Pinteresting Wednesday

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A fun twist on a classic.


This would be the best playhouse EVER.


Could it get any more beautiful than this?


I really want to try this for my husband. I'm thinking he needs it!

Source: behance.net via Asia on Pinterest



I keep thinking I can do this with a bleach pen. But I'd hate to ruin such a nice pair of shoes!

Source: toms.com via Kelly on Pinterest



This is brilliant and looks seriously delicious. I'm hungry just looking at it!


I'm thinking this could be a good accent for Micah's birthday party.


I need a Bento box now!


Happy Wednesday!

The basic kid pant from MADE

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Last weekend I decided to finally use this really cute print tshirt fabric I bought on sale in an epic shopping spree back in November. I bought it knowing it would be cute for pajama pants for Micah, and then just kept forgetting about it. Micah is not the best audience when it comes to sewing - he wants to "help", which of course is not actually helpful.

So I finally had some free time last Monday and whipped the up using the ever-awesome tutorial from MADE.



This is not the first time I've used this tutorial. However, the last pair I made was when I was a brand-new sewer and so there were so many things about that particular pair that just didn't come out like I wanted that I am glad not to share them here! From a distance they were fine, up close, not so much.

This pair turned out FAR better. Excuse the bad photos - bedtime is after dark here.



The headband was added by Daddy, and he gave me one, too. We proceeded to act like complete nuts in our living room for the last hour before bed, and Micah was extremely receptive to photos then.

So was Daddy.



I will say that even though the pants turned out awesome, and it was a quick one hour project, there are some things I would change. The pattern I made was somehow not very long from crotch seam to elastic, so I was afraid they would sit low on his diapered butt. So I cut the one inch elastic I originally bought in half lengthwise, and that helped a ton. The length also managed to come out far too long so the cuff is about two inches deep and we still folded them for these pictures. The fabric was extremely easy to work with despite being jersey - the edges didn't roll after I cut them, which was amazing. But it was rather fragile, so when I had to cut some stitches out that edge looked all wonky and I had to cut it off. In the end, though, they came out super cute and they fit him really well, considering how long and lean he is.

And my model sure is adorable.

Oh, and I forgot to mention the paci clip! Yes, my kid still uses a paci, he is such a bad sleeper that I just can't bring myself to take it away. The last one I made him (that matched another outfit I will share another day) got cut off in a frantic panic to rush to the ER, as it was covered in baby puke. A simple tube of the same material folded over at the ends made him a new one to match his spiffy pj pants.

Strep, laundry and dishes piled high

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Mother, oh Mother, come shake out your cloth,
Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
Hang out the washing and butter the bread,
Sew on a button and make up a bed.
Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She’s up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I’ve grown shiftless as Little Boy Blue
(Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).
Dishes are waiting and bills are past due
(Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo).
The shopping’s not done and there’s nothing for stew
And out in the yard there’s a hullabaloo
But I’m playing Kanga and this is my Roo.
Look! Aren’t her eyes the most wonderful hue?
(Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).

The cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow,
For children grow up, as I’ve learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down, cobwebs. Dust go to sleep.
I’m rocking my baby and babies don’t keep.


-Song for a Fifth Child
by Ruth Hulburt Hamilton


Is it terrible to admit that I completely forgot about this blog for the last week? Awful, but true. Life sometimes gets in the way. I have both sides of my sink full of dishes and at least three loads of laundry waiting for me tomorrow. Lovely.

A little over a week ago I had an extremely sick baby with a fever that reached a high of 107.2. I know, I didn't even know that was possible! It came along with one episode of projectile vomit and a very disoriented baby that I'm pretty sure was delirious and couldn't see me even though I was right in front of him. A rushed trip to the ER did nothing, though the Motrin they gave him worked wonders until we could get to his pediatrician the following day. She diagnosed him with strep, and one shot in the thigh and he was getting better. The last few days of this week has seen a return to the happy baby I am much more used to. I missed him. And he can finally sleep again.



I never get tired of photographing this baby with his eyes closed. Best lashes ever.

Since it is January (mid-January at that - where is the time going?!), I realized my son's birthday is coming up in April and I suddenly feel like I am short on time. How did this year go by so fast? He cannot possibly be two already. I suddenly feel old.

So I've started researching what I want to do for his birthday. It will be like last year, very low-key and probably just family and a few close friends. But unlike last year I want to make proper birthday invites and decorations, and I really want to make at least one of his gifts. Why, hello Pinterest! It's been all of five minutes since I last saw you!

I seriously love these invites. And so easy too!


El Rey (as my mom calls him) will certainly have his own crown.


I just love these. My Dad has Superman pants and shirts he wears all the time and Micah always points at the symbols. I don't think I could make these myself though...I have no idea how to work fondant. I'm sure I could find someone to help though!


