A Lemon Squeezy Home

Nursing Cover in Amy Butler Morning Glory

2013-05-23T06:00:00.000-06:00

I’ve held on to this fabric for a long time just waiting for the perfect project to arise to actually use it. Nursing covers are great because after you are finished nursing, you can use the fabric again for another project because it’s such a big piece of fabric. That’s what I did after I was done nursing Poppy. So a nursing cover this fabric became.

I used Prudent Baby’s nursing cover tutorial. The only change I made was to sew extra close just along the boning, and shortened the longer strap a few inches since I didn’t need it that long.

Another tip: melt the edges of the boning at either end because it is pretty sharp and can work it’s way through the fabric eventually, which means there’d be a hole and no ones want that!

Like I said, TONS of baby prep going on around here!

Play It Smart: Dry Ice Bubble Experiment

2013-05-21T06:00:00.000-06:00

I’m so happy to participate in Delia’s Play It Smart series!

A warm welcome to those coming over from her blog. I know I’ve raved about Delia before, and today is no different. I just love the girl. She’s completely sweet and so talented. I just love following her blog for inspiration in so many ways. Her sewing is amazing, her style is great, and I really, really look up to her. Especially as a mom. You can just tell she loves her kids so much. She amazes me.

Our experiment today definitely makes learning fun! We’re dealing with states of matter today.

For Science Camp with Sabra last year, I was in charge of talking about solids, liquids, and gases. I had seen THIS YouTube video and wanted to try it out at our Science Camp. Sadly, my dry ice was completely gone by the time my teaching session came. But it’s probably just as well because this took a lot of trial and error before we had it figured out. As in, I tried and tried for over half and hour to get a bubble to not pop over the bowl. The kids were deferred somewhere else while I figured it out and I did some more experimenting. I switched bowls in hopes that it was just the bowl I was using. I searched for more exact bubble solutions to see if that would help. Nothing had any bubble solution that would work for us. So I searched for “super strong bubbles” and adapted what I found to make our own bubble solution and guess what? It worked great! Hooray!

So now that we have it figured out so your experiment isn’t a failure like ours initially was, here’s what you’ll need:

-dry ice (go to the customer service desk and your grocery store—they probably have some. It’s about $1.00/pound and we used about 2-3 lbs.).
-2-3 Tbsp. dish soap (Dawn worked great)
-1/4 c. corn syrup
-bowl and spoon for mixing the soap and corn syrup
-about an 18” x 2” strip of fabric—I used flannel
-THESE experiment booklets and pencils, if you want your kids to record what they are learning
-paper towels or wet rags to clean up your hands—it gets sticky with the corn syrup!
-about two cups of water
-large bowl or vase *Each similar experiment said to use a bowl with a lip on it, and I first tried it with a green plastic bowl with a nice lip on the edge. But I switched to this glass vase and it worked great. Plus you can see the dry ice and the water mix together to create the gases. When we were finished with the experiment, I was careful not to add heat to the glass because I was afraid the hot water with the cold dry ice would cause the glass to crack. You can experiment with different bowls. Plastic would probably work as well.

First squirt about 2-3 Tbsp. dish soap into the bowl.

Then pour the 1/4 c. corn syrup into the bowl and mix together.

Place your fabric strip into the solution and let it get completely saturated.

Have the adult use a hot pad or thick rag to place the dry ice into the vase or bowl.

*This isn’t pictured, but grab the fabric strip and run it around the rim of the vase—you can see it in the picture below. Pour the water into the vase with the dry ice.

Now take the strip of fabric and kind of clean off the excess dripping solution, but leave it pretty soaked. Just try not to drip a ton into the bowl or it slows the vapor down. It also starts making bubbles inside the bowl which is cool, but not what we are going for here. Start at one end of the bowl and run it across to the other side to form a bubble.

See how my son has left the strip of fabric at the one end? We found that if we tried to take off the fabric the bubble almost always popped. So we just kept it on the edge of the vase until our bubble popped.

Watch the gas from the water and dry ice make the bubble grow…

And grow…

Bigger and bigger!

Until it pops. Fun fun!

Throughout the experiment, they can be working on their little booklets.

Then let the other kids try it out.

If the gas from the dry ice and water starts to slow down, simply add more water. Even my four year old was able to form a bubble over the top. In fact, she was the one who got the biggest bubble!

My kids had an absolute blast doing this experiment, and they were quite serious and involved with writing in their booklets.

Here’s how you put them together. Print them off and cut the excess off the bottom and top.

Fold in half widthwise.

Cut just along the dotted lines.

Unfold and fold lengthwise.

Fold ends in along lines, and then fold them the opposite way.

Make the inner portion fold out into a diamond and push the sides in towards the middle (it will make sense while you are doing it).

And it should look like this.

The booklet asks questions to get them thinking, along with predicting what they think will happen when you form a bubble over the dry ice. The key things I wanted them to learn was that gases take the shape of their container, which in this case is the vase and bubble. But it’s fun to explain to them that something can change from state to state (solids, liquids, or gases), and still be made up of the same substance. Like the dry ice—although this is a special case because it goes straight from a solid to a gas, it is still carbon dioxide no matter what state of matter it is in.

I hope you have fun doing this experiment and making learning fun for the kiddos in your life!

Car Seat Canopy

2013-05-20T06:00:00.000-06:00

I was lucky enough to be given a car seat to use for this baby girl. I wanted to make a car seat canopy to match to keep the sun and wind away from the baby. It’s also nice to cover her up at the grocery store if she’s sleeping.

Because it’s summer, I used two layers of cotton fabric so it’s not as hot as if I had used minky on the underneath layer.

Since I didn’t have anything in this color scheme I did go fabric shopping at Joann. The purple on the car seat was a bit tricky to match and I didn’t want something just black and purple since it’s not as cheery as I’d like it to be. So the springy feel to this fabric was just what the car seat needed.

We’re down to 16 days until our scheduled c-section (which is 5 days before my due date)! I really need to take a couple maternity pictures before she’s here. When I think about this being our last baby most likely, it makes me appreciate these last few weeks of pregnancy even more.

A Saturday Post

2013-05-18T06:00:00.000-06:00

I rarely ever post on Saturdays, but I wanted to share a few happenings around here. It has been SO busy! These last few weeks of school are insane.

