Baby Bracelet

I think every girl's first piece of jewelry should come from her Daddy. This daddy even  got the supplies and made it himself. (The picture doesn't show how sparkly and tiny it is in real life.)

"daisy" chain

Remember this post?

The boys call the baby "Daisy" and insist on that being her name when she is born. I thought it was cute to call the baby chain countown "Daisy Chain"....

Yep! Just nine more days!

Car Caddy

A little while back, I saw this cute idea here and knew my boys would enjoy it too. Wanting to come up with some "big brother" gifts, but not wanting to spend a lot, I thought it would be the perfect time to make some up.

I did one for each boy and added the crayons to the other side because they always use their crayon holders and combined, this would be good for church and other places to keep them occupied. 

I know they will get a kick out of them being from their baby sister when she comes home!

Hospital Favors

I have done this before, and was going to skip this time, but decided to go with it anyway. It really doesn't take too long, and its nice to give to doctors, nurses and visitors when your precious bundle arrives :)

All you need for this is:

scrap fabric (I used pink flannel)

pinking sheers

tulle

buttons

flower punch

corner punch

hole punch

cardstock

embroidery floss

candy of choice

Just wrap up candy in flannel, tie closed with tulle. Then print out tags and decorate and tie on with the embroidery floss. 

(By the way, the family blog is password protected, so if you were locked out and do not have a username yet, let me know)

Chef's Attire

Last year, we surprised the boys with a play kitchen and I had wanted to make them each an apron at the time. Well, time ran out and it just didn't happen.  Fast forward to this year and I thought it would be nice for them to each have a set because they help me so much in the kitchen already. I always offer to share my aprons but they (especially Jackson) throw a fit because they are too girly.

I used fabric I already had here and this project ended up costing me nothing!

(I did the apron design myself, but I got the hat tutorial here)  I really think they are going to love them!

Welcome December!

Well hello there, December! 

Where did November disappear to? That's ok, it was kind of a difficult month. So was October.

Time to focus on you, December. This month, the final month of 2009, will be better.  

Hard to believe that this month we will complete our family and meet our sweet baby girl.  Everything in her room is ready, set, go! The boys can not wait! The date is set, and we will definitely have a 2009 baby. I am full term December 14th, but we dont expect her to be here until December 29th. (Looks like we will be ringing in 2010 via hospital lodging.)

The house is decorated, "Jesus' birthday songs" are playing (according to my smart boy), Christmas cards are sent, the gifts are very slowly appearing under the tree (I am a little slow at shopping this year and sadly will not be making many handmade gifts) but we continue to focus on what the true meaning of the season is. The greatest gift given to us. How easy it can be to forget this!

Welcome, December. Make yourself at home and stay awhile.

Hospital Set

Who says hospital gowns have to be boring?

I made my own this morning using this tutorial: http://www.lazygirldesigns.com/hospitalgown.php

I used a few tips from http://www.skiptomylou.org/2009/08/27/how-to-make-a-designer-hospital-gown/ but really, I added my own trims and whatnot to it.

I apologize for the lighting. The colors are a lot more fun in person: pinks, magentas, turquoise, oranges, etc. Jaden calls it a jungle outfit :)

...and why not have baby girl match?

Sew Fitted Pocket Diapers

This evening, I sewed two fitted cloth diapers made from this pattern. It went super fast and they turned out pretty cute. They are reversible and inexpensive (the fabric was scored from my mother in law!) and need a snappi or a pin to close them. I have seen them with snaps and velcro but these are great because they grow with baby. 

They are pocket diapers, so they can be stuffed with a prefold diaper so any other absorbant liner.

I used flannel fabric (from my mother in law) and a receiving blanket I bought for 5o cents at a thrift store...this is the perfect place to find receiving blankets to cut up for cloth wipes and diapers and burp cloths, etc, but I did think they were kind of pricey (in my opinion) so I only got a couple. I think it would be better found at yard sales.

Since I don't have the life size model just yet, my oldest son let me borrow his blue cow.