And this is what I would like to make for him. One of my favorite Etsy shop owners made this for her twin boys and it is just to die for. She took the time and thought to include her own house, grandma's house, her husband's workplace and other key locations the boys were familiar with. It's an amazing, heartfelt gift that the boys will likely enjoy for many years to come, and this is exactly what I want to give to my Micah.

12 in 2012

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I got this idea from Baby Rabies, one of my favorite blogs.

12 things may actually be pushing it for me. I have a toddler that goes to bed between 5 and 6pm every night, but I still find myself parked on the couch instead of doing all things I wish I was able to do all day long when I'm stuck at work. So I am certainly not holding myself to this...but if I do manage it, then I am having a party!

1. Complete at least 5 of the sewing projects I bought material/notions for.
I am so bad about this. I get really excited about a project and then bring the stuff home only to forget about or put it off. SO MUCH STUFF.

2. Make dinner for my family at least 5 times.
This should be obvious, but we tend to graze in the evenings because we have such different schedules. So even if this only happens on the weekend, it needs to happen.

3. Finish my book.
This one is going to be hard. I started a novel last year during NaNoWriMo and never finished it, and have since lost my thread. I have no idea where my plotline is going at this point. But it's certainly worth trying for.

4. "Do" my face more often.
I always say I don't have time for makeup in the mornings, but I love how it looks when I do it, and I love to buy makeup...so what the heck is my excuse? I don't have one. So even if it's only mascara and lip stains, I better get off my butt. I can always do it quickly once I get to work in the morning.

5.Paint and fill my craft closet.
This is a HUGE one. I bought a $50 solid wood TV cabinet with the intentions of painting it and turning it into my craft closet. I originally wanted to put my sewing machine in it, but I think only for storage - the closet is huge but I need more space to see when I sew. Plus I don't want to be installing lights in the cabinet. My hope is that it will eventually look like this:



6.Keep my house in fairly reasonable order, even when no one is coming over.
I am totally a "company is coming!" cleaner. I really need to work on that. Right now it looks terrible because my son has strep (at not even 2 years old, what kind of luck is that?), but usually I just put away his toys and ignore the rest.

7.Print out my Micah 365 project, either in prints or an actual book.
This one should be fairly easy, thanks to Artscow.com! Lots of free photo book offers. I better get on it.

8.Blog more often, about whatever.
I wanted to keep this blog about projects I completed that I found on Pinterest. But now that I have a full time job I find that I have less time to do that (and too many hours spent surfing Pinterest for more projects, hah), so I think I will be a little more loose in my posting ideas.

9.Interact with other bloggers more, especially my favorites that I visit a lot.
I always visit the same blogs every day and wish I could be cool as them, but I rarely comment, mostly because I feel like posting, "You are so awesome!" is not terribly productive or helpful, hah. I'll try harder.

10.Lose 5 pounds.
This seems SO minimal, but I am a couch potato. I have no drive or desire to do physical things most of the time and thanks to having mono at age 5, no energy either. But my son goes 10,000 miles an hour and I really want to be able to do fun things with him without feeling I'm going to die. So 5 pounds is a big deal. And if it ends up being more than that...FABULOUS.

11.Get a shutter release control and take more photos with me in them.
As the family photographer, I find myself behind the camera so often that I rarely get any photos with myself in them. If I had a shutter release, I could change that.

12.Set up my kids bedroom.
This one is pretty ridiculous. When we moved into this house (my in-laws home while they are in Ecuador building a new church), I chose a room for Micah and we filled it with his stuff, still in boxes. And it's still like that, several months later. That particular room has a direct vent to the swamp cooler so it's FREEZING during the winter, and I've pretty much used that as an excuse to keep him from sleeping in there. We could easily seal it up but it's been nice having him in our room for just awhile longer...it's about time I let go and let him sleep in his own room. I'm sure my husband would appreciate it, too. Hah.

What do you have planned for 2012?

The year 2011

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I think you can never really appreciate how much can happen in a year's time without watching something grow, whether it be a plant, a beloved pet, or your own child. To see them evolve and learn is really a thing to be appreciated and taken advantage of. I cannot tell you how much I have enjoyed this past year with Micah. Even just looking at photos of him from last January is amazing - he was so tiny once!

January:


February:


March:


April:


May:


June:


July:


August:


September:


October:


November:


December:


I just can't get over how much he's grown. My sweetie pie. And sadly sick tonight. He's been running a fever since yesterday and while it isn't too severe, it makes him sleepy, clingy and quiet. Not my usual happy-go-lucky baby, and I hate it. What a start to his new year.

You can see my completed Micah 365 photo project here at Tumblr.

Speaking of New Year, I spent my NYE with a bunch of friends I hadn't seen in awhile and enjoyed it immensely. I also used the opportunity to break out a new app I downloaded last week, Photosynth, and made a panorama.



I hope 2012 brings great things!