May 13, 2010

One Red, Ripe Strawberry! (& free applique pattern)


It's strawberry picking season! I'll suffer through 11 months of dry, tasteless California strawberries for this one month of perfectly ripe, sweet, juicy, hand-picked Virginia berries! My sister came in town for the occasion, so we were able to go picking with the cousins.


Such a special outing deserves special attire, don't you think? Last year I found this adorable onesie for A from Carters.


Now that I've conquered my fear of the sewing machine - and learned the magic of stitch witchery - I knew I could recreate that applique myself! First I designed the applique on the computer. If you're interested, you can download it here. Then it was a simple matter of cutting out the fabric, stitch-witching it onto the shirt, and then sewing around the edges. Easy as strawberry pie.


Appliques are a great way to spruce up a simple shirt for cheap. I bought the t-shirt at Walmart for a few dollars and used scraps of fabric I already had lying around. E loved her new shirt and I loved how adorable the pictures turned out!



The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry, and The Big Hungry Bear by Don Wood

The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry, and The Big Hungry BearYou knew I had to feature this book! Those of you who've been with this blog from the beginning (all 5 of you) know this is one of the very first books I ever reviewed. And for good reason! Like Mary Poppins, it's practically perfect in every way.

Little Mouse is about to pick that red ripe strawberry until you, the reader, stop him. You ask: hasn't he heard about the Big Hungry Bear? The Big Hungry Bear just loves red ripe strawberries! This gentle ruse to get the mouse to share his strawberry continues through page after page of gorgeous - and hilarious - illustrations. While the humor is too advanced for toddlers, the large pictures and short sentences are perfect for little ones. It was one of the first non-board books I ever read to E and it remains a favorite years later. It certainly deserves to be on the top of all strawberry-picking picks!

I'm linking up to:
- Show Off Your Stuff @ Fireflies & Jellybeans
- Spotlight Sunday @ No Time for Flashcards
- Made by You Monday @ Skip to My Lou

14 comments:

  1. Love this! I'm your newest follower! =)

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  2. LOVE that I might have to try my hand at hand sewing it! :) wish me luck!


    we LOVE LOVE LOVE that book!

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  3. Lovely post and lovely book! Will have to add it to my wishlist... must go fruit picking with Red Ted his year! Yum!

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  4. Such talent! It's been awhile since I've tried machine applique. Guess I should get out that sewing machine and liven up a few of my daughter's shirts. She refuses to wear "plain" ones. Designs are a must.

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  5. Your strawberry design is so cute! I wish I had a sewing machine!

    My oldest daughter loved The Little Mouse when she read it in preschool. I haven't read it yet to my youngest, and she would love it, too! Thanks for the reminder to put it on my library list!

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  6. SUPER SWEET!!!! That's one of our favorite books...

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  7. I have come over from ABC 123 where I noticed your Mother's Day apron featured. Your apron is such a priceless gift, it turned out beautifully.

    You have inspired me to try your applique idea. My children would love this. The strawberry shirt is oh so cute.

    I am your newest follower.

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  8. This is my most favorite book ever! Thanks for the free design too, it's adorable!

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  9. I cannot wait to got strawberry picking this year! (I have a few weeks to go here in Minnesota!) But this onesie is too cute! I also saw some of your pics on Beth's blog! You rock a camara! :)

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  10. AH! I love, love, love this idea! Planning on doing this for my little ones. Strawberry season is almost here :).

    Just found your blog through NTFFC ;).

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  11. Thank u SO much..this will look great on my new nieces onesie!!!

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  12. LOVE THAT BOOK! You are a brave mom. When we go berry picking every year, my kids come home with full bellies and red juicy face, hands and clothes. A white shirt would definitely be a casualty at our house. :) I actually haven't ever done an applique before, but this is too cute to pass up! Thanks!

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  13. I'm a new follower- LOVIN' the blog. I think this Strawberry Applique is SO cute- and that book is a favorite at our house. Featured this post today...

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