....and these do need a cover.

Cant wait to try them out for real! Next, I am going to make a cover with minky fabric and fleece..I dont know how well it will work, but the pattern says this would make a good cover and I have the stuff to try it out!

DIY A Necklace Organizer

My jewelry has been out of control for awhile, and I was really getting tired of digging for it in random places in my dresser! I organized it all in my tiny little jewelry box and then took the "fun" necklaces (aka the really big ones) and decorated a board and hung it up in the closet...out of the way and now I can actually see what I have when I am getting dressed! I had all the materials here and it went really fast.  I am sure I am not the first person to come up with this but I thought I would share...

What I used:

1x4 board cut to desired length

patterned paper ..I used double sided and 3 pieces of different patterns.

mod podge

brush

paint

cup hooks

Now whenever I find the straggler necklaces that are MIA, I will officially be organized! (And there is room for a second one too :))

Repurpose a stained shirt :)

I admit that a lot of my clothes have paint or marker splattered on them. It's just become a part of my wardrobe and I have learned to deal with it! All of my sweats look the same and a lot of my jeans do as well. 

When I was pregnant with my second, I bought a fun long shirt at Old Navy for pretty cheap. It was long sleeves and so comfy, and perfect for being 8+ months pregnant. But sadly, the first day I wore it, my white sharpie splattered all over the belly, and as much as I tried to get it out, it left a big white faded spot on the shirt. I think I still wore it in the house but didnt wear it out.

Even when I got rid of a lot of my maternity clothes this time, I still couldnt part with this one. Yesterday (because its SO beautifully chilly outside for once!) I got it out to wear and saw that crazy stain and decided to cover it on up! I see myself wearing it a lot and now I can wear it OUT of the house too!

I dont have a before picture, but here is an after:

To do this, I cut out my petals, glued them on with some washable fabric glue (I could have also used sewable heat n bond but this was within reach), then stitched around the petals with my buttonhole stitch on the sewing machine. I hand sewed the buttons on and then did the stems and leaves. 

I also made a matching hair accessory:

Well, I guess I have been pretty MIA.

Hi everyone!

First I have to kind of apologize for the lack of blog posting. There are many reasons for this. Although I have kept busy crafting, remaining active with church, hanging out with my family and so on, there have been a lot of things going on in my life that have made me take a step back and decide what I need to have on my priorities list. 

I have always enjoyed keeping up with this blog, because I love having everything together for resources, meeting fun new people, keeping in touch with friends, sharing ideas and how to's, and it's just fun! But the fun can wear off pretty fast when negative things happen.  And that's more real life than anything. What a difficult year this has been! But I just thank God for blessing our family in more ways than I can even think of, and the best part is knowing we are never alone through the good and bad times! 

John 14:15-18 (New King James Version)

If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever- the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.

Not to get into the details, but I will continue to blog and keep up with things, but I don't know if what I will share will be as frequent or in depth...at least for a little while. :) And you can always find me on facebook!

I know that I need to clean up and organize a bit on here, as it hasn't been updated in awhile, so while I do that, I will leave you with a recent picture from the pumpkin patch.

See you soon!

polka dots!

I have always loved polka dots. They are so fun. I also really like turquoise and brown together. So I think those two factors were a good excuse to make another outfit.

I did a skirt made similiarly to this one here. I felt like it needed something else so I added this type of flower at the bottom 

I then embellished a onesie and made a ranunculus type flower by cutting out three different sized circles and "fake serging" the edges...meaning I did a teensie zig zag around the circle a couple of times to make sure it doesn't fray. Glued them all together with a washable permanent glue and added the large rhinestone to it. 

Finally I did a matching headband using this tutorial and its interchangeable so the bow was made separately. I have done a bunch of these headbands alread and seem like they will be pretty comfortable.

Thanks for looking! :)

Tiered Skirt, Appliqued Onesie and Bow

While going through some stuff, I found some cute scraps that I used to make an apron with last year. I thought it would be a great idea to put it to use and make a tiered skirt with matching onesie and bow. 

