{this moment} – A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

As Mommies (and Daddies) not only did we gain an additional member of our family but we gained bragging rights! What? You didn’t read that part in What to Expect When You’re Expecting?! Ok, so maybe it wasn’t in there… but everyone knows parents love to brag about their kids.

And well, since this is my blog….

We were in the midst of a little photo shoot of one of our up and coming items and she was giving me the “ugly” smile (which I’ll share someday!) so I broke out into song and when I was reviewing the pictures I noticed I got all her moves and knew I had to make a scrapblog for it.

My son is all about pretend play and he especially loves “cooking”. I thought about getting him a kitchen set but then I thought about all the space that it would take up let alone the cost of it! So I put on my creative cap and designed a stove top table cloth that could be placed on his existing table since he ALREADY plays with my real pots and pans!

Here’s what I did:

1) I dug through my fabric bin and found a neutral fabric for my son’s table. I measured 40″ X 80″ to allow for a good drape below the table top surface. I then cut out paper pieces to outline the stove “coils” and “knobs”:

2) Next, I outlined the pieces with chalk so that I could then sew on the ribbon and felt appliques:

3) Here’s the fun part: I sewed on the ribbon “coils”, added the felt knobs and for additional interest and color, stamped on the alphabet in the middle section. No reason why he can’t learn while playing, right?! Now I have a Top Chef in training!

BONUS: You know how I love multi-functional stuff, right? Well, this table cloth also has a red-checkered underside that I can flip over and/or use as a picnic blanket. I also sewed on corner pockets to store items (keys, toys, etc.) that will keep the blanket from blowing away!

Before our daughter was born we put our condo on the market. During the de-cluttering and staging process we decided that not everyone was as geeky as us and would want 3 desktop computers and 2 laptops in their bedroom. So the mini lab was packed up and I switched to using my husbands Macbook Air. Being a PC person I thought the switch would be hard. It wasn’t. I was in love and I haven’t turned back since!

In fact I’ve become even more of a geek  by getting my first iPhone this month. It was a long and agonizing wait for it to be shipped but it finally arrived and being a crafty person I knew it needed a cozy… not just any cozy but a handmade cozy!

It took two tries and four long nights of cutting and sewing but I did it. It has a little pocket in front for credit cards/cash and headphones for quick trips out and a wrist strap for carrying.

It only took so long because I got stumped on how to sew the lining in and tried a handful of ways until I finally got it. I even took a picture so I wouldn’t forget, which was a good thing because when I went to make the second one I forgot!

Why did I need two? Well in the process of figuring out the lining I made the cozy too short and the phone stuck out about a centimeter. My husband said it looked like it was wearing a hand-me-down and insisted I make a proper one for my beloved new phone.

Oh I’m also a little embarrassed to mention (being in the IT field and all) that I used a magnetic closure at first and then totally freaked out after realizing the magnet could damage the phone the same way they do to computer hard drives. The second one has a proper snap button to  secure the phone and cards.

Any iPhone users out there? I’m always on the lookout for cool new apps to try. Let me know what your favorites are!

Beauty begins on the inside. What does that have to do with sewing? Check out this sewing tip from Make It and Love It and learn why a little trimming on the insides of your project will make it even more beautiful on the outside!

* Image from Make It and Love It.

Does the Suggested Shops feature really find items that I would like? The verdict would be a happy why yes it does! I gave it a go and found some great items. These are just a few and it just so happened that after I hearted 4 of them I noticed the blue and pink trend. Anyone want to take a stab at what my favorite colors are?!

First row: Wool Monkey, Phaedra in Pink Leatherette, Felt Tree

Second row: La Fleur Sweater, Cherry Blossom Girl Felt Headband, Zooey in Pink

As you know we’ve had family in town the last couple of weeks and have been all over the Twin Cities showing them around. Last week we stopped by the Como Zoo for the kids. Our first stop was into the Blooming Butterflies exhibit. If you’ve never been to one of these it’s an amazing experiance. Butterflies from around the world fly freely in an enclosed tropical garden.

If you’re lucky enough one will even land on you! The Little Peanut has got to be a lucky charm because she had two butterflies land on her. I wasn’t quick enough with the camera to get the first one but when the second one landed I was ready.

Here she is with her Auntie rocking the sunglasses and butterfly!

While I struggle myself with making a hat look fashionable my girl totally rocks them as you can see here:

She’s currently in the “I can do it myself Mommy!” phase and insists on  dressing herself. She’s still getting the hang of shirts and pants but has mastered hats. The cute thing is she puts them on without caring where the brim is and most of the time it ends up on the side or back. Which makes her look even more like a fashionista.

Last week I whipped up a basic crochet hat without a brim.

While it looks cute itself I wanted to sass it up a bit and decided to add a little butterfly applique.

I think it gives it a finishing touch. The great thing about the applique is that it could be changed out pretty easily making an old hat turn into a new(ish) hat!

Blue isn’t always sad! Yesterday I got my nails done and learned that neon colors are hot hot hot. This treasury is for my manicurist who sent me home with neon blue.

I used to work at the gift wrap department in Marshal Fields (which became Dayton’s and then Macy’s) and saw many wedding registry gifts come through. In case you were interested or ever find you’re on a trivia show- the most popular items are towels and silverware. Not too exciting right? Being Asian it’s typical to give cash so I’ve rarely had the opportunity to shop a registry but if I were given the choice I think I would deviate and buy the happy couple something special and unique from Etsy of course!

OK… I’ll be honest, this treasury is totally all me and what I would love… wedding or not! (Psss… husband are you reading?!)