Finally!

Trying out some new things here... as you can see I finally took the time to really design my blog to reflect my tastes and personality and am LOVING it! I got woken up early this morning and looked at my previous layout, which was nice but not me... so I did some quick html work, some Photoshop work, and voila!

Speaking of things that I am in love with... this bathing suit from Shabby Apple would sooooo be mine if I wasn't already looking like I am at least 20 weeks preggers! Even so, I am tempted to try to wedge my belly in it just because it is adorable.

Well back to working out some blog kinks... ciao!

The List 6.9.10

Hello Dear Readers!
  Today I am feeling so inspired that I hardly know where to start! I want to bake some banana bread, paint the baby's room, sew a few pillowcase dresses, and maybe even make my own ta-ta nursing cream! Lol... I guess this is what happens when you take a 3 month crafting hiatus... I am sure I will have some interesting posts coming up with all the fun projects that I have lined up! Here are some things that are really inspiring me on the web:

♥ I have been lending out a lot of books lately and am thinking that I should probably add bookplates to them like I do for my girls favorite reads as well. These pretty grownup bookplates by How About Orange are perfect!

♥ I am not much of a baker, but am really curious to try this delicious sounding Sour Cream Apple Pie recipe from Posie Gets Cozy!

♥ With the girls birthdays fast approaching I am already thinking about their smallish parties and stuff that I want to do for them... these cupcake toppers might be just the thing... and of course I will have to make them myself just because Gabby and AJ like it when I do that!

♥ Since I  already have the colors of the baby's room picked out I am starting to rethink how I want to decorate it and unfortunately it is starting to be based on whether is is a boy or a girl, lol! I am in LOVE with this lovely photo of a teal truck on a vintage beige background!

♥ Speaking of the baby's room... I would really like to have Gabby and AJ help make something for the room as well... these pretty HodgePodge Hand Trees are pretty and even shown in the colors I am addicted to!

♥ And while I am thinking about birthdays and decorations... this totally easy and super cute Balloon Door Wreath is getting made ASAP and will be gracing our door whenever it is someone's birthday week! Yep, love it too!!

A City on the Lake

It is no secret that I love the beach and I love any crafts that involve beachy things.

I plan on making adorable photo stands with beach rocks,

candles with sand and seashells on them,

and a little town made of driftwood just like this lovely photo!

Alisa Burke made this pretty little town and took these pretty photos herself

and wrote a tutorial so you can do the same here!!

The concept is pretty simple... 

take a trip to the beach and collect your drift wood... little pieces are prefect.

Then bring them home, with some glue and paint make your buildings,

the return to the beach to set up your city or town...

sigh, isn't is so perfect?!

What crafts are you planning to do this summer?

Ring Slings and Other Things

Now that this pregnancy is starting to feel more real I am thinking about some essentials that we need for the baby and all the options out there. One thing that I am trying to pick out is a pretty ring sling or Maya Wrap for me to use. I have a Moby Wrap type of wrap that I will use for when the baby is bitty, but I think a ring sling will work better for when the baby is older and I want to use a hip carry more often than not. There is great tutorial by the Maya Wrap company that shows you how to make your own ring sling too, so that is always an option...check it out here. Looks pretty straightforward and then I would be able to pick out my favorite fabric for the sling and the zip pocket.

I noticed that on Etsy there are a couple of stores that sell ring slings and such. One is SnuggyBaby who I have featured here before! If you are a baby wearing mama, what is your favorite style of sling, wrap, or carrier?

Sigh... darn preggo brain...

So you will notice that my blog looks a little differently today....sigh... and no, it was not by choice. I make a rookie computer mistake and hit save on a page that instead of saving my current blog template erased it and saved a new starter template. Ugh! I knew as soon as I really looked at the page that I have just killed my blog layout and would have to start over.

What started this whole mess is that I saw a post about new template designer features Blogger just released to make it really easy to make your own template here. It is a really great article and I wanted to try it out for future use... just NOT at that moment!

I love being able to customize how my blog looks and I was thinking about a new layout since we are adding baby bear to the family. It is challenging though since I don't want to look like everyone else's blog. The current layout that you see may stick around for a little while or it may be gone tomorrow if I get inspired and whip something for "me" up. For now I like a lot of things about it and am comfortable with people coming to my little space as it is. I just couldn't leave it blank...ick!

If you want to play around with your blog this blog has lots of cool tips, tricks, layouts, and buttons to use! I have also heard great things about Cutest Blog on the Block and CreateBlog.

Hearts A Flutter

I am pretty sure that I am in love with this mobile from Willowbaus, along with her wooden Covered Wagons and Sailboats! This is exactly the kind of things I want for Baby Bear's room... wooden, earth friendly, and slightly rustic. Although with the mobile I think I may try to make one similar myself but instead of ribbon use twine, and do the birds in a pretty apple green, robin's egg blue, and brown.

I have changed the colors slightly that I am using since I found a huge stash of fabric for sheets in those colors and love how the apple green looks with blue and brown.

