{Our Easter parade...}

Where do I begin?  So much I want to share with you but so little time!  The girls enjoyed a great spring break last week and if you were following me on Twitter you know we headed out to the zoo...in the snow.  I love working at the largest university in the country - gives me a chance to network with loads of people and luckily, one of our alumni board members is a keeper at the Columbus Zoo SO, she was wonderful enough to give my girls a behind the scenes tour.  We got to see exactly what she does to care for the animals and a chance to see a grizzly bear, 2 alaskan brown bears and a cougar very close!  So cool!  No photos to share of that as we were not allowed to take any in the back areas but...check this out!

This is the cafe at the zoo.  See anybody else there?  That's right...when it's 20' windchill and snowing - NOBODY goes to the zoo.  We saw two other people there all day.

Here's the girls in the "jungle" with a researcher!  Ha!  And some cool looking birds we saw in one of the aviarys...where it was WARM.

The flamingos were out...

The manatees and sea turtle at the aquarium section...

And so on to Easter...we went to my parents house which was fun.  The girls got these really cool little jackets for their American Girls from the sewing room of the easter bunny, aka The Doll Closet on etsy.  Really cute!

And they had a blast!  I have to say, they looked BE-AU-TI-FUL in their easter dresses.  They turned out really well, if I do say so myself!  I got the pattern for these from PinkFig.  I used the Lily pattern and had to adjust some because my girls are a size 8 and the pattern only went up to a size 7.  I added some extras on the ruffle, etc.  They LOVED them!  If you are looking for an easy EASY to use pattern line - PinkFig is it!

OK, so I never did get them to stand very still for a photo but here's a few portfolio shots...you get the idea!

And then...I've had quite a few orders for dresses lately.  I have some already listed on my etsy page. But here's a peek at a few..

And matching ponytail ribbon explosion thingy whatevers on their way to etsy soon...here's a peek at just one of them...

Does the baby look happy here?  Poor thing!  Her sisters love her TOO much!  Well, lots of photos, not too much text.  Since Easter (yesterday) one of the peas has been diagnosed with whooping cough.  She doesn't look sick does she?  Exactly why we had no idea...since all she had was a nagging cough.  Our AWESOME doctor caught it and well, things are now quite hectic in our house so I'll be back next week with an entry about handmade stuff!  (I noticed at my Moms, my sisters - dang!  I make a LOT of stuff cuz it's all over their house from paintings to placemats! More on that next week!)

I'll leave you with one last little cutie - my baby's first Easter.  Next week she celebrates her first birthday.  A very special little day.  She was born on April 25th - the same day as my oldest sister.  My oldest sister  died when she was 15 from complications from mono.  My baby being born on her birthday was quite special.

God bless - hope everyone had a wonderful Easter holiday!  Ciao, xo Trish

AND DON'T FORGET...post a comment and you'll have a chance at our monthly giveaway!

Introducing Baxter Bunny and the newly redesigned Hipster!

Here he is!  Baxter Bunny.  (And don't miss the new redesign of my hipster found at the end of this post!)

I hear it all the time. You’d love to be able to make something but you can’t sew. Or you don’t have time. Or you are completely creatively and craftily illiterate. This project is FOR YOU!

This could not be easier but everyone will think you spent hours stitching away on this little guy. You CAN do it! I know you can! And it takes very little effort so everyone can do this!

Please note, Baxter Bunny is not designed for small children and he does pose a choking hazard.

Baxter Bunny © Trish Preston,Two Peas in a Pod Homegrown Designs

First, here’s what you will need:

• · Scraps of fabric (you could also use flannel, maybe some old flannel sheets or pillowcase you aren’t using anymore or you could use felt / felt squares that you might have from other kids craft projects) On my project shown here, I used a cotton fabric that I lightly interfaced with fusible fleece to give it a bit more body – the fusible fleece is easy to find at your fabric store – even Walmart has it in their fabric section.
• · Steam a Seam (optional) You only need about 2 square inches of the stuff.
• · Scissors
• · Needle and thread
• · Batting for stuffing
• · Buttons for eyes

I hope this pattern prints ok for you...it should fit on an 8 .5 x 11 sheet of paper.  Baxter stands roughly 7 inches tall.

1.  To start, you’ll want to gather all of your materials. Using the pattern, cut 2 of each for the body, ear lining and pocket.

1. 2.  If you are using the cotton, I fused interfacing on my pieces to give it some oomph! Interfacing is easy to use. You only need a small amount and you can skip this if you want. But just cut your interfacing a little smaller than your bunny body pieces and with the glue side facing the wrong side of the fabric, fuse with your iron.

1. 3.  Using the Steam a Seam, again, easy to find in your fabric / craft stores – it’s used for appliqué. Follow the directions and cut out your ear lining and fuse to the ears. If you want to skip the steam a seam, you can just use a running stitch to attach your ear lining.

1. 4.  Next, create your bunny face. Find two old buttons and attach for the eyes. I used two that didn’t perfectly match in size to give him some character. Cut a little nose out of your fabric and stitch in place. Then stitch on some whiskers and a little mouth.

1. 5.  For the pocket, lay your pocket right sides together with the wrong side of the fabric facing out so you can see it. Stitch across the top of your pocket. Turn right side out and press your seam so it lays nice and flat. This will give you a nice clean edge on top since you’ll want to fill the pocket with a treat!

1. 6.  Pin your pocket to your bunny’s belly. You will have raw edges on the sides of your pocket. Next, use a blanket stitch to stitch the pocket on.

7.  Blanket stitch. I love this stitch. It’s fun to do and it’s quite easy once you get started. Working from left to right, bring your needle from the right side of the fabric (the top) and point your needle out to the edge. Keep the thread from the previous stitch under your needle and pull through. It’s hard to explain but I hope the photo and the text together show you how. Practice on a separate piece of fabric before doing it on your project if this is the first time you’ve done a blanket stitch.

1. 8.   Now pin your bunny together, wrong sides together, your right sides facing out. You will have raw edges. Blanket stitch around your bunny leaving an opening for stuffing.

2. 9.  Stuff your bunny and make him good and round!

1. 10.  Finish stitching up the opening and you are done!

All together, I think this project took me about an hour to make. Hope you enjoy making it and send me your photos of your Baxter Bunny and I’ll show them off here.

Congrats to our giveaway winner!  She will receive the newly redesigned hipster just ripe for Spring!  The new pocket panel on the front is angled and has the perfect little pocket down low for your iphone or other device and then the larger side of the pocket could hold a water bottle or other gear.  It also has 2 interior pockets and a magnetic snap closure.

The new hipster is available now for custom orders.

And finally -  giraffe print "platterpurse" on it's way to Marysville.  Love this print!

Happy Easter all!

Ciao, xo Trish