Rabbit Fabric

Valentine's Day is over, and now I am ready for Easter! Yes, I realize I am skipping over St. Patty's Day, but Easter is so much more fun.
This green bunny fabric is a shirt I got as a gift several years ago.
This baby bunny fabric came new from Joanns several years ago. It was too cute to pass up. Now that I have a little boy, it's perfect! I'm sure I'll come up with something to make with it. Anyone have any ideas of what Joel needs? I have lots of bibs, clothes, blankets, wash cloths, etc. already. I'm thinking of some kind of toy...

Upcylced NY Rangers Bib

My baby is going to be raised to be environmentally-friendly! Unfortunately Mommy is not a very good ironer and if you look carefully (actually you don't really have to look all that carefully as it's pretty obvious...) you can see a (not-so) slight iron-burn. Bummer. Then I had a bright idea: I tea-stained the entire onesie to hide the burn. It looks good now!

Remember this NY Rangers towel I thrifted yesterday for 59c?


Now it's this:
I added the thrifted towel to a piece of remnant fabric from my stash. I wanted to use a plain red fabric for the upper part of the bib however apparently I am out of the one I was thinking of. Oh well, this plaid looks pretty good too. I still have to add some rick rack or ribbon but I just can't decide! I don't have any rick rack so if I go that route, I'll have to buy some. I pulled out a few ribbons and bias tapes that might work. I really had my heart set on red, but this is what I have in my stash:

Here's some thrifted teal bias tape

And some thrifted light green bias tape

I don't think that this will be the winner. I like this green ribbon the least. Actually I was planning on making a binkie clip with this scrap of ribbon.

An interview from Sew, Mama, Sew!

I'm just sitting around waiting for the hubby to wake up so I can get showered and start my day. I would like to get some red rick rack to finish up the NY Rangers bib I made yesterday, and then of course since I'll be going right past it, I'll stop in at the Pickerington Goodwill, even though it isn't the best thrift store. Actually it's my least favorite one because it's small and pretty expensive, but it will have to do for today!

I found on Sew, Mama, Sew's blog where she has been asking fabric questions, so I thought I would play along:

What do you usually sew?
I started out by sewing mostly home-dec stuff (pillows, slipcovers, etc), however then I ventured out to sewing clothes. I made myself four maternity shirts and several maternity dresses, although the dresses were tank top style and therefore didn't see any use for this pregnancy. It's just been too cold to wear dresses anyway. Lastly, I've gotten into sewing things for baby like felt food, fabric blocks and toys, etc.

When you shop for fabric, what size cuts do you usually buy? (i.e. If you see something beautiful, but you don’t have a use for it right away, how much do you buy?) I don't think I've purchased new fabric at all lately. I've made a pledge to myself that I would repurpose thrifted clothes, and I've been sticking to it. Actually I made a pledge to myself that I wouldn't buy any more fabric at all until I get this stash to a more manageable level, however with the arrival of Joel, I need to build up my stash of little boy fabrics. Or at least that's what I tell myself.

Do you buy on impulse or do you go out looking for something you need?
Usually I am just out thrifting and I see some fabric that catches my eye at a price that's just right so I'll scoop it up. I might have it in my head that I am looking for baby pants fabric for example, and then I'll find something that I could chop up and make nice pants out of.

Are you a pre-washer? If you are, do you wash your fabric before you need it, or only when you’re ready to use it? If I get it new at Joanns, then no I usually don't prewash it (I am so bad...) however when I get something at a thrift store, I do wash it. Although if it's at a thrift store, it's probably already been washed so the shrinkage factor doesn't really come into play; it's more for my peace of mind.

Do you iron it? Ha. This one made me laugh out loud. Um, not so much.

How do you sort it? (color, print size, collection, etc.) Another question that made me laugh. There's no sorting. It's just dumped into plastic totes since Joel kicked me out of my sewing room.

Do you have any special folding techniques? See above. No sorting, no folding, no ironing. I'm a bit of a slob.

How do you store your fabric?
I have four large plastic bins and I jam-pack as much as I can into those.