I was so happy to meet some of my favorite bloggers for the snap conference a few weeks ago. I didn’t attend the conference, but I did go to a little lunch get together. I was also a little bit nervous. They were of course all very lovely ladies and there was no reason to be scared ;).

Poppy has been really into prepping for this baby. I just love watching her excitement over every little detail. She is full of questions and curiosity. I got the crib put together this week and she helped me with all the fun baby shower gifts from my family.

She saw this magazine in my room and gasped, grabbed it, put it behind her back, and slowly backed out of the room. She had a few questions after looking through it ;).

She also graduated from her preschool that some moms and I were teaching. I was in charge of the preschool graduation which was fun. I found a little template for this diploma HERE.
And mine aren’t as cute, but I saw this graduation hat sucker idea on pinterest along with how to make graduation hats.

Sunshine was baptized as a member of the LDS church a couple weeks ago. It was a beautiful day filled with so many family and friends. We truly have an amazing support group. He loved every minute of it and I’m so proud of the cute 8 year old boy he’s become.

Mr. Zippy has also been busy with school things. He was happy to earn Presidential Fitness at his school, meaning he did really well on all the physical fitness tests they have to do each year. He also did awesome in the 3rd grade recorder concert.

Soccer is in full swing as well. Two kids in soccer seems busy to me. I can’t imagine when they get older!

And these three kids are giddy with excitement and anticipation for this little girl to come. I love moments like these where we are all snuggled together and they bond with their little sister already. So special. She had the hiccups in the picture below which they all thought was so funny.

If you follow me on instagram, you’ve seen some of these already. The camera on my phone leaves much to be desired, but it is what it is right? I’m still thankful for it. You can follow me @lemonsqueezyhome. Have a delightful weekend!

From Vertical Blinds to Curtains

2013-05-17T11:07:00.000-06:00

We’re slowly trying to fix our house up to sell in the next year. It’s expensive to do so! Just the light fixtures we’ve replaced have cost a pretty penny. But I have had this fabric for a few years (see THIS post for a bike basket I made out of it) as well as the curtain rod and clips. Talk about putting off a project!

Here’s what we were dealing with for the (many) years of living here. It’s funny how you just learn to live with certain things, isn’t it?

Some of them are cracked, and that’s really as far as they reached because the rest had been broken. (It’s a bit hard to take good pictures of curtains with bright sunlight behind)

I actually sewed a blind hem. The fabric is such good, thick quality that I didn’t bother lining them.

I bought the fabric for $6.00/yard at Home Fabrics in Utah. They have the best home décor fabric for such amazing prices! The curtain rod and clips I bought at Joann for 60% off. So it was relatively inexpensive for everything.

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The next couple weeks I’ll be posting a lot of baby stuff I’ve sewed up. Very simple, no tutorials for it because there are already a million out there for the things I’ve made.

I’m also going to be participating next week in Delia’s Play It Smart series. I’m really excited for this. She always comes up with the best ways to spend time with your kids!

Have a great weekend everyone! Thanks for stopping by. :)

Magnetic Washi Tape Bookmarks: DIY

2013-05-10T18:04:00.001-06:00

Looking for a super quick gift for Mother’s Day? Or birthday or for yourself? These are seriously so easy. And did I mention they are super quick too? ;)

My husband came in the room the other day while I was reading a book from the library. He had gotten so used to seeing me read books on my Kindle and said, “What is that contraption you are holding?” It’s true that bookmarks aren’t as needed as they used to be. But guess what? My mom asked for a book for Mother’s Day and has a Kindle herself. I called to make sure she didn’t want a gift card to buy eBooks and she said nope, she still prefers normal books. So I decided to whip these up for her.

All you need is some paper (like copy paper, not cardstock), washi tape, and some thin magnets that have a sticky side. I also made up these 3”x4” cards you can print off HERE—I printed mine on cardstock. *You don’t have to use washi tape—you can use scrapbook paper as well. However, be careful with the thickness—at least with this kind of magnet. I tried using a thicker cardstock initially and the magnets weren’t strong enough to stick the bookmark together.

I made my bookmarks 2.5” long. All you do is take a strip of your tape and place it along the 2.5” edge, making sure to have some overhang.

Turn the paper over and fold down the washi tape on either side.

Now place another piece of washi tape so that it covers the overlapped edges from the picture above.

Cut along the side of the washi tape.

Fold in half so the raw edges are on the inside.

Cut two 1/2” magnet pieces.

Peel off the sticker and stick them to either end of your bookmark.

Now you can just fold it over the place you are in a book and you have your bookmark.

I placed my finished bookmarks with the cardstock in these self-sealing bags found at most craft stores in the jewelry section.

So easy. And I think they are pretty cute, too.

I hope you all have a wonderful Mother’s Day!

Words to Live By: Quote Board DIY (with printable)

2013-05-02T06:00:00.000-06:00

Do you ever have a project on your list for a really, really long time? This is one of those for me. I have another quote related project that I’d like to make for my kitchen as well—another long-standing item I’d like to get done soon. I’m so happy this is finally finished though.

I apologize for the pictures of the ‘final look’. This is hanging in a hallway with zero sunlight. So I tried using one of our daylight bulbs to help out, but it was still pretty dark in the hall. But it’s been a great way to brighten up a dark space in our home.

Here’s how I made mine:

-Ikea frame ($9.99, size 19.75” x 22.5”)

-chicken wire (from Home Depot, in the garden section)

-wire cutters

-staple gun with the 1/4” staples

-mini clothes pins (I found mine in the craft section of Walmart)

-quotes (I have a pinboard HERE that I got mine from). I also made them available to you all to print HERE. *I did not type who said the quotes on the quote squares, so refer to my board of quotes pinned for who said them.

-cardstock cut into various shapes. I used my silhouette, but you could easily cut out the more simple shapes.

And it’s pretty self-explanatory. Cut the chicken wire and be careful. I totally cut myself twice and I was being careful ;). It’s just tricky stuff to work with because it keeps wanting to roll back up. I found using the cardboard from the picture frame helped a little to flatten it out, like this:

Staple it to the back of the frame with the staple gun. You have to do it to the thicker part of the frame, otherwise even with the 1/4” staples it will go through the front (just believe me on this, I tried it).

