Awesome Big Brother Fort Kit {or a three year old's dream}

This past weekend my husband, the little miss and I took dinner over to a family with a newborn. Their sweet little bundle of joy reminded me of just how tinny my little girl used to be {and how much she used to sleep!}. It was so fun meeting sweet little Grace.

Grace has a three year old brother who I just adore. This little guy is too smart for his own good, never stops moving, and is the most polite child I have ever met. I figured this little guy has been a bit overlooked with everyone coming by to meet his new sister so I decided to make him a little something. 

Awhile back, I pinned Meg + Andy's AMAZING Super Hero Fort Kit for just this occasion. I am so glad I decided to make it. 

I made the bag using flannel from Joann's. It was supposed to be a drawstring bag. However, put French seams in the sucker because I decided that I could remember how to make a simple drawstring bag that I haven't made in nearly twenty years. Bad plan.

I found the awful sheet at Goodwill for $1. It was the only sheet that wasn't stained {ewwwww}. I added some clothes pins leftover from another project, a fun little glow stick wand and rope from the dollar store, and one of the million flashlights my husband's father keeps bring us that I am thrilled to be rid of! Apparently Logan loves clothes pin. I could have just brought him ten of these and he would have been set!

Logan's little face lit up just seeing that I brought something for him. He carried around the bag for a good twenty minutes before I asked him if he knew what was inside. He seemed genuinely surprised that there was still more! He spent the rest of the evening asking when he could build his fort. His engineer father was stoked to get to play something other than trains for once! 

I'd defiantly recommend a fort kit for the kiddos in your life. If you're anything like me, there are a lot of soon to be big siblings in your life. Don't forget them during your crafting ventures for the little bundles of joy.

Don't worry. I didn't forget the new little girl. {Plus she's the little joy that I went a little overboard for.} The proud parents are Texas A&M alum with lots of team pride. I compromised my Aggie morals {go UC Davis!} and made her a little onsie. I made the mom cry!

Come Party with me!

Thanks so much for featuring me!

Just a Moment Monday {or some baby shower diy inspiration}

Nearly all the women in my Sunday School class are pregnant. One just had her kiddo, several are due in May and several are due in August. The first of the showers is next weekend. This has me in baby shower sewing mode. 

I thought I'd share some wonderful tutorials for beautiful yet easy baby shower presents. 

The Bapron

You'll come to learn that I have a love affair with all things Jess @ Craftiness is not Optional makes. The Bapron is something I've made in the past for gifts. I've received rave reviews from the moms who have used them. My hint is not to pin...even the bias tape. For me, they came together better if I just was careful and adjusted as I went. These guys are truly quick sews!

The Pieced Jersey Dress

Kristen over at kojo designs shared this amazing Pieced Jersey Dress tutorial. I used this tutorial to make the above dress for my little miss. It's a great excuse to cut up shirts you really wish your husband would no longer wear! 

Car Seat Canopy

I made this sucker for the last shower I went to. The momma I gave it to just told me how much she used it. I know I used mine a ton when little miss would stay asleep in her car seat while I shopped {oh, those were the days!}. You should really find some excuse to use this fabric! Its too cute and comes in blue as well.

Onesie Dress

I've made several onesie dresses and always had the same problem Erin @ Sutton Grace describes. They are always to get on over the head. Well, Erin fixed this problem with elastic tread. Genius! I'll be making a onesie dress using her idea soon!

Crossover Pinafore Dress

Like me, I bet you've been seeing this adorable dress pop up all over blogland. I have no clue why I haven't made it yet. It looks simple to do yet its a stunning finished product. Maggie over at Smashed Peas and Carrots was even nice enough to include a 6-12 month pattern with her tutorial- all for free! I know at my shower I got tons of things for itty bitty babies. I'm so very thankful to the people who gave larger clothes or items used by bigger babies!

What's your go to shower gift?  

Just a Moment Monday {or a moment to breathe}

I've started having problems going to sleep at night. I lay awake thinking of all the things I need to get done. Its been about a week of sleep problems. A couple of nights ago I actually got out of bed at like midnight to make baby food. I know...nuts!

So today I'm taking a break. I'm not doing any homework. I'm not working on anything for an upcoming baby shower that has somehow taken over my life. I'm not even cooking dinner! {I should probably warn my husband about that one! Or have him pick up a pizza!} I'm going to play with my little girl, read while she naps, and hope that this day of rest is just what I need to reset my silly sleep schedule!

{The Print Shop}

Happy Monday!

Mommy Blog Hop {or come meet new friend}

The wonderful Kelley at The Grant Life was kind enough to have me over to her blog to share my Labor and Delivery story. Now, she's being so very wonderful and hosting a blog hop featuring yours truly. Come join us and make some new friends!

