Welcome Baby!

We welcomed our daughter into our family Sunday, October 7th at 1:05am shocking us all with her speedy entrance into the world!  7 pounds 13 ounces, 20 1/2 inches long with blond hair, fat cheeks and a set of lungs that let you know of her disapproval.  We are all in love! 

I've received many emails regarding "Behold Him" kits.  Please understand I'm learning all about babys' needs and working on several events for October.  I will be offering the kits again after November 1st.  Thank you for all your support and understanding!

Self Binding Minky Baby Blanket

*UPDATE:  Limited number of Behold Him full wood kits available in my Etsy shop.  Going on maternity leave soon.  Sold out!  That was fast.  Thank you for your support!

I can officially check off making a blanket for the baby!  I actually added this project. I was going to make a carseat canopy but found the perfect corally pink minky that was begging to be a soft blanket. I thought I'd try my hand at self binding. It took me a while, but I do like how it turned out.

instagram photo

I learned that this is a pretty fun technique for a cute result. It's not very hard to put together but I think that this technique would be much easier on flannel.

A few things that I learned along the way....

• I did customize the size since I wanted it to last longer. I made a rectangle, but feel it would be better both visually and when sewing, as a square.
• I found this tutorial helpful for measurements, watched this video  that was the best for me and this video to get an idea on how to sew it with minky.
• Since I didn't have the ruler to measure the angle of the corners, I folded them over to make the angle using these instructions. But be sure to check that it's the right way before you cut! I folded two right and two wrong. Nothing a little un-picking will fix if you haven't cut off the extra fabric.
• You can never pin enough with Minky.  I placed pins no more than an inch apart.  Pin, pin, pin away! 
• I bought too much minky.  Minky is usually 56"-60" wide.  I bought 1 1/4 yards to fit my 1 yard of fabric.    I easily fit the yard onto the blanket with the extra ten inches needed for the self binding leaving 1/2 yard of minky left over looking to be another project.  Minky is expensive!  I bought it on the spur of the moment because I fell in love with it.  My cost was roughly $14ish using a coupon. 
• And finally, don't start your project just before dinner.  If you're like me, you will become obsessed with finishing it making your family wait for a quick dinner of boxed mac n' cheese a couple of hours after dinnertime.  Good thing they are forgiving! 

My Baby Bucket List is looking better already.  Good thing, since I'm now 39 weeks! 

 

 Baby Bucket List

Home Organization: 

• find an arrangement for the girls room/nursery to accommodate the crib and extra baby things Done!
• decorate the girls room on a budget of "making what I have work for us"- making good progress!
• wash, sort and figure out storage for baby clothing   Done!
• paint girls closet
• organize girls closet - Done but would like to eventually add a closet organizer to closet
• re-arrange our bedroom to accommodate co-sleeper  Sort of done.  It's good enough for now.
• pack hospital bag
• clean house from head to toe (never endingly tricky to do)
• purge like I've never purged before!  I have been doing this like crazy.   It will never stop so I'm checking it off the list for now and keeping up the purging habit.

Sewing:

• sew a car seat canopy (where did I put that fabric?)
• sew a baby blanket
• sew burp cloths

Buy:

• nursing necessities - Done!
• postpartum necessities - Done!
• fresh, white onsies - Done!
• baby wash cloths - Done!
• stock up on diapers and wipes
• stock the freezer and pantry
• a coming home outfit for baby

To Primp:

• haircuts for the boys - Done!
• get a haircut myself
• treat myself to a pedicure - Done!
• wash all my comfy clothes to wear postpartum - Done!  It was easy since I've been wearing them all pregnancy anyway.  :)

To Do:

• send thank you notes
• finish kits for October - Done!
• list kits on Etsy - Done! Limited number of kits now available on Etsy!

Baby Bucket List

Yikes!  Where has September gone?  What used to feel like an eternity is quickly coming up!  I've officially have 10 DAYS until my "due" date and of course, I feel like I have a list that is 17 miles long.  It might be a good thing that my babies tend to come a bit after the "due" date.  (Can you tell that I don't like the term "due" date?  It's hard to wait when baby comes after the self imposed deadline.)

Of course, my husband thinks that I'm crazy and that there is really nothing more that I need to have done before our baby girl gets here.  "Diapers, car seat, clothing, done!" he says.   Silly boy.  I've been mentally keeping a list of things that I want to do, but finally sat down and let it all dump out on paper.  When finished, I laughed at my crazy self and edited that list to the things that are really the most important to me to come up with my Baby Bucket list.  Here is what I have left to do: 

Baby Bucket List

Home Organization:  

• find an arrangement for the girls room/nursery to accommodate the crib and extra baby things
• decorate the girls room on a budget of "making what I have work for us"
• wash, sort and figure out storage for baby clothing
• paint girls closet
• organize girls closet
• re-arrange our bedroom to accommodate co-sleeper
• pack hospital bag
• clean house from head to toe (never endingly tricky to do)
• purge like I've never purged before!

Sewing:

• sew a car seat canopy
• sew a baby blanket
• sew burp cloths

Buy:

• nursing necessities
• postpartum necessities
• fresh, white onsies
• baby wash cloths
• stock up on diapers and wipes
• stock the freezer and pantry
• purchase a coming home outfit for baby

To Primp:

• haircuts for the boys
• get a haircut myself
• treat myself to a pedicure
• wash all my comfy clothes to wear postpartum

To Do:

• send thank you notes
• finish kits for October - Done!
• list kits on Etsy - Done! Limited number of kits now available on Etsy!

I'm sure that I'm forgetting something majorly important!  Hopefully, this list being done will help me concentrate on the most important tasks after birth - nursing, recovering, sleeping, and family!   Do you have any tips and tricks for me?  Having been so long since I've had a baby, I feel a little bit like a first time mom all over again! 

