{Thankful Thursday} - Visiting Teaching

Today I'm thankful for Visiting Teaching and making new friends.  Went on a new route today with a new companion and got to know several new people. Some of my oldest friends I met visiting teaching many years ago and I'm thankful that we are still good friends and for the continuous opportunity to meet new people and  develop friendships with them.

{Whatever Wednesday} - Scripture Cover

This is a variation of the notebook cover I posted yesterday.  My measurements were a little off so when I topstitched it the flaps ended up being too small.  I ended up unpicking it and hand stitched the flaps in place with a blind stitch so it would fit.  Thinking this would be a good present for outgoing missionaries or 8 year olds when they get their first set of scriptures.

{Tutorial Tuesday} - Fabric Covered Composition Notebook

My nephew's birthdays are coming up and I've been brainstorming things to make for them.  I finally came up with this and sewed a couple of them up Saturday afternoon. I hope they like them!

Instructions:
1.  Measure size height and width of book while it is laying open flat.
2.  Cut two pieces of fabric about 1 1/2" taller than your measurement and about 6" wider.
3.  Sew fabric right sides together leaving an opening for turning.
4.  Turn fabric right side out, press and hand sew opening closed.
5.  Fold over ends of fabric for flaps and pin in place.
6.  Sew around entire outer edge of fabric.
7.  Place on notebook and enjoy!

Optional: Pen/Pencil Pocket
1.  Cut two pieces of fabric 2 1/2" x 5".
2.  Sew right sides together leaving an opening for turning.
3.  Turn fabric right side out, press and hand sew opening closed.
4.  Pin pocket in place and sew around three sides.

I actually have quite a few of these notebooks that I picked up on the cheap at a back to school sale.  I will be making lots more of these as I get the chance.

{Favorite Things Friday} - Rain Boots

Any day I get to wear these rain boots is a good day in my book!  A couple weeks ago it was in the high 80s and now that school is out and everyone wants to go camping this weekend for Memorial Day the high is maybe 50.  At one point today it was snowing, hailing and raining all at the same time.  I'd never seen that before.  Since we were out of milk I made a quick trip to the next town over to pick up some groceries and took advantage of the opportunity to wear these awesome boots.  I even got complimented on them from the grocery bagger who walked me out to my car and loaded my groceries in the trunk.  I bought these in CA a few years ago from Target.  I think they were a return from an online purchase because they were they only ones in stock.  I bought them because I'd just returned from a trip to AZ where I'd gotten caught in some crazy flooding and wanted to be prepared if that happened again.  Of course in the years I lived there we didn't get enough rain to flood but I still wore my boots every chance I got.  I'll wear them this summer too when I work in the community garden since it's pretty muddy.  It's fun to have a cute pair of rain boots and to look forward to opportunities to wear them.  My dream would be to wear them to a rainy day at Disneyland.  What fun that would be!

{Thankful Thursday} - Thank You Cards

Today I've been working on Thank You cards and I'm happy to report that I'm almost done.  I only have a couple more to write.  It's been an almost overwhelming task.  So many people have been so generous.  For a while there we were getting a package nearly daily.  It was better than Christmas.  We've been so blessed to receive so much baby gear.  We've received almost everything we've needed so far.  I'll drop some cards off in the mail tomorrow, finish up the last few and put the rest in the diaper bag to pass out to the locals as I come across them.

{Whatever Wednesday} - Whirlwind Yellowstone Trip

A couple weeks ago we went to Yellowstone for the day.  It sounds so funny to say that.  Growing up, we took lots of vacations to Yellowstone but would always stay about a week and spend a day in each area of the park exploring it as much as possible.  Now since I only live 100 miles from the East Entrance it's possible to visit in a day and see quite a bit actually.  We left at 6 am and didn't return till 10pm that night.  My 2 month old was a trooper and was really good all day long.  We did the lower loop stopping at Fishing Bridge, West Thumb, Old Faithful, Paint Pots, Mud Pots, Upper & Lower Falls as well as several other places along the way.  The highlight of the day was probably seeing 2 bears.  A black bear crossed the road right in front of us on our way to West Thumb and my husband had to slam on the breaks to avoid hitting it and then we saw a grizzly bear on the way out of the park.  Even though it was a whirlwind trip it was a lot of fun and I hope we'll get to visit again soon and spend more time there.  I have so many fond memories camping there when I was young and look forward to making lots more memories there with my family.

{Tutorial Tuesday} - Carseat Canopy

I finally finished this up last Monday.  It was a long time in the making.  I started cutting it out in February, then my mom and I both sewed on it while she was here when I had the baby in March and I just sewed the straps on last week.  It's so handy I wish I would've completed it sooner.  I've gotten lots of compliments on it.  If you would like me to make one for you let me know or make your own by following these simple steps:

1.  prewash and iron your fabrics.
2.  cut two 1 yard pieces
3.  pin them right sides together
4.  use a plate to round off all four corners
5.  sew around leaving an opening for turning.
6.  turn and press.
7.  topstitch all the way around
8.  make some straps out of scrap fabric or you can use ribbon, etc...  I used buttons on my straps but you can use velcro if you'd like.

