Side dish #25: Stories

My sister is graduating from high school and one of her senior projects was to write about meaningful books throughout her life thus far.
Anyways, when I was thinking about what a neat idea that was, I thought of it in two ways. One, having my students create a reading log of meaningful books to them throughout their first grade year (maybe choosing one book a month). I really want my students to start valuing reading and realizing that they can have favorites, but then also think about why.

AND then I was also thinking about how Will and I go on about how many times we read THAT book today to Alex. What makes him love that book so much and want to hear it over and over again?
Since I failed miserably at keeping up with his baby book, I decided I would try to do a better job keeping up with his favorite books throughout the years.
So thanks to a couple of quiet minutes this morning I came up with this! :)

(click on the picture to take you to the other pages)

I only have two sample pages at this point, but they are pretty general so will just make copies. one for before he starts school and then one for after. I think as he gets older it might change too. Wouldn't this be such a fun memory to give him when he graduated high school or even has his first child (I know...I am thinking WAY in advance!) 

I might put it a binder with sheet protectors, or eventually bind it, or I might do something else all together, but still...

a fun way to remember the treasured stories throughout the years.

Just thought I would share! :)

Side Dish #24: Mother-Daughter Aprons!

My sister is an apron-loving kind of girl, so for her birthday and then for her daughter's birthday (back in FEBRUARY...yeah, i am kind of late!) I decided to make them some matching aprons!

For Mary's I copied my favorite apron...one that was from Japan. I loved how the straps criss-crossed so that if stayed up higher in the front.

my japanese one used buttons and then had separate straps to tie it... by accident :) I discovered an even better way...using D rings I was able to  use 2 long straps instead of having to use 4. 

I used bias tape to trim Mary's all the way around.

Lizzie got a little ruffle at the top and bottom of her apron. 

I used a small quick release clip as a fastener for the top, so they could adjust how long it was.

I meant to get pictures with them wearing it but forgot! :( 

Fun times...although I realized I need to do all my gift projects in the summer because it gets really stressful trying to find time to work on them during the school year!

This has been my year for reading. I have realized I don't have time to read and craft so I have to pick one or the other!

Side Dish #23: Garbage find makeover!

I had been thinking how we needed to get a table that was Alex-sized so we could attempt to eat outside a little better. Well, as we were driving home the other day I saw a dirty old kids picnic table in someone's garbage pile. Much to Will's horror I made him go back and get it! :)

This was after the first hose down! 

But later Alex and I took some soap and water to it and the dirt and junk came right off...

It was still really faded looking with 80s colors, so...

some khaki, hunter green, and a uv protector coat later...

(they make spray paint for plastic...yay!!)

the finished product! :)

I love how it turned out!

a perfect place for Alex to sit (I hope!) while we enjoy some meals outdoors!

The boy is happiest when he is outside and now I hope it will be easier to eat outside too!

Side dish #22: Travel tubs

As we anticipate another long trip in February (yay for mid-winter break!), I know I will definitely be pulling these out again!

Everyone has old wipe containers I am sure! I get a new one every time we get our big box of wipes from Amazon (Amazon Mom is the best!) Anyways, over Christmas break we took a trip up to ohio and so I made up these tubs to organize Alex's toys on the trip. I made fun little picture on the front because I knew that these would probably become a permanent fixture on trips! I would pull one out at a time and let him play with the toys. Once he was done with it, I would try to collect as much as possible and put it back in the big basket and give him something else to play with. I had a bag of books too and since he had to be mostly still, he enjoyed reading them more than usual! :) Of course we also traveled with a huge container of animal crackers, gold fish and cheerios. With all of this we survived our trip and feel up to try some more! (Indy and Chicago here we come!)

Side dish #21: Some good reads...

