Friday, May 29, 2009

Linky Love- Machine Quilting Tutorials


Here are some links from some very good quilters who are willing to share what they know!






Diary of a Quilter also shows you how to match your corners when working with squares with this Baby Charm Quilt Tutorial This really helped me out! thanks~!




Here are just a few of the great quilting blogs out there:












There are many more out there. What are some of your favorites?

Thursday, May 28, 2009

Frito Salad

We love Fritos-but seriously- they really aren't that good for you...unless of course you eat them with vegetables- right? This is a fun salad to take to a BBQ or serve up in the summer- when it is just too hot to turn that oven on. :)

Frito Salad

3 large tomatoes diced
1 green pepper
1 bunch green onions
2 cans red kidney beans
1 small bottle Katalina or French dressing (we use fat free)
1 cup grated cheese
1 regular bag of Fritos corn chips
1 can of sliced black olives (we leave these out)
Sometimes we also add 1 can black beans

Mix everything but the Fritos. Marinate in the dressing. When ready to eat, add the Fritos. Delicious! Note: Fritos do not refrigerate well. If you have leftovers, store in the refrigerator without the Fritos.

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Catepillar Crafts for Kids

It all started with this:
My son brought this butterfly craft home from pre-school. He insisted we add a face to it. Then he wanted to make some caterpillars. After all, you can't have a butterfly without a caterpillar, right? So using things we already had, here are 3 caterpillar crafts we made.
Pipe-cleaner caterpillar: This one is so easy. No glue needed. You need a wooden dowel clothespin ($ store), pipe cleaners, (chenille stems from $ store), and a marker to draw a face. Twist the pipe cleaners around the wooden clothespin and leave some hanging down on both sides for legs. Twist one upwards to make antennae. Done!

This one uses a popsicle stick and fuzzy balls, google eyes, and one pipe cleaner. All these things can be found at the dollar store. I also used hot glue to assemble- obviously I did that part, not my child. :)



And of course we had to make the classic "egg carton caterpillar." We used crayons to color on the styrofoam. The google eyes we attached with glue dots (used for paper crafting/scrap booking), and the pipe cleaners we simply stuck through the styrofoam carton to make legs and antennae.
These provided hours of pretend play and entertainment. My little guy placed all of them in a shoe box and said he had his own bug collection :)

Saturday, May 23, 2009

My First Moda Quilt




I love Moda Fabrics. They have some of the best designers and prettiest fabrics. Let's face it, I just love fabric. :) So I stayed up, yet again, finishing this little quilt. There is something about staying up late sewing that I just love....that is only when my husband has to work at night.......that is only until I wake up the next morning feeling really sick from not sleeping.....

HHHMMMM.....
Sewing or Sleep?? I still haven't decided which one matters the most right now...ha ha....this morning....sleep wins. :) but I can't wait to work on some stuff for the baby....

Friday, May 22, 2009

Photographing Newborns and Kids- Very Beginner Tips







Please do not copy any of these photos :) thanks!

I am no pro at photography. I have had a few people ask me how they can get some good photos of their children and infants. I am still learning-- and have a lot to learn. However...here are my VERY BEGINNER PHOTOGRAPHY TIPS ☻
1. PRACTICE- take lots and lots of photos!
2. You don't have to have a fancy camera- I sure don't- but LEARN to use the camera you have. Read the manual and practice using the different settings.
3. WORK with natural lighting. Turn off your flash. Use a good window. North facing windows are best, but South facing windows are good too. If you think there is too much direct sunlight, play with the blinds or diffuse the light by hanging up some sheer fabric or a sheet over the window. Using natural light takes practice too.
4. VIEW photos you like. There is a lot of wonderful talent out there. View other's work and see what kind of style you like. Study photos- chances are you can create some of your own that are similar.
5. READ UP- read books about photography. There are lots of tutorials online too. Many talented photographers are willing to share their tips and tricks. Read and practice and learn from them.
6. GET IN CLOSE- Make your subject the focus of the photo. Look at the composition when taking the photo. Is there anything distracting in the background? Try different positions to get the photo you want.
7. LEARN how to use some Photo Editing Software- in the end, you can't always get the best photos- but you can fix them with Photo shop and the other editing software out there.
HERE and HERE and HERE are a few simple YouTube videos with some good beginner tips too. AND HERE are some more tips from a pro- with some beautiful photos to view too.


Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Storytime: No David Books- Recording your Own Story

We love the NO DAVID books by David Shannon. My boys have these books memorized- even my 20 month old can read some of them to you ☻ So we decided to make our own No David book, about our own lives and those crazy things kids do- that made you mad at the moment- but that you laugh about later.
For example, when they unroll the entire roll of toliet paper, or pull out all the tissues in the kleenex box....or how about when they pour the entire box of Cheerios on the floor, or the entire carton of orange juice? What about when the draw on the walls or are covered in dirt, or empty the entire paper shredder all over the floor? These are just a few of the normal happenings at our house ☻

Many of these moments we have captured in photos. So I compiled them into a book for us to enjoy. I also included many photos of the good and helpful things they have done such as helping to wash the car, pick up toys, empty the dishwasher, etc. I gathered all the photos together and saved them in a folder on my computer. I was going to scrapbook them by hand, until I had a free offer for a bound book online. You can compile your book anyway you like. This has been very fun for us to read as a family. My older boy thinks the entire thing is hilarious!

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Peanut Butter Choc. Chip Cake Mix Cookies


I know, I use a lot of cake mixes when I bake. I use to make everything from scratch, until I learned the cake mix shortcut. ☻Last month we make these cookies, which are surprisingly, very good, and of course, very easy.
Here is the recipe ☻ (source: Allrecipes.com)
Peanut Butter Cake Mix Cookies
2 eggs
1/3 cup water
1/4 cup margarine (I think I used a substitution like applesauce)
1 cup peanut butter (we used creamy-low fat)
1 (18.25 oz.) yellow cake mix
2 cups semisweet or milk chocolate chips
1. Preheat oven to 350. Spray cookie sheet w/ non-stick cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl, cream the eggs, water, margarine, and peanut butter. Stir in cake mix. Lightly stir in choc. chips. Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto cookie sheet.
3. Bake 8-10 minutes. Allow to cool on cookie sheet for 5 min. before removing. Let cool completely. Cookies will be soft. Enjoy!

Monday, May 18, 2009

Issues w/ Baby = less blogging

I try to keep this blog going with fun crafts/eats for mommy and kids and family....
But complications w/ baby--may slow this down a bit- so please be patient with me- and I'll post some fun stuff again shortly;) I have a 1/2 dozen -1/2 finished projects....in the works!
Today we found out that our little baby has some serious issues that can only be corrected with surgery after he is born. He is also very large - 7 lbs. - when he should only be about 4lbs! (We won't talk about my weight right here-but it is through the roof.) I don't have gestational diabetes-but of course they would like to test me for a third time. We have another appt. w/ the specialist in a few weeks and will have a better idea of what is happening then.
The short of it is, this baby could be coming in about a month or sooner, and most likely will need all of our love and attention for a while :) In the meantime, I am a little bit emotional. No one likes to find out something is wrong with their baby. I dealt with some scary things with both my sons when they were born-- and they are healthy now with a few minor things- so I thought maybe those days were over. :) But here we go....yet again. :) I guess that is what comes with having kids, right?
So if it looks like I am on a blog hiatus, that is why. I will still try to post- as much as I can until the little guy gets here :)

Saturday, May 16, 2009

Apron Mail ☻


Yeah! I love fun mail- and REAL mail (you know, from real people, not junk mail or bills :)).
My apron swap partner, from the Vintage Remix Flirty Apron Swap, sent me this beautiful vintage apron. Bless her heart, she had a family tragedy, and still managed to get an apron to me. She purchased it from this darling etsy shop. It is so cute- the kind of apron you don't want to get dirty. ☻ I love it- the only problem for me, is that I am so incredibly-huge-ly-pregnant-right now that it doesn't fit me yet. So I have something to look forward to, another reason besides getting out of maternity clothes and into my fat jeans, my not-so-fat-jeans, my normal jeans, and my skinny jeans......I also have a cute apron to wear! Here's to getting motivated to lose the baby weight-after the baby comes ;) Many thanks Terri, for the adorable apron! Thank you!

