Little Man Necktie

I'm am so excited to announce that I have added my 1st boy item to my Etsy shop, the Little Man Necktie. I'm working on other designs, so expect more to come. Here are some pictures from our little photo shoot, Taylor is the happiest model, I love that boys smile!

Baseball Curtain Rod

To go along with the whole sports/baseball theme going on in Taylor's room I came up with the baseball curtain rod. We used a one inch wooden dowel for the rod and hung it on some inexpensive rod hangers, all together it cost about $5 for the set up.

 We used some baseballs that I was given and my dad cored one inch holes into one side of the balls.

We then squirted a little glue inside the ball to make sure they stayed in place, slipped them right onto the dowel, and presto, a custom curtain rod fit for any baseball lovers room.

If you wanted a little color you could even pain the dowel to match the room but I was kind of digging the wood look.

Play Ball!!

Two of Hearts

 Love is in the air around here. I just added another Valentine's headband to my shop, the Two of Hearts, go check it out.

 A special thanks to my two lovely models this weeks, you guys are great!

LOVE Headband

 Looking to send a message of love this Valentine's day? Then check out the LOVE headband just added to my Etsy shop!

Fresh baked bagels

 About a year ago we switched over to eating gluten free for the sake of my dear hubby. The kids and I still enjoy tortillas and bread occasionally but all of the baking and cooking that we do is gluten free. At first I found some of the things to be dry and crumbly tasting but once I discovered the right flour mixes I was a convert. It had been about a year since we last had bagels in this house and I'm pretty sure Scarlett didn't even know what they were so I decided to jump outside my comfort zone and make some. They turned out warm and chewy and so tasty. We devoured the whole batch in just a few days and I will most definitely be making them again. I used Pamela's bread mix , I personally think all of the Pamela's flour mixes are superior, and followed their bagel recipe.

I choose to make the dough and shape them the night before so that we could have fresh baked bagels in the morning and was very happy with that decision. I made half of the batch plain and added cinnamon and raisins to the other half. The plain ones were pretty good, the cinnamon raisins ones were excellent. I would also like to experiment with dried cranberries and walnuts, maybe next time.

In the morning I poked holes in all of them so they looked like bagels and boiled them, which I definitely recommend doing. I then popped them in the oven and 20 minutes later we ate all but 4 of them, yummy.

The steps involved in making them had intimidated me initially but once I did it I realized that they are really easy to make, give it a try if you haven't before, your family will be happy you did.

Let's Craft Hope for Haiti

I recently came across a wonderful blog called Craft Hope  and love what the ladies over there are doing. One of the things that I knew I wanted to start doing this year was put some of my crafting energy into making a difference outside of my home. I think the latest project at Craft Hope is a great place to start. You can read about the project in more detail here but to sum it up we will be assembling delivery kits for Konbit Sante, a group working to improve the health of the people in Haiti, that will supply the birth attendants there with sanitary kits to use during delivery. As a mom, reading about their birthing conditions, it really humbled me to think about how lucky I am to live where I'm at.  

So what I'm hoping to do is assemble several of these kits with your help! Together we can gather the supplies, do a little crafting (if that's your thing), and help these women out.

 Each birthing kit contains:

1 small bar of soap
1 piece of clean plastic sheeting, 3 feet wide by 4 feet long
1 piece of clean string, 24 inches long
1 packet alcohol wipe
1 set of sterile latex gloves
1 packet (or travel container) Purelle
1 handmade tote bag
I would also like our kits to include 1 receiving blanket and 1 stuffed animal, let's make these special!

 So I am looking for donations of the items listed above, expect the stuffed animals, my mom is taking care of that. If you want to donate one item, or enough to fill a whole kit, anything will help. I will sew the tote bags and receiving blankets, unless there is anyone out there that would like to help with that.

 Just leave me a comment here, or on facebook if you want to help bless these women and I will keep you regularly updated on what we need and how many kits we have stuff for. Then on Friday, February 25th at 10am I'm going to have a kit assembly party at our house where we will package everything up and mail it out. Hope to see you there!!!

