Well hello there!

Yeah, I know, it's been quite a while since my last post! However, I've got good reason(s): I've been busy :-P

Grumpy's 6th birthday party was on the 12th. We had lots of family in town and about 50+ people at his party. Wow! It was so much fun :D Even my grandparents came, which was a total delight as we don't get to see them more than a couple times a year.

I've been sewing! ... Like crazy! I finally went and spent the $3 on a double needle :D . It is the coolest thing EVER! I made a swimsuit for me, a swimsuit for Loafie, 3 pairs of boxer briefs from old t-shirts (tutorial eventually to follow!), a super hero cape, some veggie type bags for a customer, boycut shorts/panties from an old t-shirt (super cute with logo on the bum!), hemmed Grumpy's pants in to shorts, and probably a few other projects. Oh yeah, and all the aprons are done along with my silky satin pajamas :) I also turned a long stretchy spaghetti strap tank into lounge wear/pajamas by cutting it in half and turning the bottom half in to shorts (my first experience with FOE, I <3'd it!)

Grumpy started swim lessons on the 14th, 4 days a week for about 45 minutes each. We asked friends and family to sponsor his swim lessons as a gift instead of buying him toys. With his birthday money, we were able to get 6 weeks of swim lessons covered! Woohoo! There is even a little left over to cover some summer time activities like going to the pools or museums and the like.

We've had yard sales on 2 Saturdays this month. That is just soooo exhausting! Lucky hubby got to go run our air conditioned store :-P It did provide a little bit of extra moolah and the kids got to spend time at home. We cleared out some things from the garage and met some nice people.

Along with all of that goodness, Papa has been helping his dad cut fire wood (his dad bought a bunch of logs) probably 4 days a week, which leaves both children and our homebrew store completely under my control until some time after lunch on most days.

June has flown by so fast!! It's finally summer and definitely getting HOT. I hope the rest of the summer doesn't fly by as fast as June did! I'm not ready for my little man to go back to school and be a big 1st grader :(

So that's what I've been up to. Any one else have an eventful month? Do share - I <3 comments! :D

Cloth Diapers Vs. Disposable Diapers

Here is an article from my friend's blog, My Life As A Married Girl. It really gives me something to think about as opposed to just the obvious differences between cloth diapers and disposable. Our little miss frequently seems to have chest congestion, a runny nose, and asthma & allergy type symptoms. She's not in daycare and is generally not around many other children... Hmmm...

Are Disposable Diapers Dangerous?

Some Recently Completed Projects :)

Mommy needs a twirly skirt too! This is from some jeans I got from a friend that eventually blew out, in the crotch, of all places. This a great thing for when that happens!



Pear Apron


Mushroom Apron


Wine Apron


Purses from my son's jeans: This one has the same orangey-red fabric from the mushroom apron. I had a scrap leftover that ended up as the rose. I just love how it came out! Definately easier to do this one with the elastic waist than the next purse down which has a zipper fly.


This one has the contrast fabric from the pear apron. I added some would-be dog collars that I never got around to adding hardware to as the handles. I came across them when I was going through my scraps the other day.

New Updated Ever-Growing Sewing Project List :D

Well since I've crossed so many projects off my list either by completing them or postponing them for logical reasons, and also because I went through all my scraps and have added NEW projects to my list, I thought I'd update it :D Also, I got some fabric for my birthday so I thought I'd throw those projects in there too! Here goes:

* Bug Themed Nursing Cover Ups - Bought hardware for the adjustable straps, just need to assemble it. This will probably take less than 20 minutes to finish up!

* Camo Cloth Diapers - 3 to do. Need to cut out soaker layers. Ugh. It's really not that bad, just time consuming and I generally lay my board and fabric on the floor to cut, and my 16 month old likes to stomp on anything that looks like it's not regularly part of the floor.

* Butterfly Themed Apron - Finished the wine one the other day :)

* Upcycled Jean Purses - Got 1 done last week. I think I have 2-3 left or something like that.

