Christmas present projects

Here they are.  It seems like I did so much more!  I certainly was strained for time at the end.  I think it seemed like so much because of the repetition.  For example I did four of the nephew presents and have two more under way for my own sons that didn't get done by Christmas.

Nephew present is a smaller variation of this:
JCaroline
I got some micro machines to go with it since the roads are small.

It rolls up and ties so it can be taken with to church or wherever little hands might need some entertainment.

Niece present:
I was going to do this with a few changes and peg people to go with it:
http://www.cookiemag.com/magazine/blogs/nesting/2008/02/diy-dollhouse.html
but I decided to do that for next year so I can take more time with it and deck it out nice.
And I made them this this year:
Little Birdie Secrets
my frames aren't as cute but they'll work...

and for my littlest niece:
I followed this idea: Smashed Peas and Carrots

Flannel on one side and minky on the other.  It is supposed to be a giraffe but it came out more of an indeterminate animal.
For My Mom-in-law I bought this pattern on Etsy and made her this bag:
Ali Foster
Great easy to follow pattern.  I think next time I make it I will make the handle longer- but that's just personal preference.  I like cross body bags.

For my mom and sister I made tree pendants... I just kind of winged it though I'm sure I was inspired by wire wrap pendants I've seen before...

I was pleased with the way it turned out.

I made a couple other things but I didn't take photos of them so... they'll just be left out.

Currently I am working on a present for my niece Makayla for her B-day and then I will be working on a present for my niece Cheyenne.  Sadly they will be very late b-day presents but hopefully they will make up for it in their coolness. :)

Progress

So the week started off slowly due to the Stomach flu hitting Asher and I over the weekend.  Even so I managed to start to put a daily routine in place.  My kitchen has been clean more this week than in a long time.  As the week ends I feel myself losing momentum and motivation.  Matt will have this weekend off but then he may be working 7 day weeks for the next three weeks.  This will be a true test of my endurance with my goals.

To keep me on track I need to:
Make a checklist of chores for the week.
Go to bed earlier
Catch up on my laundry

I am pregnant with our third. :) Which means I have less energy... which also means it's important that I concentrate that energy wisely.  If I keep up this mild routine I will have more energy to focus on having fun with the kids and I will be able to take a day here or there to relax without the whole house falling into disaster. I have definitely seen the benefits of the routine over the last week.  Just gotta keep that momentum going!

New Year's Resolutions

So obviously I tapered off in my posts last year.  I just didn't make things simple enough I guess.  And I am lazy.  I did continue throughout the year to work at my goals and they were not an entire failure but I certainly wasn't consistent.  So this year I thought I would build some consistency.  Here is the basic routine so that I will get some basics done around here!

Morning routine
Make bed
Shower
Matt: sweep floors, empty dishwasher, take out trash/recycling
D:  make breakfast, wipe counters and table, fill up dishwasher, clean bathroom, prepare for dinner


Afternoon routine (or midday more like- during Asher's nap most likely)
Do a weekly chore(ie laundry, menu planning, etc...)
Do a monthly chore( ie clean out the fridge, clean the baseboards, vacuum under the couches)
Declutter monthly focus area
Evening routine:
An hour before Matt gets home pick up all toys, then boys can watch one show- every other day it should be a shorter show and they will take a bath(while I clean the bathroom). 
Matt: put food away, sweep, make lunch
D: do dishes, wipe counters and table

So I think this is a reasonable routine.  Once we get the hang of it I won't feel like I am cleaning all day long(I have a lot of catching up to do!) and I will enjoy Matt's participation.  His responsibilities have not increased too much but it will be of great help to me to have us cleaning together.  We've been kind of easing into it and I think it will work.  Tomorrow will be the first full day of trying it fully.  It will have to adjust depending on Matt's hours but this should work for the job he has starting tomorrow.  I will have to adjust and pick up when he can't due to long hours.  Hopefully I can overcome my rebellious attitude toward cleaning and make a nice home for us.  

My other goal is to do more projects and preschool time with the boys as well as at least one play date a week. 

My plan and routine is inspired by this site: Just Mommies

There are days on her monthly calendar that are catch up days. If I am all caught up then I will reward myself by doing a craft on those days. :)  Now there's motivation for me to stay caught up, right?  I have a huge list of crafts I need to do!