What tips do you have for building up a well-rounded stash?
Since I am a music teacher, I am a firm believer that a well-rounded education includes studies in the arts and physical education. I will have to try harder to teach my fabric stash how to play musical instruments and run laps. I would have to say though that fabric scraps don't talk back and generally do what I say, so we should have a good time learning about the arts and becoming well-rounded!

When do you say enough is enough?
Um, I don't know that I've ever said "enough is enough."

What are some of your favorite stash-busting projects?
Lately it's been stuff for Joel. I like making fabric food :)

Do you have a current favorite print in your stash? Let’s see it! Hmmm, I'd have to say that my cowboys and indians themed fabrics are among my favorite finds right now. I can't wait for Joel to be old enough to care! I posted pics a few weeks back so you can see them.

What’s your definition of the perfect stash?
Perfect for me means saving fabrics from the racks at a thrift store and revitalizing that little gem into something that my family will treasure! If it's second hand, it's perfect :)

Don't cry over spilled expressed breast milk

Phew, breast feeding is time consuming. I think we're settling into a routine now though, which is nice. I pump and bottle it since he doesn't latch on very well; we share the responsibility of feeding expressed breast milk to Joel. Although Joel somehow got the impression that daddy is the milk-maker of the family... He always roots around looking for the nipple when Jason is holding him but for some reason doesn't do it to me as much.

So yesterday I was pumping again, and afterwards I just let the bottles sit on the couch for a bit before getting up to put them in the fridge. I am so sore and getting up off the couch can be quite a chore. (I'm a poet and I didn't even know it!) Eventually Jason walked over and noticed that one of the bottles had slowly leaked all over the couch. Eek! My liquid gold! All. Over. The. Couch. Jason didn't seem to think it was that big of a deal. I'll make more anyway, right? But I was absolutely horrified! My hard work, wasted!

Something else about breast feeding that I find intriguing is that milk sprays out of many holes. I had read that online a few months ago, but that was news to me! I had just assumed there was one hole. I think it's neat to watch the milk spray out into the bottles. I'm so glad that the pump is clear so I can watch. It's not nearly as gratifying when Joel is latched on because I can't see the milk come spraying out. Am I weird, or does/did anyone else feel that way too? Shouldn't I be feeling gratification when Joel does latch on rather than feeling slightly bummed that I can't see the milk spray out?

Ugh, Joel needs a diaper change. It's going to be a gross one from the sound of it. *Gulp*

The long awaited baby post!

My water originally broke when I was getting ready for work (6:45 AM) on Friday, February 13. Joel was born almost 23 hours later at 5:22 AM on Valentines Day. The water was just trickling down my leg, and I wasn't 100% sure that it was my water breaking. I thought I might have just peed myself. So I called into work and told them that I think my water had broken and that I would not be in. I waited until the doctors office opened at 9 and gave them a call. They said that even if it was just trickling, I still needed to go to the hospital. I called hubby to come home from work. Once he got home and we were all packed, I then realized that I still had several instruments in my car from the after-school rehearsal the evening before. I needed to swing by school and drop them off, which we did, and then we were off to the hospital. We finally got there around 11 AM.

The first chunk of time was okay because I wasn't even feeling the contractions, but by 3PM, they were starting to get painful. I had been stuck at 3-4 centimeters for the past couple weeks, and eventually I made it to 5cm with the help of pitocin. I was stuck at 5cm pretty much all day. They eventually decided they needed to break my water even though it had already broken on its own that morning. They used what looked like a knitting needle and a big gush of water came out. Fast forward several hours later, and they discovered they needed to break my water again. One of the two nurses said she only ever had to break someone's water twice on one occasion, but the other nurse said that one time she had to break someone's water four times.

By 9-something that night I decided that it was time for an epidural. I still could talk through the contractions however I figured there was really no point in waiting since I knew I wanted one. About 10 minutes later, the anesthesiologist was there to prepare my back for the epidural. She did all the prep work, and then I got this severe urge to pee. The nurse tried to tell me that the feeling would pass after I got the epidural, but I really had to go. I ended up peeing 600mL. The nurse exclaimed, "You really did need to go!" Yes, that is what I said, isn't it?!

