Visited by a Fairy

The tooth fairy that is.

My little guy, who really is not all that little, lost his first tooth the other day. As soon as he noticed he could wiggle it in his mouth, we made this special tooth pouch to put under his pillow on the big day. It's super simple to make, you can find the directions here. I already have a request for a pink tooth bag - but I think it might be a while before that one gets any use.

Both of my children are growing up so fast. In the last week alone, Austin lost his first tooth and mastered his two-wheeler. And little Hannah, inspired by her brother, hopped on a training wheel clad two-wheeler herself and has become a little speed demon.

Have a great day!

-Lisa

Crafting, Baby Things and an Update

First off, hello! It's been a while. We have been busy working over here on a number of projects around the house. The biggest being the "room switch", which involved painting, new furniture, lots of lifting, lots of selling things that won't be used, and of course, crafting. We decided to work while the kids slept, so we had a lot of late nights as well.

I was able to sneak in a couple baby projects along the way too. The photo above has a quick and easy playmat sewn from leftover fabric in my stash, and an odd piece of new organic batting I found at a thrift store for $0.50. The directions to make it can be found here. I still need to quilt it - I've been putting that off because I really have no clue what I'm doing in that department. I also made some matching burp cloths out of more fabric scraps and one of Chris's old T-Shirts. They are in the photo too, on the left. I love them! They are big enough to actually do what they were intended for (unlike so many others I had for my other children - I always just used their receiving blankets for that), oh, and they are just soooo soft. Each one took about 15 minutes to make, love it! You can find simple directions for them here.

Thankfully, we were able to finish all of the painting a day, yes, one day, before we lost power. The power was out for four days, and unfortunately there are still so many local residents without power. It's most definitely not the end of the world, but after a few days, it can get very frustrating. I was proud of my children though, they handled it like an adventure, and had a pretty good time. It was amazing how much time we had on our hands too - it really made me realize how much I take for granted with modern conveniences. And don't you worry, there was plenty of candle light knitting taking place - can't stop that, hehe....

I had a mental checklist of things I wanted to pick up for the girls' room and play area before the baby came, and to my delight, I found almost the entire list at ONE garage sale. I hadn't even planned on going garage sale shopping for these things, but just happened to stop by one on a whim. And I'm so glad I did! First, this table and chair set. The whole thing was $4. It did look pretty beat up when I bought it though. It was colored on, scratched, dirty and had about 100 stickers on it. But, after a quick wash down, some Goo Gone, and two layers of paint (yes, it's the same paint we used on the walls), it looks like new. Hannah loves it and can't wait to have tea parties with her baby sister. I don't have the heart to tell her it may take a while for that.

She added this cute pink linen table runner to it, and I think she did well.

At that same sale, I found a child's wooden rocking chair. It's white, but looks like mine, and my little girl just loves my chair but has trouble getting in. Now she has her own to rock her babies to sleep. And last, but not least, my favorite find that day - a handmade, wooden complete kitchen. When I say complete, I mean it came with a refrigerator that's huge, a separate sink with a food prep area, and a separate oven. Three pieces all together, all handmade out of wood, with moving fixtures and hinges. All of this for $20! Yup, that's it. I think it might just be my best find ever. I can't decide if I want to repaint it or not, and I want to add a few girly touches to spruce it up, and then I will share photos.

I hope you all are doing well!

I will be back here again soon,

Lisa :)

Summer!

Happy Summer Solstice! The weather may be crazy, but Summer is officially here...

Wishing you all a wonderful start to a beautiful season!

-Lisa

Star Wand Tutorial

With Summer Solstice being tomorrow, I had originally wanted to make a couple sun wands for the kids. Austin, not surprisingly, wanted nothing to do with a wand - it's girly you know. And Hannah begged for a princess wand - so this is what we ended up with. To my delight, it is much loved, and was pretty easy to do.

If you want to make your own, follow the directions below.

What you need:
Felt - enough to make your desired shape twice (we used wool felt)
Cookie Cutter - for making the shape
Colored pencil
1 Small, thin dowel rod
Sharp Scissors
4 (or more) Strips of ribbon cut at desired length (I did 3/4 of the length of the dowel rod)
Embroidery thread in contrasting color
Hot Glue gun
Small rubber band


1) Trace your shape using the cookie cutter and colored pencil, on the felt two times

2) Cut out the shapes, and the ribbon strips.

3) Place your identical shape pieces on top of each other and sew a blanket stitch around almost the entire shape using embroidery thread. Make sure to leave an opening at the bottom so you can insert the dowel rod. Don't know how to do a blanket stitch? Here's a quick tutorial on that.
I didn't have enough of the yellow thread left, so I added the purple at the end to avoid having to start over - oops. Make sure you cut the thread a lot longer than you think you'll need just to avoid this.