For Christmas Will got me a Kindle Touch. I wanted a good e-reader that was going to make it easier to read. Mind you I am not giving up the beauty of turning real pages, but when you have a rascal wandering the house who finds pages (turning or tearing them) very interesting, it is hard to leave a book out and feel that it is safe! Anyways, Merry Christmas to me, I got my Kindle and LOVE it! It has put me on a reading streak, which is kind of why I waited all week to do my recipes. When you have to choose one activity to do when there are many options but not enough time, you have to make some sacrifices!
Anyways, I have been able to read some fabulous books.

Starting with the second and third books in the Mysterious Benedict Society series. I had kind of given up on this series after the first book. I just didn't love, love it, but I actually enjoyed the second one more than the first and then the third was a good ending to the series. Four kids band together to solve mysteries and have to work together to solve the clues. They are fun to read.



Then I started The Book of Ember. I read it in a day. It is the story of a city underground, but the lights are starting to go out and the city is dying. The author really grabs you from the beginning and I had trouble putting my kindle down! I am reading the second book right now and can't wait to finish the series out with the last two books.

Check out the links below for more info!

I have to say, I love the fact that I can check books out of the library on my kindle! I do wish they had more of a selection, but I am definitely keeping busy with the books I am finding! All of my recent reads have been  library ones! Love that I can read a huge selection of book on my kindle without having to buy each book!


                

Side Dish #20: Tea Wreath

I saw my sister post this one on pinterest so decided to make it for her as a gift for being such a wonderful hostess when we visited over christmas! The tutorial is found here.
It was so fun to make! I tried another way first but it really needs to have a cardboard ring to support the clothes pins! I only had to buy the clothes pins! I had a bunch of tea that I was happy to give to my sister who is NOT a coffee drinker (I guess they really do exist! :) )

Side Dish #19: The Organized Life

Katie and Organization is kind of an oxymoron! I like to be organized, but piles slowly develop, and the clutter keeps coming back! Plus as a working mom, hours to commit to organization are few and far between!

A couple months ago I was looking at different "family binders" online and thought to myself: WOW some people are overly organized! :) But I did think that having a binder for our finances, meal planning, and projects and such would help my world feel less chaotic! Planning meals also helps me when I am grocery shopping and thinking about what new recipes I need to try! I try and do our big food shopping just twice a month, so plan out meals for two weeks.

So I proceeded to avoid things I really need to do by making these fun sheets to keep me organized. When it is cute that helps with the motivation right ! :) I also liked being able to make them exactly how I wanted.

here is what a couple pages looks like but the rest of them are here. (Hopefully it will work, I'm not skilled enough in blogging to figure out how documents too well :) )



So far I have kind failed at using the chore checklist effectively(I HATE cleaning!), But I do better with the finances and meal planner. I stick a copy of our budget at the front of the finances page too to keep a paper copy of that as well! Hopefully by the end of 2012 I will be a more organized person with less clutter! :) (well, it is a nice wish!)

Side dish #18: Subway Art

wow, happened upon this blog today, and I pretty much stopped everything I was doing to try it. (That is the beauty of christmas break and a napping baby!) So much fun. All you need is picasa and some fun fonts! I love Kevin and Amanda's fonts found here. Kind of like wordle, i guess, but I felt like I had more control over everything!

I got to work on a couple I can't share right now because they are presents :), but make one, print it, and stick it in a frame...that is one personal, yet VERY inexpensive gift!

Anyways, tonight I worked on one for Alex, it is a little different then the others because I only used one font, but I really like the way it turned out. Won't it be cute in his room! Then we can keep doing them throughout the years if we want!

So go check out this blog post found here to get great directions! Hope you are enjoying break as much as I am! :)

Side Dish #17: Christmas Vacation Reading

Yay for a break! So far I have read two books: The Lightening Thief by Rick Riodian and Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin.
I thought The Lightening Thief was okay. I enjoyed reading it, but didn't feel the need to read the rest of them. The sentences were a little choppy and I just didn't love it.

