Finishing Touches

Again, Lakey..... please don't read. :)
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I found some velcro amongst my sewing notions (organizing the craft part of the guest room was totally worth it! Maybe that's why I didn't buy the velcro at Joann's... maybe I vaguely remembered that I should have some left over from the last casserole tote I made? Hmmm, regardless, I found some!), so I got to finish the paci clip and dipes & wipes holder after lunch.

Here is the paci clip finished. :) You can use any kind of ribbon, apparently, but fusible webbing is recommended to reinforce satin ribbon. I used grosgrain, which is supposed to be okay by itself. But I wanted to spice it up, so I added some fabric to the top for decoration. It really couldn't be an easier project. I'm very glad to find out just how easy it is!

I added the velcro to the other end, so it can now be looped and attached through a paci handle. It's ready to go!

I also added the velcro, ribbon, and a few diapers to the dipes & wipes holder. :) Hooray!

A tip Joy taught me: You can use heat to seal off the ends of ribbon so they don't fray. I use an aim and flame. Just barely pass the end of the ribbon through the flame, and you'll see it melt a smidge. That seals it up so it won't fray! It's great!

And lastly, I must say I'm very excited I went through my last bag of scraps, because I found some perfect green minky for the soft cube/taggie blanket. Hooray! Those projects might have to wait til after the baby shower, though, because I am teaching this week and we're hosting a pot luck for our Bible study tonight. The great news about teaching this week, other than getting to meet and know my students for next year (they're all incoming 3rd grade magnet students) is that my classroom is AIR CONDITIONED!! You see, our a/c is dying. We were on the books for an overhaul July 15, but our wonderful contractors moved us up to this Thursday! But no more burning up all day around the house... I get to go enjoy the 74 degrees my classroom is locked in at. I can hardly wait! :) And we still have until September for baby Isabella arrives, so I'll have time to make the soft cube/taggie blanket in July or August if I can't finish them this week. :)

P.S. If you haven't read the post below this, check it out for the other baby shower gifts I've been working on for Matt's sister. :)

Baby Shower #2

Lakey, if you read this blog..... don't read this entry! :) You'll see it all next week at your shower, anyway. :).
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Okay, for everyone else.... :) Today I did some sewing while Matt helped a coworker replace the timing belt on my car. They ran into some trouble with a bolt that would not come off, so I ended up with lots of extra time to sew. The good news is, I sewed a lot AND they did finish working on the car. :)

First of all, JoAnn's was finishing their Firefly sale with lots of fabric 40-60% off. Here's what I stocked up on (with gift cards even!)...





The purple terry you can barely see on the left might become a hooded towel, the bee fabric was $1/yard and will turn into something for a certain grandmother :), the sweet summer beverages was 60% off and TOO CUTE to pass up, the ladybugs are to make something for the baby shower, and so it the green flannel next to it.


Here you see the green flannel again, along with some green stripe for the same baby shower gift (a soft cube and/or taggie blanket), and the last is a springy Easter fabric I plan to make at least an oven mitt out of. Again, everything was one sale. :)

This last pairing is for Lakey's (Matt's sister) nursing cover.


Here's the finished product I sewed when I got home.

A close up showing the pocket and terry corner



I also decided to try a paci clip... SO SO easy! It will definitely become a baby shower gift staple now. :) I just need to get the velcro tomorrow that I neglected to check out with at JoAnn's.




I tried a dipes and wipes "case" for the first time, too. I also need velcro for the flap, and then I plan on a sweet white grosgrain bow to cover where the stitching for the velcro will show on the top of the flap. :)








I tried a bib too, but it's bunched in one part, and I think it came out awfully small even though I used a pattern from online. So, I may wait on that.

Lastly, I hope to make a soft cube or two and/or a taggie blanket with the ladybug and green fabrics above (the nursey is ladybugs) ....Matt really wants me to make a taggie blanket; he thinks they're cool. :)

So, there you have my day! We were both quite productive. :)

Father's Day Cards

I stamped a few cards for our dads for Father's Day. Matt thought they were still a bit girly, but I picked masculine colors and they're not too froo-froo. After I made the cards, I cleaned out the guest room (late spring cleaning) and found some of my more masculine stamp sets. They are staying in the guest room--they have not been relegated to the garage or closet like some of my more seasonal stamps--so I will have easy access to them in the future. But without further ado, here are the cards I made...

