Tooth Fairy

My daughter lost her first tooth last night. It was a big exciting moment. She has been wiggling the tooth for a few weeks and her Aunt helped her pull it. We love to read books about the tooth fairy. I thought I would share with you our favorites. If you have a favorite please share it with us.

Busy Week

I have been horrible about getting on the blog/internet this past week.  Life has just been busy.  I haven’t been able to get anything done other than spend time with the kids.  I had to make a choice several times.  Play with the kids or get something done.  Each time I just had to play with the kids.  I know they need that and so do I.  I already can see then growing up so fast. 

For all of you who are now following my blog I promise to do better this week and hopefully you will still enjoy stopping by to see what is going on.

Marshmallow Eggs

I say this idea on No Time for Flashcards. I love her blog. So we did this in preschool this week. My students loved it. I used her idea of counting five marshmallows before they could eat any. This help them from sitting there just stuffing there faces. All my mom’s really liked them too. So cute.

Love This Owl Bag

Okay I love this Owl book bag. I am going to be redoing our library bag. Did I mention that I love owls !!!!!

Chez Beeper Bebe: Tutorial and Pattern: Felt Egg Design Book

I am going try and make these for my kids easter baskets. I think that they are so adorable and that they would be a lot of fun.

Chez Beeper Bebe: Tutorial and Pattern: Felt Egg Design Book

Batman to the Rescue

My son loves batman! This might actually be an understatement. So I made him a cape using the tutorial from pukingpastilles. This was a really easy sewing project. What I love is that it is reversible, I did batman on one side and superman on the other. Needless to say Batman gets more action than superman. I did make my cape longer than she did hers. My little man is really tall.

The only thing that I had trouble with was the appliqué. I think my heat n bond was to thick. My needle kept getting sticky and the thread was breaking. A friend told me that there is a special heat n bond that is for sewing. I will look for this next time. I was just using what I already had.

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

The Help by Kathryn Stockett. Okay I loved this book and I am telling everyone I know about it. My book club is reading it for our April book and here it is March and I am already done with it. I loved the characters in this book. The book is set in Jackson Mississippi during the 1960's. One of the main character's name is Skeeter. She is a well to do white southern young lady just home from graduating college. She has bigger dreams then just marrying well. She want to be a writer. In someways she doesn't really fit in where she should. She starts to see things that are wrong with the society that she lives in. So she decides to interview African American maids and tell what their experiences are working in white homes. As you can imagine they are reluctant to trust her. She is able to win over one wonderful woman and then later others follow. I can't even begin to tell you how great this book was. Knowing what things were like in Jackson Mississippi during that time period set me on edge as these woman walked a line that could get themselves killed. The author did a wonderful job of making her characters real. Did I mention that I loved it. :)

Orange Julius Recipe

Tonight I used up a little of my frozen orange juice that we juiced last week. I found this recipe here. This was so yummy. I loved it and so did everyone else. I am actually craving another one already :)

Orange Julius Recipe

6 oz frozen orange juice (I used half of one of my frozen quart bags)

1 cup milk

1 cup water

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup powder sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

10 –11 ice cubes

Blend and enjoy.

Crayon Bag Give Away

My name is Stacey. I am new to the craft blogging world. In May of 2009 I was all the sudden hit with the urge to sew. I started checking books out at the library, talking to my mom, and looking to the blogging world for sewing ideas. The urge to sew has turned into a passion for sewing. I love it. I find that when I sit at the sewing machine I relax and am able to focus and enjoy. My blog is still really new and I am working on posting more often. I am a mom of three beautiful kids. I have a five year old, three year old and a 6 month old. I also teach a preschool class out of my home three days a week. Needless to say my life can be crazy.


I came up with the title "In a Quiet Afternoon" when I was sitting at the computer setting up the blog and trying to think of a title. My 3 year old son was climbing all over my back as I was typing. I had the thought all I need is a quiet afternoon and I could get so much done. The light went on and the title stayed with me. I do often start a project in the afternoon and then finish it later in the night time.


I love to sew, cook, read, and just have fun. I hope that my blog with reflect all of these things. I am so excited to give away something. These crayon bags are so much fun and great to take on the go. My kids take theirs to church but they are even great for in the car, Dr. office or wherever.



