Gavin's Quilt

Every baby should have a quilt.  If your baby doesn't have one, I highly recommend getting one.  My grandma's tradition was that all babies got one.  The baby quilt she made me was yellow and blue floral prints in the shape of butterflies.  It's bound and backed in a cute blue heart print.  It's so special to me, and now when Gavin spends the night at my parents' house, he sleeps with it.  The blue and yellow make it manly.  All that to say, I made my first quilt for my boy Gavin.  I bought a book and fabric at Hobby Lobby.  Then I came home and channeled my Grandma Dalene and made this little baby:

I'm in love with this collection of fabrics from Hobby Lobby.  I think it's their Brothers and Sisters line. The teal fabric and the sheep fabric were both additions from my grandma's collection.  I think it's always fun to have one fabric that doesn't quite fit.  Somehow it always makes the quilt look co-ordinated, and keeps it from looking too "matchy".  

It used to be on the wall above his bed, because I was worried that he would get baby stuff on it.  But I caved.

Now it fits perfectly on his crib.  The first thing he does when he's in his crib is pull it off the side.  He's rolled all over it, and I no longer care if anything gets on it.  It's beautiful, but it's his to use.

It matches his crib skirt perfectly!

Now my boy plays on that quilt.  It makes me so happy : )

Capturing even this was tricky.  He's a moving target.

Hello, Gorgeous

What is this new thing of wonder?  Why, it's my new sewing machine.  By new, I mean that I got it for Christmas from my in-laws, but have yet to post anything about it.  But all that has changed.  It quilts without those tiny little annoying snags!  It adjusts tension!  I can chose the needle down feature!  All of these things are things the other machine didn't do.  Plus, I read the entire manual from cover to cover, so now I know what everything does and how to use it.  Did I mention that it came with a zipper foot and a walking foot?  Oh the joys of this machine.  The only down side is you have to choose which speed you want on a dial for slow, med, and fast.  But the nice thing is that if you accidentally push the pedal too hard which I always never do, then you don't have any accidents.  I have already used it to alter our high school's tin man costume.  This brings me to my next point.  


Person who made the costume in the first place:

WHY ON GOD'S GREAN EARTH DID YOU USE SILVER TISSUE LAME'?  DO YOU HATE ME?  IT'S EXACTLY LIKE SEWING TWO TISSUES TOGETHER!  ONE SNEEZE AND THE COSTUME IS IN PIECES!

I'm sorry to type in that tone of voice, but I really do feel better now.  Phew!  But seriously...never again with the tissue lame'.  I hate that junk.  NEVER!

Garage Sale Haul!

I'm new to the whole garage sale-ing thing.  I used to avoid those crazy bargain shoppers...blocking in our driveway...holding their cash...talking people down a buck on used junk.  But, I judge no more!  After the large kids clothes event held in Valparaiso (it was AWESOME!) and a few others held the same day in a similar area, I'm a believer!  Perfectly good boys clothing that's cute and looks brand new.  Adorable little shoes for $2, when I know they retail at over $15.  Here's an exhibit of how crazy I went:

Wide gambit of shirts, sweater, and jackets

Pants, shorts, and socks galore!

Overall, the total was about $80.  But...I did get:

3 Jammies

21 pairs of pants

8 pairs of shorts

3 pairs of shoes

20 pairs of socks

10 onesies

1 coat

1 bathing suit

2 jackets

30 shirts

1 Cubs jersey

That's over 100 items.  Even more if you count the socks and shoes separately.  So if you average everything out, then I paid less that $1 for a ZeroExposure coat, which I know has to be way more than that at Kohls.  Nothing against Kohls--I love them.  But this was waaaaaaaay cheeper!

And now for the bad news: I think I might be addicted to garage sales.  I spent last night searching them on Craigslist.  Then I spent time strategizing about who would go with me.  (I might be addicted, but I'm still scared of crazy garage-salers).  Anyone want to garage sale?  ; )

I've been featured!

I am honored to say that I have been featured on a blog of a dear ONU friend of mine, Valerie.  Here we are together...it's an oldie:

me, Valerie, and Emily

Now this was before we all got married and started having babies and stuff...you know, the good old days our college days before we were "grown ups".  Or as the Gilmore Girls say, "A-dults".  Any-who.  She has issued a challenge that struck home for me.  One Sassy Housewife's Pintrest Challenge.  Who doesn't spend HOURS and HOURS clipping things on Pintrest?  Valerie is challenging us to actually (gasp) DO the projects and TRY the recipes we've clipped!  So I had to show her one that I did.  Here is a little teaser about it:

 

To see my project featured click here!  I hope you do!

Baby Mobile

 Here is how to make a baby mobile.  You will need:

An embroidery hoop
Ribbons of various colors and sizes
Hot glue gun
Glue sticks

Start by choosing the length you want your ribbons to be.  A variety of lengths is ok, but they should be similar.  I started with one spool at a time.  I cut one length and then used it as a template.  If you cut all the ribbons on an angle, you may not need to finish the ends with glue or something to keep them from fraying.  That just a handy tip for you it's not because I'm lazy.  Then begin hot gluing the ribbons onto the hoop.  I overlapped the layers a little so it would look a little fuller.  This one is a combination of blue, green, ivory, and a giraffe print.  Last, finish the outside of the hoop by gluing some ribbon around the edge or if you're lazy like me, just use self adhesive ribbon.  DONE! : )
To hang it.  You will need the following:
A small hook
Fishing line
Scissors
A tall brother to do all the work

Insert the hook into the ceiling, and attach it using the fishing line.  Trim the ends with the scissors.  It's much easier for you if you con your tall brother into doing it for you.

And VOILA!  It's done!  Now you have an inexpensive mobile that spins around if near an air vent, window, or fan.  It also looks like it's just floating in the air on it's own.  Totally cool.  We hung ours over the changing table as a nice distraction and some decoration there.  My little guy looks at it and laughs while I have to deal with the all the lovely things that go on at the changing table. 

Hope you make this one and enjoy!

Umm...Fail

So I was in the mood to make something small, useful, and cute.  Whenever I'm at Target (love), I always want to buy curling or straightening iron covers.  Let's face it, I'm not a neat organized person, much as I wish I were.  So when I found this pattern, I thought it was perfect!
Rubies and Pearls Flat Iron Cozy

So I grabbed my adorable purple material....

 

Love Hobby Lobby

 And I got to work.  Apparently you should follow the instructions and not make it using leftover yellow felt (I seriously have YARDS of it left after a HS Bowser costume project...ugh) as the batting instead of , well, batting.  My sewing machine and I had a fight.  I brought out the walking foot.  It gurlged at me.  I sewed by twisting the wheel on the side.  The case ended up looking a little strange....

Why does this look wrong?

 I mean, it does fit the curling iron, but I can't help feeling that it looks strange.  Not to self, don't substitute felt for batting again!!