13
Jul

You will be so deeply missed…….

Last week we got word that my husband’s Grandma (Molly) was expected to pass away from pancreatic cancer.  We ended up driving down to St. Louis in hopes of being able to say our final goodbyes (though we didn’t know if we would get there in time). 

We arrived at Molly’s home in St. Louis at 4:30pm.  Brett went quickly into the house to be by Molly’s side.  They told Molly that Brett had arrived and she opened her eyes, for what we think was the last time, and reacted with a little smile.

The family sat by her bedside all day, holding her hand, talking to her, making little chit-chat.  At the point that myself and the girls came to her side, she was no longer very responsive.  So, I did what I could and sang to her – “Someone to Watch Over Me”.

 Grand-Molly with our daughter, Savannah Rose

We left Molly’s home around 10:30pm and Molly took her final breath at 6:30am the next day.  She was surrounded by her children and left us very comfortably and in no pain.  God truly works in very mysterious ways. Molly passed away on July 8th, her husband (Bill) passed away 12 years prior on July 8th and our daughter Matilda (Molly’s great-granddaughter) turned 1 on July 8th.

The whole experience was very powerful and moving for me.  And further strengthened my belief in our amazing and powerful Lord.  To see all of the family surrounding Molly in her final hours and to see the love and care provided by her own children.  I could only hope that in my final hours that I am surround by such wonderful family and love.

 Brett, Savannah, Vicki (Brett’s Mom) and Grand-Molly
Four Generations

We had the wake on Sunday and the funeral on Monday.  I was asked to sing several songs at the funeral and chose “You Are Mine” and “Amazing Grace”.

You Are Mine
by David Haas
I will come to you in the silence
I will lift you from all your fear
You will hear My voice
I claim you as My choice
Be still, and know I am near

I am hope for all who are hopeless
I am eyes for all who long to see
In the shadows of the night,
I will be your light
Come and rest in Me

Do not be afraid, I am with you
I have called you each by name
Come and follow Me
I will bring you home
I love you and you are mine

I am strength for all the despairing
Healing for the ones who dwell in shame
All the blind will see, the lame will all run free
And all will know My name
 

Do not be afraid, I am with you
I have called you each by name
Come and follow Me
I will bring you home
I love you and you are mine

I am the Word that leads all to freedom
I am the peace the world cannot give
I will call your name, embracing all your pain
Stand up, now, walk, and live

Do not be afraid, I am with you
I have called you each by name
Come and follow Me
I will bring you home

I love you and you are mine
Molly will be so deeply missed, but we are comforted in knowing that she is up in Heaven reunited with her husband Bill and truly enjoying eternal life.  We love you Molly.
6
Jul

{ Matilda’s Summer Garden Party }

This past weekend was my daughter, Matilda Jane’s 1st Birthday Party.  The party was inspired by the fabric I made her birthday outfit from – Heather Bailey’s “Nicey Jane”. We decided to do an intimate party and had 20 of our closest family and friends over to the Cottage Garden to celebrate.

Miss Matilda had a great time at her party and thoroughly enjoyed her cake.  It was her 1st time to have something that delicious so she was in baby heaven!

I used the same fabrics that I designed Matilda’s birthday dress in and made a pennant banner.  I didn’t have a pattern for this, I just sewed two rectangles of fabric (right sides together), turned them right-side out, pressed them and stitched them to coordinating bias tape.  I think these will also be great for Easter decorations in the future.

The flowers were cut from our own garden.  We have several large hydrangea bushes that are in full bloom right now.  So the morning of the party, I went out and cut a big bouquet of flowers.  I placed the flowers in a silver, tall galvanized bucket to match some of the other decorations for the party.  I love being able to use the nature around us – and what’s even better, is the flowers were absolutely free!

I made large, over-sized paper pinwheels from several shades of blue and green.  I spray painted wooden dowel rods green, cut square pieces of scrapbook paper into pinwheel shapes and hammered them into the rods with basic tacks.  I placed these into the same tall, galvanized metal buckets as the flowers.  I placed fiberfill inside the buckets to hold them in place, but florist foam would work even better.

I wrapped each set of silverware in coordinating yellow napkins and tied them with a blue satin ribbon.

