tooth on the loose

my sweet boy finally looses his first tooth!
bye bye cute little tooth..hello big tooth, thats already sneaking in.
another milestone checked off the list

another mark in his life that reminds me how much he is growing
feels like yesterday i was watching those baby teeth come in-

doll bedding

a gf of mine had her daughters 5th birthday and american girl dolls kick in at this age...so i am told- on her wish list was a bed for her dolls- i of course wanted to make the bedding for her as her gift- here it is-

the bed has a trundle and comes with a pink and blue sheet- so i made 2 pillows and two blankets- one pink one blue- i had a lot of fun picking out girl stuff and enjoyed making these for her-

wanting to get a pic of the bedding with a doll... this is what lucas picked to put under the covers!! BOYS!!

this is the darling fabric one in pink one in blue and backed it with this sweet purple pin dot fabric- she LOVED it!!!!!! i got oodles of pictures of her playing with it- made my heart so happy that she enjoyed my hand made gift so much!

-birdie

a blanket for my littlest big one

i am back! i feel like this past year i have taken these big breaks from my blog- the blog is my hobby and family and other stuff does come first- so i took the rest of the summer to enjoy with the kids and well just enjoy the rest of summer-

we had a wonderful vacation up to leech lake at the end of august- we were gone for a week and we always have the best time- sometimes at night you need just a little extra blanket to keep warm so i decided lucas was up first for a new light weight blanket to have on those chilly mornings at the cabin and for the upcoming fall weather- dont you just love watching your kids cuddled up on the couch in the morning with a little blanket...hmm my favorite!

off i went on a hunt for the perfect fabrics for lucas- i scored in one night of shopping- his favorite color is orange- he totally is becoming a boy and doesnt want any baby stuff so i felt these were the perfect colors and it all came together so well-

i just did a easy block quilt and backed with some cotton- a simple stitch around the edge and i was done- like i said its nice and light weight but still cozy!

he LOVED it! 

not only did i feel so lucky to find the perfect fabric for the front i also found the perfect fabric for the back that night too! music notes.. if you know my lucas he loves his music! it was really just the perfect little quilt for my littest big one-

-birdie

lanesboro- decorah

a weekend away- does the body good!

(even with kids:))

 (e and Lucas)

my mom-carl-jen-eleanor-lucas and i all took off early friday morning for what was a fantastic weekend away! little nolan stayed home with dadddy- it gave me some one on one time with Lucas which i treasure more and more these days since my time is always divided between the two boys- we headed off to destination lanesboro, MN. with of course- some stops on the way!

 

i made a new sewing machine cover the other night that has pinks and greens so i thought it was only appropriate to start collecting green vintage buttons to match- here is the stash i came home with (happy face)

also- came home with a collection of PERFECT condition birdie glasses at a small price of $3 each.. yes- i am serious.. how cute?!?! (LOVE face)

after making it down to lanesboro and getting checked into our loft that over looks the river we did some walking around town- first stop- the kids sitting with their great, great, great uncle otto moe- he had a grocery store in lanesboro in this spot where the bench now sites- the store is gone but there is the most wonderful- sweet little diner- more on that below..

the kids eating breakfast in the diner- 2 eggs and toast for $2- really? and the service by val and the cooking by her husband gordon- this two person diner is a must eat if you around town! we ate here both mornings- as the kiddos ate- i sat and dreamed of all the small town easy life wonders and i gazed at these beautiful flowers in the jadeite vase- how lovely...

(taken with instagram)

after breakfast we were off to decorah, iowa for the nordic fest!!

a couple stops on the way- 

stumbled across 6 old machines with original cases in an old barn

(taken with instagram)

if this picture doesnt make you smile you have issues- my cutie boy enjoying himself at the nordic fest! -little norsk- we saw nordic dancers- the museum- plenty of bunads- food- flags and of course the fire station-

after a good old.. no-no- i mean the BEST lutheran church basement dinner we headed down for a street dance- it was so much fun watching all the luther college kids dancing (real dancing) and all the families laughing and enjoying themselves- i know we did!

a fun view of the streets of nordic fest!

i am so proud of my norwegian heritage and so thankful to my mom who has introduced us to all the fun we have had over the years at nordic fest and all that goes along with it- i am happy to have shared it with lucas this year!

so it goes with out saying we brought projects to work on at night- i got most of my hedgehog embroidery done- isnt he cute?! he will be in the window at sewtropolis soon!

a fun-relaxing weekend was had by all! lucas was sad last night at bedtime- he wanted to be back in lanesboro- i felt the same- i love that little town-

-birdie

lucky mom

i have a little boy that wants to sew- how did i get so lucky? this boy amazes me more everyday- he got on that machine and started stitching away- i was making cold/hot packs for a upcoming boutique and he wanted one for himself- he made one... by himself! I only helped him stitch the end b/c it was a tight stitch- natural i think :) or just a very proud mom! how many kids want to sit w/ mom and sew? i know i dont know of any.. what a great skill to have as an adult too! once again, yay for boys!!

when i asked him what he wants to make next he says "make a quilt" stay tuned!

