Black Apple Dolls

I'm sure many of you have heard of The Black Apple and The Black Apple Doll. I made one for my oldest for her Easter basket two years ago. I was going to wait one more year to make one for my youngest, but she is suddenly quite smitten with the first one that I made, so I went ahead and made one for her Easter basket this year.

The one on the right is the one I made back in 2009. She is named "Marge" after my grandmother because that bold black floral number looks like something she could have pulled right out of her closet. The one on the left is the doll I made this weekend. She is named "Billie" after my other grandmother. Both of my grandmothers were gone before my girls were born, so these dolls are a nice conversation starter to tell them a little about who their great-grandmothers were.

"Billie"

"Marge"

The hair is wool felt, and I painted the faces using acrylic craft paint. I added a little note to their bottoms with a permanent fabric pen, a reminder to my girls that I spent hours making these for them I love them.

They kind of look like twins...

Or at least sisters, which I guess is appropriate :)





I'm linking up...

A Giveaway (CLOSED) and Blogging Tips with Simply Klassic

Some of you may remember that my blog got a little makeover back in January. My friend Kristin had just started Simply Klassic Custom Blog Design, and she did a fantastic job classing up my blog. I went from this...

... to my much more professional looking current blog design that you see now, which I absolutely love. Click here to check out Kristin's full list of services and prices (which she recently revised), including a huge à la carte menu of design services. Also, you can view her full design portfolio here.

For those of you who don't know Kristin, she started her first blog Betty Crocker Wannabe just over a year ago as a place to share recipes. Her blog soon became a clutter of different topics, so a few months ago she decided to start a new blog, A Simply Klassic Home, that she could devote to her home and her journey to finding and defining her decorating style. It was also around this time that she decided to start her blog design business, Simply Klassic Custom Blog Design. In the midst of all of these changes, there have been some huge changes going on in Kristin's personal life. Kristin adopted her three-year-old son in 2007. Just mere weeks ago she found out that her son has a two-year-old sister, and Kristin was asked to bring her into their home with the intention of adopting her. A decision was made, and Kristin has been spending the last few weeks getting used to being the mother of two little ones. Kristin is an amazing, kind-hearted, extremely talented individual, and I am so excited to announce that starting today, right here on Gwenny Penny, Kristin will be guest posting a weekly series on blog etiquette and design tips! And make sure you stick around because there's an awesome giveaway at the end of this post! This giveaway is now CLOSED. Thanks for entering!

Take it away, Kristin...

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Hey everyone, I'm Kristin from and A Simply Klassic Home and Simply Klassic Custom Blog Design. I am so excited to be here guest posting at Gwenny Penny! Gwen has been such a great blogging friend and I'm excited for the opportunity for us to work together!

I recently expanded my blog design business, designing for Etsy shops, and added print designs like business cards to my services. If you're ready for a new design, please stop by and visit Simply Klassic Design. I'd love to work with you!

Today's topic: How to... Place a link in your comment.

Have you ever wanted to add a link when you are leaving a comment on a blog? You just need to know a little bit of html code:

<a href="http://gwennypenny.com/">Gwenny Penny</a>

The code you need is in red, the blog url is in purple, and the title is in blue.

When you post your comment, the site address will appear as a link, like this:

Gwenny Penny 

It's that easy!

Quick tip - Don't want to have to remember all that code? Bookmark this page and come back when you need it!

I'll be back next week with another great blogging tip!

Thanks Gwen!!!

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Did you guys know how to do that? I had no idea you could link like that in a comment. Kristin will be back next Tuesday with another great blogging tip. In the meantime, I have an awesome giveaway for you today. Would you like the opportunity to spruce up your blog or Etsy shop? Would you like to win a $50 credit toward design services at Simply Klassic Custom Blog Design? Cause that's exactly what we are giving away today!

OK, here's the lowdown on the giveaway. You each have up to four chances to enter. Leave one comment for each entry.

1. Follow Gwenny Penny publicly via Google Friend Connect.
2. Follow A Simply Klassic Home publicly via Google Friend Connect.
3. Follow Simply Klassic Custom Blog Design publicly via Google Friend Connect.
4. Post about this giveaway on your blog (include a link to the giveaway in your post).

Remember, please leave one comment for each entry. Make sure you leave an email address if your email is not linked to your Blogger profile. The giveaway will end on Monday, April 11, 2011 at 7:00am (EST). I will use a random number generator to determine the winner by comment number. The winner will be announced on Tuesday, April 12, 2011 in the next "Blogging Tips with Simply Klassic" guest post.

This giveaway is now CLOSED. Thanks for entering!

Good luck everyone!

Out to Eat Place Mat

I'm guest posting over at Liberate Creativity today. I'm sharing a tutorial for an Out to Eat Place Mat...

I'm guilty of feeding my 14-month-old her finger food right off the table at a restaurant. Is it gross? Yes, but we've all done it at some point (Come on, admit it. I won't judge :). This place mat ties up into a compact little roll to toss in your bag and bring along when you go out to eat. It even has a pocket for some little silverware. No more worries about how clean the table is before you sit down to enjoy your meal.

Head on over to Liberate Creativity for the full tutorial.