We're Going Green!!

     As a nursing mother myself, I decided to add a new item to my shop that I could use....reusable nursing pads!! I sat down tonight, found a pattern from a piece of tupperware in my cupboard, traced the circle and went down to my sewing room and created these!! I am so excited to add them to my shop and also to make some for myself too :)

     It started by me making my grocery list for the store tomorrow and I had to add nursing pads to it and I was thinking it would be nice to not have to keep buying them and, being the crafty person I am, went downstairs and made my own.

     This is just the first pair available right  now but there will be many more to come. As soon as I finished snapping my last photo of them, my son woke up hungry and was finished for the night. We are supposed to be snowed in this weekend so my plan is to sew sew sew!!!

     Please stop by the Little Buttercup Baby Shop in the next few days for some more new and exciting items!!


"Opie, you haven't finished your milk.  We can't put it back in the cow, you know."  ~Aunt Bee Taylor, The Andy Griffith Show

~Shannon

Bib & Shoe Gift Sets

     Here are two new sets I have added to my shop!! There are many more to come but it has been crazy around here in the last week or so with the holidays I haven't had time to get them all up and running. I did get into my sewing room for the first time today in at least a week. Between the three different Christmas celebrations we had, cooking, baking, kids, cleaning, putting away new toys, getting rid of old toys, laundry......the list goes on. I am hoping that after this holiday weekend to come, things will settle down a bit and some more crafting will get done.

     I am thinking about hiring a painter to come over and paint my sewing room. It is a darker blue right now and to me, that color is not inspiring at all!! I have picked out samples at Menards and like a sage green light purple combo. And then all of my sewing desks, storage and table are all white so that would be my accent color. I have hung white sheer curtains in the window to replace the hideous blue and green plaid ones that were there when we moved in. That did wonders for that room. They also had covered all of the outlet covers in the same ugly fabric.....not sure what that was about. I think if I can get the room painted and maybe redo some of my storage to make more I think that room will be good to go. I would love to paint it all myself but since I can't find time to sew or even to sit for a few minutes to blog, I better not try. It will probably sit half done for a few months and that will be even worse.

     Other than that, not much new here. Just wanted to log on and check in and show you all what I have been working on. It's time I get this shop up and running and I will get there!! Hope you all had a wonderful holiday!

"Don't aim for success if you want it; just do what you love and believe in, and it will come naturally."  ~David Frost

~Shannon

All wrapped up

     Well it's official! All of the Christmas presents are wrapped!! It took us about two hours while the kids napped but we finally finished. We got all of the kids presents wrapped, the family drawing for my side, his family and also the birthdays that are in the next week also. Whew! We also were able to use up the older wrapping paper that we have had for years with different amounts on each roll. Now next year we will be able to start from scratch and buy all new fun paper :)

     We took the kids to go see Santa also and they did so good! No tears :)  My son just looked at him and my daughter was talking up a storm! She told him what she wanted for Christmas and what her little brother wants, according to her. Haha

     Now this week I will spend relaxing knowing that all of the work is done and will just count down the days til Christmas. My daughter has a Christmas chain going and my is it getting short fast!!!

     I hope you all have a great week and get all of your last minute shopping done :)


"The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree:  the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other."  ~Burton Hillis

~Shannon

My New Toy :)

     I finally got my embroidery machine!! I had it in the box for about a week but finally made a spot for it in my sewing room. I haven't had a ton of time to play around with it but I did make my son a set of fabric blocks with his name on it and my daughter an apron with her name on the front pocket. I am thinking about adding both of those items to my shop as well but have to work on the pattern just a bit more. I can see that this is going to be very fun to use! I love to personalize things and now I can!!

     My plan for tomorrow is to sit in the sewing room and work on some new things and figure out what this machine can really do and watch the snow fall. We are supposed to get 14+ inches of snow here overnight into tomorrow so I will be a home body! We were supposed to take the kids to see Santa tomorrow but may need to wait until next weekend instead.

     We got all of our Christmas shopping done today!!! Anything we couldn't find in the store we got on Amazon. I love that website! Christmas shopping delivered right to your door, can't beat that! We also ordered our Christmas cards today online from Walmart and they are going to be so cute!! I can't wait to get them next week.

     Hope you are all getting your holiday things done. Christmas is fastly approaching and it is a very good feeling to be done. Now we just have to wrap them all up and wait for Santa to come ;)


"Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful."  ~Norman Vincent Peale

~Shannon

The Bibs Have Arrived!

