Wordless Wednesday

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Have A Happy Day,




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How to turn a tank top into a nursing tank

This is one of those projects that takes for-ever. Not to be confused with just forever- but for-EVER! I have been working on it here & there for almost 2 months. Its a project that would only take a couple hours total (minus the dying part) but I suppose it's the fact that I had a newborn & a toddler this summer that set me back on 'production' time. (like how I made it sound like I produce things? Big & important sounding........or not.)

Anyway.

How to turn a shelf bra tank into a nursing tank.

OR I could call the first part of this tutorial 'how to replace the straps on your favorite tank top'

Ok here we go.

If you know me in real life you know I have a slight addiction to shelf bra tanks. I have pretty much worn one everyday for nearly 10 years now. Love. Them. Well when I was pregnant with Little Man I bought a couple of Old Navy's maternity ones (the length is perfect for non-pregnant ladies to by the way). Well apparently after wearing them for 3 years the straps had had enough and started coming apart.

Not wanting to get rid of them just because the straps were falling apart I figured I could replace the straps. But before replacing the straps I decided to dye the top pink. Why? Because I had dye & I could. Hehehe

Then I cut the straps off the tank top

(sorry for the blurry photos I had to take these with my phone)

Here is where you can skip ahead to the strap replacement part if you aren't making a nursing tank.
So then I cut apart the neckline on the front only of the tank top.

Ok if you skipped ahead here's where you want to jump back in.

To make a cute little strap to replace the ones we removed you will need a strip of fabric that is 4 times as wide as you want your strap. So if you wanted a 1/2 inch wide strap you need your fabric to be 2 inches wide. The length is from the front of the tank top over your shoulder and to the back of the tank top plus a little extra for seam allowance. You will need two pieces that are these sizes.

This is the strap material right side down.

Fold it in half lengthwise and iron.

Open it up. Then take each long edge and fold/iron it to meet in the center.

Next fold it in half again and iron.

This is the finished width of your strap. Sew along the edge using a small seam allowance.

If you are not making a nursing tank then attach the straps to the outside of the tank top where you cut off the original straps folding both sort ends under and sewing a square with an X in the center. Add a button as decoration if you'd like. You are done!

If you are making a nursing tank top then you need to attach the straps to the back of the tank tucking the short end under and using the square with an X in center method. Then also attach it to the front but only on the fabric that is closer to your body (in other words not the fabric that is the outside of the tank top.)

Next take some of these:

And hand sew (I know-yuck!) the eye part to your new strap on the front and the hook part to the outside fabric.

You can see in that picture that I sewed some of the extra strap fabric to the front of the tank top- I did this to add some structure before sewing on the hook since the fabric was pretty flimsy. When you see the final product you will see how it looks like a continuation of the strap.

After that all you need to do is try on your tank top, unhook both sides so the front flap falls down and mark where you will need to cut your nursing openings. Then cut a slit in a shape like two facing parenthesis: () on each side.

If your tank top is a jersey material like mine you won't need to hem the raw edges because it won't fray. If it isn't jersey then go ahead and hem all raw edges.


Then you are all done! Wear it alone in the summer, under a cute shrug in the fall/spring and even under a sweater in the winter (just pull up the sweater to nurse.) You can remove the hooks and sew the front flap back to the back flap and have a regular tank top again when you are done nursing too!

mouse over image to see before and after:

There you have it! Let me know if you have any questions & if you make one I'd love to see it!
Have A Happy Day,


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Meet My Family!

This is the post I told I'd never write when I first started blogging...the one on which I show pictures of my kids. But Military Man & I have been wrestling with this decision (me way more than him) for a couple months now.

See I applied to be a product reviewer for the Mommy Moment blog and was selected (Yay! You can see my first post here) So when Jody asked me to do a review on some baby items since I had a baby I hesitated, talked it over with Military Man & we said yes that was fine. We use nicknames for the kids anyway so we figured a few pictures were ok.


So without further ado I'd love to introduce you to my family (this is my proud wife/momma moment where I exclaim how adorable they are so bear with me!)
First up we have Military Man aka Hubby:

This is minutes after Miss E was born back in June. How sweet!

Then comes Little Man (with his good friend Thomas the train!)

And lastly we have the littlest member: Miss E (get it? Missy)

This was just taken the other day for her 4 month 'Look how I've grown' pictures.

So there you have it- my family! I'm not sure how regular my posts with kids pictures in them will be because a lot of my crafts don't really have anything to do with them but at least now I will post about them when its relevant!


Have a Happy Day,




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Real Honesty.

