My Unintended New Year's Resolution!

When I was little, I used to suck my thumb. To hear my mom tell it, it was a hard habit for me to break. They tried all kinds of things, including bribery. I agreed to stop and mom was going to take me to get my ears pierced. Well, evidently the trauma of getting my ears pierced led me back into the comfort of thumb sucking!

I eventually got over it I guess. But not long after, picked up the nasty habit of biting my nails. I can even remember sitting in my bath tub at the house I mostly grew up in. I was biting them and Mom told me to stop. I then put my hands under the water and proceeded to pick at my nails. Ha! Like she couldn't see my hands under the water! Anyway, she said, "Don't pick at them, either!" or something like that.

I just turned 34 years old this month. This has been a very long habit. I've tried to quit, but it's SO hard because your hands are always with you! Mostly I do it and don't even realize I'm doing it. I don't even know WHY. I've tried getting acrylic nails, but managed to get to those too. Mostly if I found an edge that was lifting, I just had to get in there and "help it along."

A few years ago, one of my lower, front teeth chipped. I don't remember now if it was from biting my nails or something else. I got it fixed, but it soon chipped again and took even MORE of the tooth with it. I was devastated and hated my smile. Not long after that, I bit on something that shouldn't have had anything hard in it, but it did and it chipped a TOP, front tooth! Now I REALLY hated my smile!

The crappy dentist I was going to (not the same one who "fixed" the 1st chip) wouldn't even attempt to fix the chips due to their location. Being the front teeth where we bite down and pull on food, he was sure they wouldn't hold. The last time I went to him, some of his equipment started to fail and he opened up something in the floor and tried to fix it with me in the chair! It was so dusty and awful, and a spaghetti factory of wires and hoses, I just couldn't bring myself to go back.

My husband recommended his dentist to me. He's on our dental plan, so I decided to give him a try. I was ecstatic to learn he was willing and able to fix my teeth AND it would be covered (in part) on my dental plan because it was restoration, not cosmetic! Wahooo!

While I wish they were whiter (but am not yet ready or willing to give up coffee), they are WHOLE again and I can smile more confidently.

The unintended consequence, and New Year's Resolution that came out of all of this is that I can't "feel" my nails when I bite them because of the composite in the places where I normally bite! So, whenever I go to bite them, I stop myself because I realize I can't feel it. I'm sure if I persisted, I'd figure it out. But for now, the composite stops me long enough to realize what I'm doing and STOP.

My Diaper Stash Part II

Here are some pics of the first set of 5 or 6 diapers I made for Miss M before her arrival. I got the awesome, easy, FREE (one of my FAVORITE words!) pattern, called Rita's Rump Pocket. I will be using this pattern to make some waterproof dipes soon. I got some nylon (like windbreaker jacket material) that I'm going to sandwich between the flannel layers so I don't need a cover, thereby reducing the bulkiness! Stay tuned for more on THAT adventure.

For now, here's some pics. Remember, she wasn't here yet so I used my Army Teddy Bear to model some of them!



Oopsie! I guess I only have one pic! Sorry about that! I'll take some more and add them later. Til then, Happy Crafting!

Tiny Tush Elite Diape Giveaway!

I have been getting back to cloth diapering Miss M...mainly when we are home. I have not gotten brave enough to push it on her day care provider yet, though I'm sure she wouldn't mind, or to use them when we are out. I guess I'm still looking for "the one" what I feel confident enough to do that with!

I love trying different types of cloth dipes. I have gotten some good ones on eBay. There is a cover I especially like. It has a purple print on the outside and PUL on the inside so it just wipes clean if needed. It fits over the dipes I made her OK. I love seeing her bubble butt when she is wearing cloth! Her walk is also especially adorable in cloth!

Well, in my quest to find THE perfect cloth diaper, I found that Tiny Tush is giving away a Tiny Tush Elite diaper to each of THREE winners! I love the fact that it is an "AIO" (all in one). To me, that makes it more like a 'sposie, which would make converting day care and daddy a little bit easier! It's also a one size, which means it will fit Miss M and her brother or sister (should she have one someday) for most of her diapering days!

If you have considered cloth diapering, why not head over to Tiny Tush and enter the giveway! What a great way to give them a test drive!

Birthday Card ala Cricut

My aunt's birthday is coming up so I thought I would make her a card.
I was low on inspiration but my trusty bff helped me. She designed the
coffee background paper when I told her my aunt likes starbucks. I had
the cream colored cardstock on hand so it worked out great!

