I suppose there are people out there who don’t care for peeps, but I’ve never met them. Most people I know eat them this time of year with abandon and many have their own special way of enjoying them: I like mine stale, for instance (just like my mom), and I had an old boyfriend who liked to burn the little bunnies with his lighter before he ate them–so tough.  But this year instead of buying my peeps, I thought I’d make them. They’re just marshmallows sprinkled with sugar, how hard could it be?  Not hard really, after you royally screw up a couple of batches and have to throw them out, run out of colored sugar (by the second chick), have a small sugar induced meltdown, suck it up and make your own colored sugar (just throw some white sugar and a couple drops of food coloring in a food processor–nothing to freak out about), and come to terms with the fact that every other bunny you make will be a mutant, so no, not hard at all. The most important thing is not to over whip the marshmallows. They should have very soft peaks and can even still be a little warm. I used martha’s marshmallows for piping recipe, which is strangely lacking in the flavor department, so add vanilla extract (or peppermint or licorice or pineapple or whatever your little heart desires), but other than that it was great–and she has piping directions here. Oh and they are freakin delicious, fresh or stale.

I keep forgeting to say thank you for all the congratulations and kind words from all of you about my pregnancy. Thank you so much! It is so wonderful to hear and much needed as I’m freaking out a bit about having three kids under three. Better go eat some more peeps.

This is the project I was telling you about yesterday.  The blue one didn’t turn out quite right obviously–you can’t really see the bunny–but hell if I’m going to unpick the whole thing just to fix it. The others are fine anyway. I wanted to hand embroider all of them to make the bunny really stand out, but after doing one set of ears I ran out of patience and just did it on the machine. I was too nervous to go whole hog and put the feet dogs down and embroider it the real way, so I just did sort of fake machine embroidery and it turned out okay. I haven’t told you what they are, but I’m sure all you smartypants out there can guess.

I didn’t just lurch my pregnant self off the couch and whip these up after the last post. No, I made them last year, but they were such a hit I thought I’d share. Actually I dug these out of the Easter box a few months ago, desperate for some quiet playtime on a very cold winter day. These bunnies have been pancakes and cookies, baseballs and money (bunny money!) and plain old bean bags too. I took this picture right after I made them and good thing I did because they are sad, dirty grey bunnies now, but still loved.  I stole the idea and design from the wonderfully talented Courtney at two straight lines. Hers are of course much nicer and she even made a cabbage to toss them into! It’s a quick project–one that can be done the night before Easter if you are anything like me. I started on a bunny project yesterday that I’m very excited about–we’ll see if it get’s done in time for Easter. What are you making for your kiddo’s baskets?

I didn’t mean to disappear for most of March, but there was some actual spring weather here for a while then, of course, the stomach flu hit and ruined all the fun. Now the snow is back and spring seems far off again. But there is spring up on the shelf if nothing else. There is another reason I was away this month and have been a crummy blogger since January really: I’m pregnant! 20 weeks today. I’m not one of those women who bear this burden well. It’s pretty much bitching and moaning for most of the nine months in my case (apologies to my friends and family for all the whining).  I got down to my studio this morning and was actually shocked at how fast my sewing machine sewed.  So yeah, it’s been a while since I’ve done any sewing at all.  And I have a to do pile to prove it. But the first trimester is really over now (not just technically over) and I have some energy back, so things might just start happening again. I hope to be here more than I have been, with actual things I’ve made to show you, but if that doesn’t happen you’ll know why.

My friends came up with this wonderful tradition of creating a “nursing bag” when one of us has our second  baby. I don’t know if it’s customary to have baby showers for the second baby, but really, why not have a party (especially if it involves fondue). So when there is a baby shower for a second (or third or fourth) one of us makes a bag and the rest of us stuff it full of crayons and stickers and little games–things to appease the older child with while you nurse the baby for the thousandth time that day. I volunteered to make the nursing bag this time and couldn’t decide whether to make a little kid’s bag or a stylish one for the mama, so instead of either I made a bag for the house.  The pattern is from the ever talented jchandmade and you can find it here. I thought it would be good to have one upstairs and one downstairs, so I made two. They are super easy to make and I have another cut out for all the random little bits around our house. I followed the pattern pretty much to the letter, except I fused the interfacing to the lining because I don’t like that wrinkly look it gives to the fabric and I didn’t have any “cotton webbing” (and honestly I don’t even know what it is) so I just made a handle by sewing 2 strips together, turning them out and quilting them.  Now go make your own.