Half therapy, half practicality

I realized something about myself yesterday.  I always have a million things going on, it’s just the nature of my life right now and that won’t change.  There is always going to be something that needs to be done.  But if I don’t have a fun little project or two to squeeze in on the side, I get a little depressed.  It doesn’t really matter the craft — making pretty things, taking photos, sewing ridiculously frivolous girl clothes — they’re all therapeutic for me.

So, all that to say, here’s my latest quickie project. Arianna is a spitter, she spits up after almost every feeding. None of my other kids were like that. (And no, I’m not worried about her weight because of it, she’s quite round.) We fly through bibs and burp cloths for her. (And shirts for me, ew.)

Dolly lent me a few of her tiny-baby bibs, one or two of which were made by her sister-in-law. I had to get fabric for something else yesterday so I picked up a few scraps to make a few more bibs. I just laid Dolly’s out on the fabric and cut around it, adding in a 1/4″ for seams. Easy, easy, easy. Cute, cute, cute.

And we’re already using them. (Ew.)

The back is terry cloth so they’re nice and thick. My favorite is the gray/black/multi one in the middle.

DPP Day 19: Her Scarf

I finished it last night. Just in time, too. BRRR.

Still posting with the December Photo Project.

DPP Day 11: Warm & Bright

Two years ago I made Madeline a little scarf for the winter (when we lived up north and it was cold).  She’s been wearing it a lot recently and I decided I needed to make one for Adelaide.  I thought this bright multi-colored yarn would be fun for her dark pink corduroy coat.

That photo was right before I ripped the whole thing out and started over, making it a bit narrower.  I also didn’t like how the colors were lining up so uniformly.  It looks much better this time.  I’ll post another photo when it’s finished.

Posted in conjunction with the December Photo Project.

Snags

It’s always something! Andy and my dad were up the majority of the night trying to get the tub and shower walls in. They ended up having to rip out all the dry-wall under the window for more space and then also the window sill and trim. But the good news is the tub and bath walls are in place and secured to the studs.

Bad news is there have been some plumbing snags. So we’re working on that. (And by ‘we’ I totally mean ‘them.’) The toilet is back in, which is, you know, convenient.

Pray for us today! My folks were supposed to already have left but have bumped their trip back to tomorrow. And we really need a bathroom.

Where We Are – DPP day 1

So I promise not to post pictures of my bathroom every day of the December Photo Project. But for today, it’s where I am.

Oh, and the new tub, star of the show. (Which my dad is currently trying to get in place. He just ripped out the sheet-rock below the window to get enough room.)

Also, I took a shower at my neighbor’s this morning. I just felt the need to tell you that. (A commenter on yesterday’s post asked if we have another bathroom. We do not.)

Two Men & A Tub

Our house was built in 1950. This project desperately needed to be done.

That would be our 300+ pound cast iron tub.

Micah took it to a scrap metal place and got $18 + change for it.  ($5 per 100 lbs.)  Lunch money.

Here is the current state of affairs:

That used to be my bathtub!  You can see the hole in the floor where my mom accidentally fell through the rot.  (She’s totally fine, don’t worry…she was just completely taken by surprise.)

New bathroom coming tomorrow!

(And if my hair looks a little greasy, now you know why.)

Change o’ plans

We started to paint the bathroom yesterday, and stopped. I was scraping off some of the peeling paint and dry-wall by the tub and the next thing I know, I had a huge hole where the water (my kids splash a LOT) had basically rotted out that part of the dry-wall.

And then later my dad and brother poked at it some more. Now we have a hole in the wall down to the stud. So we’re going to be doing more demolition and replacing that part of the wall, possibly the whole tub/shower, the sub-floor under/by the tub and the linoleum. A little more than we signed up for in this painting project.

But it needs to be done. There are so many places water can get behind the walls and under the floor. (Which is, you know, NOT GOOD.)

Needless to say, we won’t be painting this week.

(But we WILL be eating a whole lot of turkey. Thank you and amen.)

One more

Okay, so she still doesn’t need twenty of them, but one or two more can’t hurt, right?

(Excuse the jammie bottoms peeking out.)

But this time, one for Madeline, too:

And surprise, surprise, she chose pink.

And something for the boy

(No. Not all I do is sew.)

(And also? I don’t know how to do anything technical or professional. I don’t use patterns. I just know how to do an elastic waistband and straight lines and hem stuff.)

I’ve been a little disappointed with the fall selection of boys’ pajamas. Drew’s way beyond the beloved toddler jammies, so I decided to at least make him some pajama pants he can wear with t-shirts.

This project takes, literally, like 30 minutes. And I just have to say, the boyish flannel selection at Hobby Lobby is a little, um, lacking.

I basically just laid another (store-bought) pair down on the fabric and cut around one of the legs (pull elastic waistband taught to get the real layout), adding in a little bit for seams.

I also left as much fabric as I could folded into the hems so I can take them out as he grows taller.

(Which will be what, next week?)

Bubbles!

Skirts, I mean.

(I got the idea here.)

I had no idea if this project would be successful and it was a total whim. I didn’t even have a pattern, just a vague idea in my head. I couldn’t even find a good online tutorial.  That said, I totally astonished myself.

Meet the Bubble Skirts, seen live this fall:

There are two common ways to make a poofy hem, I used a knit liner and gathering (versus an elastic casing):

The only real difficulty is coming to terms with the fact that she does not need twenty of them!