Print off the quotes onto cardstock and cut out. They are 3.5” squares.

Cut out a variety of shapes.

I used mini glue dots to adhere my shapes to the quote squares.

I also used the glue dots to stick the “Words To Live By” onto the wall. Not sure if that was so smart—hopefully it doesn’t damage the wall but I don’t think it will. I know there are poster glue dots that would probably be a better idea.

Embellish the quote cards however you’d like.

There are always so many quotes that I wish I could remind myself of every single day.

I’m going to love having the great life reminders to read as I walk by it every day. And it’s good for the whole family to be reminded of many of these.

Hope you all have a great day!

Divided Basket (Noodlehead Pattern)

2013-04-24T06:00:00.000-06:00

I really love Anna’s Divided Basket Pattern (Noodlehead). As you can see from the pattern link, I liked her fabric choices so much I went ahead and was a major copycat.

It just so happens that we have yellow in the nursery though, so it works perfectly!

And the nursery is just where the basket will be most of the time. But the handles make it so easy to move from room to room. Since I will be keeping diapers, wipes, burp cloths, and other diapering/baby needs, it is such a bonus to move those items around the house easily.

Like everyone else, I keep finding places where I store things that I would love to replace with another divided basket. I would love to get rid of some wicker baskets here and there around the house!

I really love the optional front pocket. Great for diaper cream or lotions (they didn’t look good in the pockets for the pictures, but seriously, look how much more room I have to stuff things in this basket!?)

And there you have another fabulous pattern from Anna. Isn’t she great?

Fabric used:

Garden Party Zig Zag in Yellow by Dear Stella

Sew Stitchy Circle Birds by Aneela Hoey

Alexander Henry Heath (Black)

white canvas from Hobby Lobby

‘Celebrate Baby’ Bunting: baby gift idea with printable

2013-04-22T06:00:00.000-06:00

(First thing first: I know that these are really garlands, but baby bunting sounded so much cuter to me so I went with it. Sorry for anyone who likes to be more technical with the terms than I).

I wanted to make one other simple item to gift along with THESE burp cloths being sent to my friends who are expecting. I saw HERE on MADE how Dana used bunting to decorate her baby’s hospital bed and thought it was the cutest! I love the sweet hearts surrounding her newborn in the pictures Dana posted.

I also loved the way Ashley from Under the Sycamore incorporated regular cotton fabric in squares on her garland, seen on her DIY post HERE.

What a fun way to brighten up their little bed and have a fun prop for pictures. And these are such great scrap-busters! They sew together in no time and the cutting is so fast.

You can either buy felt circles pre-cut (try searching felt circles on Etsy), or I have the GO! Baby AccuQuilt Fabric Cutter and used THIS circle die. They are 2” circles and I just quickly cut out some random rectangles and squares around 2” as well. Sew them together in a straight line down the middle of each piece, adding the next right after another. I liked to turn my square and rectangle scraps sideways or diagonal as well to add more fun.

I had to add some of my labels of course. I just love them.

Mine each ended up being about 5’ long, using about 32 scraps of both felt and cotton fabrics. I found it easier to make at least two using the same scraps. I think the most time consuming part for me was just laying out the scraps and deciding how it looked best. Then I used the first one as a template for the rest. I used 4 solid colors and three patterns on each garland, cutting one of the patterns into circles and the other two patterned fabrics into squares and rectangles.

To package, I cut about 1.5” off the 11” side of a piece of cardstock, folded the cardstock in half along the now 9.5” side and wrapped the garland around.

I printed out the little labels and wrapped that around the garland, and secured with washi tape. Simple!

Each garland probably took a total time of 10-15 minutes to make, and I sewed up 9 of ‘em.

I even packaged one up for myself to pack into my hospital bag—they take up so little space.

Now I just package them with some burp cloths…

…and they are ready to go!

Find the printable for the buntings (ahem…garlands) HERE.

Thank you for reading! And just for fun, here’s last weeks shot of my 32 week belly from my instagram feed (you can find me @lemonsqueezyhome).

7 weeks from today (maybe sooner, maybe later) and we get to meet and snuggle and kiss this little girl! I’m so excited!

Scripture Cover with Divider Flap: Tutorial

2013-04-15T06:00:00.000-06:00

I promised to post a tutorial on how I made the dividing flap on THIS scripture cover made for my son a year and a half ago. It took a while to get to, but I finally made another one because my second son recently turned 8 and is getting baptized in a couple weeks. Those who had questions or emailed me when I posted the scripture cover likely don’t need it anymore, but hopefully this will help anyone who has future questions concerning the flap.

The reason for the flap is because I don’t buy the quadruple combination scriptures for my kids. Rather, I buy them THIS triple combination and THIS Bible to save a little money that way. My kids are so hard on things so I figure we’ll get them a nicer set of scriptures when they are older. It should probably be noted that we are LDS and so this is a scripture case that will fit all the scriptures used in the LDS church. It can of course be adapted to fit other books that you would like a dividing flap for.

I went ahead and included a tutorial for the whole scripture case, since I did things a little differently. The main inspiration for this scripture cover, including the fabric measurements on the main body, come from Delia Creates and her scripture cover tutorial.

Ok, let’s get started. I’ve included many pictures but don’t let that stop you. It’s really not hard at all.

Here’s what you’ll need. I labeled the picture above because of my use of three different fabrics. Hopefully that helps it be less confusing, along with the uppercase alphabet labels. You can even write each letter to the wrong side of your fabric piece if you think it will help (it probably will—just make sure it will not show!). I did not have time to figure out yardage—I just let Sunshine pick his fabrics from what I already had.

**All seam allowances are 1/4”. Adjust your measurements if you use a different seam allowance.

**If you have directional fabric, make sure to read the entire tutorial before cutting and sewing so that you have a good understanding of the directions of the fabrics and how they are put together.

