Countdown to Valentine’s Day and a Doll Carrier

A while back I was trying to think of something I could make for the kids as new sibling gifts for when the baby is born.  They love pretend play things, things that mimic Mommy and Daddy, and when I saw this doll carrier from Little Things to Sew I fell in love.  I can totally picture Gwen putting one of her dolls or stuffed animals in a carrier, just like Mommy with the new baby.  I’m hoping it will help them feel included even when they won’t be able to do everything with their new sister.

I’ve had the sewing book checked out from the library for a while now and have renewed it once already; everything else took priority!  I read the instructions for putting the pattern together, and while it seemed simple enough, there were a bunch of little steps and I kept putting it off (and I had yet to brave the buttonhole).  Well, seeing as I can’t sleep these days, I decided to stay up and see how it came together.  I started with Josiah’s first – he probably won’t be as excited about it as Gwendolyn and I already knew what fabric I wanted to use, so his was the guinea pig version.

Whaddya’ think?  I used linen muslin for the front and a cute blue barnyard fabric for the lining and pocket.  The straps are a piece I’ve had laying around for a while; not sure what it is but it’s similar in feel to the muslin.  I have two big canisters of buttons that used to belong to my grandmothers and I picked through those and found four orangey ones to use on the straps.  The directions say to try it on your child to figure out velcro placement further down the straps, but I want this to be a surprise, so I looked around at what other people did and put a couple pieces at different increments; I can always add more later.  I just happened to have a tan velcro that matches the straps nicely.  I’m very pleased with how it came out but already have some ideas for how to simplify the process when making the next one.

Some tips: The pocket lining pattern piece from the book doesn’t make any sense; when I first used it to make the pocket it didn’t really go along with the directions and made for a tiny pocket.  Instead, I cut out two pieces of the same size using the main fabric pattern piece – much better!  Oh, and I used denim for the lining for a bit of extra boyishness.

I’m not horrible at sewing around corners, but since I’m nowhere near professional there’s some puckering here and there.  Ironing does help, but next time I’m going to trace the pattern onto the fabric and sew along the tracing lines, leaving enough room for sewing on the straps and turning the carrier right-side out.

I didn’t like the suggestion for basting stitches near the top; it makes the end product look messier and next time I’ll just leave the opening without the guideline stitching.  Making it less curved might make for easier edgestitching, too.

I did in fact get to use my buttonhole foot, and while it was easy enough, it seems like the needle skipped some stitches… and then it broke in the middle of it all!  Is there a neat way to cut out the actual buttonhole?  It seems messy and I’m afraid the stitches will eventually come out.  In any case, it’s good enough!  For Gwen’s I may just use pearl snaps in place of the velcro and/or buttons – like in this version of the same carrier - though the buttons definitely add charm.

There seemed to be some debate as to whether the velcro gets placed on the button-side of the straps or the reverse.  Looking at the picture in the book I can’t really tell, and some people said it goes on the same side as the buttons… but it seemed to hang more naturally doing the opposite.  Guess I’ll see when I put it on him!  One down, one to go…

*      *      *

I can’t believe it’s February already!  Since this is my due date month I’m telling myself “any day now.”  Josiah was born at 37 weeks and this weekend I’ll be at the same point.  So I wanted to have Valentine’s Day squared away just in case! I filled the kiddos mini mailboxes with jellybeans, clearance “ornaments” filled with scented bubble bath and name bracelets that I whipped up for them when I had the plastic beads out.  The kiddos will be at their grandmother’s for Valentine’s Day, but I already have the morning planned out with a paper heart trail leading the kiddos to the table where they can open their mailboxes and adopt my two Pretty Bit Popples, which I’ll have sitting on the table.  We’ve started doing the countdown to Valentine’s Day with Bible verses and acts of love for each day.

I’m always on the lookout for meaningful yet not-too-expensive gifts for Phil and went with one of The Dating Diva’s ideas: 14 Days of Love.  I’m not too crazy about how many of their ideas involve candy or dollar store crap, but I went with the idea and made it my own.  I rolled up each of the little sentiments, tied them with embroidery thread and put them in a little jar.  Each morning he has to find the one with the correct number (#1 for February 1st, #2 for February 2nd and so forth) then find the corresponding gift bag.  I just used all the bags I could find that had pink, red, purple or something similar, warning him that none of the Victoria’s Secret bags contain any actual Victoria’s Secret merchandise. *grin*

*For more ideas see my Valentine’s Day Pinterest board.

