Baby Burp Cloths

With my dabbling in the sewing world, I decided I wanted to try my hand a a baby gift.

We all know that most use a great deal of burp cloths in a baby’s lifetime, whether the baby is a spitter-upper or one who drools a lot.

One of my aerobics instructors just had baby numero cuatro…yes, that would be number 4. I so admire her and how she does everything she does.

I decided that she would be my first victim…I mean first recipient…LOL.

I bought a pack of Gerber cloth diapers, some fabric, jumbo Ric-Rac, and used ribbon I had on hand.

They were all pretty simple.

The first one I sewed on a piece of soft/bumpy hot pink material.

Once the material was sewed on, I added some jumbo black Ric-Rac on either side of the pink material.

I just loved this soft material and went with using it. Somehow in my excitement I forgot to take pictures while I was make the second one…Whoops.

Anyway, I made it like a pillow cover. I cut the material the same size as the cloth diaper. I sewed it right sides together, like making a pillow cover. I flipped it right-side out and sewed up the corner.

Then I added some ribbon and Ric-Rac.

Well, now I was on a roll and decided to do just one more.

This one was the most simple of them all. The hardest part was making sure the ribbon stayed on straight while sewing.

I pinned on ribbon on to help break the cloth into thirds.

They were finished.

To make them into a gift, I folded them up and wrapped them with a pretty ribbon. {Ribbon makes everything prettier, right?}

And there you have it…a cute little baby gift.

Congratulations, Christy! So, happy for you and your family.

Giveaway

Hey there y'all!

I have more to post later but I wanted to share this with you first...

Ginger over at Ginger Snap Crafts is hosting a giveaway for a fellow blogger, Carrie over at My Favorite Finds.

It's a great giveaway too....A $25 gift card to JoAnn's.

Not sure about you but I could TOTALLY use this.

So, if you're interested, head on over to Ginger Snap Crafts and see how you can enter too.

It's gonna be a lot of fun! You know you want to...everybody's doing it. :)

Happy Easter

“He Lives! He Lives! Christ Jesus lives today. He walks with me and talks with me along life’s narrow way. He Lives! He Lives! Salvation to impart. You ask me how I know He lives…He lives within my heart.”

Hands down, this has to be one of my favorite hymns to sing in church. It’s got such a wonderful tune, and the words speak such measures to me and my heart. I could walk around all day singing this song and it makes me feel happy.

Happy Easter to y’all.

I hope that you had a wonderful Easter and were able to spend time with those you love.

This year we did not have the pleasure to spend Easter with grandparents, uncles, aunts, or cousins, but we did have a wonderful day with just our little family of 4.

The morning started out early. The kids were up before 7:30 and they were ready to see what the Easter Bunny brought them.

The were pretty pleased with what they got. They each got a Chocolate bunny. Dallas got a cute maxi dress and Hunter got a new Phillies shirt {of course}.

Eric had to go help set up for church but before he left, we let the kids hunt for their eggs.

We headed to church early for breakfast before the service. It was fun congregating and munching on yummy breakfast foods. The service was as moving as it always is, and the music, just beautiful.

After church it was picture time.

I have to say it…I have the cutest kids ever – even with Snaggled Tooth Dallas . {I may be a little biased here.}

The rest of the day was spent just hanging out around the house. The weather was gorgeous and the kids played outside for a while. We watched the Master’s and the Phillies game, and I got caught up on laundry.

It was so nice to just relax and be together, just me and my little family.

Happy Easter everyone. I really hope y’all were able to enjoy a wonderful day and reflect on the wonderful gift that Jesus gave to us…His life for our sins.

It’s Master’s Time

I did not grow up in a house of golfers nor real golf fans. But, there’s something about this time of year that gets me a little excited…if you don’t know, it’s Master’s time.

What is the Master’s you ask??

Well, first of all let’s get you to crawl out from under that rock you’ve been living under…ha, just kidding.

The Master’s is one of if not the biggest golf tournament of the year. It takes place in Augusta, Georgia.

It is a beautiful place, probably one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen.

It’s known for their azaleas that bloom in every color possible from one point of the course to the other. The trees, flowers, and plants are perfectly groomed, and the grass is beautifully manicured and rolls through endless hills and valleys.

It’s simply breathtaking.

I’ve had the wonderful opportunity to visit the Master’s one year and it was a great experience. We went to a practice round a few years ago with a couple of friends. It’s just amazing being there among so many professional golfers.

{These were taken in 2007 my first – and only – trip to the Master’s. Man that seems like forever ago.}

But, I think the first time I ever really watched and began to appreciate the Master’s event was in 1997. I was a senior in high school. I remember the weekend very vividly. I was writing a research paper for my English class. It was very {as my kids like to say} bor-ing. As I was writing this paper I had the golf tournament on TV in the background. I’m not even sure why I had it on. It must have been because my boyfriend at the time and told me to watch it…who knows.