A-one 8.5” x 15” fabric for outer fabric

B- one 8.5” x 15” fusible interfacing piece, not pictured

C-two 8” x 8.5” fabric for pockets on sides

D-one 8.25” x 8.5” plus one 7.25” x 8.5” fabric for inner lining (**the 7.25” piece will be for the triple combination side, and the 8.25” piece will be for the Bible side)

E-two 8.5” x 1” fusible interfacing pieces, not pictured

F-one 8.5” x 16.5” fabric for the pockets on the flap

G-one 8.5” x 12.5” fabric for the flap

H-two 3.5” x 8” fabric pieces for velcro strap

I-two 5” x 13” fabric for the handle straps

J-one 2.5” piece velcro

First, iron on your fusible interfacing (B) to the outer fabric (A). Iron the 8.5” x 1” fusible interfacing pieces (E) onto one 8.5” edge of both the inner lining fabrics (D). (and um…sorry for the crazy looking picture below. I just don’t know what happened with the lighting here)

Take the soft side of the velcro (J) and sew it onto the outer fabric (A) about 1.25” from the edge and centered.

To make the velcro strap, take the two pieces of fabric for the strap (H) and place right sides together. Sew along one long side, the top, and down the other long side. Leave the bottom open. Clip corners and turn through the bottom. Iron and topstitch around the sides and top.

Sew the rough side of the velcro onto the finished edge of the velcro strap.

Now place the strap onto the right side of the outer fabric (A), opposite the side with the velcro you already sewed onto the outer fabric. Center it along the 8.5” edge and baste closely to the edge to keep it in place when assembling the scripture cover. Set aside.

Take the 8.5” x 16.5” pocket piece for the flap (F). Fold it in half, right sides together and just sew along the 8.5” edge.

Iron seam open.

Turn right side out. Move the seam over so it isn’t centered, and iron a crease in the center as shown, so that the crease pops up when looking at the side with the seam.

Take the flap piece (G—measuring 8.5” x 12.5”) and iron in half, right sides together.

Lay the flap pocket piece (F) down on top of the flap piece (G) and line up the ironed creases.

Fold in half, right sides together, making sure the pocket piece (F) doesn’t move and doesn’t fold funny.

Sew down both short sides. Clip just those two corners you see pictured.

Turn right side out, making sure a pocket ends up on either side. Push out corners and iron.

Take the middle flap with pockets and both lining pieces (D). Remember, the 7.25” piece is for the triple combination side, and the 8.25” piece is for the Bible side (in case you have directional fabric).

Sandwich the flap between the interfaced 8.5” edges of both inner lining pieces (D), centering it. *It will not reach to the edges. The right sides of the lining pieces (D) should be towards the flap. See two pictures below.

Sew the inner lining pieces and the flap along the interfaced edge (left side in picture).

Take the two pocket pieces (C) and fold in half the 8” side, so you end up with two 8.5” x 4”. Iron.

Place the pockets (C) onto the inner piece with the flap that you just completed. Put the unfinished edges together and baste the pockets in place close to the edges.

You should now have the inner and outer fabric portions of the cover looking like this:

We’re almost finished! Let’s make the handle straps! Take one of the handle strap fabrics (I). Fold in half and iron.

Open, then fold the long edges towards the center crease and iron.

Fold in half again and iron. Repeat with other handle strap (I).

Topstitch along both long edges of both handle straps.

Pin the straps onto the outer fabric piece 1.25” away from the long edges, and even with the unfinished side edges. Make sure they don’t twist the wrong way, Baste in place. *You want to make sure that the handle straps are all the way over to the edge, or even overlapping a little bit so that you catch them while sewing the layers together.

You should now have this:

Pin the flap away from the edges.

Here is where you want to make sure you know which side you want which book. Whatever side you want the Bible, make sure the longer inner lining piece (D) ends up on that side. So place the inner portion on top of the outer portion right sides together. Pin, then sew around the entire edge, but leave a small opening away from the side pockets and middle flap seam. Clip corners and turn right side out through opening.

Iron.

I chose to hand stitch the opening closed, but you can close it however you want. I used a slip stitch so the threads are hidden. You can do a quick search online on how to do one. Since it’s such a small opening it sews up really quickly.

You are finished!

Here’s hoping this handsome boy will enjoy it! (picture for his baptism announcement)

Enjoy your day!

Burp Cloths

2013-04-11T06:00:00.000-06:00

I’ve mentioned that I know quite a few pregnant ladies right now. The number holds at 12, even with 2 of them having had their babies already. On my list of things to get finished before our little girl joins us was to get simple, inexpensive gifts sewn up so they were ready to gift when those sweet souls are born.

I cut out fabric to make 47 burp cloths. Why so many? I DON’T KNOW—I was suckered into the adorable prints at Joann! …and I had a coupon that could be combined with their sale, so I bought 1/2 a yard of many different prints, and for that 1/2 yard, each print only cost about $1.25. Only two have cotton fabric rather than flannel.

Plus it’s a good way to be able to use my woven tags :).

I’ll be keeping one in this cotton print.

And maybe one in this cool building print.

Here’s another favorite. Too bad the ones pictured above and below are not girly prints too much. Oh well, I still might keep one of each. You can never have too many burp cloths, right?

I used THIS white, subtly striped soft fabric for the backing since I had a coupon for 50% off. It’s the same stuff I used in THIS blanket. I love it because of the stripes and because it is oh so super soft.

There’s a million tutorials for burp cloths out there, many of them the same. These measure around 17” x 10” each (would have been longer but the flannel shrinks quite a bit in the wash).

I’ve only sewn 15 so far of what I have cut out. They are quick, but with so many things on my to-do list, the rest are on hold while I finish organizing my house. It’s a good feeling, getting so much done while I have a little more energy the last week. I don’t know how long it will last though so I need to take advantage of it now!

Happy Sewing!

Nesting, Updated Blog Look, and Birth Plans

2013-04-08T05:40:00.001-06:00

I’ve been gutting my house this past week. As in, I’ve gone through the bedrooms and closets and purged everything that seems unnecessary. I’ve rid my closet of clothing and shoes I no longer like, I’ve organized the towels, sheets, games, storage room, etc. Two large van loads were donated including bikes, home décor items I’ve just never used, and anything else that dared enter my path while in this mode. I suppose you could say I’m nesting :) . I also went through all the boys clothing and gave away boxes and boxes. It made me a bit sad as I pulled each outfit out to inspect for stains and determine if they were acceptable to give away. Flashbacks played through my mind of younger versions of my boys running around. I admit I got teary going through them. I’m not 100% positive we are finished having kids after this little girl, but I feel like we probably are. I had to remind myself that those little children I miss are still with me, just with bigger clothes and bigger appetites.