Next Week

Next week will probably be one of the busiest times of the year.  With two kiddos born the week of Thanksgiving there’s a lot to celebrate!  We’ll celebrate Gwen’s fifth birthday, Josiah’s third birthday two days later, Thanksgiving after that, and then have a family birthday party for the kiddos on the weekend. 

Thanksgiving will be at my parents’ house but the gals in my family will contribute. I’ll be making Anise Honey Wreath Loaves from the Williams-Sonoma Thanksgiving Entertaining cookbook, roasted root veggies from The Eat-Clean Diet for Family and Kids, and a version of this pumpkin pie:

Ginger-Pumpkin Meringue Pie – credit bhg.com

Every year I think of combining birthdays with the holiday, but if I do that other people may not be able to come since they’ll be with their own families.  As it is, they’ll share a birthday for a while.  Hey, as a twin I grew up sharing a birthday and I loved it! 

People keep asking me if I have special birthday plans, and aside from cake, ice cream and some gifts, I’m going really low-key this year.  I almost feel guilty because of it – I’m not buying matchy character cups, plates and napkins; I’m not going overboard with decorations; I’m not setting up an elaborate dessert table that seems to be all the rage. 

Last year we had a really fun train-themed party, but it all came together because we found my grandfather’s old train set while going through his things and we had just visited the Essex Steam Train over the summer and Phil made some wooden train station signs and I really wanted to make a train cake like my mother made when we were little.

We want the kids to have a special day with family but we also want to keep it simple.  I have so many cute party ideas stored away – just take a gander at my Pinterest boards! – but I’m only going with a few this year.  Here’s some of the inspiration I’m feeding from:

ruffled streamers – credit: danamadeit.com

2 cupcakes for a mini cake – credit: lefrufrublog.blogspot.com

pom pom cake banner – credit: etsy.com

mason jar candy decoration – credit: jacolynmurphy.blogspot.com

birthday wreath – credit: thesimplylivingblog.blogspot.com

Triple Lemon Blueberry Layer Cake – credit: sweetapolita.com

Homemade Martinelli’s – credit: onegoodthingbyjillee.com

I plan on making a lemon-raspberry version of the above cake, have a couple kinds of ice cream and some various snacks (chips, hummus, fresh fruit, etc.).  We have out-of-town family coming as well, so I’m trying to figure out how much to make!   

Josiah’s birthday gift is all wrapped, the Melissa & Doug Low Loader that I got last year and put away.  He actually found it a few months back and started unwrapping it – he’s such trouble – but I’m sure he’s forgotten about it by now.  Since it was already out of its packaging I wrapped each of the elements separately.

I still need to finish Gwen’s gift. I’ve sewed up most of the “mattresses” but haven’t done all twelve – arrrgh!  I made a little pea from wool roving and asked Phil to make a little wooden ladder so the princess can climb into her bed.  I’m so excited!  I hope she likes it. 

She’s so easy to buy for, it’s been hard to decide what to give her now and what to save for later.  We’re fond of Veggie Tales and I found a bargain copy of “Sweetpea Beauty“, which we checked out of the library at one point and really enjoyed (guess I’ll have to save “Tangled” for another time).  I also found a whole slew of books at a secondhand store over the Summer – a whole set of brand new Angelina Ballerina books, a favorite character of hers.  I gave her Angelina’s Halloween on Halloween morning along with her butterfly wings, plan to give her Angelina’s Christmas on Christmas and am saving Angelina’s Baby Sister for when the little one arrives in February – when to give her the rest??  I also found A Birthday for Frances - she was always a favorite of mine and Gwen has become fond of her as well. 

Looking forward to next week, not only the family celebrations and giving thanks for all of our blessings, but having my twin brother and sister-in-law stay with us.  I’ve been cleaning most of the morning and am worn out!  I’m feeling huuuuge at just over six month’s pregnant and am not quite sure how I’m going to last the winter.  

Wish me luck! 

Mommy Necklace

I love when my friends make wish lists – it makes it so much easier to shop for them, or at least get an idea of their current tastes and interests.  Every now and then I check and see what’s been added – sometimes I may actually have the desired item to pass on and other times I find it on sale. 

When I noticed that Nikki wanted a Mommy Necklace, I figured – I can make one of those!  Of course, it would figure that most of my stash includes glass beads, whereas the mommy necklaces are made of acrylic beads.  And unless you shop on Etsy or go to a specialty store, you’re hard-pressed to find acrylic beads that don’t look like they were made for kids’ crafts.  It was hard at first to narrow down all the delicious color combinations, but once I chose the beads I liked it wasn’t too hard to pick a theme. 