Where I’ve been

Whenever my mom is here we seem to attempt a massive organizing/cleaning overhaul of my house. With a new baby only two months away, as you can imagine, my mom arrived for this visit to one very long to-do list.

You know, minor things like steam-cleaning the rugs and vacuuming under the couch cushions, getting the dust bunnies out from under my bed… (And yes, we totally made Andy hold the mattresses back while we vacuumed and mopped under there. He’s a good sport.)

Yesterday we went through all the clothes currently in my dresser – I still had non-maternity summer stuff taking up real estate in there. What’s up with that? We also sorted through the girls’ dresser and closet and made some room in there for Girl 3.

Today before Andy left for work, he helped us carry down 8 huge storage bins of baby clothes from the attic. Whenever one of the kids changed sizes or we had a season change, I just threw things in bins and tossed them up there.

Which means that nothing was organized by sex or size. Yeah, I know, efficient.

So during naptime we dumped them all out, sifted out a garbage bag’s worth of Goodwill stuff, and put everything back according to size and gender. I now have a bin of preemie to 3 mo. that I can grab out when the time comes and have everything together, ready to go. (Well, it’ll need to be washed. But still.)

We also got all the girls’ fall clothes accessible. (Mostly Adelaide’s… I haven’t done much shopping ahead for Madeline.) I know I’ll thank myself when the cold weather hits and I don’t have to root around in the attic for something suitable for them to wear.

(I also should mention that you can’t fully stand up in our attic. So bending half-over, scooting things around, and shoving them to where Andy could carry them down, well, that was quite literally backbreaking work. I’ll be on the couch for the rest of the week, if you need me.)

Need some cleaning done? Invite my mom over, she’s no joke.

You knew this was coming, didn’t you?!

This is what happens when they cost $2 and 20 minutes to make and I already have matching ribbons and shoes:

I’ll be taking orders shortly. (Kidding…sort of.)

Ready for the 4th, Part II

I got my trusty models to try on their 4th of July outfits so you can see what they look like on. (Don’t worry, I paid them in chocolate chips.)

I had taken a couple of pictures of Adelaide in the morning (above) but then later remembered she had cute navy shoes that might work with the dress and threw it on her again last night after her bath:

And here’s Madeline’s finished version:

Now we just have to decide on something fun to do!

Ready for the 4th

I’ve been going back and forth about buying my girls cute 4th-of-July shirts or making them some sort of fun patriotic dresses.  And then in a lightbulb moment, I remembered about this idea and knew it would be perfect.  (Hat tip to Mer.)

Last night I finished Adelaide’s, The Bandanna Dress, 4th of July Version:

As promised by the tutorial, this was SO EASY. It took hardly any time at all, way less than an hour. And bandannas (which come in a bunch of different colors, by the way) are only $0.94 at Walmart.

(In case you’re wondering, I AM going to make Madeline’s as a shirt.)

Cherries, Part 2

Man, I love VBS.

Adelaide’s cherry outfit, made yesterday (don’t mind the microwave):

(Alternate title: The Cutest Thing Ever.)

I also added the pom-pom fringe to the hem of Madeline’s dress. We’re fancy like that.

Cherries!

On Sunday my neighbor came over and invited my kids to their church’s VBS program that runs this week. They’re in the same denomination as us and doing the same program my kids will get at my parents’ church when we visit them next month. (So maybe with the repetition, something will stick.)

Which meant I found myself last night with just Adelaide and we wasted no time in getting to the fabric store. I had finished up some projects before the in-laws were here last weekend, and uncovered my sewing machine in the process. Hello, old friend.

You may remember from last year the pillowcase dresses? Well, Madeline’s legs have been growing like weeds and hers are now too short for that style. (They fit Adelaide though, which is convenient.) So I set out to make her a couple of new, longer ones for this year.

First up, Cherries!

And yeah, I totally bribed her with a mini Kit-Kat for smiling in those pictures.

Up next, Adelaide’s. I’m going to do hers a little differently, stay tuned!

Handmade Tutu

A few weeks ago I had this brilliant idea that it’d be fun to make my girls a tutu. (To play in, obviously. We haven’t yet started the hectic craziness of lessons.)

I cut long strips of tulle and loop-tied them onto a piece of elastic that I sewed together in a loop, about the size of Madeline’s waist:

Last night I finished tacking a piece of ribbon trim over the elastic and tulle knots to make it look more finished. Turned out cute, huh?

A little bit of tutu whimsy:

Even Adelaide’s gotten in on the action:

Perhaps I should have made two.

New and Improved, with Paint

The week before my mom came, I called and asked if she’d be up for a little painting project while she was here. Her first response was “sure, the bathroom?” Um, no. (Although yes, it’s also in dire need of a fresh coat.)

I had something a little more fun in mind:

In the end, I did all of the painting myself. But she was great moral support.

AFTER:

Then I found these cute little pink knobs at Target:

I’d been wanting to paint the girls’ dresser white because sometime soon I’d like to move them to bunk beds (the kind with a full-sized bed on bottom).

Madeline’s toddler bed is nearly too short for her and the end of the mattress is constantly falling between the slats. (Obviously SO comfortable.) And not to mention that I can’t read to or snuggle with her on it since it’s about the size of Little Bear’s bed.

Anyway, those new (dream) beds would also be white. And I might as well get everything else prepared in the event that money begins to grow on trees.