David the Viking

So for David's first Halloween I decided to go with ancestry and make him a viking costume. Considering that he has a lot of viking ancestors on Kevin's side it seemed fitting. On that note I wanted to discuss how I went about the whole thing.

David the Viking and his axe

Teddy bear vest and boots

Remember, a loose Viking is a pillaging Viking!

The costume was made up of a stuffed fabric axe, a crocheted Viking hat and beard, a pair of fake fur boots and a fake fur vest, and a neutral colored onesie along with a pair of brown pants.

The Axe: To make the axe I went to JoAnn's Fabric and found some grey felt and brown burlap in their remnants bin. Remnants are almost always 50% off so I got them for a great deal. I cut out an axe pattern on the felt and sewed it wrong sides together, then I turned it inside out and stuffed each side. Then I took the burlap and sewed it together to make a handle, turned it right side out and stuffed it pretty tightly so that the handle would be pretty stiff. Then I hand sewed the handle to the axe head.

The Vest and Boots: I needed some fake fur to make the boots and vest, but fake fur fabric is expensive. So I went to the thrift store and found a stuffed Teddy Bear that was about the same size as Davy. Using my seam ripper I removed the head and opened the seam down the bear's back. I made sure to unstuff the bear (and kept all the stuffing for later use on other projects, stuffing can be expensive). I found that I could cut the arms off halfway down the arm and it made the perfect length for shoulders on the vest. I reinforced all the seams I was keeping intact so that they did not come undone now that the bear was being unsewn. I put the bear on Davy (now that the paws were off the arms fit him perfectly) and measured how far down I needed the vest to go. Then I cut the vest along the bottom (which ended up being right before the legs began). Next I put the legs on Davy to see how far up I needed the boots to go. I cut the top of the boots at the correct length. Now the vest and boots were basically done, but I still needed a way to keep them on his little body. So I got eyelet rivets and placed them evenly on each side of the vest opening, I also put two eyelets on the bottom back of the boots and on the top front of them. I laced the vest with leather cord once I had it on Davy, I laced it up in such a way that the bow ended up at the bottom of the vest (because Davy is teething and I didn't want the laces ending up in his mouth). I laced the boots in the back and then wound them around the boot to the top front and laced them again then tied bows with the laces.

The Hat: My mom made the hat and beard for Davy. She found a hat online and figured out a pattern on her own. If you are not as crochet savy as she is there are patterns for viking hats on etsy. Or you can also try your hand at sewing a hat.

The onesie and pants I got from Babies R Us.

Overall the costume was pretty easy to make and ended up being super cute on him. And I hope that this has been a helpful guide on how to make something similar if you are interested.

Baby wearing: Wraps and slings

When I got pregnant I read as many things as I could about pregnancy and what to expect after delivery. One thing I kept running into was baby wearing. Baby wearing is the act of wearing your baby around in a sling, wrap, carrier or other device that allows you to strap your baby to your body.

When you look at the websites on baby wearing they list many benefits for it, closeness to your baby, the ability to care for them immediately, the ability to get things done around the house while still giving them attention. And most baby wearing products tend to take the strain of holding your baby off of your back and arms.

As someone who was interested in baby wearing I looked into the options. I ended up getting a baby sling off a site online, it was free, I just paid shipping and handling. I also got a baby backpack style carrier from a baby shower. The baby came and he was rather small for the backpack at first, but eventually he grew into it and Kevin began to wear it with him. I on the other hand  used the sling. I kept looking around though, I kept seeing things about Moby wraps and after doing some looking around found this website that shows how to make your own Moby wrap type wrap: Wear Your Baby. The site also shows different holds for the wrap, and it shows how to make a baby sling similar to the one I currently have.

I bought material and cut one of the swaths up like they instruct and then tried out some of the holds. But I am a larger and taller woman and the wrap was tight and it seemed to be uncomfortable for Davy. So I just kept using my sling and every so often tried the Moby wrap again but usually used the sling.

Then a few days ago I began talking to one of the ladies at church who also wears her babies. She has a ring sling and I was interested in how it worked and how she liked it. She loves her ring sling and even breastfeeds with it. She is a distributor of them and said that she would send me a link to the website. Well that night I went and looked around and found the website. I was interested in finding it because it had a pattern on how to make your own ring sling. Maya wrap: make your own sling I looked it over and discussed it with Kevin and he said that I should try to make one when we got a sewing machine, which is something we plan on doing sometime in the near future. In the meantime we discussed it and I decided to purchase a ring sling, which I did off of etsy.