* Upcycled Carhartt Garden/Tool Totes - Similar to the purses but they're much larger seeing as they were worn by my husband and don't look very feminine at all. I cut them far too short to be shorts, but they had blown out in multiple places anyhow. I plan to keep these somewhat masculine looking.

* Upcycled Jean Skirts - 1 for me and 2 from my son's pants (obviously not for him). Still undecided on which fabric I plan to use on mine. I have some olive green sparkly corduroy that I really like, but I wanted to make Loafie a skirt from it this fall... We'll see :)

* I have a couple more of Loafie's long sleeve shirts that I should turn in to short sleeve shirts. I think I'll save the amputated sleeves (still have the old ones too) to make in to Barbie dresses when she gets older and wants that sort of thing.

* Final pair of Lil' Loafers for Etsy Baby Shower. Been busy with multiple random things... I really need to just do these, mail them, and have them done.

* Coffee Date Dress - To be made from pretty green floral stretch poplin that I got for my birthday. Saw the Coffee Date Dress on Craft Gossip, Burda Style, and probably a couple other places. I have the pattern assembled, cut out, and ready to go!

* Gored Skirt - To be made from pretty floral fabric that I got at the Goodwill that coordinated with the checkered fabric I used in an apron.

* Tiered Skirt - To be made from pretty coralish pink daisy fabric my mom gave me in January. I don't have enough to do all the tiers, so I'm contemplating alternating just plain white or shopping (uh-oh!) to find something else that coordinates. I'm going to shir/smock the top part of the waist band so I can wear it no matter if I'm pregnant or not :)

* Coasters - I have leftover flannel from Grumpy's footie pajamas that I made him last fall. Not much to do anything with, but I went through and cut out all the leftover whole skulls in a circular shape. I was initially going to make them nursing pads, but hubby said I was crazy (I thought he knew that already!) to do that will skulls.

* Nursing Pads - I have pretty dragonfly flannel and Disney Princess flannel leftover from projects last fall and summer. I also have leftover bamboo fleece and bamboo velour from the diapers to use in these so they're super soft and absorbent.

* Another Dress - out of some swirly blue fabric I bought at the Goodwill with no projects in mind. Haven't entirely decided which dress I plan to make from this.

* Satin Summer Pajamas - Not that I generally wear that sort of thing, but I really like the pattern I have and I bought the fabric months ago, and... It would be nice to have something to lounge in during the summer when I wake up and it's 80 degrees outside. Sometimes pajama pants just don't cut it ;) It's baby blue with tiny black polka dots.

* Skull Swim Suit - My good friend got me the awesome white with glittery skull swim suit fabric from Mill End for my birthday. A whole yard of it in fact! I plan to make a "one-piece bikini" if that makes any sense. It'll have a top portion and a bottom portion but it will be connected through the middle in the front by a narrow-ish strip of fabric.

* Cloth Wipes - I have a piece of flannel with colored hand prints. I used part of it to make a memory board that I gave to a friend as a shower gift. This is more of the fabric that my mom gave me in January. I've really had fun thinking of things to do with all the fabric she brought me!

* Kid's Cloth Napkins - Last year my mom sent me 3 smaller sized cloth napkins to use for the kids. 2 match and have cute baby chicks and the third has hatching dinosaurs, both designs are very cute. Anyhow, now that we have friends (yay us!) that come over and that have kids, it seems fun to have cute little napkins for the kiddos. I have some leftover fabric from our Birthday memory board that will be super cute, and a few other things too. I know I have a ton of cloth napkins already, but the kids don't!

* Swim trunks for Grumpy - I have some leftover "Spiderman" (red with black flocked spiderwebs, my son loves it!) fabric from when I made my son an apron last summer. I have enough leftover to make him some swim trunks! His birthday is in mid-June and I plan to have these done for him to give as his present from me. He loves when I make him stuff, and he really loves that fabric! Postponed- he has 4 pairs of swim trunks that fit him this summer :) Maybe a wetsack to bring his stuff home from the pool!

