About a year ago I started really getting into machine embroidery. I took a class at my local quilt shop (Quilting Mayhem) and I was hooked. Machine embroidery makes everything look so much more professional than traditional embroidery. I realize that there is a lot more talent involved in traditional embroidery, but WOW… I really love the way these projects have turned out. A lot of the Kimberbell machine embroidery projects have places for fairy lights, which make the finished product absolutely adorable. The project, shown above, is the Kimberbell Candy Cane Lane machine embroidery bench pillow. I bought the fabric kit and the embellishment kit for this project. I’m not a huge fan of pink, and I don’t have any aqua in my house, but I just loved the finished look, so I couldn’t pass it up.

I worked on the Kimberbell 2 Scoops machine embroidery bench pillow over this past summer. Again, I don’t love pink and I don’t own anything else in blue, pale green, or aqua, but how can you say no to the color combinations in this pillow. Doesn’t it just scream SUMMMER? This was the fabric kit and embellishment kit for 2 Scoops. The best part about this project is the ice cream truck. There is a little pocket sewn into the back side of the ice cream truck that holds a music box. If you push on the speaker that is on the top of the ice cream truck it will play music that sounds like it’s coming from an ice cream truck.

I finished making the Kimberbell Sweet As Pie machine embroidery bench pillow well after Thanksgiving. (Back to school season is a little crazy when you are a kindergarten teacher.) The fabric kit for this project included a lot of purple and did not have red. I shopped my fabric stash and pulled a few different red fabrics. I love the color combination and was sad to put this pillow away so quickly after it was made, but it was time to move onto Christmas decorating.

The Kimberbell Spring Showers machine embroidery wall quilt was one of the first projects I completed when I really started in with machine embroidery. It was a loooong project. This was supposed to be a seasonal wall hanging, but it’s been up all year, since the only time you see it is when you walk down the stairs.

You might have noticed a theme when it comes to my love of the Kimberbell machine embroidery projects. I truly think they are the best “project kits” out there. I have ventured out on my own machine embroidery projects. I saw a really cute pillow on Pinterest, so I decided to make the Christmas pillow in the picture below. I just used the font that was already on my machine and did a little patchwork piecing with some Christmas fabrics that I had on hand.

I have spent a lot of time, over the past year, making kitchen towels. They are the easiest things to make. The coffee embroidery project, below, took a lot more time than most of my towels because I needed to change the color of thread so often.

My husband was little worried when I made the Bunny Snacks embroidery kitchen towel. He thought that because we have a bunny, I was going to embroider bunnies on everything. This was only an Easter embroidery project and now it’s back in my kitchen drawer until next Easter.

I’ll have to post about my embroidery machine and the process that it takes to complete embroidery projects soon. Until then, happy stitching!

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As most of you know, I had a stroke 2 months ago.  The stroke was centered in the Cerebellar region, which controls balance and motor function.  I look fine, when I’m walking (most of the time), but I have a dizzy feeling in my head and sometimes sway, find myself off balance, or take a little tumble.  Grocery stores are the WORST!  Turning my head as I walk causes all sorts of problems like extreme dizziness and nausea, and you’re constantly turning your head to look for the items you need when you are in the aisles.

(Side story… words are really hard since my stroke and aisles took forever to figure out.  Isles? Ailes? I finally asked my husband.  Aisles isn’t normally a word that would have challenged my brain.)

Back to the story. My physical therapist gave me some homework.  She said to walk down the mall on a day when it’s not too busy.  Walk, looking straight ahead, and once in a while go ahead and glance into a store.  She thought that would be a good step toward being able to do the grocery store more than 5 minutes.  It started out ok.  I started with the outdoor portion of the mall because outdoors are always better for me.  Unfortunately, there was stamped concrete and the business was too much for my brain.  I sat down in a little chair because I was starting to feel like I was going to fall over and… HEY, there’s Williams Sonoma.  It sucked me in, Friends.  I started to look for some gifts I needed and spotted the Bees Wrap on the sale rack. I have to tell you, I have been looking for Bee’s Wrap for about 2 years. I saw it in a magazine.  I have put it on my Christmas list many times, but no one can ever find it.  So, when I saw the Bee’s Wrap sitting there, I had to buy it.

I bake a lot of bread, so the Bee’s Wrap bread wrap was the way to go.

Saving the environment, one Bee’s Wrap at a time!

(Another side story: Going to the mall as my physical therapy assignment didn’t work out so well for me.  I wound up with the headache to end all headaches, which put me back at the walk-in-clinic to get help with the pain.  There are very few things I can take for pain, so they tried a shot.  No luck.  They finally found some meds that worked, but sheesh!!! One little trip to the mall and they were just about ready to send me back to the ER for another MRI and and IV to administer pain meds.  I’m thinking it’s because I didn’t follow the rules.  I went into two stores and looked around.  On the plus side, I found Bee’s Wrap and got a cute new shirt. I know, I know, next time I’ll follow the rules.  “Strokes are nothing to mess with.  Your brain takes time to heal.  Rest is important.  Always stop the activity when you begin feeling too dizzy or nauseated to continue.”  Those are the doctor’s words.)

My son, who doesn’t really care much about kitchen related purchases, commented on how fresh the two day old banana bread tasted.  I was just happy that the bread wasn’t wrapped in plastic wrap. To wash and reuse the Bee’s Wrap, the directions say to wash with cold water and a little dish soap, hang to dry, fold to store, and reuse for about 1 year.  Friends, I’m saving the planet one Bee’s Wrap at a time.  I know you want to do the same!

