Custodians of Beauty

On November 1, we celebrate the host of saints in heaven. We ask them to intercede for us so that one day we too may join the holy soul for all Eternity. My four year old has told me many times that she wants to go to heaven to be with Mary and Jesus. This afternoon, while praying my rosary, she climbed onto my lap. She asked if she would see the apostles up there (heaven). I said yes, of course! And St. Francis, St. Maximillian, St. Nicholas, and St. Agnes!  Isn't it amazing to think about who you could rub elbows with in heaven? I mean how cool would it be to dine with St. Lawrence and St. Martha, share a hearty laugh with St. Bernard of Clairvaux or hike the mountains with St. John Paul and Blessed Pier Giorgio? Heaven will be GREAT! My husband and I desire our children to know and love the saints. To help them get to know their patrons, we read stories and celebrate their feast days with tasty foods and fun activities. Our children look forward to the All Saints Day...

Noticing that there was a lack of vegetable variety in our play food reserve, I thought it would be a good time to create a few more food items. Potatoes, chicken, and apple slices. Sounds like a good meal. The spuds were made from an old pair of stockings. There was also a lack of meat in our supply, ergo the felted chicken legs. They were super easy to make using the template on the blog, Art Threads.   From this day on, we can serve bacon AND chicken to Oma and Opa when they visit.  My little spud holding a big spud Those dimples - looks like a genuine russet potato!  Chicken legs are not a typical meal for us, so I had to explain to the girls what these were and how to pretend-eat them. Apple slices to accompany the other felted fruits And lastly, the felt apple slices. The girls routinely have apple slices for lunch (sometimes with peanut butter spread on top). It's a favorite in this household. I pred...

To accompany my felted state ornaments , I also created these vintage fabric trivets for Christmas gifts. Making use of the doily template from Stash Happy Felt , I cut out the felt pieces and choose coordinating floral fabrics. I'm devoted to my floral prints, they're just lovely. A simple running stitch outlines the edges of the petals while securing the fabric to the intricate lace top design. I kept the blue one for myself, but the others were gifted to exceptional mothers in my life. They also work great as coasters, too! The trivets bear a resemblance to stained glass windows.

Teatime is a must for our household-- play tea, that is. The girls have been using the retro plastic tea set I found for them at a garage sale. They are far from sheepish when it comes to making sound effects for pouring and slurping their tea. It brings this mama, much joy to see them play contently together. You know the morning is going well when you can sit down, sip your coffee (while it's still warm) and watch your little ones play together in peace. I loved the idea of felted tea bags, and had it pinned for quite some time. This morning, I whipped out my sewing machine and cranked a few out, while the girls played at my feet jumping on pillows and tumbling onto piles of blankets (yes, I sew amidst this craziness. Sometimes it is the ONLY time I have to make fun stuff.)    First, I sewed around the outside of the teabag and left the top open to fill with rice. My three year old was baffled as to why I would be putting rice in a tea bag. "Mama, why you put ...

Added to my felt food collection are: snow peas and oranges! I wasn't able to get any in-progress photos of my felt foods, but here they are in finished form.  The orange slices took some thought. I had to figure out how to make them look realistic/recognizable yet keep the design simple. I traced a pattern on paper first to get the right proportions (that's the trick) then cut out the felt pieces.   Snow peas turned out so cute! I sewed dried kidney beans into the fabric to make a few bumps. I think next time I'll sew in pony beads for a more bumpy look/feel. It would be fun to sew more felt veggies and fruits so that my girls could play "farmers market". I could collect small woven baskets for them to "shop" with. They could use play money (from old monopoly game from Vinney's perhaps?) and dress ups. Gotta do that! They would have such fun!  Next up:  potatoes, french baguette, apples, carrots, apple pie...any oth...

Time for another patch for the birthday crown ! My daughter will be turning three in a couple months, so I thought I'd sew this patch lickety-split so I don't forget. Since I didn't document the first time I made one, I thought I'd share the step by step process of sewing felt patches in this post. I used dark and light blue felt with matching light blue floss for the edging. Using the font Typewriter, size 175, I printed a "3" and used it as my template. Below you can see how I pinned the felt and paper template on top of one another. Sewing on the paper, I followed the outline of the "3".  Pinned in place and ready to sew Removing the template  After sewing all the way, around I removed the paper from the felt to reveal the stitched number. Then I used a seam ripper/scissors to cut through just the first layer of dark blue felt. I chalked in a circle around my number and trimmed it to size. Starting at t...

Whew, I'm back on the blog, hooray! We moved into our first house this spring. Having a backyard is amaz ing! The girls love running barefoot through the grass and watching the  flowers spring up in the yard.  Now that we are settled in, I am ready to start another project.   Knotted Bow Barrettes I found this  knotted bow  clip on Etsty. It's similar to the  knotted headbands  I made last summer. Without using a template, I guesstimated the bow shape and traced my own pattern. I surveyed the heap of scrap fabric from my sewing tote and found some unique, bold and floral textiles. Heap of colorful textiles! I cut two pieces of fabric for each bow using my impromptu paper pattern. After pinning the right sides together, I started sewing just after the neck of the bow. It's important to start there so that when you come back around you leave a small opening to turn the bow right-side out. The hole or gap in the bo...

When I came across Nancy's  40 Catholic Saints in Cross Stitch , there was no question. I purchased her patterns that day. How could you not? These mini saint designs are awesome! The simple details for each one are fantastic. St. Rose of Lima wears a flower crown, St. Brigid holds a reed cross, and St. Pio reveals his stigmata. There are quite a few saints in this batch which made it easy for me to pick out a few to frame and give as gifts. www.dosmallthingswithlove.com  Cross stitch pattern for Maria Goretti I decided on St. Maria Gorretti for my first cross stitch saint, since she is my confirmation saint and because during the  Pilgrimage of Mercy: Tour of the Major Relics of St. Maria Goretti ,  I was blessed to touch the reliquary containing her bones. I didn't have the exact colors called for in the patterns. That being the case, my saints outfits vary slightly. The burlap was leftover from a rug project I did a few summe...