This post has been sitting in drafts for a few days. I’m nervous and scared and relieved all at the same time to be publishing it.
I am writing this post not because I want sympathy or pity. I’m writing it because I want someone….maybe you….to know you are not alone & you are better than you think you are. Really you are. Yes YOU.
This will be long and wordy and full of errors because if I don’t just write it as it comes out I will never publish it.
Ok here goes (big deep breath & pray my entire family isn’t reading this because my mom will call me and give me that concerned voice “Are you ok?” which will make me cry and will make me mad all at the same time for some reason):
House duties:
You know those blog posts that are like “I’m going to show you the real mess my room is” and then it’s a picture like this:

So yeah…that’s my house on a GOOD day. No, that’s my house on a FANTASTIC day.
Here’s my craft room:
And actually that is much better than it looks now. At least you can see some of the guest bed/futon in this one. 
yeah. I know. you don’t have to tell me. it’s the biggest mess ever. It’s so overwhelming I can even begin. I know, I know if I just do 15 minutes at at time it will be done in no time….ugh yeah thanks FlyLady…NOW I have to find an extra 15 minutes to work on it.
Edited to add: After I wrote this I came across this post in my Google Reader. I love it bc it is simple.
Personal:
I laugh when I read “get up an hour earlier than your kids and have ‘me’ time” HA! (actually I cry but that’s a different story) my kids get up at 5am. Consistently. without fail. every. single. day. and actually my Little Miss E wakes up to nurse at 4am- nurses for 20-35minutes and then gets up again when Little Man comes in demanding a cereal bar and to go downstairs. Speaking of little Man he doesn’t want to nap anymore and it’s a whole big struggle to even get him anywhere near a bed after 1pm everyday. IF I can get him there (kinda hard considering he’s 40lbs and very good at flopping around so you can’t pick him up) he *might* fall asleep IF I lay with him (hard to do if Miss E needs to nurse or is crying.) At night he won’t go to sleep until after 8:30pm IF I lay with him in our bed. Trust me I’ve tried the whole put him in his bed and keep putting him back until he stays thing….that’s a fantastic idea IF he would fall asleep-EVER- using that method and if after a long, long LONG night of putting him back he would sleep past 5am. Which he doesn’t. I swear if I put him to bed at 4am he would be back up at 5am- just crankier. And that’s another thing: Why does he wake up cranky no matter what? Even from naps (2+ hours if he falls asleep)? He’s cranky…even when I don’t wake him up.
Anyway so ‘me’ time does. not. happen. at. all. ever.
I would LOVE to have my mom come up and watch them both so I could nap but I’m nursing Miss E and when we try to give her a bottle of pumped milk she chokes on it and just doesn’t ‘get’ it. and if my mom would take Little Man and I would sleep when Miss E does (to avoid the whole bottle issue) I’m never tired then (again WHY is that??) or I feel like I should get stuff done that I can’t do otherwise. Plus my sister lives with my mom right now due to personal issues and has a 2 year old and one due in Sept. so my mom has her hands full already…I’m lucky to get 2 hours out of her when she comes to visit…and usually then she shows up before I’ve really woken up and hit my ‘stride’ for the day so those 2 hours are NOT productive. Ever. haha. But I appreciate her offers to help.
Weight:
This one never used to be an issue for me. Well let me rephrase that- I was always ‘bigger’ than my peers and according to those stupid BMI charts I was always ‘overweight/borderline obese’ which by the way is stupid. I was 5’4” in high school running cross country 145lbs and considered borderline obese? C’mon! Even I know that wasn’t true!
After having Little Man I nursed him and was pre-baby weight (145lbs.) by the time he was 3 months…then continued to lose because of the stress of my husband’s deployment..I still only got to 130lbs. and those stupid BMI things told me to be 115lbs. to be within the ‘healthy’ range. Honesty: even at 130lbs. my jeans size was still a 14. Which apparently shocked my friends when I told them. They all thought I was at least an 8 if not a 6. I’ve never been a 10 let alone a freakin 6! I wish lol.
So anyway right now at Miss E being almost 10 weeks I haven’t lost a pound in almost 2 weeks. I’m at 181lbs. 181. this is uncharted territory for me. I have no time to work out (see above about no me time) and I thought nursing would help again this time at least get me back to 150lbs. 
