A Present for Ezra

My friend Tara's little boy Ezra turned one at the beginning of November.  The theme of the party was Birthday Monsters which Tara pulled off amazingly well.  I'm sure she will be blogging about it soon!
  I'm a girl who likes a party theme, so I had to make something to go along.  I had the idea of making a reverse applique bag for his books and toys.  THEN my idea got out of control but I had a better idea.  I did the reverse applique so that it looks like the monsters came crashing out of the bag and are causing havoc. 
It started as this:

 An orange t-shirt I bought at Target and various other knits/items waiting for repurpose.

It turned into this:

I was very happy with it and I hope the birthday boy will get good use out of it!

The back:

Thanks for looking!

Adding this to I Heart Naptime's Link party!

BFS

BFS stands for Blog Friend Sarah, which is what I call her.  BFS and I have very very interestingly connected lives.  I don't remember who started commenting on whose blog first, but we were mutual blog readers.  She's one of the funniest bloggers I know!

Then we discovered we lived very close to each other.  We always thought we'd run into each other at the local Joanns or Michaels.  Despite our intertwined lives, we never did have a Joanns meetup.

Well, several months ago Miss Sarah announced that she was engaged.  (He proposed using buttons!!)  I was determined to somehow sneak into the wedding to see a blog friend I had never met get married.  I didn't have to though, because she asked me to photograph the wedding!  Woo hoo!  I was invited! 

So then we had to meet of course!  Here's Blog Friend Sarah holding Amelia. 

Amelia was very good at that Panera meeting.  I'm pretty sure that that was the last time Amelia was good at Panera.  (We met again at Panera and we had to run out of Panera before everyone else started running out of Panera because of the wailing coming from my child). The *very* weird thing is that we found out that we are related!  She's not my long lost sister or anything, but her family is related to my husband's stepmother.  The family tree would have to have many branches to explain how we are related, but it's good enough for me! 

So, I was able to be part of BFS's *very* fun and lovely wedding day.  :D

THEN, (BFS doesn't know this part!)  I was meeting with my cousin and aunt because I'm photographing my cousin's wedding and I was describing BFS's beautiful reception venue.  My cousin said, "The bride's name wasn't Sarah, was it?"  Oh dear!  It turns out BFS volunteered at the preschool where my cousin works.   God definitely wanted BFS and me to meet! ;)

Unfortunately, BFS had to go get married and move away, so she doesn't live near me anymore.  Too bad, because she was going to be Amelia's favorite babysitter.  But we hope Sarah has a wonderful, blessed, God-centered marriage! Check out BFS's blog, Dandelions and Daffodils.  Congratulate her.  Ask her how she met her husband.  :D

Have YOU ever met a blog friend before? 

Sweet Giveaways

I think the creative world has recovered from Christmas and is now ready for the new year! There are lots of great blog giveaways going right now.

Lanie Jane has a fat quarter bundle and pendant giveaway right now from the Andalucia line by Patty Young. Check out Jane's blog. It is so cute!

Hillary at The Gleam of Rose Tea has a flower belt giveaway going as well. I had planned on spotlighting Hillary's new etsy store anyway. Check out all the glamorous vintage clothing and shoes she has, as well as her own handmade belts, jewelry, and hair pieces. Her items are so classic and current at the same time! Then check out Hillary's flickr and realize that you need to do more shopping!

Etsy shop: The Gleam of Rose Tea

Blog with giveaway: The Gleam of Rose Tea

Hannah at Honey and Jam is giving away her totally cool cup covers. Check out Hannah's blog for her amazing and enlightening photography.

Etsy shop: Honey and Jam

Blog with giveaway: Honey and Jam

Completely unrelated, but I'm having my own giveaway for my first blogiversary which is on Saturday. Come back and take a peek!