Dying Cloth "Lovies", Building Wills Cosleeper Platform, & Bunny Purchase Mishap!

We have tons of "lovies" that are really premium prefold cloth diapers.  We use them as they make perfect burp rags and like Baby E, I'm sure Wills will also form an attachment to his. 


Well here's the problemo with them, Baby E's formula spit up has stained hers like crazy! We have Clorox 2 and bleached the heck out of her stash, hung them outside in the sun to dry, tried vinegar and baking soda concoctions, tried the power of Oxyclean, squirted Spray and Wash on them until our fingers gave out, tried throwing them in a soak bin the minute they get spit up on them yet we have been left with these super nasty stains!  I had already wanted to dye them pink or purple for her when we originally bought them but never got around to it.  Finally after noticing not a single one looks presentable, I decide to finally do it!  It worked out perfectly as from our shower we received several more packets of prefolds for Wills so I decided to do a big dying extravaganza for the two! 


At first I was going to do Baby E's pink or purple and then Wills blue or green however once I hit up the store and saw the array of colors I may have become color happy!


The first few batches I did with my mom at their house. 


Then a few nights later Brian and I did the rest of the batches at our place.


It was super simple of a process.  The biggest pain is having to continuously stir them for 15 minutes at the start but that's where doing them with a partner to chat with makes the time move faster!

 
After each being washed 2 times with their own color and then dried in the dryer here are the end results!


We are happy to say thus far we have washed many from Baby E with our normal clothes and have had not a single run of color from them.  I also found it cool that for some reason whatever they stitch the edges with remains white after the whole dying process which gives it a nice finished look.  I am so happy with how they all came out beyond the light blue.  The light blue came out super light and we will see how they work out hiding stains but may end up dying them again a different color.  The store was out of it's hot pink but once they restock I intend on doing a few for Baby E :)


Our other project we spent time on was making a platform for Wills co-sleeper bassinet.  The co-sleeper hugs up to our bed to allow a little one to sleep close to the parents but give them the safe space of their own (and us not having to give up bed space hurray!).  Only problem is with our bedroom set it was too low and wasn't level with our bed on its own.  The company sells plastic feet extensions that are ridiculously priced and reviewers complained they make the co-sleeper too wobbly so Brian got to work on making a raised platform.  Since it's a raised platform it will second as a storage area underneath for no other than our "lovie" stash!


Of course he had a very ready helper!




There she is in all her glory!  We intend on painting it black to match the co-sleeper or staining it the same color of our bedroom set when the weather is nicer.  We don't have it attached to my side of the bed yet seeing that I get up 100 times a night these days for bathroom runs and it takes practically all my might to lift this big belly off the bed to begin with so I don't need yet another obstacle for now.  Once it is setup when Wills is evicted from this belly then I will snap a picture and share the full setup :)


For Easter I knew we had to get all three kids Easter baskets.  I can officially say I have all three kids baskets put together, outfits purchased and ready to be worn, and eggs ready for the Easter bunny to place throughout the house.  I figured whatever I can get done ahead of time before Wills arrival the better and having everything for Easter in place has taken away a lot of looming stress.  Growing up, my sister Elise and I had these adorable wicker bunny baskets.  In a search I ended up finding many used online for sale.  I found three I liked all for less than $10 each from different sellers so decided to buy the three I liked.  Note to self and everyone else....be sure read the descriptions fully before purchasing!  (Notice Baby E modeling not only a bunny basket but also a purple lovie!)


Well when all three arrived there was one that was not like the other.....oddly the smallest one was the most expensive of the three!


No worries, I was able to find another one online and purchased it after fully reading the description so we now have three normal size bunny baskets and one micro sized.  The basket I bought after had pink accents for Baby E which I like better anyways for her so it worked out perfectly! 

Nursery Wall Baskets & Homemade Tomato Sauce

We have a collection of Dr. Seuss character plush toys that we were intending at first to put on a shelf in the nursery.  It then came to mind that we wanted something that could be accessible to kids to be able to play with them so instead we opted for wall baskets.  I was able to snag a great deal at Target and get two metal ones for $6 together in the clearance section.  These baskets are meant to hold outdoor hoses so are super strong and perfect for what we wanted!


Of course our whippet boys had to be of some help!


....as well as not so much help as they both were trying to climb under the crib and wrestle as well as steal the plush toys all over the floor! 


Success!  Our guys are a little crammed and Horton decided to hang out on the changing table but it works! 


Today I decided to take on the endeavor of making homemade tomato sauce which I've never done before.  Our garden has provided so many tomatoes we aren't sure what to do with them all so this was a perfect way to use up 16 large tomatoes at once!  I started off boiling water then dropping them in for exactly a minute before moving them to ice cold water.


