Tutorial: Reversible Baby Skirt + Pinwheel Headband

I LOVE making baby things, especially little girl things. And my friends and family are gracious enough to accept home made gifts from me for their babies!

One of my favorite things is a reversible baby skirt. It is really pretty simple and easy to make.

I got my pattern HERE from Dana at Made.

If you don't read her blog, you should! She is amazingly talented and is so generous to share most of her patterns and ideas. She is wonderful and all of her stuff is adorable!

You need:
 2 fat quarters or 2 pieces of fabric about 18" x 24"
1 package of extra-wide double-fold bias tape that matches both fabrics
about 13" of 3/4 inch elastic
2 baby headbands or yarn to crochet one

For this project, I chose white bias tape, but I would not recommend using white with dark colors, it kinda shows through and doesn't look ideal. 

Take your fabric pieces and fold them in half twice. Even though you are using the same pattern, they match up better if you just cut both of them together. Lay your pattern so the folded corner is where the inside circle is. 

I actually cut about 1 or 2 inches longer than the pattern for a bigger size. If you choose to do a newborn size, cut at least 3/8" longer, since we are doing something a bit different than the pattern's original instructions. 

Make sure to hold on to the circles you cut from the inside part of the pattern. We will use those later!

Unpin and unfold your fabric pieces and lay them flat, right sides together. Match them up and pin the inside circle. 

Sew around the inside circle, where you pinned. 

Now, turn your skirt right sides out by pushing one layer of fabric through the hold you have just sewn. Iron around it for a nice crease. 

Now, for the elastic casing, you need to sew around the hole again. As I have mentioned in previous posts, I just dive in with a home-spun, usually unorthodox method, so if there is a better way, by all means do that! 

I just took a ruler and measured 1" and made marks every few inches with a marking pencil.

This is my grandma's marking pencil. She left me all of her sewing stuff including her Bernina machine. I just love thinking about her using this pencil. It's probably 50 years old!

Now, sew around your circle, using your marks as a guide, but leave a couple inches un-sewn; you need to put the elastic in through this part. 

Forgot to trim a thread, there!

Take your piece of elastic and put a large safety pin on the end of it.

Use your pin to guide the elastic through the casing, between the two layers, until it come back out the same hole. 

Zig-zag stitch the elastic together, and fold the raw edge and sew it down. 

Now, adjust the elastic and finish sewing your circle to close up the hole.

To finish the bottom, pin your bias tape around the bottom of the skirt. Sew the bias tape carefully, taking care to catch both edges. 

After that, the skirt is done!

To make matching headbands, take your two circles and hand-stitch around the edges, sewing the edge down. I have found that hand stitching takes a bit longer, but its makes it much easier to ruffle the fabric. 

I like using 3 strands of embroidery floss, because I have had thread break in the past, but for the most part, thread is fine. 

Once you have it stitched all around, pull the threads, ruffling the edges until you have a little "pouch". Then flatten it, and you have a pinwheel!

If you bought little bands, you can just use a little hot glue and glue your pinwheel to it. I like to crochet a band. 

 And there you have it,  a cute baby skirt and matching headband. 

Thanks for reading!

Framed Earring Holder

I really need organizing help, in practically every room. My jewelry is no exception.

So I made an easy framed earring holder to contain the mess.
It's very easy and requires only a few supplies.

A thick-ish thrifted frame
acrylic paint
polyester mesh, or like material
sand paper
hot glue gun
popsicle sticks


Thicker frames work better because you want about a 1/2 in. or so between the mesh and the wall.
Start by removing the glass and back from your frame and sand it. You don't need to completely remove the paint/finish, you just need a rough surface for your new coat of paint to stick to.

After everything is sanded, paint your frame.
Finish with modpodge or other sealer.

Once it's all dried, turn your frame over and measure it.

Then, cut your mesh. I left a little extra, just in case, but I ended up just trimming most of it, so do what you are comfortable with.

Glue your mesh in place with hot glue. Glue one said at a time, and push the mesh tight with a popsicle stick.

That's pretty much it! If you want, you can decorate your frame how you wish. I decided to glue a few rosettes to mine. They are quick and simple to make. Here is a quick how-to.


Plus, the rosettes double as holders for my necklaces.

Thanks for reading!

This post was featured!

Nursin' no Mo'

Well, the Boy is off the boob.

I can't lie and say I was not excited for this day. I have been counting down the days, to be honest.

I have spoken with so many women who say that nursing is "wonderful", an "amazing bonding experience," but I never really got that.

First of all, he wouldn't do it very well to begin with. Because my milk didn't come in, the nurse had our baby suckle Dallas's pinky finger while we fished a small tube with a syringe of formula into his mouth. They told us he would never breastfeed if we gave him a bottle. So, for about a week, I pumped and Dallas would feed him.  I was told to attempt to breastfeed for at least 10 minutes for each feeding.

Each and every feeding (every two hours, round the clock) ended up with a screaming baby, and me, crying out of frustration. I knew in my heart I could never be a good mom as I handed over my child to anyone nearby and retreated to some dark corner to pump him a meal.