4) Layer your ribbon strips on top of each other with top ends meeting, and sew a quick knot or two to secure them in place.

5) Attach the sewn ribbon end to the end of the dowel rod with a very tightly fitted rubber band. We used the tiny bands you find in the hair accessory section of the store, these are nice and small.

6) Add some hot glue around the end with the rubber band, and carefully insert the dowel rod far enough inside the shape so that you can no longer see the rubber band. Squeeze it quickly and hold it down to ensure the glue sticks to everything and won't come loose.

That's it! Now go enjoy your new magic wand!

Simple Pleasures

Sometimes, some days, I have to remind myself that the day is not about how much I can get done. But really about the moments I have with my children. That missing a blog post, or only getting one row of knitting is just fine. A homemade meal, hot and ready on time, three times a day, just is not a reality right now, and that's okay.

These are the times when I seem the most able to relish simple pleasures. Something as small as a butterfly fluttering across a little ones shoulder as it races away. Or an unexpected "I love you momma", right when I think I'm at my wit's end.

Today, right now, the simple pleasure I'm loving the most is this jar of flowers. The entire house smells so sweet and light. And the image itself just makes me smile every time I walk by.

What's your favorite simple pleasure right now?

An Elfy Kind of Hat

I love this hat, I really do. I think maybe I just love hats though too. This is the third knitted hat for the baby, and well, how many hats does a little baby really need? I'm still debating adding the pom poms to the bottom of the ear flaps. I can't decide if they will be more trouble than their worth - oh well, I have time to decide.

The yarn for this project came from www.handpaintedyarn.com (a favorite yarn site of mine by the way). It's a chunky merino wool that varies in thickness, and gives the hat a nice pebbled look. Love.

And yes, I will share action pictures when the little one shows up :)

Tiny Knit Hat

Oh how I wish you could feel the softness of this cute little purple hat. I swear, it's the softest texture I've ever laid my hands on. The yarn is baby alpaca, and was purchased here. The hat has space to thread decorative ribbon along the edge, but I decided against it - I like it just the way it is. You can find the easy to knit pattern here.

I've used baby alpaca before, and nothing is as soft as the yarn I used for this project. In fact, I made our little not-quite-here baby girl a sweater and shoes out of this yarn as well. She'll be born near the end of Summer, so I'm hoping to get a lot of use out of these as the air becomes chillier. The sweater and booties still need buttons, so I will share those another day.

And, when our baby girl out-grows this little hat of hers, Hannah's baby doll will have a new accessory...

Take care!

Gone Fishing

Our family has found a new favorite. Fishing. I was a little skeptical at first, thinking a two year old with a hook adorned stick would be a disaster. Well, we never gave that idea a chance to present itself. I attached a heavy lure to the end of her pink pole (yes, everything MUST be pink) so she could practice casting into the water on her own. She is a very determined "I do it myself" kind of girl.
And Austin, oh my. All he wants to do is fish. We had to drag him away from the pond - and for good reason, the kid is good. He caught 4 fish this day, within an hour. Don't worry, all were carefully put back in the water to swim away.

She caught some algae here...

Have a great day!

Scrappy Summer Pillows

I'm so excited to share these scrappy pillows with you today! Granny Grace generously gave me some beautiful Henry Alexander fabric a few weeks ago. I can't even begin to tell you how excited I was, especially because I had been eyeing some of this exact fabric for a while, going back and forth as to purchasing it (glad I didn't).

Then came the dilemma of what to actually make with the fabric. At first I wanted to make a sundress for the baby, she will be a late-summer babe after all, but it seemed a shame to make something that will only be used for a few weeks. Which led me to the decision to make both. I had almost a full yard of the bright lemon print, and that's plenty for the dress and the pillow.

I followed the scrappy pillow pattern in the book Sewing Bits & Pieces: 35 projects using fabric scraps, by Sandi Henderson. I love this book, and would recommend it to anyone not wanting to waste all the little bits and pieces of fabric from bigger projects. I've made a few of here projects from the book already, and everything turns out so cute.

Again, these don't really match the room, but I don't really care. They add the perfect bright touch that I've been needing in our house lately.

Take care!

Lisa

Summer Trivets

With all the crazy weather here in the mid-west, and the not quite Spring quality to the air, I decided to take it upon myself to bring a little Spring and Summer into my home.

A few weeks ago, I came across some adorable watermelon trivets in a magazine. I fell in love instantly. The problem though, is that all of the pictured trivets were vintage. Meaning I would either have to try my luck this summer scouring lawn sales, flea markets and thrift stores, or find a pattern to make my own. So I searched.

And searched.

And searched.

I almost gave up, because every pattern I came across was either for crochet (which believe it or not, I don't know how to do), or it just didn't look right.

