How we made an Owl Pillow...using a Sewing Machine!!!

I had two presents on my wish list this year...a sewing machine and a garmin running watch.  For mother's day, I got the sewing machine!  It was the perfect mothers day present because it was something I wanted to do with my little girl!  Isabella has been begging to sew.  Our first sewing project was a few months back (pre-sewing machine era) and included a felt scarf for her beanie boo and a tiny felt stuffed animal for Olivia.  I think it was a black and white zebra!  It was cute.

So we broke out the sewing machine this week.

A Brother CS6000

 

 (Yes mother's day was about 2 months ago.)  My mom helped us set it up...but since it was a new model and therefore different from her machine that she bought in high school, we had to go to the internet.

I have discovered that if there is ever something that you don't know how to do..there is a you tube video out there that will show you how!  That's how I learned to knit!  Now..that's how we learned to set up the sewing machine!  It's pretty amazing!

So..I wanted to start with making cloth napkins but Isabella really wanted to make an owl pillow.  We had purchased some fat quarters a few weeks ago.  She had picked out all of the fabrics, so there were pretty crazy bright prints.  I figured that those eye-blinding fabrics might make for some unappetizing table napkins so I conceded. 

We went to the internet again for owl pillow inspiration.   We drew a pattern on paper and then cut out our fabric.

We chose a plain stitch.  And worked on sewing our first piece together.  It was the first time either of us had used a sewing machine.  Things/ideas changed as we started to put it together.  What started as the ears turned into wings.  What started as wings turned into feet. 

Isabella made all of the fabric choices and pattern making.  She sewed the body together and stuffed the entire thing herself.  She sewed the eye pieces together and I sewed them on the owl.

Pretty great for a 6 year old!!!!

So here is the final project!  She was giddy with pride!!!!  Seriously!

Gardening with Kids!

This week was full of outdoor activities...and then 105 degree heat!

Before it got hot..the kids made sidewalk paint and I put them to work painting the garden!  We used a recipe that I found online that was simply:

1 cup of cornstarch
1 cup of water
food coloring

Very easy and fun!  They mixed their paint in a mixing bowl, poured it in the muffin tin and then added the food coloring.  I gave them a purpose and said that they could paint anything in the garden!   They had a lot of fun mixing colors.  They even ran to Otto's house to get more corn starch and food coloring when they ran out!

Look at all of the pretty colors you can mix from just red, blue, yellow and green food coloring!

Artists in the garden

Painting the trellis!

This year may be one of my best gardens yet!  Although my broccoli turned out wimpy and not worth anything, I have the most variety of veggies ever!  This year I planted:

bibb lettuce (a bit strong in flavor)

brocolli (as you can see from the photo, I had enough for one bite!)

tomato plants (not yet ready)

sweet potatoes (don't know when they'll be ready)

habeneros  (looking a bit stunty)

fennel (isabella planted for the butterflies..it looks great!)

sunflowers (very pretty)

peas (it got too hot and only 1 came up)

and an unexpected Watermelon!   (I think somehow a seed got spat into one of my pots.  I transplanted it in the garden not knowing exactly what it was! It's beautiful)

So after all that..my garden doesn't sound too successful, but at least it looks pretty!

How fun is this watermelon!!  I can't wait till the kids get to eat it!

There's my broccoli bite!  You can also see my homemade bamboo stakes..using some of the jungle of bamboo from my backyard!

My painters at work!