* Never-ending mending, of course :)

Well I think that's it for my Summer Sewing Project List for now! Hopefully I'll catch up on it before adding to it again. Anyone care to see my Fall List? (Haha, I do already have projects to do in Fall and Winter!)

Friday Follow & A Happy Birthday To Me :)

Happy Friday everybody! :)

Yesterday was my birthday. We had a great time! We told all of our friends to come celebrate my 21st birthday (Actually my 23rd, explanation in a moment!) with us as Buffalo Wild Wings, one of my favorite places. See, when I really turned 21, I was about 5-7 weeks pregnant with our daughter. Then, when I turned 22, our daughter was 4 months old and I was breastfeeding. So this year, we're not expecting and I'm not breastfeeding so I finally got my 21st birthday! We had somewhere around 20-25+ buddies show up (that includes kids). I got some really thoughtful gifts too, like a new good quality vacuum from my husband, a cute new outfit from my mother-in-law and that crew (yay! pants that fit!!!), wine, money, homemade jam, fabric (of course!), a dress from my mom, a leather purse, home made fancy salad tongs, and probably a few other things that I can't recall at the moment.

But besides all of the cool gifts, the best thing was having a celebration with old friends, new friends, family, and everybody in between. I even had a couple of friends show up that I haven't seen since I was about 16! I don't recall the last time we really celebrated my birthday with an actual party of sorts, and my "21st" birthday was definitely a memorable one :)



Along with all that good stuff, happy Friday Follow! I'm hoping today that I will get more time to check out some of the other blogs, unlike last week. If you are here for the first time today, please let me know! I love comments and I love new followers and knowing you're here.

Meet Up Monday :)

Good morning everybody! For some reason I'm up a little early today. Well I best be getting ready so we can take Grumpy to school on time :) (he's not really grumpy, he just made grumpy, pouty faces when he was sleeping as an infant and the nickname stuck)

Current -Ever Growing- Sewing Project List

I promised my husband a couple weeks ago that I won't buy anymore fabric until these projects are done. I'm hoping to be done by the end of May, but that is now seeming unlikely. However, I feel like I've accomplished quite a bit! :) Maybe if I weren't so scatterbrained (crafter a.d.d.!) I would work on one project at a time :-P The main point of this is to use up fabric that I have just lying around the house (literally, all around the house) without adding to the clutter. So far, I'm feeling really good about it and very accomplished. Also, I don't think I've nearly made a dent in my fabric stash >.<

• Pink Dress - Hem bottom and redo zipper


• Mushroom Themed Apron - Redo Waistband


• Loafie's Undershirts These came out great!


• D's Curtains Another super success


• Bug Themed Nursing Cover Ups - Neck Straps -Need to go buy the hardware


• Dog Jackets - Topstitch and add snaps finished on 5/24!


• Cloth Diapers - Camo - Cut soakers and assemble entire diapers


• Pot Holders Postposted until I find a better/easier/more successful way to do the binding


• Red & Cherry Tablecloth Looked great until it shrunk in the wash. Now I need to add a border of some sort so it will fit my table. For the record, it was a little skinny to begin with.


• Cherry Napkins Project Overruled by hubby- he says we have too many napkins as it is, plus we have black ones that match just fine


• Wine Themed Apron - Got it cut out the other day! 5/24: started working on it. Almost done! Just need to attach the waistband to the bottom and the top to the waistband, and the pockets too. But all the pieces are ready :)


• Butterfly Themed Apron - Made a gored skirt out of the leftover when I cut out the pieces the other day.


• Denim Rug - Been working on it here and there. Disected more blown out jeans to add to it. 5/24: Got it all sewed together and cut the fringe on it. Now I'm going to throw it in the wash and dry it a few times to fray it


• A's Birthday Shirt Success! Party was today and she really liked it.


