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!