Sewing Blues

I am feeling a little ticked. I spent a long time sewing up one if these wonderful things from a pattern I made. You can wear it 4 different ways.

My friend hand something like this but she paid $150. She walked to the park breastfeeding her baby while pushing her toddler in a stroller. She said she did the dishes, vacuumed, and cleaned her house while breastfeeding. My eyes bulged out of my head at this point. I knew I had to have one. It is like a Mie Tai sling, but a little more modern. It is comfortable enough to carry a toddler in. I paid $28 for fabric and supplies.


After I was completely finished, I decided to try it out on my daughter. I quickly realized I had switched the straps. The long ones were suppose to go on top and the short ones where suppose to go on bottom.

Here is a blurry close up of how I secured the straps on. Plus, I sewed RST then flipped it out and top stitched it closed. Yes, I had to pick through all of that to fix my $%^(*& mistake.

I screamed, pouted, and threw the dum thing on a chair and walked away. A few hours later, I grabbed a seam ripper and got to work. It took about 10 minutes to get one strap out. I was so frustrated that I had to walk away again. The next day, I did another strap. I sewed those 2 straps back on in the correct place and walked away. Yesterday, I unpicked the other 2 straps and sewed them into place. It took 1 hour to fix a mistake that took me only 25-30 minutes to make. Those are the sewing blues I have experienced lately. UGH! But at least I got it fixed and can now secure my 2 year old comfortably on my back for a hike.

Love it Or Hate it

This is unrelated to the rest of the post, but this bathroom is so unique. I would never want it for myself, but in a hotel, this would be amazing!


















Mirrored walls, do you love it or hate it? I am on the fence.

Mainly, because this would happened all day every day x 2 (and I would probably stare at myself all day wanting to pick at my face) I would have to clean it all the time with the adorable little people in my life. Doesn't sound fun.



















Plus, some of it is so gaudy over the top.

And let's be totally honest, I have absolutely no desire to see my naked rear end from all angels when using the rest room.

But others are done so simply and in a relaxing/elegant way that I could see it in my home

But I would still hesitate because of this. My bathroom has sliding glass mirrored doors and this already happens all the time;)

Yet, some or not over the top but still a little too much for my taste

Weight Loss Journey

I am still in the competition for Win Loose or Blog. So far I have lost 12 lbs. I am feeling really great about that. It is really motivating to see the numbers on the scale moving down. I for a while I thought the scale might be broken because it only showed 1 number every time I stepped on it;)

I watched "Eat Pray Love" the other day. I really loved Julia Roberts character. Mainly, I loved the way she spoke. Her language was so poetic and inspiring. One particular scene I loved was in a pizza parlor in Italy. (I will not say this nearly as inspiring or eloquently as the movie did, but I will try)
Julia Robert was eating pizza with a friend. She noticed her friend was not eating. So Julia asked her what was wrong. The girl said she had gained 10 lbs.
Julia then went into this amazing speech "I am sick of depriving myself.(can't remember exactly what she said, but it was about appreciating her herself) I have no interest in being obese. I just want to be healthy and enjoy my life. So I am going to eat this amazing pizza, and then I am going to go buy bigger jeans."

I have been thinking a lot lately. Especially as I look at my 2 year old daughter with her perfect curly hair and long eye lashes. Our nation is obsessed with the perfect body. Models have to be stick thin (many are anorexic, bolemic, take laxatives, or work out like crazy to achieve it), movie stars are unhealthily skinny. Every where we look there is some woman's body with perfectly sculpted abs that were air brushed on to make her look better. I judge my self worth by the number on the scale. WHY!?!?!?! Because to be honest, I the only person to blame for the number on that scale, but that's not the point. I have plenty of talents and blessings in my life. I have a lot to offer as a person, a mother, spouse, and friend.

My point is this, I want my perfect little 2 year old to feel completely comfortable in her skin no matter her size. I want her to know it's okay to be healthy and you don't have to be extremely thin to be beautiful. I don't want her to judge her self worth the way I have. It has to stop with me. I have to teach myself to be more respectful of my body. I have to be the example for her young mind. Starting today, I am trying to be comfortable in my skin so my daughter will learn to do the same. The madness stops here, in my home, in my mind, in my heart.

Valentine Subway Art

I decided to do some work on photoshop.  Hope you enjoy it:)

8 X 10 valentine subway art

NOTE: This is for personal use only. You may not sell this, you may not sell any items made from this. You may not sell any modification of this or any item made from a modification. Please respect the time that went into creating this.

I will be linking to the parties on my side bar:)

Stylish Blog Award

I was awarded this by Sand to Pearl. So sweet of her to think of me. I had not heard of her blog before, but I spent some time browsing and she has a lot of fun tutorials. Check her out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To accept this Award you must:
1. Thank and link back to the person who awarded you this award.
2. Share 7 things about yourself.
3. Award 15 recently discovered great bloggers.
4. Contact these bloggers and tell them about the award!

 

Well, easy enough. 