Getting the epidural wasn't as scary as I thought it would be. The pinch to numb my back hurt about as much as getting an IV. I couldn't even feel any pain whatsoever when they were putting the catheter into my back. What I didn't like at all was what she said would feel like a "zing." It felt like my right leg was being attacked with a cattle prod or something. I flinched and started to cry. Then the anesthesiologist said, "We're done," but she said it in a way that made me think we had to try again. I began to cry harder because I thought I had messed it up when I flinched and we had to start over, but luckily that was not the case!

After midnight, I went from 5cm to 10cm in about two hours! The doctor could not believe it. She even asked for a second opinion because of how rapidly I had progressed during those two hours.

After that was smooth sailing except for the fact that I was tired as all get-out. After I reached 10cm, they let me rest for an hour, and then the pushing began. I pushed for almost 2 hours. Finally the nurse said that she was going to call the doctor in to perform a vacuum extraction. The doctor gave me a choice between a vacuum extraction and a c-section, and I chose a vacuum extraction. This did the trick after just two sets of pushing. When Joel came out, I threw up for the third and final time. I was puking my guts out and completely missed it when Jason cut the cord. They took Joel away to get cleaned up, and afterwards Jason got to hold him. He held him by me so that I could see him too. It would be 45 minutes until I could hold him.

I ended up with 3rd degree tears (anal muscle actually tore whereas 1st and 2nd tears are mostly just skin). I heard the nurse going off-shift tell the new nurse that the tearing was "extensive." It took 45 minutes to get sewn up. I asked the doctor how many stitches I had, and she said she wasn't counting. Ok, so alot then I take it.

Unfortunately, Joel suffered from shoulder dystocia during birth which is most likely what caused the 3rd degree tears. I've read on online forums where people compared having c-sections with 3rd degree tears that most doctors will make the woman have a c-section the second time around if she had 3rd degree tears the first time. I haven't talked to my doctor yet but I will ask her about this. Most people who have had both say that the 3rd degree tear is actually worse than having a c-section. Hindsight is 20/20; I should have gone with the c-section when she gave me the choice!

Here is a photo of Joel at home in his little cowboy outfit. He's so cute!

Here's the hobby horse I made Joel. I guess he finds it quite scary!

Find your style with this quiz

Today I saw a link from How About Orange's blog to sproost.com. On Sproost, you can take a quiz to see what your decorating style is. I'm 45% Nantucket Style, 27% Mountain Lodge Style, and 28% Traditional Country. That sounds about right!

Thrifting for the Newborn Babe

I had to get out of the house today. I was told not to drive for two weeks, and it's only been five days, but I had to get out none-the-less. My husband's cousin's daughter is turning one in a week, so I went to Kohls to find her a gift. Of course then I was near the Eastland mall thrift stores, so I stopped in.


Above you can see today's finds. I got a plain white onesie (50c because it was half off today), and then I found a new package of two pro-recycling iron-on transfers (50c) to go with it. I also found a little bottle to screw into my breast pump (30c), a Halloween bandana for making these adorable bandana pants (29c), and a NY Rangers towel that I plan on turning into a bib (59c). My husband loves the Rangers, so I was glad to find that towel! Columbus now has its own professional hockey team, so he also loves the Blue Jackets, but he's loved the Rangers since childhood. I also have two Columbus Blue Jackets flags that we got for free at a game once. They have some advertising for Nationwide Insurance on them, so I cut the advertising out of them and will make a bib out of them too. Two bibs maybe; one for Joel and one for his 2 1/2 month old cousin.


Here are the adorable little ties I got Joel a week or two ago when on a thrifting expedition, along with a little book about music. Yellow tags were half off that day, yay!


And lastly, a little metal thermos that I had my eyes on ($1.59). I actually saw a different one a few weeks ago but didn't get it. When I went back, it was gone and I was totally kicking myself. I saw this one later and scooped it up.

