Gifts for a Baby Shower

I love any excuse to make something. Holidays, birthdays and special occasions like a baby shower. I am one of those people that don't follow a registry. I use it as a guide for color schemes mostly. A friend of mine is expecting another little girl soon and is using pink & brown to decorate her girls' room. She has made several things for the room already and it's super cute so I thought I'd make a couple things she could use in there.

The first thing I knew I wanted to make was this wipes case band. I saw this tutorial at Less Cake More Frosting recently and have been waiting for an excuse to make one. {I'll be making one for my own wipes case soon too} Her directions were great and the project was a pretty quick one. My band isn't as wide because my store didn't have 3" wide elastic but the 1.5 still worked.

I also covered a travel wipes case for her. My BFF made one for me when I had Delilah and I love it. I used this tutorial as a guide. The store I bought the wipes at didn't have the simple lid. If your only option is this style of lid I would drive to another store to find the simple one. This one works but took much longer and I don't like the gap in the middle.

Lastly I personalized shirts for her girls using freezer paper and my Cricut. I love love love freezer paper stenciling but really dislike using my exacto knife to cut letters. Mostly because I am impatient, often rush and they don't come out very nice. Using the low pressure setting on my Cricut the freezer paper cut smoothly & quickly.

 

I added a couple of bows and voila! Thanks for visiting.

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What I Whipped Up Wednesday

My Take on the Burlap Wreath

 

During the Christmas season I saw wreaths all over the blogosphere. Wreaths made from ornaments, candies, yarn, ribbons, coffee filters and burlap. This really is when my love for burlap began.

We have limited space and even more limited storage space so while I enjoyed looking at all of the DIY Christmas decor I didn't make any myself. Instead I used fabric with colors I'd like to have throughout our home. Blues, greens, oranges and burlap and ruffles. {I really should have ironed that fabric}.

 Quick tutorial, tips and cat toys after the jump.

A Quick Hello :)

Yikes! Has it really been two {plus} weeks since I've posted something? I didn't mean for that to happen.

It's been an interesting couple of weeks around our house. Three weekends in a row at least one of us has been sick, we had an incident that threw me for a loop and I've been trying to catch up on housework and projects.

I'm still behind. And trying to prioritize things. Housework often falls to the bottom of my list because it's just not as fun as sewing or gluing things. I have three projects to work on that I'm entering in a couple of contests and a baby shower this weekend. Yet my free time was spent on three other things that have nothing to do with any of those. And I still have things to mail off.

I need some chocolate and a good list with order so I can take a deep breath and get to work. But for now I'm snuggling my sweet baby who is teething and not feeling well.

I will have pictures and projects to share soon. And hopefully better grammar and more organized thoughts.

Have a great day!

Keeping It Real

Recently, I read this post at Not JUST a Housewife. I completely related. There have been several times I've read a blog and compared myself to the writer's home, decor, clothes, etc. There have also been times that someone has commented on how I 'keep it all together'. The short answer to that is, I don't. Just ask my husband. ;)

Most of my day's events revolve around my children and their moods and schedules. If the baby is having a fussy, clinging to momma day there's not much that gets done around the house or on my lists. After the kids go to bed I spend 1-4 hours cleaning dishes, folding laundry, sweeping, and cleaning up. Even after that there is often at least one load of laundry that still needs folding, one sitting in the drier {or washer if I forget}, many more that need to be washed and more dishes in the kitchen. And that's ignoring the big mess of crafting supplies on the table. Generally throughout the day the one space that stays clean is the rug because that's Delilah's play space. At least it was until she started crawling quickly and making a b-line for the dog food. Now she keeps us all on our toes.

There is a point to all of this, I promise. Like many moms I'm often overwhelmed with chores, needs of my children and hoping to use the restroom in peace at least once in the day. When I take pictures of my projects or whatever I'm sharing with you I crop out the mess with my lens, because who wants to see my messy table? But without the mess I wouldn't have much to share on my blog or in life in general. That doesn't sound like a fun way to live.

When taking pictures I'll try to remember to zoom out a little and share some of the 'real' with you. But first I'm going to clean the bathroom because that's a must before company visits. Here's a recent picture I took of myself wearing a pretty hair clip I bought from a friend who makes & sells bows and other pretties. And all of the 'real life' captured in the background. Full disclosure, my table looks like that on a daily basis.

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Trying Something New #1

Yikes, I am late on this post! I'll do better tomorrow. National Craft Month or not there's still housework to be done and small children to tend to. We had beautiful weather. I opened a window, hung my diapers out to dry and caught up on mundane tasks like dishes and laundry. I also finished up two more of these puppies.

National Craft Month {!}

Did you know that March is National Craft Month? Does this make you happy? It makes me happy. If you've been around my blog for long you've figured out that I love to craft. Crafting covers a wide range of hobbies. Sewing, painting, re-purposing, scrapbooking and anything that involves glue are all crafts. I like to do some of each.

I love making things. It's an outlet for me. I like quick projects that give me instant gratification but also enjoy projects that have more time involved, it's usually worth the pay off in the end. I love to decorate our home and repurposing or making something usually costs less and I can make it look just as I pictured, or pretty close. I love that my kids get excited when I make them something {most of the time} and that if something is broken or torn I can often figure out how to fix it. Crafting does have practical application, it's just not as much fun. Maybe one day we can share pictures of the useful but not as fun things we've fixed/crafted?

Goals & Gifts

Good morning! {or afternoon or evening depending on when you're reading this} My day started off with a nice surprise. I was featured on a blog I read. {Squee!} As I was reading her linky post I thought to myself "maybe I'll be featured sometime if I take better pictures"...and then there it was. My poorly lit photo. If you haven't visited Sugar and Dots you really should. After you're done admiring my feature :sarcasm: check her out.

Recently my to-do list {that I finally started writing down} has been a catch up list. One of my goals for 2011 is to remember & celebrate birthdays of those I love. I've had a birthday list/calendar on my fridge for years and generally remember birthdays. But I haven't done well at sending a gift or a card or making a phone call. We're at least 18 hours away from family so I can't pop in for a visit or attend a party. Which really would make the whole thing a lot easier.

  

I found tutorials/inspiration for these bows, which are a gift for my now seven year old sister, at Girly Things, great instructions and tips.

I made this tutu and headband for my younger sister that just turned five. Simple no sew tutu and headband inspired by Bonnie, we're in a crafty online group together.

So far I've made these gifts for two of my younger sisters {one birthday in January, one in February} but as I type this they {along with some Christmas gifts} are waiting to be mailed off. It's an improvement and I'll take it. In my large family there is at least one birthday each month so odds are in my favor that at least one person will receive their gift, card or phone call on time right? {Really I have no excuse for missing the phone call do I?} 


Does anyone else need to make a trip to the post office today? ;) Thanks for stopping by!

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