So amidst all that cleaning and purging, I also decided to give my blog a new look, spur of the moment, last night. This cute little house has been around for a long while now, since Heather from Life Made Lovely designed my blog.

And although I’ll always love what she did, my style has changed a bit as well. I don’t know how long the new look will stick around, but it’s good to see things changed a bit. It’s not perfect but my brain can only handle so much html. Here’s the new simple header with added social media buttons at the top to find links more easily:

You can find all sorts of great colors of social media buttons HERE on Carrie Loves. I sure appreciated the work being done for me already! I used THIS post on Code it Pretty to help me install the buttons a smaller size. What I tried from the first post didn’t work for me to change the button sizes, but that second link helped.

The little labels on the sidebar just match the header:

And really, that’s it! Just simple changes. My goal is to get a decent photo of myself to post—I’ve always liked seeing the person whose blog I’m reading right there on the sidebar, along with their name for me to see. I had it there once upon a time, but I just need an updated picture.

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As I get closer to the due date of this sweet little one, I’m starting to get nervous about the birth. Mostly because I’ve had two c-sections and to try a VBA2C kind of scares me. Last week I was all for it, but the more I think about it, the more I’m leaning towards a scheduled repeat c-section, as crumby as the recovery can be from those.

My first, Mr. Zippy, was induced. I was 6 days late which wasn’t the reason I was induced, but I had an ultrasound and my fluid was too low. But he didn’t handle labor well and so I only pushed two times before the doctor broke out the forceps. My second, Sunshine, was breeched and they turned him successfully, however his little arm went before his head and I had started having contractions so they decided to go ahead with a c-section. I went in to have Poppy hoping for a VBAC, but she wasn’t handling the labor well, either. I was super thankful that I got to experience going into labor with her (also 6 days late), since I didn’t know what it was like to start on my own. Another factor in this all is the fact that Poppy was born with craniosynostosis, which can cause problems during a vaginal birth. Once you’ve had one child born with it, the chances increase of you having another with it. They tried to check on the ultrasound if this one looks like she has it but it was hard to tell.

I know the risk of your uterus rupturing isn’t huge, but what if you were that one that it happened to, ya know? And I know there are risks with c-sections as well. I’ve read tons and tons of articles and now I’m just torn.

I hope this isn't coming across as whiny and overly concerned--it's just a hard call to make when you have the choice. So we’ll take it to the Lord and we’ll see how my hubby and I feel ;). Of course that will be the best way to know what to do, but I love to hear what others have to say about it also. I’m also very aware that although we might make a birth plan, things can and often do not work the way you planned, and I’m totally ok with that. As long as this little one arrives safely, I’ll be happy.

Thanks for stopping by!

Ottobre “Donald” Hoodies

2013-04-03T06:00:00.000-06:00

Sabra (Sew a Straight Line) has always been super inspiring to me, in many aspects of life, but I’m talking about sewing right now, so we’ll focus on that. She has sewn so many items of clothing for her children that are jaw-dropping amazing—the details! Love love them. She has been sewing a lot of patterns from a magazine designed/printed in Finland, called Ottobre design. If you haven’t heard of it, check it out! There are some seriously cute clothing patterns for boys and girls, ranging in sizes from infant to around age 14. Each magazine comes with about 40 patterns. The cost of the magazine is about $20.00, so you are getting an amazing deal on patterns! And you can get it in English ;). Sabra recently sewed one of these Donald Hoodies (Ottobre 6/2010) and blogged it HERE, and I loved it so much I decided it would be one of my Easter presents to my boys. So here we go!

It has been so long since I sewed anything for my boys! And guess what? They still love it (phew! because I’d still make them wear these at least 10 times for the effort I put into them!). These two boys were so cute and supportive the whole week while I worked on these. They’d get so excited at my progress and kept trying it on throughout the week.

Since I knew I wanted these to fit for a while, I went with the largest size, which was a 170cm. I shortened Sunshine’s by almost 3” because they were so long, but the rest is fine. As you can see, Mr. Zippy’s is tucked up in the pictures because it looks a little funny to me so long, but he doesn’t mind it at all. I figured they’ll get a good two years of wear out of these! Right??? At least a year. I’ll settle for a year.

The sweatshirt fleece I purchased from Joann, and the knits on the insides are both from Girl Charlee. I absolutely love the black and white checkered knit! The hoodies are both fully lined, and I wish I had placed pockets on the inside and used reversible separating zippers so the whole hoodie was reversible. How cool would that be? Because you know, kids like that kind of thing! As it is, they still turn it with the knit on the outside and just zip it up from the front.

Because the sewing instructions come without any pictures, I did have to think hard while sewing the first one. Each sentence is a sewing step, pretty much. I think I sewed the second one in half the time as the first! But it was great and I love that when you sew with patterns, you can learn something new each time.

The thing about topstitching in a contrasting thread color is that you can see it very well, which can get tricky over seams, or just plain tricky when you are tired and don’t feel like being careful anymore! But they don’t look too bad. I used neon green on one and neon yellow on the other, but they look pretty much the same to me.

I’m excited to try more Ottobre patterns! I found a helpful guest blog post on The Train to Crazy by Melanie from A Sewing Journal about Ottobre patterns HERE. It might be worth reading to help you make up your mind on purchasing one.

P.S. This is not a paid post or anything, I just enjoyed the pattern and honestly think the magazine is a great price for so many patterns. Sabra didn’t pay me either ;). I just love the girl.

Geranium Dress for Easter

2013-04-01T06:00:00.000-06:00

I bought Rae’s awesome Geranium Dress pattern shortly after it came out, and I’m so happy I did! It really is such a great pattern. The dress comes together quickly. And every time I see another Geranium Dress around blog-land, I always love it.

Both of the fabrics are from Joann. The bottom of the dress is out of a cotton voile so it doesn’t wrinkle easy, which I love. The linen sewed up nicely on the bodice as well. I chose the faux sleeves and the v-neck notch. I really love the sweet neckline! Poppy is 4 1/2, so I chose to make the 5T which is a great fit on her.

Poppy really loves the pockets.

I like it, she likes it—I call it a win.

She was jumping up and down waiting to put it on this morning and made sure to show off for her two brothers.

I can’t wait to make more Geranium Dresses, for Poppy and for this baby on her way (10 weeks left!!!!?)! The pattern is easy to understand and not hard to make at all. Yay for great patterns!