I made large paper balls using this great tutorial from Martha Stewart.  These were VERY easy to make (they took like five minutes each) and only cost me $1.00 since I bought the tissue paper from our local dollar store.

 

Here is little Matilda’s birthday hat.  I simply covered a cardboard birthday hat with coordinating fabric, added a ruffle and some rick-rack to match her dress.

As I have mentioned before, my husband is an award-winning home-brewer.  He makes a beer (for the adults, of course) for each of the girls birthday parties.  Here is Matilda’s 1st birthday beer.  Brett made this sign to put on the keg at the party.  He served four different beers on tap, but “Tilda’s Sweet Cheeks Wheat” was the main attraction.

For the party favors, I gave out summer beach bags.  I took a store-bought tote bag and appliqued each family’s last initial onto the bag in fabric from Matilda’s birthday dress. 

I have so much fun menu planning!  It takes me some time to figure out what I want to serve, but since we did a smaller party this time, I was able to focus more on the food.

I wanted to make something festive to drink, so I pureed a 1/4 of a watermelon, added 1/2 cup sugar and mixed it with some ginger ale.  This made, what I like to call, Watermelon Fizz.

I made a large anti-pasta platter as an appetizer for our guests.  I used red-leaf lettuce as the base for my platter.  I marinated some fresh mozzarella, lightly roasted some tomatoes, and got some other store-bought ingredients to complete the tray.  I served crostini and bread-sticks on the side.

Loaded Potato Salad
Pecan Coleslaw
Zucchini with Red Onion and Feta
Grilled Corn Salad with Roasted Peppers
Fruit Kabobs
Fresh Watermelon
These are the birthday cupcakes on the tiered trays that I made last week (remember this post?).  These are store-bought cupcakes – have I mentioned before that I DO NOT bake?  I simply added large, clear sugar to the top of these little cakes.  
I don’t care for baking and I don’t think I’m very good at it – too much precise measuring and science for me.  I much prefer the creativity of cooking.  Anyway, I made these “1” cupcake toppers using my Cricut Expression machine and glued them to lollipop sticks. 
Big sister Savannah had a great time at the party and was a really big helper.  She thoroughly enjoyed the juicy watermelon.
We truly lucked out with fabulous weather the day of the party – low 80’s, no humidity.  It could not have been more perfect!
It’s very hard for me to believe that my little sweet pea will be one on Thursday.  Matilda Jane has brought so much joy to our lives and as I write this post, I just want to give that little munchkin a squeeze.  

We Love You, Matilda!
5
Jul

Happy 4th of July

I just wanted to write a quick note to wish everyone a very happy 4th of July.  I know I’m a day late, but we have been super busy around here!

As you can see we have just been go, go, go around here.  My Mom and Allen flew in from Texas on Friday, we celebrated Matilda’s 1st birthday on Saturday afternoon with a Summer Garden Party (I can’t wait to share all the details with you!), had professional family photos taken at our home on Sunday morning, visited our local flea market Sunday afternoon (hunting for vintage treasure), spent Monday morning at the park and shopping this afternoon.

It’s been a whirl-wind of a time, but we are just loving every minute of this wonderful family time.  I hope every one else has had a lovely weekend!  Happy 4th of July!!

Cottage Mama’s Note:  I made my little drama queen’s (Savannah) dress from Riley Blake’s “All-Star” fabric line.

28
Jun

Dollar Store Tiered Party Trays

As I have mentioned, we are getting ready for Miss M’s Garden Party 1st birthday coming up this weekend.  I’m really hoping to be able to have the party outdoors (fingers crossed for good weather).

I have been working on some of the decor for her party and wanted to share these fun tiered party trays that I made from items from our local dollar store.

Now I cannot take credit for this idea.  I saw the tutorial for these trays by Julie on Joy’s Hope blog and knew I HAD to make these!

These are made from silver dollar store trays that have been spray painted to match the party decor.  They are attached to one another using dollar store super-glue and each tier is a dollar store crystal candle stick holder turned upside down.

Julie at Joy’s Hope spray painted the candle stick holders which looked super-cute.  She also used a rainbow of colors that made them look so fun and happy.  I decided to leave my candle sticks clear to up the elegance factor – I like the way the crystal looks.

