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Declan getting ready to take pictures. Check out the Megan Noel print here.

Declan loves to help these days. Just this morning he picked up a paper towel that the dog had shredded (obviously 4 pounds of raw meat a day is not enough) and all I had to do is ask if he would help pick it up. Sometimes his help is more of a hindrance, like doing the dishes. He loves doing the dishes because he gets to play with all the scoops, utensils and whatnot, including the nifty little faucet adapter that turns it into a sprayer. This usually culminates in a sopping wet boy.

So I made him an apron. I once got the harebrained idea to make my own cloth diapers at one point, so I have yards and yards of PUL lying around. Perfect! Once again I used only what I had already in the house, so it’s not the prettiest but it works.

It didn’t seem to bother him too much while doing the dishes and it’s fully washable - obviously. He wont be able to get it on and off by himself, as I made it to tie at the neck and waist but it’ll fit as he gets bigger. Maybe I should try some snaps?

(I figure if it’s going to be blurry anyway I may as well play around with some blur filters)

I think I’m in love with aprons currently. If I’m going to spend the rest of my days around kids, cooking and cleaning, I might as well do it in style right?

I cannot wait until this pattern is available: Emmeline Apron

And I’d love to make a whole passel of these and these to have on hand for the kids

I really wanted to join in The Sassy Apron Swap, but I don’t know if I could pull off anything worthy of sending to someone else with as short on cash as we are. Hopefully I can get in on the next round.

And this is just plain cute: Apron Evangelism

Yay! They’re finally completed. I know some of you are just dying to see them.
If there’s anything parenting has taught me, it’s that kids play with the darnedest things. Just now I had to take a backscratcher away from Declan because he was playing in the dirt with it. Right next to him sat a whole set of sand toys, including little shovels and rakes. One thing that seems to be universal is cars and balls though.

Unfortunately throwing has become great fun. Most of the balls we have are wooden and belong to wooden playsets in one form or another. Hello Arcadia Door!!

So I made these:

They were very simple to make - 6 identically shaped pieces sewn together, stuffed and hand-sewn shut. I didn’t even spend a dime, using only what we had on hand. Like I mentioned in a previous post my plan was to disembowel some old stuffed animals and use the stuffing, but Mudder guilted me out of it. Instead I washed up an old grungy pillow really well and used that stuffing. Now that’s using my noggin. The stuffing was a little lumpy, so they’re not perfectly round, but the kids wont notice. It also would havebeen easier if I had a nice pair of pinking shears. I bought a pair, but didn’t realize that pinking shears in the scrapbook section are only going to shred the fabric not cut it. To think I thought $4 pinking shears were a steal!

I also had some square scraps, from some bean bags, laying around, so we made a cube while we were at it. I think it’s my favorite so far.

Today is a busy blogging day. Keep a lookout for more entries!

I still haven’t finished those stuffed cotton balls I was making. I made a stuffed cube too. In the end, none of the points on the ball met up correctly and that totally took the wind out of my sails. Well, that and having to hand sew something. And Viva Piñata… Yes, Viva Piñata. My mom bought me a used copy of it and I’ve literally played two days straight - while not nursing, cooking, cleaning, Internetting, or keeping up with Declan, Rowan and Matt anyway.

Friday completed my first whole week of daycare and it was pleasant. Still work, but I had a good time as long as all the kids weren’t crying at once. I’m still trying to add more kids to the ranks because we need the money to squeak by, but all I get are people that need like 5 hours a week. Seriously. I thought we were weird jst needing three full days a week. So if you know anyone who needs childcare in the Northern part of Gilbert, please please please send them my way.

And here’s some cool stuff I’ve stumbled across lately to keep you busy:

• Quick and Simple Fabric Box
• SideSwipe KitchenAid Mixer Blade
• The Best Banana Bread Recipe
• Hardwood Trees that Soak Up Carbon
• Useful Things You Never Knew You Could Print Out
• 55 Best Photoshop Tutorials
• Display Your Kids Artwork on Clothing

Oh and I have a Photoshop goodie coming up soon. Stay Tuned!

Okay, my faithful blog readers, if there are any…

This is where I admit that I obviously don’t know how to use this particular sewing machine. The good news is it’s not broken!! I had decided that since were super low on money I would see if I could find a user’s guide for this machine. While browsing around I came across the Singer Operation Basics page and realized that not only was I winding this bobbin incorrectly, but I was also threading it wrong too. My first machine was a Brother and I guess there are some differences between machines. So if you’re having issues with a Singer definitely check out this page.

I’ll have some pictures up of my completed project soon. I’ve still got to stuff them and hand sew them shut. I came up with a new source of “recycled” stuffing too. Yay me!

Today was one of those days that are gone too fast, but when you look back you realize it’s been a long day indeed.

My little bro was here and made me/us breakfast. I’m trying to cut out all dairy because of Rowan’s colic and he made sure to ask what was okay. He’s a good kid. We demoed a few new games on the xBox 360 - Jericho looks pretty good.

Then I tried to sew up some quick cotton throwing balls for the boys. I had the great idea to use the stuffing out of some old stuffed animals since I didn’t have any on hand. Ya know, the whole “reuse, reduce, recycle” and be thrifty idea. All was well until my mom pointed out that it would be like gutting and killing them. Thanks mom. I didn’t have the heart. On top of that, the lower tension on my sewing machine is suddenly out of whack again, it’s much too loose. I have no idea how to fix it and have had to take it in to the shop for this before. I have no manual as it was a “gift” from a friend. He never used it and I was always borrowing it. So the sewing machine is dead and so is the camera; Great.

The grand finale of the evening was Declan dumping out the whole $16 bottle of Rowan’s Mylicon drops. When he has the time to do these things I don’t know. There were 4 adults in the house at the time. There are only 4 rooms he can access if he kitchen gate is up.

Le sigh. Time to try and get myself and Rowan to sleep. Wish me luck. And maybe I can find some batting for pictures on the balls tomorrow. Despite everything they’re pretty cute.