Retirement quilt for BOO's teacher

This year BOO had an amazing second grade teacher.  This teacher was one of those amazing ladies who really helps kids grow and loves to see their creativity.  BOO is a huge reader and very smart, but she's a little ditzy and needs an extra push to remember what she's supposed to be doing!  This special teacher is retiring this year and I hate that she is leaving because I want SASSY to get a chance to be in her class too :(.

I came up with the idea to make this special teacher a special gift!  I made her a quilt with the help of all the kids who each did their own quilt block for her!  She loved it, and the kids wer so proud of their work. (Even though some of them didn't take much time or effort on it....)

If you want to make your own, here is what I did!

Cut enough 9 inch squares for each child in the class from high quality white or tan fabric and my rotary cutter.

The teacher takes every Wednesday off to go to the dr. (She had a Tumor removed last summer in her head) so that was great for me to get into her class without her teacher knowing!

I bough a big pack of permanent fabric markers and took them and the fabric to school.  I gave each of the children a square and a piece of cardstock and told them to draw a picture of their favorite thing about the teacher/to do with their teacher/ thing their teacher had taught them this year.  Some of the kids drew elaborate pictures, some wrote 3 words, the rest were in between.

Once all the kids were done with their squares, I took them home and ironed them to make 100% sure the marker was set.  The markers I bought said they were set and washable after 24 hours, it's been 3 months so I think we are good :)

I stressed for those 2 months about what fabric I wanted to use to sash the squares.  I didn't want anything too busy, but some of th squares were quite plain.  Once day BOO mentioned that they had been learning about rainbows.  DONE!  Off I headed to the fabric store and bought 1/3 yard of rainbow colors.

Armed with my new fabric, I headed home and cut the fabric into 3 inch strips.  One color at a time I sewed the fabric to each of the 4 sides. I went through the rainbow and then started the rainbow over again.  Soon I had 19 squares ready to iron!

After all the squares were ironed, I layed it all out to see how I wanted it.  I ended up doing a 5x5 pattern even though I started by laying it out as 4x6.

Once I decided on my pattern I sewed them together making sure I stayed in rainbow order.

Once the quilt top was sewn I ironed it, making sure all the seams were going towards the color size so you can't see them.

At this point you can quilt it however you wish.  Send it out, tie it with yarn, or my favorite, free motion question it it!  I love doing free motion quilting, but these swirls on this big of a quilt were killer!  I even broke my quilting foot completely....

After the quilt was finally quilted I made some binding with leftover rainbow fabric.  My favorit way even to make binding is with 2 1/2 inch strips and if I am doing it scrappy, I cut each strip in half so the colors have more change!  Someday I Will take a bunch of pictures and shar my method!

I finally complete my project last night, so today was the day to take the quilt in.  I ended up at the school right as the kids bell rang to come in form recess, which is good because I normally end up there right as they head out.  The kids were so excited as I told her how they had made her something. Maybe was shocked they kept it a secret for 2 months!  She seemed to love it, and I assure her that it is fully washable and meant to be used!

There were 2 squares that were blank so I let the kids all sign their names.  I think it turned out great!

Projects like this just make life so sweet!  What a fun memory I won't soon forget!

Hello again!

Wow!  Has it really been that long since I have blogged?!? Almost 6 years?!?  So much has changed, let me write a quick update-

My "baby" BOO is now an 8 year old second grader!  She loves to read LOVES it!  She is currently on book 5 of the Harry Potter series and can always be found with a book, even when I went to her school today she was coming in from recess with a book!  She's taking dance lessons, piano lessons, loves soccer and will start coach pitch and swim team this month.  She is a great little girl!

The baby I had just had when I quit blogging is turning 6 in 3 weeks!  She's a SASSY pants and keeps me in my place quit regularly.  She only wears dresses and high heals.  She is a sweetheart who is almost ready to graduate from kindergarten 😰.  She loves to dance, tumble, frozen, Star Wars,  swimming and can't wait to  start piano lessons!