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

The Three Chairs

Finally finished- a few of the bigger projects taking up way too much space in our garage are getting done!! Here are a few "the three chairs" hee hee....

Papa Bear's Chair
This chair came to us in very bad shape- broken, and just very used and dirty.(We actually have another one we need to fix up too.) It belonged to my grandparents, and goes with our kitchen table that we refinished. (I think the chair still needs a coat of poly-but there is only so much a pregnant girl can do... so hubby will have to do that part:)) We first sanded it a bit, then stained it black, and I was not liking it, so we painted it-with regular brush on black paint. I think it was a semi-gloss finish. Total cost: A few dollars for paint and sandpaper.




Mama Bear's Chair
This chair I bought at a local thrift store, called "Desert Dust" about a month ago. It cost me 2 dollars and 95 cents. My husband thought I was crazy since we have only half a dozen pieces of furniture sitting in the garage that I want to refinish. ☻ I had visions of this chair in the nursery, with a cute pieced- quilt sitting on it....so with a little yellow spray paint (OK- it took almost 3 cans because the color was so light) I finally finished my yellow chair. It isn't perfect, but it will do! ☻ Total cost: less than $10


Baby Bear's Chair
This one has been finished for a few months-but we had it for about 6 months before we did anything to it. It is one of those small rocking chairs from Michael's for about $24- with coupon. It was plain wood and my husband finished up with red spray paint and a very shiny top protective coat. I think he did more work than needed on it (he his very thorough when it comes to projects like this) ☻, but I love the way it looks- the finish is really nice! It is definitely a shiny-red-rocker! Total cost for this one: (A little more than the others- less than $30)



















Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Sensory Box: Touch and Feel

Today we made a sensory box for the sense of touch. We used this container, the same one we have used for our color collection. These boxes are great to use for all sorts of things. Here is what we put in our "Touch and Feel Box." From Left top to bottom right: leaves, black fur fabric, soft batting fabric, salt, rice, sugar, metal clip, red pipe cleaner, tissue, green felt, wax paper, cardstock, sandpaper, used fabric softener sheet, tin foil, sea shells, yarn ball.
You can always switch out the contents and have a whole new experience for your child! Older children could fill the box up with things themselves, and play a guessing game- by seeing if they can guess what the item is by using the sense of touch. I love these container boxes- so many uses and lots of fun!

Monday, May 11, 2009

I ♥ Faces- Laughter





The photo above is my son, in Utah, at my grandparents home. The background is Logan Canyon and the Logan River. I have lots of photos of him smiling and laughing, but I really like this one :) I'm sure it could use some editing, to brighten up his face a bit.... and maybe some cropping....ahhhh maybe next time :)



So I haven't done I ♥ Faces for several weeks, but I decided to share this week. Please note, that I don't ever do this to win-- just look at the talent by clicking HERE for this week's entries, and you will see what I mean :) It is amazing!! I haven't taken many photos lately, and still don't have the "skills" or the camera to go with it-but I LOVE photography-and love to join in the fun! I ♥ Faces is a great little site for learning, sharing, and seeing the amazing talent that is out there! Take a look :)