I am also digging this awesome denim diaper cover and denim hat with ears (!) from Baby Gap.... who can resist a floppy hat with ears???

There is something so comfy and fun about denim... I am even thinking I may embroider Baby Bear's star sign onto some very dark denim, like this... just have to nail down with he or she is arriving! Hopefully I can at least schedule the gender check today... I can't wait!!!

Disappearing Freezer Jam

One thing that I am itching to try this summer is making my own freezer jam... specifically Strawberry Rhubarb Freezer Jam. There are a lot of recipes floating around out there but I don't think I need 25 cartons of berries sitting on my counter or tons of jars packed in the freezer. Something small that I can whip up when I feel the urge...

Here is a recipe that fits the bill, from Mandy Gerth. Her version is just plain Strawberry Jam, but I am just going to throw in some rhubarb and take it from there.... mmmmm.... Isn't her photo just lovely??

Strawberry Freezer Jam


1 packet No Sugar Needed Sure Jell Pectin
4 Cups Berries, smashed 
¾ Cup Sugar
apple juice (amount as described in Sure Jell directions)

Remove the green tops from your berries and smash them with a potato smasher in a very large bowl.
Stir Sugar into your berry mixture.
Boil apple juice and pectin as described in the Sure Jell directions.
Add the juice/pectin mixture to your berry mixture.
Ladle into clean glass jars leaving plenty of space at the top of the jar for your jam to expand in the freezer. (Since this is freezer jam the jars don’t have to be sterilized, they also don’t have to be canning jars, just any jar you have hanging around.) 
Store in the fridge overnight and move to the freezer the next day.

This recipe can be doubled (in our case tripled) and still come out just dandy. 

A Week of Wishes

to celebrate a very important life this week and not just focus on the end

to watch my oldest thrive in her chosen passion

to start making some things for this baby since it is finally hitting me that I am indeed pregnant!

sock animal rattle by Homemade by Jill

diaper pouch by Noodlehead

felt appliqué baby book by Posie Gets Cozy

to start collecting things to make a Healing Basket for my family

(image via Sew Liberated,  project from Handmade Home)

to have another successful OB appointment and to schedule the gender ultrasound!

(can you tell we are wishing for more pink?)

Even Death is Not to be Feared

Even death is not to be feared by one who has lived wisely. ~Buddha

So sorry for the lapse in posts friends... this has been a very hard week for our family. My dear grandmother (in-law and in heart) Betty Jane Linn passed away early this morning. I don't think that it has hit me yet that this wonderful, loving, generous, talented woman will no longer be around to tell old stories, cook homemade macaroni and cheese, or offer bits of wisdom long forgotten.

I am very thankful though that she at least passed quickly and without pain. Cancer in any form is a nasty disease, but to hear that you have stage 4 pancreatic cancer at the age of 85 is about as final as you get. I last spoke to Grandma (aka Grandma GG) on Saturday... she sounded bad and I could tell that she wasn't comfortable anymore. Ugh... it breaks my heart remembering. Honestly I am surprised that she made it through almost 3 months considering the prognosis without treatment... and I am so grateful that we got to visit her a few more times and that she got to hear the news that we were expecting again.

 When we got word that things were moving very quickly and there wasn't much time left, Klint and Gabby went down to say goodbye. I knew that he needed to see her one last time and Gabby would keep him grounded and safe on the hour long ride down and back. I knew too that she was not going to be scared and would be ok to say her goodbye as well.

I know that I will always thing of Grandma when I see a cardinal, eat Schwann's Smores, play in my garden, and dance with the girls. I hope that at least Gabby remembers the woman who would cook her favorite foods and spoil her rotten as much as my own grandmother would have. Rest in peace Grandma, we love you so much and will miss you even more.

Getting the Urge Again

Since before I found out that we were expecting again I have been on a crafting hiatus. No clue why, but Martha had left the building of her own accord. No paint spattered hands, no humming sewing machine, and no new half finished projects covering the dining room table. I don't remember this happening with any of my previous pregnancies, but then again, I wasn't half this crafty before.

But, there is light at the end of the tunnel... I am just days away from the 2nd Trimester and apparently am getting the urge to craft again. Which is a good thing because my poor neglected Etsy store needs some new things, my kids are wondering where all their new goodies are, and I think even the hubby was getting a bit concerned!

I had a fairy door order that I just put the first coat of paint on, I have white and purple spatters all over my hands, and I am now checking out my usual blogs for ideas to get my creativity flowing again. I just came across a book that I think I might HAVE to get- Handmade Beginnings by Anna Marie Horner.

Another blogger that I read- Sew Liberated (who took this lovely photo!) just reviewed the book, showed an adorable nursing top that she made, and really got me interested in this new crafty read. Check out the awesome tunic that she made here! Homemade By Jill also did a book review and has made some of the things from the book... look at these cute booties!

Lucky for you, if you want to give the book a try without buying it, you can download the FREE pattern for the stacking cubes here! I think these may be the first thing that I do for our own little Baby Bear since I have colors picked out already and gender doesn't matter!