Upcycled Winter Hats

October is just around the corner, which means that the weather is getting a little cooler. Soon it'll be time to pull out all the winter gear - mitts, boots, coats ...

and hats!

I bet there will be a lot of mamas out there who discover that the stockpile of winter things has dwindled or been grown out of over summer. So Tawny Bee is going to help.

I've come up with the cutest upcycled winter hat design for children from 6 months to 5 years of age.


I have reversible ones. (Reversible Goldish and Checkers Winter Hat - Size 1)


Boy ones that close with Velcro. (Hippopotamus Upcycled Winter Hat - Size 2 to 3)


Ones lined with soft and warm terrycloth and appliqued with very cute upcycled patches. (Vroom Upcycled Winter Hat - Size 3 to 5)


And ones with pom poms on top! (Upcycled Guitar Girl Winter Hat - Size 6 months)

They are all made with upcycled materials. They are lined with warm fleece, velour or terry cloth. Or they are quilted with warm batting in between. They all have earflaps to keep the wind out of tiny ears. And they all close at the neck so they won't be lost or pulled off.

Check out the store for more great upcycled hats coming soon!
And if you'd like the patterns and tutorial to make a hat of your own, let me know in the comments. I might be willing to trace my patterns and make 'em all pretty and readable, scan them and make them available for free download. :)
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Sharing my new design with some awesome people:

Make It Wear It - The Train To Crazy
Blog A Thon - The RikRak Studio
Sew and Tell - Any Lou Who
Friday Fun Finds - KoJo Designs

Almost Wordless Wednesday: 13 Months

Logan (February 2008)

Lane (September 2010)

Too Early?

The kids and I went to the Dollar Store yesterday to have a look around. That place is excellent for finding crafty things for super cheap. The Halloween stuff was out so we perused through that aisle of course!

Instead of waiting until the last minute to find our pumpkin leaf bags, we bought some early. They glow in the dark!

Terry and the kids filled them up already and put them out. What do you think? A little too early perhaps?

They were already blowing everywhere today so, unless Terry puts some rocks in them to hold them down, I have a feeling our neighbors will think it's too early. We'll wait a little before we put out our jack o' lanterns and other Halloween decorations - we promise!

Mission Comforters Complete!

It's less than one week before October 1st. Do I have my goal of 10 comforters ready to donate to Siloam Mission?

Oh yeah!!!!


Here is the 9th one:


Very Canadian and cozy.


I save the best one for last! I love this next one with all my heart. I want to keep it, but I know of plenty of other people in this cold city who need it more.


It makes me smile every time I look at it. It was a joy to sew!


I wish I had the finances to keep sewing these, but I'm hoping to do this every year. I love sewing them! They are terrifically warm and soft.


Here they are all bagged and waiting to go!


Do you think I'll be able to fit these in my trunk? Probably not. I'll be putting them wherever they will fit - in between the kids' car seats, under their feet, in between us in the front seat. The plan is to pack up the comforters and the kids, drive downtown, pick daddy up from work on Friday afternoon and then go to drop the comforters off at Siloam. Don't worry, I gotcha covered - I will bring my camera ;) Look out for our experience in a future post.

In case you missed all the comforter hoopla, here are some of the posts:
Pay It Forward Month - Comforters for Siloam Mission
Mission Comforter #1
Spacey Comforter
Thankful Thursday and New Comforters
Cows and Puppies = Good Night Sleep
Paisley and The Essential Winnipeg Comforter


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Adding this project to a few fun linky things:
Link Party #25 - Tea Rose Home

Toddler Art Smock

Logan has a passion for painting. Every Friday he wakes up and lets me know that today he will paint something. It's very cute. And of course, I let him. But like any great artist, he's not concerned with getting paint on his clothes. His mommy is though!

So I brought out my One Yard Wonders pattern book and made the Toddler Art Smock for Logan (page 214).


