2014 Goals Update

It is time to do a quarterly update of my goals for this year. I have been reading over them and thinking to myself, 'Wow, I had no idea what this third trimester was going to hold.'

Lets just get right into it.

One: Enjoy the last trimester of this pregnancy

Well, that was ambitious of me! My body feels like I am falling apart and my left leg has started to drag. Isn't pregnancy glamorous! I have read some from others about how much they love these nine months, to watch their body change, bond with the baby, on and on. I feel bad every time I read one of these because I can not wait for it to be over. I would rather sleep in my own bed, instead of the recliner, and be sleep deprived, changing diapers then be pregnant for another 3 1/2 weeks. I was, however, able to make an afghan for Lady #2 and am super excited to wrap her up in it. Another thing I have loved to think about is that Lady A will soon be a big sister and that she will have a sister. My sister and I could not be more different but I love that I had her to talk to while we were growing up and now that we are older our bond is stronger. I recently saw a quote that went something like 'Because I have a sister I will always have a friend.' I could not agree more and am so excited for our little girls to have each other.

Two: Develop a routine

We have a pretty good routine going. We live in a small community but there are a lot of families and a lot of activities centered around toddlers and family. There is the library, we live between two so we are able to visit both some times, the community center, a group of women from church and a day to do grocery shopping when dad can come with us in the mornings. Right now we are really enjoying having so many places to go so Lady A can play with other kids and I can supervise. The thought of getting down on the floor makes my hips shiver in pain, so this schedule is a win-win!!

Three: Date Nights with Paul

I feel like I am eating my words a little on this one. I really wanted to start doing a regular date night and you know from my original post that Paul's idea of date night is renting a movie and half of the time falling asleep on the sofa. Well, that has now turned into my date night idea during this third trimester. In February when his show opened I took the time to get ready, the whole nine yards, by the time I was done I was worn out and ready for bed, not to go out for hours and mingle. I am glad I did, his design was awesome and it was great to visit with the cast and crew.

We will continue to work on date night but for now, I am feeling fine with a movie night for our dates.

Four: Be mostly packed and ready to move before Little Sister comes in April

Maybe I was feeling a little ambitious when I wrote out my goals for this year. With Lady A the third trimester was the best. I finally got over the morning sickness and did not need any pills to help. That has not been the case this time. I have slowly been packing up boxes but am not as far as I would like to be since I can not lift too much, bend or hunch and run out of energy so fast. Once I get a box packed it sits right where I had it until Paul has time to move them for us.

Five: Family History

This one is mostly for myself right now. I love looking into where my family came from and it has been even more meaningful now that I have two girls to pass it all onto. I have a family member who has a bit of a rough past {we have have ancestors or even family now like that} but I am finding that the older generations do not like to talk about those things and a lot is lost when people pass away. Once I was putting together a video for my Grandpa and Grandma's 80th birthdays, they are just weeks apart, and so I needed to get photos. My Grandpa is a private man and I really thought I had seen all the photos he had {there were about 12} but I felt like I should ask him again. I can not stress to you how nervous I was because I did not want to offend him but I live by my moms motto 'If you never ask, you'll never know.!' Turns out he had an old chest full of photos and not just photos, there were letters, other papers and a hand written journal from my dads Great-Grandma. My dad Loved his Gram and was so excited to see and read a journal written in her own hand. 

I have slowly been keeping up on my family history and sharing it with those in my family who are interested. It will be a few months until I can fully spread out and delve deep into it but for now I am happy with the progress I have made this year in organizing everything and getting copies to those who want it.

Review

It looks like I have some work to do still and luckily there are nine months left in this year. These next few months are going to be super busy with all of the changes coming up for our family but I am sure I can keep up on my personal goals, this could only help this time go smoothly. Right!?!

Tulip Stitch Baby Afghan

It has almost been a year since I posted about Lady A's Star Burst Crochet Stitch Blankie and it is time to share my latest one with you.

I am so excited. Lady #2 will be joining us in April so I got it done just in time. The yarn I like to use for the little ones is Caron Simply Soft Yarn because it is just that, nice and soft for their soft skin.

Like the Star Burst afghan I pulled a stitch from my go to book and turned it into an afghan again.

Since I only used three colors I was able to leave the different skeins attached instead of constantly cutting and re-attaching the next color with every row. For example, as I finished up the row of purple and would need to move onto white, I simple grabbed both yarn strands to create my chain. Then let go of the purple and carried on with the row of white.

When placing the grey binding around the sides where the two yarns were used to create the chain,  it was covered up nicely. So it was a win win!!