I don’t want to buy clothes that fit this body because I don’t want this body (read money/budget section below to also know why I can’t buy clothes in all the sizes I am/will be- sorry Stacy & Clinton but I just can’t and if I could they would be those cheap ones you hate!). I know I’m not supposed to say that. I’m supposed to be all “love your body at any size” but I don’t. I don’t love my body at this size. I don’t love seeing 181 on the scale. So I wear yoga skirts and tank tops that I wore when I was pregnant just to get by. Until I get to that place…if I ever get to that place. I am continually amazed that my body made two babies…that it knew where to put the nose and the fingers and all those organs. That they are healthy because of my body. That I fed/feed them with my body. But that doesn’t mean I love what happened to my body. I would not give up my kids to get back to 135lbs but why can’t I have my cake and eat it too?
Money/Budget:
I love reading blogs-especially thrifty ones. I love a good thrifty find or dollar store re-do. Love ‘em. But I can’t participate all the time. My husband and I have written out our budget and are trying to follow Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover but we get stuck on step 1 then when we get that done we get stuck on step 2 so long that we use up the emergency fund and have to go back to step 1. This means that I don’t even have $1 to go to the dollar store and buy something to spray paint. If I DO have a little extra for some reason I either want to spend it on stuff my kids need or I can’t seem to GET to the store or yard sales (see above with no time for me) and I can’t take Little Man because he asks for everything and throws a tantrum if I say no and now that I have Miss E I can’t carry him out of a store kicking and screaming while holding her or her car seat. So I don’t go to the store. (Hubs grocery shops when he gets out of work) So I’m trying to somehow make this blog maybe possibly make me $10-$25 a month to help off set our budget (since it covers all the necessities) so I can have a crafty endeavor once in awhile still. But this blog is about those crafty endeavors and if I can’t afford to keep doing them I won’t have loyal readers so I won’t  be able to get advertising so I won’t be able to do the crafty endeavors….vicious cycle I tell ya. Vicious. lol (Also the lack of ‘me’ time makes it hard to blog let alone craft! whew!)
Hubs:
My husband is in the military (deployed twice already) and I hate it. I’m proud of him but I just want it to be over with already. That is hard to say for many reasons a few being: it’s his job and it’s how I am able to stay at home with my kids and how we survive, it is also very un-American to say I wish my husband didn’t serve. But I get a nervous/throw up feeling when I think of him deploying again- I felt that way every single day of the year he was gone last time and I am so scared I’ll have to raise my kids on my own for the rest of my life if something happens to him-that they won’t know their daddy. I am not made out to handle that. I sometimes wish someone else would serve so he wouldn’t have to and then I feel sick/guilty that someone else would have to feel nervous/throw up just so I didn’t have to and so I feel like it’s my duty to feel that way so that maybe you don’t ever have to know that feeling.
Having it all together:
I get “you have it all together” or “you are so much more domestic than me” or something similar- a LOT. I’m here to tell you that most days I don’t shower, I wear the same thing that I slept in and brushing my teeth is probably an after thought not a priority. If I do shower it’s at 3pm and shaving just doesn’t happen anymore. I haven’t baked bread since Miss E was born (except for once and I was rushing and it came out bad). Yes I cloth diaper but it’s because I can’t afford to buy that many diapers all the time.
On this blog, on twitter and on facebook you see what I want you to see. You see what I think YOU want to see. No matter how many times someone says they want to know the real you- they really dont. I mean I have so many issues I’m trying to deal with I don’t want to feel bad after listening to your problems that I can’t find the 5 minutes to help you too…I don’t need more guilt on my plate haha.
So because I have so much to worry/stress/throw up about I’m worn out and I’m a bad friend. I forget to get gifts or can’t afford to. I forget to call you and when you call me I’m too tired to form complete sentences so you get “uh-huh” “oh really”  “that’s nice” etc. and you feel like I’m ignoring you. I’m not. really I’m not. I’m trying so hard but nothing is seeming to match up.
My son eats cereal bars (organic brand), chicken nuggets (Tyson because we can’t afford the organic kind anymore-there’s only like 10 in a $8 box and he eats 5 at a time! yikes!), peanut butter toast, hummus & crackers, ice cream and chocolate. I can’t get him to touch a veggie or fruit (TRUST me I’ve been offering it to him since he stopped at 18 months….he’s THREE so that 10-15 times exposure thing is CRAP-OLA)  and we even planted a garden this year trying to A) save some money and B) get him involved in the process to try and get him to eat some veggies…so far we have ONE cucumber to show for our efforts and he wouldn’t even touch that. UGH. Yes I know if he is hungry enough he’ll eat it. But with little sleep, no nap, waking up cranky, etc…wouldn’t you go the easy way too? at least the ice cream and chocolate is only after he poops on the potty.


