As Kindergarten Begins

On Thursday, Alex will begin kindergarten full time.  Last Friday, Alex had his phase in day and it went much better than we thought that it would.  He is super excited to start and does not want to go to daycare anymore.  Tomorrow will be his last day in daycare.  This will end something that he has done most of his life.  When he was born I was not able to stay at home, so he began daycare at 8 weeks old.  Here we are five years later and tomorrow will end this chapter in his life.  As a former teacher I am super excited for him to begin this new chapter.  As a mom, this is definitely a bittersweet end to a chapter.  I am so excited for the new adventures that wait him, the new experiences that he will have, all the new things that he will learn, and all the new friends he will make.  I am also sad though.  My baby boy that was born on the stormy and hot July evening will start kindergarten.  He will need me in new ways now.  I love watching him become more and more independent but love when he cuddles up in bed with me in the mornings.  He will always and forever be my little boy.

Tonight I sit here looking through Pinterest for cool and awesome lunch ideas to pack him.  I want to make sure that he gets healthy food that is also fun for him to eat.  Luckily, Alex is not a picky eater and that makes things so much easier.  In the coming days, I will hope to post about some of the winners that we have made for his lunch and maybe even some of the misses.  Feel free to leave me any great ideas!

Here we begin the journey into the world of kindergarten.

DIY Bib for an Older Baby or Toddler

Things have been so hectic around here as we quickly approach Alex starting kindergarten.  I feel like we have been busy with lots of things going on in our lives.  Amelia turned one on July 12 and Alex 5 on July 24.  In the middle of those two parties, my husband's company had their IT department group activity.  We were able to go whitewater rafting and it was so much fun.  I have not been in years and had forgotten how much I really love it.  Tim and I are already talking about going again!


Over all of the activities that we have had, I have found that Amelia has decided that a baby bib is much better as a hat than to be worn as something to protect her clothing.  She can easily get the velcro bibs off and thinks that it is so funny to put them on her head.  She loves to put things on her head!

I went to pick her up from daycare one day and they had a bib on her that only had a hole for the head and no velcro.  I decided that this was something that I could try to make on my own.  I went straight for Alex's closet to get a shirt that he has barely worn and will have outgrown by next summer.  I then went to my scrap fabric and found a piece of minky that I used to make my nephew Lake a blanket when he was born.

All you will need for this project is an old t shirt.  If you do not have one this is something that you can easily get from a thrift store.  You will also need a fabric for the back.  I used a piece of minky because it was soft and it is something that I had on hand. You will also need thread.




Here is how I made the bib.



I laid out the shirt and made sure that the side seams line up.  You are going to cut across the back of the shirt just an inch or two above the bottom of the arm hole.  You are going to cut from side to side.






 Cut up both of the side seams to where you cut across the back.

Here is what you will have after you cut the side seams.  You can see that it already is starting to look like a bib.

You will then need to lay the shirt down on the backing material with the ride sides together. You are using the shirt as a pattern and you will pin together so that you can sew around the edges.

Sew around all of the edges making sure that you leave a hole at the bottom so that you will be able to turn the bib right side out.

I forgot to make a cut between the tags at the next before I sewed it together.  You are going to want to do this so that you are able to turn it right side out.  You can sew it back together once it is turned right side out so that you have attached sides.  I just tucked one side into each other and sewed them together.

I think that Amelia likes her bib.  When I first put it on her she tried to get it off but could not quite figure out how to do it.  Hopefully this will help protect all the pretty little dresses that she got for her birthday.  This is an easy project to customize to what you like and make some pretty cool bibs and upcycle at the same time.

Thrift Store Find - $2 Wooden Frame for Race Day Gear

On March 29th, I ran my first 5K.  It was the ColorMeRad race and it was so awesome!!  I loved every minute of it.  It finally got to race day and it was a very cloudy day.  They were calling for rain that morning but it looked like it might hold off.  Well, it held off for about the first half before the bottom finally fell out of the sky.  I was already pretty colorful at this point and did not want to lose the color.  Well I am here to say that rain does not effect the color.  I was pretty colorful by the end of the race.

