Z's birthday gift!

My nephew Z turns 5 next week (I mean, seriously, where does the time go?? 5 years old already?!) so I made him his birthday gift today.

A little background: I made my brother a Cubs scarf for Christmas and Z requested one for his birthday. I did one even better! In addition to the scarf, I made a pretty stinking cute fleece stocking cap to go with it. I sewed it together (using my awesome new machine of course!) and used my rotary cutter to slice the top in 1/2 inch wide sections. I then tied those individual pieces into knots and voila! A new stocking cap that's unique and cute!

Here's Goober modeling the look for me. I had to use her as measurement, so it's a good thing they're the same size! It turned out pretty adorable. I'm hoping he loves it when he gets it on Friday. I can't wait!

A side note-this is the only time my child will wear anything Cubs related. We are strictly a Cardinals family. :)

My First Quilt.

2012 has been pretty great so far. I'm still soda free (and loving it! I've never felt better!), I'm doing more in the kitchen (which my family enjoys) and I've learned some new creative skills. Not to shabby for the first month in, right?

My newest obsession is making blankets. Not my usual fleece, tie/braided edge blankets. Nope, I'm obsessed with quilts. Having never used a sewing machine, or done any sewing in my life, I randomly decided quilting was something I wanted to do. And really, what's the point of starting small? If I learn something new, I go all out the first time out of the gate. It's just my style.

So I made this pretty awesome rag quilt, using retro colors & different prints. Some cotton fabrics, some snuggly fabrics. I just mixed it up. The pattern I followed came from this blog: Rag Quilt for Baby  She has a step by step process, along with pictures-which I find helpful. Probably because I'm a visual learner.

Anyway.  Here is my most amazing fabric. I love it!

I did all my cutting of fabric and batting, followed by layering said fabric & batting.

Laid it out on the floor to my personal specifications.

And sewed it together. Followed by ragging the edges, which was a laborious process, but so worth it!

Finished product!

It currently resides here, on the back of our couch. It looks so great!

This is the non-ragged, flip side. Still very cool!

Here's a closer shot of the ragged side. :)

Now, I got this awesome new sewing machine (because my hubby loves me ;) so after practicing on some leftover fabric & following the instructional DVD, I put it all together. Yay for learning new skills!

My new favorite toy!

 I did discover, after talking to my Dad, that my Great-Grandma Jessie (my namesake) was also a quilter. Except she did it old school-quilting circle, by hand, with a loom, kind of old school. I think it's really cool (and fascinating) that I have something in common with the woman I'm named after. Perhaps her skill was passed down to me??? Either way, I've taught myself another great craft and I cannot wait to get started on another quilt!

10 days into Resolution season...

My goal to be more creative in the kitchen is going well! I've made chicken enchiladas, cajun chicken pasta, bourbon street chicken, crockpot pizza and several other yummy things. We have had little to no left overs, which I'm very excited about. The one recipe we didn't care for (a scalloped potato with ham dish) is in the works for modification the next time I fix it. I have fixed a homemade meal every night (except for 2) for the last 10 days and even Lily has enjoyed the things I've fixed. :)

This makes me really happy. Before, I would fix food and it would get eaten but there would be a lot left over. Meaning a lot would get thrown away after a couple of days. Now we don't have any thrown out left overs, which means the money we're spending at the store is not being wasted!!!

For those who can, I would highly suggest using the Big Oven app. I don't know what phones allow for apps, but this one can be found on the iPhone. The recipes I've been saving to my favorites have ingredients we generally have on hand, or call for few ingredients. They're easy to whip up and fix, and since my little family is enjoying the food, I'm actually enjoying fixing it!

At some point in the near future, I will put a post together featuring our favorite recipes and the ingredients/directions. Then everyone can try them out!