• Loafie's Swimsuit Overruled - she has 2 that fit currently. I'll do this one next year :)


• Jean Purses - 5/24 got 1 done! It came out cute and I added a rose out of scraps to the side. I'll make the strap longer on the next ones.


• Jean Skirts - I have 1 done for myself so far. I have 1 more to do for me, and then 3 little ones that were my son's jeans. 5/24 Made one of the little ones for my friend's daughter and gave it to her this morning- she really liked it and it looked super cute!


• Cut & Hem sleeves on Loafie's Winter Shirts for Summer Came out cute, an average person wouldn't be able to tell they weren't short sleeved before :)


• Bubble Skirt for Loafie - Not sure about this one... I was going to use her blown out tights for this based on a tutorial from Ruffles & Stuff, but I think I need the "sweater" type not the "pantyhose" type for it to work well Postponing... I think I'll wait until summer (or at least spring) finally gets here. It snowed again the other day. Go figure!


• Lil' Loafers for Etsy Baby Shower - I thought I was all done with this, but I finally got ahold of mom #4, so I still have one pair to make and mail. I got the other three out the other day though! :D


• Paisley Purse - Started on it the other day. It's really looking great! It's from a pretty paisley brocade fabric remnant I got a good price on months ago. I need to add handles and zipper, then it'll be done! 5/25 I need to buy a zipper and some large "o" rings to attach the straps. It's coming along good!

Some other projects I'm thinking about include: Men's boxer briefs (his are getting sooo worn out!), a dress for me out of some heavy-weight swirly blue & white cotton I bought at Goodwill months ago, a skirt out of leftover pink floral on cream fabric (also bought from Goodwill), satin pajamas for me (this should be on the list above, I bought fabric for this months ago), halter tops with internal bras (saw a great tutorial, I'll have to find the link to post), a one piece swimsuit for myself, coasters out of my scraps, more nursing cover ups, more baby wipes/washcloths, nursing pads, and the more I sit here and think about it, the more will come to mind!

I do have a couple of projects stashed for fall time too, including an argyle sweater-vest-dress for loafie out of fabric I bought from Goodwill a month or two ago :)

Well that's it for now. Wish me luck and feel free to let me know what you're working on too!

Some recently COMPLETED projects!

A few weeks ago I made a written promise to my husband that I would not buy any more fabric until I finished my current projects. I wrote up a list of the projects I could think of at that time and put it together with that promise. Later, I made a new list (yeah, as much as I don't like South Park, that one episode about girls making lists was soooo true, at least for me!) with a more correct amount of projects listed. Some of them I bipassed in that they are Fall projects like more footie pj's for the kids and a swim suit for Loafie that I'm going to do next spring because she still has two that fit. Here are some of my recently completed sewing projects :)

A gored skirt made from a scrap leftover when I finished cutting out pieces for another apron. This wasn't on "the list" but the point of it was to use up some of the scraps and things I have lying around. I still need to finish(err, start) the apron.

My pink dress that I started last August. I ran in to a couple of technical difficulties (there are differently sized pattern packages?? oops!) and as a novice sewer last summer, I didn't quite have the know-how to fix my oops's. My mom came down from Oregon for a visit on Mother's Day and doctored it up for me :) Thanks mommy!

Memory board, curtains, and valance I made for my friend's daughter's room. She bought Loafie's Easter dress in exchange for my services.

Here is a skirt I made from apron scraps (I only made 7 of them...) and some of my great fitting blue jeans that blew out in the crotch. I'm very excited to be able to wear them again! I've got another skirt to make for myself out of blue jeans plus lots of my son's former pants to transform into purses and skirts and whatever else I come up with. I think I can do it all without buying anything except for the Wranglers- I really want to do a paisley print on the inner lining of them for a purse.

Well that pretty much sums it up for now! I still have diapers, dog jackets, purses, skirts, a denim rug, nursing cover ups, and probably a few more things to finish up as well before I can go shopping again. I've got my eye on some pretty fabrics for dresses and skirts for myself when I get to go back! Oh, and I also made a tablecloth but I for some reason don't have pictures of it with me.

