I’ve had several people ask where I get Daphne’s bows. Her first bow clips were from No Slippy Hair Clippy and didn’t take me long to realize that it was insane to spend $7 on a clip that would more than likely just get lost anyway. So then I moved onto bows in the $3 range, from places like Dillard’s or local children’s boutiques. Now almost all of her bows come from Etsy. I have found a few sellers with prices ranging from $1.50 to $1.67 a bow. And for that price it doesn’t stress me out too much if they get lost.

Daphne decided she didn’t want to swing, so we just sat on the park bench with our juice box and talked.

The place was packed!!! And honestly I didn’t see much I was interested in, with the exception of this charm from Waxing Poetic.

I have all my mom’s old sealing wax and seals (from her high school days?), so these charms remind me of them. In case you didn’t know, I’m a necklace person. I pretty much wear necklaces all the time and the more unusual or interesting, the better. Maybe I’ll put this charm on my wish list for Valentine’s Day or something.

While I’m on the topic of my wish lists, I’ve added another item: a commissioned watercolor portrait from Sitting Pretty Studios. How awesome would it be to have a watercolor portrait of Daphne as a toddler? I’d LOVE it and it would be something I’d hold onto forever. Grosgrain is giving away a 9.5″x11.5″ custom portrait. Unfortunately, I never win anything. Ok, I take that back. Once at a women’s retreat they were giving away door prizes and I happened to be sitting near the front and had to draw the names. I drew my own name. Then I felt like a big cheater. Then the woman handing out the door prizes made a joke about it. I mean, like I orchestrated my own win or something. Please.

First off, I am by no means an expert when it comes to babywearing. But I’m pretty sure if your carrier is giving you pain, you should find a babywearing group and try to get help. Maybe your fit isn’t good, size wrong, maybe a different carrier would be better for you, etc… Our Ergo carrier distributes all 20 lbs. of Daphne’s weight so well, I can barely tell I’m wearing her. But if I just hold her in my arms, or on my hip, she lasts about 5 minutes before my back starts to hurt. I only need a Motrin when I DON’T babywear. Motrin, don’t piss off the mommy bloggers.

And I’m seriously thinking about making a few dresses for Daphne. I had an “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” moment a few weeks ago and decided I really like Daphne in Hanna Andersson playdresses and might even consider getting her some Matilda Jane. Things I thought were totally not my style. At. All. Anyway, not really serious about the Matilda Jane. I mean, I know they have great resale value, but I just can’t spend $50 on a dress for Daphne. But I’m pretty sure I could make something similar (with my own, slightly less crazy, fabric). I’ve been eyeing Sandi Henderson’s Portobello Pixie Claire Pattern.

But I have some stash busting work ahead of me before I can justify buying any more patterns/fabric. I have enough Ginger Blossom fabric for a Turning Twenty quilt, but when I realized how much it would be to have someone else machine quilt it, I gave up. Should I make myself a rag quilt instead? Like this one? Or one more like Daphne’s rag quilt that I made earlier this year? Another problem I have with big projects is I have a tendency to get sick of the patterns. Like after finishing Daphne’s rag quilt I never wanted to see another Amy Butler print ever again. I’m so fickle. And then I have other fabrics, like some Heather Ross Lightning Bugs and Other Mysteries, that I’m afraid to cut into. I can’t figure out what to do with them, like I’m waiting for this perfect project to come along. Then I go on Flickr or Craftster and look for ideas, get totally overwhelmed, then say “screw it!” and pick up my camera. Anyone have a problem getting started on a project?

Are you sick of that question yet? I am. Quite honestly, the only thing I really want for Christmas is an amazing picture of Daphne that I could have printed as a gallery wrap. I have a few random things on my Amazon wish list and asked Chris for a camera bag, but really I had a hard time coming up with anything I wanted. So, family, if you are reading this, you don’t have to get me anything. Really. I don’t mind. Or you could make me something. I LOVE handmade things. Or get a family in a Third World country a goat through World Vision in my name. (Have you seen their gift catalog? For $70 you can buy a llama for a struggling family in Peru. Or a sewing machine, or a well. I think that’s so cool!! I want to buy someone a llama.)

It’s not that I’m feeling Grinchy this year. I’m very excited about Christmas! I can’t wait until Daphne opens up the doll I bought her. She’s going to freak out. I look forward to spending time with family and watching Daphne interact with everyone. I can’t wait to see her tearing through the wrapping paper and trying to take ornaments off the tree. Having a kid definitely brings back the magic of Christmas.

And I guess like a lot of other families, we will be cutting back on our Christmas spending this year. Daphne is getting a doll & stroller with a few accessories and maybe a small gift from Chris and that’s it. No need to go crazy when she’s this young and has so many other family members buying for her. Chris & I have talked about getting smaller, more meaningful gifts for each other. And I’m having a heck of a time figuring out what to get him for his birthday or Christmas. You’d think it wouldn’t be that hard, considering we’ve known each other for so long. But that just gives me more of a history to look back on and see how many of my “creative” gifts crashed and burned. Argh.

While I’m on the subject of Christmas shopping, my mom and I are headed to the Reliant Center tomorrow for the Houston Ballet’s annual Nutcracker Market. 4 days, 300 vendors, 65,000 attendees, boutique gifts, gourmet food. It’s going to be CRAZY! I’m not planning on buying much, maybe a special ornament for Daphne. I’m really just going along for the experience. And that should be a meaningful gift to Chris right there- the fact that I’m going with mom instead of dragging him around the Reliant Center with a bunch of crazy women. Hehehe.

Here’s the quilt (it’s brighter in person):

And my peek-a-boo girl:

I don’t think I have any real fabric designing talent, but I do like the idea of being able to print photographs on fabric, or maybe create a collage of your kid’s artwork and have it printed out (then maybe turn it into a quilt or something). And I adore this love letter quilt featured on the Spoonflower blog from The Small Object. What an amazing keepsake!!

Ginger just wants her to get out, and leave the toast.