there was certainly a learning curve on the appliqué. But that's ok because now I know how to do them. Yay! Another fun project!

flannel baby blanket

baby blanket for L's baby
inspired by the wonderful handmade blankets I received for my baby
based on instructions given here and here


The hardest part about this project was choosing the fabric -- there are soooo many cute ones out there! Otherwise, it was a pretty straightforward project. Hooray!

lazy days skirt

skirt for N
inspired by and based upon this pattern
Wish I had a better photo of it, but it came out great and we get compliments on it all the time! The instructions are very easy to follow. I'm looking forward to making her more of these.

play kitchen

play kitchen for N
inspired by several posts about play kitchens here
based mainly on this post with help from this site

I wish I could say that this project was easy or fast, but alas, it was extremely challenging and took me almost three months to complete. I have a little woodworking experience, but felt like an absolute beginner on this project.

In hindsight, I would not use the IKEA Vika Furusund as the base. It seemed like such a great idea, but as with many IKEA items, the quality is hit or miss. I had to exchange not one, but two of these because they were too warped to assemble. I should taken this as a warning sign to not use this item, but I was too stubborn to veer from the plan. The third unit was usable, though also somewhat warped, making it awkward to fit the shelves into this existing frame. I should have just built a frame from pine boards.

The other part that drove me crazy was installing the hinges for the oven and refrigerator doors. I ended up recruiting my husband to help me and even with two brains and four hands, it was extremely frustrating.

There were highlights to this project, such as the day N noticed me working on it out in the garage and realized it was going to be her kitchen. She was so excited! She went with me to the paint store and chose the colors. I enjoyed doing the painting and now we both like playing with it. But I think I've gotten the 'build it myself' bug out of my system, for now at least.

cookie costume

halloween costume for N
completely inspired by and based on this post

Charming, fun and easy, even for someone with pretty rudimentary sewing skills. The chocolate chip cap was my own idea. I made it with the leftover dark brown felt and reused some dark brown ribbon from a birthday gift that someone gave me. Getting the shape and size right were the most challenging aspects of this part of the project. Toddlers have surprisingly large heads.

I even had high hopes of using the 'cookies' as pillows for N's little chairs, but she takes them off whenever I try to put them on. She's not into the idea of multi-function items yet. Ah well. I still think it's a great idea!

spumoni bombe

dessert for M
inspired entirely by this book












based mostly on this recipe

i went with the haagen dazs recipe for two reasons: 1) the better homes & garden recipe calls for food coloring & artificial flavoring, which sounded distinctly unappetizing to me; and 2) i really like their ice cream. i ended up using their chocolate and cherry vanilla flavors, but went with ben & jerry's pistachio pistachio because i couldn't find haagen dazs pistachio anywhere. that was just fine as the pistachio pistachio was very tasty indeed. i did use part of the bh&g recipe for the center section (just raspberries, whipped cream and powdered sugar) and for the piped decor (whipped cream, powdered sugar and raspberry juice instead of food coloring). next time, i'll omit the raspberry layer and either add more cherries to the cherry vanilla layer or not mix in the whipped cream as the flavor was too subtle. we still managed to stuff ourselves silly with spumoni bombe despite these minor flaws.

beehive pasta timbale

dinner for M
inspired by this book

based on this recipe

i've been fascinated by this concept of a pasta-encased dish ever since i received diane seed's the top 100 pasta sauces as a birthday gift back in the 80's and saw the illustration for bucatini alla flamande. after twenty years, i figured it was time to try it. unfortunately, i realized the recipe in the book is a little vague, so i searched online for something similar and was happy to find lex culinaria's beehive pasta timbale. sounds like the same book and recipe inspired her as well. It came out quite nicely, even though i changed the quantities to make a smaller version. i will definitely make it again because it was fun to make, looked cool and it was really delicious!