I made three different sizes.  All of the candle stick holders are from the dollar store, except for the tall one which I just happened to have on hand.

Joy’s Hope has a great tutorial and will show you everything you need to get started making these pretty tiered party trays.  I think these would be so fun for the holidays – can’t you picture black and orange for a Halloween party or red and gold for Christmas?  For $4-$6, why not make them for all the seasons!?!

Cottage Mama’s Note:  Now if you plan to serve food on these trays make sure to put down some decorative paper or a paper doily – these are not considered food safe due to the spray paint that was used.  These would also make a great place to store your jewelry or in a girls room for all her hair bows and accessories.

27
Jun

My Little Baby and My New Baby

I just feel like things have been go, go, go around here lately – I mean, seriously, where does all the time go?  I have all of these projects that I would love to get done, but there never seems to be enough hours in the day.  Maybe someday, I will get to everything……..

I’m trying to stay focused, which is very difficult for me – I tend to move in five different directions all at once but somehow get most of it done.  And honestly I LOVE to accomplish things.  Yes, I enjoy sewing and creating, but my favorite part is seeing the end result.  So this weekend my plan was to focus on sewing some custom orders (which I did) and working on my baby girls 1-year birthday party (coming up this next weekend).

But meanwhile, while trying to stay focused, I had a VERY exciting distraction come my way.  I have been wanting a new camera for a while and yesterday my hubby said that I could get my birthday present early (my b-day is July 15th) – eeeeeekkkkk!!  I couldn’t believe it………so check out my new baby:

image via canon.usa.com
Yes, that’s right – I got a new Canon Rebel T1i kit with an additional lens as well!  I hope you don’t mind me bragging, but I honestly can’t believe I own this camera!
So this afternoon, I wanted to shoot some pictures of my youngest daughter Matilda in one of my “The Cottage Mama” dresses and I got to try out my new beauty.  My intention was to shoot pictures of my dress for the shop, but my darling little lady just captured my eye and this little photo shoot ended up being more about her than anything else.
This dress has been my top-seller in the shop. It’s such a fun dress with all the different patterned fabrics and makes a wonderful twirly dress for older girls.
The dress is made from Art Gallery fabrics “Girly Girl” line.  I am in love with everything Art Gallery lately – you should see the new fabrics due out this Fall!
Sometimes you have to stop for a cheerio break mid-photo shoot!
My favorite part about this dress is the piping in the round-neck collar and the fabric covered button closure.  I’ve thought about doing a piping tutorial if people would be interested.  I think piping is a great way to add a traditional finished look to any garment.  Did you know you can make your own piping out of any fabric?
Well, that’s all!  Thanks for letting me share some pictures of my little Matilda Jane (and letting me brag about my b-day present) – would you believe she is sick in these pictures?  Such a happy girl!
Cottage Mama’s Note:  I did not adjust any of these photos with photoshop, though I am dying to learn all about it.  We have the program (CS4) on my hubs. work computer, but I have no idea how to use it – if you know of any online tutorials for the program, please let me know!  I’d love to learn how to use it!!
23
Jun

Individual Pecan Bread Pudding

We spent this past Sunday celebrating Father’s Day at my in-laws.  We had a fabulous dinner (shrimp, chicken and steak) and my mother-in-law made my father-in-law his favorite dessert (fruit soaked in Grand Marnier) and I made my husband a new recipe for Pecan Bread Pudding.

I’m usually not a huge fan of bread pudding, but this turned out great!  This is my version of a Paula Deen bread pudding (let’s just say mine has a whole lot less sugar…..if you can believe that).  The pecans and brown sugar on top added a lot of extra crunch – serve it with vanilla ice cream and you’ve got heaven on a plate!!
 

