10 Minute Onesie

I made the 10 Minute Onesie Dress last week for a baby shower gift. It was my first time to gather a seam to create ruffle. That part is so easy! Can't believe I put it off for so long. I added applique' (not very good at this yet) & a tiny hairbow for complete look.

Here's to you, Amanda W., who will be having the first baby girl (on the dad's side) in 5 generations! This little pink package should be coming to you today or tomorrow.

P.S. I'll be adding these to my shop eventually. Let me know if you would like one in the meantime! :) 

Bags Off the Ground

How does this photo make you feel?

Disheveled? Unorganized? Anxious? Dirty? 

Since we moved into our new house, I have yet to figure out how to store all of my totes, purses, bags, etc. And this is how they ended up - at the bottom of our closet. It's quite embarrassing. I would have organized it a long time ago, but I wasn't sure how. Cubby storage? No room. On hangers? Doesn't leave enough room for clothes. In boxes? Bags get mushed. After months of searching for a solution, here's what I came up with.

Using a double hang closet rod and 5 closet rod S-hooks, I went from this:

To this:

Bags, totes, backpacks, etc. are off the floor!!!! Aaaaaa *angels sing*. 

On a completely unrelated note, I won another Alchemy bid to create an 8x10 piece of art for a little boy's sea-themed playroom.  This one was lots of fun to make, and I'm mad at myself for not taking an end result photo before shipping it. But here's one when I was in the middle of the project (taken by iPhone, so not great quality).

Imagine the seahorse finished out like the fish and starfish and more definition around the seaweed. Also, I finished it with streaks watered down silver paint which gave it an underwater effect. I was so cute when finished. Booo for not thinking!

My Dahlia Accent Table

Eeee! I'm so happy with how this turned out!!! This table was 5 bucks at a garage sale and oh, so nasty. Grant audibly groaned when I brought it home. It's been through a move and tucked away in garages for almost a year but now, finally, has purpose.

I didn't know what to do with it at first. I mean, of course I was going to paint it, but this table cried out for more. So I Googled images of "painted tables" and came across this fabulous piece of work. I wasn't sure I was going to get the same precision until I found this dahlia quilt pattern. I printed it out and got it blown up 300% at Office Max.

After Grant sanded, it looked like this:

I wish I had remembered to take a photo before the sanding....Eew!

Then I primed with an almond color:

See my littler helper in the back.

After priming, I painted it (3 coats) Bird's Eye Maple, which was a dark natural yellow.

Then I traced the blown up pattern to freezer paper, cut out one of each of the pieces, and traced that to Amy Butler Lotus paper. The I began the cutting and decoupage. Lots of cutting and decoupage.

After that, I nursed my carpel tunnel and faux antiqued it by swiping on watered down brown paint with a tough stenciling brush (should have done this before decoupage). I finished out the top with oen full coat of Mod Podge to make the finish even. Finally, I sealed the entire thing with Minwax Polycrylic in semi-gloss (3 coats).

Ta-da! My first piece of upcycled, refinished furniture. This could get addicting.

 

Customer Appreciation Photo: Hedgehog Nap Mat

Last week, I shipped the Hedgehog Nap Mat. Well...He liked it!!! I found this photo uploaded on my Feedback page.

I'm thrilled that he loves it and that mommy is happy, too! :)

Birthday Card/Money Box

I used Alchemy for the first time on Etsy. It's an oddly named place where you can post an item you want made, and Etsy artists bid on your request to make the item for you. If you have a special request item needed of any kind, this is a good place to start.

I never intended on using this, but I do peruse it every so often because it's funny what some people want made. Anyway, I came across a request for a little boy's 1st birthday money/card box. The theme: Sesame Street! I'd never made one before, but I put a bid in anyway and way underballed it. (Is that the right word?)

So for $15 bucks, here's what I made. The cost barely covered the stickers! But it was so much fun to use these colors. I really hope they like it.

 

 

Hedgehog Nap Mat

Shipped a custom nap-mat to an Etsyer from Houston today (my first random order - not from word of mouth!!). She picked this cute Michael Miller Hedgehog Heaven fabric and wanted a shaggy-like material for the blanket since her son's lovey has this too. It was fun to do something boyish for a change.

It was the first time I worked with this Minky shag material, and it was an adventure. This stuff went EVERYWHERE. Should have taken a picture of the mess. It looked like crazy dog shed. I suggest using regular Minky fabric for this part of the nap mat instead of the shag because I'm not sure how this fabric will hold up in the wash. But it is very cuddly and matched the hedgehogs well.

