Wipe out:

I've mentioned before that I have a love for cloth diapers (see here and here). Well, that love may or may not have developed into an obsession because now I've jumped on the cloth wipe train. Actually, we decided to go the cloth wipe route around the same time we decided to cloth diaper (sometime last year). Earlier this year, I bought a few yards of organic bamboo cotton and cut them up into squares to use as wipes.

Once done, I put them in a box of baby stuff and didn't get them out until we moved. We set everything up in the nursery but people so graciously gifted us disposable wipes that we didn't use them until well into M's diaper career (even after we made the transition into his cloth diapers -- that's how many wipes we had). We've been using them for a little over a month now and they went from looking nice and pretty to this: 

It looked pretty bad. Seriously, like a basket of fabric scrolls. And they were pretty much impossible to use which defeats the whole purpose. Complete fail. So I went back to the old drawing board and decided to make them double-sided. I took to the sewing machine, pinned two wipes together (fluffy side out) and went around the edges with a zig-zag stitch. The result:

A much nicer, thicker, and completely flat (!) wipe. I even ran them through the washer and dryer to make sure they wouldn't roll up. And they are deliciously soft. I'm sure little M appreciates that. And now his changing table looks so much more clean and organized. 

Overall, we're very happy with the results. I'm just glad I could come up with a quick fix to make them work and didn't have to toss them. And yes, I did just write an entire post about wipes.  

New projects:

We've been busy around here lately. Between packing, cleaning, sloughing off the excess of the past few years, working on nursery projects, and work-related stuff, we've had our hands full. Not to mention the inclement weather we've had for the past few days. But we've since dug out and we're back to business as usual.

Over the weekend, we kicked our creativity into high gear. We've set a budget for ourselves in the new house's nursery, so after furnishing the space, we have little to work with as far as decorating. We've had to get creative and find inexpensive ways to bring color and personality into the room. Our latest creation?

This art for M's room. Made from just paint chips, glue, and some heavy-duty card stock that we had lying around, the total cost of this project: $0. Well, plus the cost of the frame and matting. But Hobby Lobby had a 50% off framing sale, so we snapped that up for cheap. 

We've got a few more projects up our sleeves, including more art and a side table, that we can't wait to share. And we'll have a total cost breakdown once the room is complete. We're having a lot of fun DIYing a lot of the elements in the room and I think it's sweet that this little boy will be surrounded by things that his parents lovingly made for him. Plus, pocketing the extra cash that we saved feels really good.

A Knitted Blanket:

I've been working on a knitted blanket for a while now. Like, since December. When I started making it, I calculated that if I could knit on it just a little bit every day, I could be done by June. But I'm telling you now this will probably not be the case. It is very slow going. I need to make 100 squares. And so far? I have about 40. But it's going to look great when it's done. Check it out:

Maybe in about 20 years I'll have some photos of the completed project to share with you. But don't hold your breath.

Andrew's quilt:

Finally. It's done. This project turned out to be a test of my patience. And since it was so ridiculous, let's celebrate its completion by taking a trip down memory lane to look back on its different phases.

It went from this:

To this:

To this:

It is truly an accomplishment that this quilt ever got made. Its making was a huge feat considering that everything that could possibly go wrong, actually did. My sewing machine broke in the middle of it. I had to finish it on my mom's ancient Singer, the machine I learned on at the age of 4. The blocks didn't adhere to the stabilizer and stretched, causing everything to bunch together. I had to rip out the entire thing and meticulously re-sew it with the assistance of my mother. The front turned out larger than I had planned for and I didn't have enough of the fabric I had picked out for the backing. And when I went to get some more, they had stopped carrying it. So I had to go in search of 6 additional yards of a different fabric. I had to re-applique many of the squares because before my machine messed up, it was sewing really weird and some of the seams started coming apart by the time I started to assemble the final product. It was a real mess. But I think it turned out well. It's really nice, has a great weight, and is huge, which makes it perfect for sharing. And curling up in for long naps. Plus, check out this face:

Totally worth it.

Andrew's quilt:

Woke up this morning itching to do something creative so I got started on Andrew's t shirt quilt.

This is what I started with:

This is what it looked like when I stopped for lunch:

And this is what I had about an hour later:

I've cut everything down. This is the aftermath:

On tomorrow's agenda: picking out some manly fabric and more stabilizer. This quilt is going a lot faster than my previous one.

