The Aviator

Coming soon to a too-cute-for-words brother and sister duo!  And a very tired mommy :o(  Thinking of you Christy!!!  Big hugs - I hope you like the happy mail!

I had to be creative for the pictures, especially for the little one.  Fortunately Hillary was willing to be a model.  Ryan didn't do too badly herself.  She was excited to have a gift to send to her friends Talon and Scarlett.

I didn't have a pattern for these ones - I kind of lifted the idea from my greatest new resource, Etsy.  If you haven't checked it out yet you really should.  There is a wonderful world of handmade goodies out there....

Woof, woof!

Ryan has a new hat to add to her collection. Its getting kind of big (the collection that is)....  I might have to turn my focuses to other areas!  I still have a rather large knit crochet list so hopefully I remain motivate for awhile. 

I saw this hat on Etsy and thought it was the cutest ever.  I've figured I'd give it a try without a pattern (as I've been doing a lot lately)...  What I really like about this hat is that I used cotton yarn.  It makes for a pretty finished product.

If you're interested in trying it out I kind of have a pattern in my head that I'm sure I can put on paper.... 

Pillow Pets?

Here is another project that I wanted to do for Ryan for Christmas.  I stumbled upon it on a blog called Filth Wizardy where there are some great ideas for children's projects.  It seemed super simple and then, as chance had it, I stumbled upon the same unicorn head that she used (from the Dollarama none-the-less).  I also just happend to have the perfect piece of fleece left over.  Thankfully, the sewing portion was not overly challenging - I'm a lot rusty!

A little bit of sewing later and Ryan had her very own unicorn pillow pet!  I know she likes it because she gets a little preturbed when Lucy tries to share!  We're still working on sharing....

I used ribbon instead of velcro or snaps.  It seemed like the easiest at the time and I was facing a little bit of a Christmas time crunch!

Here it is in its pillow form.  I like it better tied - her nose points south a little too much in this format.

Thanks for looking!

You've got mail!

I discovered a blog before Christmas called Twelve Crafts Til Christmas which had an awesome tutorial to make your own play Pretend and Play Mail Carrier Kit.  I decided that this just had to under the tree for little Miss Ryan.  She had previously spent a lot of time hiding things and checking the mail.  I thought she might relate....  Well, a couple of late nights, and Christmas morning came.  Ryan opend her kit and exclaimed, 'Mail - this is just what I wanted for Christmas'.  You can't ask for a better reaction than that can you?

I grew up with dolls and toys that my mom made me.  I mostly loved them but I really love doing the same for Ryan.  This project was really fun to do and I would highly reccomend it.  I can't wait to try more from Elizabeth at Twelve Crafts.  She really does have some great ideas!

Here is the complete set;

And a personalized letter from Nana (as written by Mama);

 

The mailbox with a button top closure.  The flag goes up and down and is held in place by a jumbo brad;

 

You've got mail!

And the mail bag in case you want to deliver it yourself.  I just winged the dimensions on this one;

Owl, apple, frog, newsboy

I made Ryan a few hats.  She likes the owl the best.  She's also worn the apple (more than in the house).  When I finished the froggy and she tried it on she wore it all one evening.  She was watching tv and drinking water from her sippy cup and I noticed her saying, 'Froggy thirsty.'  Then she put the sippy cup up to her forehead.  I laughed!

Do you think I could get them all on her to get pictures?  Not!  So there here is the post sporting most of them.  I like the post - it doesn't run away :o)

Oh yeah, this is just for the sake of my poor memory.  Today Ryan asked me if I had a baby in my belly.....  What?  I asked her if she had one in hers.  She said, no das silly!

I made a Dolly!

Is it for me or for Ryan? Right at this moment its hard to tell. I'm kind of smitten.... Although, when Ryan saw the finished product last night her reaction made me lean towards actually giving it to its intended recipient. She had snuck out of her room during bedtime with Daddy and saw it sitting on the sofa table. Her eyes got really big and she said, ' Wow! Look at this!' And then she looked at me and said, 'Did you make this?' and gave her a big hug. Can you blame her, look at how cute she is?



I found the pattern for her free online. I deviated only a little. The yarn I used was Lion's Brand worsted weight which is a little thicker than what is recommended so I used bigger hooks as well; 4.25mm for the doll itself and 5mm for her dress and shoes. I've been working on it off and on since Christmas and she was well worth it. I love her!