Does that make sense? I hope so. If not please leave me a comment and I'll try to re-explain it.

Items needed for this project:
'Handbook of Crochet Stitches' by Betty Barnden
Hook I/9-5.50MM 
Scissors
Colors used for this blanket.
White
Sunshine
Orchid
Grey Heather
{I used about 8 oz of the first three colors, so 1 1/3 skeins of each and just enough Grey Heather to go around for a binding} 

Good luck on your next project. Be sure to share with me if you decide to make one. I would love to see it.

Burp Cloths out of Cloth Diapers ~ Tutorial

These burp cloths are the best. Since they are made from cloth diapers they are SUPER absorbent. But carrying around a cloth diaper is not all that cute so we dress them up with a bit of fabric and ribbon.

What you need:

Cloth diapers

Ribbon

Fabric Scraps

Rotary Cutter and Board {or Scissors}

Sewing Machine

Thread

To add a little bit of style I round the corners using a plate or bowl. Just line it up where you want it and zip around the corner to trim.

Now add the ribbon. The center of the cloth diaper {the extra padding and stitch lines} are not always centered on the cloth diaper so simply use a clear ruler to help in drawing some straight and even lines as a guide for where the ribbon will be placed.

After I got the ribbon in place I folded the cloths in half and laid them on top of each other to make sure they were all lined up together and looking good.

When sewing the ribbons down I also like to use a contrasting color for the thread and use the serpentine stitch to add a little more design and character to the burp cloth.

Now add the binding around the burp cloth to give it a nice, fun and soft finish. You can find my tutorial for binding here.

And now they are done. As simple as that and a very absorbent burp cloth for all the messes the new little one can make.

Do not forget to enter the Spring Birthday Wish Giveaway. Ends midnight {est} the March 20th.

A Weekend of Crafting

This past weekend an email was sent out from our Relief Society President asking for donations. A family {not members of our church but within our ward boundaries} were at the hospital welcoming their second baby boy into their family while at the same time, the house they had just rented and moved into, was on fire. They lost everything! Could you even imagine the highs and lows they experienced in one day.

Lady A is the right age that we could have donated some items for their older boy but her stuff is girly and pink. A lot of the new born items we have are items we will be using in just a few months when Lady #2 gets here. So, I went to my scrap pile and decided to spend the weekend sewing.

Luckily I had one blankie left and plenty of scraps that could be used to make other items.

I love these self-binding blankies, they come together so fast, are the perfect size and handmade items are so nice to receive. 

These pouf squares are fun little sensory toys. Colorful patterns, soft fabric and ribbons with different textures. I like to leave the ribbons as loops and let moms decide if they want to cut them, they would simply cut then singe the edges to keep them from fraying. 

This is our nephew thoroughly enjoying his square. It puts a smile on my face when I hear about my handmade items being loved.

 

And finally...burp cloths. These cloth diapers from Gerber make such great burp cloths, they soak up everything. They are not much to look at so I simply dress them up a bit.

 

Everything was not too matchy-matchy but they all turned out great. There is something about being able to serve others, I always get so excited. Knowing/hoping that I was able to help lift someones burdens is makes the late nights worth it!

At Church on Sunday there was a corner of the Relief Society room with stacks of bins. Families donated tons of items, clothes that their boys had grown out of, diapers and items for the new born, toys for the older brother and on and on. How wonderful that everyone was able to come together and help out. It will never replace everything they lost but hopefully all this will help take some of the sting away. All the best to this family as they mover forward.

In the coming few weeks I will work on getting up the simple tutorials for all these items so you can make and share your own.

2014 Goals

This past year has been great! Nothing too major in the way of good or bad but just a simple and quiet year. This year we will have a lot of changes coming our way: baby sister comes in April, Paul will graduate in May, and one or two moves {depending on how work goes for the summer}. With one chapter of our lives closing and the next one opening there is a lot that I need to prepare and things that I want to do to help strengthen our little family.

Right now, with feeling so blah from this pregnancy, there are a lot of things I have let slip: myself, bills, play time with Lady A, chores...just to name a few. This year there are a few goals I want to work on that will help myself individually, strengthen our family and make our home a haven. I have come up with a list of goals that will help. This will also make our lives so much easier as we prepare for some major changes that will all be happening almost at the same time.

