Baby Crinkle Toy

So I can't take credit for this but I can show two of the ones I made. My relief society had a craft day not long ago and I had come across this awesomely easy tutorial a while back and though it would be something really easy to do as a craft! It required little sewing and is a great gift idea for babies or showers! The link I got the idea from is:

http://www.joyshope.com/2009/05/baby-crinkle-square-tutorial.html

I thought it was a great idea so I made some! I won't post pictures of how I made them since Joy's Hope does a great job. I will say though, you have to be careful when sewing the crinkle part in the toy. I used an old tortilla chip bag and it worked great but if the stitches were too small, the bag would tear along the seam as I was turning it right side out. I would recommend using a very large stitch, probably a little smaller than a basting stitch, when sewing it inside out. Here are the two I made!


I know, its kind of a lame blog post but I have been so busy lately with my boys and redoing my room and Christmas presents that I haven't been able to post anything and I have a few minutes while Dallin is eating (playing) with his breakfast so I thought I would quickly do it. I do have lots of awesome things I have been working on and after the Holidays I hope to be able to post some tutorials on making QUILLOWS, CHRISTMAS STOCKINGS, and a CAR SEAT BAG!

Spiders!

Having finally moved into a house and have an income, we are finally going to start amassing holiday decorations! The first holiday that we got to while living in our new house is Halloween and I decided that we needed some child appropriate decorations that are going to last a few years and also that they can play with.


So I decided to make some fun little spiders for my boys!


Start by cutting 2 circles. I used the lid of a big canister of baby formula as my circle size.


I used some boondogle for the legs. They stretch but are very hard to break so I thought it would work well to use them.


To make the legs stay in a bit easier while sewing I put 4 little holes and threaded the legs through.


As I sewed I would cut the legs and pull them through a bit further so that the legs would be as long as possible.


Make sure the legs are all facing inwards and not going to be sewn into the seam when you attach the other side.


Lay the second half of the spider on top of the first and sew around it. Make sure to leave a hole here so that it can be turned right side out. Then get pulling!


This is a good time to trim the legs to make them even.


Once it is turned inside out stuff it full of stuffing! Then just stitch the hole up and put out for the kiddos to play with!


Dallin loves these spiders and continually puts them on the ground to squish them as though they were real spiders. So cute! Can't wait till next year when he will probably make the spiders "eat" each other!

Unexpected Delays

So the 4th of July weekend we were determined to get lots of work done on the house so we could get it ready to move into. We woke up early on the 3rd and went to some paint place and bought 5 gallons of white paint and brushes and rollers and anything you could want to paint a room. We were so motivated. We get to the house and decide to start on Tristan's room (the unborn child). So we get there, put the tarp down, take off the outlet covers and tape the outlets. We were doing so good. Until I opened my mouth. You see, the house has electric baseboard heaters. We are currently installing an HVAC unit with all of the ductwork so we can be rid of the baseboard heaters so I told my husband to take off the baseboard now, before we paint, so we can make it look good and not have to come back and do it later. Some times I think I should have kept my mouth shut...

Underneath the heater was this weird canvas wallpaper that was put on top of this weird cardboard. Not drywall, but a type of thick cardboard. The canvas was not attached to the wall anymore under the heater and so I told Chris to rip it off. But because of the MANY layers of paint that have been applied over the years, we would need to sand the paint that framed the baseboard heater spot. I didn't get a picture. I also asked Chris to see if the canvas went up the whole way and covered the whole wall or if it had been cut previously and left there because the heater was in the way. This is the result.



Chris and cousin Laura started pulling and ripping away. It came off very easy.


And they kept ripping...


Yep, it did go up the whole way to the ceiling.


And covered the entire wall.


So what was supposed to be a simple painting project turned into hours of work because there was paneling on the wall to the left and Chris wanted it gone. We ripped that down and now have a room that has no canvas, no paint, and no paneling. Thankfully we did this on the smallest room in the house first so we can find out how hard it is going to be! But now I begin to think that I am going to go into labor and have this baby before we can even move into the house... I think I might cry. But in the long run we will be happier with fixing the head ache we have now. I still want to cry though.

Picture frame redo

My blog is aptly named because it seems that I can only find time to do things while he is napping. We do get some things done when he is awake like reading books and making a mess and we even make dinner in the evenings, but something that requires lots of my attention does not always work out so well when he is around. So I spent his afternoon nap time working on Chris's Fathers Day present. We forgot didn't celebrate Fathers Day last Sunday because we were at the Lake with Chris's grandparents and didn't have Dallin. I figure if you are going to celebrate Fathers Day that it should be with the one(s) that make you a father. So this weekend we have the house to our selves and will act as though Sunday is Fathers Day! And since I think my husband is a great father I wanted to show him somehow that he is a good father! I thought long and hard and decided I would buy him a meat loaf pan! He loves "meat and potato" meals where as I am not the biggest fan. Meat loaf though is the one meal I will let him make without my supervision help. I also wanted a sentimental thing as well though because that is all he ever asks for so I thought long and hard and decided to get him a picture. I haven't decided if I will do hand and foot prints of Dallin or the picture at the end of the post.

