for a wee Scot

I made a kilt for my friend's baby, Jude.  I did one for her husband years ago when they got married, so I thought their son should have a cute matching one :)

I've made 4 in the past 8 years so I figured I'd just wing it... but after looking at photos of the first one I did it came back to me how much was involved and I decided to look for a little help online.  I basically needed a picture to see the inside and refresh me a little, so I scanned through this site to jog my memory.  I looked at a lot of pictures of baby kilts, too, to get an idea of length and inspire me.  I used one of Leo's little onesies and took some measurements and sorta just guessed at the size since not all babies come in the same size and shape!

 

I put velcro at the waist, so it should be adjustable for a little while.

I figured it'd be easy enough to find a white collared shirt onesie, but I feel like that was the hardest part of the outfit to acquire!  I finally found a little suit at Burlington Coat Factory that came with a regular dress shirt, so I just grabbed a white onesie from the sale rack at Kohl's and attached it to the bottom using this tutorial.

I found these cute shoes at Payless that I paired with some longer white socks from Carters - also another hard find!

 

I used some leather scraps and rabbit fur I had to make a tiny little sporran that I attached to small pieces of double sided velcro to sandwich in the waist overlap, which I think really finished it off nicely :) 

pretty beans

I've been watching OneVeryHappyBird on youtube recently while eating lunch.  she has some simple and cute ideas, and her voice is soothing to listen to!  I loved the doily gift bag she made and was able to try it out finally on a bag of Boston Baked Beans for my Nana's birthday basket.

I got the candy that comes in a box since it's already in a clear bag, and I glued a small doily on top and added the tag I cut from the end of the box so she knew what they were.

I think it looks a little more special and it was quick and fun to make :)

leather pouch

 

my dad comes over to see Leo and I once a week and he usually has change for Leo to put in his coin banks.  the last time he was over he mentioned that he wanted to get a leather bag to keep the coins in that he brings over (he had them in a sock because he'd collected so many to bring) so I thought I'd try to see if I could make one for him.

I had an idea of what I wanted to do, but thought I'd Google it and see what other ideas there were before I settled on a design, and I'm glad I did because I love this one:

 

I have a bag of saddle scraps so I just used that, but I think I'd try it with suede next time.  the piece I had that was big enough had a cheap looking finish, so I sanded it off and used some old walnuts I had to oil it and make it soft and dark.  a good way to get the most oil out of the nut was to squeeze them through my garlic press to make a paste.

 

I cut two half circles out of a softer leather for the sides so they gathered easy, and measured around the curved side to figure out how long to make the rectangle then sewed the round side of the half circle to the edge of the rectangle.  after I did both sides I punched holes along the sides and put two on the front and back to lace a piece of cord through.

it holds quite a bit of change but it's still pretty small.  I like how it came out, but I think my favorite part of it is the smell!

it's a...

I had my Dr. appointment today to find out what we're having.  when I went in two weeks ago I thought I was going to have to wait another month for the next sonogram since we weren't going to do it at that appointment.  I was kinda bummed, but during the visit my Dr. said I could come back sooner than 4 weeks to find out - I didn't have to nag about it, let alone even bring it up!

with Leo I knew what I had my heart set on so I sorta felt more like he was a boy, but with this one I had no idea.  I knew what I wanted (another boy!), but I felt like it could be either or.  I was relieved to find out we won't have to buy all new stuff with this one!  I can't wait to go through all of Leo's old clothes again :)  sorry Naomi, maybe next time.

more baby crochet

 

I made these for a friend of mine who had her little girl a few weeks too early.  I looked online for some crochet patterns and found this hat pattern, and this really quick and easy bootie video tutorial.

 

after hunting for the hat, I decided it was simpler to find regular baby patterns and adjust to make them fit the measurements I needed (which I got from here) than to find a preemie sized pattern.

 

I added an extra row of puff stitch and two rows of single crochet at the bottom on the hat instead of one like the pattern said to do so it was closer to the measurements I was looking for.

