Mary's Family Sweat Shop- Oops I Mean Craft Corner

So I finally got to the fabric store. Ben hates shopping there and I can't decide on a bunch of fabrics while I am trying to entertain him, so this time I had Grandma and Grandpa along, and it was a success. It took me over an hour to choose the right fabrics (I know, yuck). So once I got to the front, I told the girls what I was trying to make, and here was the huge issue: I could either get 14 yards and have plenty of fabric, but not in even lengths, or I could get 18 yards. With 18, I would be able to lay out the duvet cover in three equal length sections, but I would have way more fabric than I would need, and it would cost me an extra fifty bucks. I'm cheap. I ordered 14 and decided my husband and my mother in law would be able to work it out.

I wanted the duvet cover to be double sided, so that when you turn it down, you see the other, coordinating fabric. I was so nervous about this brown and blue floral pattern, but the light blue really highlights the colors that I like, and our drapes are the sage color (that appears grey-ish in this photo). The background is a bright yellowy cream, really cheery.

So we (ahem, they) had to work out a way to cut the fabric so that I could use the 14 yards, but in a way that would look intentional, of course. Well, apparently I created one of the world's biggest conundrums and it took them an extraordinary amount of time (and many sheets of St. Jude's notepad paper) to work it out. But in the end, I had instructions on how much to cut, in what dimensions and in what order and how to piece it together, AND saved fifty big ones. That one on the bottom right- so ugly. Scott was upset that what would work conveniently mathwise had to also pass aesthetics first. Bummer, right? Here are the final plans:

Okay, so sewing right along, and I go to pin the sides and...

 Ya. Oh well, I just went with it. Once I sewed it up, I tried it on the comforter just to make sure it was going to fit okay, and then trimmed off the excess. The unbalanced layout only shows on the underside, so no big deal. Plus, duvet covers are so forgiving because they are all... well, poofy.

Our last Pottery Barn duvet cover had ribbons on the inside to tie the corners in, and Scott really loved that. So, I ran upstairs and got some ribbon I had leftover from something and cut it into strips. It started fraying like crazy so I folded each in half and sewed a seam on there to keep the mess under control. Then I sewed two onto each corner. They work great! My perfect and beautiful PB duvet cover and euro shams are in the closet for now. Our cats actually pooped on them and I had to cut out the stain. I have big plans for a quilt in the future, but even if I had that now, kids would then have their way with it, so... it's being saved. This material is all 100% cotton (as opposed to, ahem, silk, so...) way easier to wash. Kids change your life. So do cats. Oh by the way, those naughty kitties are loving living outside, so that's a wonderful thing.

 Okay. So now for the button holes. I waited until Ben had gone to sleep because I was sooooo nervous. I sewed three sides up all the way and one side I... well first I forgot that I had to sew finished edges on the button-up side! So I ripped out a little of the stitching on each side and did that for both sides. Then I sewed in about six inches from each corner, just to make sure the comforter would stay inside the cover and not want to bulge out too much. Then I pinned where I wanted the buttons and practiced button holes over... and over. Until finally it was obvious that they weren't going to get any better and so I had to go for it. Here are the button hole settings on my machine, in red. Literally, you just lay down the button and mark with a pencil at both ends, then start with 1. Stitch the length of the button, then click over to 2, and do a couple stitches along the bottom (I did like 20, so... you may not need to be that enthused) and then click to 3, go back up the left side, and then 4 to finish the top. Two problems: going straight on steps 1 and 3. and trying not to miss the pencil mark in the light of the machine's lamp. Oops! Then when you're done, you use a seam ripper to cut a line up the fabric in the middle, to make the hole. Presto. And try not to sweat buckets of panic all over the fabric.

 Here is a button hole all finished up, and one of the buttons I used. I had six blue and cream buttons, all different kinds... so I used six buttons.

And here is the finished product, on the bed! I also have big plans for matching euro shams, when I get the energy, and hopefully a few throw pillows (even though Scott hates them.. maybe just one long one?). And I have frames leaning against the wall that are going to replace that poster, and hang above that shelf on the right.