I've also decided to use a pillow insert as the standard instead of stuffing the top with polyfill. I think that will make washing more convenient for moms.

p.s. If you're reading this on Facebook, be sure to check out the original posting and follow my blog: http://bluebrookboutique.blogspot.com/

Two Kid-Friendly Recipes

I have a secret desire. I want my child to be the envy of the lunch room. So she's only 17 months...

Anyway, she has to take a packed lunch with her going to Mother's Day out on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I was trying the bento thing. I like it, but I don't think it's going to be a consistent thing. But I still want her lunch to be cute, nutritious, and tasty when chilled or at room temp.

Below are two that I tried over the weekend from Gourmet Mom-on-the-Go. Both were HUGE hits.

Stuffed Turtle Rolls 

These were surprisingly very quick to make and oh so cute. Makes me wish P knew what a turtle was so the efforts were appreciated. :) Bonus: They freeze quite well. I pop them in the microwave for a minute in the morning, put it in her lunch box, and out she goes!

Avocado Penne Pesto w/ Grilled Chicken

Sorry for the poor photo quality. Presley couldn't wait for me to finish taking pictures. I only got these two in. 

This was another yummy quickie. (Starting to get the "on-the-go" part of this gal's blog.) To make it even faster, I used Foster's frozen grilled chicken bought from Costco. I don't think this dish would freeze well, but there weren't enough leftovers anyway! It's easy to eat with fingers and tastes good chilled, so this will be perfect for Presley's lunch tomorrow.

Presley's 1st Lunch: Bento Beginner

I wanted to tack this on my last post, but it felt inappropriate. I couldn't find the right transition. "I'm wistful about time going by so fast...Oh, well! On to lunch." Actually, that sounds exactly like me now that I think about it.

Anyway, I started blogging to track my crafty little adventures and to document my 2010 New Year's Resolution, which was to learn to sew. I'm now diving into a new type of endeavor: Bento Boxed Lunches.

In the process of deciding what I should pack for Presley's lunch, I realized I had some challenges to keep in mind.
1. The preschool won't help Presley eat, so I must make finger foods for my 16 month old to be able to eat.
2. There is no microwave, so the food I make needs to be able to be eaten chilled or room temperature.
3. She's 16 months and a little picky about her food. (Although she has no problem putting dog food or ants in her mouth.)

I did what any mother my age would do - turn to the Internet. What I found what this entire network of Bento lunch makers! The most helpful site was http://lunchinabox.net/. I already had a Sassy Feeding Set, which sort was Bentoish, and I learned that a proper bento lunch was 2 parts carb, 1 part veg, and 1 part protein. Fruits were considered dessert. So based on that, here's P's first lunch:

2 parts pretzels, 1 part shredded roast chicken, 1 part roasted butternut squash, & quartered cherries on the side.

Yes, I realize pretzels aren't the best choice for a carb, but it's her first day. I wanted her to have something she liked. I'm hoping that butternut squash is good chilled. That could be pretty gross actually. I want to work on making the meal more compact and pretty like on the websites.

While we're on the subject, sort of, here's a photo of P's wise owl backpack & lunch tote:

So cute!

Mother's Day Out

I have been bragging  for a month now about Presley going to The Ark Preschool two days a week. The 5 hours I'll get to myself on Tuesday and Thursday will be fabulous. I can clean the house in one day, work on items for the shop, drink a glass of wine midday, lounge by the pool, work out (yeah, right...), get organized - the possibilities are endless! I love my baby girl and truly feel blessed that I'm able to stay at home with her, but she is one spitfire ball of energy and curiosity. Plus, I think socializing without me and structured play time will be good for her.

But today I got a little sad. I'm not sure why exactly. I know I'm anxious about her naptime. We just got down to one nap a day last week, and that's only sometimes. On top of that, they have them sleep on the floor on nap mats. I made a cozy one for her, but she doesn't do well when not contained her her crib. And when she's around a lot of noise. And if her shoes are still on. And if she's overtired. Let's face it: She's a high maintenance sleeper. The worst that can happen is that she doesn't nap at all, which means she'll nap when she gets home at 2:30. That's not so bad.

But I think I'm focusing on this detail so I won't focus too much on the bigger one: Time goes by so fast. 16 months is still a baby, but it's very different then 16 weeks, which seemed like just yesterday and an entire lifetime ago. I feel like I'm going to blink, and she'll be in college. I'm ready and excited for all of her next steps, but I wish time would freeze every once in a while. And then sometimes I'm glad it doesn't. Hmmm...

Diapers & Wipes Cases - New Listings

I've added a new item to my Etsy shop. Check out three new diapers & wipes cases. I made a boy, a girl, and a unisex one for now. Feel free to give me your feedback! ;)

p.s. Tutorial on how to make these will be coming soon.