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I didn’t realize that our last post was on Jan 6! Where does the time go? I FINALLY get a week of nothing to do! My goodness, how I longed/missed these moments! The last week was super busy for me. My girlfriend from junior high school got married this past Saturday and since we had a friend flying in for the wedding, we had a small get together at my house Friday night. Forget about grocery shopping and getting the house in order, my main focus was finishing up that blanket! With 3 kids, 5 year old twins and a 4 month old infant, I must say that I was able to finish up this blanket in a reasonable amount of time.
My girlfriend had her son a week after I had my daughter and seeing that it took almost a week to finish this for my girl (granted, I was 8 or 9 months pregnant), I lost hope and kept the fabrics tucked away. This is the perfect baby gift! Too bad it is so time consuming and just drains you 🙂 I’m telling you, I had to emotionally prep for this project!
I finally purchased the Olfa Chenille Cutter to speed things along this time around. My review: It definitely cuts back on time and saves your hands/fingers from cutting every. single. channel. Unfortunately, I found that after cutting a few channels, the lint from the flannel fabrics would get stuck in the blade hindering the tool from cutting smoothly.
I had to pull out the lint with tweezers! So really at the end, did it really save me that much time? Another thing I found was the blade would get dull after a few rows so I needed to turn the dial to expose a different part of the blade quite frequently. You could make approximately 3-4 blankets with one blade before having to purchase another one. Just some things to consider before investing in the tool…
Anyways, I hear my baby cooing so I am off to spend some time with her before picking up the big kids. Lil sis and I will be moving soon…rather this site. It’s been something we’ve been wanting to do for awhile…another reason why we’ve been so quiet here. We hope to have the new site up and running in the next 2 weeks *fingers crossed*
Talk to you soon!
big sis
Happy New Year!!!
Not too long ago we celebrated baby #3’s 100 days (aka baek-il). Without going into too much history, Koreans celebrate 100 days because infant mortality was such an issue waaaay back in the days. It was a time of celebration where a family would gather, feast, and eat/share rice cakes (dduk). It is is still very much celebrated these days and lil sis and I, although born and raised here, still follow many of the Korean traditions. You can see what lil sis did for her 2nd daughter’s baek-il here.
With so much going on around the holidays I had little time to think of decorations. All I knew was that there was going to be some kind of bunting for the top of the rice cake. Lil sis, as she always does, talked me into adding an animal-face-cut-out-of-a-piece-of-fruit decor. Seriously, I have no idea what to call it so you can imagine how difficult it was to google it and find images!
I made a different banner this time around. You know I love the itty bitty bunting but this one was seriously the fastest banner I have ever made!
Well…minus the itty bitty felt ball ornaments! But aren’t they SO adorbs?! Truth be told, they are tedious and time consuming to make but so cute that I will have to find another use for them. Directions on how to make them can be found here.
And since Sisi is born in the year of the rabbit…
my animal-face-cut-out-of-a-piece-of-fruit!
Surprisingly, this was also super easy to put together. I did it 30 minutes before leaving for the luncheon. Needed: one firm cantaloupe, skewers, toothpicks, olives or dried cherries, carrots, sharp knife, and a steady hand.
I am very much looking forward to some down time. The big kids start school next Monday, which gives me 4 days of intermittent sewing time so that I can FINALLY start and finish up my friend’s faux chenille blanket! Sure, her baby is 4 months old but since he’s not crawling, I figured I’m safe to gift her the blanket 🙂 Let’s see if I can finish this one in record time.
big sis
I did it! Just in the nick of time too! All 60 felt mice now have their tails, have been tagged, and strung with baker’s twine or silver embroidery thread. I was getting annoyed with myself, wondering why in the heck did I decide to make them and then got more annoyed thinking that the only thing the Kindergarteners want are the candy canes. So lil sis suggested I add a string of some sorts so they can be kept as ornaments! Perfect idea! Hey, whatever to help me sleep at night! 🙂 Then my crazy mind got to thinking “will the kids know what that string is for?” I didn’t want to string 60 of them all in haste so I quizzed my daughter.
Crazy mom, aka me: If you saw this mouse and it had a string attached to it, what would you think it could be used for?
5 year old daughter: An ornament!