1. I am trying to loose weight. I have lost 12 lbs so far only 38 lbs to go.

2. I hate pie. If all dessert were pie, I would have an amazing body. (cooked fruit, yuck!)

3. I got this new cook book called, "Best Every Indian Cookbook" and I might be in love with it.

4. I don't camera and it is driving me CRAZY!!!!! We are saving up for a SLR, but in the mean time my point and shoot decided to stop working.

5. I am a bit obsessive with oral hygiene. My teeth and my kid's teeth are very important to me.

6. Of all things to clean in my home, I despise cleaning the bathrooms the most. I usually bribe hubby with some lovin' if he'll clean them.

7. My appendix ruptured when I was 12 years old. I spent 1 1/2 weeks in the hospital and 2 months out of school. I was 1 year too early for laparoscopic surgery and I have a 8 X 1 1/2 inch scar across my lower abdomen.

So these are 7 very random facts about me. Hope you enjoyed getting to know me just a little bit better;)

Dried Apples

Still no camera, so no pictures:( But I would like to tell you what hubby and I have been doing. We borrowed a food dehydrator from a friend and got to work on 40 lbs of apples.
Using THIS appliance. The work went very quickly.

BUT we did something to add a little something special to our dried apples.

In a large bowl, fill 3/4 full of water. Add 3 tablespoons lemon juice, 1/8 cup cinnamon, and 2 teaspoons of sugar. Mix until cinnamon is wet and not all floating at the top.

Soak your freshly cut apples in the mixture for about 1-2 minutes.

Place in a food dehydrator for about 3 hours. And you will end up with the most tasty treat imaginable. My kids are eating them by the handful:)

Making Your Own Laundry Detergant

I have made my own detergent in the past. The powder in THIS post is a huge bucket of Costco brand detergent. Here are a few ways to make your own. It costs less and really isn't that hard to make.

Dry Detergent:

1 cup Borax powder
1 cup washing soda powder
2 cups Fels Naptha Soap, grated (the best stain remover EVER. I speak from experience)

Using a clean and dry cheese grater, grate the Fels Naptha soap. Put the powders and grated soap into a screw top mason jar. Put the lid on, and shake the contents vigourously to blend them. The resultant mix looks like sunshine in a bottle.
When you get ready to use the soap powder, use ONE tablespoon for a small/medium load, and TWO tablespoons for a large load. I know that this sounds insane, but you really, REALLY don't need any more than that. No, it won't hurt your clothes. It ALSO won't hurt the environment.

The above recipe will NOT make suds in your washer so don't be alarmed. Fels Naptha Soap is a pure soap and typically makes little or no suds in the water. This makes it perfect for use in the new HE washers as well as traditional washers.

You will also notice the need to either reduce your laundry softener or in most cases you can even eliminate the use of softener completely.

I haven't figured out how much money you save yet, but if any of you know I would love to hear.

Liquid Detergent

*Box of Borax Natural Laundry Boost (this can be found in the laundry soap aisle)
*Box of Arm & Hammer Washing Soda (baking soda will NOT work as a substitute)
*1 bar of Fels-Naptha soap, a stain removing laundry soap (ANY bar of soap like Ivory, Dove, et. will work, but we like the extra stain-fighting in this one)
*Scented oil of your choice (optional)
*Five gallon bucket
*Empty laundry detergent bottles or milk jugs

Instructions for 5-gallons of liquid detergent:

1. Grate your bar of soap with a cheese grater. Careful, the Fels-Naptha soap really looks like cheddar cheese--kids will want to eat it!

2. Put the grated soap in a sauce pan with 6 cups water. Heat soap and water until the soap melts.

3. Add 1 cup washing soda and 1 cup Borax and stir until dissolved. Remove from heat.

4. Pour 1 gallon hot water into your 5-gallon bucket. Add your soap mixture and stir well. Add about 3 1/2 more gallons of hot water to the bucket and stir again. Add your scented oil now if you choose to. We used about 2 tsp. honeysuckle essential oil. Just add enough until it smells good to you.

5. Pour the liquid mixture into your empty bottles (you might want to try a funnel). Or, leave it in the 5-gallon bucket--it will just be a little more difficult to use. Let the mixture sit for about 24 hours. It will thicken almost to a gel.

6. Shake your bottle well before each use. Use 1/2 cup of detergent for large loads.

The Arm & Hammer Washing Soda was about $3 to $4, and the Borax about the same price. The Fels-Naptha bar ran us about $1.25. You will get about four 5-gallon buckets of laundry detergent from one box of each. With tax, we figure that works out to be about $2.50 for 5 gallons. Sweet! That could cover about 160 loads of wash! You can't get a better deal than that.

Laundry Room Makeover

Here is the 2nd room on the list. This has been a long time in coming. It is one of those projects that I have wanted to do for a very long time, but never got around to it:) Our laundry room is really small because it's more of a hall way that enters into the garage. So it is the first thing I see when I enter the house and the last thing I see when I leave. It's time this room got some TLC.

Here is the before. Messy, unorganized, and stressful.

After:
Sorry about the lighting in here. There is no windows, just an over head light.

View from garage door.