However, I remember that this Master’s was a very special one. There was a particular player who came out of no where and would not only win his first Master’s {as the youngest at the time} but also he would take the world by a storm with his golf game and become the best golfer in the world..for many years to come.

This player was Tiger Woods.

I so vividly remember sitting on my floor in my bedroom at the foot of my bed, books, and papers spread out around me, and this “kid” won the Master’s. It was thrilling.

Ever since that day I have a small special love for the Master’s: maybe it’s the memory of watching a once in a lifetime moment, maybe it was years later actually getting to walk the coarse, or maybe it’s the beautiful azaleas. Who knows what it is but this week I always get a little excited for golf.

I write all of this to say it’s officially Master’s time because…

the azaleas in my backyard are in full bloom.

Let the games begin people. Happy Master’s Week.

Computers...ugh! {and loose teeth}

Well, I had this great post all ready to add pictures, and for some reason I just can't do it tonight...either my computer or the Internet {or both} are not my friend.

So, I leave you with this thought...{or picture}

Last week I posted a lot about Hunter but didn't have much to say about my sweet Dallas. Well, let's change that.

Her two front teeth have been loose for a while now, especially the left one.

It's so loose it looks awful. It's the kind that it sticks almost straight out and over the right one...gross.

I'm not a pulling teeth type person, but I make her wiggle, twist, and pull every day. That sucker is hanging on for dear life.

Let's jump to Saturday.

I was painting and talking on the phone. Eric was running a few errands and the kids were playing.

I could hear what they were doing...playing a "hitting" game. They were giggling and laughing, but I knew it was only a matter of time before someone got hurt.

Just as I was standing from my painting to check on them, Hunter got a great shot and immediate crying from Dallas...

"Hunter, you broke it. You broke my tooth."

And the hysterics began.

As I was rounding the corner to help her, I couldn't help but think, "thank goodness, that tooth is gone."

Upon cleaning and further examining I realized it wasn't the super duper loose tooth, it was the one next to it that didn't seem too loose.

What?!

So now my sweet baby girl looks like she stepped right out of the show Swamp People.

Do you know the show?

Well if not picture this, she reminds me of the lightning bug on The Princess and The Frog.

Bless her little heart.

She still my sweet, beautiful little girl, but I'm not loving this look.

I'm not a big proponent of the "hitting" game, but we might have to have another session so Hunter can knock the other one out.

Just kidding, geez!

Laundry Room Reno: Part 2

Let’s see, where did we leave off last time? Oh yes, the cabinets were painted, and I loved them {still do}.

And you may notice that the walls are no longer red.

Like I said in part one, I’ve loved the red in the kitchen but it got old in the laundry room, real fast. Plus, I’m kind of getting over all the dark colors and ready to go for lighter, brighter.

I painted our playroom two shades of yellow a couple of years ago and love, love, love how it turned out. So, I decided I wanted to use the same colors in my laundry room, with a little bit of “flare” to it.

I also love the look of bead board and board and batten on walls. I love the wood look and how it’s clean, bright, and very cheery.

I didn’t think the bead board would be an easy installment in a laundry room, especially with me doing most of the work. Also, I thought cost wise, it might be a bit cheaper to install board and batten instead of sheets of bead board.

So, board and batten it is. I scoured some of my favorite blogs and found a couple of tutorials I used for “guidance”.

I did have to get my sweet husband’s help on this part of the project. And, I must say we had some friends who turned out to be our lifesavers with their miter saw…Thanks Gretchen and Josh.

We did hang the trim first before any of the paint went up…

Covering red, especially with a lighter color can be pretty tricky.

I applied one coat of a latex wall paint primer that I had left over from painting the laundry room. It works great.

After the primer dried, I applied the first, lighter color yellow at the from the top of the trim to the ceiling.

Was already loving it!

Once the two coats of the light yellow dried, I took some time with my level laser thingy and made one 14 inch horizontal 7 inches from the ceiling.

I then painted the darker yellow in the stripe…two coats of this one as well.

I let that dry a bit and then removed the tape.

Perfect! Exactly what I was wanting.

Once the paint was finished at the top, Eric and I worked together. I installed the bench on the “entry wall” as you walk in the door. Eric was measuring, cutting, and installing all the boards for the board and batten.

The bench was pretty simple to install. I bought a board at Home Depot and we got it cut to size. I also bought 8 L brackets and 4 wood brackets.

After painting it all white, I found the studs in the wall and attached the wood brackets to the wall with the L brackets. Then, I screwed the bench onto the wood brackets. There you have it…a bench.

While I was working on this, Eric was helping install the boards on the wall. It was pretty simple too…just some trim boards cut to size, and nailed in.

Of course we have to have our “helpers”. She’s making sure the bench works. ;o)

Once the board and batten was installed, I painted the lower section a semi-gloss pure white that I had made to match the cabinets. It is so bright and airy.