     The new bib designs have arrived!!! We are now backing all of our bibs from here on out in soft chenille instead of flannel. I went to JoAnn Fabrics and got a ton of new, fun designs for children's bibs and a lot of it is designer fabric. Here are 4 of the bibs we have listed tonight and there will be more to come!!

     I am on my mom's computer right now because my laptop charger cord shorted out some how and now my computer is dead and I have no way of charging it :(  I never knew I would miss it so bad! But luckily, I bought a replacement cord on Ebay and I should have it by Thursday this week. I haven't had any way of listing anything new or checking in on my shop other than through my phone which isn't that great so I can't wait for it to arrive!

     I will make it a quick blog entry tonight as it is getting late and I have to let my mom's computer go back home with her soon :) 

Check out the new bib selection HERE!

"Home computers are being called upon to perform many new functions, including the consumption of homework formerly eaten by the dog."  ~Doug Larson

~Shannon

Happy Birthday to ME!

     So today is my birthday and I feel pretty good. Usually I am all bummed about being another year older but today I got to wake up with my two kids (hubby had to work :( ) and have a nice breakfast and my sister spent the night last night so it was a great morning!! And...it snowed! I love when it snows on my birthday!!!

     I am being featured in another giveaway on a cute blog starting today through the 9th so be sure to go by and check it out. It is on the blog Lee, me and the girls and here are the choices you can win! Yes, choices!! I am offering two different prints, one girl set and one boys set so you can choose which one you would like if you win! Click HERE to visit the giveaway!!

     Be sure to check out the giveaway! I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and I will be sure to eat extra cake for each of you :)  LOL!


"Birthdays are good for you.  Statistics show that the people who have the most live the longest."  ~Larry Lorenzoni

~Shannon

New Patterns....Coming Soon!

 

Here are some of the new fabric patterns I bought this past weekend to make new bibs out of!! Also, these new patterns will be backed in chenille. The stack on the top are fun, bright colors for kids, some designer fabrics. The stack on the bottom are all designer fabrics from Debbie Mumm and are adorable!!! Now I just have to find the time to get them together and they will available for purchase!!! My goal is to have some of them ready to list by this coming weekend.

     I had a successful Cyber Monday sale. I will definetly be doing another sale soon and will announce the details here when I do.

     Also, Little Buttercup Baby will be featured in another blog giveaway beginning Dec. 4th I believe. I will post the link and the item up for the giveaway as soon as it is available.


"Know your limits, but never stop trying to exceed them."  ~Author Unknown

~Shannon

Cyber Monday Sale!!

     Cyber Monday Sale!!! Go to my shop and use the coupon code: CYBERMONDAY2010 at the checkout to receive 15% off of each item! This offer is good starting now and will end Monday evening so hurry!!

http://www.littlebuttercupbaby.etsy.com/

     What are the deals you are after for Cyber Monday?

"Whoever said money can't buy happiness simply didn't know where to go shopping."  ~Bo Derek

~Shannon

Happy Thanksgiving!

     Happy Thanksgiving! I have been baking up a storm this morning. I started out with pumpkin spice bars with cream cheese frosting then made my apple pie and finally have the pumpkin pie in the oven. Unfortunetly, there was a crust casualty along the way. I misread the crust instructions telling me to pull the crust edge up over the pie pan and by not doing that the sides of my crust shrunk all the way down the side to less than an inch tall. Luckily I don't have to be to my parents until later this afternoon so I had plenty of time to fix it.

     One thing I am thankful for today is my family. One year ago today I found out I was pregnant with my son. I was very thankful for my pregnancy last year as we waited a long time for it. Now a year later I am thankful to have him in our lives. He was definetly missing and now our family feels complete with him and his older sister. I am also thankful for my wonderful husband who works very hard and lets me stay home with our children. He is amazing and I love him more every day.

What are you thankful for today?


"Hem your blessings with thankfulness so they don't unravel."  ~Author Unknown

~Shannon

These items could be yours!!

Little Buttercup Baby is being featured in a blog giveaway and you could win these two bibs!! The solid one is a toddler bib and the two-tone is an infant size. Please visit Miskabelly's Blog for details on how to enter!! There is also a little bit about me and how I started my shop.

"The manner of giving is worth more than the gift."  ~Pierre Corneille, Le Menteur

~Shannon

Best Cupcake Recipe Ever!

Over the weekend I made these awesome chocolate cupcakes with vanilla buttercream frosting and just had to share the recipe!

Cupcakes:

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 2/3 cups sugar

3/4 cup butter

2/3 cup baking cocoa

1 1/4 cups water

1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

2 large eggs

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Beat all ingredients with electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds, scraping bowl constantly. Beat on high speed for 3 minutes. Pour into muffin cups.

