more knitting for Baby - a cuddly cocoon

So, the up side of Baby delaying is that I've been able to get some of the things I had planned for her finished. :) Such as this sweet Baby Bunting:

Specs: Button-Up Baby Wrap, free Ravelry pattern
size 19 needles
triple ply yarn
The yarn is similar to Bamboo & Ewe and quite yummy. :) 
A pair of vintage buttons - they seem to be similar to Bakelite, but I'm really not sure what their made of. Fun though!

And there you have it! It was a quick knit, and fun to see it make up. My first project on needles this large, too!


And remember to stop by the facebook page early Monday morning to get the coupon code for 30% off of the shop!

<3

mmm, homemade granola

Yep, Baby Girl still hasn't arrived.  Which means that I'm really nesting now. Baking. Sewing. Knitting. (but not cleaning - somehow I haven't had a burning desire to get my 6-day-overdue belly bent over to clean things ...)
And yesterday? I made granola. (and a few other things :D)

 (this recipe is from a woman in my MOPS group - thank you Cathy! I tweaked it just a bit)

1/3 cup oil
1/3 cup honey
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup shredded coconut
2/3 cup nuts, roughly chopped
2/3 cup raisins (I used a mix of craisins and raisins)
2 1/2 cups oatmeal

• combine sugar, honey and oil in a saucepan and cook until sugar melts and begins to boil. Add vanilla and cinnamon, remove from heat.
• combine oats, coconut, nuts and raisins in a large bowl. Add sugar mixture, and stir until oats are well coated. 
• Cover a jellyroll pan with foil (for easy cleanup) and spread oat mixture evenly in pan.
• bake at 325 for 30 minutes, stirring twice during baking.
• Store in an airtight container.

Once it's cooled, you could also stir in other things - chocolate chips, perhaps?
 

And I also finally got around to making curtains for our kitchen window :)

rainy day fun

I love Pinterest, but you know that by now :)
One of the wonderful things about it is that it's an endless source of ideas for things to do with your kids when you run out of ideas (and here I thought I was pretty creative - some of these mommies are amazing!).

I found this idea for our afternoon's "craft" one day just before I was about to make dinner, and the little ones were enthralled. They were so excited to get started that they forgot that mommy might need "help" over at the stove (the intended result - yay!). And then they asked to do it again an hour later! And they asked again the next day, and the next day. Good thing we buy our vinegar and baking soda in bulk : )

 The original instructions mention using eye droppers and food coloring along with the vinegar and baking soda. And that she would recommend larger dishes than the plates she used. So, we did!

 

knitting for Baby

 I've finally been getting some little mommy mades ready for Baby #3! One of the sweaters I had been wanting to make for her was the Puerperium sweater that I found on Pinterest, and when I found some sweet colored yarn to make it with it was only a matter of getting started (which is no small feat sometimes!).

 this little buddy is sooooooo excited to meet his baby sister :)

 I used "I Love This Cotton" in Rosy by Yarn Bee, knowing that it was heavier than what the pattern called for and would turn out just a bit bigger than the 0-6 weeks size the pattern was written for.
Well, it did turn out bigger. Probably about a 3-6 month size?
I'll let you exactly how much bigger once she's here to try it on. :)

 The buttons are vintage ones that I found at in a big jar at a yard sale a few years ago. They're wood look-a-likes, but probably out of some hard plastic.

This sweater is so soft and cozy! I can picture it with leggings over a long-sleeve onesie with her rolls of baby chubbiness ...... oh, can hardly wait!

If I have time before she arrives, I'm hoping to knit up another (with long sleeves) somewhat closer to a newborn size. It's such a sweet and easy pattern, and goes quite quickly (once you actually start .... :D)


<3

a little boy's cowboy party, part 2 - decor and party

Here's the rest of Ian's cowboy party (the first post is here)!

 

I used some of the blue jars to hold the silverware, and the plates were a bit of serendipity from Hobby Lobby (clearance! ye-haw!)

At the beginning of June I was 3 1/2 months pregnant and finally had my energy back. I had a bunch of ideas from my Pinterest idea board that I wanted to do - and actually got most of them done! Looking back, I should have taken more photos of the details (like cactus on the front door to greet our guests or the little cows and horses we dug out of the toy bin to scatter around the room), but these give an idea. :)

the view from our front door (can you spy the cactus? there are a few against the half walls)

looking from the table to the drinks bench, kitchen and the "chuck wagon" - I've added the red, white and brown star garland to the shop if you'd like one for your own cowboy :)

red, white and kraft stars

the red were from the dollar store, originally gold and silver foil from Christmas that I spray painted (and I think I like them better this way - can use them for the 4th and Christmas, too!) and the white and kraft are from this tutorial.

