Baby V Now Comes With Bows

Verity is losing her hair - there's just no denying it anymore.  So gone were the hopes that she'd be able to wear bows in her hair.  Until I remembered seeing headbands that you can change out bows with so even those with no hair can still accessorize.  So I made one last week:

I basically just wrapped a plastic headband with white ribbon and then made a loop off to one side that was big enough to clip a bow on.  So easy!
Sorry for the bad pictures, I'm having a little trouble with my camera right now.  I've done something to it and I can't figure out what I did.  But isn't she precious?  I mean, she was precious before, the bow just accents it.  

One Lump or Two?

If you come to our house, you'll probably be served a nice hot cup of cheese cubes.  Life is fun here. :)

EDIT :: Apparently some people were confused - Charissa put her cheese cubes that she had for a snack into one of her play tea cups.  She brought it to me and asked me if I wanted a "sip" and then proceeded to give me a piece of cheese.  It's very fun being her mother.  

We've Been Busy

As you can tell from the lack of blogging, we've been busy.  Between potty training and changing schedules and spring break we've been running around crazy.  But things are settling down for us now and I'm starting to feel like a normal person again.  And CJ is almost completely potty trained!  She still wears a diaper at night, but other than that she's good all day - even during nap time!  I'm very impressed with her.  

Anyway - I don't have a ton of time right now to post right now, but hopefully I'll be back again soon!

Tuesday Tip - What to Do With Bone-In Split Chicken Breasts

I don't know about you, but I don't really enjoy dealing with raw meat.  I prefer to buy my meat neatly packaged with no skins and no bones - it's just so easy.  But it's not the cheapest way to get meat.  And I think everyone is looking for ways to do things cheaper these days.  My friend Candace sent me a link to $5 Dollar Dinners where she explains how you can pretty easily use bone-in split chicken breasts.  I tried to copy it onto my blog, but that didn't work for some reason.  I really recommend reading her article because it'll probably save you tons of money and it's a lot easier than you would think.  

Tuesday Tip - Freeze Your Herbs

I love using fresh herbs when I cook. In fact I'm hoping to start growing my own herbs so that I can conviently walk out my back door, pick a few leaves and give my dinners a fresh burst of flavor. Until then, I'm stuck picking them up at the store. The thing I don't like about this, is that it's so wasteful. I use the rosemary (or thyme or cilantro or parsley) for one meal and then I'm left with the vast majority of the package and nothing to do with it. And then about a month later I find it at the bottom of my produce bin and hate that I have to throw it away. Does this sound familiar to anyone else?

Well, I think I've found a solution. Freeze your leftover herbs. It's so simple! And one would think I would have found out about this earlier since we all know I have a great affection for all things freezable. And this was actually an accidental discovery - just like so many other great accidental discoveries (penicillin, champagne ...). Anyway - on one of those very rare shopping trips in which I was child-free I was lingering over the fun frozen foods when I saw a package of frozen parsley. It came in this tray with little pop out sections that each measured out to be about 1 tablespoon of fresh parsley. Fascinated, I took it out of the swirling mist and checked it out. As I'm looking it over and reading the labels I think to myself, "I could so do this." Especially since I have tiny Martha Stewart ice trays that are just the right size.

Ok - down to the nitty-gritty how to's.

Method One:

1. Pick the freshiest, healthiest leaves.
2. Wash (if necessary) and pat dry.
3. Spread the individual leaves on a small tray or cookie sheet. Freezing the leaves flat and individually will prevent them from freezing together.
4. Cover and place the tray into the freezer.
5. When frozen (which shouldn't take but a few hours), place in an airtight container or ziploc bag and return to the freezer.
   
   Method Two:

1. Harvest the freshest, healthiest leaves.
2. Wash (if necessary) and pat dry.
3. Stuff 2-3 individual leaves or a spoonful of chopped herbs in ice cube trays.
4. Fill the tray half way with water.  Make sure the leaves are down into the water.  They will tend to float, but that's ok for now.  Place the tray in the freezer.
5. Once the ice cubes are pretty much frozen, finish filling the tray with water.  The leaves should now be completely submerged in the water.  Put them back in the freezer until frozen solid.
6. Once the ice cubes are frozen, remove them from the tray and store in ziploc bags.

 Ta-da!  May you never waste herbs again! 

A Crafty Fun Giveaway

So my friend Nicole had a craft giveaway where the first 5 people to respond to her post would receive something made by her.  The only catch was that you had to offer the giveaway on your own blog.  Well, I was quick on the draw (barely) and was the 5th person to respond on her blog.  So now I am offering you that same chance.  Here are the rules:

1. You must be one of the first 5 people to leave me a comment on my blog.  
2. You must offer this on your own blog.
3. I will make something just for you.  Which means I'm going to try to make it something you'll like.
4. You must be patient with me to finish this project - no 6-8 week delivery guarantee.  Although I will try to do it in a timely fashion.  

So ... who wants to win something?

Easter Recap

This past weekend we went to my parents' house to celebrate Easter with them.  Charissa had lots of fun with Nana and Grumpa and all the egg-tivities that they had planned.  

