Baby Gifts

Now that my SILs shower is over I can post some of the things I've been working on. I made a diaper cake and had a basket of homemade goodies. But I was in such a rush to get these gifts to the host's house that I forgot to take pictures of everything. But here are a few.


This one is my fav :)

I saw this corny applique at JoAnns and I debated using it but DH convinced me. The other side of the shirt says something about "Reuse, Recycle...." I don't remember exactly, and the back says "Be Green." Well, the baby's last name is Green and his mama is into "being green" so DH thought it would be hilarious.

This is Make It-Love It's pattern for a nursing cover with one little add-on:

On the corners I added some minky fabric. I liked having a little pocket there for a nursing shield, and having something absorbant since, lets face it, you have to dry off after feeding the little one.

I made some Wee Wee Wigwam's and Binky clips, among other things. We're so excited to welcome our little unnamed nephew into the family next month!

Forgetful me

I recently got my car door fixed. Hallelujah! And while cleaning it out I found several things I forgot were in there. I'm sure when I put things there I thought I'd remember where I left them, but that doesn't work out so well.

So I know it's corny to put vinyl lettering in the car, but if I didn't I'd forget what's in there.

You have no idea how happy I am to have this:

A back door that opens!

Word to the wise, if a can of soda explodes in your can and the sticky sugar somehow makes the weather stripping come out of place, fix it before the weather stripping gets caught in the latch and you can't open your back door:) It's not fun to pay $96/hr. for a mechanic to prise your door open.

When crafts go wrong....

So I've been crafting a ton of baby things lately for my little nephew-to-be but I can't post any of it for fear his mommy will see:) But one craft went seriously wrong and they're going to be trashed.
I'm really bummed these didn't work out. I was really, really excited about them. I attempted, and failed, to make closet dividers for my little un-named nephew (I'm shaking my fist at his parents for keeping his name a secret. It's funner to personalize baby gifts....just sayin)

I don't remember where I found this idea but when I saw it I wished so bad that I had them when DD was born. She got so many clothes in a wide range of sizes that sometimes I didn't find an outfit until she had grown out of it.

I found the wood door hangers at hobby lobby and used DH's dremel to cut one side so they'd hook over the rod. Then I mod podged on paper. Here's where I messed up. I wasn't too worried about cutting the paper exactly to size because I thought that when I went back over the edges with a sanding bit on the dremel, it would sand off the extra paper. It didn't. Then I tried to exacto knife off the excess, but it tore a lot. So I thought I'd ink the edges but the ink wasn't dark enough so I used paint. By then I was so frustrated that I wasn't as careful as I should have been. In the end, they looked like crap and I refuse to give them to my sister-in-law, but here they are:
It's okay. I've got many, many other things to give the little guy and his mama. But it's always a bummer when a craft doesn't work out.

Family Growth Chart

I've had a growth chart in my mind for a while and yesterday I finally made one. I had intended to do one just for DD but decided instead to make one for the entire family. Mickey will always be a family favorite, even if DD doesn't maintain her obsession so I figured it was pretty safe.

It was easy enough to do, just a little time consuming. After completing it a light bulb went off and I realized an easier way. Next time I guess.

DH asks me almost weekly, "did she get taller overnight?" Now we can check. At 30 months and 8 days old she is just short of 3 feet tall. Don't ask me where she got the height.

Living Room Makeover....Phase 1.2

I wanted to work on the living room today but DH was enjoying his first day off on about 3 weeks, so I decided to be a nice wifey and wait for another day to nag him for help. But I did complete a quick little project that made a world of difference.

We have been staring at these 10 square feet of hideous green tile for a year and a half.
After browsing Home Depot and seeing the great options they had for laminate tile, we decided to go with that.
Before :

10 minutes and 10 dollars later:
Couldn't have been easier but what a difference.

Bridal Shower Chocolate Chip Cookies

I had these cookies last week and my sister-in-law's bridal shower, hence the name (and I can never remember the name of the lady who made them:))
Anyway, I think they're quite good.

1/2 cup shortening

1.2 cup butter

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

2 1/4 cup flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Cream shortening, butter, egg, vanilla and sugars.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt.

Slowly add flour to creamed mixture.

Add chocolate chips.

***Note: dough will be crumbly

Drop onto parchment lined cookie sheet using a Tbsp. measure.

Bake for 11-13 minutes at 350°.

Transfer to cooling rack.

10 Minute Table Runner & Cake plate

I wanted to add a little Spring to the kitchen so I whipped this table runner up in literally 10 minutes, maybe less. Possibly the easiest thing in the world to sew. If you want a tutorial, let me know.

Also, I found this awesome plate at DI for $1 so I made it into a cake stand using an upside down sundae dish and some gorilla glue. Pretty self explanatory.

My kitchen feels spring-y. Mission accomplished.