Thanks to my mother in law for all her help! I would not have been able to power through this so fast without her. I am loving all these fun projects... My wallet is not. But, when all was said and done, the duvet cover cost me $150, in fabric. Not bad!

Mary's Saving Some Green Craft Corner

Hey guys! So I finally got around to covering our new (ish) dining room chairs. Hurray! I've seen my mom do this a million times but she used a staple gun, and after having the husband look around the garage, we couldn't find the one I had in college (oh the black hole of art supplies) so... we had to do a few different things.

This here is the fabric I picked out at Beverly's in town. I am so sorry about our awful carpet. We would fix it, but... as you know from this post, we don't want to throw any more money into this house. So. I am in a rug search.

Aaand the indents are from the high chair we used to use for Ben- they are totally temporary, I just took it off, and now of course, you can't see them at all since the re-covering.

So, as you can see in the photos below, the white canvas itself was actually a cover on the chair seat, held on by elastic. So I wrapped the thin cotton fabric around that cover and used a plain old stapler to temporarily attach it until we could screw it back onto the chair.

Here is our assembly line in action. Word to the wise- if you have an OCD husband like mine, make sure the fabric is the same direction on all the chairs.

Of course, until I broke the stapler. Oops! After that someone had the fine idea of using thumbtacks, and life went forward again. There you have it! Six reupholstered (ha) dining room chairs!

The Elephant in the Room

Or, actually, the huge jaggedy stone fireplace set at a completely frustrating angle! Lately I've been getting a little... restless. I am starting to get the itch to do something more with our house. I guess it's my new blog obsession, Young House Love. Suddenly, I want our house to reflect more of us. I have a million art projects churning in my brain, which is a wonderful change of pace. I want more than photos on our walls. I want words and traditions and tokens of our story to reflect back at us the fun we have together and the love we have for each other. However.... BUZZ KILL:

Ya. Well, that is also a buzzkill. But the real buzzkill is that we are going to have to sell our house in the next few years, for a variety of reasons (perhaps one of them is now this %$#^& fireplace)... and we are hoping and praying to break even (or run away really really fast and hope we blend in with all the other people up the creek without... a chance in heck of selling their houses). So... painting, buying accents and installing shelves and custom art? Not so exciting when we could be turning around and tearing it all down in a few months. So I guess I have to store all that inspiration in the back of my brain and address...

Mr. Buzzkill #2, alias... The Elephant Huge Rocky Fireplace in the Room.

Here is the annoying layout:

 Dress it up, you say? Buy some attractive looking fireplace tools and a couple of charming arm chairs in interesting patterns, perhaps? FAIL! I have a soon-to-be mobile, curious and quite sensitive boychild in the house. So the answer is not in the Embrace It category, but more in the Stack Things in Front of It category. So I did. I bought a huge, comfortable chair with ottoman, and moved Ben's toy box alongside, and now have this messy sort of "Oh! Gosh is that a huge fireplace back there?" type of arrangement now. Like when people tear up their carpet and realize that they have hardwood underneath. That kind of tone.

The chair is there in a light green, and the toybox in brown. And still you see the access point over there to the left of the chair. Ugh. Its really bothering me.

Anyway, we have been doing a ton of traveling and I have a lot of stuff to say on the subject of friends, teething and rude-things-people-say-to-moms in the blog cooker, but... this big, no corners in my living room problem was just weighing heavy on my mind. So glad its off my chest! Stay tuned.

I Simply Remember My Favorite Things...

And then I don't feeeEEL....SOOooo baaaaad...

Well, Ben feels bad, so we are looking at a few of his favorite things. Before he was born, I was pacing up and down the aisles of baby stores, trying to push my mind into this future place and figure out what we would really, really use. Just yesterday I realized- hey! This is all his stuff! We are using it! I won't take credit and say that my above average shopping skills and my friend's brilliant gift-giving skills just both happened to be on fire. But the truth is, I can't remember returning one single thing to the store after Ben was born. I love it all.