Finally though, I found this. I'm sure you'll laugh, but I immediately bookmarked the page in my phone, ran to the store to purchase some cotton yarn and a few hours later had my very own watermelon trivet. I love it. I love that it's bright, and that it doesn't need to match the rest of the kitchen. The contrast brings a bright and summery feel to the table, and that's exactly what I was looking for. I may have to make a few others too... Orange or lemon anyone?

Take care!

Lisa

Rainy Day

It's terribly chilly outside, and raining. My youngest is fighting off a fever and needing lots of momma cuddles. I'll be back tomorrow with more crafty goodness. Wishing you a warm, sunny, and healthy day.

Handmade Nursing Pillow

The amount of items on my "can't do without" list when it comes to babies is not very large. In fact, after raising my first, I was shocked at how little a baby really needs as far as material things go. Something that I most definitely used on a daily basis for both of my children was a nursing pillow.

My first two shared the same one, but my youngest still uses it. She sleeps with it at night, and actually stays asleep. I couldn't possibly ask her to give it up for the new baby, but I really didn't want to spend money on a new one either.

So, naturally, I decided to make my own. It was sooo easy - almost too easy. Of course, it was easier because I had one to measure from. I do think it would be pretty simple to draft your own pattern for this, as long as you know the shape and size that you want.

To make my pattern template, I just put the old pillow on a large sheet of freezer paper and traced it by holding a pencil between my thumb and index finger. I used my first three fingers to provide a consistent width while tracing (my pinkie was in the air, while the outside of my ring finger followed the shape of the pillow).

I used a pretty thick fabric - think upholstery fabric for the actual pillow. I'm not worried about the drab color because I plan on making a bunch of covers for the pillow out of flannel and cotton, using the same pattern template (I'll post more on that once I can find fabric I love). The fabric I used was actually from a thrift store and it only set me back about a dollar.

I used a half inch seam allowance, and left a four inch opening at the top for the stuffing. These have to be stuffed pretty full in order supply decent support for you and the baby. I already had a 5lb bag , and used maybe a little over a quarter of that to fill it. Just stuff it tight and push down on it as you go along to get a good feel for how thick you want it. Once it was filled, I closed up the seam by sewing along the outside (it's not the most attractive finish, but will be sturdy and the pillow will have covers on it anyway) like the store bought version had.

So, all in all, the project cost me about $4 and took about 20 minutes start to finish. Can't beat that!

Violet Jam!

I have to admit, I was a little sceptical when I came across this recipe a while back. But given the thousands of violets that where growing all over my grandma's lawn, how could I not at least try?

The first attempt didn't work out so well, and I ended up with a syrup, rather than a jam. And of course, didn't think about using it for teas or pancakes until after it was poured down the drain - oops. The second time around, I used similar ingredients listed in the recipe link above, but changed the way it was processed quite a bit. So, here is what I did...

Violet Jam

1 Cup of packed violets (stems removed)
1 Cup of filtered water
1/2 Cup Honey
1/4 Cup Lemon juice (make sure to remove any seeds)
1 pkg of low-sugar pectin (small batch)

1. Rinse the violets well and place in blender.

2. Add 1 cup of water and 1/4 cup lemon juice to the blender and pulse until well blended.

3. Pour blender mixture into a small pot, mix in the pectin and bring to a strong rolling boil that can not be stirred down. Make sure to skim off any foam that rises to the top.

4. Remove from heat and stir in the honey. Bring back to boiling for 1 minute.

5. Pour mixture into hot prepared jam jars, cover with lids and let cool for at least 30 minutes at room temperature before transferring to the refrigerator.

I stored these in our freezer after cooling to preserve. If you want to get a correct seal (which will allow you to store these at room temp for up to 2 years), you would need to follow canning instructions. You can find some helpful info on that here, and the Ball Blue Book of Canning is a great resource as well.


**After posting this, I realized I never followed up with how it tasted. Wonderful! And so sweet.**

Ordinary Monday

**A Monday ritual. A single photo of something ordinary and small in our days, but still filled with happiness and moments worth remembering**

Wool Soakers

With all that cloth diapering talk yesterday, how could I not follow up with my soakers? Wanting to stay away from synthetics, I chose to knit my own wool soakers to go over the newborn size fitted diapers. They are so expensive to buy, ranging from around $35-$65 each. Considering you need at least 3 for each size (or so I've been told), I had to make my own. I used two different patterns, as well as two different brands and textures of 100% wool (it has to be 100% to work correctly). Since again, I really have no way of knowing what will fit and work for this baby, I am playing it safe and potentially saving myself from hours of wasted time. Whichever style works best, I'll just make more as I need them. Both patterns were free, but I'm having a difficult time locating the pattern for the style above. As soon as I do, I will update this post with a direct link.

You can find the pattern for this one here. I used the suggested yarn/roving for each pattern. Each skein was around $7 dollars, and I only needed one for each soaker. That's a whole lot of savings.

