home peek.

I created some advent calendar tags and stocking tags for a friend.  You may remember her gorgeous home from the vintage circus party this past summer, where some cute babies were wearing some cute party hats...

I would have loved to get in there during the day with my own camera, but she was sweet enough to snap a few shots for me to feature here - enjoy!

Thanks for looking!

Supply list
for stocking tags: tag sale 4, background basics: sheet music, antique linen distress ink, computer-generated font
for advent tags: tag sale 1, fresh alphabet, various background stamps, memento black ink, antique linen distress ink

A handmade Christmas, part 3.

Have you been following my black-apple-doll journey?

If you're just starting out, I've already made a doll for my son and one for my eldest daughter.

The last one is for my bitty baby.

I re-sized the martha stewart pattern yet again so she'd be a bit smaller than the others.  She is, after all, the little sister.

All in a row, with their arms around their brother...

With a bow in her hair, and a stuffed heart to cuddle...

I think that's the beauty of giving a handmade gift - you really do give a piece of your heart along with the gift. These dolls were truly a labor of love!  I hope they will enjoy their new dolls as much as I think they will...

Thank you for all of your sweet comments and encouragement.  I really feel empowered to try more sewing projects in the future :)

a handmade Christmas, part 1.

I mentioned in Friday's post that I would be attempting to make each of my 3 kids their own black apple doll for Christmas.  And that I would be starting this weekend.  For some reason, writing it on the blog was just the kick in the pants that I needed to get started :)

This sweet, little guy is for my sweet, little guy.  For the record (and to ease my husband's conscious), if I didn't also have 2 girls who would be opening their dolls on Christmas morning, I probably wouldn't be making one for Thomas... so let's just call it a "sidekick" or "little buddy."  Ha!

So this is the first of 3 dolls, and I hope to share each of them with you as I go along... hopefully each one will be an improvement on the last.  This was my very first attempt at sewing something that isn't a square.... or rectangle...

Can you spot the PTI die I used?

So cute, right?  He has his own little elephant stuffie!  I used PTI's sweet baby die to cut out 2 elephant shapes, stuffed it and stitched it closed.  He's the perfect size to fit right in the crook of my doll's arm...

The tiny elephant is an ode to the other, larger elephant in the room.  That grey elephant has been in our family for all of Thomas' little life.  The four years of wear and tear are starting to show, but I'm hoping Thomas will love this new friend just as well.  They'll be bffs in no time!

awwww!  So now you want to make your own?  It wasn't so hard!  Here's a link to the Martha Stewart site where you'll find a tutorial and a free template:  black apple doll.

Thanks for looking!