CJ finding eggs in the backyard

Coloring eggs with Nana

It's hard to see in this picture, but apparently someone thought Verity's name was "Verity Treat."  I certainly think she's a treat.

Charissa and Verity in the Sunday Finery.  For those of you looking closely, you can see that this chair is just like CJ's, just in a different fabric.  It's actually Verity's chair that is waiting for her at Nana's until she's big enough to use it. 

Searching for her Easter basket ...

... and then when she finds it she just dumps it on the floor.

You can always count on Nana and Grumpa to have a good time. 

Easter Ideas for Next Year

    I don't know about you, but sometimes I find a really good idea for a holiday a few days after the holiday is over.  I have a file on my computer to keep track of these ideas so I can use them the next time.  So for any of you who do the same, I have a few good ideas for you.  

    Sarah over at Create Studio shared how her mother used plastic Easter eggs to share the Gospel.  Each egg has a scripture and an object in it going through the death and resurrection of Jesus.  Since these were super easy to assemble, I made them one day before dinner and we went through them after dinner.  Charissa had a lot of fun playing with all the little objects, and we were able to go through a lot of the Gospel with her.

    Another idea came from a friend of mine from church.   Again, it was something her mom did with her every year.  They're called Resurrection Cookies and with each ingredient you talk about one aspect of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus.  The Gospel and cookies?  Now that's pretty cool.  

    So store these ideas away for next year.  And what holiday is coming up next that I can celebrate?   I have a desire to decorate and celebrate.  

I was featured!

My quilt was featured on the Scrap Exchange Blog!   

Flowery Headbands

Sometimes I enjoy a project that I can finish in a short amount of time but is very satisfying when completed.  I needed one of those projects the other day, and so I made the little girl a flowered headband.  

I wrapped a 1/4" plastic headband with light pink 1" ribbon (gluing only at the ends), and then attached the flowers.  The flowers are silk flowers that I detached from the plant they were on, stuck a brad through the middle and fluffed them up.  I actually made a second headband using brown ribbon with white polka dots and then attached white flowers, but I forgot to take a picture of it.  

The amazing thing was that she wore it.  Outside.  While playing.  Two year olds are unpredictable.  

Repurposed Fabrics

My friend Charity and I went to a fabric blow-out sale at the Scrap Exchange last weekend and I got a TON of fabric. It was mostly upholstery fabric with scary price tags on them like $140 a yard and other such nonsense.  So after I got home with my huge bag of fabric - for a grand total of $7.50 - I needed a plan of something to do with it.  Because I had a lot of it.  And it was kind of taking over my work space.  I decided to make a picnic quilt in the hopes that it'll inspire me to spend more time outside.  I saw an idea on Little Birdie Secrets to use a vinyl tablecloth as the backing for a picnic blanket to block the moisture.  Brilliant!  And the leaves and dirt and earthy stuff won't cling to vinyl like it will to cotton.  I set to work on my quilt, modeling if after a design I saw in a book Charity showed me.  This ended up being a much bigger project than I thought it would be since I wanted the blanket to be big enough for several people to sit out and have space to eat.  By the end of the week this is what I had:

Now we are picnic ready!

I still have a lot of material that I need to find projects for, but I did come up with one so far. I took some purple fabric and turned it into a skirt for CJ.

The fabric is actually really stiff so the skirt can stand on its own. Always a bonus.

I have two more piles of fabric that are project-less so if you have any ideas send them my way!

Tuesday Tip - 12 Steps to Finding Something

I have a couple Tuesday Tips in the works, but nothing ready for posting. So for the few of you who read my Tuesday ramblings, I decided to post a website that will help you find everything you've lost. Or so it says. Enjoy reading the Twelve Principles.

I Want This Paint

 I read an article on Greener Design which claims they have no made a paint that heals itself.  I'm not kidding! You scratch it (or your kids scratch it) and 30 minutes later it's healed!  The catch is it only works once, so if you scratch it in the same spot again it won't heal again.  But how cool is that?  They are basing the science off the way crab shells heal themselves when they are scratched.  

Oh the amazing things God has put into nature!  

Poor, Pitiful CJ

CJ wasn't feeling well and when she doesn't feel well she does this thing we have affectionally termed "slounging."  It's kind of a combination of slumping and lounging.  Here's how she slounges:

That's pretty much how she spent the day.  With random bursts of energy in which she would run around for a little bit, and then immediately go back to her chair and slounge.  

Tuesday Tip - Applique Your Cares Away

Last week Charissa somehow got a hold of a pen while we were in the car (probably because I left one around and she put it in her purse so she can be just like Mama), but she didn't have any paper, so she went to town on her pants.  

Now, these were one of my favorites, so I couldn't just get rid of them.  I have a very special place in my heart for red pants ... and gold pants.  Anyway - I decided to try my hand at applique and cover up the spots.  I found a fun zebra print, cut out little hearts and ironed them right on.  
I was pleased with the results, but thought that it looked a little random, so I opted to add some zebra ruffles at the bottom.  

