Wrist Pin Cushion

I've been using the original packaging to store my pins in, but it isn't very convenient and Mr. Grabby Hands was dying to get ahold of it, so I whipped this up.

It was really simple to make. I just used a plastic kid's plate as a template, cut out the circle, gathered it, stuffed it with cotton batting and fabric scraps, then sewed it closed. I made a quick tube for the wrist part, fed elastic through, attached it, and voila! Quick and easy.

Total cost: zero

I found the pink bandana I used as fabric in my misc. art crap bin, I had elastic on hand from my diaper customizing, and I used fabric scraps and batting I had leftover from my fabric block project.

15 Minute Upcycled Longies

My 15 minute Longie pants tute:

Step 1: Find a 100% wool sweater at the G-Dub

Step 2: Mutter and grumble about how all the sweaters are acrylic now-a-days. Ask your child "Doesn't anyone use real wool anymore?" as he stares blankly at you.

Step 3: Cut off the arms of the sweater at the shoulder seam, leaving the wrist cuffs intact. Keep the torso of the sweater for another project.

Step 4: Use a good-fitting pair of pants to determine the length and rise, then trim the crotch to shape, leaving a seam allowance. The arms don't appear to be wide enough in this pic, but the sweatpants don't stretch, and the wool pants will.


Step 5: Turn one sleeve inside out and slide the right-side-out sleeve inside the inside-out sleeve, lining up the crotch. Turning only the one outer sleeve inside out will ensure that you have right sides facing each other. Pin along the semi-circle/crotch.

Step 6: Sew along the semi-circle, then pull the leg out.

Step 7: Measure out elastic for the waist

Step 8: Fold down waist leaving a tube for elastic. Sew 1/2 way around the waist, run out of thread on your bobbin, rethread, and get distracted by House MD on tv.

Step 9: Focus! Almost done! Sew the rest of the way around the waist band leaving a small opening to thread the elastic

Step 10: Thread elastic through, sew the ends together, and finish off the seam.

Step 11: Turn right-side-out and marvel at how handy you have become!

Optional Step: Sew patches on the knees for your crawler. I didn't get there yet.
For cloth diaper longies: Lanolize these, air dry, and they will double as a cloth diaper cover and pants. Yay multi-purpose!

Action shots:

See the nice built-in cuffs? Lovely.

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Mini Chef Hat

The Wee One is going to be a little chef for Halloween, so naturally he needs a little chef hat.

I made a pattern out of newspaper, and as you can see the first version wasn't quite right. The band was too wide and the poof too small.

Ah, that's more like it.

The final product.

 

Everything I used to make this project I already had on hand, so it was free.

The fabric came from one of the many white aprons my husband has around the house and never uses.

Nursery Decor

Living in an apartment kind of limits what we can do with decor around here, especially in the nursery. This is what I came up with for now.

I was going through some boxes and found all the cards I saved from our baby showers. They are all so cute, and I thought many of them would make cute wall art for his nursery, but I didn't want to frame them. I thought a clothes line would be fun. I like that they add some color to his white room, and being so far away from most of our family, they remind me how many people care about us. :) On the opposite wall I put another row.

Below the second clothes line of cards are mirrors. They are right across from his crib, and he loves them.

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Homemade Dishwasher Detergent

Since our homemade laundry detergent was such a success, I figured I'd give homemade dishwasher detergent a shot. It didn't hurt that the store-bought, expensive brand was doing a crappy job cleaning in our new dishwasher.

The recipe I found in blog land was
1/2 c. Borax
1/2 c. Washing Soda
1/4 c. citric acid

I read that in a pinch you can substitute non-sugar lemon drink mix for the citric acid, so I tried it. Naturally, at the store I was in a hurry, so I grabbed the first lemon drink mix I came across, which happens to have sugar in it. Woops!

I gave it a shot anyway, doubling the amount of lemon drink mix to compensate for the smaller amount of citric acid in the mix, and the Borax and washing soda I already had on hand for my laundry detergent.

I used:

1/2 c. Borax

1/2 c. Washing Soda

1/2 c. lemonade drink mix

Did it work? You better believe it! My glasses and dishes actually came out sparkling! Usually they are cloudy and several dishes need to be re-washed by hand. Not this time! I'm very pleased with the results.

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The big One!



My first time holding him.



I year ago my son was born at 7:11pm weighing 4 lb .8oz and 17 1/4". He was 9 weeks early and spent 35 days in the NICU fighting to live. He is such a sweet, handsome little boy, and he brings joy to all who know him. My husband and I have truly been blessed to have this sweet little baby boy in our lives.



1 Day old.

 But look at him now. He's our clever little go-go-go man, always on the move, always with a smile on his chubby-cheeked face.

Now who could resist that smile? Happy Birthday Wee One!
We love you.

Naughty Gnome strikes again!

A few weeks ago the Naughty Gnome paid us a visit and hid my phone. His hiding place was discovered a few days later (in the couch), but that pesky gnome struck again last week.

This naughty gnome took this picture with my camera before hiding it!

This time, he hid my camera. Harrumph! I've searched the entire house high and low for a week without any luck. Then today, success! Care to guess where that Naughty little Gnome hid it this time? Go on, take a guess...
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He hid it in....
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the garbage!

Gaa! That nasty, Naughty Gnome almost won, but I thwarted his attempts at the very last minute.

Watch your phones and cameras people, the Naughty Gnome is on the loose!

Adventures in Boyland

Boys sure do keep you on your toes, don't they? The other night, the wee one (11 & 1/2 months old) went to bed very early (we have all had a cold this week), so, naturally he woke up in the middle of the night. I brought him into our bed to nurse and go back to sleep. I did, he didn't. Once I drifted off to sleep, the little bugger crawled out of our bed, down the dark hallway, and sat playing in the pitch-dark living room. When I came upon him at 1:30am(!) and turned the lights on, didn't he give me the biggest, cheesiest, toothiest grin I've ever seen?

Sigh. At least he seems to be feeling better.

What stories do you have to tell?