Six, Silky Soupies for
Sleeping Sweet Sally Jane
who is snuggling with a snoring swine.
My little Sally Jane is obsessed with soupies. She has Purple one, a White one from Grammy, a mini white soupie from my friend Kim G., a yellow one she got for Christmas, a white one with ruffle edge and green one she pulled out of my embroidery stash that were to monogrammed and given as baby gifts - and yesterday she carried them everywhere with her. When she went to bed I had to take a photo of all 6 of them stacked up on top of her. She slept with her Valentine Fairy gift of the snoring pig. Have you seen these they are so funny. She tucks the pig next to her cheek so that the flapping ear hits her face until she falls asleep.
I even found a video on youtube.

before i put them to bed last night I found all three of them having a Sister Power pow wow underneath the comforter on the top bunk. These are the photos I got by sticking my camera under there.It was 10:30 - way past their bed times but they were waiting for Jeff to come home to do the nightly wrestling match. Sally Jane could not stay up any longer and asked to be put to bed. As for Caroline and Annie Kate they were geared and ready to do. Here is a photo of Caroline flying in the air getting ready to land on Jeff. She totally won the night. Me and the girls made a much needed visit to the library and here a few books I picked up that I recommend for you crafty gals to glance at.
The first one is B is for Baby by Suzonne Stirling. This book is packed full of great craft ideas that can be adapted for any age, but wonderful if you want to make something handmade for a baby gift.

These were darling matchbox announcements

and they have great patterns for little felt shoes too.

I picked up this button jewelry book by Susan Davis and I have looked through it 5 times already!But this book is a must to put on your library list! (please tell me you all have your local library bookmarked online so you can just have your library hold it for you - it is the way to go)
***edit. from Amy's comment. My library does not carry all these fun books on the shelf either. But you can request any book from your library. They will find it from other libraries or often order it in if it is new. That is why it is so key to work them online, just email them a list!

Kitschy Crafts - A celebration of overlooked 20th century crafts
This book is AWESOME. If I had my own business or was starting my own business I would run to get this book. Bringing back vintage crafts could make you some serious money.

but they had the pattern for these GRAPES. My grandmother had these in her basement window and made them in Relief Society at church. oh my i can't believe they have how to make them in this book. I so want to make them, but the instructions were a tad overwhelming. they even had a pineapple made out of them. Ok these in pink.... are calling my name.

. . . . . . . . . .

Has anyone made these glass grapes before?
Does anyone in my family know what happened to grandma's grapes?
Have you seen that snoring pig before?
Am I crazy for letting my kids stay up to wrestle with their dad?
. . . . . . . . . .

some recent library books.

I had checked out a slew of books at the library for my D.C. class and was thrilled to flip through them all this past week. I know there are some of you coming to D.C. this summer and these would be great ones to pick up.
this is a great kids book that talks about the Vietnam memorial. Really great.
this is the second time I have checked out this book and I love it. Before going to any art museum I suggest getting a book on the museum and looking at what you will be looking at. It makes the adventure much more enjoyable. This one is about the Natioal Portrait Gallery.
I am hoping to get to the Hirshorn Museum this summer and have been looking through a great book on that this week.
This book is from the same author as my Benjamin Franklin book. I am amazed at how much you can learn from this author's children books. I like the Ben Franklin one more but still picked up a few trivia facts about the great President Lincoln.
The FDR memorial is full of symbolism! chuck full! I had not read anything about it before going and now after reading this I can't wait to go back. If you only get to go once read as much as you can before you go. There are 4 sections representing his 4 terms. This man was amazing. Reading this was like a mini history lesson on WWII, something I know so little about.

So I will be adding these to my "So you want to teach your kids about D.C." gallery.

do you love my sewing machine cover, handmade by Mindy

Pick up these books.

I had pre-ordered these two books on amazon 5 months ago and had forgot about them, so when they came in the mail the other day I was thrilled and surprised.

Bend the Rules of Sewing
written by Amy Karol with Angry Chicken

Simple Sewing with a French Twist

• If you want to learn how to sew these books are for you.
• If you know how to sew these books are for you.
• If you don't know how to sew but want your kids to learn how these books are for you.
• If you want to make some handmade gifts these books are for you.

Your library may not have these yet, but you can request that they get them in, it may take awhile, but worth a try. But put these on your Christmas/Birthday wish list.

library books

part of my photo journaling I take photos of my library books that I check out. I have had some great ones laying around my house.
I have been on a Ben Franklin kick lately. Thanks to Amy H. who sent me a Ben Franklin book recently. this is a great kids book, it talks about all the things we still use today that were invented by Benjamin Franklin.
This is a great book in a series. Really Great. They also have many presidents if you are needing to do any research.

This book is wonderful. The Salvage Sisters. Really some great ideas and worth checking out and even worth buying.


This was one of the ideas in the book. taking old fabric and making outfits for the whole family. Kind of Sound of Music'ish. I am now on the hunt for some great old curtains for our Christmas card photo - i wonder if jeff will go for the homemade tie idea matching his kids dresses... outlook not so good.
This was also a great book about creating your own personal shrine. The idea of making a frame or shadowbox just all about you. I just may think about this.

Get out and use your library this summer! They have great reading programs for kids and adults.