Unfortunately, since we are still not in our house yet my picture frame choices were limited... to this one. Its not bad but it is very boring to me. I think I have been looking at too many craft blogs lately... I don't like basic black so I wanted to change it.

Chris likes blue so I decided to make it a dark blue. Since I had to use acrylic paint I knew the black would show through so I needed the dark blue anyways.

While painting the frame I accidentally forgot to move the picture-holder-inners and so the ones on the bottom of the frame were painted in place and I had to go back and move them and then repaint. I felt silly but I guess I can just say its my first time ever doing this and so I can mess up!

This is the finished product! It is a dark blue but I wanted to experiment so I mixed some white with water and painted the whole thing and then quickly rubbed it off and it gave it more... something. I don't know what the word is. Dimension? Anyway, it looked neat to have the white "finish" on top because it lightened the blue a bit and also gave more colors to the overall frame. I really like how it turned out. We shall see if Chris does and if he will put it on his desk at work or hide it away...

This is the picture I am thinking of using. Dallin likes to play with shoes and so Chris was helping Dallin into his shoes and I thought if I got the picture with a cute saying about filling Daddy's shoes that it would be very cute. But at the same time I think it would be nice to get hand and feet prints of Dallin's in a frame. I still have a day and a half to decide or I can just let Chris decide. Either way, I like the frame and I am glad I could do something that has meaning for my Love for Fathers Day because he is the best father my kids could ask for!

Broccoli Pasta

Today I had the car so Dallin and I went out to a produce market and bought oodles of produce! I love produce... I use lots of it in my dinners, and though they might not always be super healthy, they sure do taste good! Chris, Peggy and Dallin all loved it, so did I for that matter. It was something I have never tried making before but it was really easy and yummy so I thought I would share my made up recipe! Cause thats how I cook... made up...

Broccoli Pasta

Ingredients:
-Noodles
-Broccoli
-Onion
-Garlic
-Parmesan Cheese
-Butter
-Water or milk
-Spices

Directions:
Start to boil the water for the noodles. As it is heating up, put the garlic (I like to taste it so I put 2 cloves in), 1 onion and 5 chicken tenderloins in a frying pan. Cook it over medium heat and as the chicken starts to cook add 1 Tbsp. butter and about an 1/8 cup of parmesan cheese, flip the chicken over and stir it and make the flavor and sauce go everywhere on that chicken! At this time I also like to add my spices. My regular spices are Mrs. Dash, garlic salt, something italian-y since it is a pasta. Then I let the chicken cook until it is about 3/4 of the way done and at this point I added some more parmesan cheese, probably about another 1/8 cup to a 1/4 cup. I am not very exact. I also added 2 Tbsp of butter to increase the amount of the sauce and then add the water or milk. You could go either way. For a creamier sauce, use milk. I used water since I had the brilliant idea for milk or cream after I had already finished making dinner. By the way, the water should have been boiling and added the noodles a bit ago. So stir up the chicken and onions and once the butter is melted, add the broccoli. I used a floret? a head? a bunch? of broccoli. So the chicken is still about 3/4 of the way cooked and add the broccoli. Stir it around and then put a lit on the pan. I let it sit for a few minutes on low-medium heat so that it simmers and allows the chicken to cook and the broccoli to get soft. Now it comes down to person preference. I like my broccoli a nice bright green and still really crispy while my husband likes it a dead green and soft and squishy. So keep checking on it until the broccoli is the right level of cookedness for you. Once done, put on top of the noodles and serve!

Dinner was really good and I love to make stuff up for dinner all the time and more often than not it turns out really well. I hope you like it!

Little girl dress

So, I have been slacking on my posting and am making up for it by doing two today! I love to sew and I like to sew clothes for little kids but unfortunately it is hard to find cute outfits for my son to wear and so frequently I just decide to make something for a little girl even though I don't have one. Maybe next time around since this baby is a boy as well.


I found this cute strawberry fabric forever ago and I actually have an apron made out of it but it isn't really the best fabric for an apron but it is great for a little girls dress. I also got a little bit of lace trim to put on the bodice of the dress and I think it adds a lot to the dress. The pattern doesn't call for it but I like to improvise, just like I wanted to make the dress adjustable for height a little bit. The skirt was a bit longer than I was hoping but it still turned out well. I also love being able to use my snap press! I made it so that the shoulder straps can be 3 different lengths and the white snaps go really well with the fabric.


All in all the dress turned out really well and I put it on Baby D to see how it would fit. Thankfully the baby girl I made it for is bigger than Baby D was at that age so she will get into it earlier than my son would have, if I was of a mind to let my little boy run around in a dress... I am sure my boys will get to have lots of opportunities to try on dresses for me though!

New home project

We recently bought a house here in Maryland and I am looking forward to fixing it up a bit and making it look wonderful! The lawn hasn't been maintained in about three or four years and needs some work and at one point there was a pool in our yard but not anymore! So now there is just a huge sand circle in my back yard and I don't like it.



