OUR EASTER

We had a jam-packed Easter weekend, full of some really great family time.  By Sunday night, we were exhausted!  I don't have a lot of words to describe everything, but here is a quick recap.

Friday night, I honestly don't remember.  Nothing too special, I guess.

Saturday morning we did errands and played at the park.

Saturday night our niece Jessica got married.  The wedding was at Hoyt Sherman Place and the reception was at West End Salvage.  It was all very "them."  Mason did so well during the wedding and reception, though he did have help from his favorite big cousins...and Angry Birds.  Three of our nephews stayed over with us that night, so yes, it was me in the house with five guys.

Sunday morning Byron took the big boys to help him set up at church, then we enjoyed a nice service.

Sunday afternoon we had an Easter meal with Byron's family, and we left stuffed.

Sunday night we made lunch with my parents and celebrated my mom's birthday with Cheesecake Factory dessert.  We left even more stuffed.

I didn't get many good pictures of the weekend in general, but I did manage to get some really great pictures of the boy. And we really just want to look at those pictures and say how handsome he is, right?

Okay okay I know that's a lot of photos.  But he just makes my heart soar!  He is a little boy that is constantly on the move, so these action shots really represent him.  And while I'm sharing photos, here's one I took of the birthday girl.  Isn't she beautiful?

BUNNY BAG

My sewing machine had been silent for awhile, and recently I just had the urge to create something. Somewhere in the online realm I came across this bag and I knew I wanted to make something like it for Mason.  I figured out a rough pattern and a about an hour later (generally spent 20 minutes at a time spread over three sessions) I had this!

I didn't take any photos along the way and this is by no means a tutorial, but if you are wanting to make something similar, here are a few tips.

1.  Embroidering the face is one of the first steps you will do.  It probably helps to use an embroidery hoop, but I do not have one so I just went for it.  To secure it, I used a fusible lining that I ironed on to the back.

2.  If I were doing this again, I would have stabilized the sides and bottom of the bag with something sturdier.  I used a few scraps of fusible lining, but it was pretty light and just what I happened to have around.  The ears actually stand up by themselves, but since the bag is not structured, they tend to fall over.

3.  When you are sewing it all together, pin the crap out of that bad boy to help all the seams line up properly.

Even without a pattern (or much of a plan for that matter) this project was super simple and now I have the urge to keep creating!