Completed Lil' Loafers for Etsy Baby Shower :)

Here they are! I had lots of fun designing these sweet little slippers. I asked my moms which colors they were using in their nurseries and if there were any specific themes they were going with (or avoiding!) and here are the slippers I made that will be sent out to 1 each of 3 moms expecting 2 girls and 1 boy. I'm so excited and I sure hope to hear from them once they receive them.

If you would like to purchase your own custom pair of No-Slip Lil' Loafers, pop on over to My Etsy Shop, My Facebook, or e-mail me and let me know :)

Etsy Baby Shower

Hello Everybody! In case you haven't heard, my Etsy shop is one of the participating donaters for the Etsy Baby Shower. Contributing shops choose an item (or two or three...) to donate to expecting Etsy moms. The wondeful people in charge of the shower collaborate all the information in to a nice, fun shower of gifts for the expecting moms. Each shop is paired up with a mom (or more, depending on their donations). I will be contributing 1 pair of my Lil' Loafers to each of the 4 moms that I've been paired up with. Not only is this great for the receiving mothers-to-be, but it's really been fun for me to be involved in and gives me warm fuzzies all over the place. Now I can really sew with purpose (other than just my amusement I suppose).
If you are not one of my 4 moms but still would love some Lil' Loafers for the little guy or gal in your life, you can find them here at my Etsy Shop. They feature a non-slip bottom and are cut to stretch with the child's foot as it grows longer. Elastic in the back of the ankle helps to keep it on. If you want multiple matching pairs, a special color or theme, or custom size, I would be more than happy to accommodate you :)
If you are currently expecting, or would like to be a participating shop, you can contact the gals at the Etsy Baby Shower to participate in the next Etsy Shower.

Happy Day After Mother's Day :)

Hello there! I hope your Mother's Day was as wonderful as mine! My son came in to our room in the morning and brought me a card and bag puppet he'd made at school, along with a magnet that has his picture hidden within the bag. Then, he and my hubby picked a vase full of tulips from the back yard! They are so beautiful. We then went and bought me a fishing license and traveled to the next town over where my brother-in-law lives. He and his girlfriend put on a delightful brunch for her parents and his and they had chocolates and floral arrangements for the moms (her mom and grandma, his mom, and myself) along with lots of delicious food. After brunch, we stopped by the fishing pond on the way home, but it was too cold and windy so we headed back home. On the way back home, we came up with the brilliant idea to go to the hot springs so we stopped by our house really quick for suits and off we went! Upon paying admission at the hot springs, we found out moms get in free for Mother's Day. Yippee! We spent a couple hours there playing and having fun. When we were all to hot to stay in any longer (and hubby was too hungry!) we stopped by the supermarket and grabbed some artichokes that were on sale. Hubby cooked up a delicious mushroom alfredo sauce and served the artichokes and a sweet potato on the side. Yummy! My mom showed up shortly after dinner (she's staying with us a couple of days on her way back home to Oregon) and after she was somewhat settled in, we went back to the hot springs for another hour or two. We had a wonderful, fun, relaxing day (we even closed our store for the day) and I still plan to get some fishing in sometime soon :)

Friday Follow

I'm also participating in "Friday Follow" hosted by Hearts Make Families, One 2 Try, and Midday Escapades



There is even a featured giveaway- and you all know how much I LOVE giveaways!

First Friday - Etsy Artwalk

Hello there! Today I'm participating in the First Friday Etsy Artwalk with Snuggly Monkey. I would like to share with you all about one of my favorite products from my Etsy Shop, Memory Boards!


I LOVE memory boards. They are so much fun and great for multiple uses and multiple occaisions. We made one with some fun festive fabric as our birthday board. We hang all the birthday cards on it for a month or so and can enjoy them without them getting in the way. We have another special one just for Christmas too. We made one for our 5 year old son that coordinates with colors in his room, and now he has a place to hang all his little notes, drawings, and special papers where he can see them, instead of in a cluttered mess.


