Mary thoughtfully, carefully picked out some butterfly material for a bulletin board in her room. (I managed to make the bulletin board this time--WITHOUT stapling it to the kitchen table. Hooray!) Of course, within three seconds of its begin hung on the wall it was completely covered with pictures, drawings, medals, certificates, and ribbons. Mary cried that she couldn't see the butterflies. (But she also refused to take down some of the crap, ahem, treasures on the board.)
Aunt le to the rescue!
Mary is in love! And so happy to see the butterflies. She carried the pillow around for a week.
Here is a picture of Hello Kitty relaxing with the treasured pillow.
Incidentally, Mary asked me yesterday, "Why is there a Kitty in Hello Kitty's name?" Mary, dear, we've all been wondering the same thing ever since you named your BEAR Hello Kitty.
Aunt le solved another problem for me. Way back when, for Christmas, le made these fabulous little baby doll blankets for the the little girls. They were a hit! I do believe these two small blankets (so lovely and so simple but so smart) were among the most important play items in our house. They are just the right size for baby dolls. (Real baby blankets, even small receiving ones, just don't work for baby dolls--they're too big and your kid just drags them around and trips on them and cries when they won't stay wrapped around the doll.)
Then at Christmas Katie entered our lives. She is cherished. And so, as decreed by Mary, she is now the sole owner of the baby doll blankets. Leaving the five thousand other baby dolls and loveys in our house blanket-less. This has been something of a conundrum/crisis for Mary (who insists that Katie is NOT willing to share.)
So guess what else Aunt le sent.
Score!! A thick stack of baby doll blankets AND pillows. (This isn't even all of them!)
Ahhh. Don't you just love a stack of material? Want to know what I love about this stack?
It's finished!! I sometimes buy fabric for this, that, or the other. And if I don't use it right away, it starts to weigh on my soul. Lovely raw crafting materials give me STRESS, not inspiration. Yet another reason I am not a crafter. So this stack of colors and patterns gives me pure joy. I love a finished product.
Le makes the blankets in a variety of sizes and shapes--because baby dolls come in all different sizes and shapes. I especially love the rectangles. A child can wrap the doll her/himself and it will stay wrapped.
Look at this...
Simple and smart.
Two of the blankets were pieced and tied!! Here is one...
Did you notice the matching pillow too? Are we spoiled or what??
Look at this comfy little baby doll.
With blankets and pillows to share with her little friends. (And there are many more friends not shown here. How did we end up with so many baby dolls?!)
I can't tell you how giddy these blankets make me.
But you want to know what was truly BRILLIANT?
Le included a blanket for David. She told me he'd want one too. I was skeptical. But guess what. EVERY night Teddy has been tightly bundled next to David's pillow. So sweet.
Boys loves their loveys too--and every lovey deserves a blanket.
Good thing I have a wise sister-in-law. With a generous heart. (And a sewing machine.)
P.S. You can find le's craft blog here.
