Something For Me To Do

Ever been on Pintrest?
Sure you have.
It's all the rave lately.
Well, I ventured, having no idea what I was doing and found an idea I thought was inspiring.
I left my computer only to return days later with NO way of finding that one thing that I thought I liked.
What a pointless website!
I know what you're going to ask...Did you "pin" it?
NO
I did not pin anything.
I've never been on the site before.  I'm not going to sign up willy nilly to any old site:)
Anyway, I finally reverted to good ol' Google and found what I was looking for.

Since we are living at my parent's with limited space in our bedroom for our soon to be bundle-O-joy, I've been trying to think of ways to have everything we need without making it look too cluttered, with the idea in mind that a project would also keep me busy while I'm waiting.  And waiting:)
I know baskets are really in right now, but I've never been able to swallow the price.
That's why I thought this is so ingenious.
Canvas covered card board boxes!

I'm quite pleased with how they turned out!

I used THIS tutorial for the canvas covering.

SO easy!

And then "somewhat" used her suggested tutorial for the liners.

I say somewhat because the poor girl who tried to explain how she made them really struggled.

She used wrong terminology when talking about width and length during measuring which can REALLY screw things up when you try to sew it together.

So after quite a few trial and errors, picking and unpicking, piecing and unpiecing, please don't look too closely!!  I figured out what she was trying to say.

Basically you are cutting three pieces.  One main piece and two side pieces.  I came to the conclusion that the LENGTH of your main/longest piece needed to be the same length as the bottom width and height of the edges of your side pieces...as follows.

Also, it is always better to measure a little bit bigger than smaller because if it ends up too small it won't fit over your box or basket. 

Anyway, it gave me something to do for a while.

I'm good at drawing out projects for as long as I need to:)

I'm 38 weeks and counting.

So far I'm dilated 3cm, which is way farther than I ever got with Leilani.  

So things are moving slowly but surely along.

No signs of contracting and I'm actually feeling better now than I have for months, so all my other sickness/ailments seem to be healed.

Huzzah!

I feel a little like Wesley on the Princess Bride, though.

I've just survived the fiery swamp and am now being healed by the albino.

"Welcome to the pit of despair!" (aka the last few weeks of pregnancy) "Don't even think about trying to escape!"

"So I'm here till I die?"

"Until you deliver, yes!"

"Then why bother curing me?"

"Well, they always insist on everyone being healthy before their broken."

"So it's to be torture?"

Albino nods.

"I can cope with torture."

Albino shakes his head.

"You survived the sinuses and the coughing and torn, ripped ribs, but no one withstands...delivery!"

Ok so maybe it's a little dramatic (don't ask me why I know all those lines...I just do) but yes, delivery, one of the scariest parts of this whole process, is coming soon...and yet not soon enough:)

Well that's a first

I should know by now that when it gets very quiet something that should not be happening is probably happening.

*Sigh*

On a happier note, this is my attempt to bring Spring in a little more quickly.

Ya, I'm done with the snow and cold and stuff.

I even opened my windows and turned off my heater just to prove I was D.U.N. done!

I'm paying for it tonight though.

My little toes are freezing!

Lookin for a good recipe?

Ok I decided to be nice and share my secret.

I'm not really a great cook.

But I know a woman on a blog who is:)

Everything I have made from her site has been scrumptious and somebody usually asks for the recipe when I make it.

She's got all sorts of stuff to try out and it never disappoints.

I think she cooks for a hobby and well

I cook out of necessity.

So I there are a few things I would tweak to her recipes to make them a little more time friendly.

But if you're looking for something yummy head on over there.

http://www.twopeasandapot.blogspot.com/

Alright, now the secret's out.

Mmmm!  Doesn't that just make you hungry?

Christmas Fun

Thought I would share some of our Christmas adventures thus far.

We decorated the tree while Leilani was taking a nap.  I wasn't sure how she would react and wondered if we were going to have to decorate it only half way up the tree, but when she woke up she pointed at it and said "oooh!!  Ba!"  She had just learned how to say ball and was very excited about all the "balls" on the Christmas tree.  She's been a very good girl and has since learned the word, No no!  She now looks at the tree and shakes her head while saying "na na na na!" Too cute:)

Our cute little nativity.  And yes, that is a Charley Brown tree behind it.

Stockings hung with care on the chimney...I mean bookshelf.  I made these last year and was so delighted when I opened our Christmas box and remembered we already had stockings:)

Hall out the holly!

Our wreath I made.  Still not sure if it is "finished" but it's on our door so there.

We went to Christmas Village on 25th street.  Nothing has changed since I was teeny, but it was still fun to have a night out together as a family.  Leilani was so happy to be out and more interested in all the people than all the lights. 
Very traditional Christmas, I'd say.  But the more I do things, the more traditional I realize I am. 
So Merry Christmas everyone!

Free? I'm totally there!