Dad G. on the left and Dad K. on the right (inside it says "You light up my life.")

I picked the toaster stamp for my dad, because one of our silly nicknames for him growing up was Pop and Pop-a-lop. :) I used SU! stamps, I think the ink was close to cocoa (or was it chocolate chip?), and I used a brown sharpie to add little embellishments. I also sponged some brown around the beige layering piece of my dad's card and around the actual card base of my father-in-law's card.

Nothing too fancy, but it was the first time I have stamped since Jamie's baby shower invitations. And THAT was the first time in a long time. I love that summer gives me more time to stamp! :) Hopefully I'll have more to share soon. But for now, I need to run to JoAnn's get some fabric to sew a gift for my sister-in-law. Baby Isabella is due in September, and her shower is next week when we go visit Matt's family (and then my family). We can't wait! :)

Hubby Time

Hubs' birthday is quickly approaching, so I thought it was an appropriate time to respond to E tagging me about my knight in shining armor. :)

1. What is his name? Matt
2. Who eats more? I can out eat him at chips and salsa hands down :)
3. Who said I love you first? He said it a couple times before I was sure enough he wasn't going anywhere and that I wanted to marry him to say it back
4. Who is taller? I am (eek!)
5. Who is smarter? We both have our areas of strength... I love how they balance each other :)
6. Who is more sensitive? I am (but that's not to say he's insensitive)
7. Who does the laundry? I do
8. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? He does
9. Who pays the bills? He's the primary breadwinner, I mail out the checks
10. Who cooks more? I do
11. What meals do you cook together? When he grills, I'll often contribute a side dish. :)
12. Who is more stubborn? Ooooo, we're pretty evenly matched there. hehe
13. Who is the first to admit they're wrong? Honestly, probably Matt. He is a humble, loving man. :)
15. Who has more siblings? Becca
16. Who wears the pants in the relationship? Matt, but he asks how I like them before he puts them on. ;)
17. What do you like to do together? Anything if we're together! We really enjoying working on things around the house together, taking Samantha for walks, and going on road trips to visit the fam.
18. Who eats more sweets? Matt
19. Guilty pleasures? video games
20. How did you meet? We met at church (that's the very short version... the slightly longer version is that I liked him for two years but thought he didn't really know I was alive. Then God, with maybe a little help from my sister-in-law [thanks, Joy!] got the ball rolling).
21. Who asked who out first? Ahem. I still tease him about this. He didn't actually ask me out at first, he suggested we do lunch. Later though, he formally asked me and my father to pursue me. :)
22. Who kissed who first? He kissed me (my first ever)
23. Who proposed? Matt
24. His best features? His tender heart
25. What is his greatest quality? He loves God, is incredibly hard-working (not to mention good-looking), gentle and strong at the same time, and puts others first. I couldn't ask for more!

Upgrade!

I am VERY excitedly looking forward to a big change next month. We have been working and saving towards getting me an embroidery machine this fall. Thanks to several circumstances, we're going to accomplish that a little early! In fact, by this time next month I should have my new machine!

I am going from this sewing machine, which Kim so kindly and generously gave me and has served me very well

to this!

Husqvarna Viking is updating their own line of machines which creates the opportunity for people such as myself to take advantage of special deals on the "old" machines! :)

With the new machine, I'll still be able to do all my regular sewing, but now I'll have the additional option of embroidering! It takes memory sticks that allow you to take files you have downloaded/bought/manipulated on your computer and have the machine sew them. The Husqvarna Viking software we'll be purchasing for the computer lets you use ANY font that's on your computer to embroider!! :) But it doesn't just do letters and numbers, it also does all sorts of designs, and you can always find new ones--even on places like eBay! I can't wait to get started with it! :)

Getting it a little earlier than expected also lets me take advantage of 2 other circumstances. #1 I'll still be on summer vacation, so I can get the hang of it before I go back to school. And #2 I have a new niece due in September, so hopefully I'll be able to make some things for Isabella before she arrives. :)

Hooray for early surprises!

