Valentine Wreath

**I don't know why this picture is turning fuzzy. I keep reposting it. It looks great for a day or two and then gets fuzzy again. I don't know how to fix it for good.

Yesterday morning I saw this wreath on my friend Chelsea's crafty blog It's Good for the Heart.

I wanted to make one and I did in ONE DAY!!! I never finish projects in one day. I would like to thank both of my kids for taking 3 hour naps (that NEVER happens!), and a husband who doesn't mind if I craft during a movie.

I used the tutorial from The Idea Room.

She got the idea from Design*Sponge.

Who was inspired by this pillow.

And now you have seen it here. So now you go make one.

Diapers, Anyone?

Did you know that I know Super Woman? Well, I do. She goes by the name of Misty. She started up a website kind of like the grocery game that tracks stores' deals and helps you match coupons so that you don't have to do all the work. Oh and did I mention at the time she had toddler twin boys AND a baby girl. Well, it got kind of busy for her (can you imagine doing all the work for a website and 3 kiddies under 2) and she asked if a couple of us (9, I think) to split up the work so we can still get all the amazing deals. Only people who contribute get access to the deals but now Misty has a blog, Frugalicious, that lets you know when you can get things for great deals. Awesome Deals.

Now you are wondering what does this have to do with Diapers. Well, check this deal out. For details on how to do it make sure you scroll down to "Diapers for less than $0.02 each!" Diapers less than $0.02!?! Now that is Amazing. And that is why Misty is Amazing.

Baby Boys

I made up some onesies and burp cloths for two of my friend's baby boys. Everyone I know is having a boy right now.

This scooter was cut out of some baby flannel I had.

When I make these onesies I use a double stick fusible web to attach the fabric. To secure the fabric I hand stitched around the design. I was worried about the inside stitching and knots being too rough on the newborn's skin so I covered it up by attaching a white piece of fabric using the fusible webbing.

Above is the inside of the onesie, showing off my messy stitching. Below is showing it covered up with the white piece of fabric to protect the baby's skin. (Do you like how huge these pictures are? Oh well.)

In my opinion (and my husband's) cloth diapers are by far the BEST burp cloths. They are absorbent, soft and have minimal runoff. I dressed some up with a strip of baby flannel.

Reversible Baby Hat

In December I checked Lotta Jansdotter's Simple Sewing for Baby from my local library. Due to the busy Christmas season I didn't get the time I wanted with the book but asked Santa for my very own copy. Lucky for me I got two sewing books Simple Sewing for Baby and InStitches by Amy Butler.

Nothing in Simple Sewing for Baby is super unique or hard. They are just a bunch of simple projects for baby. This book is for someone like me who is just getting into sewing and likes to have a pattern, even for small projects.

This Baby hat was the first thing to catch my eye, where I thought, "I have to make one of those." I made one and was so happy about how fast and easy it was that I made another. One side is a cute pink flannel and the other is a cream fleece material.

4 Giveaways down, 1 to Go. It has almost been an entire year. yikes!

P.S. If you are one of my friends and are wondering why you didn't get a Christmas gift (mentioned here) this year. It is because I ran out of time, got too stressed and am saving all my grand plans for next year. So sorry, no presents this year, except that I survived Christmas, that should be present enough (maybe).

Lily's Kitchen

Last Summer we picked up this Pottery Barn Kids Kitchen at DownEast Home. It needed a little bit of love so it sat in Lily's closet for the last couple of months as a shoe/ toy rack. For Christmas, Santa's elves fixed it up. Justin did all the handy work and I did all the sewing.

Before: No Doors, Loose Knobs, No Curtains, No Accessories

After: Fold down oven door, Cabinet Door, Curtains, Hot Pads, Pots and Pans (Ikea) and tight knobs.

Smoother Transition

In the LDS church when kids turn 18 months they go to Nursery (a room full of toys, lesson, and snack) during the last two hours of church. When kids are 3 on the New Year they go to Primary (for kids 3-11). My son, Tanner, started Primary this past Sunday. I figured that this would be a hard transition. You know, one week you go to a room full of toys the next you are expected to sit quietly and participate (Don't get me wrong Primary is fun).