 

for the booties I used a smaller hook than what the lady in the video did, and I only made the toe 1.5" long, and 1.5" for the sides and back so it was the recommended 3".

they look so small to me, but I've been gauging her size from photos of her head and feet compared to peoples hands as well as going off the size chart for 4-5lb babies.  I'm still worried they won't fit, but they worked up so quick I can always whip up another set if I need to.

crochet washcloth

I crocheted some washcloths to put in a basket for my Nana's 80th birthday.  I used a natural looking ecru yarn by Sugar 'n Cream and this pattern.  with an H hook, the 2.5oz skein got me two washcloths with maybe 12" left over!  cuttin' it a little close so I'm glad I was able to make two finished washcloths and didn't have to buy another skein just for a few yards or something.  I'd like to do more but I think each one took me about two hours to do, so if I have time and get a chance I might go get another skein and make two more.

I ironed some ribbon to a piece of 8.5"x11" freezer paper and ran it through my printer to make the label so she sees that I made them for her in case I don't get to see her open the basket.  makes it cute, too :)  there's so many tutorials out there that tell you how to use your inkjet printer to print on fabric, but here's one I found that covers the basics.  I don't recommend using ribbon for smaller fonts since it spreads a little before the ink dries and looks fuzzy.  since this is just packaging, and even though I heat set it after I printed, it won't make it through the wash.  there is some kinda liquid stuff (Bubble Jet Set, I think) you can treat fabric with to make it washable after printing, but I haven't tried any yet.

pancake doughnuts

I got Leo hooked on pancakes for breakfast a little while back.  it's always been one of my favorite breakfast meals, so I don't mind that much right now!  I was making them every morning for about a week and decided to make extra and freeze them instead.  I've never had much luck with pancakes holding their shape when re-heated, and Leo was super frustrated when they fell apart and didn't stay on the fork.  my mom used to have a sandwich maker that we'd make pancakes in and they were less flimsy than flat pancakes, so I thought I'd give the mini doughnut maker a try and see if that would work the same.

I like using the Hungry Jack extra light and fluffy mix that just needs water - super convenient!  I pretty much eyeball the water to mix ratio and they always turn out just fine. I found a clear condiment squirt bottle that works great to fill the mini doughnut maker without drips and wasted globs.  they're so much easier for Leo to eat and I think they have a better flavor after being frozen and re-heated than regular pancakes do.

 

I make as many as I can stand to do at one time and freeze them in baggies.  makes a quick breakfast for Leo that he will rarely turn down, and if I'm feeling like pancakes but not the mess of making them I can steal a few for myself as well!

weekend away

Matt and I took a long weekend just the two of us.  we left Leo behind and went to stay in a cabin in Broken Bow, OK.  it was really nice!  the reservation got mixed up and we ended up only being able to stay one night :(  but that was alright.  I love the place we stayed in - the cabin was covered in wood from floor to ceiling and smelled awesome!  we fell asleep to the sound of crickets and frogs.

we tried a nearby pizza place when we got there - it was okay.  I've had better pizza, but it was a pretty cool place.  I was feeling kinda sick from being in the car all afternoon and not eating soon enough, so we went to their gift shop the next day and bought a glow-in-the-dark t-shirt for Leo, some natural, handmade soap for my mother-in-law, and a tomato spread for my parents.

we went to Forest Heritage Center Museum and saw a bunch of old wood stuff and made a smashed penny for Leo's collection of smashed pennies from places he's been (even though he wasn't with us) to someday make something cool like the leather bracelet shown here.

we also drove around looking for antique stores and gift shops, and ended up going to an auction.  that was pretty fun :)  we bid on some small stuff and won an antique shaving mirror.  I love it!  I've been putting my rings and earrings in the little routed out spots at the front of the drawer (I'm not sure what would have been stored there originally - razor handles?) and maybe later I'll line the drawer with my leftover embossed felt so stuff doesn't roll around in the drawer when it's open and closed.