 

Now, finding the donut bead pendants was another story.  There were none to be had and I couldn’t find the color I wanted on Etsy… until I finally happened upon EcoBeads Tagua.  I fell in love with their Lime Green Tagua Rings but figured the color might be too bright and the holes too small.  The Chocolate Brown Tague Rounded Rings were another consideration (I love the rich color!) but I finally settled on the Blue Green Donuts since the color was perfect.

Since I picked out quite a few bead styles and had a couple on hand, it took a while working out a suitable pattern.  I love how it turned out and hope Nikki (and baby Liberty!) likes it.  

 

I may have extra to make another mommy necklace, maybe for my Etsy shop?
***EDIT: I ended up making two of these, so this one is for sale!

Father’s Day Gift Ideas

If you’re anything like me, you prefer to have your gifts wrapped and ready as far in advance as possible.  Or at least have some sort of clue as to what you’re looking for before the day arrives. *grin*

I like to keep a gift list with names of friends and family members, suggestions for each of them and where I might find them (online or otherwise) and what I already have put away in my gift cabinet.

Buying for men can be especially challenging, in my opinion.  The things they want are often expensive, too specific in that I would worry about getting the wrong item,  and most definitely boring (tools, ugh). 

So while I don’t have them figured out, here is a list of Father’s Day (or guy-friendly) gift ideas I’ve gradually compiled.

Grill Spatulas from patinastores.com

Tool Pen Set from karmakiss.net

Chalkboard Mug, a DIY from witandwhistle.com

Switchblade Pocket Comb on Amazon

Daddyland Coupon Book printable from family.go.com

Jar of Peanut M&Ms for nutty but sweet DAD {dead link}

A&Wesome Dad printables from nothingbutcountry.com

Men’s toiletry kit, a sewing tutorial from thecottagehome.blogspot.com

To The Greatest Day I Ever SAW card,
from thatartistwoman.blogspot.com

Cute idea for a DIY t-shirt or tie
credit: saecca.wordpress.com

Greatest Dad coloring diploma
from activityvillage.co.uk

This year I plan on using a couple of the above ideas in conjunction with some necessity gifts (when you need a $300 power tool around Father’s Day, it kind of becomes your Father’s Day gift).  Since I had a discount code, Grandpa will be getting a Paper Coterie album and I took advantage of the free shipping and 30% off code at Cardstore for Father’s Day cards.   

*See my Guy Gifts Pinterest board for more inspiration.

Preschool: Easter Week

The week of Easter was pretty relaxed since I didn’t pick anything overtly “educational.”  Along with Benjamin’s Box and our resurrection eggs, we based many of our activities on 2 Teaching Mommies’ 12 Days of Easter unit.  Since I forgot to actually start twelve days ahead of time, we had to double up on some of the days, which was fine because it gave us more things to do. 

Our Bible story was about Jesus’ death and resurrection – the whole reason we celebrate Easter!  I kept our Palm Sunday verse on the board from the previous week of preschool and added 1 John 3 :16 – This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.

We started each day with a page from Benjamin’s Box; there’s a story to go along with each of the twelve resurrection eggs.  We have this little wooden box that Phil made a number of years ago which has since become Benjamin’s treasure box, storing the contents from each of the eggs.  It really adds an element of wonder and excitement, physically holding the pieces that are represented in the resurrection story.   

 

The 12 Days of Easter unit has suggested activities to go along with the lessons, and we took advantage of some of these ideas.  For day one, we talked about Palm Sunday when Jesus rode on the donkey, I told them about the legend of the donkey’s cross and we colored a picture. 

When we talked about the thirty pieces of silver that Judas received for betraying Jesus for day two, I filled an empty muslin bag with 30 pennies and had Gwen count them. 

I tried to explain the concept of betrayal, doing things that aren’t nice to someone who is supposed to be your friend, but I’m not sure how much of it sank in.     

Inside the resurrection egg for day three is a little wooden cup that my parents brought back from Israel.  We talked about the last supper that Jesus had with disciples and how we celebrate communion, which symbolizes Jesus’ blood and body that was shed and broken for us.  We used the boy and girl printables from the unit; I put them in page protectors and had Gwen and Josiah think of naughty (I explained what “sin” is and how nobody is perfect) things they might do and draw them on the page - scowling, hitting, etc. 