-birdie

picture of my week

someone introduced me to a lovely blog called soulemama (thanks melanie):) i just fell in love with her blog- if you know me- there is a ton of stuff on her blog that calls me- things i would love to do- things i would want to share with my children- i love all of her photos and i am taking a idea from her- she takes a photo and posts it- doesnt say anything about it just lets people look and imagine she calls it "this moment" so here is my moment of the week- i am going to share a blurb of what the picture means to me- so that will be different-

these are my boys- i love them just the way they are- precious-sweet- lovable- funny-naughty-whinny-hungry-cute little boys- they are the light of my life- i love listening to lucas sing songs in the distance and hearing his joke of the day- and nolan spraying his pretend fire hose and watching his blonde hair fly in the wind- their giggles make my heart happy- these are my silly boys-

thank you soulemama for the inspiration- i take so many pictures but rarely ever just stare at one and think about how happy the moment makes me- 

-birdie

pot holders

vintage like pot holders anyone?

you need a heavy weight fabric and a bag of Insul-Bright

i told you- i am totally into sewing- this was a really fun project-

i will be selling these in september at the 

lookathebirdie-vintage/craft sale in Minneapolis

(more info to come)

 

Melody Miller Fabric

the silhouette one is my favorite-

-birdie, xo

circle skirt

i fell in love with a circle skirt my co-worker made over at sewtropolis-

i had to make one- instead of buying a pattern or taking a class i thought i would try a tutorial- it worked!

birdies skirt!

i have to admit that it was a total fabric hog- but i would make more!
the awesome tutorial i found over here at MADE:
http://www.danamadeit.com/2008/07/tutorial-the-circle-skirt.html

i am just giddy with excitement on how it turned out-
for my very own first piece of clothing- it was so super easy make- 

-birdie

i want to wish my lovely grandma a happy 89th birthday! i love you so so much!!

one

birdie!

i cant believe its been a year since i started the birdie blog-

thank you for reading and being a part of the fun-

looking forward to another year full of blogging!

-birdie

tshirt scarves

 

(this one i made the other day off pinterest) 7/5/12)

 these tshirt scarves are everywhere- i was not interested at first- but- i had to say- yes- i have made one- so here it is- and i have to say- it was super fun to make- i might make more-

start with an old shirt

(crafting @ night= horrible lighting for pics)

http://zitzmanfam.blogspot.com/2012/01/pinteresting-saturday-t-shirt-scarves.html

orginal pin from hellogiggles

 i followed this tutorial- 

http://zitzmanfam.blogspot.com/2012/01/pinteresting-saturday-t-shirt-scarves.html

orginal pin from hellogiggles

she also has a video link to watch

 hello- yep- i like

so EASY- cute-fun and wearing it out tonight!

i want to add a little something to it- like a pin or... not sure yet- something will come to mind-

I am hosting bitch and stitch this month (tomorrow)

stay tuned for show and tell

have a great holiday weekend

-birdie

summer belt

i am telling you- all i want to do is sew now- the passion for the machine is on full force here- i picked up these great fabrics at the shop in fat quarters- cut them into small strips- and started sewing them together-

after i felt the strip was long enough i put some heavy interfacing and a pattern fabric for the back- stitched up the sides by turning the fabric under and used bias for the tie- which i love- it frays a little and looks super cute-

used a small piece of fabric on both ends to cover the stitching that came together at the ends-

 a few samples of how it looks

 i also wore the bias through my belt loops in the front-
 loved that look a lot

tons of compliments on this-
 i love to dress up my plain wardrobe with color

-birdie

the dress

so this is how the dress was made..

it started with a Amy Butler Pattern:

lotus-tunic and cami

 laying out the fabric with the pattern

 cutting

 and more cutting

 uff da! that was a whole lot of cutting

 

(total side note- jods, krissy- does this rug look familiar?) 

after all the cutting the sewing begins! 

a dress and a liner was sewn

dress-mom

liner- me 

sewing on my moms ancient singer...

my liner all finished

 i now give you a

dress

i love how it turned out- it is so much cuter than i had imagined

i love it on- super comfortable

*******************************************

the sewtropolis grand opening was a hit by the way- 

here is a pic of all us employee gals

 (minus one & owner nikol is in the turquoise dress) in our "red dresses" and turquoise tights (store colors) of course- i made flip flops to match

 what a fun time- 

a million thanks to my wonderful-talented momma for all your help- 

it would not have been done with out you- xoxo

are you inspired to make a dress yet?

-birdie