3. Bake for 16-21 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting:

3 cups powdered sugar

1/3 cup butter

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

1 to 2 tablespoons milk

1. Mix powdered sugar and butter in medium bowl with spoon or electric mixer on low speed. Stir in vanilla and 1 tablespoon of milk.

2. Gradually beat in just enough remaining milk to make frosting smooth and spreadable. If frosting is too thick, beat in more milk, a few drops at a time. If frosting becomes too thin, beat in a small amount of powdered sugar.

3. Frost cupcakes and enjoy!!

"Chocolate is the answer. Who cares what the question is." ~Author Unknown

~Shannon

New Arrival

I am very excited to announce a new item I just added to my shop.......baby shoes!!!! I have only this one pair listed as of right now but I have many more to come. There will be boy & girl shoes available in several different sizes; 0-3 months, 3-6 months, 6-9 months & 12-18 months. Most of the shoes I am finishing up to list are flannel on both sides which will be perfect for keeping those tiny toes warm. I will be working on cotton shoes soon too. They are reversible with hidden seams to give you two options of color and maximum comfort for your little one.

Here is the link for the shoe section in my shop. Please check it often as I will be listing quite a few coming up soon!!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/littlebuttercupbaby?section_id=7550405

"There's really nothing quite so sweet as tiny little baby feet."   ~Author Unknown

~Shannon

Bring on the Christmas music!

     This is what I woke up to on Saturday morning! It was so beautiful. The first official snow fall in MN. We ended up getting about 8 inches that day and got a little more the next day. I love the first snow but it is never this much. Usually a dusting at most so this was a great surprise. My daughter couldn't wait to get her new coat, mittens, hat & boots on to go out and shovel with Daddy! She has been talking about shoveling for weeks now and we didn't have any snow but that is not the case anymore. She definetly slept good that night!!!

     The craftshow is 4 days away! I feel like it was never going to get here and now mom and I are in panic mode sewing away. We both tend to work better under pressure anyway so that is good for us. We did a "pre-setup" at her house last Friday night to see how we could best use our 10x6 space and figure out how to lay it all out. We went on a house hunt for different shaped and sized baskets and bins to display our things in. My sister came over and helped too and we had a lot of fun!! I really hope we do well at it because it would be a fun thing to do with my mom every year. I have heard that a successful craftshow is making 10x the amount of the entry fee. Well....it was $75 to enter....no pressure. LOL!

     My vacation was wonderful! It wasn't quite as relaxing as I had hoped but still lots of fun! We went to Gooseberry Falls and saw the waterfalls and walked the park, went swimming at the resort & relaxed and watched movies by the fireplace in our room. My daughter turned into a little fish in the pool and couldn't get her out. My son was so relaxed in the pool (it was his first time) he fell asleep!! I was holding him face to face in front of me walking in the shallow end and he just leaned back against the head rest of his life jacket and he slept for a half an hour. Here I was thinking he would scream when I put him in the water and he didn't make a peep. He is so funny.

     I baked homemade chocolate cupcakes and vanilla buttercream frosting this past weekend for a chili cook-off with my family so I will post that recipe and pics of my cupcakes soon!!

"Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire:  it is the time for home."  ~Edith Sitwell

~Shannon

Two days til vacation mode!

So I am at my mom & dad's house (we come over here every Friday night) and we are actually sewing!!! We always make this big plan to get all of this sewing done and be really productive and I would say one out of four night we actually are. Luckily, this was one of them! We are two weeks away now from a craftshow we are in and we are realizing we still have a lot to get done.

Tonight my mom is working on fabric coasters and I am working on baby shoes. The shoes are turning out super cute and I am really excited about them!! I will be adding them to my Etsy shop soon. I have some done but I might wait until after the craftshow is over to list them so I can bring the ones I have done there and not have to frantically make more.

Tomorrow I will spend part of my day packing the family's bags because we are heading up north to Duluth for 3 days!! This will be our 8th time up there. My husband brought me there for our 1 year dating anniversary and we loved the place we stayed so much that we go back every year. We even stay in the same room every time. It is on the top floor at the very end so it's very quiet and peaceful. There is usually 5 or less other couples that are there at the same time since it's during the week and off peak season. My daughter loves it because there is never anyone in the pool, we have the whole thing to ourselves.

