coming home from the hospital - boy

This is the first baby that we haven't known the gender, and this is also the first baby that I've been bold enough to trust my own two hands to make the little bundle an outfit to come home in . . . or 4.

"Why four?" you ask?

Well, because we didn't know the gender, and each of our babies has gotten bigger than its previous sibling, with our youngest weighing in at 9 lbs 2 ozs (which is why I also opted for my first epidural, people.)  So, I took with me to the hospital two outfits for a boy, and two outfits for a girl (one each in newborn size and 0-3 month size.)

I finished up the boy outfits and was completely in love with them!
 

From the get-go, I wanted to applique a tie onto a white shirt, which I was able to whip out quickly. 


The pants were a little trickier for me to settle on a design I liked.  Finally, I decided to use (Simplicity 5534 - out of print), except that I wanted a flat front.


I wasn't exactly sure how much to take out of the front pieces, so imagine my relief when Dana at Made posted a tutorial for flat front pants during her Celebrate the Boy!!  I still used (Simplicity 5534), but I altered the front pieces the same way Dana altered hers for the flat look.

So, the pants for my baby boy are brown corduroy with a flat front . . .

and an elastic back!

look what i made!

Last Monday (8 days ago,) I went to the hospital.

They gave me these:

Then, they gave me this little guy (it's a boy!!):

{7 lbs 11 ozs, 20.5 inches}

Welcome to the world, and our family, Baby Graham!

Stay tuned for a few things I made to get ready for my little guy's arrival.

reach for the sunshine quilt

I haven't died . . . and I haven't had my baby, yet.  (Just over 2 weeks left.)  I told you I have gotten into a non-crafting funk, so the posting would be sparse--turns out, I really meant that posting would be almost non-existent.

I'm very excited about this craft, though.  One of my friends is having her first baby girl after three little boys, so I was very excited to make this little quilt for her.

I've had the pattern from You Can Make This for a while, but hadn't had the time, energy, or opportunity to make it, yet.  Now that I've made it, let me tell you, JesseKate Designs made it super easy!!

I think this little guy is just adorable.

This was my first attempt at embroidery, and I'm pretty happy with how it came out, although I now understand the importance of an embroidery loop.

I planned a lot more time for this project than I needed, so I decided to hand quilt it.  I love the look of a hand quilted blanket!

I'm pleased to report that my sweet husband didn't want me to give it away at first because he thinks it's the cutest baby quilt I've made yet, and wanted to keep it for our baby (which we still don't know the gender on, by the way,) just in case it's a girl.

It really was quicker and easier than it looks, and I promised to make another one after the baby, if he really wants . . . and finally I was able to pry it from his hands.

Obviously, this quilt would look adorable in blues and greens for a boy, or yellows and oranges for a gender-neutral look.  I can't wait to make it again!

unobtrusive coat hooks

I have an adorable friend with whom I have a lot in common--not so much the adorable part, but other things.  She also is pregnant with her 5th baby (and due within 2 weeks of mine,) has the exact same style house as I, and loves to be creative.  Her creative strength, however lies with furniture and home improvement, which mine does not.

When Veronica posted this cute coat rack, I realized how much I hate this part of my house.  Puffy coats practically grabbing you as you enter, backpacks sprawled out on the floor (and half the time they're open and spilling the contents onto the floor.)

So, I stole her idea and followed her simple directions to replicated it . . . twice for my front entryway.

I can't even tell you how much I love it!  The coat tree was always overloaded and felt like it took up too much of the room.  Having everything flat against the walls really opens up the room and makes everything look cleaner and more organized.

Now I just need to get a cute floor mat for wet shoes during the winter.

redecorated chocolate boxes

I have been in a non-crafting funk lately, so I apologize for the lack of posts!

Today, I just wanted to show you something I did a couple of weeks ago because I was bored and I thought this would look cuter . . . and isn't that why we all craft anyway--to make things prettier?

I bought the kids each one of those little 5-piece boxes of chocolates and decided that I didn't like the pictures on the cover, so I mod podged a cute piece of scrapbook paper over them, and now I like them much better.

As you can see the few crafts I have been working on lately are super low-key, so I wouldn't get your hopes up for anything amazing over the next few weeks (although I have a few things on my to-do list before the baby comes that should be cute.)

