• I’m thankful for my sister-in-law volunteering to take Wesley for a few hours today. So far, I have scrubbed the toilet, sink, and bathtub; reorganized some of my craft storage boxes; done laundry; and written this blog post.
• I’m thankful that my mom doesn’t seem to mind when I text her saying I am going to come over to her house to do a craft project. I received a Land of Nod catalog in the mail yesterday that contained a photo of a cute garland of mittens and I immediately decided I would try my hand at a DIY version. I knew my mom had a giant Rubbermaid container full of felt, and a glue gun, so I came over. She even made french toast for dinner!
• I’m thankful for six-sided paper snowflake tutorials. I’ve been going a little crazy with the paper snowflakes in the last two days. (Most common paper snowflakes are 4- or 8-pointed, but if you want to be more scientifically accurate you can fold a 6-pointed snowflake!)
• I’m thankful for our public library. I am a little upset they have recently decided to let you pick up your own books-on-hold with a receipt that has the first four letters of your last name, because then I get receipts that say GUNT on them in big black letters. BUT. Despite this, I am happy to have been able to read so many wonderful books recently without requiring I purchase them. Books like The Time Traveler’s Wife, the Ender’s Game series, and the books that the Legend of the Seeker show is based off of. I love reading and getting lost in books and the public library makes this possible for me right now.
• I’m thankful that our good friends Cameron, Brianna, and their baby Piper made it to their new home on the east cost safely. I already miss them terribly and have vowed to send Christmas cards and maybe win the lottery so we can come visit.

I sewed his treat bag out of flannel at 9pm the night before. Originally, I wanted to make him an actual Hobbes, like this, but then I got freaked out because I am okay at sewing 2D objects, not so much with the 3D, and I have no idea how to translate a sketch on paper into a 3-dimensional animal. I wanted to do it right or not at all. And I couldn’t figure it out in time and then I remembered he needed a treat bag, and voila! I made a Hobbes tote bag!

I used the Simple Tote instructions from Bend the Rules Sewing by Amy Karol, but I made both the straps the same length. I freehanded all the appliqued shapes on the front and then drew on the mouth with a Sharpie. I wanted to embroider it, but Wesley was already sleeping and all my embroidery stuff was in his room, and it would have taken longer and I didn’t have the time to spare. Plus, 1.5-year-olds don’t care anyway.

He did pretty well with trick-or-treating, except he wouldn’t say anything (“trick-or-treat” was “deet-deet” but he only said it for us) and didn’t seem to have any idea what we were doing. We pulled him in a red wagon though, and he loved the wagon ride, so there’s that.

(Here’s last year’s costume, for OMG-my-baby-is-huge-now reference.)

MARTHA STEWART CRAFTING FURNITURE.

What a genius idea. Crafting specific furniture! No longer will you have to suffer through making do with crap furniture that doesn’t solve your organizational problems! There are shelves and drawers for all your needs!

Martha, I know I used to make fun of you, but the older I get, the more I appreciate your crazy craftiness and design aesthetic. I will be saving my pennies to someday buy some of these lovely items.

Behold our family of hand turkeys:

I love buntings – those cloth banners made from triangles (or half-circles or rectangles). I’ve also seen them called “pennant banners” or just “banners.” They make great nursery or party decorations and are very sweet looking. I’ve been wanting to make one for Wesley for a long time, and finally one weekend I just DID IT.

I made a “pattern” for the triangles out of a grocery bag and cut them out of a simple green cotton fabric with tiny white polka-dots. I didn’t bother trying to make sure the fabric was straight and I didn’t pin my pattern down. I wanted his name on the banner, so I decided to do one letter per triangle. The letters are cut from polar fleece, since I didn’t want them to fray but didn’t want to do any extra work to finish the edges. Lazy sewing FTW!

I laid each letter on one of the two triangles, pinned it where it looked best, and then just sewed around the edge. I didn’t even bother changing my thread so if you look closely, the dark green fleece is sewn on with light sage green thread. Again, lazy sewing.

I put the two right-sides of the triangles together (one with a letter, one without) and sewed the two diagonal seams, ironed, turned it inside out, ironed again, and topstitched the edges.

Once I had all my triangles done, I laid them out on the floor with a package of extra-wide bias tape. I used a mid-range gray since that’s what I had that matched best. Once I liked the placement (about an inch and a half apart), I pinned the triangles to the bias tape and then sewed the tape edges together, trapping the unfinished edge of the triangles inside. It was super easy.

Wesley looks pleased. I am thrilled with it and love that it makes Wesley’s corner of our bedroom look more like a nursery.

Mooshy Belly Bunny

I downloaded this pattern from Beeper Bebe and then was a total ass and more or less ignored the instructions. I didn’t pin the pattern to the fabric and did a bad job of cutting it out, so the bunny’s head was oddly shaped. (Once again, I am all about the lazy sewing.) Even so, I decided to soldier on.

The fabric I used was a dress that I bought for super cheap at Ross and then never ended up wearing since it wasn’t totally my style. I was initially going to donate it to Goodwill, and at the time, I had actually been looking for nice, striped knits for cheap online – I finally put two and two together and just cut up the dress.

When sewing the bunny, I also ignored the instructions to sew “dividers” for the arms and legs and to cinch the head – they look positively adorable that way but it was extra work and… well… I wanted Wesley to be able to play with his bunny right away.

For the tail: I cut a circle, handsewed a running stitch around the edge, cinched it, and filled it with polyfill stuffing, and then I handstitched it to the bunny’s bum. I embroidered a really simple nose/mouth and two french knots for eyes. Nothing fancy. Even so, I love how it came out and Wesley really seems to like his bunny friend:

It’s easy for him to hang on to, wave around, bite, and hug.