One: Enjoy the last trimester of this pregnancy

I get really sick with being pregnant. With Lady A I lost quite a bit of weight and it wasn't until the third trimester that I was able to start putting it back on. My Dr.'s were not too worried about my health or the health of the baby because I started with some extra weight. This time there is a new pill out that I have been using because the Zofran was not doing much other then giving me a bunch of side effects that I was having to deal with and take more pills for. This new Rx is have been great, not perfect but much better. The only down side is the one side effect that seems to be hitting me......drowsiness. There have been a number of days that I will sleep 14 hours or more. To help me enjoy the third trimester more I want to take time to bond with Baby #2 and something that helped me with Lady A was I spent time making her baby quilt. Getting out more and being more active {on those few warmer days during the winter} will help me appreciate my body and miracle #2, that took so long to get, otherwise I'll spend all my time inside just waiting for these nine months to pass.

Two: Develop a routine

One of the things I have noticed about my sister with her older kids and my sister-in-law with her toddler and baby is that they all have a routine, a good schedule. I know a routine is not for everyone but I think that is a big key to what can help in our home right now. My main problem is that I look at something that needs to get done and think, 'I have all day to do that' or ' I can do that this weekend.' There is no real schedule or time table that is being demanded of me, like school or going to work.

Well, it is time to fix all of that,  I need to demand it from myself.

I love having Paul home for the winter break especially because now I can take naps in the middle of the day and not have to worry because he is here and able to spend time with Lady A. It has been great to be able to spend more time with him, his semesters are so demanding and there will be weeks that Lady A won't see him. Having him around so much has made us a bit lazy especially when it comes to nap time and bedtime. We need to get a daily and weekly routine set up. This will include nap time and bedtime, bills, cleaning and a little me time. I love being a mom but I still need time to do a something for myself, whether it is just getting ready for the day {this will help with enjoying the 3rd trimester too}, working on a project or simply taking some time to read.

Three: Date Nights with Paul

As I have said, Paul's semesters are pretty demanding and he is gone a lot at night. This final semester is not going to get an easier. He has his thesis show that opens the end of February and then has to put his thesis paper together, we will be moving after baby number two arrives and he graduates. But it is important that we work on our relationship too so now he is going to have to squeez in date night....and I told him that just renting a movie doesn't count, we have to interact, but I know great things will come from it. There are a lot of girls in the theatre department who love to babysit for us so there is no reason to not get out of the house. Now to come up with some fun date nights!!!

Four: Be mostly packed and ready to move before Little Sister comes in April

This one is going to take some work, a good schedule and focus. I don't really want to count how many times we have moved since we have been married, if anything it helps with clutter because if I collect it I have to move it and I would rather not. The hard part is that I also love to have my "stuff" available to me if the mood should strike and I want to sew, paint, crotchet, etc. In a previous post you can see that I have already come up with my packing and labeling system. I have also started working on ways to get the apartment ready for when we leave. Check out how I have prepared the stove for easy cleaning when the end comes.

Five: Family History

One hobby that I love to do is family History. Growing up I loved doing puzzles, and geneology is a huge family puzzle. It is more than just putting names down and going back as far as you can, my real love comes from the stories and photos, getting to know my ancestors. It has been some time scence I have really delved into this, partly because of moving so often and not having a place to set it up and leave it so I can come back to it, even when I might only have 10 minutes or so. I have to take the time now and ask my Grandpas all my questions before it is too late.

There it is. Organize. Routine. Family.

Here is to a great 2014!!!

What goals or resolutions do you have for this year? Do you have any tips on what could help with my goals? I would love to hear them.

Diapers for Dolls ~ Tutorial and Free Pattern

The other night as we were getting ready for bed, Lady A decided that she needed to get her babies ready for bed. She went through the last of the wipes making sure the babies were clean then we spent a half hour putting diapers on and off ... on and off.

I love watching her as she figures out new things on her own and tries to copy things that Paul and I do....but....It's time to make some diapers for her babies so we don't use all of hers up.

Flannel or Cotton material

Sewing machine and thread

Velcro {or snaps}
Scissors
Pattern

Optional: Ribbon

Click here to get my template, it has three sizes.

Size 1: Small dolls

Size 2: Cabbage Patch (mine is from the 80's)

Size 3: Homemade doll

Decide what size of diaper you need and cut out the pattern {I used some scrap canvas material so it would hold up as I use it over and over again}. 

I am going to add Velcro on but it was just a bit wider than the ribbon so I cut that down to size. The Velcro pieces ended up being 1" {inch} long.

I suggest cutting one piece from the fabric first {step 2} and placing it on the doll to check the size before cutting out all the diapers from the material.

Optional: Sew the ribbon to the the diaper {step 4}. I usually place it on the front of the outside fabric and this will be where I place one side of the sticky Velcro.