I hope you all had a great Easter!

Apron for Fiddler on the Roof

2013-03-18T06:00:00.000-06:00

This apron was made a few months ago and I totally forgot about it! No, I don’t post everything I ever make, but this one I was happy with how it turned out from looking at pictures online of aprons. My beautiful friend Kate was in the play Fiddler on the Roof and asked if I could help her make an apron so she wouldn’t get stuck in an unflattering pinafore.

We looked around online and saw a couple different aprons that she liked. She had an old sheet she wanted to use, and it ended up being perfect for the play. Here it is on me:

She gave me permission to post a couple pictures of herself wearing it for the play. Kate did wonderful in her role as Tzeitel!

I would love to do a modern version of it—mostly just shortened and with fun fabrics. I was a bit nervous sewing this as I knew it had to be approved by the director of the play. He was worried initially when she told him she didn’t want to wear the pinafore, plus it was going to be worn in front of an audience. Thankfully it was just an apron and not really a big deal. I can’t imagine sewing such intricate costuming that you see onstage!

Thanks for reading!

Christmas Quilt

2013-03-14T06:00:00.000-06:00

It’s done, it’s done! Wow, props to you quilters. I am not a quilter. I’m not saying that I won’t ever make another quilt, because I have plans for possibly two more, but probably just two more for … the rest of my life. It’s not that I disliked it—well, not the whole process at least. There were bits of it that I truly enjoyed. It’s just so very time-consuming. I was trying to explain it to my husband, how I guess I’m more of an instant gratification type of sewer. To which he replied, “So you’re like a track home builder.” I was immediately defensive, because he is a carpenter/contractor, and he performs custom work and likes to take his time and make it high quality and beautiful, often designing some amazing things. But there is truth in what he says. Although I do appreciate quality and designing things occasionally, lately my mindset it, “Ok, I have two hours this week to sew. What can I get completely finished with in that time?” Well, not a quilt.

Moving along. With all of that being said, I LOVE this quilt. I wish it wasn’t seasonal, because I’d proudly display this baby all year, imperfections and everything.

Sabra (Sew a Straight Line) and I bought this fabric while shopping at Pine Needles after Christmas, over two years ago. We both remember spending $40.00 for all the fabric. The only fabric I supplemented for the quilt is the red polka dot fabric, also seen on THIS dress for the Sew Through the Decades Series I did a long time ago. I bought the batting for over 50% off at Joann during one of their awesome sales going on.

Sabra was awesome and gave me THIS 5” square ruler for my birthday, which really made cutting the extra squares really fast.

I just quilted it with simple straight lines. I used my new walking foot and it worked well, but my stitching is still not consistent. I need some practice.

I used THIS tutorial from MADE to make the bias tape. And now I have yards and yards of it left, seeing as how I used the whole yard and it made over 19 yards of bias tape.

And because my sweet 9 year old had to stand on tip-toes and tire out his arms, all while wearing a matching red helmet…I leave you with this picture.

Fabric: Moda 12 Days of Christmas

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I received an email from Alison explaining a fun new blog she is starting. It’s for people who DON’T have a blog but still want to have a way to share their ideas! Cool, right? It’s called No Blog Woes. You can contact her through her blog if you wanted to share any of your great ideas!

Five on Friday

2013-03-01T06:00:00.000-07:00

It’s been a while since I’ve done a Five on Friday! Here we go! I’m focusing on birthday celebrations and traditions.

1. This weekend my second child, Mr. Sunshine, is turning 8. Last year we started changing our parties to be only when they turn an odd number. Best decision ever. As much as I like to plan parties, it’s so much work and a lot of stress if I don’t get started when I should (meaning, always). I am so happy to plan fun parties, but like I said, just a lot of work and this pregnant momma is exhausted so frequently these days that it worked out great this time. This is him last year. It’s amazing how much they can change in one year! He’s really the sweetest kid ever.

2. The last four years for my kids’ birthdays, I always make a birthday DVD recapping the previous year. This is always a highlight of their birthday. We snuggle up on the couch as a family and watch a 7-10 minute video that just shows favorite pictures, all playing as a slideshow to their current favorite songs. I just use Windows Live Writer to make the video. This is a picture taken while watching Poppy’s video in September. This is also a bit time-consuming but totally worth it. My kids love taking out their DVD’s and playing them throughout the year.

3. We always decorate their door while they sleep, also a long-standing tradition. Since Mr. Sunshine’s b-day isn’t till this weekend, here’s another one from Poppy’s birthday last year. Super simple but they love it. We also decorate the kitchen area where we’ll be spending much of the day eating their favorite meals.

4. IF you are planning a party, I do have a fun printable in case you haven’t seen it. It helps organize your party planning. You can find the post HERE.

5. And to recap some of the parties I’ve blogged about, here is a list for you:

Happy Friday and Happy Weekend!

Maternity Shirt: Megan Nielson Pattern take 2

2013-02-27T12:28:00.001-07:00

I made a couple changes to the Megan Nielson Ruched Maternity Shirt Pattern I posted last week HERE. And I’m pretty happy with how this shirt ended up. Even with the mis-matched chevron pattern on the side seams :).

I don’t know if it was just me, but the sleeves needed a bit of tweaking anyways. The sleeve is too large for the sleeve opening on the bodice piece. But it isn’t a big deal…just sew the seam larger until it fits. I made sure to use tracing paper and keep that pattern piece so that I won’t have to refigure it out each time. Other changes I made were with the neckline—I just made it higher so I didn’t have to wear a cami underneath. I lengthened the back piece and didn’t have the front piece swoop down. I think that is cute, but those pregnancy pant panels can be hard to cover up and again, I didn’t want to have to wear anything underneath the shirt—especially when I get bigger and it gets warmer here. No need for extra layers! I also skipped the ruching altogether. I was going to add elastic to the sides, but really liked the length and fit as it was.

The fabric is THIS knit from Girl Charlee. I love it! Even if I look a little like Charlie Brown in it.

I don’t know why I made another small size. Because I’m a bit worried it won’t fit once I’m further along. It should stretch of course, but it will be quite tight. If there is a ‘next time’ sewing this shirt, I’ll make a medium. This is me with my 25 + 2 days belly today.