Penultimate Page and Dark Faerie tales and The Dark Divine

Penultimate Page is a blog by a 16 year old girl about YA ficition and cupcakes!  Does it get better than that?  Yummy!  Currently she is holding a contest for The Dark Divine which as you know by now was written by a former roommate of mine, Bree Despain.  I would love to read this book before it comes out!  It would just be too cool!  So go become a follower of Penultimate Page and comment I referred you on the contest page.  Penultimate Page is doing the NaNoWriMo challenge.  The goal is to write a novel (approximately 50,000 words) in 30 days.   I am impressed and tempted to try it next year. 

Dark Faerie Tales has an awesome interview with Bree and also a giveaway of an ARC.   Dark Faerie Tales has great interviews with other YA authors as well and a great review of Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick.  Check it out!   

switch to cloth?

My little Asher Basher has eczema.  It seems to flare up with various foods he eats and maybe because of his diapers.  I switched him to some huggies pure and naturals for a month and his eczema started clearing up.  He went back to the normal huggies and his eczema started acting up again.  I  did my best to not change other things (I lotioned him the same, didn't change his diet).  We have switched back to the pure and naturals again to test the theory some more.   My guess it is a fragrance or something that is causing the eczema to act up.  Or maybe I did change more things than I realized... we'll see.  The Pure and Naturals cost twice as much as our other diapers so I am thinking maybe we will switch to cloth?  It sounds like a huge expensive pain but cloth diapering has come a long way in the last 30 years so it is easier than it used to be.  It will definitely be motivation to potty train! And may even help with potty training.  And it's good for the environment.  And in the long run it is cheaper so if I get the hang of it I can do it with the next baby.

So now the trick is... what system do I get/try?  I like the idea of the gdiapers or the Grobaby diaper systems that are hybrid.  They offer both flushable inserts and cloth inserts.  I've read that the gdiapers have a harder learning curve and are leakier until you get the hang of it.  The grobaby version seems newer and more popular but I think they are pricier too.  I've also read that the flushable inserts are more gross to deal with than the cloth but the cloth aren't absorbent enough for night time.  I've read where people use the gdiaper cover with bumgenius microfiber inserts and a layer of fleece over that (microfiber is too absorbent and will suck needed moisture off of the skin too but the fleece protects from that).  I'd like something not too bulky since he is a toddler and moving around a ton.  Any recommendations? So many decisions!

So the very day I thought about switching  to cloth Little Birdie Secrets offered a Cloth diaper giveaway!  A gift certificate to Great Lakes Diaper Company.  Woohoo!  This would be a great opportunity for me to get some Grobaby or Fuzzibuns to try!  Go check out the options at Great Lakes Diaper company- as I said- Cloth diapers have come a long way.

The Top Half of the Costume!

I finished it on time!  :)  It really is not a hard costume to make.  I was a little worried about Asher wearing it but he had no problems with it!  He didn't really wear the hood up but I wasn't really expecting that anyway. 

Like the sweatpants I started with a hoodie I got from a second hand store for 3 bucks:

I drew scallops on the felt using the same cup for a template.  Cut them out and glued them on.

 

 

After about this point I couldn't glue it along the whole hoodie anymore.  I did short separate pieces in just the front on either side of the zipper and on the back. Then I cut out individual colored scales like I did for the back and glued those randomly- or where I need to hid imperfections.  I also cut out eyes and eyelids and glued those on the hood.  Oh and I lined the front of the hood with white triangles for teeth. 

The finished hood... and now for the final project on the little boy who wouldn't stay still and liked to stomp in his costume.

 

 

Stomp Stomp Stomp!!!

I really think felt and hot glue guns are really cool inventions. :)  Hope you had a happy Halloween!

Dragon Costume continued

Let's start with the Wings:

I started with your basic dollar store fairy wings(You could also bend a metal hanger to the shape you want).   Definitely too girly for my boy dragon but they have a nice wire frame to work with.  I noticed that  the red fabric that was covering the wings looked a lot like nylons so I checked the Dollar store for nylons without gold glitter flowers on them.  I found these silver ones.

So I cut off all of the red and recovered my fairy wigs in Silver shimmer.

Basically I just tied them on- nice and easy.  And yet... they still look too much like fairy wings.  So I looked up some dragon wings on-line and I realized that I should get rid of the bottom wings and make the top wings more jagged.  

There's a sneak peek at the pants. :)  So you see I have bent the wire to be more angular and gotten rid of the bottom wings.  Since this is a costume for an 18 month old the size of the wings should be perfect.  Next I  used embroidery floss to accentuate the sharpness of the angles and keep the nylons from being too loosy goosy.

Hopefully if you click on the photos you can see it better...  I pinned the wings on the back of the costume.