Testing, testing, 1, 2, 3...

*ahem*
I would say that I'm surprised that I haven't been blogging for so long, but I'm not.  You see, I've been a little burned out, a bit overwhelmed, not inspired and a bit nauseated.  Yep.  I'm expecting baby #4 into our little family.  Our little family that is seeming really big lately.

The Fam - complete with daughter wearing her favorite nerd glasses and a 28 week huge bump!

Baby girl is guestimated to arrive around October 4th.  There will be nearly a six year gap between baby and my youngest but I knew she was supposed to come to our family.  Knew as in a shocked myself with how strong the inspiration was.  And even though I have already had three healthy babies, I can't help but worry and worry and worry some more about this little friend of ours.  And debating a name for our little dancing baby girl.   Apparently Babycakes is not a socially acceptable name.

So that's really what's been happening in our neck of the woods.  We're excited and exhausted all that the same time.

Butterfly Chandelier Mobile

*Please note, that the pink chandelier kit is no longer available and because of that, the butterflies are now solid cut. White butterflies kits are available for purchase in my Etsy shop.   If you don't see a listing for it, please convo me and I'll set you one up. Custom orders are welcomed! Want a different color and/or size? Feel free to convo me or email me at megitys@gmail.com.

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Supplies

• butterflies ( please note that only solid butterflies are now available in your kits)
• fishing line
• a 12" hoop (wood hoop shown, metal hoop provided in your kit)
• craft wire
• 15+ yards of ribbon and tulle
• small eye hook
• 1 package of Mini Glue Dots ( Not included in kit - found at local craft stores)

Let the fun begin!!

Step 1: Take your hoop and make a criss-cross shape with your wire. Make sure it's secure and centered evenly. Mine doesn't appear to be centered, but believe me, it is!

Step 2:  Beginning with the center of the chandelier, tie one end of your fishing line to it. Do not clip the length yet, just leave it attached to your spool. Use one glue dot on the center of a butterfly, center it over your fishing line and press the other butterfly on top.  Notice that your kit includes two different types of cut out butterflies.  The solid butterfly attaches to the back with the detailed butterfly on top.  Continue down until you are satisfied with the length. Mine alternated from lengths of four and five butterflies. Once satisfied with the length, clip the fishing line.   I found it easiest to attach the butterflies while the hoop is hanging. I secured mine to dangle off the side of the table with a very official crafting tool, a Tonka crane toy. This Tonka toy is not necessary, you may use anything you want to secure it. :)

Step 3: Continue attaching butterflies using the above technique working your way from the inside out. The order used was the center of the cross wires, then each corner where the wire was attached to the hoop and finally one or two strands in between each corner. Fill in your chandelier as much or as little as you want.

Step 4: Tie tulle to the top of your hoop on each corner where the wire is. Be generous in your length so that you can make a full bow. Knot the tulle together and then make two large bows with the excess.

Step 5: Fill in the rest of the hoop by tying the ribbons into simple knots. This looks best with several different styles of ribbons and the knots going in different directions. I used a satin, tulle, sheer and grosgrain in soft creams and perfect creamy pink.

Step 6: Voila! The most adorable butterfly chandelier!   Hang and enjoy!*  Now go forth and create for those you procreated!

Any questions? 

Please feel free to email me at megitys@juno.com. 

*If hanging the chandelier over a crib, be sure to hang out of reach of baby. This chandelier is over an infants crib and although it may not appear to be, it is still high enough that the baby will not be able to reach when able to stand.

Safety first!

Butterfly Chandelier

(Full butterfly tutorial found here.)

The sweet little butterfly chandy that started the whole thing.  Full tutorial found here.  Kits found here. 

  

Paper Crafting in your Nursery

As many of you know, I work at a scrapbook store.  Do you know how fun it is to have your "work" be to create something for the store??   For the latest segment that Kelly did on Studio 5, she created a whole paper crafted nursery.  Kelly is brilliant at coming up with ideas and color combinations.  Look how cute her owl picture is!  It's even better in person with all the details of the patterned paper and the ruffled belly.  I had a great time helping create some of these projects. 

I adore the Baby's First Year wall hanging.  It's a perfect way to These wallhanging is so versitile.  You can use it for any event and when you are finished with it on the wall, it simply can convert to a mini album creating a perfect little keepsake. 

Check out the whole nursery segment here.  You'll love the simply adorned lampshade, butterfly speciman picture, the mod podged chair and of course the chandelier. 

Instructions found on the blog here.

First Guest

You might have noticed a few new cute additions to my Etsy shop. My darling, cute friend Jodi wanted to try her hand at Etsy so she posted a few things in my shop while she decides if she would like to start her own store. She's been very successful at our local boutique and can be found at the Farmer's Market during the summer.

Jodi is a incredibly talented and busy! This mother of three beautiful girls is always thinking up something new. It's fun to go to her house and see all of the cute things that she makes. She makes magnets boards, recipe holders, wood letters and burp cloths just to name a few.

In my shop, you will find a set of her wood conversation hearts. These turned out too cute! They look darling scattered about your house or in piled in a bowl. The hearts come packaged in a set of five tied with a coordinating conversation hearts ribbon. Perfect for gift giving or keeping for yourself.

She also makes sweet burp cloths. A babies necessity is made cute with coordinating fabrics and soft minky. Minky fabric has always been my children's favorite. She packages sets of three complete with a gorgeous bow for a stylish yet practical gift for you or your favorite friends.

Be sure to check out all her sampling on Etsy. We would love for her to be as successful on Etsy as she is here.