Once I have experienced the ring sling I will post again and report on how I like it. I am looking forward to trying out nursing while having Davy in the sling, because currently I use the nursing pillow at home and just hold him when we are away from home. Having something to help support him when we are away from home will be nice.

Icky stinky diapers

So after wrestling with our diaper genie quite a few times to get the bag of stinky diapers out of it Kevin and I finally decided that enough was enough and we were going to get a different diaper pail. So yesterday we went to Target and got ourselves a Baby Trend Diaper Champ.

Last night we unpacked it and put it together and started using it and let me say right now, we love it! No more wrestling with a diaper pail to get it set up and then to empty it. The pail is set up much like a trashcan, and it takes regular 13 gallon trash bags (which cost much less than a refill canister). The way the pail works keeps the diapers away from view and from sniffers so that you don't smell the diapers or see them. And when things are full and you want to dispose of the bag you can easily take it out and throw it away, much like any trashcan out there. So nice, I recommend it to anyone looking for a diaper pail, and great thing is it is only about $29 at Target, which is not too bad considering. If you can find one from a thrift store then even better!

Hat Carrots, Love this Recipe!

So I'm not a big fan of carrots, I mean they're alright, but I found this wonderful recipe that helps make them taste a little better with the help of honey and lemon juice!

INGREDIENTS

• 3 cups mini carrots, (1 pound)
• 1/3 cup water
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 2 teaspoons butter
• 1/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• Freshly ground pepper, to taste
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

PREPARATION

Combine carrots, water, honey, butter and salt in a large skillet. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Cover and cook until tender, 5 to 7 minutes. Uncover and cook, stirring often, until the liquid is a syrupy glaze, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in lemon juice and pepper. Sprinkle with parsley and serve.

To view the website where I found the recipe, click here.

Mud!

So for a Chicago winter this February has been rather mild. We have had a few days where the temps have got up near the 50s. I know, still pretty cold for those of you who live in warmer climes, but for us this is tee-shirt weather. Problem is all this lovely weather has resulted in the copious amounts of snow melting, and now that the snow has melted it has revealed the disaster area that is now our yard. Because our yard had to be regraded so that the water would flow away from the house all of our grass was ripped up. So now our entire backyard is pretty much just a large collection of mud. With dogs this has turned into some unique ides on how to get them out to potty without getting them all muddy. Things like taking them out in the front yard where the grass is. Or checking the temperature to see if it is cold enough for the ground to be frozen. But mostly we find ourselves having to carry the dogs to the bathroom to wash off their paws in the tub. Oh the joys of mud and dogs.

grab your paint and brushes...

It's time to get designing. I am itching you create with what little money we have and the resources to grab a hold of free things. This site has inspired me to want to fix up our dinning room table.

The Feminist Housewife- I absolute love what the site has to offer in the area of creativity and ingenuity.

Kitchen table

My kitchen table is not round but the wood type is similar and I feel a design like this would bring our dreadfully dull apartment a sense of style and uniqueness. 

To Die for!

This woman is more than "a mommy"  She is also a ....BAKER!

crossword cookie

That really is a cookie! Click on the link to learn how to suprise your love with not only a treat but a little game.



(Below) Is a cake that I am planning on creating!Heart Cake Tutorial

Valentines Day is right around the corner-if only we all lived closer we could celebrate with a big party to our sweethearts but instead I will pass along some fabulous ideas on how to create some lasting memories this coming Love Holiday!!!
<3, Brittney

ps. what do you like on her site?

Rookie Moms

I was looking for a blog site that had suggested activities for Carli and I to do together and this is what I found!
Rookie Moms!
I love this site for a couple different reasons. Has activities, YES! Even better the activities are broken up into age appropriate sections. So each of us can use this site in order to find other sites that help us based on our little ones age. 
-Brittney

Love it!

For the Bargain Hunter in all of us!

Freecycle

Need something? Need something gone? Don't have the money to buy or take to the dumps? 

Seriously this site helped me move to town and buy only a bed and food! Everything was free- just paid for the gas in our car to pick stuff up!

1.2.3- Fly!

Have you met my hero FlyLady!

Join me in the adventures of  organized fun
    I dream of a day when I don't have to wake up to a long list of chores that need to be done. 
                                 Now it is possible!


getting started: Flying Lessons
What Kind of FlyBaby are you? Whether you are a stay at home mom, on the job, pregnant, or empty nester FlyLady has got you covered!