Give Thanks October, Week 3

October 15:
     Today I had to make a run to my favorite craft store to buy fabric for a client, that craft store is the ONLY place I know that sells a childhood candy I just love. Thankful that today, after a long day and week, I was able to grab myself a bag of those candies. YUM!

October 16:
     Thankful that I finally finished these Christmas blocks, and I now can send them out to swap! YAY!

October 17:
     Today I got to try a new sewing project. I have made car seat strap covers before, so those are nothing new, but the Tula/Ergo strap covers/suck pads are. I am thankful that a friend let me try them out, and make her some (she gave me all the material), and hopefully she loves them!

Tula/Ergo suck pads

Carseat strap covers

October 18:
     I am so thankful for such an open and loving/caring group of wonderful woman (and men) who are willing to come out and share in our baby wearing/cloth diapering love! Its a great thing. I am finally feeling more at home here in Norther California.

October 19:
     Potty training has not been easy in this house, but I am thankful that my son is getting back in to it. Crossing my fingers that he wants to potty train, and be a big boy!

October 20:
     So thankful I finished the boys Halloween costumes. Totally was worried I would be up sewing them the night before Halloween!

October 21:
     I am so thankful that my neighbors let us watch their little dog, Porsha, while they are on vacation; Porsha makes my day just that much better. She cuddles with me, and wants me to love on her, and when I stop she licks me and pretty much makes me love on her some more. I miss having dogs, and I am so lucky to have Porsha in my house, she is a loving, caring, and sweet little dog.

Give Thanks,
Sarah

Easter 2014

I know, I am soooo behind on this post, but what better time then now.... I can't wait until next year, right? Alright, so with that lets see if I can bring back some of these memories from Easter (I know it was only a few months ago, but I do have two kids).

The community center on base was offering some fun free activities, and for us military; free is our life! We headed over early in the day, and began by making some picture frames with the kids.

This was his finished picture frame.

 They even had a bunny on hand, to take photos with; or in our case, traumatize our oldest son some more.

Once we calmed him down, we let him run crazy and do his first Easter egg hunt. He loved that!!!

They even had some giveaways, so the kids played while we waited to see if we won anything... uh, nope!

We had baskets ready for the kids to open the next morning, and boy did they love them. I always think that you should go all out for each holiday, but I find that they really don't NEED more toys, or more candy. So, instead we did very little candy and one gift. In the end I am glad we did, because our family ended up sending them stuff as well.

 

When the kids finally were awake, they couldn't believe their eyes, which made us happy to see them so excited.

Our oldest loved the Easter egg hunt, that we thought we should let him run around our yard and gather some more. Boy did he go crazy!!

Taking a moment to enjoy his goodies.

 It was a great Easter this year, and it was an amazing 1st Easter for our youngest. I hope each year is just as amazing, fun, and full of excitement. 

Happy Late Easter,

Sarah

Baby Shower Goody Bags/Jars

For a Baby Shower party, what else is cuter and fits in perfect for favors as baby jars with candy! Yes, its that simple. Find baby food jars, ask your mommy friends, or collect them yourself. I have a 9 month old and I use about 2-3 baby food jars a day; so it was easy for me to collect a few jars. I rinsed them, pulled the labels off, then used Goo-Gone to pull the sticky goo off, then lastly I ran them through the dishwasher (lids too). Once they were dry and clean I was able to start the process of putting the labels on them.

I printed out Thank You in different colors, and cut them up. I also took colored paper to match the baby shower colors and cut those just slightly larger then the Thank You squares. I then trimmed it all up.

Next I take the jar and find my front and back. Some of the jars had random black ink marks on them, so I used this chance to place it in the back or put my ribbon over it if I could.

I used a thin ribbon, and just a basic white. Make sure you have enough ribbon!

Take a hot glue gun and glue on side of the ribbon down in the FRONT of your jar.

Wrap the ribbon around and glue it in place next to the other end.

Now turn the jar around so the seam is facing away from you. Set it right next to you.

Grab your colored paper with the Thank You glued on to it, and place it facing down.

Place hot glue on it.

Press the ribbon seam side into the paper (do NOT use your fingers as the glue will be too hot and you might burn yourself). Press the jar into the paper, and roll it from side to side.

Then turn it around and press with your finger to make sure its secure.

Set them aside, and continue on... and finish the rest of your jars.

Grab all the lids off all the jars, and a can of colored spray paint. I used white, but after I sprayed the lids with several coats the expiration date was still noticeable. I would recommend a color that will cover that.

I then laid a box down, place all the lids a few inches apart, and started to spray. Be sure to get the sides too.

If they need to, give them a second coat.

Place the lids back on once they are dry, and start adding the candy (or whatever you want to put in them).

I also did the same labels with a piece of paper that said Rachel's Baby Shower, looped the ribbon around the baby bottles (which I purchased off amazon.) Just glue the ribbon to the sign and drape it over the bottle.

The finished product at the party. The baby bottles are in clear bags with other candy items.

Happy Goody Bag Making,
Sarah