Whew. So there it’s all off my chest and if you’ve read this far…I’m sorry for putting my stuff on you. I’m sorry for wasting 10? 20? minutes of your life lol
So if you feel the same way as me on even only ONE of these things: I don’t have any advice and I don’t have a solution…I can’t even say “It will get better- it’s only a season in your life” because so far it’s the only season I know. But just know that I’m there with you. No matter how it seems on this blog…I know and I’m there. We can be there together- not solving anything but just knowing the other is there with us.

ok, I am prepared to lose some subscribers on here and have some friends on facebook avoid me because of all my ‘issues’ but I got sick of reading other “honesty” blog posts and thinking that it would be a great day if my life was their “messy/bad/ unorganized” life! lol!
So I’m hoping some of you feel that way too. Thanks for reading Miss E needs to nurse and Little Man is begging for nuggets…so REAL life calls!
Love,

P.S. I just want to state that I LOVE my kids and my husband and I KNOW we could have it much worse and I am thankful we don’t. Really I am very thankful and VERY aware it could be different. I just needed to vent and let someone else know that it’s ok she/he feels this way too. Because I wish someone would’ve written this post to make ME feel better too.

OpenSky Shop Grand Opening!

Good Morning! I am so excited that the time has finally come to open my OpenSky shop! I have found some interesting, valuable, and terrific products to start with and I can’t wait for you to have a look around!
The first product I want to share is the Klean Kanteen 12 oz. Sippy ($20)! I own this product and use it for my son a lot! We especially take it when we go to the playground or Grandma’s house.

This sippy is great because it is food grade stainless steel (no more plastic sippys!), it is dishwasher safe (and super simple to take apart and put back together), and it is designed to work with Advent’s BPA free sippy spout. (You can also get a ‘loop’ top from the company to replace the sippy part when the kiddos get older and can drink from a regular cup)
My son loves this cup because it looks like Daddy’s stainless steel water bottle and it has the slimmer neck so he can grasp it with his smaller hands.
Another product I wanted to highlight in my “Grand Opening” post was the square glass jar with glass lid- 32oz ($12).

This product will be perfect as is for storage & organization but I wanted to sell it because it is perfect for glass etching for a wedding gift or any gift!
Because I bake a lot of bread I know the value of good loaf pans and I also make it two loaves at a time so I love that this next product ($12) comes as a set of two:

They have a non-stick coating and are made of heavy gauge steel that provides even heating! These will make feeding your family frugally so much easier!
Last I wanted to highlight a product to pretty up your home:

These green porcelain dinner plates (set of 4) are only $60 and can be used as your plate or your charger! They are a lovely square shape which is something a little different to add a unique touch to your table setting. They come in a cute little gift box too!


Well that's it for my Grand Opening Highlights post! I have more products in my shop and you can shop directly from here- just look over at the right hand sidebar ---> and you’ll see my shop & can purchase from right here!
Here is a little coupon for you to use while you shop too:
From now thru August 16th, 2010 if you use coupon code FREESHIPPING you will get free shipping on any OpenSky purchase!

Have a happy day,

Dr. Seuss Baby Shower

My sister is expecting a baby in early September so this past weekend my mom & I threw her a Dr. Seuss themed baby shower!
First were the invitations, I made them on Photoshop Elements using clip art images and cute wording found on the web. The font used is called “Grinched” and can be found here for free.


So I got there early to decorate (red & white balloons, streamers- not pictured) and I used my new Silhouette SD to cut out some vinyl words for the walls (again using that Grinched font). I also printed out some images from the web of Dr. Seuss books.



I also made some of Martha’s tissue paper pom poms in red & white and hung them over the food table.

And lastly I made a cake! I love making a cake (probably because I eat the extra cake/frosting….shhhhh)! I made a Dr. Seuss Cat in the Hat, Hat cake. The brim is a red velvet oval cake with cream cheese frosting and the stacked part is yellow cake with butter cream icing.

Here’s a little secret for you….I did the whole cake using 3 boxes of yellow cake mix, but I just add in other ingredients to make it red velvet & make the yellow cake taste like homemade! I do make my frosting from scratch and usually make my cakes from scratch too but hey- I just had a baby so I’m entitled to take short cuts right? right.
Here is what I do to turn regular yellow box cake mix into red velvet:
Add 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder to the dry cake mix.
Add all your liquids (substitute buttermilk for any water/milk the mix calls for- I make my own buttermilk by adding 1 tablespoon of white vinegar to 1 cup of milk and letting it sit about 5-10 min) then add 1 tablespoon of red food coloring (about the whole vial if you buy those little ones), a teaspoon of distilled white vinegar and a teaspoon of vanilla.
That’s it! Now you have red velvet cake batter! I use this recipe for cream cheese frosting (She also has a from scratch red velvet recipe in that post too)
For the yellow cake I follow this cupcake tutorial for doctoring the mix. (If you Google ‘doctoring cake mix’ or some similar term you will come up with all kinds of ways to make store bought mix taste terrific!)
For the butter cream frosting I again use Bakerella. I used to use Wilton’s but I don’t like using veggie shortening because it always seemed to be a ‘finicky’ frosting because of it. It tastes great though…I just go for easy & un-finicky!
So there is my family Dr. Seuss baby shower! Hope you liked it!
Have a happy Day,