Do Something!

I'm almost a month late, but this year my resolution is to be a doer.  I have been trying to teach Logan the importance of trying/not giving up, so I'm taking it upon myself to actually "do what I say."  Instead of making resolutions for the whole year, I'm making goals for each month.  I figured I would have a better chance of actually keeping them if I only do a month at a time.  I'm going to track my progress here for more accountability and who knows, maybe I'll become more organized!

January Goals
Family

• Continue to read Meaning of Marriage with Fred - Pretty good progress, we spent 2 nights reading the book together
• Do 1 lesson a week with Logan - sight words, numbers, art, music, etc.
• Read 1 story before bedtime with Simone - I haven't made this part of Simone's bedtime routine, but now is a good time to start!

Career

• Update resume - Done!
• Apply for interesting jobs - I like my job and coworkers, but I'm always wondering what else is out there.  If I'm still at my current job at the end of the year, at least I'll have a better idea of what I do/don't want to do.
• Learn new skills - Add SW experience and learn about web design

Crafts

• Do one sewing project - Done!  I made a blanket for my nephew's 1st birthday!

Financial

• Don't buy any more clothes for Logan and Simone - between Christmas presents and hand me downs, they have more than enough!
• Bring lunch to work at least 3x a week

Baby TOMS

Simone's first shoes was a pair of fake TOMS I made.  I found the pattern here and the directions are really easy to follow.  I usually sew after the kids go to sleep so I just guessed her size.  The shoes were just the right size when I finished and Simone was able to wear them for a couple of weeks.

I personalized them for MaeMae (little sister) only to be told that it should actually be MeiMei.  I'll just pretend I didn't go to Chinese school now.

So I Started to Sew

I actually took a sewing class with my good friend Christine almost 10 years ago.  Sadly, it's taking me more than 10 years to finish that first shirt!  Maybe I'll find that half done project one day.  Since then, I would just bust out my sewing machine when I needed to hem my pants.  That machine was probably one of the most frustrating things ever.  After many hours (or minutes?) of blood, sweat, and mostly tears, I thought hemming would be all I could do.

When I found out I was pregnant with Logan, I was so inspired all the crafts I saw for babies. One of the first things I made was a nursing cover from the tutorial here.  It was surprisingly not bad.  It was pretty much sewing a bunch of rectangles together, so it didn't seem as daunting as using a pattern.  And, it was the first time I used notions (I'm still not sure what makes something a notion.  ex:  a button is not a notion, but a snap is?) 

This is actually the nursing cover I made for Simone.  I had made a flannel blue one for Logan, which ended up being a bad idea.  Flannel in California = sweaty nursing baby.

I was afraid that I would mess up so I ended up buying extra fabric.  Fortunately, I didn't, so I ended up making a little bag for quick diaper changes - diaper, wipes, hand sanitizer.

This was super easy to make and has been quite useful!  This is how I made it:

Materials: rectangle fabric of desired size, thread, parachute cord, cord stopper.  Instead of a parachute cord, you can use ribbon, yarn, etc.

Fold fabric in half, wrong side together, so the fold will be on the long side.

Sew together 1 short side, 1/4 inch seam

Sew  together the long side, but leave 2 inches at the end, next to the opened short side. (This is for the parachute cord)

On the opened short side fold and press 1/4 inch

Fold again and press, but this time make it 1/2 inch.

Sew as close to the fabric edge as possible (as close to 1/2 inch seam)

Thread the parachute cord through the hole and loop into cord stopper

Knot the ends of the parachute cord and use a lighter to keep the ends from fraying

These Boots Are Made For Crawling

Baby's got her first pair of boots!

I was inspired by a bunch of baby boots I saw on Pinterest and decided to make a pair.  I just traced one of her shoes for a rough idea for dimensions and tried to size it bigger so she can grow into it.  Unfortunately, I overcompensated a bit too much and the boots ended up being huge!

I should have probably used a pattern for baby slip ons and just extended the back portion.  Oh well, live and learn =)

Getting My Craft On!

So I haven't blogged in years and Fred is probably the only one that is even aware of this blog. 2 kids later, my garden is pretty much dead and I haven't been couponing, but I have actually been getting crafty!  I'm hoping to use this blog to record all of the things I've made and track how I'm improving (wishful thinking?!).  I spent December making Christmas gifts for Logan and Simone and decorating the house.  Now, I just need to dig up the pictures so I have proof!

The big Christmas gifts were new cuddles - Thomas for Logan and Hello Kitty for Simone (more for myself since I love Hello Kitty and Simone is still a baby)

This was my first time sewing blankets and using the minky fabric.  I don't think they look too shabby and they were quite simple!  

Pin 2 rectangles of the same size, wrong sides together

Sew 1/2 inch seam, leave a 3-4 inch hole

Turn inside out

Sew 1/4 inch seam all around for the border and to close the hole