Nursery Update: Tree Mural

I had the wonderful opprotunity to decorate Benjamin's room with my Mother. I had been drooling over vinyl tree decals on the internet but ultimately we decided to paint a tree on the wall. I am so pleased with the way it turned out. I really enjoyed doing this project with my Mom, my best friend. I am grateful for her and her talents. I will always cherish the memory of us doing this together.

The tree is home to an owl, squirrel, blue bird, and a fox lives nearby. The cardinal is over the closet door on the otherside of the room.

There are a few more details I want to add. I have corner shelves that I plan to add to the trunk of the tree. That's Josh's part of the project ;) I also have a birdhouse to put a nightlight in to go on one of the shelves or hang by the tree. (Sorry Mom, I could resist sharing what we have done. The rest will happen, I promise :) )

Nursing Cover

I've got projects piling up in various stages of completion.  Last night Josh had a boys' game night with friends in the ward and I sat down to sew my nursing cover.

I found various tutorials online and combined a few of them for my end result.  My favorites were these two:

Sew Much Ado: Nursing Cover Tutorial

Pinkatilly Nursing Cover Pattern

I found the cute fabric at JoAnn's along with the 1/2" polyester boning and 1" D rings.  I also used some left over brown flannel to make a triangle pocket in one corner.

I made the overall dimensions bigger than those given in either tutorial.  The width is from selvage to selvage and for the length I think I did 28".  I bought a yard of fabric and had some left over. 

Overall it came together rather easily and for about $8.00 I have my own nursing cover.  I'm excited!

Nursery Brainstorming

I've been surfing and drooling at baby stuff online for a few months now (okay 7). There is a ton of cute stuff out there made by such talented people. When I found out we were having a boy that limited everything by two-thirds but I am still excited about the possibilities.

This is the first time that I have had full freedom to decorate a nursery. After much hee-hawing I've decided to do a woodland theme. Granted I still haven't actually done anything but I do have a good idea of what I want to happen... eventually. (In all reality some of it is not likely to come together until my talented and motivated mother gets here. I love you Mom!)

I have plans to make a quilt for the crib as well as crochet an afghan (which I did for Sam and Elijah). I would also love to do a crib skirt and possibly crib sheets. Ambitious, I know.

As for decor, basically I'm leaning toward the colors orange, brown, blue, warm yellow, and lime green. I've also always been attracted to owls and trees. (Okay, so it seems the room is all for me.)  I think the wall color will either be a robin blue (not baby blue) or a warm yellow.  I keep changing my mind though. A mossy green would be nice too.

So here are pictures of ideas that I like. Let me know what you think.

I want to do a tree mural on the wall, either vinyl, painted or mod podged.  I think the little bird house light on the tree is adorable.  I also like the branches used for wall decor and for the mobiles and the ball lamp with honey bees wrapped around it. 

I've also started crocheting some of my ami critters.  I've got an owl and part of a hedgehog so far.

I've also been drooling over things on etsy.  Mostly fabric and project ideas.  Here's a list of some of my favorites.

What do you think?  Am I nuts?  Do you have any ideas to add?  I would love to hear your feedback.

Dinosaur Dig

The cubscouts in our ward asked Josh to help them do a dinosaur dig for pack meeting like the one he did when he was cubmaster a few years ago. Josh was really excited to do it again and I made sure to take pictures of the process. It's really a cool thing to do, especially if you have little people interested in dinosaurs.

Josh makes a rough sketch of a dinosaur (this year it was a stegosaurus) and then makes a few batches of salt dough, grabs his plaster of paris and plastic wrap and he's ready to get to work making bones. The process takes awhile because it takes time for the bones to set up but in all it isn't that difficult.

Josh uses the salt dough (in this case pink) to make the molds to pour the plaster into. The plastic wrap helps keep the dough from getting sticky and sticking to the bones. Josh roughly follows his sketch and makes impressions in dough to make the bones. He does it in batches and changes the mold as needed. (Pictured are some vertebre.)

The result is a pile of plaster bones. The thicker you make them the less likely they are to break. The biggest threat to breakage is trying to pull them out of the mold too soon. I figure that a broken bone is okay because that's the way you find them in the ground.

