New Contributor

I'm happy to announce a new contributor to the blog, my lovely sister-in-law Michelle. She has lots of fun and crafty ideas to share and sews beautifully. I'm excited to have her be a part of this new adventure with me.
Above is a picture of one of the recent things she's made. A beautiful wool felt purse for her mother-in-law with hand embroidery. And I had to include the tin she found. Because even though we are in different states we seem to collect the same type of things. Welcome Michelle!

Girly Style Wardrobe

I got this book in the mail a few days ago and even though I haven't actually made any patterns from it yet I'm in love with it. I have high ambitions of decking out my girls in cute clothes for this spring and summer. (Of course if I do that then I need to find some patterns for my boy. If you have any suggestions for cute patterns for boys let me know.) I've been looking at this book for awhile and I'm glad I finally used my Christmas money and bought it. It has beautiful photos and the illustrations look very easy to follow if you have basic sewing skills, which is good since I have sewing skills but no Japanese reading skills. I bought this book from YesAsia and was able to get free shipping when I bought a book for my sister-in-law on how to make felt sweets. I am hoping I get lots of felt sweets in the mail...hint hint. I looked for this book also on Etsy but I wasn't able to find it. My two favorite Etsy shops for Japanese fabric and books are good-ness and cottonblue. Check them both out because they have amazing things and they're always adding new stuff.
My camera's battery has died so as soon as it's recharged I'll post pictures of the inside. All I can say is Gorgeous!

Cool Finds and Great Gifts

Why is it the day I really need to be working my motivation is absolutely zilch? I have a ton of things to do today so I decided to write a small post in an effort to get moving. I've been meaning to post a picture of this cute tin I picked up at a local antique store for my oldest daughters fifth birthday. We gave her a sewing machine and I thought this would be perfect to hold her threads and things. I think I love it more than her but she likes that it stores stuff and she loves the sewing machine! A girl after my own heart. The folk images on this tin caught my eye and I knew it was mine, or rather my daughter's.My sister just returned from visiting her boyfriend in Ecuador and she brought us all back some amazing gifts. Of course I think my gift was the best. She brought me these vintage buttons and fabric back and I can't wait to find a use for them. I love the black one with the woman on it.Well here's hoping my day is now more productive!

Inauguration and Scones

It's a new day. Today we have a new president and I'm constantly amazed at the peaceful transition that occurs. It was a great day to teach the kids a little history sitting in the living room, eating scones and listening to NPR. Enjoy your own scones and take a moment.
Modified recipe from Cook's Country: June/July 2005
Scones
makes 8

1 large egg
1/4 c. heavy cream
1/4 c. buttermilk
1 tsp. vanilla
2 c. flour
1/3 c. sugar plus raw sugar for dusting
1/4 tsp. salt
6 tbs. butter cut into pieces
2/3 c. of fruit (I've used peaches, cherries, strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries)

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Whisk egg, cream, buttermilk and vanilla together in medium bowl.
2. Pulse flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in food processor until blended. Add butter and pulse into flour mixture. Transfer to large bowl and add buttermilk mixture. Add fruit gently.
3. Transfer dough to floured surface and knead till it comes together. Pat dough into circle and cute into 8 wedges. Brush scones with cream and sprinkle with raw sugar.
4. Bake till lightly browned about 15 minutes.

Shopping List Saturday

I decided to go with a bird theme for this Saturday's shopping list. It seemed that all this week on Etsy things with birds have been catching my eye, and with my name being 3Birdies and all I thought it very apropo.
1. Winter Birds on Branch by Singlestonestudios I've been eying several different vinyl wall decors and I can picture this one in a dining room or even kitchen setting. Very cool!
2. Linen Passport Cover by mystudio I love the look of the screenprinted geese. Her other bags and such in her shop are just as nice!
3. Scented Bird by edwardandlilly This cute bird has already been sold but I linked to her other scented bird that is still scented with lavender but is a beautiful blue. These birds are so cute and smell nice too!
4. Linen Bird Bag by brezomayo Can you tell I like bags? I love the embroidery and colors on this purse. She also has other lovely bags in her shop.
5. Birdie Pocket Mirror by MadisonCraft Every girl needs a cute mirror when they are on the go and MadisonCraft's are a steal at only $4.50. Need I say more?
6. Mini Tree Quilt by Allthenumbers I have had this one in my favorites for awhile. The red bird really makes the whole thing amazing. She also has a bigger version of this quilt in her shop.

Shopping List Saturday has been great for me even though this is only my second week. It's just nice to see what other Etsyians are doing and creating and I've loved the other people's lists as well. There's just so much good and inspirational stuff out there! If you want to see what other people are putting on their shopping list be sure to head over to FancyPicnic, the lovely lady who started it all, and scroll through everyone's list. A great way to spend a Saturday morning if I do say so myself.

Organizing

Over the Christmas holiday my husband and I decided it was time to organize all those nooks and crannies in our house that we just kind of threw junk into when we moved in last summer. Our house was built in the 1920's and although it doesn't have a ton of square footage it does have an amazing amount of storage. They even built drawers that pull out of the stairs for goodness sake! So there were shelves built to organize the numerous boxes of craft supplies, hooks hung, and things tossed. One of things that was made was a fabric covered bulletin board to hang in our kitchen to hang important notes and all the art work that daily fills our house. This was actually the husbands idea so I can't claim credit but I did help with the fabric selection and push pins. It's very easy to do yourself if you need one. We just bought a large bulletin board at our Office Depot, which is going out of business so we got a deal. We took the cheesy frame off the edges and then covered it with a cotton/linen blend I had down in my sewing room. The fabric was stapled with a staple gun to the back and then screwed into the wall. We did put a screw in the middle since it seemed a little wobbly in the middle and it was complete. I covered some buttons with some scrap fabric and glued on push pins and we were ready for business. It's been great to have a large space to display artwork without having just a plain brown board.I had to include my oldest daughters kitty because it's so darn cute...can you tell I'm a proud mama?

Morning Plans

The girls are at preschool and the boy is occupied with a cookie. My first goal for the day is typing up a letter to my good friend in Colorado while listening to Bon Iver that my husband just got on vinyl. This morning is going to be sweet.....may yours be filled with music and a bit of slowing down from the crazy pace that motherhood and life sometimes sets.