So Simply Stephanie

I normally don't review products on here, but these wooden toys are so cool that I wanted to share... Wooden toys from Mama Made Them on Etsy - We purchased these through a group buy (at a discount) as Christmas gifts for the boys. These are such good quality that I would definitely be willing to pay full price for them.  These toys are big fun for little hands & creative minds! Bath toys - both boys have lots of fun with these in the bathtub. Good bye plastic bath toys, hello durable wooden toys! Playground - my oldest LOVES this. The merry-go-round is so cool as is the swing. Fire truck, bulldozer & flatbed truck - I love that the ladder comes off of the firetruck. The flatbed truck is just awesome. Gas & Go Set - this one is awesome because it comes with 3 vehicles & lots of wooden people. All around fun. Not pictured - teething keys . Baby Z really enjoys the sound these make & of course chewing on them. My oldest son says his favorit

I normally try to find free tutorials/patterns online for the bags I make. However... once I saw the 241 Tote over at Noodlehead I knew it was a pattern I'd like to buy. Apparently I'm not the only one since I've seen many of these online. I used white linen & Modern Meadow fabric by Joel Dewberry for this project. I absolutely LOVE this fabric & have had it tucked away for a little while now. I knew it would be perfect for this project. Here is my finished bag... And the interior... This pattern is written tutorial style (plenty of explanations for each step & lots of photos).  It was super quick & easy - I made the purse in 1 day. I really enjoyed using this pattern & have already cut out the pieces for 3 more! A few notes - this was my first time using linen and I really liked it for the outer pockets & strap. Also, I used lightweight interfacing on the lining pieces, strap & all pockets. I used fusible fleece for the outer pieces. I

Here are a few more simple wooden toys my husband and I have made for the boys... Lacing shoe, dragon, robot & spaceship The dragon is entirely my husband's creation - isn't it amazing! I also wanted to share the last few Christmas gifts that I couldn't post before... I made 2 of these fabric baskets for my husband ( tutorial ) The finished Across the Sea Quilt for my sister ( quilt along ) -

I am not going to have time to finish all of the quilts I've started/planned for this year.... just not enough time in the day. Here are the last 2 quilts I will be working on as gifts: For my cousin's son (twin size I-spy quilt)- I made my own pattern for this quilt. It uses disappearing nine patch & sashing, so it's pretty simple. Hopefully I can find my notes and share it one of these days. And for my mom (lap size Color Brick quilt )-

My husband recently bought a scroll saw. I don't know much ab out them, but apparently they can be used to make some pretty awesome stuff (see here , here & here for a few examples). We have some big plans for the scroll saw! Here are our first two super simple projects - the letter A & a giraffe teether... They each still need to be sanded down a bit more & finished. I found some really useful info about painting & finishing natural wooden toys that I want to try. We would like to make more wooden animals, a few animal puzzles and maybe even tackle a few neat toys.