I can't believe that it started with our 1 year anniversary and now, 8 years later, we are still celebrating there married for 4 years and 2 beautiful children. I hope we are able to go up there every year still to come and keep it a tradition for our kids as well. I am hoping for snow (I do every year) because there is nothing more beautiful than waking up in the morning watching it snow over Lake Superior. It is supposed to be a warmer week ahead so snow probably won't happen but I will still hope for it :)

"For you see, each day I love you more. Today more than yesterday and less than tomorrow."   ~Rosemonde Gerard

~Shannon

Pumpkin Pie Recipe

Yesterday I made homemade apple pie (for the fourth time this fall...hubby's favorite) and I thought I would share the recipe with you. It must be good if he keeps requesting more :)

Ingredients:

2/3 cup sugar

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Dash of salt

8 cups thinly sliced peeled tart apple (8 medium)

2 tablespoons butter or stick margarine (if desired)

1. Heat oven to 425 degrees.

2. Mix sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in large bowl. Stir in apples. Turn into pastry-lined pie plate. Cut butter into small pieces; sprinkle over apples. Cover with top pastry that has slits cut in it; seal and flute. Cover edge with 2-3 inch strip of aluminum foil to prevent excessive browning; remove foil during last 15 minutes of baking.

3. Bake 40 to 50 minutes or until crust is golden brown and juice begins to bubble through slits in crust. Cool on wire rack at least 2 hours.

This recipe comes from my Betty Crocker Bridal Edition Cookbook that I got for my wedding. I hope you enjoy this recipe and let me know if you make a pie from it!!

"Stressed spelled backwards is desserts.  Coincidence?  I think not!"  ~Author Unknown

~Shannon

Fall Cleaning

Today started out as a calm, relaxing day and turned into a major cleaning project. It was one of those things where one job turns into six. We started out by taking down the bassinet out of our bedroom (tear...) because my son has finally outgrown it. Then we brought my nightstand back up into the bedroom followed by making room for his pack-n-play bed and had to move furniture around and eventually got into dusting ceiling fans. You don't notice how dusty they really are in the summer because they are always on and are spinning. Well now that it is cold out and they are off, boy are they dusty!!! He dusted all three of them and I went behind him with the vacuum and dusted up all of the dust bunnies :)

Looking forward to tomorrow! Halloween!!! My daughter is going to be Jessie from Toy Story 3 and my son is going to be a skeleton. We are going to have a fun family day, carve pumpkins, watch football and go trick-or-treating in the evening. It will be my son's first Halloween and my daughter's first where she actually knows what it's all about. Last year we took her out but she still didn't understand what to do. This year she is super excited!!

I am also going to do a bit of baking tomorrow. My husband is requesting another apple pie (his favorite) and I will be soaking our pumpkin seeds in salt water prepping them to bake on Monday. I did this for the first time last year and they were so good! Way better than the store bought ones.

I managed to make it down to my sewing room today and created a new item for my shop!!! Unfortunetly the one I made needs a bit of tweaking but every great project needs a sample, right? I'm really excited about the new things I am making for my shop and will be getting them on soon. I did add some crocheted blanket and hat sets for newborns. They are really soft and warm! Perfect for a baby shower gift if you are in need of one. Right now we have three available: white, yellow & purple. We have green, blue & pink coming soon!!! They make a great set for new baby's coming home from the hospital.

Will update again as more new items become available.

"Please don't feed the dust bunnies."   ~Author Unknown

~Shannon

Time Flies...

I can't believe how fast fall is going. Halloween is a few days away and then it will be November! And that means that the craft show I am in with my mom is coming! (Insert panic feeling!!) I think we paid the money to enter back in early spring and figured we would have tons of time to sew and get everything together and now we are pretty much in panic mode. I luckily did a lot of sewing over the summer knowing I was going to have my son in early August and sewing time would come to a quick halt shortly after.

He came on July 31st and I would say it took me until about a month ago to get back in there and start sewing again. I think the humming of the sewing machine puts him to sleep :)  Also on the topic of time flying, he will be three months old on Halloween!! That, I can't believe! Kids just grow up way too fast. My daughter is 3 1/2 and I feel like she was just three months old. She is a big helper though. Last night I decided to bake homemade chocolate chip cookies and she was all about helping me. She got to hold the mixer and help make the batter. Then of course, she helped us eat them. She thought we did a good job :)  She is definetly becoming quite the baker. For her 3rd birthday she helped me bake cupcakes and she did such a good job!!

Another cold and rainy day today. The temp is supposed to get down to 32 degrees tonight and they are predicting a little bit of snow! I always love the snow especially the first one. I get super excited like a little kid. But...after New Year's is over, the snow can melt January 2nd and bring on spring! Haha

Hope you all have a wonderful day!