Have a great day everyone!

-Lisa

Going Cloth - Diapers That Is

After not too much debating, Chris and I decided to cloth diaper this next baby of ours. Between the cost savings, garbage reduction (which we pay for the removal of), and lack of chemicals on the babes bum, it was kind of hard to not at least give it a try. I had thought about it a lot when I was pregnant with Hannah. The overwhelming amount of information left me too scared and intimidated to give it a go. Thankfully, this time when I started my research, it was a little bit easier. The big difference this time was finding an online community of cloth diapering momma's to take my hand and walk me threw the process.

Once we finally made a decision to do it, it seemed silly to keep spending money on disposables. So, for the last three weeks, Hannah has been in cloth. With the exception of one slightly crazy, eh 'hem - gross, experience (I'll spare you the details - just use your imagination) it's been great.

Even though the diapers I bought are one size fits all, they will most likely be too big for the baby for the first few weeks. So I decided to make a few of my own from materials we had around the house. I obviously have no way of knowing if they will work well until the baby comes, but they are just too darn cute to not share. You can find a ton of diaper tutorials all over the web, and the materials you choose are a personal preference. I didn't want synthetics on my newborn's bottom, so I used flannel and cotton for these. Based on the recommendations of some more experienced momma's, I followed this free pattern and tutorial.

I love this one! It's amazing how small it is too. I forget how tiny baby's are in the beginning.

Take care and have a great day!

Lisa

Tiny Tea Leaves for Hannah

Can I just say, I am sooo excited to be sharing this sweater with all of you. For a few reasons actually. First, I'm just thrilled my crafty/creating motivation finally came back to me a few weeks ago. I was really starting to get worried about that.

Well, the small hiatus created a huge NEED to make things. And make things I did. Over the next week or so, I'm going to share some of my latest creations. I'm excited about all of them. But this one, this is my favorite, so I just had to start here.

Not too long ago, in reference to gift giving (we have quite a few birthday's approaching), I found this saying: "Something you want, something you need, something to wear, and something to read". I love it, in all it's simplicity and ease. This may just be our new motto, especially considering we're about to become a family of five. Well, this was supposed to be Hannah's "something to wear" gift. She, however, couldn't keep her hands off this yarn (neither could I, I absolutely love it!). Every time she saw me working on it, she insisted on trying it on, asking when it would be finished and when she could wear it. How could possibly tell the little girl she needed to wait till August?

Here she is modeling it. And truthfully, it was really difficult to get a picture of it because she kept trying to grab it and put it on. Once it was on, she had to dance and twirl in it, because after all, it is a "dancing sweater".

The pattern is Tiny Tea Leaves and the yarn is Malabrigo worsted in Molly. It was such an easy and quick knit, that as soon as the ends were woven in, I wanted to make another, just like it. I really thought it would take at least a month for me to finish it. I had it completed in just under 10 days - I'm not sure what that says about me, lol.

There is an adult version of this pattern, and I can almost promise that you will be seeing that finished project on here before the year's end.

Thanks for letting me share with you all!

-Lisa

Playsilk Grass

Playsilks, love them. So do my kids. To be honest, when I first heard about them, I thought they were kind of silly. And I really didn't think my kids would actually play with them much. Boy was I wrong. They're just large dyed silk scarves - well, to an adult anyway. To a child, they can become blankets, rivers, capes, magic shields, princess veils, ghosts.... The list goes on and on, and only stops when the creative play does too.

They are also great for covering toy baskets and bins at night, my children seem to sleep better when most of their toys are out of sight (sound silly? Try it, stream line your bedroom to just the essentials, or hide things, I swear, you get a better nights rest).

So, all of that being said, this year we are replacing Easter grass with playsilks. I dyed a few with packets of kool-aid that I picked up especially for this project, but you can also use food coloring, or natural dyes. We are going to dye Easter eggs tonight with food, so I'm going to add a few silks to the pots and see how it turns out - I'll share my findings, don't worry.

Here's how to do it...

You need:
Large pots or stainless steel or enamel bowls (plastic will stain)
White Vinegar
Coloring of choice (kool-aid, or food coloring...)
Kitchen tongs or other similar non-porous kitchen tool
White silk scarves (I bought mine here and purchased 30"x30" Habotai)

1) Put white scarves in a mixture of 3 cups hot water and 1 cup vinegar to soak while mixing your color pot.

2) Mix packet of kool-aid (1 for a pastel effect, up to 3 for bright vivid colors), 2 cups vinegar, and 3 cups hot water. Stir to dissolve.

3) Add the scarf and mix around until fully colored. Use kitchen tongs or some sort of utensil for this, the colored water will stain your hands.

4) Once you have the color you want, rinse the scarf under luke warm water until the water runs clear. Squeeze excess water out and hang to dry.

That's it!