Woof Woof!

And the pictures are in!

Remember the fleece dog jackets I made for my sister's dogs? The timing was perfect as my little nieces went to the snowy east coast for Christmas vacation. My sister sent me some action shots of the dogs sporting their Hawaiian style wear! Looks like they had tons of fun!  

 

Want more handmade gift ideas or inspiration? Check out "A Crafty Soiree" hosted by Katie's Nesting Spot!

Crayon Apron - Full and Reversible!

After the holiday craziness I was finally able to get some sewing done yesterday. YAY! A friend had asked if I could make a boy-friendly crayon apron. When I asked if she had a theme in mind she mentioned dinosaurs.

Whoa.

Just two days prior I ordered some Michael Miller dinosaur fabric and was waiting for it to come in the mail! It was definitely a sign!

So here's how it turned out. One side has the crayon pockets and the reverse has a chest pocket. My model was snoozing at the time so I had to take the picture on "Addie" the dress form:

When Momo woke up from her nap she reluctantly put it on for me so I could take a picture. Oh the drama!

By the way - you can catch my blog on Facebook if you like! It's joined up with my "Happy Hapa" Etsy shop. Clear here to follow (or you can do a search for "Happy Hapa" - local business and it will take you there!) Thanks for being a follower and helping me get started! :)

Want more homemade inspiration? Check out:

Happy Holidays!

Merry Belated Christmas! Hope you had a wonderful holiday with loved ones!

Our Christmas was great! First and foremost, I am incredibly grateful that my husband is home and not deployed elsewhere. On that note, my thoughts go out to the military families (and all other families) that had to spend the holidays apart!

We did a lot of running around days prior to Christmas day. You know, the usual....last minute shopping, trips to the post office, etc. etc. But we also paid a visit to Santa and both girls actually took a decent picture!

 We also did some easy Christmas crafts. I bought some glass bulbs and had the girls drip paint into them and roll it around. We turned them upside down and placed them into a small paper cup to drain. When they were dry we hung them up. Here is a picture of a few of them: 

 

Kailani also left some cookies and a note for Santa:

 

We were also invited to a Christmas party where our friend Jill had a local style mini-Christmas tree on display. She hung it with Li Hing Mui, nori make and gumdrops. Isn't it cute?

 

And then of course, Christmas morning. Can you believe the kids actually slept in? Of all days! I even made it a point to wake up early so I could at least have a cup of coffee before all the opening of the gifts! I ended up waking them up! 

Hope you had a merry one! 

More Soap Bottles....

More Personalized Bottles.....

I lost count of how many I made.

I also lost count of:

• how many times I had to go back to the store (during holiday season, mind you) for more bottles because a certain someone said, "oh....I forgot about so-and-so"
• how many times I had to go to the copy store to make more transparencies.....(must be printed using a laser printer) 
• how many times I had to remove all the labels and then scrub off all the gummy bits (Thank goodness for Goo Gone!)
• the number of ribbons I tied....
• the number of finger cramps...
• etc. etc. etc.

All this with two kids in tow. If you're a mama I know you're feeling me. 

But in the end, with all the bottles lined up next to each other they looked great. Unfortunately the picture doesn't do them justice but I was done.....D.O.N.E. stick-a-fork-in-me-done! I just hope my husband's coworkers like them. They don't have to LOVE them, but remotely like them will be okay. Each one got a bottle of hand soap and a bottle of hand sanitizer....along with a Girl Scout cookie ticket. :)

Want to know how to do it? You'll have to head over to one of my favorite sites, "The Idea Room". Amy was nice enough to provide a link to download the circular monogram design for freeeeeee! As if the awesome idea wasn't enough! ;)

Lunar Eclipse

Did you see it? 

With all the cloud coverage it was pure luck that I was able to see anything. Quite honestly I had totally forgotten about the eclipse until a girlfriend's sweet daughter mentioned it on Facebook. I chanced it and went outside to see what I could see:  

The picture doesn't do it justice. The moon looked like it was glowing....radiating......

Unfortunately the rest of my family wasn't nearly as enthusiastic as I was. However, as I was trying to take a picture Kailani did ask as if the eclipse was man-made. That gave me a good chuckle (and I forgave her for not being excited enough.)  ;)

Apparently the best viewing of the eclipse is about an hour from now but with the heavy cloud coverage here in Hawaii it's doubtful we'll see a thing. Darn. 

