GIVEAWAY!!!

I am so excited for my first giveaway! From now til September 1st you have the chance to win a beautiful wooden teething ring, with a beeswax finish and cotton crochet panel.

Here's how to enter:

-Check out my new Esty store
-Leave me a comment (with a link to your blog) and tell me what item you liked best in my store when you're done!

-For an extra entry blog about the giveaway, or if you don't have a blog, tweet or link to me in a facebook post and leave me the specific URL in your comment.

I will do a random drawing in the first week of September!

Thrift store finds!

So many treasures! I've been scoping out thirft stores for a month now, trying to find some fun things for a vintage swap I am doing. I hit the jackpot at the MCC thrift store today! I have been looking for something enamel with a lid to use as an outdoor washbasin and almost spent $20 on one I found online. Today I found one for $3! Perfect for rinsing hands off after a play in the sandbox.

And some awesome vintage linens that are just crying out to be transformed into something cool. And those square baskets? 10 cents!!!!! I am so happy!

Homemade Sling: Stretchy Wrap

I think every new mom should have a good sling, which is why I made one for my friend Cara and her partner, Nathan to use with their new little one, Brenna.

Photo Courtesy of Nathan Hall

It was almost so easy! I read some tutorials here on Make Baby Stuff and a few other tips and tut's here and there. It sounded like 4m of a good quality jersey was enough. So that's what I bought. But actually I needed 5m. So, the troubleshooting started and, with the help of a talented friend, I decided to put a 1m panel in the center. I found a beautiful (and ridiculously expensive) batik print on clearance and snagged it up.

At this point I actually got excited about my mistake because it meant I could use a more expensive print on future slings and not break the bank! The batik was considerably less stretchy and didn't have a lot of give. I was a bit worried, but it is actually more supportive for babe while still allowing you to pull it over baby's body without much work.



My sewer friend, Darcie, showed me how to sew the panel on so it would be secure (a French seam, Darcie?). And when I was sure that is would hold, I top stitched just to make sure! It took a loooong time to hem 5m of fabric. I didn't pin, just rolled it under in sections as I went. The batik was very fussy and I don't know if I would use it again. Next time I may try and taper the ends at a gentle angle for the last half meter or so on each end. It makes tying easier, but I wasn't brave enough to try it my first time.

I'm so happy it turned out and that Nathan and Cara are using it!

This is me trying Daniel in the sling to make sure it would hold up to a toddlers weight. He looks so tall!

Birthday Madness: Part Two

Daniel helped me make his cupcakes this year. He loved following the steps of the recipe, and helping me with the blender. Thanks to my mother in law's piping bag, I didn't have to use parchment triangles this year! It is SO much easier with a piping bag. The cupcakes are chocolate with peanut butter, and raspberry icing.  Here are the recipes:


3/4 cup soft butter
4 1/2 cups icing sugar
3 tsp milk or water (I use water)
2 tsp vanilla

Beat butter until soft, add icing sugar slowly. Beat in liquid 1 tsp at a time. Split in half.

Add 3 tbsp peanut butter to one half and mix well. You may need to thin out with a little water.

Add 2 tbsp rasperry jam/jelly to the other half and beat. You may need to thicken up with more icing sugar.

The best part of it all, for my numbers-obsessed little guy was finding these (free and printable!) cupcake flags at Fog and Thistle.

Birthday Madness: Part One

This weekend was Daniel's third birthday! I can't believe he's not a toddler anymore! Instead of wrapping his gifts, I decided to clear out the play area, and reorganize with all his new things. He loved the matching game and stopped to play right away.

My other big project for him was dying play silks. I spent a lot of time on several different methods before I found one that I liked.

I also gave him some wooden balls and acorns with scoops and tongs to give him some fine motor  practice. He started making "noodles" right away.

Once we got to the lake for his party, we gave him his big gift: a beanbag board and mini beanbags. The kids had a lot of fun playing. The older kids were trying for big points and the little ones were excited even when they hit the board. I think D liked that the beanbags were so small and light.

I'm really happy with how everything turned out, and that for once, he likes what I made him! Yay!