My First Kari Renee Designs Giveaway!

FREE STUFF!

I knew that would get your attention. 

Who doesn't like free stuff? Come on.

The very sweet Anna over at Noodlehead is doing a giveaway in honor of Mother's Day 

and is offering up a couple of my leather cuffs from Kari Renee Designs to the lucky winners. 

What leather cuffs? 

Why, these leather cuffs...

 

So, head on over and win yourself some Mother's Day swag!

You deserve it.

Giveaway is open through Friday. 

Make sure you don't enter here on my blog! 

Enter over at Noodlehead, where Anna and all her amazing talent lives.

Thanks, Anna!

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Warming the House

We have new neighbors across the street! 

AND they have little kids to play with! Yeah!

To welcome them to the neighborhood, we took over a coffee cake (thank you, Trader Joe's box mix). 

Who doesn't like homemade goodies??

Confession: this is the SECOND coffee cake I made for the neighbors since we ate the first one...it wasn't warm by the time I was going to walk it over and my kids were dying to eat it, so I gave in. 

And it was delicious.

The best part about taking a little something to new neighbors is that you can include a card with names and important info on it. Now they don't have to guess names and they can call if they need anything.

And, of course, what is a gift without a handmade touch?

Grabbed one of my blank flour sack towels (that I keep on hand for just such gifts) and doodled a little housewarming message with a Sharpie Rub a Dub marker.

LOVE my fabric Sharpie pen!

Have you ever used one of these? They're pretty awesome.

And we tied it all up with a ribbon and walked across the street.

It turns out they are a super nice family and the kids all played together really well.

So it was a treat for all of us.

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Party All Night Long!

My neighbor's son is turning 9 and is having a blowout slumber party to celebrate. 

A Lego Avengers slumber party, to be precise.

And what party favor did this sweet 9 year old come up with?

Why, handmade Avengers pillowcases, personalized with each friend's name!

Oh, and he thought I would be just the right person to make them.

How could I say no?

{I used this magic pillowcase tutorial - very easy to follow!}

 

And if you're going to make one, you might as well make nine. Doesn't everyone think that way?

All the guests' names sewn on with a free motion foot (feed dogs down) just like Mickey ears at Disneyland!

We didn't want to leave out his younger sister so she gets her very own Hello Kitty pillowcase.

Seriously, how cute is that??

Here's hoping the boys all have a great time! 

And that his sweet mom gets a few minutes rest in between pizza, games, giggles, and an appropriately inappropriate amount of junk food.

Happy Birthday, little man!

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I just can't stop sewing...and a discount for you!

Hi! It's been a long time and I hope you're doing great!
I'm still playing soccer once a week and loving it.
My kids are still getting bigger way too fast for my taste.
And we are trying to enjoy all these fleeting moments that are exhausting and exhilarating but will gone much too soon...

And a bunch of my time has been going to sewing lately and I finally decided to re-open the etsy shop! 

New name (Kari Renee Designs) and a bunch of new designs and fabrics!

Eek.

Fabric, leather, snaps, zippers so many possibilities...

Here are some of the things I've got in the shop.

Scarves...

Leather...

 

 Fabric...

And my sister Alissa (AliMarie Photography) took some photos...guess who had to model?

Yep, me. I'll have to enlist some friends next time...

If you visit Kari Renee Designs and see something you like, 

you can even get 10% off your purchase by entering the code HMBLOG113 

just because I really really appreciate you guys who stop by the blog!

Have a great weekend! 

Love to you & yours!

{coupon code expires 2/28/13}

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This Crazy Life

I've been putting this off for a long time (about a month, in fact, since my last post). But I need to let go of the blog for awhile... My life is full of first grade excitement, 4 year old exploring, and daily milestones for my 18 month old. Oh, and fun things like husband, family, friends, soccer, sewing, and training for a first 5K for this 34 year old!

Believe it or not, I am still sewing (and I really think you would like the stuff I've got going) but there are only so many hours in the day and it seems there aren't enough of those to devote to taking & editing photos, and writing content you'll want to read. I have lofty goals of an entirely handmade Christmas this year and maybe I'll post all those goodies during the holidays.

But, until I'm back here I sincerely hope each and every one of you has a wonderful fall!

If you want to know when I'm blogging again, you can always sign up for email updates on the right-hand sidebar.

And there are always fun things from the blog being pinned (which is still simply amazing to me! thanks, you guys!)

Much love and thanks for being here for my crafty (and otherwise) adventures!

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1st son, 6 years, 3 layers

We had a big milestone in our house this weekend...our oldest son turned 6! We had a little get together with family, eating on the patio, building new Legos, and relaxing. The craftiest part of it all was the cake. Before anything else, let me make it clear that I am not a serious baker but I do love to make special occasions really special. So, when my son gave me his very detailed vision for a 3-tier birthday cake, I just couldn't deny him a little bit of magic.

Our little man definitely knows what he likes, and he is nothing if not detail-oriented. The plan was as follows...

3 layers: a large round on the bottom, a smaller round above that, and a cupcake for the top

Raspberry filling in only the middle tier

Frosting on just the top of the cupcake

Chocolate cake

Vanilla frosting

Our camera lens is broken (softly weeping) so I did not take these photos.

Fortunately, my sister is a fabulous photographer who actually makes money doing it in both Chicago & Southern California.

Her business is AliMarie Photography (facebook page) and she has some seriously awesome stuff!

I may not have a camera, but I did get my hands on 2 boxes of cake mix, 4 cans of frosting, and managed to keep the swearing to a minimum to produce this!

And after all that work, it's only a few minutes from candle lighting to demolition.

Make a wish.

1-2-3-4-5-6. Just checking.

The hacking begins...

And the pictures just don't stop.

Not sure if this is the "right" way to hold together cake layers, but I had bendy straws on hand and they worked great.

The sign of a good cake. 

I hope you have something to celebrate this summer! 

And if you can add a little magic, do it!

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GOOOOOOOALLLL!!!

A couple months back, my kindergartner had a playdate with a classmate. Since he hadn't played at this friend's house before, I tagged along. While the boys were playing, the classmate's mom said, "Tell me a little about yourself, we've never really gotten to chat." OK, ummm...I told her I love to read and am always working on a book. Then I told her that I also love to sew and I make a little bit of everything.

Reading. Sewing.

Then I said, "I'm pretty much like a little old lady, I guess."

In my defense, I have started playing soccer recently and I feel like that redeems my geriatric hobbies. I'm not amazing at soccer but am absolutely loving it! I highly recommend that you pick up a new hobby, especially a sport, at some point in your "grown up" life because it is so much fun.

 

And, even better, now we have 2 soccer players in the house! My 1st grader starts his season soon and we got his gear today. After getting home, I realized that we almost have the same soccer shoes...

His are black & blue. Mine are black & pink. 

(Come on! If I'm buying special shoes, they better be pink.)

I play indoor soccer on turf (no cleats), and my little man plays outdoor on grass (big tough looking cleats).

Oh, and because I'm so short and buy the smallest size gear around, he was able to use my shin guards tonight.

33 years old. Almost 6 years old. Uh huh.

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