Labor of Love {or thoughts of lunch}

Come on over to The Grant Life to find out how both my husband and I were planning lunch when we found out our little girl was about to be delivered. I'm sharing my delivery story as apart of Kelley's Labor of Love series.

Jello Play Dough {how to get buff arms}

Would you like a good arm work out? Do you want to make something fun for your kids? How about doing both at the same time!

All you have to do is make up a batch of Jello Play Dough!

Jello Play Dough Recipe

{Adapted from CD Kitchen}

1 cup flour
1/2 cup salt
2 tablespoons cream of tartar {If anyone you are making this for has an egg allergy or is G/C Free, you can omit the cream of tartar. However, it works as a preservative and I recommend using it.}
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 warm water
1  3 ounce package of Jello powder 

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan.

Turn on medium heat. Stir constantly.

This is where the arm work out comes in. You have to stir constantly or it will burn. And it gets thick and tough to stir right quick.

You'll need to keep stirring over medium heat until it pulls away from the sides and becomes dull. I basically stopeed when it looked like play dough. 

Turn the done dough onto waxed paper. Then, start kneading the dough right away. If you wait, it gets all crusty and weird. You need to knead the dough until its cool.

So here's what I did. I broke off little pieces and squished them around in my hands for as long as I could stand it. This stuff is HOT and I defiantly did a number on my hands. In hind sight {and of course I thought of this the minute I was done} I should have just loaded it up in my Kitchen Aid with the dough hook. Next time!

They were loaded up in 1 cup Zip Loc containers. I was shooting for 12 one cup portions of the play dough. So I made a double recipe of red and a quadruple recipe of blue.

I included a little print out of the recipe for party goers. I do love my Silhouette. I didn't have to hole punch these bad boys! The Silhouette did it for me. 

There was some extra left over that I my husband and I went to town with. This stuff smells great. It is by far my favorite homemade play dough I've played with. I've been around the stuff a lot for work and this recipe was a cut above the rest.


Come party with me!

Dino Gift Set {or rawr}

A friend's adorable little boy just turned one. He {with personal return address labels and all} invited my little miss to his first birthday party. It was such a wonderful little gathering of friends. I was thrilled to be apart of it!

Well all this excitement has translated into racking my brain to come up with a really great present for the little man that doesn't break my bank. Enter Pinterest. This cute little dino caught my Pintrest surfing eye. I was hooked. I got caught up with the dino theme and decided to make a cute little shirt to round out the present.

Lucky me, I got a Silhouette for Christmas. I've been giddy playing with it. After slicing a couple of holes in the cutting mat {and screaming at my cat who decided to beat the living daylights out of the cutting arm while it was moving}, I hope I'm starting to get the hang of it. I used my shinny new toy and the fabric ink starter kit to make the shirt.

I downloaded a cute little set of dinos from the Silhouette store. After picking my favorite {I think its because of the triceratops in The Land Before Time. Sarah, right?}, I designed a shirt around it. Etsy helped inspire me.

I used freezer paper as my stencil. I remember long before I thought I was going to need this info someone mentioning that the velum setting on the Silhouette was great for cutting freezer paper. Well, they were right!

 

{If you need information on how to use freezer paper as a stencil, check out this great post by Ashely at Make it and Love it.}

In order to have the two pieces of the gift be all matchy cute, I used the dino from the shirt as a template for the stuffed dino. I'm not the greatest with sewing curves, so they don't look as much alike as I was hoping more. But, I do love the cuddly little guy.

I also helped with favors for the party. Stay tuned for some fun favor ideas!

Come party with me!

Just a Moment Monday {or a snapshot}

My little miss is in love with the orange light on my camera that comes on just after I click the button to take the picture. Its making it hard to get a picture with her smiling. It is, however, leaving me with a lot of great pictures to bring out on the occasion of her first date.

Happy Monday!

Valentine's Day Dress {or a little bit of love dress}

Its official. I've finally started getting my rear in gear for Valentine's Day. I shared about my 13 Day of Valentines a couple of days ago. I've even got a couple little of decorations up {pictures to follow}. And, I made my little miss a dress!

I've named it the A Little Bit of Love Dress because I find the play on words funny. I may be the only one. But oh well!

She was really excited to start the photo shoot. I had to layer the dress with leggings. It came out a bit shorter than I wanted. That and it was 75 all of last week when I stared the dress and 50 all of this week. The weather here is a tid bit annoying!

I made the dress by a wing and a prayer. I kind of mixed up instructions from about six different past projects. Overall, its a basic onesie dress with less gathering {ie less width of fabric}. I then embellished the dress.