The fun part is putting it all together. Our stake has a pavillion and volley ball court on one of the chapels' property. We used the sand in the volleyball court to bury the bones. Josh layed them out first to look like our dinosaur and then you bury them. To hide the evidence of where we put it, Josh tossed on top. Sam and Elijah were very much interested in the whole process from pouring the molds to laying out the dinosaur and covering it up. Sam was off somewhere when it came time to excavate the bones but Elijah was in the middle of all the action.

The cub leaders and Josh brought paint brushes for the kids to use to excavate the bones. It helps them to go slower and be more careful at uncovering the bones and it makes it feel a bit more authentic. It was quite fun to see this hord of kids gathered around a spot in the dirt exclaiming that they had found a bone in the sand and carefully brushing away ll the sand. (Another cool thing is the way the bones look with the sand filling in the little crevase from the plastic wrap. It makes them look old.)

The whole process of uncovering probably took 10 minutes and I think everyone was rather pleased with their work --especially Josh.

My Monk's Bag

I found this pattern earlier this year and actually made a bag using the pattern for my sister for her birthday. I've intended to make one for myself for awhile and finally got around to doing it this week.

I got the owl fabric for my birthday from my mother and I love it! I made a few adjustments this time around by making the handle a little longer and boxing the bottom. I love the wide strap, I sling it across my back and it is so comfortable. I also made a flower out of felt and pinned it on just to add some detail.

IKEA is my friend

I love IKEA! The store is AMAZING! They have anything you could possibly need for your home at reasonable prices and fairly good quality. There is a store in Draper, Utah that I visit whenever I get a chance. The store is massive and the layout is unique to any other store I have been in. The top floor is the showroom where they have intricately set up various rooms with all the items tagged as to where you can find them and what they cost. Downstairs is where you can find all the items from lights to furniture to curtains and vases. Unfortuantely there isn't a store here in Colorado, yet, and I don't have a big enough car to drag all the items I want home with me. Someday... (I'm sure Josh is rolling his eyes).

Anyway, I made my trek through Ikea with my list while I was in Utah and came home with some new items for my apartment that I am excited about.


My creative spurt that resulted in curtains for the boys room made me want curtains of my own in the master bedroom. I found some really cute simple ones at ikea for $15 a pair. I was going cheap and easy so I simply used upholstry tacks to pin the curtains up (an technique used in the Nesting Place's window mistreatments). What do you think?










Our apartment also has the lovely oddity of not having any over head lights in either of the bedrooms. There is one plug that is wired to a light switch and we have been using an up light in the boys room to provide light at night. The poor light has been through the wringer and no longer was standing on it's own (I actually had it tied to the foot of Elijah's bed to make it stand). I did a little surfing on Ikea's website and found some overhead lights that you plug into the wall and hang from the ceiling. Perfect! I managed to get one home in my suitcase and Josh's dad spent a couple hours poking holes in the ceiling looking for a stud to hang it from. Thank you Allan! I am very happy with the result!

I also got a set of black sheer curtains that I thought might work with my floral ones in my room but decided against using them together. I have temporarlly put them on either side of my vertical blinds in the living room. I'm still deciding if I like them. What do you think? The one down side is that the door opens on the right, which is already a tight squeeze with the couch position, I'm not sure how the curtain will complicate it.

One more plug for Ikea... I love their cheese grater. I hate the metal box graters but Ikea has a tub one, that they are currently selling in red and black, that makes grating cheese a breeze and it even seconds as a storage container for excess.

When planning a trip to Ikea, especially when it envolves long distance driving, plan ahead by browsing online. You can even check stock in specific stores around the world. This makes it easy to measure items or areas and compare them online.

Whirl Wind Project: Completed

Well, I got bit by a whirl wind project this past week. We actually I guess it was two.