Photo Learning Book and Song : Opposites



























YEAH... I know I haven't blogged regularly here. Please forgive me. I've got a ton of things to post, just haven't had the drive to do it, being this pregnant and tired, attending to the house and children, with no husband home, has been a bit overwhelming....I know... excuses... ☻
We actually made this little book of opposites back in February--and I'm finally posting it! It is based on the song, Opposites, by Janeen Brady, -from the Show a Little Love CD. It is a song I loved as a kid, and sang often. I could not find the lyrics anywhere online, so I will post them below. We took photos of things familiar to us, and of the kids doing different things (see above). I did not limit the book to only the words in the song. We put the song lyrics in the front of the book and then had the photos follow after. This is a fun thing you could do with your kids, and super easy to make. You can buy a little plastic 4 by 6 photo book at Target or Wal-mart (I found mine at Target for 70 cents-dollar section clearance.) Then you just add your photos, words, and cover. This was great, because the next month, my son was learning about opposites in pre-school, so he brought this to share, and he already a solid understanding of what opposites were, from doing this little book :) I think it is fun to do your own photos, of things your child is familiar with. I am happy to share my cover and generic photos-just leave me a comment- and I can email them to you if you like :) The song is super cute too- and I could not find a recording of it online...but you can go HERE to see many of her products and HERE is the CD that has this song on it. I think it is a great CD for kids- we love all the songs on it!

Most things Have an Opposite
By Janeen Brady


When things aren’t going
Exactly my way,
When I have feeling of
Total Dismay,
I ponder the reason
That this has to be,
And as I consider,
I can clearly see:
Most things have an
Opposite.
Most things come
In pairs.
And many times I
Can Benefit if
I do not dispair….


Hot has Cold
Black has White
Up has Down,
Day has Night,
Life has Death,
Good has Bad,
Young has Old,
And Happy Has Sad.
If I didn’t know about
Bad and about cold,
Something of death, and
The sad and the old,
Then I wouldn’t know about
Wrong and Right, and I
Wouldn’t know the
Joy of Good and Light.


Most things have an
Opposite.
Most things come In pairs.
And many times I
Can Benefit if
I do not dispair….


Hot has Cold
Black has White
Up has Down,
Day has Night,
Life has Death,
Good has Bad,
Young has Old,
And Happy Has Sad.







Friday, May 8, 2009

Mother's Day Thoughts...




I recently found out a friend of mine lost her first born son. He was still born, even though she carried him full-term and there were no signs of complications. This isn't the first friend I have had that has lost a child. I have several close friends, who have had to go through such a loss. Sitting here, 32 weeks pregnant, with my third child, I am over-whelmed with emotions, and even start to worry about the health and safety of the child I am carrying. My heart goes out to people who have never had their own children, or who have experienced the loss of a child. Words cannot express how much my heart breaks for you and for having to go through such a loss. Although we have had our own share of complications with both our sons, I am so grateful for their health and strength and that I have been given the opportunity to raise them here on Earth. I truly believe things happen for a reason, and that God is in charge of each of our lives.


And now we approach Mother's Day- the day we celebrate all mothers. I have always loved Mother's Day and love it even more now that I am a mother. I love my children. I love being their mother. I love being pregnant with another one. I also fear and worry for my children- for their futures, for their safety, for just about everything that will ever happen to them. I love the messes, the chaos, the loud noises they make, their cute smiles and laughter, the poopy diapers, the cute things the say-everything from both ends of the spectrum- it all brings me joy. There was a time when I did not have that- when my house was clean and spotless, and quiet and orderly. I often think back when I am cleaning up a poopy mess or spending a 1/2 hour cleaning up after a meal, or I am constantly hurting my feet on blocks and cars all over the floor, or doing loads and loads of laundry day after day, that these are the blessings of being a mother. And I love every single one of them.


Today my son woke up feeling very warm, and it turned out he had a fever. He wanted me to hold him (as pictured above). He wouldn't let me put him down. So I sat and held him, and enjoyed the moments of him clinging to me not wanting to let go. The laundry can wait. The vacuuming can too. My shower can wait also. :) Right now, for today, I am a mother and there is nothing more I'd rather be. I will hold my little one for as long as he wants me to, and I will savor every minute of it. This is why I love being a mom.


