Birthday month!

Be prepared for pictures...lots and lots of pictures...

April is Birthday Month for our kiddos...and birthday MONTH it has been. Their official days are the 11th and the 21st, but we had a family birthday party for G on the 10th, a friend party on the 11th, celebrated Z's bday with hubby's parents and grandparents on the 16th, as a family on the 21st, and with my family on Easter weekend! Yes, 5 birthday parties for two kids born 10 days apart...three cakes, two dozen cupcakes...next year we are going for one big party!

G had a baseball theme, and Z's was a glamorous purple and zebra print, inspired by a bday outfit I had made for a friend's daughter...it was just too cute not to copy for our own bday girl!

Now for some pictures...I am getting hungry just looking at these cakes (I shouldn't be...I have eaten more than my share of cake this month!)

Bat and ball made from rice krispie treats...thank you TLC for all of your cake decorating shows! Now THAT is educational television :)

Cupcakes for the "friend" party...I forgot to take a pic when there was a whole tray of them, so you get a lonely cupcake on a patch of edible grass.

Zebra on the inside...

...zebra on the outside. Of course, it had to have a purple tutu to match her skirt (see below!) and purple frosting between the layers.



And of course, are my kiddos EVER without a custom-designed, one-of-a-kind, special occasion sort of outfit? Of course MandiMoo Designs would be happy to customize one of these outfits for your special birthday munchkin!
"Birthday Boy" and "4" on the front in baseball font

Name and number on the back

Zebra print skirt with tulle ruffles, coordinating applique number on shirt with embroidered name, all embellished with crystals.

Happy St. Patrick's Day (a bit late!)

I apparently love holidays. I didn't know how much until I had children...now they get a special homemade shirt for every "holiday"...even those that seem created--or at least hyped up--by the greeting card industry!

We did at least read a story about Saint Patrick, which lead to other stories about saints, on the day-o-green. We also wore green (accompanied by powercat pins to support our beloved Wildcats on their first game in the NCAA tourney), ate green shamrock biscuits and corned beef and cabbage, and finished off with a green bath!

Kids, someday you will make fun of me for making you matching holiday shirts, but for now, you love it! G even asked me to make a shirt for Simba (yes, the stuffed lion cub from lion king that he carries EVERYWHERE) and wanted to wear the long-sleeved shamrock shirt even though it was 80 degrees and he was so hot!

And now to the pictures...



Shirt, pin, and leggins all courtesy of MandiMoo Designs. All available for order (other than the pin...licensed and all, so can only do those fun things for myself...for now!)

Helping to change the world...nothing to do with sewing!

Last fall, we made the switch to cloth diapers. BumGenius, to be exact, and I love it! So freeing not to have to run to the store to buy diapers, take out bags and bags of trash, and I honestly love seeing those cute diaper covers blowing in the breeze on the clothesline on a warm spring day. *I am not anti-disposables...I still fall back on them once in a while when we need a break!* For now, loving our decision to help our baby and help our earth.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day! Here is my youngest love wearing my new crafting love--repurposed t-shirts!

I simply took a onesie, some old t-shirts, craft paint and rubber stamps, and wa-la, a cute dress for this love-filled "holiday". Easy peasy...so easy I don't mind that she only wore it 4 times!

Have some old t-shirts you want to re-purpose? Contact me...together we can find a fun use for your tees! Perhaps a dress or skirt for your little one (or one for you!), a t-shirt quilt, or various other options!

And I promise there will be more frequent blogging...new faster computer, new faster camera, new projects...there will be more!

In the meantime, squeeze your spouse/mom/dad/kiddos/friends on this Valentine's Day!

THE END

Trick or treat!

Fall is my favorite time of year...the cooler weather, the jeans and sweaters, the excuse to heat up the oven and bake (especially pumpkin chocolate chip muffins...mmmmm!)

But most of all, I LOVE halloween! Halloween was a lot of fun growing up. We decorated the house, made apricot jello popcorn balls (delicious!) and NEVER bought a costume. We had a costume box from which we mixed and matched and occasionally made a new piece to add to the stash.

My favorite childhood costume: a present. Yes, a big gift-wrapped box that had to be removed every time we got in the car (which was after every trick-or-treat stop since we lived out in the boonies) with a huge beautiful pink and white polka dot bow on my head!

Anyway, back to 2010. I still love Halloween, and all things associated. So to honor this fun time of year, a few pics:

This one has nothing to do with sewing, but I was having fun preparing for a little social I recently had at my house. Hummus in the pumpkin and veggies for dipping...take note of the candy corn resemblance :)



I had a customer request a head piece of some type--hat, headband, or hood--for her daughter's cow costume for Halloween. I put this one together and decided that maybe Z should be a cow, too!




And this is my very favorite addition...GLOW IN THE DARK embroidery thread! Who knew??? So cool!



Check back soon for pics of my little pumpkins!

My new addiction...

What do you do with an ugly yellow couch? How exactly do you find fabric to match said couch? What's that you say? You can't? Well, then let me make some for you! This set was made for my brother who recently moved...

Ugly (yet very nice!) couch was the inspiration for the color scheme, along with the gorgeous gray "woodsmoke" walls. Made a pillow cover to tie in with the curtains...


The curtains were the real reason that I got started...for some reason someone thought they needed some privacy (and a little light blocking for sleeping in on weekends)


And since I was on a roll, I just HAD to spruce up the lamp. I mean, the lamp shade DID break during the move and all...

An old lamp, some embroidered fabric and an adhesive lamp shade courtesy of the local JoAnn's, and you've got yourself a one-of-a-kind accessory!

Have I mentioned that I heart this embroidery thing???

Long time!

WOW! Can you say hiatus? A lot has been going on...we welcomed baby girl in April, and since then time has sped by!

Since I am guessing my readers care more about my sewing projects than my life, I will skip any other details...let's just say I have been spending more time sewing than blogging--obviously!

First things first I now have access to an embroidery machine. Can you say WAHOO? "Hi, My name is MandiMoo, and I am addicted to emroidering." As hubby would say, I can't really take credit for the embroidery, as I just push a few buttons and watch the machine do the work, but man oh man is it FUN! Even my kids enjoy watching it do its thing! So let the orders begin! Can do designs (though nothing licensed), monograms, etc. A fun way to really personalize a gift.

Other projects:
Six years ago, I thought it would be a great idea to make a cross quilt for my niece and god-daughter. Two years ago, I finally finished that quilt for her! Since then, I have been blessed with two more nieces and a nephew, all of whom I am a godmother. Since I was averaging four years per quilt, that would have made it 2022 before I could get them all done, and that is (hopefully, wrongly) assuming that there would be no other nieces and nephews. So I had to abbreviate the cross quilt to be a cross wallhanging, finished in time for the baptisms. This is my latest cross wallhanging. Congrats, L on your big day on Sunday! Wish we could be there!



Another t-shirt quilt! This one for a good friend who wanted both high school and college shirts showcased. Fortunate for her she was a wildcat at both schools! Wish I could have taken a video of her reaction upon seeing it for the first time. I love when customers love what I have done with their memories! Thanks, K for letting me do this for you.



I had someone request a custom bag. Her dilemma: Diaper bag needed to stay with baby at daycare, and she needed a purse to take to work. However, when they were together, she carried him in a sling, then had both a purse and a diaper bag over her shoulder. Our solution??? A diaper bag and purse combo! Purse clips on to bag when you need both, and quickly removes when you are flying solo! Why hadn't I thought of this before? Note to self: make one of these for me...when I have time!



Well, before I lose ALL of my readers, I will wrap it up for now. Welcome back, and I promise this time it won't be 5 months before I post again!