Our Holidays

In our lovely little family, the holiday season truly begins in September.  First there's my birthday, then Charlotte's birthday, then Halloween, then Blake's birthday, then Thanksgiving and Christmas.  And, if someone else in the family decides to celebrate their birthdays, you can throw in my sister-in-law's birthday before Charlotte's and my brother-in-law's (technically after Blake's but celebrated this year before).  If we were in the US, we could trade out my in-law's for my own siblings (and Mom's too!).

This year, all the events seem MUCH bigger.  Granted this is mainly my own fault for going full out with them, but it does make it more fun!  We did take it easy for my birthday, but that's because Blake had his tonsils out that week.  Doesn't make for too much fun, but we did go out and enjoy the evening.

Next up, we decided that since Charlotte absolutely loves animals, a trip to the zoo was in order.  It was a very, very hot day, but we did have fun with only one minor incident concerning a baby toe and a pole.

I decided to keep with the theme and make her birthday cake jungle animals too.

This is actually sculptable buttercream icing found here.  She only ate the head/neck of the giraffe and skipped the cake.  I suppose that was plenty of sugar in a couple bites!  Opening presents was lots of fun (hallelujah she loves the puff quilt) but building her bike with Poppy  was the icing on the cake.  I'll have to get the pictures of that off Nana, but here is pulling out all the pieces anyway.

I can't believe she is already 2!  Where did that time go?  I guess it flies when you're crazy... cough... having fun. :)

Charlotte's birthday was on Wednesday, and then we celebrated Xander's on Saturday.  It wouldn't seem like much of a big deal, except his was a Black Tie Ball.  Although my high school dresses do still fit.... they aren't exactly black tie formal.  After much searching online, I found this pattern.

Looked like fun, so I thought I'd give it a go.  Oh, and without said pattern as it isn't available anymore...  Please disregard my appearance as I recently got out of the shower and still had wet hair and no make-up... :)

It made me REALLY want a dress form and a cutting board/table.  It turned out pretty well considering I was piecing all sorts of other patterns together and guesstimating almost all of it.  I won't point out the flaws though and just let you admire it... :D 

Next up, Blake's birthday BBQ with family and some friends.  With a week of planning, I hope it turns out alright!  Here's a sneak peek at one of the activities.

Travel Prep

Only 63 days till we make the journey over the many waters!  A bit nervous to be doing this trip on my own with the munchkin, but even if it's a terrible flight, it will only last for so long and then Grandma can play with the baby while I sleep.  (Sound good, Grandma?)  In an effort to make it a little easier on me and maybe a little more fun for the munchkin, I am making her some of her very own travel accessories.
First up: The Diaper Clutch.

It is always such a hassle to dig through the bag and find the diaper, the wipes, the poop bag (if needed) so I made this clutch to save sanity and to look oh so chic while on the way to the change room.  Because that is oh so important while carrying a squirming toddler who needs a change... :)

Next we have: The Backpack.

This one came about from a few reasons.  The hubby didn't really like carrying around my feminine bag with all the baby stuff.  I didn't want to go the way of the diaper bag AND purse, so everything always ended up in my purse; which ends up being the diaper bag and getting all the wear and tear of a diaper bag.  (However, now what am I going to put in my purse?!)  I also wanted the munchkin to be able to carry something of her own while traveling.  Even if it's just her blanket and a toy, those are two things I don't have to try to pack into my carry on and dig out over and over again.  I am also not a fan of themed items.  I don't want to give in to my daughter wearing Dora or Winnie the Pooh or any other character just yet.  I'm sure it will come, but I'll enjoy not having to deal with that yet.
Enough said about that, here's the backpack.

Can you believe that I had to order all the parts (zipper, triglide, and webbing) from Canada because you can't find white ones here?  I'm sure they exist here, but most stores don't have websites, or decent websites, so unless you want to drive around in hopes of finding some random store, good luck!  But that's an entirely different soap box. :)

I definitely have to give credit where credit is due though.  I have attempted to make other bags and cases and haven't figured out how to do so well with all the seams hidden until I found this tutorial.  I did do a few things differently, like the straps and shape/size, but the basic tutorial I followed step by step.  I will also be using the basic instructions for the last travel accessory that I haven't gotten to yet.  The Travel Art Desk.

And because the object of my labors is so darn cute:

I apologize for the camera phone pictures.  We moved and now I can't find the real one!

Hard At Work or Hardly Working

Wow, it has been a while since I last blogged.  Although I'm sure lots of interesting things have happened that you are all dying to know about.... blogging hasn't been on the top of my priority list.  However, I have been getting my backside into gear and have done some fun projects that I wanted to record.  We'll start off with the quilt.

