New Beds!

So here are the girls' new beds--they LOVE them, and I really like how they turned out, too. I wish there was more room in their bedroom, but for now, this will have to do.

Breanne's bed:


and Janey's bed (as modeled by Janey):


And to show how much Janey is like her dad:


When I started dating Cory I was somewhat appalled to learn that he slept with a million blankets on his bed, all just kind of curled up around him and over him, not with any real sense of order... I can't sleep unless my bedding is on straight, with the sheets tucked in at the bottom so they don't move so much. While it's never become a source of contention in our relationship, it is something we've had to adjust to. Looks like Janey takes after her dad, at least this far. She just looks so sweet all curled up in her blankets, though. :)

Finished!

The felt playhouse is complete! Well, actually, I still need to sew one piece of velcro onto a piece of spinach, and make some birds for the birdhouse, but other than that, it is done. Yes, I know it is 2:00 am, but I had to post the pics for you, because I'm just so excited it's done!

The front:


The door and mailbox both open:


Side one (the birdhouse is a pocket thing, so birds can sit inside, and you can use the watering can to water the flowers, then pick them--and they have pipe cleaner in the stems to give them a little more stability (though I should've used more, probably). Also, you can open and close the curtains from inside):


The back/garden (you can pick all the veggies, or just water them with the watering can from the other side):


Side 2 (the bone comes off, and the door is a flap you can crawl through to get into the house, also you can pick the apples):


I think in all it took me just over 20 hours from first cut to complete, but I think it will have been worth it--I'm hoping the girls love it.

Quilts!

The first parts of my Christmas projects are complete! For Christmas this year, the girls are getting new beds--the baby will need the crib in a few months, so to prep, Janey will be moving up to Breanne's toddler bed (can't believe she's old enough for that yet! Makes me a little bit sad, to be honest), and Breanne is getting a pretty new white twin sized bed that we bought off of a Kilger family friend. To celebrate the new beds, I have been making new quilts.

Janey's:

And Breanne's (she picked out the fabrics herself):

Breanne's was my first attempt at ever piecing a quilt, so I'm not going to give you too many detail pictures, because nothing lines up exactly right... but I am pleased with how it turned out. I had intended on just tying it with yarn, too, but found that I couldn't get the needle and yarn through all the fabric at the seams, so I decided to sew it together, instead... good thing no one really looks at the back, or I'd be embarrassed at how not straight the lines are.

Anyway--now I'm excited to put up the beds and see how they look (and how the girls do in them...). And don't worry, when Janey moves up to a twin bed, I'll piece her a quilt too. Don't think I'm favoring one over the other--I made Breanne simpler bedding when she moved to a toddler bed, too, just like Janey's. I just wanted to try something new for Breanne's. And honestly, I love how both of them turned out.

On Sewing a Felt Playhouse

I originally started this as a comment on the last post, but when it started to get too lengthy, I just decided to put it on the blog as an actual post--hopefully it will encourage some of you. :) So no new pictures yet, but soon, I promise. This one is just more about the logistics of sewing a felt playhouse.

Sewing with felt is SO easy. I really haven't sewn hardly at all since my 7th grade home ec class. A couple little blanket things, but really, that was it. This year I just felt like jumping in, so I have. Felt is nice because it is so forgiving, and you don't have to worry about hemming it at all, because it doesn't really fray. I haven't even worried about turning anything inside out to hide seams--the seams are part of the charm with felt, I think. I love it. To save on $$, I bought it when it was only $2.00/yd at JoAnn Fabrics. This goes a LONG way, since their felt bolts are 72". (I'm positive some of the people at JoAnn's thought I was crazy or rude or whatever on Black Friday when I had my seriously loaded up cart of felts to be cut, but the savings were absolutely worth it. $2/yd vs $5-6/yd? Not missing that deal, that's for sure.) I used some of the templates Jill provided on her blog (found at Jill's site) as guides, and cut others of my own out of posterboard I had hanging around the house. I still have all the templates, too, if anyone wants to borrow them. As far as cutting goes, I do have a cutting board and rotary cutter, but I haven't used them hardly at all--you definitely don't need those for this project. I think the hardest part, really, of sewing this whole project has been working with the large pieces of felt on the sewing machine--trying to sew in the middle of a wall is a bit of a trick. Not really hard, just takes more effort than the rest of the project. If you're doing a house to fit over a round or oval table, I'd recommend still doing it in a couple pieces, just to cut down on the size of the fabric you're sewing on. Also, remembering to sew velcro on the backs of pieces *before* sewing the front to them and stuffing them...but I think that just might be my inability to plan ahead.

As for the time factor--I won't lie, this has taken me a lot of hours, but I just sew while we watch our shows at night, which makes me feel like I'm actually doing something productive, instead of just mindlessly watching tv. I sewed a few of the smaller parts during Janey's naptime, but I do want this to be a surprise for the girls, so I try not to do much while Breanne is around.

Upon taking on this project, there were some expenses I expected--the felt, velcro and the stuffing, mainly. I didn't really expect (though I should've, if I'd thought through it) the expense of the thread (I wanted different colors to match the felt), which was like $1.50-2.00 a spool, and then bobbins to go with each color (I bought a 12 pack of empty ones for like $2.00 at Walmart). Also needed are pins to hold things together while sewing. That's about all I can think of right now--so all told, the house has probably cost me close to $70.00, but I will have a ton of leftover felt, velcro, stuffing and thread, which I think I'll probably use for the dolls and crayon rolls I mentioned before, and a quiet book when I get up the energy to whip up one of those. I could actually probably do the whole interior of the house with what I have left (when I was calculating how much I'd need for the exterior, I didn't realize the bolts were 72", which means I have a lot left over). I just need to decide if I want to do that or not. I mean, a fireplace, a fridge (where you could put the fresh veggies from the back of the house), curtains... what could be cuter, seriously? I'm just not sure if I should limit the girl's imaginations like that. If I leave it blank, it could be whatever they want it to be inside... decisions, decisions.