Pecan Bread Pudding
Serves 8-12
Ingredients:
3/4 loaf french bread, cut into 1″ cubes or 4-5 cups
5 eggs
1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup light brown sugar
1 cup chopped pecans
1/2 stick butter, softened
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
In a large mixing bowl, combine eggs, sugar and cinnamon.  Add bread and toss to coat.  Allow the bread and egg mixture to sit for 10 – 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, combine brown sugar, chopped pecans and butter.  Mix together to make sort of a crumble.
Get out a muffin pan or pop-over tray.  Coat with cooking spray.  Stuff the egg soaked bread pieces into each muffin holder.  After you have filled all of the muffin holders, sprinkle the brown sugar/pecan mixture on top (divide evenly among all 12).
Place muffin tray on top of a baking sheet (just in case any of the brown sugar spills over).  Bake for 20-25 minutes, until top is golden brown and bubbling.
Serve with vanilla ice cream.  If you really like sweet stuff, take it over the top by drizzling caramel sauce on top and sprinkle with powdered sugar.  Enjoy!
Cottage Mama’s Note:  I didn’t have my camera at my in-laws so this is not the actual picture of my bread pudding that I made this past Sunday, but I promise it looked VERY similar!
21
Jun

Summer Garden Birthday Party – Fabric Invitations

So I’m in the planning phase of my daughter, Matilda Jane’s, 1st birthday party.  Rather than doing one gigantic blog post after the party, I thought I would just share things with you as I go.  Luckily I got her invitations in the mail last week, so I can check that “to do” off of my list! 

The theme for Matilda’s birthday is a Summer Garden Party and is inspired by the fabric I used to make her birthday outfit.  So I’ve already shared her birthday dress with you…….remember this………

I really feel like the invitations set the tone for the party before it even starts.  For my daughter, Savannah’s 2nd birthday the invitations were more casual and fun since it was a huge Elmo Dance Party.  But for Matilda’s birthday we are doing something more intimate outside in The Cottage Garden (our yard), so I wanted a little more class and elegance with the invitations.  I am a HUGE fan of sewing on paper – I think it is so different and unique and super-easy to do!

I took blank, cream colored, folded note cards and used the two fabrics from her birthday dress for the invites.  I used the floral fabric on the front and the polka dot on the interior.

I applied single-sided fusible interfacing to the back-sides of both fabrics.  I find this helps the fabric to lie very flat when stitching it to paper.  I placed a little piece of double-sided tape to the fabric to hold it in place while sewing.

I used a zig-zag stitch in coordinating blue thread to sew the two fabrics to the card.

For the inside portion of the card, I simply printed the party information onto paper and cut it to size.  I used a straight-stitch to attach the paper to the card (again, I used a little tape to hold it in place).

I used InDesign software to layer the digital images of the fabrics and place the text on top.  I’m sure you could use something like photoshop or maybe even Word to achieve the same effect.

Don’t you just love with something turns out how you envisioned it?  I love these little invitations – they are so sweet – just like my sweet Matilda Jane!

Cottage Mama’s Note:  The fabric I used is from designer Heather Bailey’s, “Nicey Jane” fabric line.

18
Jun

Dress Shirt Sleep Sack Tutorial

I don’t know about you, but for the first year or so of my girls life they spend most of their time sleeping in a sleep sack.  I never have enough sleep sacks – they always seem to be in short supply, but they are pretty expensive at $20 a pop.  So that’s where today’s tutorial comes in……..Dress Shirt Sleep Sack Tutorial.

[Read more…]

13
Jun

Vintage Hanky Tote Tutorial

I love vintage – whether it be linens, kitchen tools, fabric, graphic prints, clothing, ect.  There is something so comforting to me about things that have been around for awhile and things that have a history.

Several weeks back my family and I went to a local farmer’s market and stopped at a favorite antique store in the area on our way back.  I picked up quite a few vintage hankies as well as some vintage pillowcases.  I knew I wanted to turn the pillowcases into dresses, but wasn’t quite sure what I was going to do with the hankies.

My good friend, college roommate, and Savannah’s Godmother, Lara, just had her birthday this past week and I wanted to make a special gift for a VERY special friend.  You know the saying, “Make new friends but keep the old, one is silver and the other’s gold?”  Well Lara is one of my “old”, long-time friends and she is just that – pure gold.  She is one of the few people in life that I can be 100% myself and never feel like there is any judgement – I feel as comfortable around her as I do my immediate family.  She is very special to me and is without a doubt, what I like to call a “Forever Friend”.

So this is what I came up with for Lara’s birthday – the Vintage Hanky Tote.  Give it a try – make one for yourself or give this as a gift to that special forever friend in your life.

