Teacher Gifts

The school year is quickly coming to a close. Lily's last day of preschool is next Tuesday...I can't believe how fast time is moving these days. I wanted to do something special for her teacher, Mrs. Beverly, to thank her for all she has done for Lily and the rest of her students. Mrs. Beverly took over Lily's class at the beginning of February when our beloved Mrs. Laura had to leave us. 

We were heartbroken when Mrs. Laura left (pictured above with Lily on her last day)...she had been Cassidy's teacher, too. But, Mrs. Beverly was an answer to prayer. She is gentle and kind and just plain wonderful. Lily adores her and can't leave school in the afternoon without running back into the classroom to give Mrs. Beverly an extra hug good-bye.

 FBC Preschool put together a book in their office with information sheets on all their teachers, including favorite things, kitchen, living room and bathroom colors, etc. It's been SUCH a great resource when trying personalize a gift. Mrs. Beverly's kitchen is done is black, white, and buttercream yellow. I hope this hand towel will be a cute addition to her home and a reminder of our love and appreciation.

 I just purchased this font from Jolsen's Designs. It's called Santa's Sleigh and I've had my eye on it for awhile. I love how it looks on a finished piece!

Happy Mother's Day

No words, material gift, or any other outward demonstration could begin to communicate the love, respect, and admiration I have for my mother. This is but a small token of my affection...

...a personalized beach towel...

...the biggest one I could find. :)

Brother/Sister Shirts...and more burp cloths!

I've been stitching away this week on some baby gifts that someone ordered...OK, so it was my Mom that ordered them...a sale's a sale, right? :) And, yes, I would have been happy to do them free of charge, but I got a stern lecture about running a business and NOT a charity, so there ya go! Boy, do I love my Mom!!! :)

 This mom of (almost) 2 wanted matching big brother/little sister shirts for her munchkins. It was a fun project and I went through several designs before settling on the monkeys, which I absolutely LOVE...look for some matching monkey shirts for MY monkeys later this summer!

 I was nervous (terrified might actually be more accurate) about hooping a newborn onsie, but I managed to fit it onto my largest hoop and it stitched beautifully.

At the last minute I switched the monkey design I had originally intended to use for this one. I'm glad I did...I love how it turned out!

This mom is a University of Kansas Alum, so maybe her daughter will follow in her footsteps in 22 years. And, even if she doesn't, who wouldn't love a burp cloth hailing their Alma Mater??? :)

Every baby girl could use a little flair on her burp cloth! :)

"M" is for Madelyn

I'm in the midst of several projects right now...and there are several more swirling around in my head as summer quickly approaches. This shirt is for another of Cassidy's classmates. She has a birthday party this weekend and - we just found out - has a new baby brother who just arrived home from the hospital yesterday! Madelyn - AND her mommy - are having quite the week! Miss Madelyn definitely needed something special to celebrate her 6th birthday AND becoming a big sister all in the same week!

 I love, love, love this monogram font and have been looking for an excuse to use it!

The flower print was an accidental find, but it's the perfect accent for this cute shirt!

Oh, Baby!

I LOVE baby stuff! EVERYTHING is cuter when it's teeny tiny! I often find myself wandering through the rows of super-soft minature clothing...even when I have absolutely NO reason to buy any of it. However, as I mom I also fully appreciate a practical baby gift. Having a hundred precious pink dresses all hanging in the nursery is fun, but they won't help me one bit at mealtime, bathtime, bedtime, or travel time. When it comes down to it, I really NEED those baby essentials that I will use everyday!

Burp cloths are a great practical gift that can be personalized, turning a boring baby necessity into an adorable keepsake. My babies turned spitting up into an extreme sport, so I went through those bad boys by the dozens...I actually switched to using heavy duty cloth diapers and hand towels for burp cloths and still their clothes (and mine) were wet practically all the time.

When I found out that a friend was going to become a mom at the end of June, I finally had an excuse to try my hand at burp cloths. She has chosen not to find out the sex of the baby, so I got my creative juices flowing and came up with a couple of gender-nuetral designs.

 I think the key to giving an embroidered gift is to make it as personalized as possible. Using the recipient's name is always a great idea, but it's also important to think about the person's interests, favorite sports teams, favorite colors, etc. Anything you can do to make the item one-of-a-kind will make it even more special. In this case, I didn't know the baby's name - or even gender - so that added an additional challenge when designing a unique gift. I do know mom and dad are Pirate fans, so I couldn't go wrong with a little ECU flair! :)

The family's last name is Morgan, so I used an "M" firecracker applique as well...now baby will be set for all his/her 4th of July festivities.

The nursery is themed after Beatrix Potter's Peter Rabbit, so I am working through one more design that may turn into a blanket or something. Stay tuned!!!

Birthday Surprises

I've been working on some birthday gifts for a couple of Cassidy's Kindergarten pals.

A Princess Barbie for Olivia...according to Cassidy, their favorite game is Barbie Mariposa. She insisted on the hot pink/yellow color combination...I probably wouldn't have chosen those exact colors myself, but it turned out really cute! :)

A Fairy Princess for Aislin...she loves all things princess.

I absolutely LOVE this design! I mean, what little girl wouldn't want one of these?!?!

School Spirit

My brother-in-law is coaching the men's tennis team at SBHS this year. Joey - my husband - is uber excited because he has been coaching our high school tennis team for the past 12 years AND the two teams have an annual weekend scrimmage that will be all the more fun since the competition is now twin against twin. (Yes, the brothers are identical twins.)

What does this have to do with embroidery? Well, my BIL wanted to order a team shirt for his 3-year-old son, but could not order a screen print in his size. So instead he asked if I could try to duplicate the shirts they were ordering. I jumped at the opportunity and below are the results. (Joey is now asking when the tennis shirts for OUR 3 children will be ready!)



 The team t-shirt design ended up being something I could not duplicate, so I came up with a couple of alternatives and this is the one my BIL chose.

 LOVE the cougar paw!!!

This was another one of my favorite designs. We didn't end up using this one for anything, but I am on a mission to find the perfect project for this funky font! :)

 The hoodie (pictured here) is a pretty close match to the team's hoodie. In addition to the team logo, John asked me to add Connor's name on the front...

...and "Assistant Coach" on the back. Too cute!!!