DIY: Containers

We've been trying to reuse things as much as possible. You know, reduce our footprint, keep things out of landfills, be responsible citizens of the world, all that. So we've been recycling aluminum and plastic. We re-purpose glass jars (seen here). And we've come up with a way to reuse the metal containers that some of our food comes in. We buy Pepperidge Farm Pirouettes. I like to eat them with my tea at night. And they come in these little metal canisters that seem too useful to just throw away or send off for recycling. So we decided to see if we could put them to use.

What we did was actually really simple -- sprayed it with a primer (so the paint would coat evenly without cracking), sprayed it with a few coats of paint, and taped off and painted the top with blackboard paint.

So now we've got this totally cool little canister taking up space on a shelf. Right now it's holding our tea bags but it won't be hard to change that up later on down the road. And we've got a few more waiting in the wings.

Not ground breaking or anything, we know. But any way to take something old and make it new again gets a thumbs up in our book.

My high school self in quilt form

We're digging out today. I was supposed to leave this afternoon for a conference in Hot Springs but I couldn't even get up our street so I am staying here. I'm sort of glad -- I can sleep in my own bed and watch 30 Rock with Andrew.

Plus, if I were on my way to Hot Springs today, I wouldn't have had the chance to finish my quilt, finally.

Two sides of t shirt goodness -- concerts, musicals, yearbook, television, mission trips, speech tournaments, trips, lifeguarding, volunteering -- and a few special scraps of fabric (those patches of red and blue polka dots are for you, K & L).

If my high school self were trapped in a quilt, this is what it would look like.

Looks like someone likes it already.

Super Bowl weekend

I had a half day Friday because of snow (technically less than a half day because I left @ 9:00a) so I spent the afternoon in warm pajamas, watching musicals, and working on my tshirt quilt. It's taken so long because I can only really work on it on the weekends. But I'm almost done -- pictures coming soon.

Saturday Andrew and I finally took down our Christmas tree (don't judge) and after clearing it all away, we realized we had absolutely nothing to fill the now bare space. So we decided to make a built in desk and after a trip to Lowe's, we were rolling. Just a few cuts, some sanding, and painting was all it took. It was still technically "drying" all day yesterday (it took more than one coat of paint) so we haven't had a chance to install it yet. But maybe when I get home, Andrew will have surprised me by setting it up. I have major plans for this space so stay tuned.

Yesterday we hung out at our friend Schuck's house for some Super Bowl partying and general fun. We played Kinect, ate way too much, enjoyed a good game of football, and watched the new episode of Glee. I love to watch the winning team's victory but for some reason, I always get really sad for the losing team.

Which ads were your favorites? This was one of mine:



P.S. I found some cookies at the grocery store that taste exactly like Girl Scout Samoas. And I am in trouble because I cannot stop eating them.

We need:

Okay, maybe not we but I most definitely need this:

We are looking to buy a house by this summer (fingers crossed). We're kind of in love with this one.
And with three bedrooms, there is plenty of room for a craft room. One bedroom for us, one for guests, and one for doing fun things. I'm thinking this craft room can probably double as a computer room. Like this:

[all images from here]

Oh Martha Stewart, I think that we are sisters from another mother.

A mini office makeover

Got crafty last night (after a day of shopping with Kat and dinner with the fam). I finally got around to doing some things to transform the barren wasteland that is my office into something that is warm and personal. My first (and super easy) step was to put up something functional and pretty on the back of the hutch sitting on my desk that would brighten up the dark cherry wood and allow me to utilize that space. I looked around but couldn't find anything that met that criteria and made me happy at the same time. So I made my own.

I just picked up four cork tiles and some pretty fabric. Since the tiles were pretty thin (and I envisioned something a little more substantial) I just glued two tiles together, measured and cut the fabric, stretched it tight around the tiles, and glued it into place (and burned my thumb in the process).

I had a few Command strips lying around in a drawer that I used to hang the tiles. And I now have a monthly calendar courtesy of Katherine that looks cute and helps me stay on top of things (I decided to ditch the stand it originally sat on to free up desk space, but don't worry, I have plans to repurpose it at a later date).

This is so easy to do, literally took 10 minutes, and cost way less than any other option I considered. And it can be used anywhere -- kitchens, mudrooms, offices, laundry roofs, craft rooms, etc. -- that needs a little organization and a pop of color.

I have a lot of fabric leftover. And the more I stare at it, the more in love with it I am. I'm thinking I will incorporate it into quilt sewn on the new sewing machine I got for my birthday!

