Ok, so it's not really my birthday, but we do have an insane number of family birthdays this time of year. My new neice kicks things off with a birthday on October 10th. Mine is October 27th. Mr. Handsome's mom is the next day, October 28th. My older sister and another neice share a birthday on November 2nd. Mr. Handsome's sister has a birthday on November 4th. My mom's birthday is today, November 17th. Happy birthday, Mom! Mr. Handsome has a birthday this Friday, November 21st. My younger sister's is December 1st, followed by a nephew's birthday the day after Christmas, and great grandma's birthday the day after that. My brother-in-law has a birthday on January 1st. And another nephew's is on January 30th. We get a six week break and then the insanity of spring birthdays begins. All these birthdays are just immediate family, mind you. Moms, dads, sisters, and their families. People you send gifts to. No fourth cousins twice removed or anything like that. Throw in Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's...Well, it's party, party, party!
Did I mention that today is my mom's birthday? Oh, yeah, I did. But in case you got lost in all those birthdays I mentioned, I thought I would remind you again. I love my mom. She's a good mom and a good friend. I stitched up a clothes pin bag for her birthday.
Here's a close-up of one of my new tags in action. Can you see where the orange tag wouldn't really work here?
The pattern for this bag came out of this book. The hardest part about the project was finding the right kind of hanger. The directions say to use a child's wooden hanger. Wooden hangers for children are not easy to come by in these parts. I ended up buying a padded hanger. I had to cut the padding off, saw a couple of inches off both sides of the hanger to make it fit, and then modify the top of the pattern to be the same shape as the hanger. Not a big deal, but a little more detailed than I had anticipated.
After I made this for my mom, I got to thinking of all the things you could use this bag for besides clothes pins. My girls have all kinds of lip glosses, lotions, potions, collections, and treasures that somehow end up everywhere but where I want them to be. I really don't think a collection of Bonniebell's finest Smackers should rest in my living room nestled in the only piece of Portmeirion pottery that I own. How cute would it be make some of these bags for storing their doo-dads? They could be made to match their room and hang on fun hooks like these. Oh, the possibilities. Now if I could just find a few more hours in the day to sew....
Wishing you a fantastic week,
Cassie
By the way, that great little birthday doodle came from Homegrown Hospitality. Thanks, Stephanie.
Wow, that IS a lot of birthdays! We have streaks like that in our family, but not that many. I love how cool your new tag looks on the finished clothespin bag. Happy birthday to your mom!
Posted by: Terriaw | November 17, 2008 at 07:06 PM
Your family sounds like mine! I have 5/8 of my children in the early fall. One at the end of september and 4 in october. In fact my daughters BD is Oct 27 too. And so is Stephanie's on Loft Creation blog. Kind of fun. Its a hard time to have tons of birthdays and then jump into christmas!
Posted by: Nanette | November 17, 2008 at 07:35 PM
An expensive few months then :) Sounds like fun family times though. Love the peg bag - red spots are fab! Def wouldn't have worked with the orange tags though. The new tags work well though. I have shelved an idea there that may come to fruition... but given that my sewing machine is still in the loft it may be a little while away ;)
Posted by: Gemma | November 18, 2008 at 03:03 AM
Love that bag! And what a great idea to make them for storing other things. So cute!
I wish for more sewing hours too....
Posted by: Randi | November 18, 2008 at 06:51 AM
Oh man, am I having a duh moment! I was just shopping with my mom this weekend and we saw a little clothespin bag and she asked if I liked it. I said yes. It never occurred to me until JUST NOW WHEN I SAW YOUR ADORABLE BAG that mom might like one for her clothespins! Thanks for the great idea!
And sorry about your birthday mania. We're SO lucky -- our family is very nice and evenly spread out -- about two birthdays a month for all the months except Oct., Nov., and Dec. -- which is perfect for the Christmas budget LOL!
Posted by: Thimbleanna | November 18, 2008 at 11:58 AM
Happy Birthday to your Mum!! Our family has a busy time with birthday too from now until early January, combined with Christmas and the end of the school year - life is certainly hectic at the moment. Love the peg bag - very stylish!!
Posted by: Lisa | November 18, 2008 at 05:21 PM
Happy BIrthday!!!
Love the clothespin bag. The colors are fantastic and I am jealous of your never ending stash of Summer in the City! Totally agree with you about the tags. Love the orange ones too though. Smart to have two options. Fab work as usual.
Posted by: julie | November 19, 2008 at 09:18 AM
Darling bag! We have lots of birthdays too! Mine is next week!
Posted by: Dawn | November 20, 2008 at 07:32 PM
Thanks for the link for the tags! Jen
Posted by: frazzydazzles | November 21, 2008 at 04:03 AM
It's hard to find anything made of *wood* these days, let alone a hanger. Cute, cute, cute pin bag. I made some this summer and I love putting my pins in there. I used to just let them weather on the line. Not any more. *Cute* can make a difference!
Jody
Posted by: Gumbo Lily | November 22, 2008 at 04:31 PM