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Mike’s ManCraft

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So, this might be a bit old (Easter, obs), but I found these pics and just had to show you how creative (read: dorky) my husband is. He’ll be such a good dad!

The egg on the right is a crossword puzzle. The egg on the left is a ninja.


The finger puppet is one of Ellen’s toys. Mike hijacked it.

Now that you know the cast, I’m sure you can figure out the rest.






Gotta love his creativity and enthusiasm for the arts :)
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Art Show and Smell

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Mike and I visited the East Lansing Art Festival this weekend. It was really great to have some time with the hubs without having to travel 1.5 hours in the car beforehand. Now, don’t get me wrong. We love going to see our families, but at 31 weeks pregnant, I like to keep car time to a minimum (Speaking of which, I still need to fill you in on our road trip to NJ. Coming soon). 

We went with Mike’s aunt Sis on Saturday, and grabbed some dinner with her afterward at Dublin Square. Turns out they have fantastic French Dips. Ahh they brought back memories of that time that I would only eat French Dips for an entire month. Mmmmm. I wasn’t even pregnant then. But, more about the art:

Here I am looking at some super cute button jewelry from Tallulah’s Satchels.



Sis and I taking a much needed break after walking all day. It was nice to sit outside the ol’ MSU English Office.


I would also highly recommend checking out Nicole Smith’s Family Trees. Kwang Cha was fabulous as well even though I am not normally a huge oil painting  fan. And, for the men in your life, look up Dick Cooley.

After dinner, we headed back to Sis’s house where we had the best time indulging in my most bizarre pregnancy craving: clean smells! I’ve had sudden urges for certain foods here and there (remember the early morning fried fish and donuts), but my most prominent and strongest craving is to smell things. Is that weird? I don’t care.

Now, don’t freak out or anything. I haven’t started huffing glue or drinking Lysol. Instead, I have been craving good smelling body soaps, shampoos, fresh laundry, citrus….ugh I’m making myself crazy right now! It is absolutely the best craving because it has no calories and nobody has to run to the store at 3am so I can smell sunscreen.

So, back to Sis’s house. Sis wanted to figure out what types of scents I loved the most (turns out clean, citrus, lilac and lavender are the winners). Let me just give you a visual of a small percentage of what I was able to indulge in:


It was awesome! I am now the proud owner of that lot! Sis had all kinds of great smelling things, and we sat on the couch and tested them all while we ate chocolate. Doesn’t get much better than that! Thanks, Sis!
Sunday, I just hadn’t had enough of the sunshine and art, so we drove back to East Lansing, went to church and saw the other half of the show. I was able to do some more sniffing when Mike and I paused next to the lilac bushes. Heaven!



After all the art I could handle, we went to our favorite bar, The Peanut Barrel, where we sat outside and played Scrabble with Mike’s friend James. Now, this may have been the best part of the day. I actually beat Mike and James. Mike I have beat before, but James, NEVER! It was awesome. It came down to the very last letter and I won by one point! VICTORY!!!


Mike then went to play disc golf, and I spent three glorious hours walking around Barnes and Noble where I somehow came up with the idea that I now need a netbook for blogging on the go. I want something small, lightweight, Internet ready, lots of storage and fast enough to upload photos and blog. I don’t need any frills or extras. Now I need your help. Do you know anything about them? Are they worth it?

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Plastic Bag Holder

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This is another easy sewing project that I managed to put together in about 30 minutes. Ok, realistically it took me about 2 hours, but I was making lasagna, eating Easter candy and fixing a mystery problem (read: user error) with my sewing machine. It’s hard work staying at home :) I’m sure you have seen these before, and if not, there are tutorials all over the Internet. I know what I’ve seen, and it’s the underside of my mom’s sink, so she got one for Mother’s Day, and my mother-in-law got one too! Here is how I made mine:

Materials:
Kitchen towel
1/2 width elastic (cut 7 in strip)
Ribbon or small piece of fabric for loop

Step One:
Cut a 7 in piece of elastic and pin to one of the short side of your dish towel. I started at one side and stretched it across, pinning it the whole way. When you are done, it should be bunchy.


Step Two:
Sew the elastic onto your towel. I sewed a bit, stretched a bit, sewed a bit, stretched a bit, etc.


Step Three:
Using the long sides of the towel, sew right sides together. Then, turn it right side out.


