ice day

Yesterday, Parker's school was cancelled due to icey roads.  I knew this on Sunday night….and since we had had such a very lazy Sunday….I took a little time to prepare some crafts to do to help keep us busy, occupied, and happy.

Since St. Patrick's day is the holiday of the month…I went with that theme.  We began by reading The Luckiest St. Patrick's Day Ever…then to craft time.

Stamping 4-leaf clovers with bell peppers.  Idea found here (and lots of other places, too!)

They had so much fun doing this.  They each did 2 pages.

Next up….pot of gold with a rainbow.  I've had these tissue paper squares for years from a box of crafts I've had and never used them.  I almost got rid of them because I had never used them…and now I've used them twice in the past month or so. 

And I love how they each came up with their own way to do the rainbow.

And last up…the shamrock crown.  I reeeeally wanted them to paint them green.  They both gave confused looks when I told them, and insisted they make them rainbow.  I shouldn't try to limit their creativity when it comes to these types of things, but I had seen the picture in the tutorial and they were green….so I just thought it needed to be green.  And I am soooo glad they didn't listen to me! 

My next goal is to actually hang up a display line instead of stacking the work up on my dining room table!

I know it takes a little more time to plan and prepare a few activities…but this was pretty simple and didn't take much time at all.  And our day was so much better for it.  The girls would do their activity…and then they'd be ready to play.  Everyone wins.  :)  (and I write all of that as a pep talk to myself!)

DIY-Last minute advent calendar. {FREE printable}

It's not too late to pull off a cute, homemade advent calendar this year.  I know it starts tomorrow, but it can be done.

I don't believe we did this growing up.....and I had wanted to start the tradition of advent calendars last year, but with starting up the new business- there wasn't much time for anything else.  ;)

But this year- it was at the top of my priority list.  And although it was at the top....... there was still little time to do it.  Luckily- I spent some time a few weeks ago making the numbers for whatever advent calendar I would end up making.  There are so many cute ideas out there....and while I thought I'd find a calendar to use year after year, I decided one a homemade one for this year that might not be used again.  It is cheap.  And it is easy.  (And I kind of think it will be fun to do different ones each year.  We'll see how I feel about it next year....

There are so many neat ideas out there, and I had almost decided on different idea that above, but when I couldn't find what I was looking for....these little wedding party favor boxes fell in my lap.  I got them at Hobby Lobby- and they were 50% off....so I spent a total of $8.00 on all of them.  I guess kind of high for paper boxes, but not bad in my mind that I spent a little less than $11.00 including ribbon and all.

If I do it again- I'll just use the white paper favor bags you can get at Hobby Lobby for $1.99!

These black ribbons came with the boxes.....

....and I wanted to make it more Christmas-y....so I used the sticker labels that came with the boxes....




 .....to close off the ends of my own Christmas ribbon....

And glued the numbers on the front of the boxes with a glue stick!

I like that it is hanging below our bar because I wanted the girls to be able to touch it themselves.

Parker has already practiced her counting.....

If you want to print these numbers out yourself, just click on the links below.  The circles are about 2 inches in diameter.  I used a 1 7/8 inch circle punch but I think you could easily use a 1.5 inch punch or just cut them out yourself.

These numbers could easily be used on any kind of advent  calendar you can think of.  Glue or tape to paper bags.....you don't even have to hang up the bags, but place in a bowl or basket.  Doing this just made me realize I don't have to make everything so complicated!  And I like it just the same.  ;)

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And another thing to mention......all of our boxes are still empty.  Ha!  I am still figuring everything out.  I had planned to have it all done, but just doing what I can when I can.  Will hopefully fill the first few boxes tonight!  ;)

advent #1-12

Advent # 13-25

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It may not be perfect....but it's homemade!

That's at least what I keep telling myself about this whole "making the baby's quilt" thing. I also keep telling myself "It's the thought that counts!"

If you'll remember...back in August I thought it would be a great idea to pick up a new hobby....sewing. At that time I had never sewn a thing. But for some reason...got the idea in my head....and so there was no turning back.

By September...I had borrowed my grandmother's sewing machine and actually began sewing. Then I didn't resume that sewing until just last week.

Then Christmas happened and I received this very nice sewing machine from my mom and Terry (thank you!). So now I have my own sewing machine!!! I'm in business now!!

Well...except for the whole part that I don't know what I am doing.

But that's just a technicality.

I even have my very own pin cushion... (I'm ridiculous, I know).

I still have 'sew' much to learn (I think I'm so funny...)....but for now...I can sew a semi-straight line in the fashion of a quarter inch seam. Then one day....I plan to actually take some sort of lessons to be able to actually put the machine to good use. With 2 girls of my own, plus one girl cousin....I think it will be great to know how to sew and make things for them the way my mom and grandmother did for us.