Thank you, Emily. <3

Jailhouse Rock! Elvis Place Mats

Elvis fan? One of our friends might just be his biggest! As a matter of fact this friend of ours just got back from a trip to Graceland! That's some hardcore Elvis lovin'! :)

So the question arose as to what to give him for Christmas. Nothing major...just a "thinking of you" kind of gift. But what do you get a guy that has already has everything? On top of that has everything Elvis? Not a clue until I saw some Elvis fabric. Then the question was what to do with the fabric?

Since the Elvis prints almost looked like panels I decided to cut out the four different pieces and do something with them. Ahhhh. Place mats! Not something I would usually gift a guy.....but I'm hoping that the whole Elvis plastered on the front of the mat will make up for the fact that they are....well......place mats! Ha!

Elvis Place Mats

Back of the place mats.

It should have only taken me about an hour to make them but as it turns out, no matter how much ironing I did the panels were not perfect squares (GOSHDARNIT!) Then I had to take the imperfect squares, center them onto the black fabric, iron, applique and then sew them on. Ugh. You'd think that would be enough work but then I got super ambitious and decided to pad the mats as well. Before I knew it the place mats were going from a "thinking of you" type of gift to a "thinking of you A LOT" kind! 

Anyways.....the end result? After several HOURS of being totally obsessive I finished...and I'm happy! And there is something about the Michael Miller stripes that I LOVE. Not sure why but I do! It's very rich looking...and masculine. Perfect for this project. 

I also totally scored on a  black and white retro Elvis photo mug that I found at Ross. Gotta love Ross! Matches the place mats well!

Dirty Little Third Graders

*Sigh*

I am going to do my best to sound chipper here. For the last six days both of my kids (and now husband) have come down with some sort of stomach bug. Kailani has missed several days of school, but yesterday I saw a glimmer of hope - hope that she would return to school and I would get my life outside of a pukie house back. 

Long story short, no such luck. 

That's alright. Maybe she'll be ready to go back on Friday, the last day of school before Christmas break. That will give me all day today to get my (last minute) classroom crafting done. Just as I was thinking it Kailani says,

"Mom, I don't have school on Friday. The class Christmas party is on Thursday."

"SAY WHAT?!?"

Enter the super-sonic-crafting-trance (on top of taking care of a sick family!) I needed to give something to her teacher and her classmates and I really wanted to avoid candy or sweets of any kind.

So, her teacher first. I have been SO looking forward to this project ever since I saw it posted at "The Idea Room":

Personalized bottles of antibacterial sanitizer and liquid hand soap! I titled it, "Mr. Kodama's Dirty Little 3rd Graders" and I put all the kid's names on it. 

I doubt anybody else will be giving him the same present. :)

Wanna know how I did it? Click here.

Now for the classmates. We were going to make reindeer dust again this year but opted for something different. Instead we bought a bunch of bells and ribbon and made each of her classmates a bell necklace. I reused some cardboard and painted it and cut it out to look like gift tags:

Bell necklaces for the classmates - 30 of them!

Nothing special on back! Just tape!

Did you know that I found one of these bell necklaces selling for over $5.00 a piece?!? Seriously. When I add it all up it cost about $.60 per kid! Of course that's not incorporating the cost of labor....  

So the super-sonic-trance worked. I got them all made and delivered to her class TODAY. YES. GO ME. I did it. 

Now....to get the family feeling better so we can actually enjoy our Christmas break! 

Are you looking for more homemade Christmas gift ideas? Check out "A Crafty Soiree" over at Katie's Nesting Spot! You'll definitely find some inspirations! Click on the button:

This One's for the Dogs....

My canine nieces.....to be exact.

My sister has two miniature schnauzers - one being a puppy. I have to be honest here and tell you that it's her schnauzer that actually converted me to liking small dogs. I've always been a big dog lover - labs, retrievers, rottweilers, etc. and thought of smaller dogs as "big dog snacks" until I met Gretchen: 

Gretchen

Total cuteness. 


And now add their puppy Maxine to the family:

Maxine

Oh my word. 

Now for another confession. I've never been a fan of dogs wearing clothes. That is until I found a reason to justify buying the BEAUTIFUL Aloha print fleece that I admire every single time I walk into one of my local fabric stores!

