Bandana Skirt #2

I made this skirt based on V an Co's tutorial,

and using a bandana Mindy bought for me,

along with some extra polkadot fabric.

I had trouble with the elastic on this one,

but the good news is that Ruby will actually wear it.

He wanted a train

The day he came home from school with a note about making Valentine boxes, he knew what he wanted - a train. We found this idea, and changed it a little. Last year, Bentley and I spent a couple of weeks making his box, just a little work in the evenings. Maxwell didn't really want to work on his, so it was the Saturday before it was due we put most of it together. He was happy with it, and I guess that's what matters. :)

Valentines

This year, instead of letting the kids pick their favorite

super hero Valentines from the store,

I made them help me with some homemade Valentines.

We got the idea for Bentley's Valentines from Design Mom.

The Mad Libs that we found at the store were

Family Guy, or "Adult" themed,

so we went with these printable Valentine Mad Libs.
We rolled the mad libs around a thing of Smarties,
wrapped pink paper around them, and tied them with ribbon.

Maxwell originally chose some dinosaur valentines,
but we saw these on Tangled and True last week,
and he decided to make them instead.
We got the templates for the lips, mustache,
and the tag from Blonde Designs Blog.

Jonah and Ruby were okay with using the same idea
as Maxwell (they really like suckers), so they made
some for their friends (and keep asking for their own).

Jonah (above)
Ruby (below)

The Space Ship - 2009

Bentley and his amazing Valentine Spaceship.

He made this for his Valentine box last year.

Idaho Falls Temple

Ever since John and I got married (9 1/2 years ago),

I've been looking for a picture of the Idaho Falls Temple

that I liked enough to hang in our home.

Some girls in the ward arranged to make

these temple portraits through Poppy Seed Projects,

and I signed up. They're a steal!

Similar temple pictures sell for above $200

in the stores, and I made this for under $50.

I don't absolutely LOVE the photo, but I do like it,

and I decided that between the great price,

and the slim chance that I'll find what I'm really

looking for in the near future,

I'd do ahead and get this for now.

I really want my kids to grow up looking at the temple.

It took just under 3 hours from start to finish,
and was more work than I'd expected.

Now I just have to decide where to hang it . . .

Wasp Bag

I bought this cute fabric from Vintage Prints

a couple of years ago, and I've been saving it for

the perfect project.

After making the kids' costumes at Christmas,

I decided to make myself a new purse.

I used this pattern from Machen /Machen.
The pattern was pretty confusing,

and the interfacing was really tricky to work with,

but I think I like the way it turned out.

Photo Board

John gave me this magnetic board as a

Valentine's Day gift one year.

Every January, I update it with (mostly)

new photos from our family and friends.
This year, I spray painted it red.

2010

(Our camera is broken, hence the dark photo.)
2009

2008