My friend Stephanie found this little dress and jacket at a thrift store for me months before Anna was born. It needed some repair, but since the dress was so big, I just set it aside. I got it out this week to actually work on it.

It originally had really narrow binding around the edges, but it was coming apart and the stitching was really sloppy. The easiest fix was to put new binding over it. I also replaced the buttons and shortened the sleeves.

The jumper was in a lot better condition. It’s still a bit big, but there are ties in the back so that’s easy enough to solve. All I had to do was move the buttons on the straps and restitch part of the applique.

It was a quick and easy fix. Now Anna has another dress, which works out well since she needed another one.

The boning was coming out of my nursing cover, so I decided to make a new one. Normally I would just repair the old one, but the way they packaged it to ship it bent the boning before I even got it. Once it started coming through the fabric, I decided to just make a new one. Not to mention the excuse to use my new sewing machine. . .

This one is made from 3 fat quarters from Walmart. I really liked the print, so I pieced it to make the cover. It’s a couple inches shorter than the one in the nursing cover tutorial, but it turned out nicely.

After that, I made one for my sister-in-law.

I pretty much followed the directions for it, since I had more fabric to work with. Hopefully she’ll like it.

They were really fun to sew and went together pretty quickly. Anyone need a new nursing cover? I still have boning left to make a few more. . .

Feel free to tell me this looks revolting. Stephen did.

Samuel, on the other hand, informed me that the green sauce was delicious.

So here you go – pizza made with spinach in the sauce.

A good look at the sauce before most of the toppings. I dumped about a half cup of spaghetti sauce into the blender and added a huge handful of fresh spinach to it. It didn’t blend well enough, so I threw in half a tomato. The final consistency was perfect, even if it did look pretty gross.

It doesn’t look so bad before you cut into it, does it?

Afterward, it looked a little gross again.

You don’t have to believe me, but this pizza was great. Pepperoni, ground beef, red and green bell peppers, and mushrooms. Now, if I could just figure out a way to make that sauce a little less green. . .

My guys all had their hair cut yesterday.

The chair is almost 60 years old – we’re in the process of refinishing it. It’s sanded down and just about ready to be painted. For now though, it’s a great height for little boys to get their hair cut in.

Matching jacket (kimono-style), hat, scarf, and mittens. No pattern, just guesswork. The hat is a little snug but overall it’s a good fit.

Cuddling with Grammy right after we arrived

Running off some energy downstairs in the “big room” with cousin Brayden

Caleb and cousin Brayden – six weeks apart

Aunt Kim helping Samuel hold cousin Trinity

Playing in the snow

Anna and cousin Trinity – six weeks apart

My brother Jeff’s midnight New Year’s fireworks

We woke Samuel up so he could watch the fireworks with us

We’re home from Michigan. What a trip. Our drive home was pretty uneventful, for which I’m thankful. Hopefully later today I’ll get a chance to post some of the highlights of our trip. It was wonderful to see my side of the family again!