After several weeks of pumping and bottle feeding, and with the help of a wonderful and gifted lactation specialist, I was finally able to get him to eat.

But the damage was done. I hated it. I. Hated. It.

Feedings would give me stomachaches, because I had that dread tattooed on my emotional brain.

I told myself I would do it for six month and then give him formula.

Well, my little Stinker wouldn't take formula. He spat it out and gave me a face like I was trying to poison him.
Who could blame him, though, honestly. Have you tried that stuff? Blech.  It tastes like an Iron milkshake, sans milk or anything remotely tasty. I tried it the last time I tried to force it down his gullet, and then decided I guess I could make it six more months.

So the day came. He turned a year. I was finished! But then...
...I couldn't do it. I was only nursing at night, but the thought actually made me sad.
I decided tonight that I would put him down with a sippy cup. As I was rocking him, I had this strange feeling of guilt and regret. For a second, I almost changed my mind.

I know what you're thinking, why quit if you want to keep nursing him?

Here are my reasons:

1. In my religious beliefs, we fast each month for any cause that we feel warrants it (a sick friend, a family member dealing with issues, etc) and I can't while I am nursing.
2. We are ready for him to have a sleep over with grandma, and he can't sleep over if he needs to be nursed.
3.  I need to be my own person, be able to take medications (I have chronic headaches), eat what I want!

I know these reasons aren't super solid, but they are important to me and I have been excited! I never expected that I would be miss it.

So there I sat, rocking him, my eyes wet and my heart full. I said a silent prayer of gratitude, thanking my God for giving me this wonderful infant, for blessing me with the opportunity to raise my own child, to be a mom. And begged forgiveness for all the sleepless nights and postpartum emotional breakdowns when I wanted to send him back, when I regretted getting pregnant, when I knew I made a mistake and I couldn't do this.

Because it wasn't true.

Who couldn't love this mug?

Caramel-Apple Lollipops

One of my favorite things about the autumn season is the delicious treats. I love hot apple cider, anything pumpkin and spicy, and of course caramel apples. And candy versions are yummy as well.
So after lots of trial and error, I found an easy way to make them at home.

What you need:

Tart apple flavored hard candy
Hard caramel candies
Sucker sticks
Metal sucker molds (optional)
Plastic wrap or small treat bags

I got my molds at this cute baking store in Salt Lake City, UT. They are really cheap, only $6.99 for a 10 piece set, and they have an online store. But I also made a batch of these lollipops without molds, because I am sure most people don't have them.

Preheat your oven to 250 F.

If you have molds:

Grease a cookie sheet or pan and lay your molds down. Put one caramel candy and one apple candy in each mold.

Then, put them in your oven for 5-7 minutes. You have to check up on them pretty frequently. They look solid one minute and then BLAMO, they are liquid and pouring out of your molds seconds later.

Pull them out when the green is a bit runny, and the caramel still looks a little solid. They will finish melting when you pull them out.

Carefully insert your sticks. You have to do it while everything is hot, but be careful to not get burned.

Once they have cooled, take them off the cookie sheet and pop off the molds. Sometimes, even if you greased your pan, they will be stubborn, so carefully use a spatula to free them.  Immediately cover with your treat bags or plastic wrap, they will stick if you lay them down on a surface.

If you don't have molds:

Grease a cookie sheet and lay the caramels first. Because they have a higher melting point than the apple candies, put them in the oven for about 2 minutes.

Once they melt a little bit, pull them out and place the apple candies. Push the candies so they kind of squish into the caramel. 

Put them back in the oven for a few more minutes. Check frequently, they just need to be melted enough so you can put a stick in them. If they get too hot, they will liquify and run everywhere.

Once everything is melted, pull out your cookie sheet.

Put your sticks in by laying them down and twisting so they get covered in melted candy.

Let them cool and take them off the sheet. Immediately wrap in treat bags or plastic wrap. 

All done! Enjoy or take to a friend, they a perfect for sharing autumn well wishes.

Thanks for reading!

Cold Porcelain

For those of you who haven't heard of cold porcelain, (a.k.a. me, until a few months ago) it's this awesome stuff that actually isn't porcelain at all, but a glue-based clay.
And the possibilities are endless with this stuff. I made a few colorful buttons and some chunky beads so far, but I have a few other ideas in the works. You are only limited by your imagination with this versatile medium! Check out the chunky bead necklace I made from cold porcelain HERE.

There are lots of variations on the recipe. I found several different ones, made a few tweaks, and found a recipe that works pretty well. The directions that I followed were from a recipe found here. Several recipes cooked the clay in a non-stick pot, so you can try that instead of the microwave, if you want.

Recipe:
1 c (8 oz) white school glue
1 c corn starch
1 tbl vinegar
1 tbl Vegetable Oil
extra cornstarch
food coloring or acrylic paint

1. Mix the glue, oil and vinegar in microwave save bowl. Add 1 c cornstarch.

2. After everything is mixed and smooth, microwave for 30 seconds.

3. Take out your bowl and stir well. Put in back in the microwave for another 30 seconds.

4. Take out and stir again. If your clay hasn't solidified, put in back on the microwave for another 30 seconds. Mine was good after 2 times, but I think it varies with different microwaves.