Get the opposite piece of Velcro ready by placing it on a piece of ribbon that is approx. 1.5" long. {step 5} Place the Velcro in the center so that there will be 1/4" seem allowance. Place on the back of the outside fabric with the Velcro up and the pattern of the ribbon down. Now place the right side of the inside fabric down.

Note: be sure to pin the loose pieces in place so they will stay where you want them until you sew.

Sew together with a 1/4" seem allowance leaving an opening approx. 3" wide along one side of the waist, trim off the corners so they will lay flat when you turn the diaper right side out {step 6 & 7}.

Not pictured~oops: {step 7.5} along the curved part for the legs make a couple of small snipes in the fabric {careful not to cut the stitches}. This will help it lay flat when you turn the diaper right side out.

Do a top stitch to help make everything look nice and crisp {step 8}.

Place Velcro on the front ribbon. {I placed mine in 1.5" in from the edge. It's not an exact science but I just placed the diaper on the baby doll and did a best guess.}

Trim down and finish the edge of the ribbon so it won't become unraveled {I used the singe technique}.

Do you sometimes giggle to yourself when you are so pleased with how a project turned out. I am uber please with these and showed them to everyone. My MIL's boss asked for some too for her grand-daughter so I have to get working on the next set.

And now we have enough diapers to fill her little hearts content.

Wipes Case Cover

I needed to add a bit of style to my diaper bag so I decided to start with the wipes case. It seems like I have been using grey in everything lately but it seems to go with everything. This combination of yellow and grey from my material is great, made even better because it was in the remnant bin at Joann's so it was super cheap.

 Wipes Case

Cotton material

Felt sheet

Ribbon

Glue gun

Scissors

Template that you can down load from here.

Print the template and cut out the pattern for the material. Use it to cut two pieces of fabric.

Now cut the pattern down to the size for the felt piece and cute two pieces from the felt.

*This is a rough template and designed to help give the basic size and design you'll need.

Hot glue the felt to the top and bottom of the wipes case, keeping it centered.

Tips: To help keep the felt centered I used tape on either end and hot glued sections at a time. I kept my hot glue thin so it wouldn't be bump. At the corners cut a little triangle out so that it will lay flat then glue down the sides.

Hot glue the cotton fabric in place, trim any edges that need it. The order I did glued down the fabric was: back, front, sides, corners. Then trim any excess around the edges.

Now use the hot glue to place the ribbon around the edges.

Now there is a bit of color to the diaper bag. Yea!! From here you can add any embellishments you would like. Lady A loves to tear things apart so I opted not to add any embellishments to this one.

Sandy Hook Elementary Fundraiser

A couple weeks ago my daughter & I were in Utah visiting family for the holiday season & giving Paul some time at the end of the semester to focus on school. December 14th Paul called me to tell me about a shooting in Connecticut. My heart sank as I was glued to the news, as I am sure many of you were, watching the details unfold. Since my daughter was born, I have been even more sensitive to those moms and families who suffer through tragedies that involve their children.

The following morning I received the news that my grandmother had passed away during the night. This was very sudden and shocking to our family since it was so unexpected. Grandma went to college and fulfilled her dream of becoming an elementary teacher and taught for 36 years. My cousin, sister and I used to go in the weeks before school started and help her get the class room set up and ready for the kids.

Now that we are back home in Connecticut I would like to try and do something to help those who were affected by the tragedy in Newtown. I have decided to sale some of my handmade baby items and donate the proceeds in my grandmothers name. Check out the images of these items on my facebook page. The first person to comment with their PayPal e-mail address will be sent an invoice and items will ship within three days of payment.

Please share this post with others so we can help the community of Newtown as much as possible.

Lady A's Birthday Outfit

I wanted to get some pictures for Lady A's birthday with the wonderful fall colors out here in New England. Since I am not too familiar with the area I had a friend come with me. I love this little out-fit and even more excited about the top.

This is my first re-purpose design and I could not be more please with how it turned out.

After all day shopping I finally found everything I was looking for: Boots, skirt and a top. The top was a tank top, size 2T, it was too big and too cold for her to wear it so I had to do a little work to it.

First I cut the ruffle off around the bottom. I wasn't too worried about the bottom of the shirt rolling or fraying since her pictures were going to be done the next day but you can roll the bottom once or twice to put a hem at the bottom of the shirt.

I took the extra ruffles and used them to make sleeves and a piece to the front to make it go a little higher.

For the cap sleeves I cut two pieces about 6" long. Look at the picture to see where I have drawn a dotted line. After lining up the center of the 6" ruffle to the top o the shoulder I pinned the rest of the sleeve lining up the invisible line with the seem of the arm hole. Then I simply sewed right along the existing seem. 