 

Cowboy Ian!

He and Em loved running back and forth under the "wagon". It was simply a small folding table with a cloth, and John attached the cardboard "wheels" to the corners with twine.

What Western themed party would be complete without some "snakes"? :)

and of course, some silly stick on mustaches!

the cutest little buckaroos, ages 3 and 2 (the backdrop idea is from here), so excited for the party to start!

 he wasn't too sure about our family birthday hat, though. :)

His favorite gift was the lawnmower. It was also the first to be opened - he was so enamored with it that we almost didn't get to the rest of the presents!

Darling boy, we love you so much. You are all boy, but also a bundle of love and tenderness. This next year is going to be wonderful!

little boy's party, part 1 - party prep

so, back in June our little guy turned 2 and we celebrated with a cowboy party (and it totally fit his interests right now!).
Here is belated re-cap of the decor and party, so you can enjoy the fun too!

Ian is really excited about cowboys right now (Roy Rogers, guns and anything that he thinks can be turned into a gun, horses, cowboy hats, "bad guys" ... you name it!), so we decided to throw a cowboy themed party.You can see a bunch of the things I pinned as inspiration on his party Pinterest board (who'd have thought when he was born 2 years ago that we'd say such things?!).

A few days before the party John brought home some large sheets of carboard that we (John) cut into 4 large circles and several cactus shapes. The circles got wagon wheels drawn on them and on the day of the party got fastened to the sides of a folding table to make a "chuck wagon" serving table.

The birthday boy loved "helping" - actually, he loved directing what we should do and then dancing on the cardboard cut-outs!

John took the cactus outside and spray painted them dark green, and I got busy making some paper stars ... and I'll post about the actual party later!

recipes as art

My dad's mom died in March, and she was an excellent cook as well as a wonderful hostess. She left oodles of handwritten recipes, some that she hadn't made in years, and some that were family classics. As I was looking through them I was inspired by this pin to frame some of them to decorate our kitchen.

{source}

I picked up these frames for $0.33 each from a thrift store, and once I had decided which recipes to use I painted the frames white. The can of paint cost $0.98 at Walmart. Amazing!

Once the frames were dry - after several coats to cover the black and gold finish - I used some natural colored photo corners to mount the recipes onto white cardstock (so that I can switch them out if I want without damaging them). I really love how they turned out! Although after living with them for a while I think I want to go back and add ribbons like the originals. : )

and this last photo shows how they fit in with the decor of most of our downstairs (really the only thing left out is the kitchen, which is behind me!) quite a bit of which is still in progress. Imagine the red turned to a creamy white or very light yellow, for example.

There is something so sentimental about being able to see the handwriting of someone you love, handwriting that will never write you another card, spelling out the recipes from your childhood every day. So, yes, I am very happy with how they turned out!

because we need to remember

 Memorial Day weekend has arrived! Which means school is letting out for the summer - and summer is here!

 There's something special about Memorial Day that I really love - it doesn't hurt that tons of retailers celebrate it with sales! - and that sets it apart from most of our other holidays.
 So many of our other holidays and celebrations center on gifts, "me", and so on, but Memorial Day is about remembering other peoples' sacrifice, celebrating and honoring it and them.
 We gather together, barbeque, eat watermelon, maybe light a few fireworks, watch for the first fireflies, and we remember. 
 They say "freedom is not free", and it is so very true. Pretty much anywhere you look in our nation today, you  see the result of someone's sacrifice, whether it's their blood on a battlefield securing our freedom or their sweat and tears to maintain it. And it's what makes America amazing.

 Kind of sobering when you really think about it, isn't it? And so, we celebrate! Celebrate the people and the miracle that America is.


   (and, in keeping with the spirit of holiday sales, you can use the code "CELEBRATE" for 20% off in the shop until Monday night - enjoy!)


I made the above wreath a few years ago and thought I'd share it again (and maybe make it again for our front door?). It's the simplest thing, really, but still has quite a bit of impact. I took a heart shaped berry wreath and stuck American flag picks in it, letting them "wave" in the breeze, and then hung it on our door. So simple! 



*I'm linking this at Making Monday Marvelous and a few of these fun blogs - check 'em out!

"I LOVE YOU"

I've been loving Pinterest. Just loving it. I've been pinning just about everything and have a board for just about everything. Including Valentine's Day.

 {via}

One of the things I pinned was this sweet "I LOVE YOU" banner.