The skins then peeled right off and were ready to be cut in half, most seeds squeezed out, and thrown in the crockpot. 


This is what it looked like as we turned the crockpot on.  We threw in some seasoning, caramelized onions and garlic, and now to let it sit, cook, and stir occasionally for 8 hours!


Here's the sauce in all its glory after only two hours, still needs another 6 hours.  It's starting to cook down perfectly and our whole house smells of stewed tomatoes!  Since we didn't assemble and put it in the crockpot until after church it won't be done until about midnight so at that point we will then food process and freeze in meal portions to be used soon.  Brian doesn't want me to try it out without him until he is back from his business trip this week so I guess it will be pasta with tomato sauce for dinner Thursday!  I will be sure to update to let everyone know how it comes out!

Homemade Upcycled Dog Beds

With winter on the verge of coming I wanted to make cushions for our pups cages.  While shortly we will be starting to experiment with leaving them cage-free while we are gone (Meeko can be left but we've never tried Tucker), in the meantime they still sleep in their cages at night (or else we wouldn't have a bed to sleep in!) and while we are gone.  They always have covers in there but I wanted something more substantial and cushioning for their boney bodies.  To make it more comfy I've been contemplating how we could make them fluffy floor mats that they wouldn't tear apart.  Before Tucker, we had bought Meeko a floor mat and he thought it was a giant toy to de-stuff.  All $40 down the drain in the matter of seconds.  I wasn't going to invest in a $80 worth of a possible de-stuffing party for the two so I decided to get crafty and make them for a fraction of the cost therefore if the boys decide to have a de-stuffing party not much was lost!  The two are serious de-stuffers hence why they don't get any stuffed animals because they will de-stuff it in a matter of seconds leaving an entire room looking like it just snowed and run around with the remaining cloth carcass'.  I wanted to make it as close to our bed as possible because they never try eating or digging in it and knew whatever we used that it had to be wrapped in a sheet so they would think it was our bed and not something to de-stuff.  I started off with planning on using a thick piece of squishy foam we could cut to fit and then making a pillow case type enclosure to keep them from being able to get to it.  Before we were going to leave for the store it occurred to me we may still have a down pillow top bed topper from back in our college days.  Lo and behold we did indeed have one!  Perfect way to upcycle something that I know otherwise we would throw away and not use.  This project ended up being completely free beyond less than an hour of our time it took to measure, cut, and sew! 


Trying it out to see if they would be interested in laying on it.  Yup within seconds of putting it on the floor they were rolling all over it....I call that success!  This is a twin bed topper and Meeko is not even stretched out, but you can imagine why Mr. Whippets do not sleep in our queen bed with us because they are a bit inconsiderate in sharing space and insist on their paw being in your rib cage, their legs in your back pushing you out of the way, and their heads on top of yours!  For sanity reasons and comfort they get their own little contained beds! 


Brian measured the cages and cut the pillow topper to fit.  Just so happened they were as wide as two panels making cutting super easy. 


Then I got super crafty homemaker-like and re-sewed the edges to keep the down fluff in and the pups out.  Don't even ask about Nemo, he was there for moral support! 


We then took two old sheets again back from college days that we no longer use (amazing what we have laying around in our basement!) and Brian cut them to size to be like a pillow case enclosure.  I sewed the two sides and then kept the one big side open.  We made sure when it was cut that the one edge is longer so it can be folded into the closure making it seem completely closed.  We wanted it to be able to be taken on and off so we can wash it easily.  I'm hoping to search our local thrift stores for fleece sheets that I can make into more covers for during those cold winter nights, I know the pups would appreciate it! 


I took the picture above and then Meeko came right over and laid right down on it.  Looks like he approves! 


Here are the two finished products in their respective cages.  We wanted them to come up on the side edges a bit because the two like to have their heads propped up and this makes the perfect place for them to have their heads elevated a bit...they aren't prima donna's at all.

Fostering Tree

I came across this idea from a wedding and thought how perfect it would be to use for us as we foster!  It is a guestbook of fingerprints and is simple to make and beautiful to view.  As we begin our journey into the foster care world we know most of the children that come through our doors will only be here temporary.  I wanted something that could capture each child as a keepsake but didn't want something overboard or that would take up a lot of space.  Who knows for how long and how many children will pass through our front door, however when I remembered this idea from a wedding guestbook it occurred to me this is exactly what I wanted to do, a fingerprint memory tree!


I started by making this above using photoshop.  I was able to pick out the fonts and such and inside the heart on the tree trunk is actually our last name.  It is blurred out here because on this blog I don't throw my last name out there, we have enough creepers in the real world :)


I printed it on fiber card stock so that it's a thicker/nicer paper and will pick up fingerprints easily.  As each new child comes into our home we have a green ink pad and will take their thumb and place it on one of the branches of the tree and it will become a "leaf".  Planning to put their name and toying with the idea of possibly the year they came here under it but we shall see how it goes.  I matted it and put it in the frame, pretty simple.