But for now...I have become very close with my seam ripper...:)

Ok...onto the baby's quilt.

This is the front....

This is the back....

And here is a closer look at the fabric in the back....it's kind of hard to see from far away.

Now I just need to find a good quilter that I can trust and that won't laugh at me when I show her what I have sewn. Let me state, for the record if I have not already made myself clear.....this is the very first thing I have ever sewn in my entire life! So it will be interesting to see if I have messed it up too much to even be quilted!!! Let's hope not!

You can go here to see a finished product of what this quilt is supposed to look like.

how to quilt...

I realize that the title of this post may be misleading...in that- when you read something that says, "how to quilt"...you think that what you are going to read about is just that..."how to quilt."

But.......that's not what you're going to read about. ;)

Soon after I found out we were expecting this little one...I saw this blog...and immediately thought to myself, "I can do that!"


Funny thing is...I can't sew. But my mom can. And my granny. And couldn't I learn how to sew a few straight lines together?? Sure I could! Besides- what I learned with Parker's bedding was that we didn't really use anything. We did have the bumper on for a while...and we did use the diaper stacker...but we never used the quilt...it was really thick and not soft at all (even after being washed)....I didn't even use the mobile that matched it. So you really only saw a plain pink sheet. What's the point of spending all of that money? Making my own quilt would turn out to save me money....right??? And I could just see us using a quilt more...I love sleeping with quilts!

Then the first trimester happened and I wasn't feeling myself. Then life happened and I was lazy. And now...here I am... 2 weeks before I go back to school- and I am trying to go down my list of things that I wanted to accomplish for the summer...and mind you- that list is still quite long!

Oh- and somewhere along the way...I decided that I was also going to make Parker a quilt for her new big girl bed. ;) I have the best ideas don't I? (why do I do this to myself??)

The deal is...this has turned out to be a much larger feat than I had imagined.

About a month ago I went to Hancock Fabric and picked out several things that I liked...that I 'thought' might go together. But I ended up getting all different kinds of fabric...when now...after doing a little 'research'... I think it would be best to just have all 100% cotton fabric.

So then the internet searches began....looking for patterns...looking for quilt kits...trying to learn the quilting lingo like "fat quarters," "jelly rolls," and "layer cakes." I'll tell you...it kind of makes me hungry.


I don't exactly know exactly what I want the girls' quilts to look like...but I think I'll know when I see it. And today- I feel as though I have gotten the closest to making a decision as I have since this whole journey started. (I mean- you'd think this was life-altering or something...I'm so dramatic!)

So here are a few of the patterns that I am considering for the baby's quilt...

(on this next one...I'm looking at the one on the left with the rectangles)


..and this next one is really cute, too...this first picture shows the front... (instructions for this quilt are found at The Moda Bakeshop at this link...I am really loving all of the ideas from this site! Ummm...this could be a bad thing)


...and here's the back...


And then this is the type of pattern that I think I am looking for for Parker's twin bed quilt. But I'm not 100% sold. I was kind of imagining big sqares and rectangles...and I guess I could make my own pattern...isn't it just math?? (I really do know that it's probably not that easy!) (this quilt was also found at the Moda Bakeshop)



Now- mind you...the pictures above are merely of the patterns that I am kind of interested in. Then I have to find the material. And I tried once before to just go look "free-handedly" at the fabric store...but I'm thinking now that if I could find a set of fabrics that are already meant to go together...it would help me out a lot! I need the guidance!

And here are some fabrics that I think I kind of like... (these fabrics are by Moda and found at www.fatquartershop.com )

with this one being my least favorite...


...and I can kind of see this one in Parker's room...


...and this one in the new baby's room. But is it too formal looking? Sometimes it's still hard for me to imagine how it will look...


So we'll see! This is just the beginning. I would love any comments/suggestions that anyone can offer!

And....Geoff doesn't think I'll do it. Doesn't he know that's just fuel for my fire??

Feeling a little bit on the crafty side...

A few weeks ago I started making this bow holder for my niece, Payton, who will be here on or before April 28th (less than 2 weeks away!!). Slowly, but surely, I have finally gotten it complete. Well...almost complete. I still want to put this sealant on to protect the wood and keep the paint from chipping.

The idea to make this was inspired by Parker's cute bow holder that my friend, Jodie, gave her for her birthday.

So from there....I looked at Payton's nursery bedding...(you can click on the picture and it will take you to the site... and there- you would be able to click for enlargement...to get a closer look....if you want to)

And came up with this....