The first one was to crochet a shrug for my good friend Christina to wear with a formal gown to a banquet. I used a free pattern by Moda-Dea called Sassy Stripes. We liked the design but not the yarn so I went to the ever resourceful Hobby Lobby to search out a black yarn in the same weight as called for in the pattern. I ended up using the Baby Bee Yarn Light Licorice which is a super soft baby yarn in a charcoal gray color. I am very happy with the way it turned out and I'm on edge to see pictures of how it looked with Christina's gown. I was pleasantly surprised at how well it came together. The weight was nice and it actually seemed a cute way to cover up a sleeveless formal gown.

Anyway, this post was originally to show off my newly made curtians, this weeks project #2. My boys have been getting up increasingly earlier with the sun, much to my dismay (I am not a morning person and poor Josh is still getting up at 4:30 to leave for work so I'm on my own with the boys in the morning). I was in Walmart and happened to notice that they had bolts of denium for $2 a yard that got my wheels turning. Eventually I made my way back and bought 3 yards of it with the scheme to make new curtains for the boys room our of it. Well, a few hours later (not consecutive hours mind you) and Wahla!!! We have new curtains that make the room practically dark even at midday! In all they cost me around $10 with the addition of large plastic buttons. Well worth if for the hope of more sleep, especially come summer when the sun actually rises around 4AM (I miss Utah's mountains for blocking the insainly early surises).

I also, at the suggestion of a friend, went to the dollar store to check out some wall stickers they have. I snatched up the cute robots you see in the picture above and did an easy border pattern around the boys room. I love the look and it was super cheap and do able in an apartment. Now my gears are turning (ha ha gears) on what robot decor I can add to the room. I'm thinking art work, pillows, softies... I've been surfing around looking for various ideas. Here's a few I found. I'll keep you posted on what actually comes together.

• Cute Robot Pillow/Softies from Revoluzzza
• Gears painted on the wall of a darling nursery
• Robot Applique

My Own Custom Template: Made By ME!

So my project for the last few days has been to create and figure out how to do my own template. There are some great resources out there that have taught me how to manipulate, add to and change the html in a blog. You may have been checking in on my blog the last couple of days and seen something random for a minute or two... that was me testing the results. Anyway, if you are reading this you are seeing the final result --for now. I may play around with it a bit more. Do you like it? Is it readable? Improvements?

If you desire to have your own custom template it's not that difficult. You will need a photo editing program like Photoshop, digital scrapbooking papers and elements, and a photobucket.com account.

I have an old version of Photoshop Elements that did the job well. The Cutest Blog on the Block says you can also use less pricy programs like "Microsoft Publisher, Microsoft PowerPoint, or a very cool program you can download for free online from a site called Paint.net"

As for digital scrapbooking paper and elements there are many availible for download for FREE, which is what I did. There are also kits that you can buy for a minimal charge. Check out these sites for details. I personally got my paper from the Shabby Princess.

www.shabbyprincess.com
www.designerdigitals.com
www.digitaldesignessentials.com
www.digitalscrapbookplace.com
www.scrapgirls.com
www.scrapbookflair.com
www.sweetshoppedesigns.com
www.twopeasinabucket.com
www.littledreamerdesigns.com

After you have downloaded your papers and embelishments (and unzipped them) you are ready to use them in your photo editing program. Shabby Princess has great video tutorials on how to do this and Cutest Blog on the Block has some step by step suggestions. Cutest Blog on the Block also has suggestions as to page size and resolution.

Once you have your image the way you want your background to look save it as a .jpg or .gif. You are now ready to upload it to photobucket. You need a photobucket account so that you can utilize them to get the html code for your image that you will need to add into your blogger template html.

The exact place to put the html is explained in the steps on Cutest Blog on the Block. You must have your blogger template in "minima" for it to work.

Are you totally confussed yet?

I have also come across helpful information at the following sites as to how to manipulate the html code to change your blog format in addition to The Cutest Blog on the Block:
www.delightfuldots.com shows you how to change the colors and remove the header border. She also has some really cute premade templates for free.
http://sjhblogdesign.blogspot.com/ is very helpful with code changes

When I did my own template I wanted to change the column width of the text and sidebars as well as center my header to better fit my new background. I had to play around with the html in order to do this and found out that in order to shift things I need to change "wrapper" width. Originally the "outer-wrapper" was 660px. I changed it to 850px which made my posts and side bar more spaced out. I also changed the "main-wrapper" width to 550px. To shift the header more to the middle I changed the "header-wrapper" width to 780px. Don't be afraid to play around with the html. Use the preview to see the results of your changes without saving them but be sure to save the changes you like so you don't loose them.

