Let me show you around...

I thought it might be fun to show you my crafty space.

First, you should know that our home is a tiny, wee, smidgen of an apartment. I once facebooked about it saying, "You know your apartment is small when your baby naps in the bathroom and the third seat at your dining table is an arm of the couch."

That's right. Until Little A was about 5 months old, he napped in the bathroom. Don't judge. It worked for us. I would put him down in the swing in our bathroom and then I could be crafty in my craft area in our (my husband's, A's and my) bedroom.

Once he hit 5 months (prime sleep-training age) I had to start napping him in his crib for consistency's sake. Which meant I my crafting time got hacked! Not ok.

So I undertook an epic rearrange (one of my favorite activities).

Here is our living room before. Small but plenty spacious for our little family, with a nice open space in the center.

Here was our dining room table until the rearrange. Once A started his out-of-the-loo naps, I schlepped my projects to and from the dining table between meals. Betty (my sewing machine) was our centerpiece. Quaint, no?

And now, voila! My sewing table (a gem my own Mama pulled from the side of the road at least twenty years ago) took up residence in our once spacious living room. I installed a pull down ironing board and lots of storage for fabric and patterns, sketchbooks and notions.

I chopped our living space almost in half. It's definitely not an aesthetic improvement to the room - but functionally - it's genius.

The couch now butts up against my table instead of the wall. So my little buddy can check out what I'm doing and we can all be in the same room playing and hanging out while I'm "working".
So, it works for us.

A-Boogie can snooze away in his crib instead of...well...you know.

I don't have to put my projects away so we can eat a meal.

And I can stand in my 14" wide crafting gully and look over the heads of my two playing babies, out the full wall of windows in front of me at, right now, the trees off our porch bursting with vibrant pink blossoms.

This apartment may be wee, but it sure has its perks.

Where Happily Home Sewn Got its Start

Where did HHS get its start? Right here on the hiney of this cute little first born son.

It started with the crazy pants. And oh, there were many.
Owls anyone?

Hmmm, those are pretty crazy.

Farmy trucks and tractors.

The first of many cords.

And of course, Elvis.

I lost count along the way, but it was well over 25 pairs of crazy pants. Way more than one cute hiney requires.
Then came the kimono pajamas. They make him look like a tiny zen master.
Tiny fleecy zen master.


But then came the most embarrassing...

The homesewn piez de resistance...

The romper.

There is a very small age window for pulling off the romper.
Luckily I hit it right on the money.

Oh, I so got this.

So...picture this. We're at the park on Monday with our buddies. Rob, the SAHD in our little group asks, "Do any of you know where I could get a baby gift that's specific to Colorado for my friends in New York who just had a baby?"


Now, here are some responses a normal person might have to such a question:
1) "No."
2) "Maybe the airport?"
3) "There's a bunch of touristy shops downtown that might have something."


My response:
"I so got this."

Ta and Da.

Owl Fever

I have had a long-standing obsession with owls. It really got going about a year and a half ago (about the time I found those excellent Hambly rub-ons, remember that?).

About the same time I also discovered these sheets of contact paper intended for wall decor. They were like 14" squares of solid colors (they had patterns and stuff, but I grabbed some solids on clearance).

What to do with sticky orange, green, black, and white squares? So much potential!

Ta Da!
I made owls.
Owls are the most fun to make. And the easiest.
You can't screw up an owl.
The wonkier the better.
They were the perfect little sleepy buddies for this sweet little guy (MAN! I miss those curls!).

So, when I was pondering the possible creation of an etsy shop...what would make a better happy little banner for Happily Home sewn?

A digital camera and the good old paint program that has come standard on computers since the commodore 64 and viola!

Whoo's awesome?

You might as well face it. You're addicted to rub-ons.

I discovered rub-ons a while back. My faves come from Hambly.

And now...no surface is safe. My old roomie Christa painted these wine bottles and I rubbed stuff on them.
I do love a crafty collaboration.

I personalized each invitation to Eli's first birthday party with different rub ons. Clearly I was only a mother of one at the time.

Computer? Check.
Computer keyboard? Check.
Roommate's computer? Check.
Roommate's computer keyboard? Check.


Printer? Check.
Waterbottle? Check.
Wallet? Check.
Watch out. You might be next.

Follow that Cape!

Aren't kids super?

A bunch of E-Dizzle's friends are just turning three. And one of their Mamas asked me to make her son a super cape for his birthday. So I decided to make one for all of them.

I cannot tell you how inspiring, humbling, and just plain fun it is to see a kiddo get all excited about their special cape, and to tie it on and go flying around, arms outstretched, certain of his or her super-ness.