I had just enough Thomas The Train fabric to make the front, back and sides. I had to use some crazy green stripes for the pocket. I also used up all my small scraps of bias tape for this smock. It's going to get paint all over it, so why shouldn't it be colourful?

Logan was just getting ready for bed as I finished it last night, so he didn't get a chance to try it on yet. Besides, he says he has to save it for painting. I did convince him to put a few of his artist tools in the pockets to try them out.

Here's a photo of the back:


Wouldn't this inspire you to paint? (In a "keep you clothes clean" kinda way of course)

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Sharing this cute art smock with some creative people:

Make It, Wear It - The Train To Crazy (I assume that since my little guy can wear it that it counts for this link party)
Friday Fun Finds - KoJo Designs
Market Yourself Monday - Sumo's Sweet Stuff
Wardrobe Wednesday - Brown Paper Packages (My little guy is determined to think this smock is part of his official wardrobe, so I guess it fits into this link up as well)

Wordless Wednesday: Baby Hugs

Beaner and Galactus

I was thinking about the different ways that mommies write about their children in blog form. Since the blog is online for anyone (and everyone) to see, there must have been some thought about whether or not to reveal a child's real name in a blog post.

I admit, I did think about this as well. Originally my blog was mostly just to keep our families updated with all the going-ons here at the Team LT house. But it's become much more than that. We now have 77 followers at last count (and not all of those are my family). Is it safe to reveal my child's name? Will it come back to bite me in the ass now that I've decided it's OK?

I think about this a lot. I don't think I'm going to change my mind all of a sudden and start calling them nicknames, but I always wonder if I made the right decision.

I think the mommy blog world is split down the middle on this issue.

Here are two of my faves that use nicknames:
Vintage Dutch Girl (Babalu and Lil Chick)
Indietutes - Smootch and Birdie

And here are two of my faves that use real names like I do:
Smile and Wave - Ruby and Sebastian
Monkey Kids - Caitlyn and Devin (they are my cousins and super cute!)

Anyway, Terry and I were trying to think up nicknames for the kids if we were ever to try it out. Obviously Logan would be Beaner. That's what we called him when he was livin' in my tummy.


Beaner is such a silly name for such a serious little boy, but it worked well when we thought it up. Does he look like a Beaner?

Coming up with a nickname for Lane was difficult. I couldn't think of one that summed up all of her energy and craziness into a word. Then Terry suggested "Galactus: Destroyer of Worlds" (from comic books of course)

Yup, it fits!


Don't let that cute smile and faux hawk fool you. She's a punk and will destroy you if you look at her funny!

Paisley and The Essential Winnipeg Comforter

Pay It Forward Month is going smoothly so far. I'm starting to get a brutal cold though, so it's a good thing I'm ahead and should be able to reach 10 comforters by the end of the month. I'm looking forward to dropping them off at Siloam Mission on October 1st.

Here are the next two:


Purple paisley is one of my favourite things. This comforter looks so soft and cozy. I just want to curl up and have a warm nap. :)


As always, these comforters are made with 100% cotton flannel and are soft and puffy. Perfect warmth for a cool autumn and cold winter night in Winnipeg.

The next one I call the Essential Winnipeg Comforter (you'll see why when you see the picture)


Construction - complete with detour signs and Canada on the other side. :)



If any of these comforters suit your fancy and you would like to purchase one, they are on sale for $50. That will get you one cozy comforter for yourself and ensure that I will add one more onto the pile for donation to Siloam Mission. Just message me through my Blogger profile or Facebook. I can also make up a custom comforter for you if you have a size, pattern, or colour in mind.

As a reminder, I'll post up the past links in my Pay It Forward Month challenge (including all the pretty comforters I have already made):

Pay It Forward: Comforters for Siloam Mission
Mission Comforter #1
Spacey Comforter
Thankful Thursday and New Comforters
Cows and Puppies Comforters

Shiver Me Pursestrings!

Yarrrr it be "Talk Like a Pirate" Day today.

I got me a grog of Slurpee drink and I'm ready to share me latest artistic endeavors with ye.