The bottom line kinda resembles a ransom note but I'm hoping she won't
notice!

Made with the Cricut Journey cartridge

My 1st Cricut project

Miss M's Christmas Dress

I decided to make Miss M a Christmas dress similar to the one I made her for Thanksgiving. I didn't quite get it hemmed before we left for my mom & dad's, so Mom finished it up for me. She also added the "bling" to the front pocket. I think it makes it even cuter and will work great for Valentine's Day! Of course, it will be more of a blouse on her by then, she's growing so fast!

It's made of a red cordouroy with sparkles that my friend had in her "stash." I also made the shoes to match out of a pattern I found on Etsy. Of course they didn't stay on her feet, but it was fun making them anyway. It helped that I had low expecations of her keeping them on her feet!

You can kindda sortta see the shoes in this shot:


Her Grandma (my mom) made her this adorable Sunbonnet Kids quilt. She worked on it a long time. Each of the blocks had an embroidered Sunbonnet kid.

We made a Mai Tei Wrap!

Miss M is getting to be quite a handfull! She's a little over 20 pounds now. Due to this fact, I was needing to do something to save my back and neck! I wasn't sure what type of carrier would work well for her (we were given a Snugli and it didn't go well when she was itty bitty), so I didn't want to invest a bunch of money into something I didn't know if we'd like.

We had tried a Mai Tei on in a store one time and she did OK in it. I decided to research and see if I could find a pattern online. Low and behold, there are quite a few! I found some of the directions to be a little confusing for me, so I ended up using bits and pieces of two or three different patterns.

I will probably use my infomapping/instructional design skills to create my own pattern/directions someday! Not with the holidays looming, though!

Anyway, the same home ec major helped me sort it all out and guided me through the parts that were confusing me.

Here is the end result!




By the way: The fabric was basically free too! I had the black stretch denim on hand, and my friend had the black floral from the stash she inherited from her grandmother!

Baby Needs a New Pair of Shoes!

I cannot BELIEVE how fast Miss M's little feeties are growing! It hasn't been such an issue so far. All of that changed on Saturday! We were at a party and we got her walking back and forth between a young girl from our church and me.

Now that she's becoming more "upwardly mobile," Miss M needs some shoes! I've been perusing the 'net for some free patterns, of course, because FREE patterns are my latest addiction! I've found some but they all seem to need modification for her size. Plus, since she's starting to walk, she'll need a little "gription," which means leather bottoms. I've never sewn leather, so that makes me a little nervous.

In my quest to find the perfect pattern, I also found some pretty stinkin' adorable shoes all over Etsy for a fraction of the cost in stores. THEN! THEN! Are you sitting down? This next part is SO exciting! I found a site that is giving away these adorable shoes called Squeak-a-boo! They squeek when kiddo walks, so I'll always be able to hear where she is! I love it! There are SO many cute Squeek-a-doo shoes!

Plus, they are very affordable. AND if we win the giveaway, even better! So, cruise on over to the Squeak-a-boo giveaway and see for yourself!

Thanksgiving Dress

I didn't even realize I'd bid on this pattern on eBay until I got a notice that I'd won! So, the week OF Thanksgiving I decided to make Miss M a Thanksgiving dress! On of my BFFs (also my MOH in my wedding) happened to have leftover fabric from the fabric we used to make my bridesmaids' skirts for my wedding! I LOVE the color and it's perfect for Fall.

One of the gals who helps us out and watches Miss M while we work has a degree in home ec and vast sewing experience. She cut out the fabric for me while Miss M slept, which made putting it together go even faster!

I didn't have the right color bias tape, so I improvised. I don't think it's very noticeable.

I was up pretty late the night before we left for hubby's Grandma's house on the cost (a 6+ hour drive) when I finished it. Miss M was sleeping, so I tiptoed into her room and took a couple dresses out of her closet to determine the length. As a result, I nearly left the dress on the kitchen table (a.k.a. my sewing table these days!)!!! Thankfully I noticed it at the very last minute!

Here are some pics!
In this first one, she's sitting in a rocking chair that her Great-Grandma Mary gave her. Mary was quite the crafter in her day. She used to sell these chairs with dolls she made. Due to its age and duration of its life in her garage, we needed to apply wood glue to all of the points where it comes together. She didn't stay in it long, just long enough to pose for this pic! I was so afraid it was going to collapse under her!