5. Take the bowl out of the microwave, let it cool for a bit and start kneading your clay (carefully, it's hot!).

It's kinda sticky, so work it with cornstarch covered hands. Knead it until it's less sticky and until it's the consistency of bread dough.

Now, you can add some color.
Warning: This is incredibly messy, and your hands will be stained for quite some time!
To color, simply add a couple drops for food coloring and working in into the clay with your fingers.
You can also use acrylic paint to color your clay.

After you have colored your clay, it's all finished! Make sure to store it in an air-tight container, as it hardens when it dries. I didn't bake any of my finished projects, but I would be interested to see if baking it makes it harder or more durable. I might try that later and let you know.


Cheers!

Paint Chip Halloween Garland

Paint chips. They are colorful, fun and free! There are lots of fun paint chip projects out there for every season and occasion, so I jumped on the bandwagon and made a Halloween Paint Chip Garland.

Now,  I am kind of a "wingin' it" type crafter, so I am sure that there is probably an easier way to do this than the way I chose to do it. 

I chose a font and printed out the letters. Because of repeat letters, I only had to print 9 letters. Then, I cut each letter out and traced around them onto some cute Halloween paper. Then, I cut the letters out of the paper and glued them onto each paint chip. For a good finish, I matte modpodged over each one.

After each paint chip dried, I punched two holes in the top and strung them with orange yarn. 

It's a very simple and easy project (not to mention cheap), plus they can be made for each occasion (I might have to make one for Christmas and one for Thanksgiving).

  

Yay, paint chips!

My Baby turns 1

Well, shoot. My lil' bit-o-honey is officially a toddler!
I can't hardly believe how fast time flies. It's bittersweet.

We gave him a cupcake while I was visiting my parents a week and a half ago. It was pretty hilarious:

hmm...testing it out...

Not too sure about this...

Nope. It's sticky. I hate it.

...and we're done here.

So, the whole baby-stuffs-face-with-cake-and-frosting-and-adorable-pictures-ensue did not work out great.

But...

We tried it again on his actual birthday and it went a little better:

And by "better", I mean he didn't give us the stink-eye for having the audacity to give him a frosted cupcake on near his birthday. The fun ended pretty quickly, however, when he proceeded to drop his cupcake onto the floor. 

Aww may-un...

But he loved the cream cheese frosting (who doesn't though, am I right?).

Pico De Gallo

I am not a huge Mexican food fan, which is crazy, I think, because everyone I know loves Mexican food (I pretty much went through my whole life not really liking chocolate, so I am pretty sure I am a wierdo). However, I do love pico de gallo, or salsa fresca.

It's so fresh, so yummy and so easy! I am probably the worst cook on the planet, so I would know easy. The best part about this recipe is that it is pretty versatile (Oh, and did I mention it's easy?). I love tomatoes and cilantro; my husband loves lots of lime. You can simply change it up to fit your tastes.
Here's how I make it:

Pico de Gallo Recipe:

Juice of 5-6 limes
1 bunch of cilantro (or to taste)
1 medium white onion
6-8 tomatoes
2 jalapenos - (this is pretty mild, so if you like yours hot, add a couple more)
salt to taste

I literally put each thing (except the limes) in my food chopper and mix it all in a bowl. The cilantro is easier to chop if you put a tablespoon or so of lime juice in the chopper. It's great right after you make it, but it's even better if it sits in the fridge for a few hours.
Be careful with the jalapenos! I pretty much get pepper sprayed in the face every time I chop those suckers up. Plus, the skin in between my fingers is tingly for a few hours...

...But other than those few side-effects, it's a great snack!
Hope you try it and like it!

Diary of a Boxspring (Vol 1)

So, we recently bought a new mattress set. But, for some reason, RC Willey does not pick up the old one, so there it sat in the Boy's room. For several weeks.

But then...

I realized that the boxspring was made of wood!
I am always stumbling and finding awesome projects that require wood, which is fine, but I log them away for projects to do later, and I never get around to them.

Well, after working for over a week to pull the wood apart from the springs, I harvested a huge pile of wood, yay! 

And this is my first project :

This project was pretty simple, I made it in just a few hours.

First, I cut two pieces of wood and sanded the edges.

Since I wanted to have two tones, I painted the edges orange.

I have done this technique only once, and last time the paint wasn't thick enough, so if you decide to try it, do at least two coats.

Next, I painted the whole piece black.

After it dried, I took sandpaper and lightly sanded the edges, just enough for the orange to come through.

Then, I just added letters. A few years back, I modpodged paper over some wooden letters for a different project, but I didn't really like how it turned out, so I recycled the letters for this project (conveniently, it was Halloween themed).

After putting modpodge over the whole thing, I drilled holes to attach the two pieces together. I actually don't have a power drill, but using self-drilling screws was actually really easy. I strung the two pieces together with this cute spider web ribbon I had, but you can use wire, twine, or anything strong enough, really.

One project down, more to go, hopefully!

Cheers