Oh, and one thing I think is a must for hemming knits is this great stuff:

I use it on the neckline and for the hemming on the sleeves and bottom. No ripple effect at all. And I use a double needle on the neckline and hems as well.

I hope your week is going great! I just have to say thank you for still reading my blog. I know it isn’t what it used to be, but it’s what works for me and my family right now. I’ve always appreciated your sweet comments and even taking the time to stop by! So thank you.

Megan Nielson Ruched Maternity Shirt

2013-02-18T06:00:00.000-07:00

After looking at my maternity shirts from my past three pregnancies, most of them are pretty out-of-date. I have a couple shirts I will be using, but with Poppy I pretty much just wore longer t-shirts the whole summer. The shirts I wore with the boys are horrible tents that make you look 10 times bigger than you really are. Sometimes it's nice to be comfy and hide under those, but I never feel very cute while wearing them.

I searched out my options in stores for maternity wear, and remembered how maternity clothing can be so overpriced! I really don't want to pay $15.00+ for a shirt when I know I can make a shirt with knit bought for half that price or less.

So I invested in Megan Nielson's Ruched Maternity T-shirt pattern. It is more than I spend on patterns, but I felt it is worth it if I use it more than once even. Just fyi, I think you save $1.00 if you buy it through her Etsy shop. I'm totally eyeing a couple more of her patterns for after this little girl gets here! They are all so cute! Plus I can sew one for any pregnant friends or sister-in-laws who want a cute and unique maternity shirt. It's such a bonus being able to pick out fabric that you love!

I chose to make short sleeves because it will eventually get warmer here, and I can just wear this with a cardigan until then.

I bought the knit from THIS etsy shop (shipped from South Korea), and got a great deal. It was on sale, so I ended up paying less than $10.00 for about a yard and a half, shipped. I have enough leftover for another project. See how cheesy happy that makes me?

And the shirt seems to have plenty of room for this 24 week prego belly to grow into. I already have more knit for round 2. I have a couple changes I will make--one is making the back panel longer--it is too short to cover the pregnant pants panel. :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Lemon Squeezy Woven Labels

2013-02-12T06:00:00.000-07:00

I can't even tell you how excited I am to have finally ordered some woven labels. I've researched them for 3-4 years. I've had the shop Worldwide Label saved on my Etsy favorites for over 2 years. I felt like it was ok to give in now. :)

I ordered the labels on January 17th and received the order on Friday, February 8th, so I feel like they processed and shipped them extremely fast, for coming from Hong Kong.

I ordered 300 of the text only labels. They cost $55.00 shipped, so about $0.18 each. It looks like they have an option now for 350 for $5.00 more, making them $0.01 cheaper per label. If you want to add artwork to the labels, it costs $15.00 more. My husband asked why I didn't choose that option, but it wasn't really worth the extra money to me. A cute lemon would be great, maybe something similar to THESE tags I made for some baby blankets, but again, I didn't feel like paying that much more, though it still is a good deal!

I seriously was so stoked about them when they arrived--my kids can attest to that! The only drawback to having the white labels with the dark lettering is that you can kind of see the gray threads through the label...but not a big deal to me. I'm happy knowing they won't fade.

And now I want to make tons of items and label everything! I made a maternity shirt (using a pattern--will post about later) the day after they arrived and sewed my first label on. I know TEN people who are expecting babies in the next few months!!! So I see a lot of baby blankets and burp cloths in my future. And anything that inspires me to sew is a good thing.

Second Attempt at Front Room {new pillows}

2013-02-11T15:22:00.002-07:00

I really tried to appreciate the added color in the room when I made THESE pillows. But it just never looked right. So I moved those pillows into the family room where they match much better, and tried to add more white to brighten things up. The thing is, this room just doesn't "feel" like me. It's far too dark for my liking and well, as mentioned in that post we obviously haven't moved yet so I wanted a cheap way to help the room out a bit ;).

So this is my second attempt to make the room brighter with warm colors, though I much prefer the grays and fun cooler tones that are everywhere these days. But without painting and getting new couches, this is where we're at. (um, the picture is not crooked, my camera was when taking the picture and I guess I'm too lazy to fix it now).

So, new pillows, a white polka dot tablecloth over the side table, moved the temple picture, and replaced the glass shade on the tall lamp and the shade on the other lamp.

The "tablecloth" is really just a yard of knit fabric--possibly to be made into a shirt in the future :).

The old shade on the shorter lamp was brown, so I replaced it with a fun textured lampshade from Target.

I used the same tutorial for the invisible zippers on the pillows--but this time I ironed my zippers despite the tutorial saying you didn't need to with an invisible zipper foot. I found it looked MUCH better after ironing the zippers first!

Someone mentioned the picture placement on the previous pillow post...you were right! It looked ridiculous. Too bad the thermostat is on the most obvious wall in the room. Those things should be hidden better! But I researched hanging pictures and lowered it on the wall and centered it on the couch. You can also see the white glass shade replacing the brown glass on the lamp--I found three at the thrift store for $1.50. Perfect!

The fabric was from a fun store called Home Fabrics (in Utah). They are so affordable for really great quality home decor fabrics.

Despite it still not being my style, it does look better than before. There are still things I can do to the room, but sewing always trumps home decorating for me. I sometimes wish I felt differently, but free time is sparse and until we are in our next home, I don't want to invest a lot of money or time into something that won't be ours for much longer!

2013-02-04T10:33:00.001-07:00

Today is the 1st day of the 1st ever Sew Fab e-Pattern Bundle Sale and giveaway, sponsored by The Southern Institute and Fat Quarter Shop!

Over the past eight weeks a lot of behind the scenes work has taken place to bring you this amazing bundle of ePatterns from several of the top pattern designers and bloggers in the sewing and blogging world. The result is a bundle of 18 PDF sewing patterns that you don’t want to miss.

For one week only, ten pattern designers have come together to bring you 18 of their best PDF patterns, valued together at over $139.00, for the incredible price of $24.95! That’s over 80% off of the combined retail value! Plus you can enter to win a dream of a giveaway valued at $390 from some really great shops!

For less than $25.00 you will have a library of resources that you can use over and over again. The designers that have joined this sale are experts in their craft. They have been sewing for a very long time and are well known in blogland and elsewhere. Each designer has contributed one or two of their favorite patterns to create a bundle that is sure to please! Whether you are sewing for your own family or making gifts for others, these are patterns that you will love to use.

