Samaritan's purse purse

I'm not entirely sure why

- could have something to do with having a passel of kids -

but we're just behind on everything.

I wasn't sure we were going to manage 

putting together shoeboxes this year,

but yesterday evening 

the kids all had a late snack

and wouldn't need dinner till 7:30 - 8ish

so we just loaded up and ran to Walmart.

the boys' box

The boys shopped for a boy, around their age,

and I took Lily & Lex'

 and we picked out stuff for a 2-4 year old girl we called  'Emily'.

I thought Emily was a great name;

usually Lily picks 

umm 

different names

like

Delucia

or Beniko.

But then I heard her chanting,

"Rocky loves Em i ly" (from The Three Ninjas)

The boys had 'named' their gift recipient Rocky...

anyways...

We picked out 2 little baby dolls

and decided we would make a little purse / doll bed for them.

Lily helped me choose the fabrics

(two fat quarters)

before she had to head off to bed herself.

She had a hard time 'getting' that this was for a little girl

we would never meet

this side of heaven.

She was really excited to play with 'Emily's' new toys with her.

I explained several times that that wasn't happening.

So, instead of playing with her,

we took some pictures of Lily using her purse bed

so little Emily would know how to use it

and included the photos in her shoebox of girlie goodies.

With the scraps from the bag, I made a tiny quilt

that ended up being just perfectly sized.

I forgot to take a picture of it

(and all the other fun stuff we bought)

but I made a sweet pillowcase dress, too

figuring it could be worn by anyone from a 2 yr old to a 6 yr old

I'm thinking maybe another little doll purse / bed is in order

ya think?

back in the saddle again

Well.

I finally got to spend a bit of time sewing.

Well.

sort of sewing.

Is it sewing if it's paper?

I think it is....

I made 12 monthly journals as a gift for a dear friend
using double sided cardstock,
which I thought was a nice surprise on the inside :-)

I included 3 pages for listing 'gratitudes'
and 2/3 of a page per day
(3 days per 2 page spread)

These are really fun to make

and if you aren't trying to make a dozen at a time,

they go pretty quickly.

After doing a few, I decided I didn't like how it looked

machine sewing the pages in

so I ended up sewing that part by hand.

I pre-punched my holes with a thumbtack
so it went pretty quick

all ready for gifting

I hope she enjoys them.
And maybe,
I'll find some time to do other sewing soon, too!