Variation:  Piece together a couple of different fabrics to form the top.  Just make sure to add in a seam allowance to make sure you end up with a piece the right size.  I also sewed decorative ric rac across the seam to fancy it up a bit.

It's great to keep the sun off your baby as they're riding in the backseat and also to keep then wind off them while you are getting them in and out of the car and also discourages people from touching your baby as you are shopping at Wal-Mart!  haha!  Lots of uses!

{Money Saving Monday} - Shaklee

Basic H

If you've ever wanted to try Shaklee now is the perfect time.  This month you get a free membership ($19.95 value) with any purchase.  A Shaklee membership allows you to purchase products at a discount and also earn referral bonuses for introducing people to Shaklee .  I'd never heard of Shaklee until a few months ago when I met the local distributor.  Shaklee is well known for their vitamins, health products and cleaning products.  Personally, I've just used their cleaning products so far but have heard great things about their other items as well.  I can't wait to try their baby care items.  The item I've used the most is called Basic H.  It's a cleaner that comes concentrated and then you mix it up in different strengths to clean around the house.  One bottle of Basic H is the equivalent of 5,824 bottles of Windex!  Crazy huh?  With over 1,000 uses you are sure to find that it'll come in handy.  I use it all the time to clean the mirror in the bathroom and wipe down the kitchen counters.  Since it's non-toxic you don't have to worry about rinsing the counters after you use it and can even wash your fruits and vegetables with it.  If you've been looking to use natural, non toxic cleaning products give Shaklee a try!

{Favorite Things Friday} - Sewing

I sewed for a bit yesterday and it made me realize how much I've missed it.  I've done a few crafts when I can find a minute or two here or there but overall of course I haven't been doing as much as I used to.  I was given a bunch of these fabric squares so I started sewing them up in strips yesterday.  Today I sewed some of the strips together but didn't get them all done since we had the missionaries over for dinner tonight so I had to do a bit of cleaning and cooking today.  Still not completely sure what I'm going to do with them but I've been enjoying sewing them together.  Maybe a table runner and a couple of pillows?  It feels so good to sew again.  I'll have to try to squeeze it in a bit everyday during nap time!

(I'll post another picture when I get them finished.  <3 the Mary Engelbreit prints.)

{Thankful Thursday} - A Happy Mother's Day

My first official Mother's Day

Sorry it's been two weeks since I last posted.  Still getting used to Motherhood and I had a friend visiting for over a week and we had fun playing tourist.  As you can see I didn't do Jasper's hair for this picture.  It adds charm to babies to have their hair a mess right?  And you can also tell that he's drooling like crazy lately.  He can't be teething already can he?  Hard to believe that last Mother's Day I'd about given up hope that I'd ever have a baby and this Mother's Day I have an adorable 2 month old.  He's so much fun and such a good baby.  I just rubbed his head till he fell asleep.  He kept laughing at me but finally drifted off.  Sometimes I just stare at him in wonderment and can't believe that he's actually mine.  Such a blessing!  In my last baby magazine it listed things to do to pamper yourself while your baby is sleeping.  I guess I haven't gotten to that point yet.  When he's sleeping I file his nails, do his laundry, organize his ever growing pile of stuff, write thank you cards for all his gifts, etc...  It's so amazing to watch him figure things out.  Yesterday he started watching his feet intently as he moved them and since I've been rubbing his head to get him to fall asleep the last few days, he started rubbing his head as well.  So much fun!  For Mother's Day Josh fixed us chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast.  At church Jasper screamed like crazy so I rushed him out to the hallway and he spit up all down my arm.  It took me a while to get him calmed down but then he slept straight through the last two hours of church.  We had dinner with Josh's family and his sister made an awesome cheesecake that was delicious.  Overall it was a good day.  Hope your Mother's Day was good as well!

{Whatever Wednesday} - Long Nails

I know this is a really random post but oddly enough I've managed to grow my nails super long since the baby was born.  I guess it's a combination of vitamins and not doing as much as normal.  It has been a bit awkward to type and I've been afraid that I would scratch the little one but never did.  I actually broke a nail last night so I trimmed my nails down quite short.  Not sure if I'll ever have nails this long again.

{Tutorial Tuesday} - Fabric Photo Matte

I'm sure I've mentioned how much I appreciate the generosity of bloggers who share their free printables.  It seems like nearly everyday I download some sort of freebie.  Many times I resize them to 4x6 before I print them to make them more economical.  I'd printed this off in my last batch of pictures and decided to frame it today.  I looked through my scrapbook paper but couldn't find anything that I like but then I saw this piece of fabric sticking out of my stash and thought it was perfect.  I found a piece of cardboard and cut it to 5x7 and cut the fabric the same size.  Then I used a glue stick to adhere the fabric to the cardboard and then glued the picture on top of that.  I probably should've used spray adhesive but it was late and I didn't have to mess with that but it seems like this is going to work.  I wish I remembered where I got this printable from.  I looked around but couldn't remember.  If I do I'll post a link to it.  Will add this to the box of decorations I have for the baby's room (if he ever has one!) ha!  I guess I could hang up some of his stuff above the changing table or his crib that is next to my bed.