Myth: That you can have too many cushy, soft baby blankets.
False. Who would ever want less cushy cuddly blankets? I am looking at four right now, just from my spot on the couch and we use all of them to death. Special mention: A satin edged blanket that Auntie added the letters of his name onto by hand, along with a cute little patch that says "Made with Love". Also this soft, luxurious, suede-ey number from Steve and Anna, embroidered: Benjamin 2010.




Myth: You will only use the bouncer for three months and the baby swing for much longer. (These myths were mine, by the way, made up in my head).
False! (Sometimes): Observe, above, our naptime tools, at seven months with no sign of letting up.
1) Bright Starts Bouncer (thanks, Guggias!) sans cozy infant insert, and now regularly using all the buckles the sweet thing offers (sadly, only two) to try to pin down the writhing little beast so he doesn't plop out the side like a wriggling fish. He will nap in his crib sometimes, but not for as long as he will in the living room.
2) Pacifier (I'm such a sucker --ooo fun with puns!--for wanting his name on everything). We are getting our -well, Grandma's- money's worth out of that thing. Around his birthday we will work on weaning. Ugh, not looking forward to that.
3) Puppy, whose face and ears get eaten and petted as part of the winding down portion of this event. SO CUTE. Currently shopping for a backup as apparently this will be The Lovey. Numero Uno. The One Most Wanted. You know.

Baby swing. Sadly, he was over it before four months old. I took it really hard.

I'm out of myths for now. Sorry. I may come up with more later.

Another favorite: Our borrowed Infantino carrier. I loved the Moby when he was little, and used it all the time, but now that he is bigger, this is definitely faster and easier to use. Dad also used the Moby when it was in full effect, but here we are trekking to BevMo and Costco with baby in tow Sunday afternoon. Looking back at this photo, I can see he was getting sick already. Poor kid. We were stalking this other family (not on purpose) who apparently had the same to-do list that we did. Awk...ward...

The Fisher Price Space Saver High Chair. Not for everybody, but I love that I can turn it into a booster seat and pull him right up to the table when he starts eating with us. It doesn't take up a lot of room (hence the name, it sits on a chair) and... well, whatever. It's great, we use it three times a day, yada yada. It is, predictably, the favorite place to experiment with tossing things onto the ground.

This is where we hang out like five or six times a day, so it's a big deal. We hang our diaper covers on those hooks, with Tina the Tiger. In the beginning, that snowflake was a really big deal. Now the airplane that hangs above him is the big attraction. Our cloth diapers are stacked in the top drawer. Nail clippers, nose sucker guy, butt spray, hand sanitizer, baby acetaminophen (generic), and lotion. We love it, it's a great system, that works for us and makes it all feel really easy and centrally located. His clothes are just to the left out of the picture in another dresser.

He loves his crib, and always smiles when we put him in it. He loves his mobile, and we take it with us when we travel. He also has a starlight turtle thing, that shines stars on the ceiling at night, we travel with that, too. We got the breathable bumper, and he sleeps in a sleepsack, but its always a strange temperature in that room, and early on we started putting a blanket over his feet. Now that he can grab the blanket and roll around (even though he really doesn't) we only use this beautiful knit blanket from his great-aunt Sherri. I can't believe she handmade it, it's gorgeous. He loves that and it looks so cozy in there.

Bathtime! Scott (or Grandma and Grandpa when they are visiting) gives him a bath every night. We have been using this really cute whale tub since he was about two months old (before that I brought him into my bath and held and washed him). The jury is still out on how long he will stay in this thing. I am all for sticking him in a real bath as soon as possible, but a face plant into the water really makes you want to put that off. So we might wait until he can crawl. Not pictured: a gorgeous, roomy, cushy towel that our friend Jessica gave us that we use every. night. Yes, we get all "ugh!" every time we realize we have to pull out a flat, thin back up out of the drawer because the beloved is being washed. It's made by Tourance. I should really find out if they make them for grownups...

And in other news...I just wanted a photo of his cute little clothes hanging in the closet. Woops, unedited gray-ish photo, oh well...I'm pretty much obsessed with one-piece things, although I try not to depend too much on them. They are a really easy backup outfit for the diaper bag, because you don't have to feel around for multiple pieces.