I used to work in the fabric department of a craft store and fell in love with minki while I was there, so if I get to get a free minki blanket, I post this:)

Halloween Wreath

 My friend Brittany and I made these adorable candy corn wreaths last week.  We got the idea from my favorite website, of course:) She has a tutorial on the site.  I added the little sign.  Painted it myself.  I'm getting so into this crafty thing you should just call me Martha.

I love the Fall right now.  It's still warm but the leaves are changing.  So enjoy it while it lasts!  Let the Holiday seasons begin!

After 6th months of wishing

 I was introduced to this website (http://www.allthingsthrifty.com/) about six months ago and have wanted to do this project ever since.  Because of other priorities and obligations I didn't get to it as fast as I wanted to, BUT I finally finished it!   

My dad has stacks of unused scraps of wood tucked in his garage and I asked if I could sift through them to find a piece to paint.  I found the perfect one and had him cut it into three equal peices.  I primed them, picked out the colors I wanted to match my bedroom, and used the template from the website and a projector to trace the image on the boards. 

I couldn't get a very good "whole" view of my bedroom and I'm not quite finished decorating the room the way I would like it, so here are the important pieces.  I made the curtains when we first moved into our apartment and then when I saw this project on the website I new I had to make it. The pattern is almost identical to the fabric in my curtains!  The best part is, the whole thing cost be about 6 bucks!  All I did was buy the sample sized paint from Lowes and a paint brush.  The rest was FREE:)  You could probably pay hundreds of dollars for something like that in a home decor store, so I'm pretty pleased:)  

Bring on the projects! 

Continuing my search for hobbies

I'm really starting to like creating my own things to decorate my little apartment. We recently purchased a new couch. This was our old one. We did have a cover over it so the crazy flowers weren't as blinding, but it was time for a new one.

New couch

The new couch needed something more so I made it some pillows.

It took me forever to find the right fabric, but when I found this one, I thought, "It's kinda crazy...but I like it!" I think it adds really well to my living room color scheme.

I've also been staring at my empty walls for the past 10 months and finally decided on a wall hanging. I really like the word art and vinyl lettering but I wanted something a little more personal than "Live, Laugh, Love" and the other clique things in the stores.

While visiting my sister in Kentucky I realized something that helped change my outlook on my life. Their life wasn't perfect, they had difficult things going on, as everyone does, but they were happy. They laughed as a family and enjoyed what was happening at the moment. I realized that I needed to find more time to laugh in my own life and it reminded me of a talk given by Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin just before he passed away. So this is what I came up with by taking the key points from his talk.

It is a good reminder to me of the good examples I have in my life and to enjoy the journey in whatever lies ahead of me.

Anyway, these are my latest projects, and I've had a lot of fun making them. I can't say I've done them completely on my own though. I've had a lot of help. My mom came with me to pick out the fabric for my pillows. My friend, Haley, came with me to buy the wood for my wall hanging. My dad helped cut the wood and piece it together. And, my friend, JaLynn, let me use her cricut to cut out the letters. So, maybe that is why it has been so fun to do these projects because it has given me a chance to get together with people that mean a lot to me.

Thanks for all the help:)

A New Look

My friend got me hooked on this website http://www.allthingsthrifty.com/ and now I've become a thrifty decorating machine. Ok not really. But I'm trying to make our apartment look a little more loved and she lets you know how to do it on a budget.

I made this the other night. It looks a little amateur and there were a few times I was certain I had bombed it (you wouldn't believe what I went through to try and get those colors to match:) but once I hung it up, I was quite proud.

The whole thing cost me about $12!

I bought the frame, took out the glass and spackled the back board to give it some dimension. Then I arranged embroidery hoops in a design I liked and glued them to the board. Finally, I painted! Vwala!

Are you crafty? Cuz I'm crafty:)

Being a stay at home mom has been a whole new adventure for me. My entire life I have been going to school or working or just...out! I love being a Mom but staying inside all day long by yourself can be pretty tough (and snow in April doesn't help). I asked my amazing mother how she raised seven girls and she responded, "I had hobbies." So it is now my quest to find my hobbies (without cutting into our budget:)

I enjoy making things so I walked around quilt shops and craft stores only to be sorely disappointed by the price tags. While looking through a darling baby quilt book I had an idea. I would make Leilani a quilt that she could look at, touch, and play with. I asked my mom if I could raid her fabric scraps and went to work. I designed the whole thing and am utterly tickled at the finished project.

Each block has a different purpose at different stages in her life. The black and white one and the striped one are her favorite right now. The upper right corner is a mirror. She absolutely loves mirrors. She smiles and flirts at herself and just thinks she's the cutest thing on the block. The top middle and bottom left have different feeling fabrics and beads to play with and the bottom middle has a zipper and buttons when she starts using her fine motor skills. Pretty cool huh! Well, I thought so anyway:)

Bows for little girls are quite the fad right now, but I was also disappointed that most of the bows in the store are ridiculously priced. So, I also have a friend who is an incredible mother of three girls and quite crafty. She showed me how to make bows. All you need is ribbon and a hair clip. Here are a couple I've made, but I'm sure there will be more to come.

So, if you have any more ideas of fun things I can do to expand my hobby repertoire. Please let me know:)