And finally my LITTLE MAN just turned 3!  He is a rough and tumble, crazy guy who loves to wrestle, punch, light saber fight and is a total mamas boy sweet heart.  He has me wrapped right around his finger for sure!

When I finished up we were headed into applications for vet school, 6 years later my husband has competed veterinary school and is now living his dream in southern Idaho.

Things have change a lot!  I'm still knitting, I'm quilting, but mostly I'm running after my 3 little loves and working on ur home/yard.

I'm excited to be back and hope to get this blog back up and running soon! Blogging on an iPad is different and I can't figure out how to add pictures....

The best sugar cookies!

The best sugar cookies!

Long time no talk!

Wow, anyone still out there? I really had no idea how much time and effort having 2 kids would take! Not to mention having a business! But I am back, and I will try to do better! :)

I ran across a promotion the other day for shutterfly where bloggers get 50 free cards! How awesome is that?!? Now if I can only get some nice pictures to add to ours, but that is besides the point! I love shutterfly for their great customer service, large selection and quick turn around! I have ordered Christmas cards in the past as well as photo books, mousepads and birthday cards and prints and they always turn our great! They have such an awesome selection that anyone can find something they love! My husband also loves Shutterfly because of their great prices! My mom also recently made my dad a book with all the pictures from their African safari in them for Christmas! Best of all is the great coupon codes that are always out there- that really helps make the things from Shutterfly affordable! I hope you will all go look at their selection of Christmas cards!

Choose something you love and go enter here to get your own 50 free cards today!

Have you seen this?

Having toddlers is like being at a frat party.....

This is too cute! Add your own in my comments section!

Wordless Wed

Wordless Wed

This is what I have been working on for a while now! :) Lol Our new little girl was born May 28 at 5:11 (15 days early) and weighed in at 8 pounds 8 ounces and 20 inches long! So 19 days earlier than her sister and a whole pound bigger! She is a little sweetheart and doing great! (Besides the fact she will be attached to billirubin lights for a few days :( )

Locks for Love

So on Wednesday I did something that I have been promising myself I would do for over a year now. Last year when we were at the Relay For Life fund raiser to benefit the American Cancer Society they had "locks for love" there to cut and collect hair for wigs for cancer patients. I had mentioned before that I wanted to do this, but I didnt have enough time to think it over and decided to pass then and promised I would do it this year!

SO as the year went on I thought about it a little bit, but never too seriosly. When I found out my baby would only be a month old, not to mention that we would not be living in the same town this summer, and that my family wanted to do an every-other-year relay I decided I better get serious and keep my promise. After being bugged and bugged by my sister and mom I finally decided to go ahead and do it. I was ready for a change, ready for summer, and my neice is in the "pull any hair near my hand" phase that I am so not looking forward to again....

So I walked in and my sister chopped off 13 inches of my hair! 13!!! Do you have any idea HOW MUCH hair that is?!?! It is alot! I am still not sure I am happy with my new do, I havnt had my hair this short since I was in 8th grade! But I am glad I can do my part to help someone in need!

Here are some much anticipated pictures.... please excuse the 36 1/2 week pregnant frumpy mom look! :)

BEFORE:
AFTER:

Car seat cover tutorial

I figured what better way to jump back into blogging than with a tutorial! I am doing a "mom and baby needs" swap on my diaper forum and was paired with a sweet mama expecting a new baby girl! I have been wanting to make myself a new carseat cover as well as a new tenty blanket thing like I have seen all the babes around town sporting on their car seats. So i figured I would try it out- cant be THAT hard right? RIGHT!