I used some extra material, felt and mesh material to add a little flare dress up the cute little shirt and match her hair clip I made

I am sorry to say that Lady A dropped the camera so all the photos to go along with this tutorial were lost. There will be plenty of other re-purposed shirt tutorials but here are some photos of the our little girl in her fun little birthday outfit.

 She was NOT going to give up her blanket!

Baby Bear Beanie with Fuzzy Ears and Brim

I wish I had this little beanie finished when my little lady was born. How cute is that!?!?!

This soft and cozy Bear Beanie is an adorable finishing touch for your little ones outfit to out out on those chilly days. It's also a great photo prop, you won't be able to resist those round cheeks. This one fits up to 14 inches and is stretchy.

MATERIAL & CARE:
100% Super Soft Acrylic - Cap
98% Acrylic, 2% Polyester - Ears/Brim
CARE: Use gentle detergent, warm water. Pat dry, lay flat to re-shape and finish drying. Do not bleach or iron

If you want to order one for your little darling check out my shop here.

Open Weave Beanie with Ear Flaps and Tassels ~ Choose You Colors

~*~*~*~*~*~ Can I just say how much I LOVE this beanie ~*~*~*~*~*~

I made a beanie for my niece the first Christmas after she was born. Her parents tell me all the time how much she loves her beanie and share pictures of her in her every day activities wearing the beanie. Over the summer I made a larger one for her {she is growing} so that her mom could take turns washing them and in case the beanie gets left somewhere on accident {it happened once and was not pretty}. The beanies are the exact same color and style so my niece won't realize when she is wearing the 2nd beanie.

She now has a sister and of course I need to make her one but I wanted to make sure it was one just for her. This is the beanie I came up with and could not be more pleased. I immediately made one for my little girl ~ now I just need to get her to leave it on her head, she doesn't even like bows clipped in her hair. But the beanie is cute enough that I will keep putting it on her until I win the battle.

Check out my shop if you want one for your little one too!

Baby Blankets

I LOVE having tons of blankets around.

As I walked out to my living room the other day I suddenly realized how many blankets we have, and it is such an eclectic bunch. Blankets from far off places, ones that I have made for my husband and daughter and many more that others have made for us. I think giving someone a blanket is a wonderful way to say 'I Love You!' They are warm on a cold day, comforting when you need to curl up, perfect to take out side and lay on the lawn during a wonderful summer evening. We have them all over the house for whenever the moment calls for a nice cuddly blanket.

After seeing all the wonderful handmade blankets our little girl received from family I decided I wanted to help share that love that a handmade blanket can bring. Check out my ETSY store for the latest and great deals. Find that special blanket that says you love them.

St. Patrick Day Leg Warmers

Have you ever tried making your own legwarmers for you special little one?

My cousin made a pair  for my little munchkin and we love them. They work great to go with any outfit and when it is time to change a diaper the legs can stay warm ~ this works great especially in the colder months. To help her dress up for the festive day this month, and to make sure she has her green on, I made her a pair or St. Patrick Day leg warmers.

I think the pictures do a pretty good job of explaining how to make these, but I'll add a few comments just to help out.

Here is what you need:

Knee high socks

Cutting board, ruler and blade {or you could use a pair of scissors}

and thread and needle

I lined up the tops of the socks and then cut the bottoms off at the same length.

Ta Da!!

Now I rolled a hem at the bottom where I cut...

...and stitched using the machine. This is simple enough that you could hand stitch it too.

WaLa...fun little leg warmers for my cute little one.

Here she is!!

What I Ended Up Using at the Hospital

Before we went to the Hospital to deliver our little girl I looked at a couple of lists for ideas on what to pack for the Hospital. Check out my list here.

If you were to ask my husband he would tell you I am a bit of an over-packer. I believe I can be but I went ahead and packed most everything on those lists, items for mom and dad. It was all out on the bed and I thought "There is no way anyone needs all this stuff." As it turns out, I was very glad I had it.

I was going to be induced because we were overdue and have very low fluid. We got to the Hospital at 5 p.m. on Thursday night but we were going to have to wait because the nurses were all busy with moms in full labor. Every time a Dr. or Nurse came in and told me that they would start me shortly, some one would come back in shortly after and tell me that more moms were there in full labor. It took a full 24 hours before anything started. At this point I was very grateful that I had packed most everything on my list. I had nothing else to do except paint my nails, read, play some card games with my husband.

For next time I think I will pack two bags, one to grab and go if we have to head off to the Hospital in a hurry and another with all the extras so if it looks like we will be spending a little more time at the Hospital I'll have some stuff to keep my mind and hands going.