In other news, I'm 10 days into my list of resolutions and I'm feeling good. I haven't worked out as much as I'd like (I've really got to push myself here) but I haven't had any soda since December 30th and I feel great. I'm also eating 3 meals (with 2 snacks) a day and stopping as soon as I feel full. Drinking more water and eating less junk has made it really easy for me to listen to my body. Granted, I still have what I suspect are some crazy food aversions/allergies/whatever you want to call them, but because my body isn't filled to the brim with caffeine and what not, it's easy to see that most of those aversions are to the nasty things I had been eating. So, yay for that! I'm down 3 lbs since the start of the new year. It'd be more if I actually made myself exercise (I'm working on it, I'm working on it!) and I know my G-ma would be proud of me for trying to do it right.

Still working on the brainstorming/outlining for the book on G-ma. Looking forward to going through some of her poems & pictures and getting everything organized. Miss her so much, every day. Some days I still pick up the phone to call her (especially when there's a sale on asparagus...a shared love of ours:) but I know she's smiling down on us.

Looking forward to starting some new projects soon-I'll keep the blog updated. I mean, that is one of my resolutions and all. :)

New Year's Resolutions

Ahh, the new year. A time of new beginnings. Of setting new goals. Of starting over. It always reminds me of the start of a new school year. Everyone starts out with an A but it's up to us individually to maintain, or not maintain, the grade we're given. To do our best to succeed, to accomplish whatever it is we put our minds too.

I've never really been one to make resolutions. It's just never been my thing. But this year it seems as though I have a lot. I like to think of it as making up for resolutions past. ;)  I always find that it's easier for me to meet a goal if I throw it out there for everyone to know about. That way, if I need to be held accountable, well, there are several people who can call me out and tell me to get with it. So, lucky readers, here is my list of New Year's Resolutions, in no particular order:

1. Continue on my creative journey, yet expand it to other areas. I won't be focusing on just simple, creative projects any longer. I'm extending my journey to the kitchen. Whether it's dinner or yummy treats, I want to expand my horizons when it comes to cooking for my family & friends. This also goes hand in hand with #2.

2. Stop wasting $$. By finding better techniques and recipes in the kitchen, I can start saving more money by using (and not throwing away) food that we have on hand. I also want to make less, so we have fewer left overs (I don't do leftovers after day 1-so this is critical). B introduced me to a great app (Big Oven) and so far we've loved it. We've used recipes that call for fewer ingredients (there's that $$ saving) and are too delicious to waste (there's that no waste)! I highly recommend the app for those who enjoy spending time in the kitchen.

Chicken Enchiladas with a Twist

Bourbon Street Chicken with brown rice.

3. Have a better attitude about my current working situation. Is it ideal for me? No. I never planned on being a stay at home mom, or an in home day care provider. But it's what is working for our family and it's giving me precious time to spend with Lily Anne. I'm fortunate to have this time and I know I'll miss it when I do end up getting back to work. So I'm determined to improve my attitude and appreciate how truly blessed I (and my family) truly is.

4. Write a biography about my G-ma. I have a title, a tentative outline and several ideas. So this year I'm going to make time to sit down and put it all together. She was an amazing woman, a regular woman, who lived an anything but simple or regular life. Yet no matter what, she had faith and happiness throughout. I truly think everyone who knew her was blessed by her and others deserve to know the story about a modern day woman of faith. Not someone famous, or rich, but someone just like you and me who never let life's ups and downs destroy her faith in God, family & friends. I honestly can't wait to get started.

5. To work on going green...a little at a time. I already use reusable grocery bags, make my own laundry & dish soap but I'm looking forward to finding ways to go green & cut down on costs for my family by doing so. I'm also enjoying finding new uses for things around the house. How can I improve it or use it for something else that's fun and functional? Part of the creative journey, yeah?

6. To get back in shape. After Lily, I've had a really hard time getting back into shape. I have a plan (cardio & pilates-that's what I loved in college) and I have the tools, now I just need to use them. I'm also going to focus on making a conscious decision to watch what I put in my mouth. The last few months I've done a lot of emotional eating (not something I've ever done before, or something I'm proud of) and it's my goal to put a stop to it.

7. To be more diligent in my blogging. Not only for myself but also for friends and family who don't have the chance to spend as much time with Lily (or us) as they would like. It's a great way to capture all the little moments I'd otherwise forget, and a fun way to remember all the ways I've challenged my own creativity.

