Bright days and a Spring Tote winner

Busy day. And I've been sick for a while. Ugh, those two don't mix.

I remember just a few times when I was little where I was supposed to stay in bed while sick. I was supposed to doodle in my coloring books. I remember once my mom bringing me in a pack of new stickers. I lay there propped on my pillow thinking that I was so much luckier than my siblings at school.

Those are pretty neat memories. Not the being sick part, but the being coddled part.

Do you have memories like that? Being in a position of distress, but having your mom or dad totally make it all better by treating you like a princess?

I hope I can provide that for my kids.

I made something that a child can play with in bed while sick. Well I made a few things actually (and I made them before I was ill). I was drawn to the different characters you can give to dolls, no matter how small they might be.


These dolls are all about two inches high.
There are a few bunnies, rabbits, fairies, and just some ordinary little girls.


And then of course they all screamed that they needed little homes.


With little gardens.


And some insisted on sharing while others said that they were gonna find somewhere else to live...


I've listed them in the shop.

~~~~

And now on to the fun business!

The Spring Tote giveaway winner is Mckaylee Ferrell!

She will be able to pick one of the bags from the giveaway and the other will be going in my shop!

Mckaylee, if you could please contact me at madebybedtimetales@gmail.com that could be greatly appreciated :)

I am truly flattered that so many people entered the giveaway. What a compliment! I will be hosting another one soon in the next few weeks. Something along the lines of Easter and a goodie bag. Sooooo excited! Come back to check it out!

Fun and easy milk jug craft

I found the instructions for this poppin' milk jug scoop in the FamilyFun magazine. I decided that it was too easy and fun-looking to pass up. I tried to find the instructions for it online but was unable to, so here are the simplified steps :)

Cut the top hole and front half of a clean milk jug off (view top photo). I used a knife to cut off most of it and then snipped off the jagged edges with a small pair of craft scissors.
Cut out a bunch of circles from colorful tissue paper. You can trace a circle using something round in your house, and then cut out a whole stack at a time.
Glue stick on the circles.
The instructions say to use modge-podge to seal the circles. I don't have any, so I just used a mixture of elmer's glue and a tiny bit of water and painted it all down.
Let it all dry and enjoy the mess!
My daughter loves her new scoop. She holds onto it and I can finally toss little toys to her without them bouncing off her tummy!

This post has been Linked Up!  Take a look!

Spring Tote Giveaway!

I work at a restaurant a few nights a week. I seat people when they walk in. That's right, I'm a host! I've been doing it for a while, on the two nights that my husband's classes end early so he can stay home and study while he watches our little girl. Oh the joys of getting through grad school! It has taught me a lot. A lot of patience, a lot of humility, and it often points out to me how full of myself I am half the time. Let's just say it's good for me.
I've noticed that at our little restaurant there are a string of customers that come in weekly. These regulars are usually quite a bit older and come in with a friend or a spouse. A few come in alone. These cute older couples often request a specific area of the restaurant to dine in or to sit in the section of a waiter that they have become friends with. They seem to look forward to this little tradition in their week when they can come in, eat familiar food, and chat or read while in a comfortable environment. I've become friends with a few of them, and look forward to seeing their warm and friendly faces.
I find myself almost being jealous of them at times. In a world where I feel that what is expected of me includes no free time to dine out once or twice a week, let alone the funds, I sometimes look at their little traditions with longing. It leads me to think about what my life will be like when I am older, what I will make my priorities become.
I suspect my life will stay busy for quite a few more decades, but maybe one day I will find a cute little local cafe where I can sip hot chocolate in the mornings with my sweetheart. Or maybe I can start something sooner than that... maybe I can make something happen. What about you? Have you been able to find a little part of your day that you have decided just needs to be that part of the day when you sit by the window, close your eyes, and ponder?

Well it just so happens that I have made sewing and crafting one of my priorities. I've been adding items to my shop and will continue to add more as I finish projects. I've been stewing over a few potential giveaways in my mind and finally decided to work on this one, although I really want to do them all, so come back in a few weeks!

I made a few Spring Totes that I want to involve in this giveaway. I feel, like I'm sure many of you do, that spring just can't come fast enough. The winner of the giveaway will be able to pick one of the bags, the purple or the red one, the one that is not chosen by the winner will be joining the rest of my products in my Bedtime Tales shop.


I designed this simple bag from scratch and originally had three made, but the first was such an experiment that I deemed it un-giveaway/sellable. My one-year-old daughter is very much a bag/purse/basket type of girl, and so I patched her first initial to the front of it. I was so pleased with how hers turned out that I have decided to make custom orders of initial bags to sell in my shop. Shoot me a message on Etsy or by email if you are interested.


This tote is the perfect size to hang on a little girl's arm, or to hold your scriptures in. The blossoms were a blast to make. I told you before, fabric flowers can be addicting.