As you know my little scalawag has been a bit of a pain in me arse when sailing to pre-school each morn. I was so busy trying to whisk that rapscallion into the classroom when I caught me purse on the sail of the stroller and ripped the entire front pocket off!

Oh no, what is a fine wench like myself supposed to do now? Make me a brand new shiny purse!


Ain't she the purdiest in the sea?

Of course, I had help making this fine bag with a tutorial found here. So surf on over there me mateys before ye meet the cold end of me cutlass.



I've had no luck hunting down any treasure lately, so I went cheap and used an upcycled snap as a closure. (Magnetic closures make us robot pacemaker pirates worry a little anyway).


The piping around the edge makes this pirate wench smile. Shiver me timbers!

Leave a comment below, or walk the plank ye scalawags!

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Sharing this new treasure purse with some lovely pirates on the Internet high seas:

Market Yourself Monday - Sumo's Sweet Stuff
Link Love #24 - Tea Rose Home

Saturday Showcase - TV Watching Time!

The blog post idea is shamelessly stolen from Nenette's Life Candy TV post. Hers is better ;)


This week has been all about waiting. Waiting for our favourite TV shows to start! We've had a rough summer. We watched the entire Two Guys and a Girl series. Then we had nothing. We watched a few Northern Exposure episodes and some movies. It's about time some of our shows started up again!

Will Sam get to remain devil Sam for the entire season? Because that would be awesome! Will House and Cuddy be an interesting couple? Probably not. Will Sheldon drive everyone nuts with his new relationship? I hope so!

I've chunked the list into A few sections that make sense to this Team LT bunch :) You know - since we don't actually watch any of these shows on the day they air.

Shows that Terry and I watch together:

Chuck - nerdy super spies! Yay!


Weeds - this has already started and we love it so far.

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia - most ridiculous show ever.

The IT Crowd - This is a British show and they have funny seasons, so it already started and ended this summer. Anxiously waiting another year before this one starts up again.

Supernatural - Evil Sam for the entire season please! And the normal mix of pretty (for me) and blood and guts (for Terry)




House - Worried that House will be the wrong kind of jerk while he's in love with Cuddy. We'll see...

Futurama - It's already begun on a new network :)

Big Bang Theory - love the Sheldon/Penny episodes






Two and a Half Men - mindless entertainment is sometimes needed after spending all day with our kids hehehe

Metalocalypse - Awesome cartoon with awesome music!

Shows that Terry watches:

Burn Notice

Dexter - he hopes they know what they are doing...
Man vs. Wild

Breaking Bad - his fave!

Warehouse 13

Sanctuary

Stargate Universe - he says he hope it doesn't suck as much as last season
Merlin


Shows that I watch:

Glee

General Hospital - soap opera, so it doesn't really "start" this fall. It breaks up the endless hours of Sponge Bob we are subjected to in a day.

Hell's Kitchen

Project Runway - started already and fabulous as usual.

Survivor - just started, but I really don't pay much attention until the interesting characters begin to shine through the crowd of contestants.

Shows that we might try:

Haven - we actually tried a few episodes of this one and couldn't get into it

Parenthood - watched a few episodes from the first season and it was mildly interesting, although Terry had nightmares about autism for a few nights - yikes!

Flight of the Conchords - we also tried this one out, but we're not so much into the weird singing.

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Because we don't actually watch TV commercials, we don't really know much about any of the new shows that are coming out this season. Do you have any that you're looking forward to? Any that we should check out? Are there any that are already running that we're missing out on? What are your faves?

Crazy Canuck Bag

Our good friend Selena is leaving us to go back to Australia for a few months. She has to sort out her Visa and passport and then she'll come back to Canada (where she belongs!)

In the meantime, we'll have to make sure our friend Doug doesn't turn into a hermit while his lovely Selena is away. If any of you know him, you'll know that this isn't an easy task. He's been slowly turning into a hermit for years. The only person who brings him out is Selena. So hurry back girl!