All of this from the start of the cabinets to the finish of the paint took a little over two weeks. Mainly because with two young kids there's not a lot of time to devote on a project. I had to paint at night after they went to bed and on the weekends {thanks to my sweet hubs, again, for helping with them as well}. The walls were finished and the bench was installed. We then wanted to replace the floor...But,

We were kind of at a stand still for a little bit to finish that. However, I'm thrilled to tell you that that was finally done last week.

This was the old floor…white, 1990’s vinyl. I bought the rug at TJ Maxx for $30.00 to help make it look a little nicer.

We ended up going with more vinyl, but these days they make it so much nicer. It looks like tile, but it’s not so cold and hard.

So much nicer, huh???

And lastly, I painted the back door. I was tired of it white…just white. So, I spruced it up a bit.

Well, now that all the hard work is complete, the fun can begin…decorating.

Part 3 will be all about that….from the bench cover I made, to the other accessories I came across.

But for now, thank you so much for stopping by. I hope this inspires you to start a new project…Happy Monday!

Thursday’s Thoughts

How in the world was it Monday and all of a sudden it’s Thursday?

What a week! I guess it’s time for a Thursday’s Thoughts…

We started the week in the doctor’s office with Hunter. Poor thing, he suffers from allergies – like most of us do. The pollen has been just awful here {as everywhere else as well, I’m sure}. And, bless his heart he comes from a long line, on both sides, of allergy problems…so he’s pretty much doomed.

Anyway, since last Friday {to today} he’s had oh 7 or 8 nose bleeds. And most of them are in the middle of the night I might add.

He had 3 last Friday alone. He woke up Saturday and his face was so swollen. We made it through the weekend, well mostly. He had a nose bleed in the middle of the night Sunday night and I decided it was time to talk to the doctor.

Side note: if you don’t know me…there are two things I don’t do well with: loose teeth and nosebleeds.

We went to the doctor on Monday and little Mr. Man is now taking…ready for it…Singulair once a day until June 1, Zyrtec twice a day until the middle of April, and he needs an ointment put in his nose three times a day for a week because he’s developed infantigo in his nose and that’s causing the bleeding.

I mean don’t get me wrong, things could be a lot worse, but I just feel so bad that his poor little face is swollen every day. He sneezes and has a runny nose all the time, and he’s just a stuffy mess. It just breaks my heart. But, he’s a trooper and it doesn’t seem to phase him too much.

Speaking of pollen…can y’all believe the pollen out there. I mean every year is bad, but this year in particular reminds me of a couple of years ago. You drive down the street and you’re driving in a thinck green cloud. It’s everywhere! When I go outside I feel all itchy all over. It’s just gross. We got some rain last weekend, but it didn’t seem to help too much. Hopefully it will quit blooming soon, so we’ll all feel kind of normal. Bad thing is when the pollen quits blooming the humidity seems to start spiking…and I am not ready for humidity…at all.

Tuesday, we finally had our new flooring laid in the laundry room. We put in new vinyl. I know it’s not tile or anything super expensive, but to be honest, it’s a laundry room. It looks a heck of a lot better than the 1990’s white, shiny, nasty vinyl that was in there. It looks like tile but not so cold. I love how it turned out.

I’m hoping to get to do Part 2 of my laundry room reno tomorrow. Cross your fingers.

Wednesday, Hunter had his Easter party at his preschool. Another mom {and also friend} and I planned a game, Easter egg hunt, and snack for the kids. It was a lot of fun.

As a kid I remember looking at the funny pages in the paper with my grandfather. We would find the Family Circle page. They would have two pictures side-by-side. It was up to us to figure out what was missing or wrong with the pictures.

I always had fun doing that, so let’s play a little game of “What’s Missing”.

Take a look at the pictures and see if you can see what’s missing.

Can you find it???

Let’s see if this helps…

Yes, this would be the pile of rubble that’s left of my brand new “Happy Spring” plate I put out this year.

Well, I guess that’s what I get when I don’t pay attention to my son who’s pretending to be Chase Utley playing baseball in the house.

Yes, the bat and ball are soft and squishy, but the swing and power that this little fellow has is unreal…and my poor plate saw the wrath of him.

Well, looks like I’ll be hitting After Easter Sales to try and replace my cute little plate.

Last thought of the day…

Not only does my little guy love pirates and baseball…he LOVES to hear himself talk.

He talks all.day.long.

I kid you not. I think he just loves to hear himself. He sings songs, makes up songs, asks a million and one questions, and literally wears me out mentally every day. But, I’ll take it. I know it drives me a bit batty when I’m trying to read in carpool or when I get really hungry and grumpy, but I love that he does talk to me. He’s an absolute joy and I love hearing the things he comes up with every day. He is a hoot!

Boy, I guess this post was more about Hunter than anything. Don’t worry, Dallas will get her glory when she tracks out soon…Hunter’s just with me all the time right now.

Well, happy Thursday. Thanks so much for stopping by. Night y’all!