I got the tutorial for the skirt here: http://www.chicaandjo.com/2009/05/28/sew-a-tiered-ruffled-skirt/and it has a handy skirt measurement tool. I guess I didnt have the right measurements or something though because the skirt fits my 2 and 4 year old. Oh well, she can grow into it. And dont ask how I know it fits them :)

Anyway, for the onesie, I freehanded a cupcake with some fabric and then I embroidered the sprinkles on it. Super totally fast and easy.

For the bow, I cut a rectangle, folded it in half right sides together, sewed the three sides minus a tiny bit, turned it right side out and closed it up and then tied a ribbon around the center and glued to a clip. Now there's a whole little set :) 

Dress and Shoes

Kimono Shoes Tutorial and Pattern

Tie Top Dress at MadebyRae Pattern

Using these two patterns, I sewed this quick little dress and shoe combo together:

I could see myself doing a few of these because of how quick the whole thing went together!

Crib Quilt

This week, I have been working on a crib quilt for the baby's bedding set. We have been gathering different pieces for the set rather than buying a "set" put together. I think I like it better this way because it brings in different elements I like rather than having someone choose it for me.

I saw this idea at Sew4home.com and since I had done this one last year , I decided to do this for her crib quilt. 

Wow. What was I thinking?! I did the whole thing in flannel and made it a LOT larger than the original idea at sew4home. I did all the cutting out and sewing on Monday and then started cutting the fringe to fray it. That night, I lost the feeling in my thumb....and it hasnt been back since. 

I used my right hand yesterday and finished fringing it because I never like to start another project when I have one in the works. 

....Maybe one day I will feel my thumb again. (By the way, I googled it and it looks like its a bruised nerve that should take about a week to heal...here's hoping!)

Front of Quilt

Backside of quilt

Re-covered Glider

When I was pregnant with Jaden, I was given our rocker glider as a gift. I was excited because the denim fabric matched all of the denim in his room and the wood also matched the furniture perfectly. When I had our second son, we kept the whole theme the same. This chair is well loved. I have used it to rock my babies to sleep, nursed in it, read to them, and 

sat in it during all hours of the night when they were sick or scared. It means a lot to me. 

When we found out we were having a girl and the room theme changed, I knew I was going to need do something to change up the chair but  I wasn't sure what. Then my husband had the brilliant idea to see if his dad would recover it. When it comes to this kind of thing, he has a true talent. He made our ottoman with Micah, he has done cars, boats, kitchen sets, you name it! 

I went and picked out the fabric last week and brought it all to him, and he surprised me with giving it to me on my birthday! (was NOT expecting it so soon and I was really excited to put it back in her room!)

Before

After

With the scraps left over that he gave me, I made a valance to match for the window. I might add some sheer curtains underneath, but I am liking the simplicity of it.

Ellie the Elephant

I have been asked what the baby's name will be, so I thought I would share! Her name will be Eloise Cora, but will be called "Ellie". Eloise is after Micah's sweet grandma who passed last November, and Cora is the middle name of my grandma.

We found some fun bedding that is even named "Ellie" and are thinking about going with that as her nursery theme.

Of course, what is in the bedding? Elephants! :)  

We aren't going elephant crazy, and are sticking more to a pink and green theme, but I thought it would be nice for her to have a little elephant softie to hang on to. 

I added different textures for her to feel as well as little bells inside so that it jingles.

Now I am thinking about making a mobile similiar to this!

I *heart* damask.

I have been going damask crazy for awhile now, but when I found out we were having our third baby, I wanted to damask it up around here! I like lime green and damask and hot pink and damask,

Her room won't be damask, but I did think about it for a bit!

Here's what I have been working on (or purchasing)

Car Seat Cover 

Kaytebug Boutique

Recovered my existing car seat handle pad

Diaper Case

Wipe Case

Floor Blanket...so soft and padded

Nursing Cover

Strap Covers for Car Seat


Thanks for looking!