Lamb’s Wool and Easter Bunnies

At 18 months old, I’m fully aware that my son doesn’t yet grasp the “reason for the Easter season.”  But I figured that he’s old enough to have a great time picking up plastic eggs and jamming them into a basket or bag of some sort.  I’m trying hard to reduce the amount of clutter in my home overall, and make things easier to organize and keep tidy.  For that reason, I knew that a regular store-bought Easter basket just wasn’t gonna cut it.  They’re WAY too hard to store without causing some sort of damage.

I searched everywhere for patterns, but didn’t find anything I liked until I stumbled upon this tutorial from Reuse, Recycle, Resweater.  How cute is that???  It looked simple enough, so I headed to Goodwill to see if I could find any sweaters.  I was very disappointed in their selection… guess I’ll have to wait a few more months till people have donated their winter wear.  I ended up bringing home three very different sweaters, but apparently didn’t pay too much attention to “the rules.”  I should have bought a children’s sized wool sweater.  I had one wool sweater and one children’s sweater… but it wasn’t the same one  :)

I tried my luck with the (cotton) children’s sweater, and it just stretched itself into oblivion on the first seam.  So I abandoned all the cotton ones and went for the wool cardigan.  I almost felt guilty cutting it up.  It probably belonged to some sweet old lady who sat in a rocker with a vintage hand-sewn quilt over her lap.  But the guilt didn’t last that long, and my scissors and I made quick work of cutting off the bottom of the sweater.  It didn’t take long for me to determine that I wouldn’t be able to use this particular sweater the way the afore-mentioned tutorial directed me to.  From then on, I was on my own.

With some brightly colored buttons from my stash, some leftover denim from my hamper re-do, and some red bias tape, I turned this:

into THIS:

It’s slouchy, and soft so it’s easy to store without the fear of permanently damaging it.  There’s plenty of room for LOTS of eggs… especially if he shoves a couple extras in these handy pockets.

I’ll have to update this photo with one of Ryder actually hunting eggs, but in the meantime, it’s a hit!  Luckily for me, you can’t inspect it too closely from your computer, so you won’t know how imperfect it is.  But it’s certainly made with love.

I’ll be keeping my eye out for the perfect sweater, and maybe someday I’ll successfully create the basket I set out to make in the first place 

Tags: Easter, refashion

Pants on the Ground… a Toddler Belt Tutorial

My 18-month old son is still wearing 12-month pants… and even some of those are too big in the waist.  We really only have a couple of pairs that fit well, and the rest, we just tolerate.  I’ve tried buying the ones that come with that hidden adjustable elastic, but even those are too big.  My goal was to just make it to summer when length wouldn’t matter and I could buy smaller sizes that would fit him properly, but he’s growing taller already.  So I had to do something…  I remembered seeing something like this on the internet a while back, so tonight I set out to create my own.  To my surprise, it worked AND it was relatively easy!

Supplies: one length of 1-inch cotton or nylon strap, grosgrain ribbon (7/8 or 1-inch), “one-piece design” sew-on velcro (it sticks to itself, there are not two different pieces).

Please note… It’s a bit tricky for me to write tutorials.  Since I dislike pinning and measuring, I tend to “just do it” and not pay too much attention to those types of details.  This makes it difficult for the end product to be replicated exactly.  Hopefully there’s enough information here for you to try it on your own, but feel free to ask questions if you have any.  The following measurements are perfect for my son, and will allow for him to grow a bit more.  Please measure your own child and adjust the lengths of these materials accordingly.

Also please note… The ribbon used in the following tutorial photos was only 5/8″ because I had a hard time finding attractive “boy” ribbon.  I would highly recommend using 7/8 or 1″ for a cleaner look.

I cut my strap to 23″, and folded over the ends about 1/4″ and secured them with a zig-zag stitch.  I literally went back and forth over it about 5 times, just to be safe   Make sure that you fold both ends to the “wrong” side.  There really is no “wrong” side on a strap, but you’ll create one when you fold the first end over.