If you’ve never sewn with a PDF pattern before, let me tell you how great it is! After downloading your pattern instructions and your pattern, you will print out the pattern itself, creating pattern tiles, if you will. Simply tape the tiles together to create the full pattern! At that point you can cut out the size that you need and pin the paper pattern directly to your fabric or you can trace the pattern size that you need onto sewing paper or tissue paper and cut it out, saving the paper pattern for later when you need to sew another size. Pdf patterns are so convenient because you can print them out as many times as you need!

Click here to buy the bundle!

I know you’re dying to know “What is included in the pattern bundle?”

18 well-loved ePatterns from 10 well-known designers are instantly accessible to you by PDF download upon purchase of the Sew Fab e-Pattern Bundle. Here are the patterns that you will receive (click on the links below to see more details):

Goodship Dress by One Girl Circus, Mommy & Mia Apron by Sew Much Ado, Ruby Lou Doll by Sew Much Ado, Mini Maxi Dress by Seamingly Smitten, Miss Mod Top by Seamingly Smitten, Love Your Lunch Box by Ginger Cakes, Modern Folksy Bunny by Ginger Cakes, Banyan Pants & Shorts by Figgy’s, Banyan Top & Tunic by Figgy’s, Go To Shift Dress by Go To Patterns, Go To Gift Bags by Go To Patterns, Sidekick Suitcase by Sew Fearless, Madeline Dress by Me Sew Crazy, Forget Me Knot Dress by Me Sew Crazy, Alex & Anna Summer PJs by Peekaboo Pattern Shop, Alex & Anna Winter PJs by Peekaboo Pattern Shop, Commuter Cowl by luvinthemommyhood, Scirocco Dress by Figgy’s

The Sew Fab e-Pattern Bundle is only available for one week and will never be available again! You can purchase the bundle from February 4th at 8 a.m. EST through February 11th at 8 a.m. EST and there will be no late sales offered. Due to the nature of the sale there will be no refunds offered.

You don’t want to miss this unique opportunity to purchase a ready made collection of 18 PDF sewing patterns from 10 of the best designers out there!

There is also an amazing giveaway that you can enter HERE!
Graphic design by Andrea Panell.

Chevron Baby Blanket

2013-01-29T06:00:00.000-07:00

My good friend just had an adorable baby boy last week. Her nursery colors are gray and light orange. I have had “make something with chevron fabric” on my list of things I wanted to sew for a while, so thought this was a great chance to splurge on some fun Riley Blake cotton.

I used a twin needle around the edges with two different tones of orange.

I used THIS soft n comfy fabric at Joann for the backing—I love the subtle stripes.

I actually would love to buy some of THIS knit from Girl Charlee (thanks for the tip on where to get some really fun knit, Jess!) and try this blanket out with knit rather than cotton, so it doesn’t wrinkle as easily. But I also don’t know if that would work with the knit being less sturdy than cotton. I’ll give it a trial run perhaps, maybe for this baby.

I have two more blankets needing to be finished soon. The darn Christmas quilt and I’ve started crocheting a blanket for our baby due June. So those will be on the blog hopefully soon (especially the quilt! eesh, the quilt top is done but the task of quilting it is daunting!).

Thanks for stopping by. Stay warm!

Lego Table

2013-01-24T15:30:00.001-07:00

After seeing Kari’s table on Ucreate HERE, I knew what my 9 year old would be getting for Christmas. I loved how she used green for land and blue for water. My son has already built some cool bridges across land.

I headed to Ikea for a small table and was thrilled to find this side table for $7.99! And bonus, because it’s light enough for Mr. Zippy to move around himself.

picture source

I had the green one ready to buy and decided last minute that black would be more practical—if the edges get worn, nothing a black sharpie can’t fix!

I used e6000 like she did, and 10”x10” plates, which are $5.99 at Toys-R-Us. Funny that one plate nearly equals the cost for the table itself!

He was very excited. All he asked for from Santa was the Percy Jackson movie. So when this was there too, he said, “I didn’t ask for it, but it’s even better than what I asked for!”

And now he can have a little more space to create his Lego Masterpieces.

Thanks for stopping by!

Tie Shoes into Velcro Shoes: tutorial

2013-01-15T14:35:00.001-07:00

I have pretty independent children, who start dressing themselves at about the age 2 1/2 and won’t let me help in that process too often once they start. The outfits they come up with are great, and sometimes embarrassing (ha!), but not worth the battle and I think it’s good for them to have a little control in some aspects of their lives. But when you are running late, tie shoes can be a nuisance. I’m all for teaching your kids to tie their own shoes, but Poppy is too young. She has a pair of shoes from the store that are similar to these, and I so the idea came from those. So I thought, why not ditch the shoelaces and just add some velcro in there like the ones she owns? It can’t be too hard!

All you’ll need is some velcro strips, some e-6000 glue, clothes pins, and tie shoes. Remove the laces of course.

Measure how much velcro you need by sticking it between the top sides and tongue of the shoe. Cut the velcro so none of it is sticking out to poke their foot, and so that you don’t see any out the top or sides.

**Please note: I actually think you could use just a small inch square or circle at either top corner under the lacing portion. OR, I would cut my velcro in half vertically so that it wasn’t so wide—it’s a little too much velcro and makes it harder for Poppy to get them on. So if I did these again, I would either just use a small square or circle of velcro at the top corners of the outer flaps and tongue, or a thinner piece of velcro, but sometimes you don’t think of these things till after you are done making them, am I right?**

Put a layer of e-6000 glue on either side of the velcro (the non-velcro sides).

And sandwich between the tongue and top shoelace flaps.

Pin with clothes pins.

Repeat for other shoe until the glue is dry. The glue stinks, but the smell goes away after a couple days.

And there you go! As I said, a smaller piece of velcro would be easier for her, but at least now I don’t have to be tying her shoes last minute because she is ready to go after the puts these on herself. Yay for independency that makes our lives easier…sometimes ;).

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Yellow board background tutorial HERE.

And guess what? Side note here, but I’m on Instagram (have been for a while) but have recently found a love for it. You can follow me @lemonsqueezyhome. Fun times.