Cooking Links

I thought I would link to some of the recipes I used for the baby shower, along with a great crock pot website I was introduced to today. :)

First of all... the shower goodies. :)

1. Egg and Cheese casserole from The Fix It and Forget It cookbook (pg. 22)
This cookbook is full of yummy, easy recipes you can toss in the crockpot and forget about until dinner time. It's wonderful, especially during hot, Floridian summers. :) There is a whole series of Fix It and Forget It cookbooks, including one with 5 ingredients or less for each recipe, one focused on "light" cooking, and even one for diabetics. Matt and Chris (a friend who helped us finish up some left-overs after church Sunday) both really liked this too. So it's even a good "man food." :) I tripled the recipe, and it came out just fine. :)

2. Spiral Apple Dumplings, Better Homes & Gardens website

This is the recipe I couldn't get quite right, but it still tasted wonderful! Something with the dough wasn't quite right. I'm not sure what went wrong. But, I just dumped it all into a 9x13 and baked it without worrying about the spirals. :) It is still sooooo good, and I think it would be delicious heated and on top of some vanilla ice cream, too! :)

3. Coffee cake, Krusteaz box :)

You can see the box in the picture above. Easy as can be, and very tasty. This picture is from a recipe online to turn it into a pumpkin coffee cake... something interesting to try next time! :)

4. Party Punch XI, Allrecipes.com

This punch is DELISH! Just don't tell anyone how much sugar you put in it. :) It's really easy, though you definitely want to prepare it the day before to allow it to freeze. You could also easily cut the recipe in half or in thirds. I made the full thing, and it filled up three gallon size ziploc bags (which I used for the freezing step). Even then, they did not freeze completely overnight. That actually turned out to be a good thing, because the comments for the recipe suggest that it can be time consuming to defrost it and get it to the right slushiness if it's frozen solid. Several people commented on how much they liked it, and Matt would probably take it intravenously if that were possible. :) Two thumbs up from us!

I also some some mixed fruit and mini blueberry muffins (fat free Krusteaz box... I added some extra vanilla extra for flavoring), but you don't need recipes for those. :)

Lastly, check out this Year of Crockpotting blog! I can't wait to check it out more and try some of the recipes!

Bon appetite!

Baby Shower Pictures

Here are some pictures from the shower. :)


cake, obviously :)

An adorable dress from Target that makes a person who doesn't even have children, much less a girl, want to go out and buy one to stash it.... you know, just in case.

The spread before I added all the food. First there was a crockpot egg and cheese casserole, then an apple dumpling bake, coffee cake, mini blueberry muffins, and fresh fruit. In the center 3 tiered platter, I made craisin scones and had 2 types of bagels, along with various cream cheese, honey butter, and preserves.

And the entry way, greeting the mother to be! :)

Cake Topper Redux

I did repaint the yellow places on the giraffe, and I think it looks SO much better. The softer, paler yellow was just the ticket. :)

I have (mostly) assembled the elephant and giraffe. I say mostly because the giraffe's other ear and mane are cooling and hardening as we speak. Then I'll paint and glue them on. They're almost done! Here's a picture of their current status.

The giraffe doesn't stand up perfectly straight, but close enough... and he looks even better from a little higher vantage point. :)

Here is the lamp again for reference.

The backdrop for the cake toppers is a GORGEOUS bouquet of a dozen pink roses from one of my students! Today was our last day for students (teachers have 2 days of inservice)--what a thoughtful and beautiful gift. And are they not PERFECT to have in the foyer for the baby shower on Saturday?!? :)

More Shower Preparations

So you know I'm trying to make Fimo/Sculpey cake toppers to match Baby O's nursery decor. I'm not *sure* about this shade of yellow, and I may repaint the yellow spots a more pastel tone of yellow, but tonight I got to work on painting the various pieces.

I'm not so tidy when I paint. :)