 Yup, this one.  Talk about a LOT of work!  I saw this picture and couldn't help but want to make one of my own.  I had my own ideas of colors and what I wanted, but then I went to the fabric store.  Holy land of fabric!  I wandered around in this place for at least an hour before even starting to pull out the fabric I decided to use.

When the lady who works there asked if she could help, I told her that my ideas disappeared once I walked in the door.  She informed me that it happens ALL the time.  No surprise there!  

Isn't the fabric so fun?  I absolutely fell in love with the little turtles. I'm planning on making a puff turtle softie to go with it too.  Hopefully before Charli's birthday, but we'll see about that.  Now, although I am a pretty crazy seamstress who doesn't like to use patterns..... I did read through the instructions on Awaiting Ada first before attempting my own way.  Not that it was much different as there are only so many ways to puff a quilt.

Coming up next: Travel Prep.

Other Projects

I allowed myself to join Pinterest a little while ago, even though I knew it would lead to an addiction.  But the things I have found!!!!  Like my last post for the menu calendar.  SO helpful!  And these fun things I did for Valentine's Day.

Wire birdcage from here.

Mini kisses idea from here.

String art typography idea from here.  Although, I got the idea from there, I used my own type font and didn't use anybody else's patterns.

Pretty cool eh?  Hopefully I'll have as much fun for future holidays too.  And to keep me busy between holidays.......

Yeah...  that's my 9' couch covered in clothes that I plan on refashioning into something for myself or Charlotte.  And it doesn't include another pile I found in my closet.... :)  Time to find a sewing desk!!!

My First Report

If you're anything like me, projects NEVER seem to get finished.  I have a pile...  Seriously.  However, I do occasionally get around to finishing some.  Typically these are holiday projects that I have a deadline to complete, but I finished one yesterday that had no deadline other than my sanity in seeing it partly completed.  Check out my new............      MAGNETIC MENU CALENDAR!

I wish I could say this was my own idea, but thanks to Pinterest, it belongs to Controlling My Chaos.  I used just strips of black paper as my outline as I don't have a vinyl cutter, but I think it worked pretty well.  The paper I used are freebies from here.  My other half is super excited about the ability to change things around based on his mood (although he is only allowed to meals after the current week).

That is SO Last Decade

Time to show you how we ended the year!  Yeah, I realize this is super late, but I don't mind and I figure you won't either. :)  

Thanksgiving!!!

 

 I decided that I really did still want to celebrate Thanksgiving this (last) year, so even though I had a wee one, I did my best.  I sent Blake out for our bird, walked to the grocery store and then cooked all day.  Challenging with a 1 month old babe I can tell you that.  However, when all was said and done, it turned out pretty decent.  Blake and I even managed to eat that whole bird all by ourselves!  Impressed?  You should be...

The...

Huge....

Bird.....

Yeah baby.  Okay, so when he said it was a small chicken, I figured a relatively normal size and not turkey size.  However, turned out to be more like a cornish game hen size.  Still yummy though!  (doesn't look it, but it was I promise!)

The rest of the spread

Talk about a gigantic meal eh?  Well, there are two of us eating.  At least we have the pomegranate and apple pie right?

And this is me. (duh) The crazy lady who won't try this at home... again... with a tiny baby... on my own.

Next:

Baby Blessing!!!

We decided to bless our beautiful baby the first week of December.  We had some great friends come and support us as well as some of the family.  The bishop keeps making comments to us about how good she must be because she fell asleep right before her blessing and didn't wake up until just after.  Didn't make a noise at all!  My mom also made a beautiful dress for her.  Talk about talent. :)

Watching the rain on the way to church.

The great guys who came to help bless Charlotte.

Being so good at church.

The beautiful dress on the beautiful baby.

My favorite picture of all.

Christmas!!!

Last year I made a fun cake-like advent calendar that you can see here.  However, it was a pain to store and made a bit of a mess as we were counting down, so I made one that was very reminiscent of my family's old one with a new twist to it.

 So, as we count down the days (and turn around the bags), Merry Christmas appears.  Very little in the way of leaving a mess.  However, making each bag, cutting out the numbers and letters, creating christmas paper, pasting on the christmassy paper to show through the cut outs, etc. turns into a pretty time consuming project.  We didn't get to start opening them until about the 6th, but that's okay.  The great thing about it though, it can store in a pretty small package for next year!  Yay! 

We didn't take any pictures of post present unwrapping, but here is one I took Christmas morning prior to the unwrapping frenzy.

Although Charlotte only has 2 presents under our tree, she sure took the lot after visiting Nana and Grandad's and Great Nana and Grandad's.

And here's one of Charlotte in the outfit Nana bought for her, at Nana's.

Blake's Nana also took a family picture, so some day I'll have to get on her computer to steal a bunch that I know she has.  