Next, attach one end of your ribbon the wrong end of your strap, and secure with a zig-zag stitch.  I cut my ribbon about 1 1/2″ longer than my strap.

Fold the ribbon over the edge, and pull the ribbon and strap taught, wrapping the ribbon around the other end… secure the second end with a zig-zag.  DO NOT sew the main part of the ribbon to the strap yet.  You will have created a full loop (for now).

Now it’s time to attach the velcro.  I used two 8″ strips.  Sew the velcro to the wrong side of each end, using a straight stitch.  Just be sure that you keep your ribbon out of the way.

All that’s left now is to secure the ribbon to the “right side” of the belt.  I used a straight stitch and sewed as close to the edge as I could possibly get.  When I was going through all three pieces, I kinda had to muscle the belt through my machine because the teeth on the velcro were holding tight to the feed dogs.  Again, I would recommend using wider ribbon than this, and when you do, the strap will be less visible.

Now insert the belt, velcro side up, through every belt loop…

Center the belt, and then fold each tab back on itself, sticking the velcro together on each side.

From the back, the ribbon will not show.  (Please forgive the beet stains… lol)

Front view… If I had used wider ribbon, those seams be hidden.

Here’s the view from the sides, using a wider ribbon… a much cleaner look.

These are awesome because there are no uncomfortable buckles to mess with.  You won’t have to remove the belt for diaper changes, and your potty-trained kids won’t have to stress about getting them undone and re-buckled by themselves… but their pants won’t be on the ground either!  You’ll be saving money as well because A) this is an inexpensive project, and B) you won’t be wasting money on those cute outfits you couldn’t use because the pants didn’t fit.

Ryder wore ill-fitting pants all day today, and they continually ended up around his ankles (literally).  So while he was napping, I ran to JoAnn’s (don’t worry, Ryan was home!) and picked up the materials.  Before dinner, I whipped one up, and we tested it out by going out to dinner.  His pants stayed put!!!  I was teasing Ryan that I was glad Ryder was a boy because this project was so easy (and so rewarding!) that I’d make a million of them with all the cute ribbon that’s available.  But it’s much harder to find great ribbon for boys, so I’m forced to just make what we need. 

Here’s what it looks like in action

Tags: tutorial

An Attitude of Gratitude

Our church started a new series today… “Our Father… 66 Words you thought you knew.”  Each week, our pastors will be breaking down The Lord’s Prayer and really “unpacking” each verse so that it’s more meaningful to us.  If you’ve heard that prayer, you’ve probably heard it a million times, and take for granted its original intention… I know I do.  But it’s Jesus’ model for how we should pray, so I suppose it’s worth paying attention to 

So this morning, the verse was Matthew 6:9… “Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name.”  The dictionary definition of the word hallowed is “regarded as holy; sacred.”  By beginning his prayer this way, Jesus is suggesting that we begin our prayers by praising God, worshiping Him for his holiness.  But the kicker is that worship shouldn’t only be reserved for church or prayer.  We are called to worship God with our lives – all day, every day.  Today’s speaking pastor, Shawn Williams, encouraged us to live with an attitude of gratitude this week… being thankful, even for the littlest things.

I definitely fall pray to periods in my life where my worship is compartmentalized, and only happens at church.  But as Shawn suggested, by changing my focus and being thankful all day, even for the seemingly insignificant, I won’t be able to stop worshiping.  It will come naturally.  So I’ve accepted his challenge, and found myself being easily conscious of everything I’m thankful for.

Today, I’m thankful that our week has gone smoothly (for the most part) while Ryan was out of the country.  I’m thankful that Ryder slept well, and allowed me to get showered before he woke up this morning so that we could make it to church on time.  I’m even thankful for the up-close parking spot we got at Costco so that we didn’t have to be in the cold wind too long.  (C’mon… you know you’re always thankful for that too!)