One more thing I learned in all this experimenting. There is a way to have your text colors match your background that you made. In photoshop there is an eyedrop tool. If you go to choose a color but roll over your image the eyedrop tool shows up and you can pull a color off of your image. (Not sure how this option works in other programs) In that same color choice box a number will come up specific to that color. The number is called the color's "hex code". Copy and paste that number into a little box labeled "edit color hex code" in blogger where you can adjust the fonts and colors.

I'm also working on a post on how to create and share your own button but the html is proving hard to blog with. Hopefully I'll figure it out eventually.

Anyway, if you've gotten this far on this post you are probably as nuts as I am. I hope I haven't scared you off but intrigued your interest. If you have any questions I would love to help!

Have a happy day

Deck the Halls

I've also been busy transforming my home with my Christmas decorations. I LOVE Christmas lights all over my living room. Thanks to the boys I have them on all day and I love it! I also have nativity scenes all over of various sizes. I'm a big fan of the Little People nativity. My kids love playing with it. They have new additions to the set availible this year that I have been drooling over (hmm... after Christmas sales, maybe). I've also been busy making stuff for family and friends with more to be made, I hope I get it all done. Maybe I'll actually finish my Christmas stockings this year. Here are some pictures I took today using the candlelight mode on my camera and descriptions of some of my decorations. I love the way the camera mode captures the "mood" of the Christmas lights.

I have a collection of Christmas books that I get out every year and add to most every year. I wrap them up and the boys get to open a book (this year one each) every day and we read them before bedtime. I have them tucked under my large buffet with icicle lights amungst them. I also have my big ceramic nativity lanterns on either side with some lights tucked in them.

I have many of my nativities on a tall black shelf. The lower shelves have nativities for the children to play with including the Little People one. The Christmas plates are from a yearly series, one from the year I was born and one from the year Daniel was born.

We finally decorated our tree last night. It has been up for about a week without anthing on it but lights. The picture is what the result was with the kids doing a majority of the ornaments. I have yet to move any of them around, and I'm not sure I even will.

Christ is the reason for the season and my Christus statue is displayed near the front door. It is because He lives that we have reason to celebrate His birth.

I'm very fond of my Willow Tree nativity and it sits front and center on top of my buffet.

Tutorial Wish List

I have added a link list (at the bottom of the left column) where I have linked a bunch of the cool tutorials I have come across in my hours of aimless blog surfing. Many of the blogs I linked also have other great craft ideas. Be sure to take a peek if you are in the mood to try something new. I'm sure this will be an ongoing list so be sure to check it every so often.

Have a happy crafty Fall day!

Plotting and planning

My fingers and sewing machine are aching to make a quilt. I have been shopping around the internet looking at various patterns and fabrics trying to decide what I want to make a quilt for my bed. Did you know that Ebay and Etsy (if you don't know what etsy is, check it out! It is a place where crafters can sell their handmade wares. There are a lot of amazingly talented people that sell on etsy) are great places to find fabric in addition to the hundreds of other online fabric stores. They have a lot better selection than the local fabric stores and many of the fabrics come in designer packs of 40-50+ coordinating prints making it super easy to find fabrics that match.

I have determined that I really like the fabric by designer Amy Butler. The problem now is narrowing it down, there are just so many patterns and color combinations that I like. I found a quilt (for $550) on etsy that I really like and will likely use as my inspiration. It is the "Turning Twenty" quilt pattern which I am now trying to locate. I like it because it is big enough to show off the patterns of the fabric and still feel patchworkie. I guess the pattern uses 20 fat quarters but I think I want to make mine a bit bigger. I haven't bought anything yet, but probably will in the near future. I'm very excited!

Update: I was drooling again on the Amy Butler website and found a link to a whole bunch of her patterns that you can download for FREE. There are some quilt patterns, bags, scarves, etc... super "Uber" cute stuff.

