Baby A's crib bedding

Baby bedding

Today I dusted off my machines.

Jenny G. took me to the DownEast clearance stores. I found a Pottery Barn twin white sheet with red stars for less than 10 bucks. I turned it into a crib sheet using Dana's crib sheet tutorial.  It is super easy-you should try it! I have some leftover and I might make a bumper or a pillow. I haven't decided. 

At another DownEast store I found a toddler duvet that was red with white stars for 5 bucks. I just needed to make an insert. I used knit fabric and batting I already had on hand. I'm so glad to put my stash to use. 

I used Ty's crib skirt which matches the red nicely and I do not have to do any painting. The skirt could use a little pressing but I probably won't worry about that. 

Baby girl won't actually use this crib for a few months but it is nice to cross it off my list. I also made closet dividers for her clothes by size. I still have lots of washing to do before she gets here but the kids room is getting a little more organized each day. 

Sewing for Tim Holtz

Sewing for Tim Holtz

I love to sew.  Recently my friend Paula Cheney asked if I would sew a few pieces for Spring Quilt Market 2015 in Minneapolis for Tim Holtz.  I was over the moon!  

Of course I will sew for Tim Holtz!!! 

She sent me a few pictures for inspiration, I found several patterns, and Paula helped me narrow down the dress choices.  After she brought over the fabric I got right to work. 

I don't think they used the pajama pants in their booth.  There are tons of fabulous pieces in their booth.  

But hanging up right next to a beautiful quilt in their booth is the toddler dress I sewed.  I loved this fabric.  I tried really hard to place my pattern pieces in just the right spots so that you would get a good chunk of butterflies.

So for one weekend I felt like a celebrity as Paula posted this dress on her Instagram page during the quilt show.  It was fun to read comments from complete strangers.  I'm crossing my fingers that I'll get to sew for Tim Holtz again for his future shows. Be sure to check out my dress in their booth!

Sharing

I recently joined a Facebook group called Buy Nothing. Basically it is like Craigslist in the sense that you can post stuff you no longer need or are in need of but you give/get it for free. There is no bartering or money changing hands. It is also a small area and they only allow you in the group if you live in the immediate area. 

One woman posted that she was looking for owl nursery decor/crib sheets. She had recently adopted a baby and wanted to get to work on her nursery. So I left the message that I did not have anything matching that description but if she found fabric I could make her a crib sheet. 

She did find cute owl fabric. I asked her if she wanted a pillow as well and she said yes. She picked up the necessary supplies and I got to work. I did add a little of my own minky swirl to the pillow since it matched perfectly. I then asked if she had plans for the extra fabric and she said no. So I made her a bib, a tag lovey blankie, and a door muff to add to her pile. It was fun to sew for her and baby girl Meagan. 

In this same group another woman put out a request for blankets to be made for newborns at our local   hospital. Her son was putting together shoe boxes that would fit an outfit and a blanket for those that might not have anything for their new arrivals. His goal for his Eagle Project was 100 boxes. It is times like these that having an extra stash of fabric comes in handy. I was able to whip up a simple flannel blanket to add to his project. 

Halloween 2013

Halloween 2013

This was the first time I made the kids costumes.  I had a lot of fun creating their outfits and their headbands.

And I also made an outfit for Sarah.

Then the day of the trunk or treat I sewed up my jacket.  I already had the shirt and skirt from a previous Halloween costume that I made for myself. Photos courtesy of Julia.

Julia won "Best Homemade Costume" at the trunk or treat.  I like to think it is actually my award.

Before trick or treating Julia had dance class.  We were down a car so we walked, in costume, to her dance class.  

Doodle Fun

February, really?  I can hardly believe that the last time I posted it was February.  My goodness!  Today I had a big headache.  Not a migraine by any means but the kind of headache that is not the Tylenol variety.  After a nap and a little Excedrin I am now awake.  So I "doodled" in Photoshop.  

My daughter needs a cover for her binder for school.  I decided to create a page for her that she could color using either markers or colored pencils.  I used Katie Pertiet's Doodledo Frames No. 9-3 for the border.  For the flowers I used Janda Flower Doodles font and for the name I used the font Simon Script.

I've also been working on her room.  When we moved into our house almost 5 years ago I painted her room first.  Then we got pregnant and I never finished her room because I started work on her brother's room.  I finished his room from top to bottom but his sister's room sat on the back burner.  So I recently revamped her paint job.  I didn't completely repaint the room but I did make some adjustments to brighten up her room.  I also purchased a new Expedit bookcase for her room.  Luckily I was already using a ton of baskets in her previous storage furniture.  Her previous furniture was our IKEA entertainment center (Markor) which we used when we lived in an apartment.  It was time to ditch those pieces for lighter and brighter.  But her baskets needed some sort of label.  Again, since I was not going to sleep anytime soon I set to work on placing felt on the bottoms of all her baskets and sticking laminated labels on the fronts.