As I started writing this post I realized that the woman who made the original banner has a very nice post about how she made it - I of course didn't even think to click through to her blog to see if there were instructions or not. I just muddled though and made my own. : )

I used the font Arial Black in 400 point to write out "I LOVE YOU" and printed it onto white cardstock in very light gray.
Emma Grace chose the color of the glitter - pink, of course. : )

After trying a light layer of glue, I realized that, to get the nice thick and full look, I needed to put a heavy layer of glue on. A very heavy layer!

Once they were dry I cut slits in in the sides of the letters and threaded a creamy ribbon through.

It turned out quite well, but the sweetest part of the process was my helpers! They were so proud to be able to "help" with things like glue and glitter that are normally off limits to them.
And - even though there were a few moments where I was quite nervous about them smearing glue where it shouldn't be - their joy was more than worth it.


If you haven't joined Pinterest yet and would like an invitation, let me know - I've got several left. : )

(I'm linking this at a few of these crafty blogs)

for your Valentines

 This was going to be a home-made Christmas gift post to go with my little mini-series from the Christmas before, but it's quite a bit after Christmas already (how in the world did that happen? and I was even planning a year re-cap post ... whoops!). So now it's a "just in time for Valentine's Day" post. : )

Have you seen the idea from Martha Stewart where you take a quilting hoop and make it into a card wreath? There are really excellent step-by-step instructions on her site, so I won't try to replicate them here. : )
I made one a few years ago, and this last Christmas I made two for my sisters-in-law. Notice the gold ribbons? I did that on purpose - not only will they be great for display Christmas cards neatly, but they will also work really well for displaying Valentines, Easter cards, or even family photos. We live a distance from some of our family, and pinning up photos of Grandpa, Grammie and Aunts and Uncles really helps the little ones with being able to associate a face with the voice on the other end of the phone. : )

 

So there you have it! A belated post saved from being deleted! Or rather, a special project just in time for Valentine's Day <3

xoxoxo


(I'm linking this at a few of these blogs {link here} - check them out for lots of crafty Valentine ideas!)

my first Pottery Barn knock-off

I finally did it - I made my own Pottery Barn pillow. I've seen bunches of Pottery Barn inspired things that other people have made, and I've finally joined their ranks. And I'm so glad! A few weeks ago the Christmas version of their catalog came in the mail and I quickly thumbed through it for decor ideas, and, to make sure that I wouldn't get too tempted to buy anything, I even stood by the trash can while I did it so I could just toss it in when I was finished.

And then I saw the photo of the poinsettia pillow. The one that was made of linen and had a white, fleecy looking poinsettia stitched on it. With gold bells. And I knew I could make one. For free. : )
So, I tore out the page and tossed the rest.

I dug through my fabric boxes for the linen and fleece and got the bells out of the Christmas box and got to work (and then got interrupted by small voices letting me know that nap time was over).

Over the next week I cut out 18 petals: 6 large, 6 medium and 6 small. I made up a simple envelope style pillow cover and one evening stitched the petals to it with white embroidery floss while John and I watched a movie. The next day I put the bells on during nap time and voila - it was done!

It was easier than I expected it to be, even though it took longer than I thought it would. (funny how mothering little ones can take up your time :D). I love the result, and am delighted to have added something else to our Christmas things.

lovely limitations

Have any of you read The Nesting Place bog? If not, you might enjoy clicking over. Right now she is finishing up a series of blog posts titled 31 Days of Lovely Limitations. Her series is inspired by this quote from Henri Matisse:

Her version of that quote goes like this:

Now, isn't that true? We (or at least, I) want to make a lovely home for our families, but usually have a rather small (or tiny) budget to bring it to reality. So we improvise with what we have. : )

I've been finally getting pictures hung up around our new house (I didn't tell you that we had moved? Or that I might not be posting for a bit? No? Hmm. ... guess that post must still be in the "drafts" section) and came across this frame that had gotten some red wax splattered on it.
It used to sit next to a red candle that, well, splattered once when I was blowing it out and the stain stuck. The spots weren't too obvious where I had had it in our apartment, but when I hung it in our bedroom in the house the spots stood out to me like a sore thumb.
I thought about taking it down and putting it somewhere else, but it really completed the wall. So .... then I remembered the Nester talking about working within our limitations, almost celebrating them.
And I remembered that I had some lovely old lace that a customer had sent me. (can you see what is about to happen here?)

A bit of glue and a few minutes later and we had a solution!

 Ta da!

The problem was fixed and the frame is lovelier than it was before. Yay!

{I'm linking this up on a few of these blogs}