To help him get excited we told him how now he is a big boy and got him his own scripture case and hardback Book of Mormon. Tanner was so proud of his new scriptures and I think it helped make him feel like he belonged in Primary.

Disclaimer: I know this is a simple thing but I wanted to share our little family tradition here.

Let it Snow!

... in San Diego.

Christmas is not the same without snow. Even my 3 year old keeps saying, "It is not Christmas because it is not snowing." We are in trouble tomorrow when it doesn't really snow. Hopefully he will be distracted by what Santa brings him.It has taken me the whole month to make these snowflake. Not that they are that complicated, just a lack of time and fear of getting glitter out with 2 small kids. But I love them. It is all Martha. I used cereal boxes for the cardboard (they are flimsier than I would like but easier to cut). I painted them white before I added the glitter. I painted them with Elmer's glue to hold on the glitter. And my whole house now sparkles with glitter. It is EVERYWHERE!

Merry Christmas Eve

I made these a couple of weeks ago at a Church Fabulous Friday. The people in charge ordered the vinyl and provided the boards. All I had to do was paint the wood and put the vinyl on. This was my first time using vinyl and I loved it. I will definitely use vinyl again. I put these in the kids room and I love that I don't have to worry about them getting ruined.

Homemade Oreo Cookies with a Peppermint Twist

Every time I make cookies for an event I make Homemade Oreos. Not only are they fast to make but super delicious. And more importantly they have never let me down (meaning they turn out the same every time). I offered to bring the dessert to book group but then realized I should probably make some kind of Christmas dessert (because we read a Christmas book). Limited on time I decided to make a Christmas Oreo Cookie or Peppermint Oreo Cookie.

Cookie:

1 Devil's Food Cake mix

1/2 cup shortening

2 eggs

Mix, roll into small balls, and bake 350 degrees for 8 minutes or until they begin to crack. Frost with cream cheese frosting and top with another cookie. Crush candy canes and roll edge of cookie in crushed candy canes. (The frosting was not picking up the candy canes crumbs like I wanted so I ended up pushing the peppermint into the frosting.)

Frosting:

1-1.5 oz cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup butter or margarine, softened

1 tsp vanilla

2 1/4 to 2 1/2 cup sifted powdered sugar

1-2 drops of Peppermint extract

In a bowl, beat together cream cheese, butter and vanilla until fluffy. Gradually add powdered sugar beating well until right consistency. I mixed in the peppermint extract last.

Chistmas Gifts

Do you need an idea for Christmas gifts this year? I did this one last year for some of my close friends. I got the idea from NieNie (It took me exactly five years to find that exact link. Geez, I must have read her whole blog last year after the accident. I had to catch up.) I used Lily's baby formula cans. They were perfect with gold lids (Costco). I wrapped the cans in some of my wrapping paper. I used Microsoft Word to make the labels for the top. I bought the plastic bags at Michael's to put the cookies in. Very inexpensive, but in my opinion cute.I can't wait to show you what I am doing this year. If I ever get them finished, or started. December is flying by too quick.

No Pattern Apron

A couple of weeks ago I dreamt up this apron in my head. I knew exactly what I wanted it to look like. I used my William Sonoma apron to estimate the measurements and went to work. I actually finished it in one day. Which is a miracle for me. It usually takes me weeks to do a project like this. There are a couple of things I might change for next time, but not too bad for not having a pattern.
My friend Kim was kind enough to be my model. When I tried it on me it looked all wrong with my baby bump hitting it in the wrong spot.

Some Christmas Crafts

I wanted to share some Christmas crafts that I made last year. The first one was super fast and easy. I found these letters at Michael's. I just painted the sides red and mod-podged some paper on top. Ta Da.. Simple enough.