P.S. I think I'm getting sick. Again. What a way to start a new year. I have been taking Airborne and Zicam every 3 hours. And I think we're going shopping for a new humidifier this week. If my plan works, I might have found a way to successfully combat the common cold.

P.P.S. Today is my nephew's 9th birthday! Happy Birthday Tyler! I hope you get all the Mega Block Halo men you can carry.

2 shirts in 1 DIY

I hate those 2-in-one shirts. You know, a collared shirt/vest combo that looks like two shirts but in reality its just sewn together to make one shirt. I have one of those and I hate it. So today I decided to take it apart and make it two different wearable pieces. This is what it looked like before I started:

So, to do this, its really easy. Just take the shirt and rip out the sections of the seams where the vest is attached to the shirt. Then remove the vest, pin the shirt seams back together, and sew.

Then just pin the seams on the vest back together and sew.

And then bam! You've doubled your wearable pieces.

Sunday Night Football

Tillie geared up for the first Cowboys' game of the new season and was really excited by all the food present during the pregame show but by the time the game actually rolled around, she didn't find it very interesting. And I can't even talk about how upset I am about how it all went down. Freaking Redskins.

So I started working on this new quilt a few days ago but really messed up on the seam allowances and had to rip it apart and start over. I finally started putting it back together this afternoon and I'm glad I took the time to do all that because it looks so much better. And yes, Maggie, those are the same fabrics that I used for your quilt. I just really love the look of them together.

I am reading Beginner's Greek by James Collins. Its good so far but I'm only a few pages into it so I can't form much of an opinion. Here's a brief summary:

"When 27-year-old Peter Russell boards a cross-country flight to Los Angeles, he fully expects to sit next to the love of his life. As luck would have it, he sits next to Holly Edwards, with whom he falls in love instantly. A lost phone number leads to years of wondering "what if," until Peter's best friend Jonathan introduces him to his new girlfriend, who is of course the same Holly of Peter's dreams. After Jonathan and Holly marry, Peter settles down with Charlotte, a Francophile who Peter tries to tolerate, but mostly just evokes feelings of pity and hatred. Of course, as with any fairy tale, the possibility for a happy ending is never truly out of reach, and Beginner's Greek is chock full of twists and turns to keep the action going."

I'll let you know how it goes.

Shirt DIY

So I've had this shirt for a while. It may have been a dress when I bought it but one day I may have accidentally shrunk it in the dryer. So after all that, it's been hanging out in the back of my closet. I've never really known how to wear it because its not long enough for a dress anymore, but too long for a shirt. And I've never been crazy about the sleeves. The elastic got on my nerves. So I changed it. And yes, that is us standing in front of A's old dorm, Twin Towers, before it was blown up.

It was really simple. All I did was add some trim to the neckline to give it some color. And to get rid of those gross puffy sleeves, I just ripped the elastic out, cut about 1-2 inches off the bottom, cut a triangle of fabric out of the middle to reduce their fullness, and then used the excess fabric from the bottom to create a tab and button closure over that triangle in the sleeve. And then cinching with a belt gives the waist definition and draws it up enough so that I can finally pass it off as a shirt. I can wear it with shorts and it doesn't look pajamas.

You should try doing this an old shirt. Or a dress. Its a great way to breathe new life into old clothes, its easy, and it only takes an hour at most.

And speaking of clothes, the new season of America's Next Top Model is premiering tonight.

Mason Jar DIY

Today I bring you a great way to reuse mason jars or any jars, really. Spaghetti sauce, jam, pickles, etc.
It's good for the environment and it helps keep you organized. We used ours to hold A's lunch utensils but you can use them for anything -- kitchen storage, craft storage, closet storage, garage storage, sewing storage (I use old spice bottles to hold buttons, needles, pins, etc).

What you'll need:

• glass jar with lid, cleaned and label removed
• sandpaper
• chalkboard spray paint
• newspaper
• chalk

This is really easy to do. Just sand the lid down so its a little rough (this will help prevent the paint from chipping) and wash and dry it. Then spread out the newspaper in an open area with plenty of air circulation (we like to do this part outside).

Lay the lid on the newspaper and spray on one to two light coats, overlapping slightly. You should wait a minute or two between each coat. After an hour or so it will be dry enough to handle but wait a full 24 hours before attempting any writing. Then just rub the whole surface with the side of a piece of chalk, erase, and you're ready to go.

I've been saving up some huge pickle jars to use this project on. I'm thinking they'll make great containers for pasta, flour, sugar, etc.