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon on the other hand...LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it! It is the story of a little girl who goes on a journey and the different characters she meets tells her different stories but all the stories tell another story. It was a delightful tale, one that I would definitely read again!
Tell me the good books you are reading and I will add them to my "need to read" list!

Side Dish #16: Paci Clip

Tonight I was working on another project, and because I had my sewing machine out, I decided to make Alex a new paci clip. Our pacis are too important to get lost or dirty when he drops them out of his mouth, so we like to make sure they are attached tightly to his body! :)
I think i have made two others, but after a while they are gross and dirty and it was time for a new one!

I found the little clip at Hobby Lobby, it is a suspender or mitten fastener. I looped the ribbon and sewed that on, then sewed on velcro on the other side. buy the sew on kind of velcro because the sticky back comes off pretty quickly, then reeks havoc on your sewing machine needle because of the gummy sticky stuff.
Anyways, tomorrow Alex will get a new, fresh paci clip to help him as he works on cutting those incisors!

Side dish #15: Paper Clip Earrings

This blog post found here was the find of a century...gifts for under $5...especially ones that take an evening to complete! I immediately fell in love with the paper clip earrings that looked gorgeous!
So I made my own...sitting on my couch...watching TV... a relaxing kind of craft! :)

aren't they kind of artsy and fun! :)

Side dish #14: Christmas Wreath

So I made another similar one found here, but experimented with some new flowers and did more christmasy colors! Tutorials for flowers are found here and here (kind of)
Excuse my camera...it is getting so old and takes terrible picture!

Side Dish #13: Felt Christmas Trees

So on a rainy Sunday with a restless almost one year old, I decided to try out this felt christmas tree I found on pinterest. The original post is found here. I am not at all one for decorating before Thanksgiving, but I had just picked up the felt at michaels and was eager to make it! :) Michaels has large felt pieces for 4 dollars, and then using some more felt I bought, and other colors I already had, this was about a $5 project!
The original had ornaments with letters and such, but I was more into a 10 minute project so decided to focus on SHAPES this year with Alex...we can add letters later! :)
The creases on the big green felt made it easy to make an outline for the tree. I still need to attach the brown trunk on the bottom. I also need to figure out how to attach it better to the door. Alex tore it down just about as quickly as he took off the felt ornaments!

 Perfect Alex size!

(do not make fun of my star! I need to fix it!)

He doesn't really put ornaments back up, but he is certainly a pro at taking them off in record time!

I think that is what is making me nervous about putting a real tree up! :)

And suggestions for how to keep it up would be great! the 3M strips did not work! :(

Side Dish #12: tutus

 Have you noticed I have been doing more crafts then cooking recently, not good. Hopefully I will be able to catch up over thanksgiving! But thanks to pinterest, I have been having fun doing some fun cheap crafts, like tutus! See the tutorial I followed here The crafts also have to be 30 minutes or less too because that is my attention span right now! :) Well, at the end of the 30ish minutes here was my final product! :)

Side Dish #11: Fabric Flower Rings

So pinterest may be a waste of time because I keep discovering all these new blogs I want to read, but I love finding quick craft projects to release my inner craftiness with out using up all of my precious free hours (those are very few these days!). So when I happened upon these rings, I was so excited to try it out!
Thanks to scraps around my house and already having some ring bases from a failed project, this project cost me next to nothing! And it was so fun to make the flowers I made some hair clips too! :) Perfect stocking stuffers!
Check here for the tutorial!

I love big rings! :)

Side Dish #10: Infinity Scarf

I made this last week during the commercial breaks of The Sing Off! :) I started seeing all these infinity scarves popping up on facebook and then when i was with a friend at Joanns we happened upon this fun double sided fabric in the clearance section!

since it was double sided i didn't have to do much, i just tried to do a really little seam up both sides so that it looked more like it was curling in. i messed up a bit when i was attaching them together...trying to make it look as seamless as possible, but I think next time I can do it better! 

Fun addition to the wardrobe! 

