Okay, so before you pass out because I’m actually posting to my blog, there’s something really important I want you to know - I’ve missed you!!! Now that that’s out of the way, I have something really important to ask you…

When someone compliments you on something you’ve made, do you say, “Thanks, I made it” or does a simple “thank you” suffice? I’ve carried this purse a handful of times, and each time a stranger has complimented it. While I was tempted to tell them I made it, I chickened out every time and just said thanks. Of course I knew I would come to my blog and show you all my purse.

So here it is! And did I forget to mention that I made it? ‘Cause I did.

So what do you say in that situation?

I made car organizers for my boys before our trip to Williamsburg last week. They each designed their own organizer on a piece of graph paper. Special pockets were made for water bottles, PSPs, their DS, game cartridges, books, snacks…all kinds of fun nooks and crannies for storing their treasures.

This one pictured belongs to my oldest and he was very specific about what he wanted to be able to put in each pocket. You can see there is a spot for his pocketknife (very important), pencils, books, the blue box where he keeps his drawing pencils and tools, and a place for a notebook.  He put heavy things into his organizer which caused it to pull down in the center quite a bit.  I was concerned that the strap might not hold, so I fastened his with a giant safety pin in the back.  It worked great and proved, once again, that I really can chose function over form.

I was pleasantly surprised how much the boys loved their organizers and having a place for their stuff. And best of all?  The car managed to stay relatively clean.

I had a lot of fun making this apron, and I love how it turned out.  It is just the cutest thing and I almost love it too much to get it dirty. The denim front is from an itty bitty pair of Calvins that I’ll never get my post-baby hips into. Rather than continue the delusion that I’ll someday fit into them, I took my scissors to them and transformed the backside of the jeans into the front of the apron. The other part of the apron is made up of a gauze type material skirt. To finish it off, I added a satin ribbon for the tie.

I think I am going to use this for a gardening apron - I love the pockets and think they will come in really handy!

I love doing swaps. Recently I did a color swap where we crafted things for each other based on the other person’s favorite color. My swap partner gave me some specific ideas of what she’d like to receive and so this is what I made for her:

This is a circle skirt made from a gorgeous Amy Butler fabric. It has a zippered size and she said it was a perfect fit. Yeah!!

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This is a little wallet/key chain with a snap closure. It is made from the same Amy Butler fabric as the skirt, and the inside fabric is a blue with white circles print. And I added a little heart charm on the key chain.

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This bracelet is a dangle bracelet that looks like a lot of fun to wear. And of course it matches the skirt. Have you figured out her favorite color yet?

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This is a bulletin board made out of the same blue and white circle fabric that is the inside lining to the wallet. To make this I glued cork board squares onto a piece of heavy cardboard. I then made a fabric sleeve to go over it complete with a pocket lined at the top with a satin ribbon. At the top of the bulletin board I added grommets and tied a ribbon for hanging. I also made her some thumbtacks that spell out her name. They turned out really cute!

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The last thing I sent is this little heart box I painted blue and covered with pastel colored buttons. The colors in the picture aren’t showing the button colors very well - the yellow ones are a lot softer looking in real life.

This swap was an especially fun swap because it was wide open to craft whatever I wanted as long as it was around her favorite color!