First I wanted to know how much fabric I would need- because my car seat is locked in the trailer and DH has the key! SO I found a couple of great tutorials and somewhat followed them. Car seat cover from receiving blanket
Detailed instructions

So I had pulled a couple of cute cuts out of my flannel stash and went right to work! I beleive these were both just 1 yard cuts- the tutorials I read said cut it 37 by 43 inches, and that is basically what I measured (even though a yard would be 36 by 42.... lol)

I put both my fabrics right sides together and folded it in half so I could round the corners. Cut the first 2 corners and then take the fabric you cut from that and place it over on the other side and cut it the same- This is my trick for getting the same curve, because I SUCK at cutting corners straight! Make sure to straighten up the cuts as you go so you dont have to "think" so much as you are sewing. (And to cut any salvages off)
Now you are ready to sew! Stitch all the way around the blanket- leaving at least 6 inches so you can turn it inside out! Now turn it inside out and you can iron it if you want to. (Im too lazy! :) ) Then you will want to top stitch. (Close the part where you turned it inside out first and make sure to catch all the pieces!) I just put my foot down against the edge and get a nice straight sewing line!
Now for the part that holds it on to the car seat! You can use fabric pieces with velcro, buttons or snaps, but if you are like me- you only got enough fabric to make the actual blanket! lol So I just used ribbon and will tie it in a bow onto the car seat handle! (perfect for a baby girl anyway!) I cut two pieces of ribbon each 22 inches long and I made sure to put fray check on the ends! (You can burn them!) I then measured 9 inches in and 17 inches from the top of my blanket and pinned the ribbon right there. I liked the tutorial that said to sew a rectangle- genious because then it has less stress on the ribbon! SO I did that!

Wallah! There you have it- the perfect car seat tent/cover! If DH comes home sometimes today I will try to get a picture of it on my seat! I hope the mama it is for loves it as much as I do! I think it turned out super fun!!

Wordless Wed

Yep, she thinks shes the boss! :)

blogging

I have no idea why it has become so hard for me to blog lately- could be the mountain of orders I am peeking out under, the 2 year old who always wants to "dance" and play "pwincess", the husband who needs rides to and from school because the $120 parking pass we bought only gives you 2 hours of parking at a time, or the fact that I am now 33 weeks pregnant and starting to freak out a bit about not getting anything done....

So is anyone still out there? I hope so! Sorry if I lost your interest, I promise I will try harder! :)

Not wordless Wed....

I love having a "pwincess!"

I am severely sorry for being so scarce. I have been SWAMPED! Every time I think I am almost caught up, I get another order! I LOVE it, but it makes things like blogging a little difficult. The main reason blogging is taking me more than a few seconds a day is because our internet is currently running at 2% capacity.... Yeah.... I finally got so fed up with the YEAR my computer will randomly go offline and need to be restarted and made DH call the provider. "Oh, looks like you are paying for the middle service and receiving 2% of your connection, you need a new modem box, but you have to pay for it." WHAT THE HECK?!?! You are telling me that being a customer for 3 years entitles us to a big. fat. nothing. Heck, dont you find it a bit ridiculous you are charging us full price for 2%? We should be paying for 2%... YUCK!

SO hopefully this will be fixed ASAP as apparently threatening to cancel may get you a new modem, but will NOT get you a discount because "you didnt call a year ago" Well, that is DH's fault, I asked him to! :) lol

Diapers, diapers, diapers....

This morning I sat down to work on an order for swim diapers, and I figured that since I would have my serger and machine out anyway I might as well get to work on making the new baby some more diapers (or have 15 when the baby comes... I dont think so!) So I already had diapers on my mind and was thinking about how happy I am that I hope to not buy a single disposable diaper for this new kid, and how much better cloth diapering is for the enviroment AND for the baby and the pocketbook!

SO when I sat down to check my facebook page I saw that someone had posted this article Pampers new dry max causes severe rashes I was a little bit intrigued because pampers were always the brand I bought when I would buy diapers, so I read it. WOW- I cannot even begin to tell you how sad I am for these babies and moms who are having to deal with incredible diaper rash problems just because the company changed the chemicals they use in creating the diapers. Yes, ChEmIcAlS... YUCK! Just another reason I am happy we use cloth and will be 100% exclusivley cloth with the new little one.

After I read this post I saw links for some more posts on Pampers on her site and this one caught my eye- Absurd Claims made by pampers another WOW....