Step Four:
Some people sew a piece of elastic into the top…not me. That’s extra work. You can also sew a piece of ribbon or string to the un-elastic top of your holder so you can hang it. My towel already had a little hook on it, so I took advantage of it.

Step Five:
Stuff with bags and hang.


Well, that’s it. The underside of my sink has never looked so organized (not that anyone ever looks down there). I’m going to go enjoy looking at my new creation and try to figure out why it’s ok for strangers to pet my belly…yeah…that happened today…

Have a good one!
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Donut Pillow

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I found this cute, comfy confection at skiptomylou while looking for inspiration one day. It is the perfect gift for my niece who will readily tell you how much she loves donuts.

Now, as you know, I have no idea how to sew…yet! Up until recently, I didn’t even have a machine. But, by the magic of Facebook and the kindness of my cousin in Chicago, I came into a great old sewing machine that was perfect for the job. I have been fiddling with it, and this was my first project (I waited to post it as my niece’s birthday was this past Thursday). So, please excuse the mistakes here and there, and just follow the tutorial, ok?

Materials Needed:
Tan felt
Dark felt for frosting 
(get as much fabric as you’d like. I made my donut apprx. 18″ in diameter)
Embroidery thread
Pillow stuffing
Sewing skills

Alright, to start, I cut out my fabric to the size donut I wanted to make.
Afterward, I sewed the frosting to the top layer of the tan donut and used embroidery thread to sew the sprinkles. I opted for blue, red, yellow and pink. Classic sprinkles.


With right sides together, I sewed the bottom half of the donut to the top and left just enough space so I could flip it right side in afterward.

I used the sewing machine to sew the opening of the inside hole shut. Afterward, I trimmed it up a bit so it looks pretty!

Then, I stuffed that donut with a bunch of snow and attempted to slip stitch the opening shut. By attempted, I mean attempted. I still need to learn that one even after consulting the expert: Youtube.

Well, there you go. My first sewing project in a long time, and it didn’t turn out half bad. Now, if a two-year-old likes it, I’m in business.

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Fabric Fragment Blanket

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O boy.

Ellie,
Mommy loves you very much. So much so that she went to the store and picked out a bunch of cute fabric and wanted to make you something pretty. 
She thought to herself, “How hard can it be to make a quilt? Just sew a few scraps together and voila!” Mommy was wrong. Let me explain:

First, she thought it would be fun to do a patchwork type quilt with all different size squares and rectangles. So, she cut them out. Turns out you have to be precise in quilting… 
When she figured out how they were going to be pieced, she sewed them all together. Remember, mommy is teaching herself to sew.
 After all of the ironing and sewing, she finally had a blanket for you! A blanket only an infant could love…because you don’t have very good eyesight yet.


Ellie, please remember mommy loves you, and just because she can’t quilt doesn’t mean it wasn’t made with a lot of love. She promises she will not sew you any outfits until her skills improve. If it makes you feel any better, she had a lot of fun trying!

xo

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Wire Name Wall Art

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Mike and I are in the process of putting together Ellie’s nursery. The theme went from dinosaurs (when I was positive she was a boy), to alphabet, to animals to woodland creatures. And that is where we are right now. Woodland creatures. Interesting name, but it makes for a really cute room. So far, my mom and I painted one wall of the nursery a dark sage color. It was leftover paint from my room when I lived at home. Money saver! Here is Mike touching up the sloppy corners we did:

Of course, being on a budget, we are trying to limit what I would normally be spending on redecorating. I have to say, it has led me to some creative options. Try this one out in your own home.
Directions for Wire Name Wall Art
Supplies: 12 gauge wire, wire cutters, any color yarn, crochet hook
1. Grab about 20 ft of 12 gauge wire (don’t go smaller than 14 or bigger than 10 or you will struggle). This length should do about 6-7 letters easily.
2. Bend the wire into your word of choice. This will obviously be in cursive. Don’t worry about perfection just yet as you will have time to fix it later. Just make sure it looks pretty decent.
3. Crochet a chain stitch with your yarn. Create 2 ft. chains instead of one really long one. It makes it easier to wrap. You will need about 8-9 of them.
4. Wrap your yarn chains around your wire word. Tie together ends as you add more chains. Tie off beginning and end to secure when you are done. Now you can adjust the word so it looks just right (remember it is homemade though…don’t stress!)


Here is what your final product will look like. We decorated the name with a few silk flowers to add to the woodland feel.


I was poking around the web and found another example. Look at these directions for more help!


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