My second craft was not so simple. You may remember the Telluride Santa from Pottery Barn Kids (PBK photo above) from last year. I saw this Santa at PBK and thought "I can make that". My friend, Kim, and I started making them in November and did not finish our Santas until MARCH!!! I think it took so long because we couldn't find time to get together and we might just chat too much instead of craft when we get together. But here is our version. We tried to make it as close to the PBK version as we could. And I love mine.

I love...

..my newest Christmas decoration
The wreath not the couch. The picture does not do this wreath justice. So you will have to come over to my house to admire it. I found it this summer at a Restoration Hardware Outlet for $10. It brings me lots of Christmas joy.If only it didn't make my couch look faded and worn out. Maybe next summer I will find a Restoration Hardware couch for 90% off.

Lily's 1st Purse

Lily has become interested in everything girly in the last couple of weeks. She steals my purse everyday. I made her her very own purse for Christmas. I had in my head what I wanted it to look like and made it up as I went. I was excited to see how fast I whipped this up. I might make one for myself. Lily's measures about 7.5 inches wide and 4.5 inches tall. After I made this I realized that it looks just like the one on make it and love it. Maybe sub-consciously that is where I got the idea of what I wanted it to look like. I was thinking of making a tutorial if anyone was interested.

So You Think You're Crafty

Have you been to So You Think Your're Crafty yet?

I am loving it. It is a blog competition where 10 crafty bloggers are facing off. Each week they have a challenge with a theme, they create something and then we the people get to vote. It is week 3 and I about die every week at what these talented women come up with.

The first week the theme was Harvest and I loved what Mique for 30days created. I ran to the store, grabbed all the supplies and made one for myself. I have no ingenuity, so I pretty much copied it exactly. I bought a piece of scrap wood at Home Depot for $1. Justin cut it and sanded it down for me. Most of the other supplies I had on hand.

I want to make almost everything I see, but here is my to do list, just from SYTYC

(to see all of them click on the Week, to see the tutorial click on the craft)

Week 1: Harvest

• Wheat Throw Pillows from V&Co
• Dinner for Two from MADE

Week 2: Leaves

• Glitter Wreath from Homemade by Jill
• Modern Leaf from MADE
• No Sew Leaf Wreath from V&Co

Week 3: Green

• Cozy Car Caddy from we all know who (I am definitely making this for Tanner's stocking)
• Grocery Totes

There you have it. Go check it out and vote.

What is Under Your Bed?

This is what is under my bed:

I am not the best at collecting food storage but I do try. This is a great time of year to stock up on baking supplies and canned vegetables. Since we live in a small apartment most of our food storage is under our beds.
Under My bed: Food, Ziplocks, and Swiffer refillUnder Tanner's Bed: Toilet Paper and DiapersUnder Lily's Bed: Diapers, Cereal, Some Bathroom supplies, and her clothes drawers
To keep the food organized under my bed and for easy access I use produce boxes from Costco. They slide easily under the bed and they are free. Don't be shy about finding the box you want, they are perfect for under the bed.
Happy Storing!

For: The Chelseas

(Image from here)In nursing school I hung out with Danielle, Chelsea and Chelsea. Every fall when pumpkin season would roll around Chelsea squared would talk and swoon over all the different pumpkin foods, breads and desserts. They would even get teary just talking about it. So this post is for them. I found this recipe a couple years ago in Family Circle magazine (Dec. 07). We finally tried it this year and they are YUMMY! I didn't make the cranberry honey because of a lack of cranberries but the waffles were still amazing. Pumpkin Waffles with Cranberry HoneyThis recipe is copied directly from the family circle website. Click here for original source.