So if you use disposables and ever want to take the plunge into cloth and see how amazing it can be for your baby, you, the enviroment and your pocket, please feel free to email me and I can help lead you in the right direction! I started using cloth because of monitary concerns, but I must say I will NEVER go back, no matter how much money we have! There are already enough chemicals out there getting on and into baby, there is no way I want to help that process along just so I dont have to change a diaper as often....

Cant catch a break...

Ever had an idea in your mind and then somehow, some way it could become a reality, but then it really cant? Yes, this is how I have felt both times I have done nursery's for my little ones. The first time around I spotted "baby ballerina by Daisy Kingdom" and I HAD to have it... but nope- it had been discontinued for years and people wanted $20 for a 6x6 inch square! So that was thrown out and I settled on something I never really liked.

This time around I had the perfect idea in my mind. I saw the "wanna be a cowboy" line by Riley Blake designs and I HAD to have it! PERFECT, could not have hand designed something better! But, I didnt have the cash on hand, so I waited until I did. I went to the store on Thursday and low and behold- the main fabric is sold out. So I buy 18 yards of cordinating fabrics and figure I can buy the main ones online. And I did! I was very excited! Until I got it, and it was cotton while all the rest of the fabric is flannel.... :( And guess what, Cant find it online! One of the fabrics is even discontinued for good! AHHHHHH!!!!

So I emailed every etsy shop that has even fat quarters of the line and tell them what I need in flannel. One by one they each emailed me back and let me know all they had was cotton. So at this point I am FREAKING OUT. I get online this afternoon just to check and I have an email from Kortnie of Quilt a Treasure . This SWEET and amazing shop owner told me she ewas sorry that she only had cottons, but she had seen the flannel's in the local quilt shop and would go over herself, purchase it for me, and mail it to me! Can you beleive it?!?!?! I cant! She may never know how much her kindness means to me and how many tears she stopped! Please go check out Kortnie's etsy shop, she has some darling things, and someone this amazing deserves to make some extra sales!!

Thoughtful Thursday

What did you want to be when you were growing up? How different is it from what you ARE doing?

I always wanted to be either a pediatrician or a veterinarian. The ped because I have ALWAYS loved little kids and babies. The vet, well im not really so sure! I have always liked animals, but I dont know why I wanted to be one!

Now I am just mommy and I love it! Obviously I have a few side businesses that I LOVE and as I got a bit older and more into the crafty part of life I knew I wanted to have my own store, either with fabrics and such or with baby items. Im well on my way! :)

Funny side note is that DH always wanted to be a pro football player or something- but dont all men! lol Now he is going to school to be a veterinarian! Funny how life turns out isnt it! Looks like I will end up having plenty of vet experience after all! :)

The joys....

Remember how I was complining the other day about having a tummy bug? Well I was certain my little one passed it on to me, that is until she woke up crying at 1 this morning and ran into my room yelling "potty, potty!" She smelled terrible and was very upset that she had had an accident. I changed my first messy diaper in 4 months and put her back to bed. She threw up about 20 minutes later and had also messed again.... poor little thing! I feel so bad for her! She ended up sleeping the rest of the night and is still in bed, I really hope she feels better today!

And as for me, I get to go to the dentist and get my cavities filled today- oh happy day.... NOT!

I guess on the bright side it can only really go up from there! lol

Happy Easter!

Wishing you and your families all a very happy Easter! I hope the Easter bunny found you, but I also hope you take a few minutes to remember to true meaning of Easter and the sacrifices made for each of us!

I will be spending my day with family, hunting eggs, eating and watching our churches "general conference" on tv. I hope you all have a wonderful day and get to spend it with those you love!

Yuck!

Ever had the tummy bug while pregnant? If not think of how much it hurts when someone is in bed rolling around and you are close to vomiting.... now put that person inside your stomach LOL So not fun! At least I got a day to lay around in bed....

Wordless Wed

The life of a farm kid...