 

They got pretty marked up!  Afterwards, I had them wipe them away, just like Jesus’ blood makes us clean when we ask for forgiveness.

We got to break out the bubbles for day four!  The kids enjoyed “blowing bubbles to heaven” to illustrate what happens to our prayers when we talk to God and ask for forgiveness. 

 

The happy part of Easter is talking about Jesus being raised from the dead, but you can’t skip the part where Jesus was whipped and beaten, a crown of thorns put on his head and nailed to a cross.  Day five reveals the whip that was used on Jesus’ back in the resurrection egg, and to illustrate we used white pieces of construction paper and drew lines for all the bad things we might do. 

 

We talked about how Jesus died to forgive all the bad things – called “sin” - so that we might live in heaven with Him one day. 

Gwendolyn agreed that the crown of thorns from day six must have really hurt.  We combined a couple craft ideas – playdough Easter mountain and a playdough crown of thorns, which the kids enjoyed putting together. 

 

 

There’s a small nail in the resurrection egg for day seven, but when Daddy showed Gwen a really long, thick nail that was more realistic to the type used for crucifixion, she got very quiet.  I like the idea from the unit for explaining how love held Jesus on the cross; he could have ended it whenever He wanted but He chose to stay and give His life for us.  I wrote “love” on a wooden heart and we each hammered a nail in. 

 

There’s a game die in the egg for day eight, symbolizing when the soldiers gambled for Jesus’ clothing.  Despite everything, Jesus forgave them.  We got our the white pieces of construction paper that had been marked up and painted over it with white paint to show how Jesus forgives us when we ask.

 

We didn’t have lesson-specific activities for the remaining unit days, but we continued to read the stories, including Bible Story Printable’s resurrection minibook and Happy Home Fairy’s Easter story cards.

We made a colorful mess with bits of tissue paper making stained glass crosses to hang in the window.  Note to self: use real contact paper next time, not removable (it doesn’t stick!).  They’re taped to the window, just underneath our crayon shaving hearts that are still up from Valentine’s Day.  In fact, I’m thinking crayon shaving crosses is a neat idea!  

The kiddos did a little Easter egg hunt coloring page…

…and since we didn’t do an official Easter egg hunt this year I decided to put snacks in the eggs and have the kiddos search for their Easter egg lunch.  It was a huge hit! 

 

 

Since it was such a beautiful day outside, we took advantage and went on a spring scavenger hunt using a printable from Nature Detectives.  Gwendolyn is demonstrating that soft pine needles are, indeed, “tickly.”

  

Since the weather has gotten nicer we’ve been spending a lot more time outdoors – including adding to and planting the gardens!  The kiddos are a huge help and I can only imagine what they’re learning from all of it.

 

Both Gwen and Josiah helped me in the kitchen making goodies.  It brings back memories of my mother teaching me to cook and bake at a young age, teaching me things like “clean up as you go” so there’s less work at the end, and get out all of your ingredients ahead of time.  They love to pour, so I let them use the measuring spoons and cups, telling them how much we’re adding of a particular ingredient.  

Lucky for me, Josiah loves to help with the cleanup (although he usually ends up making more of a mess in the process). 

 

Gwen helped me make birds nest cookies.

  

We’re not big on dyeing eggs, but we love deviled eggs so this year we tried Easter deviled eggs and colored the whites.  I let the kiddos pick the colors and help me dye the water.

You gotta have some jelly beans for Easter!  I had originally intended on having the kiddos help me make colors-of-faith jelly bean bracelets, but it was really hard to string them.  Instead they helped me separate them into colors and we put them into little baggies, attaching the cross printable that says the meaning of each color.

 

We handed these out to the cousins on Easter after a scavenger hunt the kiddos’ Meme planned for them.

 

We didn’t get any family pictures for Easter, but I did manage to get a few acceptable ones of Josiah sporting the skinny tie that I made for him with some of the tractor fabric leftover from his crayon roll.

In the kiddos’ Easter baskets:

  

How-to links: homemade bubbles & wands |  fabric eggs | crayon rolls | bunny bags    
Not pictured, in the treat bags: licorice nests | cross necklaces

For more ideas see my Easter Pinterest board.

Book Basket
Easter Mice!
A Year Full of Holidays
Happy Easter Little Critter
The Berenstain Bears and the Real Easter Eggs
The Colt and the King
FancyNancy’s Elegant Easter
DVD Winnie the Pooh – Springtime with Roo