To Catch a Leprechaun

Not much sewing happened today.  I did sew this:

What the heck is that, you ask?  It's a table cloth of course!  For this tiny table:

The table is made from an empty spool of thread and an empty spool of ribbon.  The chairs were caps from my daughters applesauce and a few lollipop sticks cut in half.  Why, oh why, you ask?

Well my daughter's kindergarten homework this week is to build a leprechaun trap.  Why do they need to be trapped?  I'm sure if she were older, we would be organizing rallys to free the leprechauns against unjust treatment, but she is in kindergarten.  Trapping one of those little men is said to be possible, but they are very tricky!  We spent all weekend formulating our plan (READ "my plan"), we would build a fairy house, complete with treasure, and just when he goes to take it, the trap will snap shut!  Here is our house:

Leprechans like green.  Notice the sky lights!

Interior view, prefurnishings.  Fairy's have hardwood floors, nice!

Treasure in one corner, lit fire in the other.  Hmm, looks a little cramped, much like my first apartment.

oversized bed, and an artist's easel, because DD insisted the fairy was an artist!

Yes, I made the bedspread yesterday during naptime.

I haven't quite figured out how the trap will "snap shut" yet, but we have until Thursday.  My daughter has a lot of work of her own to do decorating the house with art, and the outside with flowers, etc.  If you were a leprechan, would you go in this house?

leprechaun's view thru front door

I will post additional pictures of the finished details in a few days.

Whale of a Day

Not much sewing happens around here on the weekends, so I thought I would tell you about the fun festival I took the kids to last weekend.  My DH was out of town, and I always struggle with what to do with the kids when he is gone.  A friend heard about this lovely festival and we made a playdate out of it.  It was called a Whale of a Day in Point Vicente (near Palos Verdes), and it was awesome!  And Free!!!

The festival is to celebrate the migrating gray whales and Point Vicente is a good place to spot them.  Of course, we didn't see any that day, but plenty of "professional" whale watchers were camped out with their binoculars looking to the ocean.  The festival had all kinds of activities for the kids, including the favorite bouncy house, also face painting, various crafts, a marching band, a fire truck, etc.  Two of my favorite activities were the Mobile Aquarium from the Aquarium of the Pacific, and seeing the different wildlife on exhibit from one of the nature centers.  The wildlife was amazing.  They had a real wolf (surrounded by two fences, in case you were wondering), a beautiful brown eagle, some llamas (not sure where they are "wild" in California), a desert tortoise, several snakes, a red tailed hawk, I could go on and on!  It was really neat to see these creatures so close and try to teach my kids about them.  I am a little worried that they are doomed to be "city kids", and not understand the importance of nature.  I guess I will just have to keep trying.

I can't believe I didn't take any pictures.  I had my hands pretty full though!

The Liebster Blog Award

My blog was awarded the Liebster Blog Award, which is totally neat!  The Liebster is awarded to a fellow blogger and means "Dear", "Beloved" or Favorite", it is then passed along to more "Dear", "Beloved", or "Favorite" Blogs.  Quite cool.

This award was given to me by the lovely, talented, and very humorous Tina of Holy Scrap!  Even the name of her blog makes me smile!  Thank you, Tina, for noticing my blog and your lovely comments.

Now it is my turn to tell you about some of my my Favorites, but first I should mention the rules...

The Rules: (Of course, there are rules. What's an award without rules?)
1. First off, it is for up and coming blogs with less than 200 followers
2. You gotta thank and link back to the person who gave it to you.
3. You copy-past the award and blog about it.
4. You pass it on to 5 other deserving blogs and leave a comment letting them know and hope the love keeps going around.

Normally, I tend to ignore emails, etc. that require sending it on, but this one is purely fun and all about just getting the word out about a blogger you already love, so.....Here are my 5 picks and I hope you check them out:

• Emily at Keeping Time - not a quilting blog, but I love her voice.  She has a real talent for writing, and I love hearing about her "scenes" from her life and tales of motherhood
• Clare at Selfsewn - I love her fresh look.  Her tutorials are great, and I'm looking forward to seeing more paper piecing and handwork on her blog.
• Elisa at Postpartum Quilter - Elisa participates in several swaps and I love to see what she has created and received.  She is also a kindred spirit, quilting to alleviate the chaos of that kids can sometimes bring.
• Sarah at Narcoleptic in a Cupboard - this is a new blog I just found this week, but I am already in love with her witty/humorous writing style.  And, she is talented to boot!  A perfect combination!
• Laura at Pine Ridge Quilter - Laura puts all of herself into her quilts and is quite honest about it.  I appreciate that.  I also loved her 25 days of Christmas; over the holidays she posted a picture of a 

So feel free to check out these lovely blogs when you get a chance.  Who knows, you might fall in love with them as I have.