Taylor Made designs

Handmade Birthday Gifts

This past weekend we had two birthday parties to attend. Davis was going to her friend Trevor's party, and William had Cleo's party. My "go-to-gift" in the past has been an ugly doll.  The problem now? Most of the kids in their classrooms have already received one from us, so now I had to think of some new gifts to give. 

For William's friend Cleo, I knew from volunteering in his class, that she loves to draw and loves horses. Plus, I know her parents and just knew they would appreciate a handmade gift. I decided to make custom notecards + an artist pad for her.  I found an illustration of a horse, photoshopped out the person riding the horse, and then simplifed the illustration. I then printed the horse out on my printer + used watercolours to paint each horse in. I made up a total of 20 cards for two packs of cards. I also gave her crack n' peel stickers. We bought some markers and oil pastels to be used for the artist pad.

I had so much fun making this gift up, and from what I heard, she absolutely loved her gift. I am hoping we have more girl parties to go to. I do not think a little boy would have the same appreciation for this kind of gift as a little girl would – for them, they will get some legos!

Do you make or create gifts for kids? I'd love to hear what you make.. as I know we'll be getting a lot of more invites in the next month or so.

Koty Boots

Those who have been reading my blog for awhile know, that I love my dogs. I walked them three miles every morning. They really are my babies, just as much as William + Davis are. So when Dakota, my Koty Boots, got sick, it broke my heart. She was diagnosed with Kidney Failure. For over two weeks we weighed our options. We got her fluids and shots from the vet... but it just didn't seem right. She was so miserable. She didn't like to eat... which was her favorite thing in the world, and she was constantly throwing up. The vet told us once the organs are damaged like this, the best we could do is just make her comfortable, but she would never recover. It was devastating to hear that. We spoke to lots and lots of people to see what we should do. We didn't want to be cruel, and keep her alive for our sake. So on Saturday, with the heaviest of hearts, we sent her to doggie heaven. This broke my heart. You all have no idea.

Oh my dear sweet Koty. She was THE sweetest dog I have ever ever met. She deserved so much more. I haven't stopped crying for over a week now. But all I keep thinking and wishing, and hoping, is that she is up in heaven, running pain-free, doing her little dance before gettting a treat or eating, and she is enjoying the spring weather, stopping to sniff a flower. {which she loved to do} I don't think there is another dog that will be as loved, and as missed as she will be. i just miss her terribly and I hope she knows how much her family loved her and will miss her.

Hints of Spring

A few weeks ago when the weather was in the low 50's I headed out to our yard and cut some forsythias.  I crushed the stems, placed them in vases with water, and placed them throughout the house. I have some in the dining room, family room, kitchen and our bedroom. They finally flowered this weekend. Which was pretty sweet considering on Monday we had freezing rain and snow. But inside my house, there were hints of Spring :)

21 Things About Me According to My Kids

1. What is something mom always says to you?
Will: I Love You
Davis: You are my favorite little girl + you love me lots

2. What makes mom happy?
Will: When I kiss you.
Davis: Flowers

3. What makes mom sad?
Will: When we don't clean up our toys
Davis: No Will, she gets mad, not sad.

4. How does your mom make you laugh?
Will: Tickles me + tells me something funny.
Davis: Doing something silly

5.What was your mom like as a child?
Will: You were little
Davis: You were little like me

6. How old is your mom?
Will: 36
Davis: 15

7.How tall is your mom?
Will: 75 feet
Davis: this big, 60 feet

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
Will: gardening
Davis: picking flowers

9. What does your mom do when you're not around?
Will: work on her computer
Davis: clean the house

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
Will: for her great computer making stuff
Davis: A star!

11. What is your mom really good at?
Will: Wii tennis –  she is a pro!
Davis: Making chocolate chip cookies

12. What is your mom not very good at?
Will: I think you are pretty good at everything.
Davis: trying to make us not be "loco",  – am I funny mummy?

13. What does your mom do for her job?
Will: designer
Davis: a mum

14. What is your mom's favorite food?
Will: everything
Davis: strawberries

15. What makes you proud of your mom?
Will: you are a great mummy
Davis: she is nice + loves us

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
Will: bugs bunny
Davis: someone cute!

17. What do you and your mom do together?
Will:  go out for dinner, read, and clean up my legos
Davis: read + colour together

18. How are you and your mom the same?
Will: we like the same stuff
Davis: we are both good artists

19. How are you and your mom different?
Will: mum likes spicy food, and I don't
Davis: yeah. I don't like spicy food!

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
Will: You always tell us
Davis: You tell me all the time that you love me! Oh, and you hug me a lot.

21. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?
Will: For a walk with the dogs + she goes to Trader Joes a lot.
Davis: home

If you do this on your blog, let me know! I would love to read it. Kids are pretty darn cute.

Twilight – swoon

For those who have read the book, you know exactly what "team edward" means :)

This coming Monday, my bookclub is meeting at my house to review Twilight. Yup, we read it for our group. I have a feeling it will be a lively discussion. Imagine 10+ woman all talking about his book?  It makes me smile just thinking of it.

So far, everyone I know that has read the book, has liked it. It's an easy and fun read. I swear I felt like I was 16 all over again. My friend is bringing me the 4th book on Monday. I hear it rivals the 1st book. I was a bit disappointed with New Moon, but enjoyed Eclipse.  Has anyone else read the series?

Anyway, I have been thinking of clever things to have for the evening, you know, for snacks + atmosphere. Any suggestions? I'd love to hear what you think? Shona sent me the playlist the author listened to while writing Twilight. So i could download those songs to my iPod. I figured I'd have apples and a chocolate fondue. But what else? I thought about having bloody marys, but not sure if anyone would drink them in the evening. I'm all ears... so let me know what you think!

Knitting 101

A few years ago my sister Nicole, who is an awesome knitter, taught me how to knit. I completed a small scarf for baby Davis and then just practiced, practiced. Naturally, I got bored and just stopped. Over the years I would pick up my needles, but I couldn't remember how to cast on properly or I would make a mistake and not know how to fix it. Oh, that did not stop me from buying nice yarn whenever I was with Nicole. Funny how that happens huh?

So now I have all these balls of yarn at my house. They look so sad and lonely. So about two weeks ago when I knew I would be seeing Nicole, I brought my knitting and got a refresher course. I feel like I finally got it now. I enjoy sitting in bed, watching some mindless TV and knitting. {Housewives of Orange County anyone? yup. I'm admitting it. Boy is that Tamara a mean girl or what?}

This is my practice scarf. I am going to rip it all out and start again now that I know what i am doing. Nicole thinks I should make a sweater and I think she is right. Then I will feel like I am investing my time and yarn money into something worthwhile. What do you think? Am I being too ambitious? Should I work on something smaller? Let me know what you think :)