Car Seat Strap Cover Hack

Do you ever happen upon an idea so simple and obvious that paradoxically it makes you feel like a genius? That's what this idea was for me. Neither of our car seats came with strap covers. I knew Target sold some monkey ones for $10, but I kept forgetting to buy them when I was at the store. When we went to Pennsylvania for Easter, I noticed the car seat straps left red marks on Will's neck on the long drive. Not wanting him to get more hurt, I was determined to finally get the strap covers before we drove back home.

I searched the Walmart near our hotel for car seat strap covers, but they didn't sell them. In a moment of inspiration, I bought a shoulder belt cover from the automotive section for 99 cents. I borrowed a pair of scissors from my husband's and cut it in half. It is the perfect size for the car seat straps and I saved $9 and it matches my car interior and car seat better than actual car seat strap covers. That's what you call a win win win.

It works for me.

Easter Dress Up

Honestly, I just can't help myself. The only thing cuter than my baby is my baby in an animal costume. I bought the little bunny hat while I was pregnant, but that little stinker was so late that he missed Easter last year so I saved it for this year and it was totally worth it. I made the tail out of a loop of packing tape and three cotton balls. He didn't even know it was there. 

I made the carrots too. I loosely followed this tutorial, which is really just a picture of the different steps. One sheet of felt was enough to make the two carrots and I braided embroidery floss for the carrots' stems. One is stuffed with cotton balls and the other is stuffed with uncooked buckwheat, because I thought the different weights and textures would be interesting. He only medium likes them as toys, but I'm going to save them anyway because I'd like to get a play kitchen at some point down the road, and I think they might be more fun then. 

We spent Easter weekend in Pennsylvania with my husband's extended family. The baby got to meet his great grandma for the first time, which was really special for all of us. Even though walking past all the little girl dresses in the store makes my uterus hurt, I love the challenge of dressing up a baby boy.* Seersucker pants and a bow tie did nicely. 

*Has anyone else noticed that the baby girl clothing section is twice as big as the baby boy section? Come on retailers, get it together.

Montessori Inspired Toy

Like most children, my baby isn't particularly interested in toys. He is much more interested in whatever I'm holding--my phone, my computer, a tissue, etc. Because I don't want these things in his mouth, I often have to say no. However, when it comes to keys, I say yes. They're metal so he can't damage them and they can easily be cleaned.

I know they make plastic keys for babies, but I thought it would be better to get him a set of "real" keys because I knew it would be more appealing to my son to have something adult, they could be recycled when my baby outgrew them, and probably wouldn't be any more expensive.

We headed down to the local hardware store and I asked how much blank keys cost. The clever man working behind the counter asked if I wanted them for my baby and when I answered in the affirmative, he offered me a paper bag with half a dozen keys for free. They were miscuts that had been lying around. Because I was so pleased with the service and because I wanted to support this particular local business, I decided to buy a couple of key covers too; the different colors and textures makes for a more interesting toy too, I think.

All I had to do was assemble it all on a key ring and my baby had a new toy for pennies. We've had the keys for a couple of months now and they're still one of his favorite toys. A virtually free practical life toy works for me.

Meals for a Family with a New Baby

Our longtime friends had a baby! We got to visit when he was just a week old. It was crazy holding him and thinking my baby was this small seven months ago. Where does the tininess go? Sigh. I really, REALLY miss it. Anyway, we're all hoping these two little boys will be the best of friends someday.

Since the mom was recovering from a Cesarean and they now have two kids under two (Remember when we met big sister?) we brought food, lots of food. For families with a new baby, I think it's more helpful to bring a whole day's worth of food rather than just dinner, if you can possibly manage it. The family's routine is off, they're sleep deprived, and I think it's sometimes harder to figure out what to eat for breakfast or lunch than what to eat for dinner. After all, you can always order a pizza for dinner, but you can't get breakfast delivered.

This particular family is kind of hard to make food for because the mom doesn't eat red meat, pork, or shellfish and toddlers are notoriously picky too. Plus, I think you have to be thoughtful about foods that might upset the baby's tummy if the mom is nursing. Broccoli, cabbage, onions, and excessive garlic can cause gas pain in newborns. Personally, I like to go easy on the dairy too, since many babies are lactose sensitive.

I did a lot of brainstorming to come up with a menu for them.
Breakfast: Cranberry scones (Joy of Cooking recipe, but I use craisins instead of currants)
Lunch: Veggie wraps (hummus, lettuce, cucumber, bell pepper, tomato, carrot)
Dinner: BBQ pulled chicken sandwiches, carrot slaw
Dessert/Snack: Chocolate chocolate chip muffins

I wish I had done a spinach and mushroom quiche instead of the scones for added protein and nutrition and I also wish I had time to add another side dish for dinner (I would have made green beans sauteed with almonds) but I have a baby too and can't do everything. I have to keep telling myself, something is better than nothing.