Ingredients
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/4 cups whole-wheat flour
1/3 cup sugar
2-1/2 tsp. baking powder
1-1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1-1/2 cups low-fat buttermilk
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 large egg
1 Tbs. canola oil
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 egg whites

Cranberry Honey:
3/4 cup honey
1/4 cup cranberry juice
1 cup fresh or frozen, thawed cranberries, divided

Directions
1. Waffles: Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F. Place a large baking sheet in the oven.
2. Combine the flours, sugar, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl; stir to mix well and set aside.
3. Combine the buttermilk, pumpkin, egg, oil, and vanilla in a medium bowl; whisk until smooth. Add the buttermilk mixture and 1/3 cup water to the flour mixture; stir until a moist batter forms.
4. Beat egg whites in a medium-size bowl with an electric mixer on high until stiff peaks form. Gently fold whites into batter.
5. Coat a waffle iron with cooking spray and preheat. Spoon about 1/3 cup of batter for each 4-inch waffle onto the hot waffle iron, spreading the batter to the edges. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes or until the steaming stops. Transfer waffles to baking sheet in oven to keep warm. Repeat procedure to make 16 waffles. Serve with Cranberry Honey.
6. Cranberry Honey: Bring the honey and cranberry juice to a boil over medium heat in a medium saucepan. Add 3/4 cup of the cranberries and cook 5 minutes or until cranberries pop. Stir in the remaining 1/4 cup cranberries. Remove from heat and let stand 5 minutes before serving. Makes about 1 cup.

Little Red Riding Hood

For some reason I had my heart set on Lily being Little Red Riding Hood for Halloween. I also had the goal to make Lily a dress by the end of the year. I combined the two and made Lily her Halloween costume. It was my first time making a dress and following a pattern. It turned out far from perfect but I am still proud of my accomplishment.

I bought the pattern at Walmart. It was not the Halloween costume pattern. I wanted to make her a real dress. That she could maybe wear to church. I used the New Look 6448 pattern. I made a size 2 and it turned out pretty big so she might be Little Red Riding Hood next year too.

She was not fond of the cape and kept taking it off. I didn't have a pattern for that but just looked at some tutorials online and made it up as I went.

Kim's Halloween Placemats

A year ago I went to visit my family in Colorado. My sister and I thought it would be fun to have a craft day. We went to Joannes, picked out Halloween fabric to make a Halloween throw. We got back to my mom's house and while all the kids were watching a movie and running around she finished her quilt top. I however did not. I sewed and unpicked, sewed and unpicked, sewed and unpicked. Then my mom and sister felt sorry for me and my sewing abilities. I ended up with nothing by the end of the day. I brought the fabric home and tried again, determined to do it. I sewed some more and unpicked even more until I threw the fabric into my stash. I didn't want to touch the cursed fabric for a year.

So I didn't!

But all year I tried to think of something I wanted to make out of the fabric. Definitely NOT a Halloween throw. I borrowed Amy Butler's In Stitches from the library. I loved it. I wanted to make everything in there. But didn't. I just need to own it. I picked one of the easiest projects in there, the placemats. I finally used up my cursed Halloween fabric and I love how they turned out. I made 4 and gave them to my friend Kim. 3 people down 2 to go for my little giveaway.

Happy Late Halloween!

The Little House is DONE!!!

I have to say that I am having trouble finding the energy to be crafty. I am 13 weeks pregnant and I am tired. If I do have a second to do anything I usually lay down, watch tv or read a book. I have been going to bed early, so I haven't been too crafty the last couple of weeks. This week I have started to feel the holiday deadlines looming. I have a long list of crafts that I want to get done before Halloween and Christmas, so I pulled out my sewing machine again and have been working on some Halloween placemats.

This past weekend I finished the Little House. It is not perfect by any means but the kids haven't noticed. It was the perfect weekend to debut it because of General Conference. It keep the kids busy for hours. Justin was kind enough to snap these pictures for me (because I was too tired to even think about it). To see what all the sides look like click on the "Little House" label (on the left side bar) to pull up previous posts.

I was a little hesitant to post my house because I saw one on Homemade by Jill here and here. Geez, she is talented. And have you seen her quiet books. I am tempted to make one, but know it will take me 20 years. Afterall, look how long it took me to finish this house (only 5 months is all). Maybe I will start making one for my grand kids.



PS I hope I didn't sound like I was complaining about being tired. I was just giving excuses to why I haven't been crafty.