The super kid cape has definitely been the best seller on the etsy shop. I went to the shipping shop today to ship 4 capes to their wearers. One of them was going to my first international SuperKid! As I walked out, my buddy who works at the shipping shop said he thought it was neat. And I said something to the tune of, "Helping kids feel super all over the United States! And Canada!"

And that gave me an idea. I want to keep a cape count. Because it makes me feel super to think of kiddos out there feeling super.

Then, as you should do with any idea, I shared my thought with my Mama friends at swimming this morning. And they ran with it. They came up with the idea of marking down on a map where all the Superkid capes fly off to...and wouldn't you know it...google has an app for that.

So, no faces, no real locations (I put them all in parks in fact) - but here is the SuperMap.

So, on my sidebar you can now keep track of the cape count and location.

And, in case you're wondering, the current cape count is 10. With two in the works.

That is super.


View Follow that Cape! in a larger map

If your superkid is in need of his or her own one-of-a-kind-made-especially-for-him-or-her super cape, don't forget that blog readers get free shipping on their super kid capes using this reserve listing on etsy.

The Dorky Matching Goodness

You know what's really fortunate? That I got in to sewing while my children were young.

When you're under three...it's much easier to pull off the dorky matching goodness.
See??? Yum.

E-man's shirt has a frog with a really long time slurping up a fly. Love it.

I started working on TDMG before A-Boogie was born. Bear had to model for us.
Look at teeny Boogie!


Yeah, you really can't pull off some of these looks once you hit middle school.


The boys and I have matching crazy owl pant jammies. Even Harry Elephante (in Eli's right hand) has a pair.
And Eric and the boys got matching manly jammies for Valentines Day. Sweet right?

Who doesn't love boys in cords?

But these boat pants might just be my favorite.

Paired with white button-downs for Easter. Priceless.

There is currently no cure for TDMG. If you're lucky, by puberty you'll (I'll) grow out of it.

So for now, sorry boys.

I Am My Mother's Daughter. For Sure.

I resisted. I did. But not long ago, I lost the battle.

It happened on the side of a windy mountain road, when I spied this:

That's a diamond in the rough, right? I tried really hard to just drive on by. In fact I did. Three times. And I the third time 'round, I busted my pregnant butt out and hustled that puppy into the back of my suv, right next to Eli.

That's the moment I full on became my mother. Sorry husband, it was bound to happen.

My childhood homes were full of side-of-the-road gems(?). And she always made them work.

But...would I be able to turn my roadside trash into treasure???


Oh yeah baby. Check her out:

Ooooowheee! That's a nice looking chair! I picked out these two fabulous fabrics and sanded until my fingers bled. And look how pretty?

Sadly, the treasure doesn't fit in the new tiny apartment. But it has taken up temporary residence two floors down in our friend Rachel's apartment. This chair came off the streets and is now on tour. That's a rags to riches story if I ever heard one.


And now...I can't be stopped.
This one didn't come off the streets, but it was the cheapest glider money could buy, and it looked it.
Till I jazzed it up a bit! Thanks IKEA for this fabulous fabric. I love my new whimsical nursing chair.


But don't look to close, this one's definitely bang up job.

What's your favorite (used to be trash) treasure?

And the Winner Is...

Through a very scientific process, Eli has determined the winner of the SuperKid Cape Giveaway!
(I printed out each comment and an entry for each follower, threw them in a bowl and let Eli pick.

See:




The winner is Jada (!) who said "Hayden's super kid cape would have an H on it and would be covered in monkeys as he loves to be Super silly and has the power to make us laugh even when we are trying to be serious."

I think that is a fabulous super power and I can't wait to celebrate it with a super monkey cape!

Thanks to all who entered. Check back often for more crafty ideas, adventures and giveaways!

A Happily Home Sewn Giveaway!

It's Friday, and it's 62 degrees out. That's giveaway weather if I ever saw it.


So...who's feeling super? I mean, besides me. And Eli.

I'm itchin' to whip up a SuperKid cape for one of the superkids out there. I will custom make it to showcase the SK's interests/favorite colors/superpowers and of course, his or her super initial.

Here are some examples:


So, to enter leave a comment telling me what your SuperKid's cape might look like and/or any super powers you or your SK posses (I myself have a superhuman beacon which will lead me (without a map) to the Spaghetti Factory in any city).

You can get a second chance to win by following me via the box on the left sidebar. Leave me a comment if you do that so you can get your name in the hat twice.

I will randomly select the winner at 9:00 on Monday morning, because we all need a chance to be winners on Monday morning.

Can't wait to help one of your wonderkids "Be Super!" (see the video below).



If you don't happen to win, you can order these on my etsy shop here. This is a special listing just for you, loyal blog readers. Use it to get your SuperKid Capes shipped for FREE!

I appreciate all (three) of you!