As for New Year's....  Well, we took a nap till 11:55, woke up, drank some fizzy grape juice, watched the Sydney firework show, and went back to bed.  We.. are... awesome. :)

Hope you all had a great 2010!

It Is Time

Okay, so I admit to being a slacker on this; however, sleep generally outweighs posting...  But, I have finally taken pictures (thanks to some prodding) and can show you the finished product of our nursery!  Yay!  Made with love and care (and some blood, sweat, and tears), I present to you:

The Nursery Nook 

Any guesses to how much this would cost to buy everything?  Honestly...  I'm a little curious. :)  As for how much it cost me, let us guesstimate. 

Items with a Price Tag

Wood (board & letters) - $10

Frames - $8

Lamp - $20

Buttons - $7

Fabric (boxes, bassinette, pictures) - $60

Paint - $10

Cubby Shelves - $80

Bassinette mattress - $40

Items for Free

Cutting of letters and plastic for boxes - Love you Dad!

Bassinette frame - Thank you Jodi!

Sheets and quilt - Love you Mom!

Plastic to create boxes - Regional Supply, thank you for not wanting to run a cc for such a little amount!

Stuff - Thank you family and friends for filling up those cubbies!

Creative Ingenuity - Thank you for not running me dry while creating my masterpieces! ;)

Total Estimated Nursery Cost - $235 (give or take a little)  I love being cheap!

Sorry the pictures are fuzzy.  I took them with the lesser of our cameras and we get terrible lighting in the room.  And yes, I am making excuses for my lack of ability in that area!

And for a final couple pictures to get you by till next time.....

He said I couldn't put this on Facebook....  Never said a word about the blog. ;)

Thomas and Rachael - I used the money to get her this little dress.  She looks adorable in it!  Thanks!

P.S. I'm sorry if this comes across as a bit of a Thankimony....  Oops.

♫♪ Tradition.... tradition. Tradition.... tradition ♫♪

So one MAJOR tradition with my family is making graham cracker houses at Christmas time.  Every year we have about one normal "house" and then the rest are more of graham cracker creations.  These range from Mater to a plane to San Fran (yes a likeness of the city).  Now that Blake and I are on our own and I can't just hop on a plane to make a house and then come back we decided to give it a shot ourselves.  Let me tell ya, another ingredient search for sure.
First thing you need is a big box of graham crackers.  Well, sorry folks but no graham crackers in this hemisphere...  However, they do have some similar tasting crackers.  That's what matters right?  Only issue is they are only slightly rectangular with completely rounded corners.  But, what's the point of making a creative creation without having to be creative all around?  Bought.
Second is the icing.  Now this is very important as it has to stick to the cracker as well as harden relatively quickly so your creation doesn't completely collapse within 30 seconds flat.  Lucky me, my mom put the final result from years of practice and suggestions in our family cookbook.  Sounds good to me.  Now where to find meringue powder...  Checked a few stores, nada.  Thought about maybe trying a new recipe, but when you have something tried and true you don't want to vary from it.  So, off to ask the helpful store clerks.  Guess what!  Nobody has even HEARD of meringue powder.  Luckily, one smart manager was passing and asked if it wasn't the same as pavlova.  Of course!!  So, instead of coming home with a can/box of meringue, I come with this funky egg-shaped pavlova magic container.  Whatever works though, right?
Third is candy.  Okay, I'll be honest, no real issues there. :)  Not many of our standard materials at home, but m&m's and chocolate chips and the like go a long way.
I also decided to be super creative and make some fondant for cut outs and the like.  Now I'm sure you think that is pretty impressive, but it's pretty much straight marshmallows with powdered sugar.  Works for me!
Ready... Begin.
Go Blake Go!  For a first timer, I will admit he did a pretty good job.  It never really collapsed on him and I know for a fact that that has happened to just about everyone in my family at least once (one wall fell and one ceiling tile went crooked).  Here's his creation during, well, creation!

And here are my intermediate steps:

And of course, here are our completed creations:

It was a fun adventure (although it took me much longer than Blake....).  Hope you enjoy and have a very Merry Christmas!!

In Honor of the Season...

That is....weather season, not holiday season.... I cut my hair... again.  Yes, I know it wasn't too long ago I chopped it all off, but it was getting to that 'I can't do anything with this' stage.  Let's just say I really don't like that stage, so I either pull it up as much as possible, or chop it off again.  I'm far from a pro, especially on my own head, so it takes a good portion of my day to accomplish this feat.  However, after much drying, trimming, retrimming, washing, redrying, styling, and trimming again, here is my completed task.

Ta Da!

Now, I hate the pictures that look like 'here, I'm taking a picture of my hair front view' so I do apologize for that one.  What do you think?  Is it the perfect fit, or should I be waiting till it grows out and everything will be all better? ;)