Happy Mother's Day to all women this weekend! Here are a few quotes about mothers that I love ;)




The moment a child is born, the mother is also born. She never existed before. The woman existed, but the mother, never. A mother is something absolutely new. ~Rajneesh




"There is no one perfect way to be a good mother. Each situation is unique. Each mother has different challenges, different skills and abilities, and certainly different children. The choice is different and unique for each mother and each family. Many are able to be “full-time moms,” at least during the most formative years of their children’s lives, and many others would like to be. Some may have to work part-or full-time; some may work at home; some may divide their lives into periods of home and family and work. What matters is that a mother loves her children deeply and, in keeping with the devotion she has for God and her husband, prioritizes them above all else." -M. Russell Ballard




“The biggest mistake I made [as a parent] is the one that most of us make. … I did not live in the moment enough. This is particularly clear now that the moment is gone, captured only in photographs. There is one picture of [my three children] sitting in the grass on a quilt in the shadow of the swing set on a summer day, ages six, four, and one. And I wish I could remember what we ate, and what we talked about, and how they sounded, and how they looked when they slept that night. I wish I had not been in such a hurry to get on to the next thing: dinner, bath, book, bed. I wish I had treasured the doing a little more and the getting it done a little less.” Anna Quindlen




"The hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world."

Monday, May 4, 2009

Handprint Tulip Card for Mother's Day

For Mother's Day this year, we used our hands to make tulips. (These look more like tulips if you hold your fingers together-but I was working w/ a 3 and 1 year old ;)) This is very simple to do. *Cover your workspace, and the children's clothing. *Using a sponge brush, paint the children's hand with paint. *Press their hand evenly onto the paper and lift up evenly. *Add stems and grass. *Presto-done! Handprint tulips for Mom! :)

Friday, May 1, 2009

Junk and Trinket Art


Please tell me you can tell what this is....you knew it was a tree right? Here is another way I'm using up my stash and turning it into something a little more lovely to look at. :)

I saw this idea here and here. I did mine a little differently. Here are the original instructions.
This is what I did differently:
*I used fabric instead of watercolor paper. I ironed on some stiff interfacing on the back and then attached it to a thin piece of cardboard.
* I used wood and Elmer's glue instead of hot glue. (I thought I would make a mess w/ the hot glue on the fabric.) The glue part was a bit of a challenge-since the pieces are so small.
*I did not buy anything for this project-just used junk from around the house- mostly in my scrapbook crafting stash. I did try to use flat objects-as much as possible, although most were not totally flat, it still fit in a regular frame. I think using thin cardboard for backing helped.
*I spray painted the objects and the frame-it was an old brown frame to start with.
*I should have taken more digital photos of the piece as I went along. Below is it in progress-and I realized the finish product looks quite differently-oh well. :)




I think I will be making more of these- for the holidays...heart for V-day, tree for C-mas, leaf for the fall, etc. I also think this would be a really fun thing to do with kids- older kids of course- as an"I SPY" or something- of course for kids I would do this differently, but it got me thinking about some ideas in that department. :) What do you think??


Fun Fruit Treat for Kids

I love the summer and spring when fruit goes on sale! I realized we have lots and lots of fresh fruit at our house right now.....so we made a fun fruit salad treat.
This is an easy thing you can make with your kids! Serve it up in a cone to make it even more fun!
In a large bowl, mix up about 5-6 cups of fresh fruit. Have the adult cut it up, and the child/children can mix it up.


Add a SMALL (4 serving size) box of vanilla pudding, and 8 oz. container of Cool Whip whipped topping. Mix it all up. Of course I know this is a common way to make fruit salad, but it was especially fun to eat it out of an ice cream cone. Even the mommy here really liked it. If your kids won't eat fruit, this is an easy way to get them to eat some. Cut out some of the fat and sugar by using fat free/sugar free whipped topping and pudding. Enjoy!


YUMMY!!