Not forsaking any chance to sew, I made Selena a pretty Crazy Canuck bag to take with her. I was going to fill it with all sorts of cliche Canada things like Timmies coffee and back bacon, but decided that she'd probably not make it that far onto the plane with a chuck of bacon in her bag hehehe.


She can place all the things that she needs to bring back to Canada (including a real boomerang for Terry) in this bag and always have a reminder of her crazy Canuck friends.


Like the maple leaf applique? It's a bit larger than I had realized!


The straps and lining are Canadian as well. Very nice.

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I'm sharing this project with some lovely sewist/crafters on the ole interweb:
Sew and Tell - Amy Lou Who
Friday Fun Finds - KoJo Designs

The Doc

The kids had a check up at the pediatrician's office today. I let Terry handle this one. I'm one of those mommies who is a nervous wreck when the baby needs her immunizations (and she needed three of them today!) Daddy is much better at handling the whole baby zoo experience. The Manitoba Clinic has an office full of pediatricians so there are babies and kids everywhere. There is even a factory line of baby weighings and measurings. It intimidates the hell outta me.

I gotta say that this afternoon was a good rest for me. Logan has been giving me a run for my mommy whits this week. He has decided that he does not want to go to pre-school anymore. He fights me every step of the way. I've had to strong arm him all the way to school by strapping him into the double stroller and walking him there. Then I have to leave him screaming and crying in the classroom and take that walk of shame all the way home with Lane. He is fine about two minutes after I leave, but I cry all the way home :(

My heart can't take this stress, so I hope that the situation resolves itself soon. I'm sure the little man will get used to his new school life in a few weeks. I've just got to keep my sanity until then.



Look at this little angel. Hard to believe that he cause so much ruckus. He's even pulled out all the stops by crying and screaming, "Mommy I miss you, Mommy I love you," while I'm leaving. Gah!

Lane misses her big brother as well. She's climbed up the stairs and went straight for the front door to put on her shoes at least 6 times every morning. She really wants to go pick her brother up from school. I guess there's nothing to do when she can't follow him around and check out all the fun stuff he's doing.

Anyway, the doctor's appointment went well for both kids. Lane got her immunizations and a hug from her big brother for being such a strong girl. And Logan didn't complain when the doctor measured him and listened to his heart. And mommy got a slight rest for her heart... until tomorrow morning. One more school day this week and then I can rest - phew!

These Cows and Puppies Guarantee A Warm Night's Sleep

I finished two more comforters for donation to Siloam Mission. I'm starting to think that my goal is attainable. Ten for October 1st is within reach!


The first one is cutesie puppies. Lane really likes the fabric I used for this comforter. She wrapped herself in it and chanted, "puppy, puppy, puppy." I love the backing as well. Just a simple, yet classy plaid.



This next one is my favourite so far. I love these pink and black cows! So sweet. Made out of 100% cotton flannel and twin sized. It is super warm and cozy. If you would like to purchase it or any of the other ones, just send me a message (my email is in my profile link). I'm selling each comforter for $50. That will get you one pretty awesome comforter for yourself and one pretty awesome comforter will be added to the donation pile for Siloam Mission. Pretty awesome deal eh?




Here are some links you might like to visit if you are new to this blog and want to catch up on my latest project:

- Pay It Forward: Comforters for Siloam Mission
- Mission Comforter #1
- A Spacey Comforter
- Thankful Thursday and Race Car Comforters

Pre-Schooler Pants: Manitoba Bisons

Are you getting tired of reading about Pre-Schooler pants? Cuz I'm not tired of making them yet!

Here is the latest version: Manitoba Bisons


I had some leftover fabric from the groomsmen ties that I made for the wedding. So voila! Cute pants for Logan. I used green accent thread this time and they look awesome.



This is what happens when I choose a bunch of fabric out of my stash and let Logan pick which one he wants made into pants. He wanted to be like uncle Cory (who was forced to wear a bisons tie at the wedding). Anything uncle Cory does is automatically cool.