Since it was my first race I wanted to save my race clothes.  I mean after this race it was either that or burn them.  I knew going into the race that my clothes would never be the same so I wore something that I bought for a few dollars at the thrift store.

Buying a 16x20 wooden frame in the store can cost a lot.  I am really not one to spend a lot on something like this.  I wanted the frame to be fun since it was going to hold my race day gear.  I went to our local Goodwill on half price day and found the perfect frame.   It was in not the best condition but nothing some sandpaper and paint couldn't handle.  I think that it turned out pretty nice and it lets me display my colorful outfit in a frame just as colorful as it is.

Here is the frame before I started.  It is a pretty bad gold color.  I use 220 sandpaper to make sure I got as much of the paint and dirt off that I could.

 This is the frame once I finished sanding all the gunk off the frame.  It takes a little elbow grease but I think that it is totally worth it since I only spent $2 on the frame. It took about 20 minutes total to complete this process.

Before you paint do not forget to wash your frame off.  I used a dry cloth as I sanded to keep the dust from building up too much and then a damp cloth once I finished sanding to make sure I got all the dust off before painting.

 Here is the finished product. I used a hot pink acrylic paint to really make the colors pop.  I mean I am sure this outfit needed more color!  Have fun redoing those thrift store finds to make them more interesting and to better fit your needs!  Don't be afraid of a little color!  It makes life interesting!

Soft Alphabet Letters for Your Little One

My son loves to play with the magnetic letters we have on the front door.  Amelia loves them too but for a different reason - she likes to eat them.  I decided that I would make her some letters that are soft that she can play with and it does not matter if she eats them.  This is an easy project to do but it will take some time doing all 26 letters.  I just used scrap fabric that I already had on hand and tried to match it to the letter as best I could.  (I mean X, what in the world would I use for that one!)

Here is what you will need:
scrap fabric
outlines of the letters (I am sure you can Google letter outlines or trace die cut letters or I used graph paper and drew my own.)
matching thread
batting for the insides of the letters



You will need to start out by tracing out your letters and cutting them out.  I just used graph paper to draw mine out because I decided that would help me keep them somewhat symmetrical and not crazy as it would be if I drew them out free hand.

Once you have all the letters cut out, you are ready to begin assembling your letters.  You will want to find a piece of scrap fabric that will fit your letter.  I used the sandwich method.  I laid my fabric out and placed the batting inside and then covered it with another piece of fabric.  

I then pinned my letter to the top fabric and cut it out using pinking shears.  I used the pinking shears so that the fabric will not ravel since I am leaving the edges open.

I then sewed around the edges and around the holes since I am showing the letter B.  I used a contrasting thread for each just to add an extra touch to it.

Here are  the finished letters.  I think they turned out great and I know Amelia will love getting these for her birthday!  When I was taking the photo she was grabbing the letters off the chair.  Gotta love the days when you can put their gifts right there in front of them and they have no idea what is going on.  Oh how I miss those days with Alex! Ha!  Be creative and have fun making these letters for your little one!

Painting Fireworks with Marbles

One of Alex's favorite things about the Fourth of July is the fireworks.  He looks forward to them all year long.  Every year they put on a huge show at a local lake and he gets so excited to go.  He is already ready to go this year.  He can not wait!

I thought that it would fun if he and I did a little fireworks painting.  I mean, what could be more fun than combining two of his favorite things.

This is such a simple project to do and it does not takes much to complete.

Here is what we used:

•  red, white, and blue acrylic paints
• marble
• black sheet of construction paper
• box lid like from a box of copy paper

I placed the paper in the box lid and then put spots of paint with the three colors all over the paper.

 I then gave Alex the lid and let him shake it until his hearts content.  He loved it!  

This is such a simple project and great for your preschool child or even one a little older.  It really did kinda look like fireworks when he was finished!