My Valentine's Day Gift from Hubby

This is what hubby made me for Valentines Day :) He finished it yesterday since I unexpectedly went into labor on the 13th. It turned out to be good though, because he was able to get the Hershey kisses for much less since Valentines Day had already passed!

Here's what he did in case you want to mimic this candy holder. First, he found directions for this on a kindergarten craft website. He said he thought he could handle a craft meant for five-year-olds. He gathered an applesauce container, red spray paint, a piece of ribbon, a small piece of fabric, masking tape for taping off the heart pattern, and some white paint to highlight the heart shape. Voila, a wonderful recycled craft for Valentines Day!

Sunday Stash is here despite the newborn's arrival

Hello folks. I'm in the hospital after a lengthy birth... more about that will come later. Luckily I photographed some fabric a few days ago, because otherwise there would be no Sunday stash today. I can't sleep, so I figured 1 AM would be a good time to get online and post some photos of Valentiney fabric that I have. A day late and a dollar short, yes I know, but that's the story of my life!

The fabric above was a Joanns purchase years ago. The one directly below was too.


This one is a set of thrifted pillow shams from a long time ago. I used them as pillow shams for a few years, got sick of them, and now they're in my fabric stash to cut up and use as I see fit. I was going to do some kind of Valentiney craft with fabric however with the little one's arrival, I never got around to it!

I'm in the hospital, and this baby is coming! Now the only question is, will he be here before or after midnight?

Netflix Oragami.... Who'd a-thunk it?

Ok, so hubby finally came around on the whole let's-make-our-valentines-day-gifts-so-we-can-save-money conversation. I think he read my blog post the other day and had a change of heart.

So now that it's a green light, I've been online looking for little free ideas for Valentines Day. I found Netflix Oragami. Yes, folks, make oragami from your discarded netflix envelopes. Perfect for V-day because of their red color!



I'm glad hubby finally agreed to do a free Valentines Day, because I would have felt like a total cheap-skate having this conversation with him on Saturday:

Hubby: Happy Valentines Day, sweetheart. Because I love you so much, I got you this beautiful diamond tennis bracelet.

Me: Oh, it's beautiful! Gee, you shouldn't have.... here's your present. I dug out the old netflix envelopes from the recycle bin and made you some paper hearts. It was either the heart or this runt pony [What the hell is a runt pony?] I actually thought about making you this crab too but then I figured you didn't really want to get crabs for Valentines Day.

Um, yeah.

Sun Tea, anyone?

I miss summer. We are having a small taste of spring right now with temps in the 40s-50s and a rain storm! It’s making me really, really, really antsy for warm weather!

A few weeks ago I thrifted this sun tea container for 99c. I obviously haven’t been able to use it so far because 1) we aren’t getting much sun, and 2) any liquids left outside would have frozen almost immediately with those extremely cold temps we had been experiencing.



In the meantime, we can all enjoy these photos of the sun tea container, and we can imagine what the delicious tea will taste like! The above photo is where I keep my tea stash- on the kitchen window ledge in a vintage thrifted wire basket. I heart wire baskets!

Valentines Day Magnets

I couldn't wait to give my husband these little magnets I made for him for Valentines Day, so it's okay for me to post them now. I made ten, however I was having some trouble photographing them, so not all of them are shown. I also had to adjust the lighting with my editing software, so the colors aren't exactly true to life. It is neat, though, how you can change the photo by fine tuning the brightness, color, etc.



Holding my heart in the palm of his hand

These weren't made for my husband; I just wanted to make some neato red magnets. I found a page in a magazine with several different red tablecloths that was perfect. I like the speckled one so much that I think I might make a necklace out of it.


Want to make some for your sweetie? It's easy! I posted how I did it a few days ago, so check it out :) I'll warn you though, once you start, it's hard to stop!

Making a Hobby Horse

I went out shopping today to look for a frame for the pop art photo of my husband's cousin's child. I visited several dollar stores and the two thrift stores by the mall and found several that would work, however none that really floated my boat. I didn't get a frame yet, so I'll have to go out again hunting this weekend.