I think I will try to sew of few pairs of the Pre-Schooler pants in fleece once the weather gets even cooler. I'll let you know how they turn out.

You can check out the other two pairs of Pre-Schooler pants that I made here and here.

Bowling for the Boy and T-Shirt Upcycling for the Girl

Recently we've noticed that Lane is growing out of all her t-shirts. Doesn't it seem like I'm always typing a variation of that sentence? My children just keep growing and it's a challenge to keep up with them! All of the onesies that I cut and made into t-shirts are small, plus some of the other tops that were given to us when Lane was born.

Time for the next round! I had a cute t-shirt in my closet that never fit. It made the perfect upcycle for Lane.


The sleeves were cut from the back of Lane's outgrown pajamas and the neckline was part of an outgrown summer dress of hers.

So cute!


I made two more upcycled t-shirts this weekend, for a total of three. Aren't these ones adorable as well? The puppy applique was cut out of Logan's outgrown jammies. I made the sleeves out of the same pair of jammies and the top was one of mine that I really didn't like.

The pink one has the "daddy's girl" applique from one of Lane's onesies. Terry was so sad to see that one go, so I just had to cut it out and applique it on another top. I asked Terry if I would have to continue cutting it out and placing it onto all of Lane's new tops until she was 18. Terry said, "Yes - when she's 18, she can get a tattoo of it." HAHAHA And on that one, the sleeves were baby jammies as well and the main pink top was upcycled from a blouse that I had but didn't really fit very well.

Then we went bowling!

Windsor Bowling Lanes had their grand opening today after being closed for renovations. We decided to go and check it out.



There was glow bowling all day for free. Here is the family checking out the newly renovated lanes.


Lane tried her hand at bowling. Well mostly it was daddy letting her touch the ball during his turn, but it's a good start. :)

For Logan, today was his very first time bowling. The bumpers were up and Logan had a terrific time pushing the bowling ball down the lane. He almost beat mommy! Yeah, I'm a terrible bowler. Logan cheered for me anyway. And Lane cheered for everyone when it was their turn. What a fun time!

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I'm sharing Lane's cute t-shirt upcycle with:
Wardrobe Wednesday - Brown Paper Packages
Make It, Wear It - The Train To Crazy

Saturday Showcase #2

This week has been all about school at the Team LT house!

Tawny:
After a pile of anxiety dreams, I finally took Logan to pre-school this week. And everything was fine. But as every worrier will tell you if I didn't worry so much about it it would have been the most horrible experience ever. I need to analyze all the terrible things that could go wrong in order to appreciate that nothing went wrong hehehe

Logan:
Even more exciting than starting pre-school for Logan this week was that we increased his bedtime to 8:30. We did this to solidify the "big boy" adventure. Since Logan is a big boy who goes to school, he gets to stay up later than his baby sister who has bedtime at 8:00. Oh boy, that means three more Sponge Bob episodes before night night!

Terry:
Terry took two days off of work this week to help Logan transition into his new school experience. While he was gone, his co-workers must have missed him because he came back to this on Friday:

The head opens up and there were sheets of paper with 1's and 0's on them. There were 2 pictures in the brain as well - one of Wolverine from X-Men (Logan) and the other of Layne Staley from Alice in Chains (Lane). They apparently tried to find a picture of Tawny Kitaen as well, but could only find her mugshot so didn't include it hahaha. The watch was a print of his exact watch. The beard was torn up paper towel coloured black with a marker.

This was the "talk bubble" above FrankenTerry's head. Terribly funny to anyone who loves IT Crowd.


Maybe FrankenTerry can take over at meetings now? It's pretty realistic eh? Terry says it only proves that his co-workers actually pay attention to him when he talks.

Lane:
Well, Lane wasn't as excited as the rest of us were about school. But she was very interested in Winnipeg Giveaway (Freecycle) Weekend. We put all out stuff out and were cleaned out in less than an hour! All except for this baby. Nobody wanted this trouble maker.