Vintage Hanky Tote Tutorial
Supplies:
1 medium size canvas tote
1 vintage hanky
Double-sided fusible interfacing (I used Steam-a-Seam Lite)
Fabric for tote lining (approx. 1/4 yard)
Trim (for bag straps)
1 large button
1 elastic hair-tie
Sewing Machine
Hand-sewing needle
Iron
Directions:
Start with a basic canvas tote.  I purchased mine at our local Joann’s, but I know you can get them many other places, such as Michael’s.
Measure the length of your straps and cut your trim accordingly.  You can use ribbon, rick-rack or whatever trim you like.
Stitch your trim to each one of the bag straps.
This is what your trim will look like after you have stitched it to both of the bag straps.
Now you will need to apply your double-sided fusible interfacing to the vintage hanky.
Press your hanky to remove any wrinkles or creases.
Apply your double-sided fusible according to your package directions.  Apply to the back-side of the hanky.
Now “fuse” (iron) your hanky to the front side of your canvas tote.
After you have ironed your hanky to the tote, stitch around the entire perimeter of the tote to permanently secure the hanky.  Do this leaving approximately a 1/2″ seam allowance.
This is what your tote will look like after you have stitched down your hanky.
Now if you have fun clothing labels, it is time to add this before we do the lining.  Place your label on the back-side of the tote between both of the straps.  Adding a personal label to handmade items is so much fun!  Even if you don’t have a business, I highly recommend ordering some personal labels – you will feel so proud seeing your name on something you have made.
Stitch your label in place with coordinating thread.
Now take your elastic hair-tie and tie a knot towards one-side.
Place your hair-tie on the inside of the back-side between both of the straps.  Place the knot a little bit lower than where you anticipate sewing in your lining (we don’t want the knot to show).  Stitch in place – sew back and forth several times to ensure a strong hold.
Now for the tote lining.  Place the bottom of your tote on the fold of the lining fabric (the fold will be the bottom of the lining).  Using your tote as your guide, cut around the tote, allowing for a 1/2″ seam allowance on the three sides (top and both sides).
Now stitch both sides together.  Place fabric, right-sides together and stitch (1/2″ seam allowance).  I used my serger, just because it is faster – it doesn’t make a difference which machine you use.  So now both sides are stitched together, the bottom is the fold from the fabric and the top is open.
Fold down the top 1″ all the way around and press.
It’s hard to tell from the picture, but the fold is with the wrong-sides together.
Now turn your lining, RIGHT-side out and your tote INSIDE-out.  Pin your lining to the top of the tote bag.
Stitch around the top of the lining.  Make sure to use a light-colored bobbin thread for this part because it will show on the outside of the tote.  If you want to be really fancy, you can hand-sew the lining into the tote.
Here is the lining sewn into the tote.  As you can see, you can no longer see the little knot from the hair-tie, it looks neat and tidy!
Now sew whatever large button you have chosen to the front of the tote bag.  I chose to do a fabric covered button with matching lining fabric.  I find fabric covered buttons lend a vintage flair, so I thought that was perfect (and I’m kind of obsessed……you should see the jars I have of these!).  But use any button you have or like.
And there you have it –  a lovely, timeless vintage tote, for a lovely, lovely forever friend!
Happy Birthday Lara!
Thanks for being such a great friend!
10
Jun

Ruffle Bonnet Tutorial

Yesterday I just had to show off the little birthday outfit that I made for my sweet Matilda Jane.  I just loved the way it came together.  But what I think really completes the look is the ruffle bonnet.

This project is actually more simple than it looks.  And the great thing about this bonnet is that it is one-size and adjustable.  Cinch the ribbon in the back really tight for a 6 month old and let it out as they grow.  The bonnet Matilda is wearing fit my daughter Savannah (2 years) as well once I let out the back a little and still has room to grow.