For the labels I used the Simon Script font and Echo Park Paper's "For the Record" element No. 16 and just changed the color up a bit.

My craft room is slowly getting organized (again) and now that I don't have any upcoming weddings or baby showers I'm hoping to have a little fun in here sewing and crafting.

Samara's Shower

Samara's Baby Shower

Today we hosted a shower for our friend Samara who is due in just a few weeks with a baby boy.  She loves the beach, farmer's markets, and music.  She wasn't planning on decorating a nursery so that made it a little trickier for our decor.  We like to decorate with items that can be used in the nursery and not just tossed aside.  So we went with a beachy theme.  If we could have hosted it on the beach we would have but school is out so that means our beaches are crowded on the weekends with folks from Fresno and Bakersfield.  Not to mention the Pismo Beach Car Show was this weekend.  We opted for my back yard instead.  

When I say we I mean.......Myself, Tiffany, Tara, Julie R., Shannon, and Kandie.  Samara is usually included in our party planning crew but it would have been awkward to have her plan her own party.  We divvy up the work which makes setting up and tearing down more fun and a lot less work.

Our cake table.  Tiffany and I created the buntings around all the tables.  I whipped up a little table cloth that worked to hide this table.  Tara and Julie scavenged their homes for the beach decor.  Tiffany made cute sand dollar cookies for people to take home.  Shannon created an amazing cake that looked awesome on the outside and tasted amazing!  She also put together fruit kabobs.  You can always count on Shannon for fruit at a party.

Her cake complete with "sand" and chocolate shells.  I think they might have been peanut butter and white chocolate.  I'm not exactly sure.  

The food table!  Mango quinoa salad, chicken salad croissant sandwiches, homemade pretzel bites with cheese sauce, oven roasted corn with Parmesan cheese and a basil butter, mango salsa/chips, and various veggies and dip.  

But with good food you need something to drink.  Tiffany put together about six different drinks and served them up at the bar. Tiffany had a lot of fun being our bartender for the day.  I'm going to need a few of her recipes.  The one in the pitcher below is Brazilian Lemonade.  LOVE THIS DRINK!  Pretty sure I've pinned this recipe.  Tara and I like power tools and decided it would be fun to build a bar.  She brought three pallets over and we went to town.  I did have to get a few 1x6x8 boards to create the top, shelf, and the bottom.  We added wheels because it was a little heavy to move.  

And just for fun a few more cake pictures.

I love hosting parties at my place because it usually means that something gets fixed up or super cleaned.  For this party I did a lot of weed pulling and flower planting.  I also had to move around a few pots  and I really like my new patio areas.  Tiffany lent me two couches that they are planning on selling.  I might hang on to them a little longer if we keep having this nice weather.

Cliff's Dad and Janice came over last night.  Janice helped me finish a few projects so that I actually went to bed before midnight.  Then this morning she helped me with my parts of set-up like food prep, cleaning windows, and getting the bathroom ready.  This also meant I could sleep in a little longer this morning.  The best part of today was when I was talking with my friend Tiffany during set-up.  I asked her if she thought Julie would arrive by 2pm.  She asked me "What happens at 2pm?" I said that the party starts at 2pm.  "No Jen.  The party starts at 1pm."  Um, it was noon, I was in my grubby clothes and I thought I had two more hours to go.  I'm glad we had that convo because I suddenly had to kick it into gear.  But that is what is great about a crew.  They can help out when you need to slap on some clothes and make-up real quick.  They also know my kitchen like it is their own.  Love you gals!

Now we just need baby boy to arrive!  We love you Samara!

Chore Cards

I just spent the better part of my Saturday morning creating chore cards for my kids. I saw a chore card system I found on Pinterest from The Idea Room. I printed out her template and then set out creating my own. I used both Microsoft Word and Photoshop to create my cards.

 In Microsoft Word I used the Avery 8371 template. Then in Photoshop I created a blank document that is 3.5"wide x 2" high. In photoshop I created one card such as a Kitchen Card. I saved the card as both a .png and .jpg file. Then when I wanted to create the next card I could just reuse the .png file and rename it before saving. Once you have a saved .jpg you can insert the photo into your Word document. Like I said, this took me most of my morning. But I'm hoping this will help the kids and me be on the same page.

 Here are a sample of the cards I created. Again, I got this idea from The Idea Room so be sure to check out the site for the original.


 This is a personal chore card. Along the side I put the child's name. This is a blank ready to fill in with any child's name. In theory, the child would have to finish all their chore cards before being able to play with friends, play video games/computer time, etc.

 

This is a family card. These cards can be doled out to whichever child on any particular day.

   

 On some of the cards it might include vacuuming, mopping or sweeping. My kids are 3 1/2 and 6 1/2. these activities might be to hard for them just yet so I'll let them try each time and if it doesn't work out I will gladly step in and help.