Celebrate March Birthday Giveaway

My Birthday is in March!  

My Birthday is March 30

I love birthdays.  Growing up in a family of 6 people, with four kids, we shared everything with each other.  But, on your birthday, it was all about YOU.  No need to share anything on your birthday.  We got to choose what we wanted to eat for breakfast (pancakes with strawberries) and then for dinner too (spaghetti and meatballs with french bread).  My Mom always baked a wonderful homemade cake to eat after the presents were open.  This was a special day.  A great day.

As I've gotten older I still like my birthday.  As 40 approaches  (not here yet!) I still like my birthday.  My husband and I celebrate it with each-other, and occasionally friends.  We have added on to my original family tradition to include an entire week of special dinners topped with the birthday cake on your birthday.  My husband can make a mean cake!  He has even made a 7-layer angel food cake with strawberries and whipped cream.  A Very grand cake it was.

So, as I've gotten older, my birthday has continued to be a celebration of life lived and adventures yet to come.  It is still very fun to celebrate my birthday!  The presents are not the focus, but rather time spent with family around a table with glorious food.  (Yes, I'm a Foodie.)

I want to celebrate with all the other March Birthday "babies".  So, to celebrate March Birthdays-- I want to do a Birthday Giveaway from my Etsy Store on my Birthday March 30.  Anyone with a March Birthday may enter to win.  The prize may be chosen from my Etsy shop, Sew in the Snow. 

So, time to lay some ground rules.  How do you enter?   I'll need you to visit my shop.  You get to choose anything worth up to $30.   (If you like something worth more, I can arrange to have $30 taken off of it.)  Only one thing may be chosen; you may not choose more than one thing that adds up to $30.   I want you to heart or favorite the chosen item.  Then leave a message or "convo" me with your birthday--no year needed-- to enter this contest or to comment here with the favorite item and your birth day.

Example Etsy convo or blog comment: I like the rooster apron.  My birthday is: March 10th.  

So, here's a quick peek at what is available for $30: hand towels, aprons, kid's totes, knitted baby hats and booties,  knitting needle cases, crayon rolls, quilted wall hangings, and embroidery blocks for sewing into your project.

An apron for the quilter or sewer

Rooster apron

Grandma's apron

Spicy kitchen towels

Friendship embroidered block

Earth-tone wall hanging or table topper quilt

3-6 month old Hat

Newborn baby hat and booties

Knitting needle cases

Knitting needle cases

Knitting needle cases

Ariel Tote

Girl crayon rolls

Boy or "neutral" crayon rolls

Baking and Aprons

I love aprons! My Grandma always wore an apron when she baked.  She had them hanging in the kitchen.  There were at least four aprons there, all the old fashioned floral aprons, large enough to cover a pretty dress.  She would allow me to pick one, then she would pick one out from the remaining aprons.  It was a small but delightful ceremony we'd go through before baking.

Cooking together for Dinner Club 2009

Celebrating St. Patrick's Day with my Brother... baking Apple Pie 2010

I am a baker and I'm teaching my girls how to bake just like my Mom and my Grandma taught me.  I've been baking with them since they were able to sit up.  I wear an apron to keep the flour off of me if I'm kneading bread or pizza dough.  When baking with my two little helpers, it tends to be messy!  So we all have aprons.  My girls love to wear their aprons.  Recently, I let them pick out fabric that I can sew into new aprons for them.  Very cute stuff!

Jessie eating butter before we start baking 2009

 I have just finished embroidering a new design for an apron that I love.  It's a cupcake apron for sale in my Etsy shop.  It reminds me of all the cupcakes I've made and the fun parties I've been to with cupcakes.  Such a happy mental picture for me.  Cupcakes are so festive, it'd be hard not to smile at one.

New Cupcake Apron 2012

I love cupcakes!

I've noticed the new trend for aprons is the pretty and frilly aprons of the 50's.  I think they're really cute, and some are even sexy.  I still don't have one... I'm not sure it's really me.  However, I have thought of making one just to see what my husband says!  We have a tradition of making a pizza together on Friday nights.  I think he may really like a frilly little apron... and who knows where that could lead?  *grin*

Do you ever wear an apron?  If so, what kind?  Do you wear it to bake, cook, or grill?  I've found that mostly bakers wear aprons, not really most home cooks.

Behind the Scenes: Towel Embroidery

My daughter Jessica wants to grow up to be a mermaid.  So, since I can't help her with that...  I decided to embroider her some mermaid towels for the bathroom.  This is how it's done.

First, you start by hooping either the towel and the stabilizer, or just the stabilizer.  For anything without a smooth texture, such as terry cloth or polar fleece, you need a water-soluble stabilizer on the top.  That's what you see in the picture to the left.  This helps the stitches to remain visible and not sink too deep into the terry cloth.  Next, you start the pattern and it sews by itself.

My youngest girl, Claire, keeps asking me, "who's sewing on your machine Mama?"  because I can walk around while I embroider.  (It's loud enough to hear throughout the house!)  Jessica answers with all the authority of a General, as though she didn't just ask the same thing 10 minutes ago,  "It's magic Claire.  It's sewing by itself."  When it's time for a color change, the machine stops (the silence is nearly deafening after the racket of embroidery) and I change the thread out.

On the back you can use a tear-away stabilizer--the white stuff seen to the right.  It keeps the fabric from puckering.  Once the pattern is done, you trim the extra threads and then tear away the stabilizer.

 This pattern had three color changes: yellow outline, light green body, and cream over the light green.  It was pretty quick to stitch up and was very fun!  It looks great hanging in our bathroom.  Jessica loves it!  Here you can see the finished product.  










This weekend I made up a few kitchen towels as well.  Lots of fun!  If you have any interest in handmade embroidered towels, you can check out my Etsy shop for some for sale.  I love to do custom orders, so if you want something I don't have, just ask me!  http://www.etsy.com/shop/sewinthesnow?section_id=10800589


Feel free to ask my any questions you may have regarding embroidery.  Thanks for reading!

Laughter, Toddlers, Warmth: A Great Day

Sigh, I've been waiting to exhale for a month as its been super cold for weeks. It's been colder than 20 F below for weeks. However, today it was 25 degrees above zero! I got to play in the yard with my girls on the swing set. Claire's wild laughter rang off the house while Jessie found the first star of the night and made a wish. It was a hoot! Being outdoors is such sweet relief.

Although this picture is a couple of years old, they were both still in these swings tonight.

The schnook, warm wind, that brought the warm weather also knocked out our  power for 2.5 hours.  I was grateful for the wood-stove and the camping LED lantern we have in the house. The girls were taking a bath and getting warm after playing outside when the lights went off.  Claire's shriek  from the tub nearly deafened me.  I sprang from my sewing machine and raced into her room to grab the lantern.  I got it to the bathroom without mishap.  Then I stumbled about in the dark, kicking a toy squirrel into Wishy (our Beagle) and scaring him while trying to light candles.  I managed to pilfer through our wood-stove bucket--past the poker, the two pairs of gloves, and the -- Ow!-- stiff metal bristle brush--to grab the lighter.

I wandered around with the lighter on  trying not to catch my hair on fire or trip over the dog while the flame flickered in the breeze. By the time I got half-dozen candles lit around the house, I was chuckling thinking about a rock concert I went to with Sean in The Gorge Amphitheater (near Seattle) where everyone was waving their lighters. 




Soon Sean got home and we grilled pork chops and made spinach salad while wearing headlamps for light.  The girls were really excited and were running around wildly.  What a great day!


What delightful stories do you have of when the power went out?  I love a good story!