And because I was 1) caught up in the applique momentum and 2) had the supplies, I decided to make a little shirt to go with it.  

I don't have a picture of CJ in them, but trust me - she's cute.  Britt refers to this outfit as "The Little Rocker."  So there is hope for clothes with spots on them!  

For those of you who could care for a tutorial on applique I recommend Little Birdie Secrets Blog on it (they also have a fun idea for Wall Appliques).  It's very easy to follow and I love their style. 

Precious

Bouncy Seat Makeover

Before Charissa was born, we were given a lot of hand-me-down baby items and we were so thankful to have them.  They have served us well and saved us tons of money.  The only down-side to this is that sometimes you get things that aren't your style (a small price to pay in my opinion).  One of my favorite infant items is our bouncy seat.  Both of our children have loved it and I enjoy that I can easily move it from room to room.  But it's definitely not my style.  Here's what it looks like:

Last week I decided enough was enough - I was tired of looking at it and thinking, "I wish I had a different cover for it."  So I decided to make a new cover.  I knew it would be a bit of a challenge because it was an odd shape, I had no pattern, and it really did matter how well I sewed it because Verity could crash to the floor if there were sloppy stitches.  I found a purple monkey fabric I liked and set out to work.  It took me a lot longer than I thought it would because I kept making mistakes and having to rip out the stitches.  But 4 nap times later here are my results:

You can't see from these pictures, but we also painted the frame that was bright yellow to a dark brown.  Much better.  I'm very pleased.  I know there are a lot of imperfections and things I would do differently, but it's still ten times better than the blue bees.  

My only wish is that I did this earlier ... instead of about a month before Verity outgrows it.  Oh well.  

A Slight Miscommunication

Tonight as we were getting Charissa ready for bed she said she had to go potty, so she ran off and did her deed.  She came running back in, so proud of herself for a successful toilet adventure - and we were thrilled as well.  We were clapping our hands and telling her she was a big girl and what a good job she did and Britt said, "Praise the Lord!"  Well, Charissa got really excited (which was hard to do as she was already running in circles, jumping around and waving her arms), ran to the living room, stood in front of the door, and said "Praise the door!  Praise the door!"

I guess we need to work on our enunciation!  

Tuesday Tip - Inventory Your House

Britt and I sold some chairs on craigslist the other day and I ended up talking to the lady that bought them for a long time.  As we were chatting I found out that her house had recently burned to the ground and she had lost almost everything she had.  She looked at me right in the eyes, pointed her index finger at me and said, "If I could tell you one thing about all this it would be to take an inventory of your house now.  Otherwise you'll be in the mess I'm in where I'm having trouble getting my items replaced."  I think I'm going to listen.  Especially since she's the 3rd person I've known to have their house burn down this year.  

I did a little research to find out how to make a home inventory.  Here's what I found:

• A lot of insurance companies have downloadable home inventory checklists available on line.  This is helpful for two reasons: 1) It gives you a start on what you need to inventory, and 2) it lets you know what your specific insurance provider is looking for in your inventory.  
• Items such as household linen, cookware, cutlery, clothing, and children's toys do not have to be listed individually unless they are of particular value.  
• Kitchen appliances, electronic games, artwork, musical instruments, computers, cameras and things of that nature should all be listed individually along with their serial numbers.
• Make a photographic inventory.  Start in one corner of the room and work your way around until the whole room has been covered.  Take more detailed pictures of your valued items.  Flip your china over to get the name and manufacturer on file, take pictures of your books, music, DVDs so that you can read the titles.  Remember to open closets and drawers and fan out the items so they are all included.  
• Once your inventory is complete, print it out or save it to a disc and store it in a safe location away from your house.   

I haven't actually started my list yet, but I'm going to next week.  It's already on my to-do list.  I'm going to start out by photographing each room, and when I'm done with that I'm going to go room by room and inventory what we have.  I know it's going to be tedious.  I know it's going to take a long time.  In fact, I may only get to one room a week.  But I'd rather have it and never have to use it, then watch my home go up in flames and not have a way to replace our possessions.  After I finish I'm going to burn all the pictures and inventory list to a disc and give it to my parents.  I feel like it's highly unlikely that our house and their house would both be destroyed at the same time.

Even if you don't have time to make a written inventory, I would encourage you to spend just a little bit of time photographing your house.  Hopefully you won't need it, but it'll be good to have anyway.  

Women's Retreat

This weekend my church had a women's retreat where we spent Friday night and Saturday morning talking about "The Righteous Tongue."  It was so refreshing for me!  I enjoyed every minute of it.  It was so nice just to hang out with other women (without the kiddos so we could finish our sentences), but I needed to hear what they were saying.  

I won't really do justice to the speakers by going over what they said, but we did watch a video of a message Paul Tripp did and I can give you the link.  It's worth watching.  I've rewatched it already, and I want to watch it with Britt sometime.  You can read it, listen to it, or watch it at Desiring God.  I would recommend watching it just because I think Paul Tripp is really funny.