Birthday Giveaway!

I recently had a birthday. It just might have been the greatest birthday of all time, thanks to my sweet friends that I have never actually met. You see, I was invited to join a birthday club (#favoritethingsbdayclub in case you want to see our photos) with some ladies on Instagram. By the way, if you haven't joined Instagram yet, you absolutely should. Anyway... this birthday club was put together by my friend, Bonnie (You can find her fabulous blog HERE). There are 12 of us - one lady for each month. We each put together a wish list and everyone purchases something from the wish list to send the birthday girl on her special day. I was overwhelmed with the amount of packages and amazing things that I received!

 If you want to see what's in the packages, you'll have to follow me on Instagram - I'm @fourchicksfarm over there :)

All the generosity of my friends inspired me to have a birthday giveaway. I'll send this zipper bag and mason jar cozy to one lucky winner! I have a few other fun goodies to add to it, but those are a surprise. If you'd like a chance to win, just leave a comment on this post telling me about the greatest gift you've ever received. That's it! You can follow my blog or like my facebook page too if you like, but it's not a requirement to win. Th giveaway will be open until midnight (PST) on April 30th.

Superbowl Bound!

It's no secret that I love football. I have loved the Seahawks for as long as I can remember. I have pictures of my kids with blue and green paint smeared on their cheeks on a Sunday afternoon, settled in to watch the game.

These pictures are from a few years ago. We were excited to watch those guys play even when they were losing. We are beside ourselves with excitement now that we actually get to watch them play in the Superbowl!!!

I had some Seahawks fabric in my stash and a friend of mine asked me to make her a custom iPad sleeve with it. I did, and I really like how it turned out. I made another one and listed it in my newly opened Etsy Shop, along with a few other non-football related products.

I don't know who you're rooting for this Sunday, or if you're even watching the big game. The Broncos are a great team too, and I do really love Peyton Manning (although John Elway was always my favorite). I will be sad if the Hawks don't win, but I can't think of a better team I'd rather have them lose to. And I'm just happy we finally get the opportunity to have OUR team in the game! No matter what happens, I am proud of our guys. Regardless of how they are portrayed by the media, they are amazing and caring men who do so much for their community. GO HAWKS!!!

Merry Little Christmas

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas. Ours was simple and quiet. The budget was small this year, but I have to tell you, this Christmas was the best one yet I think. We enjoyed each others company, had wonderful food, and enjoyed all of our gifts.

I made new stockings for the kids this year and they loved them. I used this tutorial from the Imagine Gnats blog. Her tutorial is for a quilt as you go stocking, but I opted to just use a fat quarter for mine rather than scraps (I made these at the last minute and didn't have much time to find the perfect scraps in my overflowing bins). They are quilted with meandering patterns and each child's name.

From our family to yours, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

A New Tie for a Handsome Guy

My son Ben is 6 years old. He is fascinated by men who wear suits and ties. Think Barney. If you watch 'How I Met Your Mother" you know what I'm talking about. (Not the giant purple dinosaur...) Anyway, I found a tutorial recently on how to make a tie for your little guy HERE. I let him choose the fabrics he wanted - he chose 5. I said "do you want a patchwork tie?" and he said "no. I want 5 ties." Okay then. Lemme see if I can figure out how to make just one first.

I printed out the free PDF pattern (it's 3 pages, but only a few lines per page so it's super light on ink usage) and got the fabric ready. Within literally 30 minutes, I had this:

The hardest part was turning it right side out. That took a good 7 minutes and a few swear words.

I then attached the strap with velcro to go around his neck by tying the tie  around it. When he got home from school he was SO excited to try it on. He does look pretty handsome, if I do say so myself =)

Handmade Holidays

So... it's officially November. Less than two months until Christmas which is making me freak out a little. I have decided to make myself a list of all the handmade gifts I hope to give this year and set a schedule of when I will make them. I am sticking with simple gifts. No one will be getting a quilt from me, I just don't have that kind of time. But I can make a wall hanging or two, and a few market bags!

In my family we only give gifts to the children. We decided awhile ago that if buying or making something for a grown-up will be a hindrance to buying or making something for one of the kids then we just shouldn't do it. Many folks are in the same boat that we are, and are struggling financially. Christmas can be more stress than fun, and it shouldn't be that way.

If you can sew, there are all kinds of things you can make that will be wonderful gifts that take very little time or money. Today, November 1st, is the first day of the 5th annual Handmade Holidays over on the Sew, Mama, Sew blog. All month long they will have new projects and tutorials of things that you can make as gifts for everyone in your family! Of course, not everyone appreciates a handmade gift, and to them I say "NO GIFT!!!" because I'm just mean like that.

I urge you to check out Handmade Holidays and challenge yourself to make a handmade gift for everyone on your list. Even something as simple as a coffee cozy to go along with that Starbucks gift card you give your co-worker every year, or whatever! It will be wonderful and you'll be amazed at how many people gasp and say "you made that?!?! How awesome!"

And because a blog post isn't complete without a photo, here is a totally unrelated picture of my kiddos all dressed up in their Halloween costumes last night:

Pay It Forward

Here's another post where I talk about my friend Amanda. She is seriously an awesome person. She is always the first person to offer help when it's needed. Just in the short time that I've "known" her (I say it like that because I have never actually met her in real life, but I'd love to meet her someday!) she has made me a fabulous doll quilt for a swap along with a pretty zippered pouch, made quilt blocks for our charity quilt that we sent to Joplin, MO and also provided the fabric for the borders, binding, and gave us the batting. I have also seen her making things for so many others. This is why I wasn't at all surprised to see a post on her blog titled "Pay It Forward".

For those of you who aren't familiar with what that means, basically the idea is that if someone does something nice for you, then you in turn, do something nice for someone else. I decided to jump on this idea for a couple of reasons. One: I love everything that Amanda makes, and I love the thought of having more of her awesome stuff in my house. Two: I like to think that I am a nice person and I enjoy making things for people thinking it will bring a bit of joy to their lives. So, here is how this "Pay It Forward" is going to work:

1. I will make a little something of the first 3 people who comment on this post. It will be a surprise and it will arrive when you least expect it.

2. I will have 365 days to do it in. What's the catch? To get a handmade present from me, you have to play too! This means YOU pledge to send a little handmade something for 3 readers of your blog. It doesn't have to be quilty - just handmade!

3. You must have a blog.

4. Once you comment here, you must post about your Pay It Forward on your blog to keep the fun going - with the Pay It Forward badge.

So if you want a little surprise from me in your mailbox sometime in the next 365 days, post a comment! Even if you post after the third comment, it doesn't mean you can't do a Pay It Forward project of your own. Doing things for others can be a very rewarding experience. Not only does it make you feel good about yourself, but it makes the receiver feel good as well.