we plan on making this a yearly trip (or a when-we-need-furniture trip!)  they had some cool stuff that went for what you'd probably pay for new, but it was REAL wood and good quality.  we went later in the day and that might have been the difference because I noticed the smaller the crowd got the less were there to bid and stuff sold for less.  we'll be taking our truck next time and look for a dresser or something.  I wish we had room for some of the really cool things they were auctioning off - who couldn't use a giant 5' square glass pie safe in their kitchen or a 7.5' x 9' mirror in a gold frame? ;)

1 down, 2 to go

my first trimester has been checked off the list... now I just gotta hold out for January and hope the 2nd trimester energy kicks in soon!  I feel a lot better than I did, but I feel like I skipped over the short feeling-good stage and jumped into hip and rib widening, and round ligament pains.  looking at how big I am already I'm not really surprised, but I was hoping for a bit of a break between stages of discomfort!

this is me at 14 & 20 weeks the first time, and me at 14 weeks this time!

I was expected to show quicker this time, and am fine with it since I've only gained the 5 pounds suggested for the first trimester, but am really not looking forward to the "any day now?" or "is it twins?" questions from people (I got enough of that the first time at 6 months).  why are people so rude at such a sensitive time??

at least Leo has learned to be nice to the baby and not hit momma's belly anymore this past month, and now when we ask where the baby is he rubs my belly... then his, and then daddy's if he's in the room!  Leo's becoming more and more interested in babies and other children so I'm hopeful he will be nice to the baby when he/she gets here!

names

when we were planning for Leo we picked out his name well before he was conceived.  we did the same this time, but it was a little easier since we already had our girl name.  we're keeping with Naomi Allison for a girl, and decided on Jack Curtis for a boy.

 

my doctor told me at my appointment Monday that she wasn't going to do another sonogram until September :(  I don't want to wait that long to find out which name we'll get to use this time!  I also don't want an unsure answer, so I guess we'll be patient...

I've been looking a lot online for new ideas for the nursery, so it'll be nice to know which direction I'll be going in before I get too tired to mess with it.  until we find out I'll just keep collecting ideas for both so I'm ready.  we'll be moving Leo to a new big boy room soon and using his nursery for the new baby, so I don't need to change a whole lot, but I'd like to update it a bit.  I'm excited about some of the things I wanna do to it and can't wait to get started!

sun shades

Leo spotted some cute sun shades as we were standing in line at the Dollar Tree a few weeks ago.  he was so cute about it!  he never was interested in wearing hats or glasses before and would pull them off and throw them, but he wore these from the store to the car and long enough for me to snap a picture in his car seat...

then before we were out of the parking lot he twisted the arm and snapped it off :(  I only paid a buck so it wasn't as devastating as if he'd done that to his $6 pair, but it was a little annoying.  I glued them back, and then he did the same thing again!!  this time I decided to remove both arms and attach elastic to the frames.

 

I sanded the hinges flush to the frames, drilled two holes on each side to be stitched through like a button, measured Leo's head, and stitched some slightly snug elastic to either side.  I suppose I could have made it adjustable with some kind of sewing notion for that sort of stuff, but they fit with little stretch right now and if we make it through the summer (which would surprise me!) with them I'm sure they'll stretch enough to accommodate his head.

 

crochet cuff

 

I don't remember what I was searching for, but I came across this pattern online and thought it'd be a good sitting-still project that I could do while not moving and keep my mind off of things.  the pattern does say that it's a fairly small bracelet (6 1/2"), and I think mine came out a little smaller, so if you need it longer maybe add an extra row to each end or something.  it works up fairly quick, but after two I was satisfied enough to stop!

I used regular 6-strand embroidery floss ('cause that's what I had on hand) and a 3.25mm hook, which I thought was gonna be a pain in the butt, but it's not so bad to work with. I stiffened it with hairspray so it'd hold its round shape in the middle, and added a button to the end.

the next one I did with 3 colors, sorta just played it by ear for the flower part, and paid more attention to my tension.  I didn't stiffen this one so that it stayed soft (the stiffness of the first one makes me feel sick - weird, I know).

 

I'll probably need to give it time before wearing them since thinking about putting on jewelry is an unsettling feeling at the moment, but I'm glad I tried them out and feel a little more confident about using a smaller hook on future projects.