(My camera doesn't even do this material justice. I am currently on the hunt for a new camera because I really dislike the Vivitar camera we got at Christmas)

Oranges, Oranges, and More Oranges

Living here in Arizona we have some great orange trees.  My sister had a friend that let us help ourselves to their trees.  This is the time of year the the trees are in bloom and so the oranges must be removed so new ones can grow.  We loaded up and for two days we spent time juicing all the bags and bags of oranges we received.

We have bagged and frozen probably at least twenty quart sized bags and frozen them.  I plan on using them to make popsicles and smoothie drinks and maybe much more. 

 

I was able to get some more of these molds from Ikea today.  I love them and so now I have 3 sets.  The weather here is already starting to warm up.  We hit about 85 degrees today.  So I know we will be using these soon.  YUmmmmm!

Inspiring Creations: Picture Puzzle Magnets

Inspiring Creations: Picture Puzzle Magnets This is such a cute idea. I think I am going to have to make one. :)

Spring Break

Okay so this week is Spring Break. Which means I am not teaching preschool this week. Yeah a week to sleep in and not have to plan lessons. Okay so with three kids I wont be sleeping in but I do get to relax a little. I always have high hopes to get a lot of things done. So here is what I plan to work on.

1. I plan to make more bibs for the little one. But this time I am going to make the dish towel version found here

2. I love the Oliver & S skirts. My oldest daughter has out grown all the ones she has so time for some new ones. I just got some adorable fabric with cupcakes on it and can't wait to make one.

3. Work on crayon bags for my etsy shop. Still need to get that going :)

And of course spend lots of time with the kids and have fun. Plus I am reading "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett. So good and I still have a lot more to read,

Wish me luck and I will keep you posted to what I get done.

An actual Quiet Afternoon

My husband and the two oldest left for church already. My little one is asleep. We decided to let her sleep because she had a really rough night last night. She decided to be awake from 4:30 am to about 6:15 am. No fun for me. So it is quiet. So quiet that I can just breathe the quiet in. Because it is Sunday I will not be sewing, cleaning or working. So I think that I will have to read and listen to some very uplifting music while I wait the little to wake up. Normally I would be looking at my list of things to do. So it is nice to just sit back listen and enjoy. May your Sunday be as refreshing as mine.

The Blogging World

A few years ago I read "Standing in the Rainbow" by Fannie Flagg in my book club. It was an excellent book made you laugh and was so enjoyable. This book is set in 1946 in a small town in Missouri. It has all the great aspects of a small town and the people who live there. The characters are wonderful and you feel like you are there with them. One of the main character Dorothy has a radio show, called the Neighbor Dorothy show, which is broadcast from her home. This was a very common thing at that time period. She would have guests on and would promote products and sponsors that she felt worthy of her listeners. She was a great comfort to women who where isolated on farms and what not.

So lately it keeps coming to me that all these wonderful blogs that I visit are a little like that radio show. Through these blogs women all over the world are connecting and sharing. Some have products and sponsors that they love and can’t wait to share. We are getting a view into homes and craft rooms from all over the place. I may never met the people who have created these blogs, but I can get a glimpse and enjoy what they have to offer.

Thank you to all the bloggers who give of their time and talents. I feel blessed by your giving everyday. I feel it is much like those women felt back in the forties listening to radio broadcasts done by women just like them.

From Shirt to Skirt

My oldest Daughter has always been really hard on her clothes. Even as a baby her clothes would get stained. While going through her old baby clothes for our new little on I found this cute shirt.

I loved the pattern and the little pleats in the front. However, the top of the shirt is very stained. I had the thought that this could make a really cute skirt for my little one. So here is what I did. I love reusing things and making them into something new!

I cut the skirt right above the pleats. I then cut a piece of brown cotton fabric. I cut this 22 inches wide and 4 inches long.

I then sewed this into a tube with a 1/4 inch seam.

I then pinned the brown fabric to my skirt fabric. Pin with right sides together. Make sure to align the seams. Sew together using a 1/4 inch seam. I then sewed over that with a zig zag stitch.

Now it is time to sew a a casing for the elastic. I used 1/2 inch Elastic. Using your iron press down the brown fabric 5/8” and then fold over and iron again.

Once you have that done. Edge stitch around the bottom of your fold. Remember to leave an opening to feed your elastic through.

Trim your elastic and the edge stitch were you left it open. Turn inside out and you have a cute skirt.

You could also make some cute little bloomers from Here or just use some you have from another little skirt. I know I have several skirts with Dark blue bloomers that would work.