I think 7 resolutions is probably enough, don't you?! Will they be easy? Some more than others. But that's what makes things worth while. If you don't have to work for something, you just can't appreciate it the way you would if you'd pushed yourself to it.

Good luck to all of you with New Year's Resolutions-we can do it!

Christmas Gifts

Each Christmas, I make a list of gifts I would like to make for family. This usually includes things I knit or a fleece blanket geared to a person's specific likes. This year, I made 4 fleece blankets, 3 fleece scarves, 2 brag books & 1 knit stocking cap. I didn't get pics of everything (and the stocking cap ended up being a little too small anyway) but I got pics of some.

This was given to my G-pa. It was my first time working with a panel of fleece, which was an interesting experience. It definitely pays off to be extra vigilant in regards to measuring and cutting down on a panel, as opposed to one cute piece of fleece with a pattern.

This is the scarf for my brother Matthew. He loves the Cubs (and I have a request from my nephew for one as well). Easy & warm. You simply buy 1/4 yd of fleece, trim the edges and snip 20 (or more) slits in the end. Depending on how tall the person is varies the length of slits I cut. For this I cut 2 inches in length before then tying each slit into a knot, because I like the look of it. I made a camo one for B and a brown striped one for my other brother, Schuyler. No pics but they looked nice!

This is the fabric I used for my Grandma Suzy's blanket. I didn't get an after shot, but it turned out really nice. A great way to save money (if you watch the sales) is to buy the full size tie blanket kits at your local fabric store. I saved over $15 doing this. By buying the full size kits, you simply get fleece without any markings on the edges. It saved money and I was still able to use the braiding technique.

This is Lily enjoying her Rapunzel blanket. This was bought in a kit, but ended up coming with the edges marked for cutting. So instead of taking extra time to cut it down further, I simply left both pieces as they were (already measured perfectly) snipped on the lines and tied the edges. This did make me leery of other kits because I didn't want to deal with the pre-made marks, but I actually think tying kids blankets makes sense. Less chance of them falling apart that way-if your child carries her special blankets around like mine does! And I was proven wrong about the pre-made marks when I bought the kit for my Grandma's blanket anyway. :)

This is the blanket I made for my brother Matt's girlfriend, Marcy. It was my first braided edge, full sized blanket and it turned out great! Including the extra time for trimming, taping and snipping the edges, it actually took less time to put the blankets together than if I would have tied the edges.

I also made 2 brag books. One for my Mom, featuring all 3 grand kids from birth to now. It spans the last 4 years. I'm having trouble uploading the link so you can all see it, so once I get it to work I'll upload it for your viewing pleasure! The second brag book was for my in-laws, featuring Lily Anne from birth to now. It was a lot of fun to put them all together and they were a big hit!

Lots of great, creative and fun gifts this year for the holidays. I can't wait to find different ideas for Christmas 2012!

Dishwasher Detergent

Thanks to Pinterest, I'm finding lots of amazing things to try out around the house!  Most recently, I made my own dishwasher detergent. I've been looking for several ways to cut costs down for our family, and making cleaning solutions is a wonderful way to do so. It's also very green, so I'm loving that as well.

I stole the idea from another blogger on Pinterest. Here's the link to her blog: Dishwasher detergent How-To

I won't go into all the details about how to do it. If you're curious, use the link above. :) I will say that it has made our dishes cleaner and will be saving quite a bit in the $$ department. We spent about $16 every 5-6 weeks on dishwashing detergent. I spent around $10 (inlcuding a container with a pourable spout) at Walmart and have enough to make another batch when I run out of this (with the exception of needing more Lemi Shine). So for 2 batches, I'll end up spending close to $13.

So far, I've done 2 loads of dishes, but I'm thinking it's going to last me longer than 5-6 weeks. A lot longer. I'll do a follow up post when I have a general idea of how long it took to use it all.

Yay for being creative and saving money! Also, for those out there looking into earth friendly tips for the home, I recommend browsing Pinterest for ideas. Several wives & mommies post great ideas!