Could I be any prouder?
In stages…
I needed to save time so I used googly eyes and black tiny pom poms for the nose. So much quicker! TIP: My daughter helped me by gluing on the ears with Elmer’s glue. Well, after gluing together almost 20! we noticed that the felt ears were NOT adhering to the body. Panic! I switched glues and used tacky glue. It stuck perfectly! HUGE sigh of relief!
Of course, I didn’t make it any easier on myself by asking the twins what colors they wanted the mice to be…my boy picked blues and greens, and my daughter picked pinks and purples.
Final step
Done! Done shopping, done wrapping, done crafting. The only thing left on my list is to make gingerbread cookies with the big kids tomorrow on their 1st day of winter break.
I hope you and your family have a wonderful Christmas. We’ve got 2 parties back to back and I’m hoping that my baby doesn’t lose it on me! AT 3 months old, she knows when she’s done for the day!
Happy Holidays!!!
big sis
{via adventuresofabettycrockerwannabe.blogspot.com}
I found these reindeer pops on 
. They were too cute to pass up on making! I made some for Lila’s class, and I decided on making some reindeer pink because my own daughter doesn’t like chocolate. I know, strange for a kid not to like chocolate. I guess it’s a good thing.
It was a hit with the preschoolers. I’m glad I made enough pink reindeer because both boys and girls wanted pink reindeer versus the brown ones.
This will be my last post before Christmas, so Happy Holidays everyone! Enjoy this time with your loved ones! Stay safe and have fun!
xo,
lil sis
(as my husband rolls his eyes)…
So the twins’ last day of Kinder before winter break is the 22nd. Both teachers asked if I could make a batch of gingerbread dough for their classes by this Monday. Still left on my list of things to do before Xmas: few gifts, few cards, trips to 3 different markets…all while taking care of my baby. So, am I setting myself up for failure and my kids up for dissappointment when I say we (and really me) want to make these for the kids’ classmates?
image via Martha Stewart. Directions here
What to do…sigh. 72 candy canes have been purchased, which means I’m definitely going to attempt it. C’mon, I can make 56 by the 22nd right?
big sis
Not sure what I was searching for on Etsy, but I stumbled across a first birthday placemat. It just had a 1 in the center and the birthday girl/boy’s name on the corner. It gave me inspiration to make my own custom paper placemats for Tabi’s birthday with some fun facts about her.
Thanks to Digital Scrapbooking, I was able to create a placemat pretty easily. It also served as decoration on the tables, so I justified that by printing it out in color. $.98 a copy versus $.20 (black and white). Sigh…doesn’t seem like a big difference, but I had to print out many many copies. It made me cringe a little to be spending that kind of money on paper and ink. I was hemming and hawing about printing it in color for days. My husband got sick of me asking him what looked better, so he said to just print it in color and stop bothering him. I got the hint!
I got the vintage cutlery placemat download (FREE PDF) from The Pretty Blog. I’m horrible with Photoshop, so I used Creative Memories’ Storybook Creator Program, which is a Digital Scrapbooking program to add the wording, banner, etc. I had a friend enlarge and space out the cutlery so that it would fit nicely on a 11×14 placemat versus 8.5×11 which is what the PDF file is set to. I went to Staples and had them print out the file on 11×17 and paid a $1.90 flat fee to cut all of them down to 11×14. I started corner punching each paper and stopped at like the third sheet. Seriously? Not sure what I was thinking because I prob had over 65 to do.
Anyhow, just thought I would share this. I thought it brightened up the tables since the decor is so dark and rich at the restaurant. Plus, it gave the guests something to read while waiting for their meal.
~lil sis
I’m incorporating a chalkboard into Tabi’s birthday party, and I wanted to make some chalkboard tags to go with it for the kids’ goody bags. A new friend of mine was sooooooo generous to let me borrow her Cricut, and I am HEAD OVER HEELS IN LOVE with this machine! (BIG THANK YOU IF YOU’RE READING THIS E!) It can do everything. Really! Remember my post last year about how to make scalloped paper? Well forget that if you have a Cricut! Although they cost a couple hundred, I truly think it’s worth it especially if you like to craft. I can totally see me using this when my kids are in school, and I need to make gifts, cards, or things for school. I’m hinting towards the hubs that I want this for my Christmas present. Too bad you can’t use a Joanns coupon on Cricut machines or their cartridges. I’ve seen great deals on cartridges on Craigslist. Not sure I would trust buying a Cricut machine through CList, but I have seen some go for decent prices.