The hand stitched "love" was inspired by the All You Need is Love Skirt that Simple Simon & Co shared over at Somewhat Simple. I used a freezer paper stencil to cut out the letters from a felt sheet. I'm a bit concerned about how this is going to hold up. I'll be line drying the dress, just in case.

When I was at my parent's house a couple of weeks ago, I raided all the sewing supplies that my mom had {because of my third grade sewing lessons}. I couldn't find the right pink to go with the fabric. But I did find the fun contrasting bright blue that matched the felt. So, I ran with it!

The Accordion Flower was made using a tutorial by Studio Calico. I then hand stitched the stucker on in as many places as I could. The little miss likes chewing on clothes and I wanted this flower to last more than one wear!

And here's a picture that I find truly horrifying. This is my not quite yet eight month old standing independently. Thankfully, it only happens in short bursts. Never the less, its still frightening!

Come party with me!

Little Miss' Dress for the Wedding {or pretty in pleats}

When I got the save the date for my dear friend Tif's wedding, my first thought was, "What should I make for the little miss to wear?" I'm rather sure the first thought might have needed to be about how we were going to afford plane tickets to California. But no, it was about a dress for the little miss. 

{Here's my Pin for the dress}

Ashley over at Make It Love It provided wonderful inspiration for the dress. I was sold at the pleats. Ashley put together a great tutorial.

Other than messing with the pleats to get everything to fit right, this was a quick sew. No one at the wedding could believe I made it! 

The fabric is from Joann's. I left off the belt. The little miss puts everything into her mouth. I figured the belt/bow would just become teething fodder.

I made the headband using this tutorial from The Letter 4 for little misses' dedication. You can read all about that here.

And done.

Come Party with me!

Just a Moment Monday {or a day to grieve}

I remember leaving my dad a message about how I saw the F-35 fly by out my window. He had to settle for the shots for the superbowl audience. So, it wasn't weird to me when he called back a little while later. But he was calling my husband's phone. I feel like that should have been a warning. But I wasn't prepared. I can still hear him saying, "This is going to be hard..." like it was yesterday. But it wasn't yesterday. Its been a year since my mom died.

I lost my mom a week after moving to Fort Worth and a day after moving into our house. I lost her at 25 and five months pregnant. While I don't think there's ever a good time or a time you're ready for something like that, I think it would have been nice if my suitcases were at least unpacked from the move.

There's some things I learned in the days following her death. People ask stupid questions. I ended up calling a lot of my mom's friends to tell them of her passing. One of my former girl scout troop leaders called me back three different times to ask what had happened in painful details. She wanted specifics and  always seemed to have a new question she felt she needed answered. Who does that? Oh, and random people asking what's happening to her art. REALLY?

You just have to breath and take it in stride. Its ok to tell people its none of their business. Its also ok to be vulnerable and answer. But most importantly, its ok to cry in the middle of the bread isle of Safeway.

 People bring over a lot of food but don't think to ask what you already have or what you might like. We got two, count them two honey baked hams AFTER we had the wake. Really people? While generosity abounded, I think the uncertainty of how to handle the situation often overran people's common sense.

Its ok to ask people to bring specific things. I think they really want guidance but don't know how to ask when you've got so much else to think about. Its ok to give the food to other people when you get way more than you can handle. We were able to donate some of the food to a local shelter. And its ok to eat every last bite of it in one sitting even tough its enough food for three days.

What I was most thankful for was friends who let me go at my own pace when it came to talking. I was thankful for the friend who picked up the phone, no matter what time and what she was doing. And I was thankful for the people that acknowledged they had no clue what on earth to do but would do anything. And they kept that promise when it took me some time to figure out what I needed. 

And so, I'm saving today for cuddling with my little girl. I'm saving it for eating a ton of junk and crying all I want. And then I'll do it all over again tomorrow if that's what I need. Because, if there's one thing I've learned so far....its that I'm no where near done grieving.

13 Days of Valentines {or I'm a day late}

Still looking for something to do for your sweetheart for Valentine's Day? How about trying out a {fill in the number of days left until Valentine's Day once you get into gear and start} of Valentines. In my case, this would be the Days of Valentines. I had intended on the 14 Days of Valentine's but I forgot the first day. I may leave two out one day. Or more likely I'll just eat the Jr. Mints myself.

There are some really awesome printables out there to help you get this project rolling. Also, the Dollar Store was my best friend! I used great printables from Mommy by Day, Crafter by Night and Six Sisters' Stuff and then made a couple of my own. I just picked what worked for my husband's likes and then added a couple of inside jokes.

{Mommy by Day, Crafter by Night}

Ashley @ Mommy by Day, Crafter by Night shared these amazing, free tags for the 14 days of Valentines.

{Six Sisters' Stuff}

The very talents ladies at Six Sisters' Stuff were nice enough to post these wonderful little tags.

Happy Creating!