So here are my workers helping me make it pretty! We found some sand stone and have gotten about a 1/4 of the area covered but we need to go get another load or two but just haven't done it yet. I can't wait until it is done. It will look so nice with the natural shapes of the rock and have it as a nice patio! Maybe next weekend we will get the time to go out and get the rocks and finish putting them in. Its a bit hard for me to do it all since I am 7 and a half months pregnant but I can handle it!

Baby Blanket

So, I haven't actually been able to get down and sew because my mother in law has been sick and Baby D has been quite a stinker and won't give me time to myself the last few days so I decided I would go though some of the things that I have made previously and make a post of that! The first thing I would like to show is my awesome baby blanket I made Baby D just before he was born.

The dream of making a baby quilt came one day when my neighbor lent me her library book. I want to say it was Bend The Rules Sewing but since then I have read so many books that I don't remember which one was my first. But what ever book it was, it inspired me with a very easy looking quilt that didn't seem like it was beyond my beginner sewing capabilities. So the first thing I did was plan out my quilt.



The first thing to do was to make sure that quilt top would have the right measurements for my batting. Jo-Ann's was selling batting at 50% off the day I bought the batting and I thought so far in advance as to buy two in case I screwed up the first quilt, or that it turned out okay and I would use it to make a second. It said it was crib sized but the batting is actually better sized for a toddler bed.

Once I had all the measurements and the paper colored the way that I wanted the blanket to look, I cut out my fabric! The strips of fabric didn't actually fit the size of the batting and I could have trimmed it down but I didn't want to so I added a border onto the strips. Once it was all cut out I laid it down to admire it and motivate myself!



Once I had it laid out in the orientation I wanted, I sewed each of the strips together lengthwise so that I had long strips. Once I had sewn all of those pieces together I sewed all of the strips together. Once that was done, I sewed the two borders onto the strips.

Next I layered the back fabric, the batting and then top fabric all together. Then, since I don't have a quilters frame, I proceeded to push pins through the snugly pulled fabric into the carpet. I had to make sure I went through the carpet and into the padding that lays under the carpet. Once the entire blanket was snugly attached to the rug I went through and using quilters safety pins I attached those in place of the pins so that the 3 layers wouldn't shift.

Once I had safety pinned the dickens out of that quilt, I sewed around the edges of the quilt to have the outer border stabilized so that when I added the edge fabric on I wouldn't have to fight with all three layers. Also it allowed me to trim the batting and the two fabric layers all to the same size, another help when adding the edging. I haven't done any quilting and though I usually do know the name of the edge piece, the name is total avoiding me at this point in time.

So I sewed on the edge by first putting right sides together on the back side of the quilt and then once it was sewn on all the way I folded it over the edge and folded the edge of the edge fabric under and pinned it. Then I sewed the top layer and edge with a zig zag stitch to try to also catch the seam on the underside of the quilt.

When that was done I set to tieing the quilt! I put in a movie and laid back and used a big yarn needle and went every few inches down the strips. Then I proceeded to not use the quilt for many months, not until the summer cooled down and Baby D was old enough that he wasn't being swaddled anymore.



And there you have it! A quilt for the absolute beginner! I enjoyed it and it was really easy with all the straight sewing, no curves except for the corners. And now my baby boy loves his quilt and likes to be snuggled in it before he finally is put down for the night in his crib.

The Beginning

I have wanted to start a craft blog for a long time and I am finally going to do it! I honestly don't know how well I will do with actually crafting but I know that if I can craft something that I will blog about it! I like blogging!

We are now expecting Baby #2 and I have lots of plans for this baby if it is a girl. Don't get me wrong, I love sewing for Baby D but there are so many more cute clothing options to make for little girls. I do have big plans for Baby D's room though, once we move into our house. Baby #2 though, if it is a girl will have yellow and purple all over the room and the first thing I will need to do is make a blanket. If it is a boy... well I haven't thought that far in advance.

Chris and I are preparing to settle on a house next week and once we do that, we are planning on making some upgrades in the house before we actually move in. I figure a lot of the things that I will get to help with (not too many since Chris doesn't like me to do manual work while pregnant) I will be able to write about, showing how I make my house my own as it happens! I can't wait! My first house. I have big plans, just like Baby D and Baby #2's rooms.

As I said before, I don't know how often I will be able to actual craft, but I hope to be able to have something to show for my life at least once a week. I honestly don't know how so many moms have the time to craft. Maybe their children let them sew while they play happily on the floor, but Baby D likes to sit in my lap and watch me sew, making it much harder to actually accomplish anything.

Right now I am sewing a 100% cotton shirt that isn't a maternity shirt but I am making into one and for it to be cool enough for me to wear all summer long but still move around freely to go after Baby D. I have run into some snags and hope to overcome those tomorrow. After that I hope to get started and finish a scripture bag for my mother in law for Mothers day. That way her scriptures can travel in style to church! So here is to a bright beginning on my new Sleeping Baby Time Blog!