 












Cleaned off all the junk off the dryer.

The "junk" on the dryer went on the floor below where we have a small space to hang cloths to dry. It is farther back so you can't see it unless you bend over. I also added a black trash can which has gone a long way to keep things clutter free:)

On the opposite wall of are where the hall door opens and garage door opens. I just added 2 pics of my son because most of the wall is hidden because of the way the doors swing. Plus, I don't want the decorations to get hit by the doors.

I moved this sign that I made a long time ago above the key hooks. I will eventually do something different for the key hooks, but for now, it works.

I got this frame from Hobby Lobby 85% off. I didn't like how it looked, but no problem.

I just painted it black, added some vinyl and we are good to go.

The Corner just right of the shelf is this. 

So, for the black box, I literally just spray painted the box these candles came in:)

The glass jar is from Ikea. I added some vinyl that way no one forgets it is the detergent;) j/k

This cute little basket is from Hobby Lobby and it was 50% off. I put my dryer sheets in it.

I use to have a bamboo plant in here, but it didn't get watered one time while we were on vacation so it died. Whoops! So, I have had this jar with rocks in it and didn't know what to do with it.  I think it goes well with the whole feel I have in this room. I added some flowers from Ikea that are bright and cheerful!

 These baskets are from Ikea. The higher one holds things I don't use daily (magic erase markers, bleach pens, stain remover, cloth dye, and extra drier sheets). The lower basket has all the ironing items in it (iron, spray bottle, and starch). You can see where we hang cloths to dry below the baskets.

Lastly, hubby asked me to make something to put in this basket to prevent his 'stuff' from falling out. This is where he puts his phone, pager, and anything else in his pockets when he first walks into the door. He hasn't been using it for a while because everything kept falling out of it. So this will go a long way to keeping the long counter in my kitchen clutter free;) I just folded some card stock into it and the problem was solved:)

I think I am going to link up to some of the link parties you can find on the left side bar of my blog:)

Win Loose or Blog

I would like to invite you to follow me over and Win Loose or Blog. I post about 3 posts a week about my weight loss journey. I have been doing recipes, tips, failures, success, etc. You can find me HERE.

Also, just wanted to celebrate with all my blogging friends. As of today I have lost 11 lbs and 3 inches off my waist! Seeing results has really pumped me up and I am excited to keep going.

Organizing the Kitchen

"This just in, Canon Point and Shoot has officially bit the dust. Owners mourn their loss as they continue to save for an SLR. Please bow your heads for a moment of silence. Memorial services will be held Thursday where the canon point and shoot will be laid to rest."

FYI: I have no camera other than the one on my phone, so the pictures are going to be either bad, fuzzy, or non-existent. Sorry for this, but I really appreciate your understanding.

Did you set any New Year resolutions? I did. It was to finish organizing my house and stop putting it off. I decided to do the kitchen first because it is where we spend the most time. Here it is in all it's messiness. Don't judge people;) I am really good at a lot of things, but organization is not one of them. So, I am working on it. A lot of it has to do with the inside of the cupboards.

Like Cupboard #1:

Cupboard #2 looks pretty good right now. It usually is way out of hand. I started working a little on it, but it still has a long ways to go.

Cupboard #3

But I also have this ledge that EVERY thing gets dumped on. I am still trying to figure out how to stop that.



















My sewing table is right by my back door. I like it here because then I can sew while the kids play outside or inside and still keep an eye on them. Unfortunately, it also gets very messy.















The top of the refrigerator is a clutter magnet too. I also hate how messy it looks with everything hanging on it.

This area use to house our microwave, but we put in one above the stove. Now it looks like this and I am on a mission to change that;)

AFTER:

The ledge: cleared off, but still not completely sure how to make sure it stays that way. I did fix something for hubby that you will see tomorrow that will help keep it cleaner. I will also be adding a big basket in the middle to put fruit and veggies in that don't need to be refrigerated so they aren't scattered along the counter.

Top of refrigerator and the outside of the refrigerator. How I did that will be explained below:)

Where microwave use to be.

This is a close up of how I organized the paper clutter on the refrigerator and any where else. I call it the "hanging folder center" It has folders for every person in the house. Coupons, mail, shred, recipes, misc. I got the idea HERE. Simplify 101 did a promo that if you signed up for their newsletter, you got one free. So, I have a command central binder, but it didn't cover all my needs/wants. The hanging folder center didn't cover all my needs/wants either. So, I use both and it is working out great for me:)

 













Cupboard #1

Cupboard #2
(still trying to figure out how best to organize it).

Cupboard #3















Here is my sewing table. When not in use I will cover it with the cover that came with my sewing machine. The cover has 3 very large pockets. I put everything I can into the pockets to clear off the table. I also pinned the excess wires up so you can no longer see them hanging at the bottom. Eventually this will get painted a different color and have new hardware. I am still deciding what color to do.

I still have a long ways to go, but I am feeling like I made a huge dent in the clutter/organizing department. I know a big step is to put things back immediately after we are finished, but sometimes that's easier said then done at my house;)