The thrift store that was having the 50% off sale on toys the other day now has 75% off of toys! I found a new-in-the-package digital timer/bookmark that students can use to time how long they read. It was originally marked 30c- you do the math! Its tag said it was originally 9 bucks. Also, I picked up a hard back book about a singing moose (this band director can't pass up a book about music). Children's books are 50c, however apparently it was 75% off too! I got both for twenty cents. Now that's a good trip to the shops!

Next door I scored four magazine holders (I've been eyeing them at Staples and Office Max for awhile, but ten to fifteen dollars each is just too steep for my blood). They're pretty dingy right now however it's nothing that a bit of spray paint can't fix. They were 60c each. I might do something with them to make them Valentine-y for Jason since he's finally agreed to have a make-it-yourself V-day. I also found two little children's clip-on ties that had yellow tags. Yellow= 50% off. One ended up being a quarter, and the other 35c.

I have been wanting to make a hobby horse for Joel since I found a dowel rod the other day in my room at school. I have no idea where it came from, and no one has claimed it, and it's been a couple weeks. I figure it's trash and otherwise free for the taking. Either that or I could reinstate corporal punishment with it. That sounds good to me, but I might get some pushback from parents and kids...

Anyway, so today at the 75%-off-toys-thrift-store, I found a hobby horse that was originally $1.91. That would make the darn thing less than 50c. Geesh. I contemplated getting it and saving myself from sewing one, but then I stopped myself. Where's the fun in buying one, when I can cuss out my sewing machine for a few hours while making one?

So when I got home, I got busy. I picked out a piece of Nan's hand-me-down vintage 70s brown and tan fabric for the head of the horse. Let me warn you, when you look at this fabric too long, it will make you hungry for chocolate and butterscotch pudding. Seriously. Unless it's just me.

I used some yellow yarn for the mane, some buttons for the eyes, a solid brown for the reins, and little key chain thingies for the circular metal parts that the reins go through. I was especially pleased with myself over that last one. A pure stroke of genius if you ask me.

I put it all together (minus the dowel rod which is still at work), and have posted a picture of what I have so far. Here's a close-up of the reins.

My son, the unborn-rock-star-in-training

I fell in love with these guitar softies today. And I had just the right fabric for it... leftover music themed fabric that I bought years ago when I first started teaching. I have a window in my office that looks out to the practice room next door, and I wanted curtains for that window.

It really wasn't hard to make this guitar. I looked at some pictures, then freehanded one onto a few pieces of junk mail taped together to make my pattern. I then did all the obvious stuff, like pinned it onto the fabric, cut it out, put the fabric right sides together and repinned, and then sewed around the perimeter. I left two holes for stuffing, one at the bottom and one in the neck of the guitar. I turned it right side out, ironed it, and then realized I forgot to sew on the felt pieces. I ended up just using hem tape and my trusty iron to attach the felt pieces. Hem tape is my best friend.

I then stuffed the little guitar with thrifted still-in-the-package polyfill, and then topstitched the openings closed. That part sucked, but I don't think Joel will notice. He'll be too busy rockin' out to Def Lepard and Guns and Roses. Ah, those were the days.




Here's a closeup of the fabric choice

Magnets from Dollar Store Glass Gems

I've seen these all over the internet: these adorable little magnets! I decided I wanted to make some of my own. I scoured magazines and cut out little pictures that made me think of someone. Pictures I've cut out range from vintage cowboys to music notes to cats to toilets. Yes, my friends, you heard me right.


I have a sick sense of humor. This little guy is going to my brother, John, for Christmas. You see, when I was little I used to tease him because his name means "toilet."


The first one I found was the plunger. I thought it was funny but didn't know if I'd end up using it or not. I cut it out and sat it in the pile. A little while later, I ran across the picture of the toilet, and I couldn't believe my good fortune! And then a little later, I found the word, "toilets." At that moment, I knew my brother was going to be a lucky man at Christmas.

