Candied Tarts!

Ooooh, I'm just so excited to share my newest characters with you!  

They were sooo fun to make!  

They are my two inch dolls, only simplified.  I love how each has such a big personality and yet they are all just so tiny.

Blueberry tarts, Raspberry tarts, Kiwi tarts, and Orange!

They just scream flavor!

And that's not all...

They come with little homes too!

Like these nifty little sleeping bags.  I like to call them robyn's nests.

And some come with little houses.

That they fit snugly inside.

They make me so happy, I just had to share :)

S

So long?

A week and a half since I posted last?  A week and a half?  I'm afraid that could leave you with the wrong idea.  I haven't forgotten my blog, or you.  I've just had a couple of HUGE projects set in my doorway, and I need to pick them up and finish them one at a time, whilst not forgetting my little family.

Basically life catches up with you sometimes, and although I normally love to blog often, sometimes things pile up.  I think this might be normal.

There are soooo many fun things I will be finishing and posting about in the next few weeks.  We'll get there.  We can get through this.

But until then, here are some super fun projects for you to enjoy.  I love featuring artists I find on Etsy.  So inspiring.

I love how elegant simplicity can be.  You can find this mug at redhotpottery.  They also feature little nesting bowls and cups.  I love little pieces to put my jewelry in.

Paper box elephant puppet, found in jackiehaltom's shop.

Can you believe this!  A moving elephant in a world of beautiful designs!  I love the colors.

In Krakracraft's shop I found these charming dolls.  They are so unique.  Again the colors make me so happy inside.  This shop has me hooked right now, go check it out!

Occassionally I like to look into handmade cards and their graphics.  I died when I saw this little guy and how anxious he was to tell you something.  So sweet.  He's in diskgrunt's shop.

Oh how I would love to have one of these in my entryway one day.  The colors are so bold, aren't they fun?  OldNewAgain has amazing home decorations from wood.

And this one is for all you quilters out there.  DashasCreations are simply beautiful.  This makes me want to go make a quilted bag myself!

I hope some of these inspire you!  I love looking through my Etsy 'favorites' and seeing what they are up to!

I love to see the Temple

http://www.etsy.com/listing/81751398/pattern-love-to-see-the-temple-softie

I have a friend who came up with the best idea.

She thought that my little two inch dolls would be a great quiet toy for during church.

back

Then she pointed out that the little puffy houses I had in my shop would fit into a church bag better if they were flat.

front

And she also thought that a great idea for a church toy would be something you could teach with, like getting married in the temple.

I'm sure glad I have such creative friends because I don't think I could have come up with such a cute idea myself.

***UPDATE***

Hi friends!

We now have a pattern for this toy in our shop!
here

http://www.etsy.com/listing/81751398/pattern-love-to-see-the-temple-softie

New Toy Box!

We live in a one bedroom apartment, so in the front 'area' is the family room, dining room, by daughter's bedroom (aka her crib), the office, and the playroom. It's really not as crowded as it sounds, we love it here. I have noticed though that in the corner where my daughter's toys are kept is one continual mess. She and I both like to collect things. Instead of buying totally new toys every time she gets bored with what she has I like to improvise and give her things that interest her, like old tins and yogurt containers that she can practice relidding. She in turn loves to snag a box as soon as she sees us set it down, and therefore had quite a few old torn up cardboard boxes full of her toys. Consequently that whole corner of the room was full of old boxes and little old containers... haha, that sounds bad, she has a lot of nice toys too!

Anyway, I decided that I wanted a toy chest. So while out on the grand sale day they had at Michaels a while back I searched for a little unpainted one I could purchase. Unfortunately the only toy chest they had was a little over our budget, even with my 50% off coupon, so I settled for this little wooden crate. $5.00 with the coupon! Booya!

I brought it home and used some of my fun fabric I got for Christmas to make a liner for it. I had just enough elastic left over from the plastic bag holder.

Then I painted up the front and labeled it just in case the contents of the crate wasn't enough.

Our play corner is a lot happier now.



This makes me wonder, how do you handle the "I'm bored with all my toys" dilemma? I've tried several techniques. I think what works best right now is that I only set out about 1/3 of my daughter's toys at a time, the rest reside in the closet. I can round them out every other month and she gets to rediscover what she already has. It also helps to prevent overwhelming her with too many choices.

I'd love to hear what you've come up with!

~~~~

On another happy note I finished up a custom order just recently that included a two inch pirate. At first I was daunted because I had no idea how to fit the figure of a pirate in a two inch form. After a little doodling and searching through my fabrics I made this little guy up.

I don't know what it is about him, but he makes me happy too.

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!

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.

Her Speckle-roofed Home

This is a little house I made from some scrap pieces of material. I found the tutorial here.
It was super easy. The sides did turn out a little skiwampus while I was sewing them on, but I just trimmed them up a bit afterwards. I think it would be awesome to make eight of these and have a whole little village for a little girl to play town :) Andy's little cardboard town on Toy Story always seemed too boyish to me.