This tutorial is designed for a one size bonnet, size 6 months – 3 years.  It involves some very basic sewing techniques, so if you are new to sewing, give this a try.  Let’s get started……

Ruffle Bonnet Tutorial

Supplies:
Fabric – two coordinating prints
Thread
Single-fold bias tape
Fusible interfacing
Ribbon (I used grosgrain)
Iron
Directions:
Cut fabric pieces:
Main Bonnet-
2 rectangles (one for exterior, one for interior lining) – 17.5″ x 7″
2 rectangles interfacing – 17.5″ x 7″ (just very inexpensive light-weight interfacing)
Ruffle-
1 long strip 43″ x 3″ (this will be folded in half)
Ties/Straps-
2 strips 19″ x 2″ (this will be folded in half)
Ribbon-
1 long piece – cut to your desired length, approximately 21″
Apply your interfacing to the two main bonnet pieces according to package directions.  This is the most inexpensive interfacing around.  I think it was .77 for all of this.
*This is NOT anything like wonder-under (which you know I love).  This is just one-sided interfacing – wonder-under will fuse two pieces of fabric together, this will not and we don’t want it to.  We are using this just to add more body to the bonnet.

Fold your ruffle piece in half, length-wise and press – wrong sides together.  Run a gathering stitch along the top of this piece.  To do this, set your machine to the longest stitch length.  Stitch along the top of the fabric making sure NOT to back-stitch at the beginning or end.

Here’s your ruffle after you have run your gathering stitch.  As you can see, we still need gather it.

To do this, pull one of the threads on either end.  Continue to work the gather until you have reached 17.5″ long.

Pin the ruffle to the long-side of one of the main fabric pieces.  The ruffle should be pinned to the right-side of the fabric facing inward.

Stitch the ruffle in place – 1/4″ seam allowance.

Now place the other main bonnet piece on top of the piece with the ruffle – right-sides together.

Stitch the two main fabric pieces together – 1/2″ seam allowance.

Now to make the ties that go around the neck.  Fold each of the two fabric pieces in half – right-sides together.  Stitch down the long-side and then close one of the short sides.  I cut the ends at a diagonal for fun.  Then turn the tubes right-side out and press.

Open up the main bonnet pieces to reveal the ruffle inside.  Place one of the straps, pointing inward at the seam on top of the ruffle.  The raw side should be lined up with the raw side of the ruffle and main bonnet.

Close the main bonnet piece again and pin.  Do the same thing on the other short side with the other strap.

Stitch both short sides closed – 1/2″ seam allowance.

Clip both of your corners.  You need to do this so it will look nice when you turn it.

Turn right-side out and press.

Now three of your four sides should be closed.  The ruffle is complete as well as the tie straps.

At this point you need to decide what is the interior of your bonnet and what is the exterior.  Once you have decide that, you need to pin your single-fold bias tape to the exterior.  Cut your bias tape the same length as the long side of your bonnet.  Unfold one side and line it up with the raw, unfinished long-side of your bonnet and pin.  Stitch in place.

Now fold your bias tape over to the interior side, making sure that you leave a wide enough opening for whatever ribbon you have chosen to use.  Press, pin into place and stitch as close to the edge of the bias tape as possible.  This will make a tunnel for you to thread your ribbon through.

Now for the ribbon.  Like I said before, you can cut this ribbon to your desired length.  Maybe you want a big, huge long bow or maybe you want something more subtle.  I would thread the ribbon and then cut it to see how you like the look.

Now it’s time to thread the ribbon.  Do you have one of these?  It’s called a bodkin and I seriously don’t know what I would do without this thing.  It makes threading ribbon, elastic, ect…….SO easy.  If you don’t have one, head to your sewing shop and buy one – you can find it in the notions section and they are very inexpensive.  If you don’t have one, just attach a safety pin to one end of the ribbon and thread that way.

Thread the ribbon through the opening you just made with your bias tape.

Cinch the ribbon as much or as little as you like, depending on the child’s head size.  Tie in a bow.

And there you have it – your completed Ruffle Bonnet!  Isn’t it just so sweet?

I really think that the bonnet makes this little outfit.  Make one of these bonnets to coordinate with any of your little ones favorite dresses or outfits.  This would also make a wonderful gift for a new baby.

My sweet baby girl sure loves her new hat.  Her sister loves it too – I think I may be making another one of these so we don’t have any fights over this cutie little hat!

Ruffle Bonnet Tutorial - The Cottage Mama

Cottage Mama’s Note:  This project is great for a beginning sewer to practice some basic techniques.  If there is anything you have a question about, please feel free to email me or leave me a comment and I am always happy to help.