Running quilt

Just before the new year we decided to take the plunge and finally move Taylor into his room. I had been having paranoid fears of the kids crying back and forth, keeping each other up all night and that we would never sleep again. Luckily that did not happen and the transition was so smooth. Now that his room is all cleaned up and decked out I can share some of the fun things going on in there.

James had been holding on to several of the running shirts he had from races he did in high school and college, so a few years back I cut them all up and made them into a quilt. It was not an easy project piecing them all together (my mom was a big help with that part) but it was so worth the time. When we found out we were having a boy we thought it would look cool hanging on the wall in his room, it gives it a good punch of color and goes well with the sports theme going on.

 You can make one out of any old shirts, my only suggestion is try and cut them all out to be close to the same size for piecing together. It makes such a soft and cuddly blanket or quilt and gives you a cool way to hang onto some memories.

♥My boy so happy to have his own room♥

Displaying memories

I tend to save little things here and there from important events in our life and instead of keeping them stored away in some box I like to put them on display in shadow boxes.

 The first one that I ever did holds the ring box that my engagement ring came in, dried flower from a bouquet that James gave me on our wedding day, the tiara that I wore, my purse and garter and a picture of us that day.

 I then made ones of the kids stuff from when they were born. I put in their coming home outfits, hospital bracelets, bassinet name tags and birth announcements.

Then most recently I put together one for each of the kids of their baby dedication papers and the outfits that they wore that day. These are a special reminder of why we choose to have them dedicated and to follow that commitment.

I'm sure I will add many more to this wall as the kids grow older and special things continue to happen in our lives.

Musical Shoes

If you have never done freezer paper stenciling you have to check it out, it's addicting!! My sister came up recently so I could show her how to do it and we spruced up an old pair of her shoes. You can find freezer paper at the grocery store and you want to use fabric paint for your design because it just works better.

 My sis is very into singing and music right now, so she decided she wanted to add music notes as her design.

 We cut a piece of freezer paper out in the shape of the toe of her shoe, which is where we would be adding the design. Then with a pencil I drew the notes on, you want to draw on the side of the paper that is not waxy feeling.

 Once our picture was draw out, she used an exacto knife and a small pair of scissors to cut the notes out.

When everything is cut out you are left with a stencil, you can be as detailed as you want but I would suggest starting with something simple for your first project just to get the hang of it.

 When you have your stenciled finished it's time to iron it in place. You will want to make sure that the surface you are planning on ironing your stencil too can take the heat, test it first, trust me, I melted a bag right to my iron that I thought would be ok, it was not. Place the waxy side of the paper down and make sure it is positioned just like you want it to be, once it is in place gently go over it with your iron and the paper will stick right to the surface. We did it on a pair of canvas shoes and I held my hand inside the shoe while I ironed to keep the shoe steady.

 Once your stencil is solidly in place you are ready to paint. I always pat my paint on so that just in case there is a spot of stencil that was not totally stuck down, you wont have a lot of bleeding. Let the paint dry, I suggest not completely, before you pull your paper off, it's easier to remove while it is still slightly damp. Gently pull the freezer paper off in one direction and you are left with a perfect little picture.

Follow the directions on your fabric paint on how to treat it once your finished, most tell you to iron it to set the paint. Once the paint is fully dry they are ready for wear. I spaced out the day we were working on these shoes and totally forgot to take a picture of them when they were finished, they turned out really cute. She ended up adding some bright pink splatters all over the shoes and swapped out the laces for some blue ones to match the blue notes. Now instead of looking worn out, they are totally unique and fun. Rock on girl!!

2011

2010 was a year of many changes for us, with the addition of a new family member and setting new goals that we put into action, we have stayed very busy. I have really enjoyed writing this blog and for the coming year I hope to be even more active on here. I also have some great new items that I will be adding to my Etsy shop, including boy stuff, so keep your eyes peeled for that.  Thank you to those of you that have been reading, hope you had a wonderful New Years, God bless.

♥The Loves of my Life♥