Memory Boards are great for other things too! Bills, recipes, jewelry, business cards, photos, or anything that you want to hang on it to display and keep track of! The ribbons help keep all the papers in without the need for thumbtacks or pushpins, which is especially helpful with your family's pictures. More ribbons can be added (just ask!) and you can easily contain smaller items such as business cards or little love notes from your kids or sweetie :)

Cloth Diapering Event

Have you ever thought about using cloth diapers? Still have questions? Want the chance to wine some for free?? Check out this cloth diapering event at Loves Jurn3

I'm Planning a Giveaway :D

Hello there fellow bloggers (bloggees?)! I am planning a multi-giveaway event in the next couple of weeks. Please let me know if you would like to contribute any of your products for me to post a review on and participate in the giveaway :D leave me a comment here with your contact info or send me a convo on etsy: T&T Crafts

Tamale Tutorial!

If you read my T&T Crafts Facebook Page, you would've read that I promised a Tamale Tutorial... and here it is! Please bear with me if this is a bit off, as this is my very first tutorial ever.

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So let's get started. Here is what you will need:
Corn Husks
Lard
Masa (corn flour)
Shredded Meat (I cook a big roast in the crock pot a day or so before making tamales)
Baking Powder
Salt
Chicken Bullion or Chicken Stock
Water
Stock Pot & Steamer Insert that will fit the pot

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Instructions:

Fill your clean sink with HOT water. Add your corn husks. I like to weigh them down to make sure they all get wet. The hot water will help them become soft and flexible so we can use them to roll up our tamales.


Go ahead and fill your pot with water, add the steamer insert, and turn on your stove. I think it helps to cook the tamales faster if the water is already at a boil.


Shred your precooked meat. This works best when the meat is hot or at least warm to the touch. You can either use your Quick Chef (if you're a Tupper-holic like me and everything in your kitchen is Tupperware) or just put it in a bowl and pull it apart using two forks.


Now let's mix up our tamale "dough." Here is the recipe I use, but you may need to adjust the amount of liquid based on your altitude or how dried out your masa is.
2 cups masa
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 cup lard
1 3/4 cups water or chicken stock
*chicken bullion if you're using plain water

Mix all the dry ingredients together. Add the lard and use your mixer to incorporate it in the the dry ingredients until it looks kind of like bread crumbs (ever make pie dough?). Add the water or chicken stock and use the hand mixer again until everything is easily mixed. The dough should seem kind of fluffy.

Now that your meat is shredded, your water is warming up, and your dough is ready, let's grab one of those soaking corn husks.


These ones are skinny and too small. Maybe you can use them for a Corn Husk Doll project with your kids.


This one is MUCH better! Your husks don't have to be huge, but they do need to be big enough to do something with.


Using a spatula, or a spoon, or your fingers, smear some dough on the corn husk. I usually cover about a 2inch wide x 3-4 inch long space on the upper right section of the corn husk.


Add some meat...


Roll it up, starting from the long edge with the masa on it.


I like to twist the bottom of mine and poke it in to the bottom (does that make sense at all? lol). If you have a really thick corn husk, you're best off to just fold it so you don't blow out the bottom of the tamale trying to twist it.


Here's the top of the tamale.


Load up your tamale pot.


Put the cover on.


Set a timer for an hour. Check the water periodically, the last thing you want is for your pot to boil dry. When your tamales are done, they will feel firm. If they need more time, they will still feel somewhat squishy. I add time in half hour increments when need be. Remember to check the water!

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A plate full of tamales... Let cool 5-10 minutes after cooking, if you can resist!


Remove the corn husks, add some tamale sauce and enjoy!

$250 Talbots Gift Card Giveaway! W00T!

Do you like these outfits?

Or How about this one?

Red Chair Confessions, the Talbot's Blog, is giving away a $250 gift card! Yay! The giveaway ends on May 5th. See Puttin' on the Grits for more details about the giveaway and how to enter.