Tutorial: Drawstring Gift Bag

For Enrichment this past week, an amazing seamstress in our ward taught a class on how to make drawstring gift bags. I wasn't able to make one myself that night buy I peeked in on what they were and made sure to get the instructions so I could make one at home. Today I made one and thought I would share the pattern with you. These bags are great for any gift, be it for under the tree or a gift for a friend or neighbor.

At a garage sale last week I found a pillowcase with holiday flamingos (of all things) on it. I bought it thinking I could use the fabric for something and it turned out to be just about perfect for these bags. I ended up getting two bags our of one pillowcase.

I was given measurements for two different sizes of bags. For a small bag you will need 2 pieces 11x14 and 7/8 yard ribbon, for a medium bag you will need two pieces 14x20 and 1 1/8 yard ribbon. The ribbon can be satin or grossgrain of either 3/8" or 5/8" width. There are various ways to get these measurements out of a cut of fabric depending on how many bags you want to get out of your yardage. If you plan it out you can cut a panel, fold it in half and use the fold as one of your seams, either side or bottom. If you are folding on the bottom for a medium bag you would need a piece 14X39. For a small bag with a bottom fold you will need a piece 11 x29. Basically you double the length with the fold and subtract an inch for seams.

Have I totally lost you? Then just cut two pieces to the right size and sew three seams.

Step 1: Sew 1/2" seams with right sides together. Measure down from the top 4" on one side seam and mark. Sew down to your mark, backstitch and cut off. Leave a 3/4" opening, resume sewing down the side being sure to backstitch when you start. Finish all the seams.

Step 2: Optional- to help keep the fraying down, zig zag the seams starting below the 3/4" opening and stitching all the seams. (I opted out)


Step 3: Measure down from the top 2 3/4". Fold and pin all around the bag. Press the fold. Turn under the raw edge of the folded section 3/8" and pin to bag. Stitch close to this folded edge.




Step 4: Stitch one inch away from top fold all around the bag. This will make the top ruffle and the casing for the ribbon. Turn bag right side out.







Step 5: Thread ribbon through the 3/4" opening using a safty pin attatched to one end. Make the ends equal in length and cut ribbon ends on a diagonal. Stitch ribbon on the fold or side seam to secure.






And there you have it. Fill it with something good and you are ready for the season of giving or for giving no matter what the season.

I know the pictures are small. If you click on them you will get a HUGE picture. Big or small use whichever you need. Good luck!

Oh and check out the pumpkin recipes from our enrichment recipe exchange. I've posted them on my recipe blog. The soup was amazing!

Scarecrow and my little Salesman

This morning the boys and I ran around doing our errands. We hit a garage sale which had the long sought after scarecrow shirt! Then it was off to Walgreens to do their deals (again) for the tooth brush and shampoo/conditioner. We ended our run with another trip to Albertsons to stock up on more yogurt and soup and their milk was even on sale too.

When we got home we ate some yogurt and then got to work putting our scarecrow together. It's a goofy looking thing but I'm satisfied with the way it turned out. He's out by our front door and I am betting on our stairwell providing enough protection from the elements because he's only made of newspaper and clothes. The boys had fun helping me ball up the newspaper and stuff it in the shirt and pants.

When I was putting the scarecrow together outside, Elijah grabbed his notebook (Blue's Clues and Sid the Science Kid supported idea) and decided to draw a picture of our scarecrow. He sat on the steps and got to work with Sam watching him closely. They both stopped to say "Cheese" when I pulled out the camera.

Sam didn't want to come in when we were all done with the scarecrow and drawing so I tried to pull the whole "Bye, I'm leaving" trick that usually results in a slight panic and the kid decides to follow. Didn't work this time for Sam though. He decided to play a game. The apartment next to us was quickly vacated by our last neighbors and the flier people have been around with various things. A bag of brochures was hanging on the door and Sam pulled it off and then knocked on our closed door. He then preceded to give a spiel of gibberish intermixed with "umm"s then he would quickly say "Bye" and go to the next door. He was doing this multiple times and I was lucky enough to get it on film. Man, if he was really selling something I would buy all he had! Such the cutest thing!