Making Soft Blocks for Amelia's Birthday

Amelia's first birthday is quickly approaching and all the planning has begun.  We are just doing a small gathering but there are still so many little things that have to be done.  We have already bought some presents, but I think that it is always nice to have something that is homemade to give to your child.  Something that they can maybe give to their children one day.  I decided that I am going to make her a set of soft blocks.  I like these because she can't hurt herself or anything else with these and they are so simple to make.  You can use any fabric that you want.  I just pulled out some scrap fabric and went to town.  So far I have two made and plan on making at least 8 more for her.  Each one only took about 20 minutes to make.  So easy!

Here is what you will need:

For each block: six 4.5" squares - I chose three fabrics per block so 2 of each fabric, thread, poly stuffing for inside the block.


Here is what I did:

After I cut out the squares, I laid them out into a t with alternating fabrics.

I then attached each square together.  I placed them right side together and sewed a straight stitch where each one meets.

Once you have sewn the sides together it will look like an inside out block.

Leave a small hole on one seam so that you can put your stuffing in.

After all of your stuffing is in, sew up the hole and you now have a cute block.

You can use different fabric for all of the blocks or make them all the same.  I am using all kinds of fabric to make them bright and colorful.  Have fun and use what ever fabric you think your child will like.  She will love playing with her gift that mommy made just for her!

Making a Pillow Dress for Amelia's First Birthday

It has been a crazy week in our household and I am finally getting to sit down and blog.  Alex started our week off with a bout with a lovely stomach bug and ended out the week with his kindergarten screening.

I have been working all week on a dress for Amelia's first birthday.  It should have taken me less than an hour to make but like I said it has been crazy here this week and I only worked on it a little at a time.  Amelia will be turning one here in a few weeks and I thought that it would be nice if I could make her party dress.  I have to say it is so much fun making little girl clothes.  I love my son and I love making him things too but this is a nice change.  I decided to make a little pillowcase dress for her since it will be cool to wear on a hot July day in the south.  It has already been in the mid nineties for the past few weeks with no break in sight.  It will only get hotter here for the next few months.

Here is what you will need to create this darling dress:
1 yeard of a cute fabric - something cotton, lightweight
matching thread
2 yards of coordinating thread
bias tape - I used my own with 20" x 3" strips of her dress fabric

Here is the fabric that I used: SO CUTE!!

I started by cutting out a pattern and using it for cutting the material.  The pattern measures 4.5" for the neck, 6" x 2" for the arm, 20" for the middle, and 11" for the bottom.  You will need to cut out two - one for the back and one for the front.

Next, I made my bias tape.  I cut out two strips of the fabric - 20" x 3".  You will then iron it making a crease down the middle.

You will then open that up and fold the sides to the middle and iron those flaps down.

You will then fold the flaps together and there you have your bias tape for to finish the arms of the dress off cleanly.

Next, I hemmed the bottom of the dress on each piece of fabric.  I did not sew the sides together until later.  I folded it up 1/2" and then folded that over another 1/2" to create an inch hem at the bottom.  I also did a 1/2" hem at the neck but you will finish the neck later.

I then attached the bias tape to each of the arm slots.  I pinned each one on and then cut the extra off.  One one side you will use half and then the other half on the other side.  You will need to do this on the front and back piece of the fabric.  I then sewed it on using a straight stitch remembering to back stitch at the ends to reinforce the hold.

Now for the neck.  I used ribbon that is 7/8" wide so I made the hem of the neck 1.5".  I folded it down and pinned it before I sewed it down with a straight stitch and reinforced the ends.

I then pinned the front and back together, right sides together.  

You will then sew the sides together.  I used a zig zag stitch and then reinforced the ends with a straight stitch.  I wanted to make sure it was strong since this is for a one year old.

Lastly is threading the ribbon through the hem that you created.  I attached a safety pin to make it easy to pull through.  Once it is pulled through you can tie the ends in a bow to make cute little straps for the dress.

Here is the final product.  Sorry it is kinda hanging sideways.  This is for a size 18 month so you can change the measurements for the size that you will want.  I think it will be a perfect dress for her birthday!

If you have any comments or questions, feel free to post below.