"Motherhood qualified me to let the child within come out and play."   ~Christy Borgeld

~Shannon

Sunday...a day to rest

Today is a cold, rainy fall day out there and it is the perfect weather to curl up on the couch with a hot glass of apple cider, my favorite!! Hubby is working, both kids are sleeping and mommy is enjoying watching a show that isn't animated! Lol 

I haven't done much crafting today but I think I just need to take a break for the day. Also, it could very well be too that my sewing room is in the basement and it's FREEZING down there!!! We haven't turned on the heat yet because we do most of our living on the upper level. Our home is a split entry and my sewing room and the "man cave" are really the only things we have downstairs. All of the bedrooms, living room and kitchen are all on the upper level and it stays pretty warm up here. When I do go down I will just have to turn on my little space heater and bring down a big mug of cider.

I know it isn't even Halloween yet, but I am really starting to get in the mood for Christmas!! My husband and I did all the shopping for the kids last week and they are  done! We have a Christmas savings account that builds all year long so when we see a gift we want to get someone, the money is there. We started it last year and it is working out perfectly!! Then you don't have that last minute panic of not having enough money and "gasp" have to charge it all. Not in this house; those days are over!

Something else happened today....my 2 1/2 month old son started laughing! Music to my ears :)

"The most wasted of all days is one without laughter"    ~E E. Cummings

~Shannon

Living in MN

Well you've heard of that show called It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia...well I am going to create one called It's always windy in Minnesota! I was so excited to have finished six sets of three bibs this morning and was planning on going outside today to take photos of them so I could list them tonight and it is so windy out there I didn't get many good shots. I will probably be able to list two sets and I just gave up after that. They were blowing so hard I couldn't get a good picture. So frustrating!!


The rest of the day is going well. We are having a lay around in jammies day and the kids are being so good today. They have allowed me to sew most of the morning and we have been having fun. I even had time to bake a cake!! Turned out yummy and will probably have to have a little bit more later :)


Well check the shop later and I will hopefully have some of my sets listed. My little boy is hungry so I will end it here for now.

"Children are the reward of life."   ~Congolese Proverb


~Shannon

Gift Sets

I am excited to announce that I am adding bib gift sets to my shop!! They will feature coordinating bibs in sets of two and sets of three. I had my mom over last night to help me group them together. We layed them all out on the floor of my sewing room and grouped them. They were all at different stages of being finished so I stacked them up in their groups and picked a stack and worked until all three were finished. I got 5 sets done today so if the weather isn't too windy tomorrow, I will take photos and get them listed soon!!

I am also playing with some appliqued bibs. I started making one a little bit ago but my son needed to eat so it was put to the side. Tonight after dinner I am planning to sneak downstairs to the sewing room and have my husband entertain the kids :)  It is challenging some days to get anything done but I take it one day at a time, each hour as it comes...

Challenges are what make life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.
~Joshua J. Marine

~Shannon

Productive Weekend

This weekend has been pretty productive so far and it's only half way through Saturday. I drug the kids over to my mom's house yesterday and again this morning and tons of sewing is being done!! I have a lot more bibs coming soon and I am very excited about the patterns. My mom is teaching different ways to use up my scraps and it is working well.

Her and I have a craft show we are doing for the first time here in town the weekend before Thanksgiving. It is in two schools, so it's huge, and people come from all of over to it every year. It isn't her first craft show but it is mine so I hope we do well.

The weather is still holding out here. A bit windy today so I may not be able to go outside to take photos today because my bibs blow all over! Maybe I will just keep sewing today and try for photos tomorrow. Not sure what I am going to do when winter comes. Going outside in the snow out to the fence doesn't thrill me much so I think I might go to Menards or something and build a prop fence to use when the weather is cold and snowy outside. I will probably prop it up in the dining room when the afternoon sun comes in. Got to get creative when you live in a state like MN!!

~Shannon

Welcome to my Blog!!

I'm so excited to start my blog! I am a stay at home mom of two wonderful children. I have a three year old daughter and a newborn son. My husband is amazing and works a lot so that I am able to stay home and raise our children.

I started sewing when I was in high school. My mom taught me how to sew at home and then I proceeded to take a sewing class my senior year and fell in love with it. I have made quilts and clothes for my nieces, nephews and friend's children. It is something I enjoy doing when I have extra time, which these days isn't very often :)

I decided to open up my Etsy shop so that I could share my love of sewing with others and also so that I didn't have finished projects just sitting in my sewing room collecting dust. Please check out my shop and feel free to share it with others!! I am always adding new things to my shop so be sure to check back often.

http://www.littlebuttercupbaby.etsy.com/

Have a wonderful day!

~Shannon