Here it is on top of our thermostat where it is going to permanently hang!  Waiting for my husband to get home to hang it.


Funky Iphone picture because of our ceiling light, however you can see how it is close by to our family tree in the hallway.  It will hang a bit above the thermostat and as each child is welcomed into our home we will have their fingerprint added and soon this tree will fill up with tiny little leaves!


I played with the green ink pad a few times and found the second print is better than the first.  The one to the left is the first, the second is to the right and more of the look I'm going for!  We will do the first on a piece of paper then the second print will be the official leaf on the tree.

We go tomorrow for our final training before we can officially open our home and take placements.  Who knows when our first leaf will arrive :)

Candle Making and Straw Bale Garden Action!

I purchased materials about a year ago to make some emergency soy candles.  Knowing with the big storms that have come through lately it isn't a bad idea to be prepared with some emergency candles.  We are working on putting together an emergency can cupboard in our basement and these will perfectly fit.  The reason I went with soy candle wax is because it is all natural and can be cooked over if need be which normal candle wax really shouldn't be.  The wick is a slow burning wick that isn't supposed to give off harmful smoke either so can safely be burned indoors.  Each candle when burned continuously should burn for 10-15 hours each.  In the event of an emergency chances are we would only be using them during the dark evenings if we lost power so one candle can last several days if not continually used.  We also have two oil lamps however they are not safe to be used for cooking hence why we figured we would make some soy candles. 

----All pictures below are courtesy of Mary Grace my assistant----


We used recycled glass jars to make the candles.  Canning jars could also be used.


Soy wax flakes


I have enough wicks to last us a lifetime!


To combat the wick moving once we pour the melted wax in I decided to hot glue the bottom to the middle of the jar. 


Voila stuck in place!


I used a knife to firmly press it into place.


To melt the wax we made our own version of a double boiler.  The best combo was a large metal bowl inside of a huge pot! 


Pour in some flakes and just let them melt.


When melted it turns yellow and all liquid.


Poured it from the metal bowl into a measuring cup.  Due to it being soy wax you do not need candle only making materials (like you would for normal candle wax), it is safe to use your every day kitchen materials and simply just wash after.  Another perk of using soy wax!


Pour into the jar.  Fill up but leave some room on the top. 


We had to pull the wick straight up and we checked on it every so often until it hardened enough to stay in place in the middle.


Mary said she took this one to be "artistic".


We even had a special fashion show inbetween waiting for the wax to melt!


Starting to cool and harden.


A 5 lb. bag of soy wax made 5 large candles.


Finished products all cooled and wicks cut down.


Success!


When completely cooled just put the jar lid back on and it is ready to be stored.  A match book can be placed inside each candle right under the lid for easy access.  In the case of an emergency one has no time to run around trying to find a lighter or matches.

Today we planted our seedlings and direct sow seeds into our straw bales.


The straw bales after the fertilizer decomposing.


In addition to our seedlings of zucchini, cucumber, tomatoes, and peppers we also directly sowed green beans and carrots. 


We only needed to dig down a little bit to make a hole for the seedlings.  The spacing is the same in the straw bales as it would be in a typical garden space.


We then placed our dainty seedlings or seeds into the dug holes.  Had we purchased seedlings from the store they would have been at least 4x the price however more mature.  We likely will need to wait an extra few weeks before our seedlings can catch up to store bought more mature seedlings.  You can use mature seedlings from the store too, we just opted to try out our green thumb this year with our seedlings which surprisingly grew well!


Even the sides of the bales were put to use!  The cucumbers and zucchini now live in the sides and are known to grow well on the sides of straw bales.




Sprinkled garden soil on top.


After everything is planted we put garden soil on top of the bales to trap the heat in and help the seedlings and seeds adjust and grow.


Our straw bales new look!


To stop our pups from having an open buffet of veggies and fruits (like our strawberry plants had become!) we put up a temporary garden fence.


Put the stake posts in then put the plastic garden fencing up.  There are hooks to hook the plastic fencing in however we chose to use plastic zip ties knowing how crafty our fellows are.  Extra reinforcement is never a bad idea.  We hope to be able to take it down and reuse it next year too! 


Our fence in a fence!  Our strawberry plant planter has officially made its new home inside the fence.  While our dogs could easily jump the fencing barrier, we are pretty sure it just being there will be enough to deter them from snacking.


Instead of snacking now they are playing on the jungle gym instead!  We pressure washed but with the latest on and off again rain we haven't been able to get a nice clear day to stain it yet.  Once stained the tarp and flags can go on!