But my biggest “thankful” moment came when I picked Ryder up from Kids’ City after the service.  There’s a new leader in Ryder’s classroom, and I’m sorry to say that I haven’t even learned her name yet.  But I’m grateful for her and the impact she’s having on my baby.  Every week, even in the toddler room, they have a brief lesson that teaches them whatever the adults are learning, but in an age-appropriate way.  They always do some sort of craft, and are being taught how to pray before they have their snack.  When we pick them up, we get to take home their creation along with a little note explaining what they learned that day and encouraging us to continue the discussion throughout the week.  This is what we brought home today:

I know that this doesn’t mean much to most people… After all, it is just a bunch of purple scribbles on a page.  But this represents a million things to me, most of which I can’t effectively explain.  It reminds me that God knows even the smallest children by name, and wants them to come to know Him… He knows my son.  How cool is that?  But it also reveals one of my short-comings as a parent.  I have taken for granted the fact that Ryder is so young, and made the assumption that I don’t have to worry about teaching him lessons like these (yet) because he’s “too little to understand.”  And while it’s true that he probably doesn’t comprehend the meaning of what’s being read to him, it’s never too early to start trying to get the point across.  I just about burst into tears when his teacher handed him over the gate to me and cheerfully exclaimed, “He said ‘Jesus’ today!”  Again, I’m quite sure he doesn’t grasp the meaning of the word he repeated… but I can add this to my list of thankful moments for today.

I’m looking forward to the next few weeks we are given more insight into this most important prayer… and I’m hopeful that I’ll remember this day, and continue to live with an attitude of gratitude.

By the way… if you’re interested in hearing this message (or any other), visit www.communitychristian.org.

Ah, the Little Things!

I LOVE my reusable grocery bags!  I even remember to take them with me to the grocery store about 95% of the time.  But we didn’t have a great place to store them, so they just sat in an annoying pile on the dryer, and got in the way.  Not long ago, I was walking through Target and came upon some wire mesh magazine holders in the office supply section, and an idea was born.  I brought home two of them, and used one in the laundry room to hold our grocery bags, and one in the garage to hold our reusable Costco bags.  I just hung them on the wall using Monkey Hooks (which are AWESOME, by the way!).  This picture is terrible, but this is a Monkey Hook:

You can see one that’s already been installed in the wall in the upper right corner of the photo.  We discovered these bad boys when we first moved to IL, and promptly discarded all of our fancy photo hanging equipment.  These are cheap, easy to use, and in my opinion, much sturdier.

Anyway… Now my grocery bags are neatly tucked away on the wall, and not scattered all over the counters and other horizontal surfaces.

Fast forward to yesterday… Ryder and I were on another trip to Target, and happened to discover other mesh baskets that were similar to the magazine holders, only they were shorter.  The best part was, they were on CLEARANCE!!!  So for less than $4, I couldn’t just leave them sitting there.  I bought three, even though I only had a for-sure use for one of them.  Our laundry room is very small, and serves as the passageway to and from the garage.  Keeping it clear of clutter is quite a challenge.  There are a couple of small wire shelves on one wall that hold my laundry detergent and cleaning supplies, but my Swiffer is always getting knocked down and usually ends up falling into the dogs’ water bowl.  With the help of the Monkey Hooks, I stuck one of the wire baskets next to our coat rack.  It’s now a great place to stash my sh-mop covers (www.cleanteam.com) and my Swiffer.  I’d like to get another basket to put on the other side of the coat rack for hats and gloves.

It didn’t take long for me to figure out what to do with the other two baskets.  Using the same strategy as with the grocery bags, I attached them to the wall above my sewing machine.  Now I can keep all the bits and pieces for my current projects in there where they’re out of reach of a certain curious monkey I know.  And the added bonus is that my sewing table is instantly clutter-free.  I’m gonna get two more baskets for the other side of the window to help minimize the clutter on my computer desk as well.  They’ll be a great place for assignments I’m working on, etc… and Ryder can’t reach them.  YAY!!!

This wasn’t a major undertaking… cheap and easy, which makes it even better.  But SOOOOOO effective.  Gotta love the little things in life, huh?  :)

Tags: decluttering, organization