Since we don't have a dog (and Gretchen and Maxine live thousands of miles away) I had to ask my sister to take some measurements for me. Hopefully I did everything right and they will fit! Here are some local models trying on the jackets:

Locals modeling the doggie jackets. Yes, we have white tigers in Hawaii.

 

Hopefully these little fleece jackets will keep the dogs warm this winter! I will upload pictures of the actual dogs (if they fit) when they receive it!

WOOF WOOF!

Market Bag Winner!

And the winner of the "artsy crafty babe" market bag is:

#14 Chelsea who said, 

"Ooh very pretty...I love it! I found you through A Pocket Full of Buttons"

Congratulations, Chelsea! Look for an email from me telling you how to claim your bag! 

Thanks so much to everyone who took the time to enter!

Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

My most favorite cookie EVER! I've been making these for years!

You can find the recipe on the back of some of the miniature Reese's Peanut Butter Cup bags but I use a slightly different version that is posted at AllRecipes. Even with that recipe I do a couple of things differently. 

First off, to keep the peanut butter cup from melting and losing it's shape I freeze them ahead of time. I also recommend using a medium sized cookie scoop (measures about 1.75" across) - when you use the scoop the cookies end up being the same size and they bake evenly. Instead of ending up with 40 cookies (as the recipe states) in my version you end up with approximately 28.  However, since mini-muffin pans have only 24 cups you could save some time and add a tad bit more dough to each cookie.....

Here's the recipe: 

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

1 egg, beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons milk

28 miniature Reese's Peanut Butter Cups (frozen - put in freezer for at least 30 minutes)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Sift together the flour, salt and baking soda; set aside.
2. Cream together the butter, sugar, peanut butter and brown sugar until fluffy. Beat in the egg, vanilla and milk. Add the flour mixture; mix well. 
3. Scoop cookie dough using the medium sized cookie shape dough into 28 balls and place each into an ungreased mini muffin pan.
4. Bake at 375 degrees for about 9 minutes. While the cookies are baking remove the wrappers from the miniature Reese's Peanut Butter cups.
5. When cookies are done baking remove them from the oven and immediately press a mini Reese's Peanut Butter Cup into each cookie. Cool and carefully remove from pan (I use a small spoon to help lift them it out.)

Cooling in the pan....

This baby's got some height and weight to it!

Wrapped and ready for a cookie exchange!

Market Bag, Facebook and a Giveaway!

So what to start with first? How about the market bag?

Have you heard of "artsy- crafty babe?" Maybe you've seen her link on my side bar. Talk about a talented lady! Recently Rebeka had a sale going on in her Etsy shop and I took advantage of it and bought her market bag pattern. I love the simplicity and the roominess of  the bag! You can fit tons of stuff in it! And it's so much prettier than some of the recusuable/recyclable bags you see being sold in the stores (that I always forget at home or in the car!)

I made one using a Tokidoki-inspired print and added a splash of red with white polka dots for the lining. Here it is:



Market Bag





Lots of room on the inside. Love the splash of red! 



Close-up of the print....

Can you say, Christmas presents? Oh yeah.

And maybe one for my Etsy shop.....

And maybe one for a GIVEAWAY?

Perfect timing for a giveaway, don't you think? Especially with the holidays coming up! But another reason is I'm setting up a Facebook page for my Etsy shop - "Happy Hapa." Just jumping on the bandwagon of social networking!

Sooooo.....let's do this!

Here's how to win. Read carefully please!

Mandatory Entry: Leave me a comment. Please be sure to include your email address if it is not easily found on your Blogger profile.

Once you have completed the mandatory entry you can earn more chances to win! Please leave a separate comment for each:

1) Become a follower of my blog. Already a follower? Just let me know!
2) "Like" Happy Hapa on Facebook.

3) Earn FIVE extra entries by blogging about this giveaway! Post about it on your blog and link back to this thread. Let me know where to find it on your blog! Be sure to comment five extra times for five extra chances to win!

International entries welcome!

One winner will be chosen via Random.org at midnight Eastern Standard Time on Monday, December 13th. Winner will be announced here on this blog, the Happy Hapa Facebook page as well as be sent an email notification. Response is required within 48 hours or a new winner will be selected. Cannot guarantee Christmas delivery but the sooner the chosen winner responds the sooner the item will be shipped!