To enter the giveaway just leave a comment on this post. Write about anything! Please only one entry per person. The deadline for the giveaway is Friday night (the 26th) at midnight. I will be announcing the winner on Saturday the 27th. The winner will have 24 hours to contact me via my email: madebybedtimetales@gmail.com. If they do not contact me another will be chosen in their place.

I really hope anyone who wants to enter does, family, friend, or other, whether you have a little girl around or not. This would be the perfect gift. It's really easy and completely free. If you have any questions send me an email.

Late love notes

I made a few love notes with some beautiful paper gifted to me by my sweet younger sister and my trusty sewing machine. Come to think of it, the red and white flower fabric in the picture there was from her as well.

They were super easy, and fun to sew together. Paper + sewing mashing is a pretty endless combination.



I hope you are all having a wonderful day! I think I just might too. We'll have to see if I can come up with anything for dinner. It's hard to think of new things. If you have any fabulous ideas please share!

I've finished up a few projects and listed them in the shop! You can check them out on the left side of the screen there. I'm still trying to come up with logos and such, so the shop banner could be changing frequently.

One happy song bird

I'm not one for using patterns. Basically I don't really know how to use them. That is the reason that I don't make many attempts at apparel... yet. I'm hoping to take on a refashioning project soon. But that is something that will have to be an on-the-side project that I get at when I get the supplies and the courage. As for now, I stick to making up my own stuff. This has pros and cons. I love making something new and something fast. Often I try to go so fast that I don't make little patterns of what I am working on and therefore don't bother to attempt to make more. But I made a pattern for this one, and boy am I happy I did. It was pretty simple, something I could accomplish in a few hours if I work at it, and it's pretty versatile.


This is my pretty little song bird. One happy song bird. I'm mean, it has a flower on it's neck, what's not to sing about? I was up until 1:00 working on it the other night, and I was so giddy when I finished that I was close to waking my husband just to show him. I have a few scraps of fabric that I thought would be so perfect on a bird, and I am so glad I tried making one.


The flower is made from combining a couple of yo-yos. I found a little tutorial on them on the Heather Bailey blog. You can learn how to make them here.


There are so many ways of making fabric flowers. I've always liked looking at what people come up with, but I never thought they would be so intriguing or satisfying to make. Such a fun embellishment! I think now all I make is going to be covered in dazzling-popping flowers.
I'm hoping to do another giveaway soon. I need to figure out a few kinks before I host another one. I'd love to have a giveaway a month, that would be so fun! Come back and find out when I've figured out how to make them run smoother!

mmmm cookies....

Our little family decided to decorate cookies for Valentines Day. I've made sugar cookies just a few times in my life. I have absolutely no cookie cutters, and as a result of this activity have decided that they will soon become a great investment. It took us a while to finally find time to dig in and get sticky, but our tummies were quite satisfied with the outcome.
The first plate here is presented by my creative husband. It brings a smile to my face every time I see it. I find that sugar cookie decorating can really help someone express their love for things in a different way.
For example, who would have thought that my husband had such a passion for two-headed monsters, dinosaurs, and cheese? This lovely plate was too good to give away to the neighbors.

The next plate here was a result of my shaky hand. I had, in my mind, envisioned sweet and curvy swirls everywhere. I basically had to make it look like I was 'going-for' the scribbly look.

And what else to do you do with extra frosting and food coloring?

The day the circus let loose...

I started these a little before Christmas. We were traveling for about a month, so they didn't end up in my shop until a lot later than I had planned, but that is where they are residing as of now.



I had the funnest time picking out the colors and theme for each lion. They all seem to have come with a different personality.
Mostly fun and sort of on the wild side I think.

Yay new for me!

We didn't move into this apartment too long ago (...okay about six months ago), and there are some cupboards that I shoved things in as we were moving in that I figured I'd organize later, like a cupboard full of garbage bags for instance. Flash forward six months and that cupboard is still overflowing with plastic grocery bags. I finally figured it was time to do something about it when the cans of food started complaining to me about their lack of space. So I looked up a tutorial online here, and made something like this:

I've never made anything with elastic before. I like the scraps I used, and I'm happy with how it turned out.
Along the lines of trying new things, I tried making a frozen ice cream pie! I had some left over heavy whipping cream and didn't want it to go to waste. I used the whipped cream tip I purchased while working at Marie Callender's Pie shop. I haven't had an opportunity to use it yet either!

Yay for new things!

Home for Two

I was just imagining a sweet little cuddly home for a little girl to keep her bunnies in,
and this is what came of it.
A picture is sewn all along the outside.


I hope it inspires imagination.
There are two little bunnies that live in this puffy little house.
I hope to be making many more of these little homes. There is just so much flexibility in the making of them.