Summer swim clothes! Scott is trying to get signed up for swim lessons, he wants to take Ben as soon as he can. I am just so excited to take photos of he and his Dad in these cute swim trunks! He has three pairs. Ya. Accidental. But it makes for a cute photo!

Finally got the baptism outfit! I just wanted to find something appropriate and affordable. At first I was looking for more of a knit one-piece number, but ya. A bit pricey. So he is going with Spring/Little Boy Church type attire. Pretty cute if you ask me. Plus I know what size he wears in Carter's brand, so it's easier to plan ahead.


Okay, fun times! It will be fun to show Ben all the things he used when he was a baby. I wonder which ones will stick around in his memory. I have a stuffed frog I loved as a child (named: Froggo, pronounced "Frog Oh") and I have a photo of me holding him as a baby. Up until I saw that photo, I never realized how long he had been around. It did really explain the chewed eyes he had.

What is the long cherished thing you still have from childhood? The One Most Wanted, that kind of thing. Ready.... GO!

9 Weeks

These are my first belly pics! I know they are kind of ridiculous, but I had to start somewhere. I have been losing and gaining weight, but pretty much hovering in the same area, so there didn't seem to be any reason to take weekly pictures. But its good that I have these so when I do get big, there will be something to compare them to!
Well, this last week has been really promising. Wednesday was a really good day, I felt so good I was actually able to go out for a walk! Thursday I felt really down again, though and that was discouraging. But today I felt good again! I wish there was a pattern to the good days, something that I was doing differently (on or before) that I could duplicate. But I do whatever I have to do each day to get some calories down, and my nausea runs my life. The last week or so seemed like a long stretch of bad days and I started getting really down. I just feel so isolated and helpless. I have a really hard time getting up the stairs, reading, even talking sometimes. I've been feeling really weepy and emotional, and Scott has been working 55-60 hours each week and through the weekends, so he has had demands on him from all angles.

I put up some pics of the yard project! A landscaper built a fence on our property (one of our neighbors hired him and paid for it- awesome!) So when I was checking out the fence he offered to help us do some projects of our own on the cheaper side because business has been really slow for him. He started talking about the back patio, but I dismissed that immediately. I knew what I wanted: That blasted front yard! He started on Tuesday and was done yesterday. AMAZING. They put in a sprinkler system and sod and picked up my liquidambar tree and planted it free of charge. Its just a twig right now but all my research says its fast growing. So, it felt like another boring, isolated week, but really I got a lot done! I am really looking forward to my second trimester and feeling better!

Day 24

So, on Dec 2, it will be another round of pregnancy tests, unless my period does me a favor by coming early (which would be great but never happens lately). I guess its the clomid working which drags my cycles out to normal length. My period used to come every 3 weeks, which was terrible except when youre trying to have a baby, because you don't have to wait as long through that anxious part.

Scott and Chubba were enjoying some sports on TV before we headed over for some Thanksgiving grub.

This month has been really busy, with travelling everywhere to see friends. It was really great to see the Puccinelli's and the Schmalbach's. Holding little kids makes my world go round. And the parents are pretty great, too.

Scott dug up the front yard and is trying to rake all of the leaves and rocks out before he digs trenches for the sprinklers. However, he got pretty overwhelmed by the whole process and basically just left it as a dirt hill. Left it for so long, that it began to grow its own lawn, in bright green patches. So... I guess at least it looks better than it did before.

Our deal is that he needs to finish it by the time we have a baby. And I'm not required to do anything to it, which is why I allow it to be totally ignored... so I'm not called out to do it.

I also did a painting this month! My uncle asked me to do a painting of his friend's dogs as a Christmas gift. They had both passed away and my uncle wanted to do something for him, to commemorate them.  It came out pretty well, and really got me going! I mean, half the battle is setting up and cleaning up, so once you have all the materials out to do one... it really makes sense to do more. So, we will see what I bust out with next! I included a photo of the watercolor for you.

Well, Scott and Steph are both out of town today, so I am hangin by myself until tomorrow. I am planning on doing some reading, sleeping (hopefully some exercise but my motivation is way low) and just general relaxing. Hope you all are having a great Thanksgiving weekend!