Can't wait for one? Want one NOW? I'm putting another in my Etsy shop! Check back soon!

Best of luck...and thanks for spreading the word!



While the Kids are Away....

Mama hit the sewing machine.

The kiddos weren't "away-away"....daddy just took them out for the afternoon (THANKS, honey! Not that you read my blog or anything) and I was able to get some sewing done. A few special requests for Christmas and then a couple of extra that I put in my still alive Etsy shop. I still have some pieces sitting on my table waiting to get finished up. All reversible toddler/preschool crayon aprons. Or...as I showed in another post, put clothespins in them and your little helper can help with the laundry!

 



Cupcakes - well, isn't she? :)



My favorite. Definitely buying more of this fabric!



Who doesn't love mermaids?



Do the colors POP or what? LOVE!

For more handmade gift ideas check out Tip Junkie:



And link up with "this and that's i made THIS tuesday!"



Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving! So much to be thankful for!

This morning I got to sleep in for a whole extra 20 minutes! WHOO -HOO! (Hey, I'll take what I can get!) 

Soon after we woke Kailani saw a rainbow....right next to the moon that hadn't yet set:

WOW. What an awesome way to start the day!

Another awesome thing was that I wasn't expected to cook a big elaborate Thanksgiving feast. Whew! Thank goodness for Thanksgiving dinner packages offered by nearby restaurants! So, without having to dedicate all that time in the kitchen I used the time to do some fun domestic stuff with the girls. 

Since I opted out of ordering or making the traditional pumpkin pie I decided to have the girls help me with a local Hawaiian/Japanese favorite, pumpkin mochi! If you've never had mochi it's a bit hard to describe. It's gooey, it's sticky, it's yummy....but a lot of people can't get past the texture. Having grown up eating it I don't have any problems with it. The problem I DO have with mochi is that, well, I LOVE it TOO darn much! 



Busy at work!


Using the recipe from AllRecipes here's how it came out:

No.....it's not pumpkin pie but pumpkin mochi with a dollop of whipped cream!

I don't normally cut pumpkin mochi this way but I thought I would try to psych Kailani out and it worked. She truly thought it was pumpkin pie but was not at all disappointed to find out it was pumpkin mochi. 

 

Pumpkin Mochi

Usually I cut the mochi into bite size pieces. BIG bite size pieces. HA!

After we made the pumpkin mochi we then made pumpkin pie playdough! It was easy, fun, and smelled heavenly! And it was SUPER soft....but not so soft that you can't mold it. According to the instructions the play dough will keep for about a week if you store it in a sealed plasItic bag. (By the way...it also says you need 2-3 hours to make it but it took more like 45 minutes - and that's with having to stop to help the girls with the mixing.Thought it was worth a mention.)   

Pumpkin Pie Spice Play Dough

The girls attempted to make some pumpkins out of the pumpkin play dough.

The play dough kept them occupied for a good chunk of the afternoon. Kailani also used cookie cutters and had her own little bakery going. Check out the sign she posted for her shop:

Notice that the cookies are $.25 but tips are $1.00 or $.50. Well, that is if you don't get the "other cookies" for $.99. What an imagination this kiddo has! 

Hope you had a great Thanksgiving!

Goodbye Rainbow, Hello Happy!

By her reaction you would think that we got her the cutest, fluffiest, puppy in the whole world. But it wasn't a puppy. And it definitely wasn't fluffy. It was this.....



A very happy Kailani with "Rainbow"

A Jackson Chameleon! Both girls were thrilled beyond belief, but especially forever-dinosaur loving, Kailani!

Look at that smile!

Unfortunately after only two days (more like day and a half) Rainbow died. It's a long story and I'd rather not rehash it here, but I wanted to note that it was not at the fault of the girls (or mommy and daddy for that matter!)  It was tough on Kailani and I felt horrible for her. Before she even had a chance to really learn about pet responsibility she had to learn how to deal with the loss of a pet.

Sad, sad, sad! 

But the next day we went to the pet store and let her choose another. This time she chose a baby boy and named him "Happy."



Kailani and Happy bonding







Hungry Happy cathing it's prey. Look at that form!

"Happy" is the perfect name.....because now everybody is! Any other Jackson chameleon owners out there?