Side dish #9: Yarn Wreath

okay, so I saw this picture on pinterest and knew I wanted to try that! Of course it was not nearly as nice because I decided to just use up yarn i have, I now have this cute wreath...

Has a wonderful winter feel without being too christmasy! :) It was a great project to work on while watching a movie, and wrapping yarn around a foam wreath is the best brainless activity one can do on a tired Friday night!
Like the felt flowers? Here is another project that is tons of fun!

Side dish #8: DIY Ninja costume!

After mulling over a couple ideas for what Alex should be for Halloween, I finally went back to the original idea...NINJA.

While some people are super elaborate, i went really simple and cheap!
First go to your local target and buy a black sweatsuit...$8.00
Next, go through your fabric stash and get some black fabric...5 minutes $0
research how to make head wrap (pictures found here) ...10 minutes
then cut the fabric so you can make one long skinny piece, and two rectangles 5 minutes
sew (if necessary) 2 strips together to make one long piece, hem two rectangles 10 minutes
wrap long piece around body to create the "yukata" look of the front.... 2 minutes
tie head piece on child's head... 5 minutes
trying to make it more like a ninja's head piece...good luck trying to get your squirming child to be still!

give up and call it a day, because regardless, you have one pretty cute ninja wandering around your house! :)

Side dish #7: Pull-it-out Toy!

So Alex has discovered the joy of tissue boxes, wipes containers, napkins...anything you can pull out and destroy! As a way to help redirect him I made a alternative activity for him to play with! Thanks to pinterest, I was directed here for directions, and in an evening I was set!

You need:
An empty wipes container
scrap pieces of fabric.

I got really lazy as I cut out the pieces and didn't even worry about hemming them all!  I looked in my fabric stash for different scraps with different textures, sizes, and colors.
Cut them in to smaller pieces and STUFF into the wipe container. I have to sit there sometimes and help Alex get started, but he loves it! I tried at first knotting them together, but he was not a fan of that. He still takes each one out and tries to see if he can rip it! Adding their name to the front with some fun stickers also makes it quite exciting! :)

Side Dish #6: Hanging Storage

I live in a small house so have to overcome my lack of space by using my wall space.

Thanks to Ikea I have been able to turn a pretty messy study room into a more efficient workspace for me...

not that it is any cleaner, but maybe more organized... I still need to put some cork boards I have in that empty wall space, but I love it! I love not having to put away my sewing machine because I need to set the table for dinner, and everything I need to sew, craft etc is right around me!

So, Last weekend, I decided that Will needed to get his coaching papers off of my dining room table and into a spot is still convenient for him. So I had just enough left over material from another wall pocket thing I had made to make him a little...your-paper-catch-all spot...

I cut out two rectangles, and then one little one for a pocket. I sewed the pocket on the front piece, then sewed the two main pieces together. I also sewed down the middle to make two main pockets, one for the notebook and one for other stuff... sew on some little loops to hang and you are done!

Easy afternoon project!

Yesterday I worked on the kitchen laundry bag I wanted to make for a while. It hangs perfectly behind the door, out of sight, but also makes those wet kitchen towels and such out of sight too! I had to do a little bit of adjustments to this one...I got the idea from my One Yard Wonders book, but theirs was really big so I wanted to shrink it a bit. Unfortunately the salad plate I used (instead of a dinner plate) made the hole a little too big...which of course I didn't realize until I had cut it out...

so I sewed a little addition to the bottom, sewed the sides together, added some hanging straps and finally, a way to get my kitchen laundry off of the kitchen counter! :)

Plus isn't this fabric so cheerful! I normally don't love yellow, but this was just to cute to pass up...plus I had a 50% off coupon...

Well, the last project for me for a while will be a sewing machine cover...oh and a bag. Then it is on to start on my list of Christmas presents! :) 

side note: There is a new One Yard Wonders book coming out in December! Check it out on Amazon here...just in time for Christmas! :)