Anyway, not sure if this post is helpful or not, but I think you should all know--this really hasn't been *hard* necessarily, just time consuming, and an investment. I hope the girls will play in it enough to make up for all that's gone into it, and I really think they will. Felt is pretty durable, too, so it should last a good long time, hopefully through all our kids. I love that I will just be able to put it all away, so it doesn't take up a ton of space in our little house. If you want to make one, and you have the means, I'd really encourage you to--it's not a scary project. I've also seen several people make them out of sheets or other fabrics they have hanging around their houses already--that seems like a great idea to me, too. Felt is nice because velcro sticks to it anywhere you put it, but using what you have obviously has its own benefits. And that is all I think I have to say about it... today. :)

Coming Soon...

How all of these (plus some more embellishments)...





add up to create one of these...

I've been working on this, along with several other sewing projects, a whole lot lately, especially at night, which is why I haven't been blogging lately. I hope to start posting finished projects soon... Janey's blanket is done, Breanne's just needs a border and back and to be tied, and for the playhouse I just need to sew the pieces on the last side, and sew it all together. Or decide if I want to do the interior, too... it's been such a fun project, and I think (and hope!) that the girls will love it! If I still have time after all this, I plan on doing a few of these, and these for stockings. I'm excited for this to be such a home-sewn Christmas--I've learned a ton, and really really enjoyed the sewing!

Crafty

Yesterday I finally went and got the supplies I'd need to make my own wreath for fall--I've been wanting something fun to put on my door for a while, but didn't want to pay a fortune for it all. Now, don't be deceived, this was still almost as much as buying one pre-made (read: $20), but I like it better than any of the ones I saw. What do you think?

New Curtains

So I've had this fabric for curtains for the girls' room since Breanne was about 6 months old, I think... and a month or so ago I finally got around to sewing them and putting them up. I like how they turned out, what do you think?

New House

No, we're definitely not moving.  With all the birthday festivities, the girls ended up with two large boxes.  They've enjoyed playing with them the last couple weeks, so I decided to make them into something a little bit cooler--which they've totally loved.

Welcome to Breanne and Janey's house!

Would you like something from my kitchen?

What's that?  Eggplant?  Sure, let me get that for you.

Wait, wait, look at me!  Over here!  With the blue blue eye!

Yeah.  Me.  I'm pretty darn cute, even with my funny face.  

Wanting to play inside.

Sleeping in the house.

Who knew boxes could be such easy fun?

Making Baby Wipes

I've been meaning to do this post for a while now.  A couple of months ago, I got sick of buying wipes.  I loved the Target brand wipes for both their price, and their quality, but the drive to Target was just too much to justify, just for a box of wipes.  Especially since I never seemed to leave with just a box of wipes...  So anyway, with a little internet searching, and some help from my friend Heather, over at Want What You Have, I came up with this super-easy solution.  I'll be honest, ever since we received a box of Kirkland brand wipes for Christmas, I've felt spoiled, and might be a little bit sad to go back, but the cost savings alone is enough to justify it for me.  Hopefully this will help out some of you, too.

So here are your basic ingredients:

You need: 

2 Tbsp. Baby Soap, 

2 Tbsp. Baby Oil, 

2 1/2 Cups Hot Water, 

and a roll of Bounty Paper Towels (the really nice, thick, expensive kind.  Don't worry, they're still cheaper than a pack of nice wipes, especially since you get two packs of wipes per roll of paper towels).

You'll also need a container that can hold your half-roll of paper towels--mine is actually an old brown sugar container from a set of canisters we got at BB&B for $10.00, and it does the job perfectly.  You can use old wipes boxes, too, but you have to fold the wipes up the right way yourself, which is a big turn-off for me.

If your baby has a little bit more sensitive skin, as mine does, you may wish to switch to Coconut Oil (which seems to be in a solid state, actually), and I also switched to the Oatmeal baby soap, which is supposed to be gentler.

The first step is to cut your paper towels in half. This is the hardest part. I usually use my little hand saw, or a serrated knife. Choose a half to use for this set of wipes, and save the other one for next time. Then, after you've decided on your ingredients,  pour your hot water into a bowl (I just do it all in my measuring cup, for ease), and then you add your oil.  If you're using baby oil, you can just continue at this point.  If you're using coconut oil, you need to wait for it to melt, like I'm doing here.

Once the oil is pretty much melted, you can add your soap,

and then thoroughly stir it all together. I think the oatmeal soap is bubblier, for some reason.

At this point, you put your paper towels into your container, and then pour the mixture over it. Most of it should go into the center, but make sure to pour some on the top, and down the sides as well. I usually only use about 1 1/2-2 cups of the mixture (but make the whole thing so I get the right soap/oil/water ratio).

Now put your lid on, and flip the container upside down. Leave for 5 minutes and check your email, or my blog or something. :)

When you come back, you should find the paper towel center very easy to pull out, and when you take it out, it should start the wipes coming up for you!

Just continue to pull the wipes up from the center, and enjoy the cheap goodness of having done it yourself!  

P.S. Sorry about the sideways pulling-up pic--I can't seem to get it to flip, and I don't really care to figure out why right now.  Off to bed for me.

My Weekend Project

My bathroom before:

During:

And After!:

It's a little brighter yellow than I expected it to be, but I really love it! Especially compared to the weird white/blue/gray that it was sloppily painted before. Thanks so much for your help, Cory and Katie!