After I found enough pictures, I traced each gem onto the picture, and then cut it out, just inside of the traced line. I used a little Uhu glue on the front of the picture, then pushed the gem onto the picture. I pressed hard to get as many air bubbles out as I could. I have not actually attached the magnets yet, however I have about ten freebie magnets that came with pizza places, doctors offices, etc. that I plan on cutting up and using hot glue to attach it to the back. Hopefully that works out.

The gems were not perfect to begin with, and I suck at photography, so please keep that in mind as you look at these photos. I just can't seem to do them justice.


These are for my parents who love Hilton Head, SC.

Cute little people at a party

I love this cat.

A treble clef for yours truly, the music teacher.

More music teacher-y stuff

I "Heart" Pop Art

I ran across a very cool website today called the Warholizer. It lets you take a photo from your computer and turn it into a piece of pop art. I think I am going to frame this one of my husband's cousin's baby and give it to her for her first birthday in a couple weeks.



And here's one of me from our wedding:

Sunday Stash and Yesterday's Thrifty Finds

While hubby was at work yesterday, I went over to the Eastland mall area and visited the VOA and Salvation Army. They're right next door to each other; it's so convenient. The walking path between them was a muddy, snow-melty, puddle-y mess, but I braved it and continued anyway. Puddles mean that it is warming up- horrah! It actually hit 50 yesterday! I tried to tell Joel that the weather is perfect and that he should come on out now, but so far he has not listened. I'm told to get used to it because children in general don't listen to their parents. (What have I gotten myself into?)

Yesterday I mostly perused the baby and toddler clothes sections and got some good finds. I actually found several shirts that were still new with the tags! Most of what I got was either 50% or 75% off, however I did "splurge" and pay full price (99 cents) for some of the shirts that were too cute to pass up (like a couple hockey shirts... like father like son!). What the heck; it's for a good cause, right? I focused on 12 month clothing. Joel should fit into 12 month clothing this fall, seeing as what a fattie he is. Hopefully 18 month clothing would finish out next winter and early spring, when he would be about 12 months. I figure that once he's born and I'm back to work (hopefully...), I won't have that much time to go shopping so I might as well get at least some of it done while I do have the time.


A little Old Navy sweater with the plastic tag thing still attached



Planes, trains, and automobiles.

Maybe Joel will like football.

Or perhaps hockey will be more his thing.


Brand new with tags still attached! And all that for under $12.50

At one of the two stores, all toys were half off but they were pretty picked over so I didn't get any. Usually you can find toys still new in the packaging, but no such luck yesterday. I did get a few other things though: a piece of fabric with a fishing motif on it to add to my previously-non-existent "little boys" fabric stash (59c); a western themed bandana for Joel's room someday (50c); a baby bottle warmer for the car that plugs into the cigarette lighter, new in the box, for under $3; and an el-cheapo plastic "X" and "O" cookie cutter set, new in the package for 90c (although later at the Dollar Tree I saw an 8 pack of plastic Valentines Day cookie cutters for a buck...*grumble*).





I told hubby that I wanted to do a free Valentines Day, and that we should make each other gifts. He's not too keen on that idea. He says that he doesn't know how to make anything. I've told him numerous times that he makes stuff on his computer all the time, but he just isn't getting it. I just don't want to be spending a lot of money when I very well may be losing my job for next school year due to budget cuts. We need to save, save, save! I'm planning on cooking a nice dinner for us, complete with V-day cookies. I've also started making those little flat marble magnets that I've been seeing online everywhere, and I've made ten for him in a Valentines Day theme (as well as dozens for other people for gifts). They are so A. D. D. I. C. T. I. N. G. They are tons of fun to make! I went through some of my magazine stash, cutting out little pictures and have it all spread out on the dining room table. I'm planning on writing a separate post for those though so I will move on to my next topic now.

Last week I joined a group of gals who take photos of their fabric stash and post it on Sundays. Here's mine for the week!

These are all shots of one large drapery panel that I thrifted last week to use in Joel's toddler bedroom once he gets to that point.