Cricut in action –
I used the tag function and cut 12×12 cardstock to 4 1/4″ tall tags.
Perfectly cut tags!
I spray painted the backs of the tags yesterday with Krylon Chalkboard Spray Paint. I didn’t get to take a picture of that, but here is the back sides of the tag. After the tags dried, I flipped them over to spray paint the other side.
Waiting for the last side to dry. I only sprayed each side once.
And here is the final product –
It’s a super easy project, and it can be a fun activity for your kids to draw with chalk INSIDE the house versus giving them chalk to draw on the sidewalk. I spray painted a piece of cardstock for my toddler, and she’s been having fun with drawing on her new chalkboard. It lasted about 10 minutes, but hey it’s something new for her and reusable which is always a plus!
-lil sis
So I’ve been on the hunt to find a tutorial on how to make a PVC Piping Backdrop. I heard it’s fairly simple, and you don’t need any crazy tools to build one. I’ve asked hubby (nicely) to make this for me this weekend even though he caught my nasty cold, so I’m super excited to take some step by step photos as I can’t seem to find a tutorial on the web that includes pictures. So far, I like the one from Wedding Bee.
I keep telling myself it’s worth it to make this backdrop for Tabi’s birthday party. I can always use it for years to come, right?
Wish us luck!
-lil sis
I just finished sewing up a car seat canopy. Lil sis used one of her swaddling blankies as a makeshift canopy on our outings together when Tabi needed to nap so I figured it was worth sewing one up!
The best part about it is the window! Instead of having my kids lift up the sides and waking the baby up, I figured we could all just peek in through the window. Genius!
Here’s where I got the tutorial. I didn’t make any adjustments to it.! Granted baby #3 is not here yet and I don’t know if it works as it should but for now, it looks perfect!
Perfect for when we plan to walk to pick up the twinsies from Kinder. I am so nervous for them…more than they will ever know! If baby #3 wasn’t coming the day after they start school, I would wait outside the fence just so I can catch a glimpse of them while they are out for recess or having lunch. Full stalker in effect! Could you imagine?! haha! Better yet, I would just volunteer everyday! Maybe baby #3’s birth is a blessing in disguise…
big sis
So I fell in love with Dana’s faux chenille blanket tutorial and followed her directions, including the materials, when I made this for my niece. I loved it so much that it was one of the things I knew I wanted to make for baby #3. This time around, I followed Aesthetic Nest’s tutorial and purchased flannel. I must say…there is a HUGE difference.
The flannel from the start is obviously so much softer and REALLY frays much better than the 100% cotton. After 1 wash cycle, it truly feels like chenille! But the downside is that it totally lints up everything…so much so that I would recommend washing the blanket alone and running it in the dryer (air only) a few times.
I am in love with it! I must admit…there were many times that I wanted to give up especially this time around! I was able to finish up my niece’s in 3 days vs almost a week with this blanket.
Pregnancy, or rather being very close to the end of the pregnancy and big and uncomfy, really slows one down! I am really considering investing in Olfa’s chenille cutter. I’m sure this would have definitely sped up the process. My girlfriend is due 2 weeks after me and I bought all the material to make her son one. Unfortunately, at this point, I don’t know if I have enough steam to complete it. I even tried to convince lil sis to take my material and make one for her pregnant friend! haha!
I just completed the lamp shade and did end up going with option #2. Only thing is I’m not sure if I’m crazy about it…I’ll have to ask lil sis if it is even picture/blog worthy 🙂
This weekend will be spent putting up a wall decal in the nursery. I am super excited and nervous. The decal is a one time deal…there can be no mistakes b/c once it’s up, that’s it! Hopefully, all will go well and I can show you a picture of it next week. The nursery is still coming along. My valances just arrived today and I am still waiting on her bedding. I cannot wait to see the finished product!
Till next week (when I’ll be 37 weeks!!!)…
big sis
lil sprinkles 