Happy Bee’s Wrapping!

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The reason I’m sharing this with you is because I have been asked, more times than I can count, about where I bought this seat.  It is super comfy, padded, and even has padded arms.  It is so much better than a bleacher seat.  I do get a little kick back from Amazon, as I’m an Amazon Affiliate.  If you are interested in a new stadium seat, this is the one!

Happy shopping!

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the first Christmas cookies of the season at our house!

Recipe for Spritz Cookies

1 cup butter (room temperature)
1 1/4 cup powdered sugar
2 egg yolks
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt

Mix butter and powdered sugar.  Add egg yolks and vanilla.  Mix in flour and salt.
Use a cookie press to shape cookie dough on a lined baking sheet. (I use a Silpat liner.)
Bake at 400 degrees for 6 minutes.
Frost with a powdered sugar and milk glaze.
Add sprinkles.
Let the Christmas baking begin!!!
This is my favorite cookie press. I’ve owned several cookie presses over the years and the Cuisinart Electric is the one I’ve had the best luck with.

I also highly suggest using a Silpat baking mat when you bake cookies. It makes the cookies just slide ride off the pan and have the perfect golden brown tint on the bottom.

Happy baking, Friends!

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1.  The Letter Factory DVD
I’ve mentioned a time or 100 that this is the best product EVER made by any educational company.  I swear by this video and show it to my kindergarten class until they are singing the little songs that go along with every letter.

2.  The Letter Factory Board Game
Well, duh.  The game goes along with the DVD and it’s just brilliant.  It is no longer made, but you can find them on ebay.

3.  The Tablets
I have now been the proud owner of every single tablet made by LeapFrog, and they just keep getting better.

I use the tablets in my classroom during several times of the day.  I have them available during our Center time for kids to play on, during our Literacy block when I want them using the ebooks, and during our Math Centers.  My favorite thing about the tablets is that even when kids are “just playing” and have no specific activities that I have selected for them, they are still learning all the time!  Kart racing is one of the favorite games for my kids because they can race against each other, while they are each on their own tablet.  Now, you would think that a car race isn’t educational, but in order to power up their cars they have to solve math problems.  I’m telling you, learning is embedded everywhere!

The new LeapPad Platinum is one of the bigger tablets.  The LeapPad, LeapPad2, and LeapPad3 are not quite as large.  Personally, I really like the large screen and hefty feeling of the LeapPad Ultra and the LeapPad Platinum.  The LeapPads are super durable.  I can’t even begin to tell you how many times they are dropped by my kindergartners each day!  My only complaint about the tablet itself is the sylus that is attached.  It has a squishy top on the stylus that is kind of cool, but it was torn up within the first month.  If the stylus is my only complaint, then I’m ok with that!

As for the content, here are a few of my favorite things:

*Kid-Safe Web – LeapSearch is a kid safe web browser that has age appropriate content picked by the LeapFrog Learning Experts.

*New Imagicard Learning Games – Ok, these are pretty cool.  The interactive trading cards come to life on the LeapFrog tablets.  Kids can use the camera to bring their characters to life and unlock more ways to play.

Some of the games include THE LETTER FACTORY (woo hoo!), PAW Patrol, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.  Ummm, I can hardly wait to see how the kindergarten boys are going to fall in love with the Ninja Turtle game!

*E-books – During our Daily 5 time of our kindergarten literacy block,  I tell the kids that I want them reading or listening to reading.  If they are using the tablets, their only choice is to pick an ebook. Although, I think I will add in the Letter Factory games this year.  There are tons of different options for ebooks.  Frozen is the HUGE favorite, but I also have a space book that is a close second.  I was surprised that the fairy tales stories are not chosen too often and that the Pet Pals IS chosen.  Kids surprise me sometimes.  I often think they will love one thing and then they pick something that I think won’t be a favorite. Here’s a picture of the Sophia the First book.

Overall, I have to say this is the best tablet yet!  It’s one of those MUST-HAVE items for young kids.  I use these in my classroom, but my daughter also used them when she was younger.  As I mentioned above, I love that learning is constantly embedded into every single activity.  If there are two things your young kids need, they are: 1) The Letter Factory DVD   2) A LeapPad Tablet – and spend the few extra dollars to buy the bigger one.  You won’t be sorry!

Happy Learning!

**The opinions in this post are all my own.  I was provided a LeapPad Platinum in exchange for reviewing the product.**

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I have a Pinterest board set up for wire crafting now.

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If you missed my post on my happy mail day, here is the rundown on my fabric:

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I should probably give a shout-out to my laminator too!  It comes in handy for making sturdy labels. (It’s a Scotch brand, from Amazon, and it was only $30.)

When my daughter was younger, her toy bins had labels with pictures. I would pretend that it helped my daughter put her toys away in the right places. In reality, it helped ME put her toys away in the right places.

For the garage, I made printed adhesive labels. Sadly, these bins are all overflowing and need some attention at the moment.  But, the labels are still pretty!

 

The next two pictures were from my bathroom organization post.  One of the parents in my classroom stopped me today to let me know that she bought bins and organized her bathroom like this today!  Love it!  Doesn’t organization make you happy?

You know that little cupboard in your kitchen, on the backside of your cabinets, that seems like dead space?  It’s our art cubby.  Everyone needs an art cubby if you have kids at home.  Ok, now that the kids are older I call it the Homework Supply Cupboard (although sometimes Art Cubby just slips out… hey, I’m a kindergarten teacher). Once again, we have bins and labels in there!

 

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