Wish me luck!  (Roughly 5 weeks until baby #5 makes its debut!!)

Valentine's iPod

Look what I made today!!

I'm getting together this afternoon with a group of girls, and we're going to write letters to someone we admire. 

But, I thought to myself, "What is a nice letter without a treat?"

I found a picture on the web of this little cutie, and decided to copy it.  Not my own original idea, but I'm still very excited about it!

If you want to make your own, you'll need boxes of Sweethearts, pink paper (cut to the height of the Sweethearts box,) string (cut to 12",) peanut butter cups, and the iPod images, which I am providing below (plus tape and/or glue.)

Just download the images and print at an 8x10 size on regular paper.  Personal use only, please.

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decorating dud

When it comes to home decor, I'm somewhat of a decorating dud. 

I can pick out colors that match, clash, coordinate, etc.  That's not the problem.

I can arrange a room in a practical manner, but I just don't have an eye for home decor.

You know those women whose homes look like they could be photographed for Better Homes and Gardens or the Pottery Barn catalogue?  You know the ones.  They have unique, adorable furniture.   Knick knacks all over the place with no practicality, but they really pull the room together without making it feel cluttered?  That's not me.

However, every now and then I make an effort at adding something to our home to make it unique, and a little more ours.

That's what I did yesterday, and I've once again born my weakness for all to see.

I took a left-over bottle from some Sparkling Cider, and tried to make it into something cute to put . . . well, I don't know, but somewhere.  I hadn't planned that far ahead, but in the back of my mind, I pictured it on top of my cupboards in the kitchen, or maybe on the large entertainment center in the front room which now houses toys and games.  Whatever the subconscious plan, it doesn't matter now.

I took that bottle from this:

to this:

It's probably not as horrible as I made it sound, but it's not something really cute, either.  I tried to step outside my comfort zone and go for random . . . and this is why I don't do random.  It just looks like a sloppy, wrinkled mess.

I need help, people.  Someone tell me whether this is worth keeping? 

Should I cover it in plain brown paper, or will that make it look like I'm some kind of drunk trying to hide my bottle during biology class? 

Should I just throw it out? 

Is there something out there that I could pair it with that would make my sad, sad bottle look less out of place wherever I set it down?

Help!!

Sincerely,
the Decorating Dud

little bit of heaven brownies

Make these. You'll thank me.

When my sister was pregnant with her daughter, we had a baby shower for which I made these brownies.  One of the guests took a bite of hers and declared, "Well, that right there is a little bit of heaven," and since then, that's always how I've thought of these brownies--a little bit of heaven.

They are brownie.  They are chocolate.  They are caramel.  They are divine.  Hungry yet?

Little Bit of Heaven Brownies:

1 box chocolate cake mix (the recipe I have calls for German Chocolate, but any kind of chocolate will do.)
3/4 cup butter
2/3 cup evaporated milk
Approximately 50 caramels
1 cup chocolate chips (I like semi-sweet, but you can pick your favorite.)

1.  Find a child with nothing to do.  Enlist her help unwrapping all the caramels into a small sauce pan.

2.  While the caramels are being unwrapped, place the butter in a medium-sized bowl and melt it in the microwave it.  (You could of course use softened butter instead of melted, but that would require remembering to get the butter out ahead of time.)

3.  Add 1/3 cup evaporated milk and the chocolate cake mix to the butter.

4.  Mix together with a spoon.

5.  Place half the batter in a 9x13 baking dish, which has been previously prepared either with butter and flour, or baking spray.  Spread evenly along the bottom of the dish.

6.  Bake batter in the dish at 350 degrees for approximately 7 minutes.

7.  While the bottom half of the batter is baking, add 1/3 cup evaporated milk to the unwrapped caramels.

8.  Heat caramels over medium heat until smooth (it will probably boil.)

9.  When the bottom layer of brownie is out of the oven, sprinkle 1 cup chocolate chips on top, and then pour the melted caramel on top of those.

 10.  Spoon the remaining batter on top of the caramel.

11.  Bake at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes.  When you pull it out, batter will still be a little wobbly, but don't worry about it.

12.  Refrigerate for 1 hour, during which time it will solidify.

Serve in small portions because this stuff is rich (and that will leave more for you!!)

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