If you're looking for meal ideas for your own meal deliveries, some other meal ideas I came up with but didn't use are:
Breakfast: pumpkin bread, banana bread, bagels and cream cheese, waffles, fritata, egg sandwiches
Lunch: chicken salad, tuna salad, chicken Cesar salad, quiche
Dinner: vegetarian taco bar with beans and Spanish rice, salmon pasta alfredo with garlic bread and veggies, pesto pasta, chili and cornbread, lasagne
Snacks: celery with peanut butter, veggies with onion dip, chips and salsa, oatmeal cookies, fruit salad

For more inspiration about delivering meals, you should check out the hospitality archives of the defunct blog Like Merchant Ships. Meredith has delivering beautiful, nutritious, affordable meals down to a science. Start here, here, here, or here.

Linking to Works for Me Wednesday.

Meaningful, Affordable Gift Idea (With Tutorial)

I'm sometimes wary of DIY gifts because too often I find that the cost of supplies exceeds the cost of a comparable store bought gift and with the former you're having to invest your time too, which can be in short supply at this time of year. In contrast, I promise this handmade ornament is both inexpensive and easy (if your hand model is in a cooperative mood.)

I bought a tub of clay from Target (in the office/art supplies section) for something like $5.00, give or take. For a baby hand print, you need to grab a hunk of clay about the size of your two hands balled together, slightly larger than a baseball. With all rings off, work the clay in your hands for a few minutes to make sure there aren't any air bubbles in the clay, and then roll into a ball like it's a meatball. While you're rolling, the goal is to make sure there are no seams in the ball.

Put the ball on a piece of plastic wrap and cover with a second piece of plastic wrap. Here's a thrifty tip: Pre-used plastic wrap (clean, of course) actually works better than a new piece of plastic wrap because it's less clingy, and it also seems to be less likely to wrinkle during the next step. 

With the clay between the plastic, slowly roll the ball into a flat disk with a rolling pin. More passes with less pressure makes the plastic less likely to wrinkle and leave undesired imprints in the clay. When your clay is about 1/4 inch thick, pull the top piece of plastic off the perfectly smooth, flat disk.

Grab your hand model and put his hand on the disk. Use one hand to hold his hand in place (probably unnecessary if the hand model can be relied on not to wiggle) and your other hand to press the top of each part of his hand, to get an even imprint. Remember to place his hand towards the bottom of the disk so you have room to make a hole. My instinct was to try and center my model's hand, but that doesn't work for the next step.

Use a drinking straw to make a hole at the top of the ornament for hanging. Let dry for several days. Mine took about 3-4 days to dry completely. If desired, you could write the name of the hand model and the date on the back with a permanent marker.

A 2.5 pound container of clay will make at least six baby hand prints, so this gift costs about $1 each, yet it's thoughtful and personal. I also like that it's not messy (the clay isn't sticky) and doesn't take a lot of time if you do it assembly line style (i.e., roll all the balls, then flatten them all into disks, then do the hand impressions, then wipe your model's hand, then punch the holes.) You could also not punch the hole and give it with a plate stand if you think your recipient would prefer to display the hand print year round rather than have an ornament.

These are ideal gifts for parents and grandparents. We already gave one to my notoriously hard to shop for father-in-law and he liked it very much. We're keeping two for ourselves (one of each hand) and when Baby is grown up and moves out (*sob*) we'll give him one to take with him.

Making a Hair Cutting Cape

I have three loads of laundry sitting in my living room waiting to be put away and I can't remember the last time my floors were vacuumed, but I made the executive decision to continue to ignore these problems and instead make a smock/cape thing-y for our at home hair cuts, priorities be damned.

When we first began at-home haircuts, we tried using a towel to drape around the neck and shoulders of the person receiving the haircut, but after washing we learned that this left tiny hairs in all the other clothes and towels and made them very itchy, so we stopped doing that right away. Then, being the classy people we are, we cut a plastic garbage bag open and used that to drape around us when we were getting our hair cut. It kept the hair off our clothes, but was very hot. Nevertheless, we've used he garbage bag method until now.

Over Labor Day weekend, we went to Ikea, where I spied laminated cotton fabric on sale for $1.99 a yard. I bought a yard and let it sit, folded on my coffee table until this very week when I needed something to do that was easy, yet satisfying while I continued to ignore the messes.

To make the hair cutting cape, I cut a line about 5.5 inches long down the center fold of the fabric. Then, keeping the fabric folded, I cut a semi-circle 7.25 inches in diameter at the bottom of the slit. A small bowl would make an excellent template for the semi circle. Unfold and slip the circle around your neck. Boom, you're ready for a haircut.

I've been thinking about sewing some strips of velcro to either side of the slit, so that it attaches more like a professional cape, but I'll probably just leave it as-is. When testing it out, the fabric was heavy enough to stay where it was draped, so the velcro is kind of unnecessary. Plus, I really like that this is a no-sew project. (The laminated cotton doesn't fray, so no hemming is needed.) If we have problems with the cape not staying in place in the future, I could always add velcro then, or just use a binder clip to hold the ends in place behind the neck.

For $1.99 and two minutes work, this was an extremely satisfying project. I feel like I got something done, without having to actually do anything. Maybe I'll tackle the laundry and vacuuming tomorrow.

Embroidered Baby Bicycle Onesie

Front side

I embroidered another little baby onesie. Chuk would dress this child in bicycle themed clothes every day if he could. (He can't because they're so expensive! Hipster much?) He's just itching to get this kid on a bike. I keep telling him he better back off or baby is going to wind up hating cycling, but he won't listen. So I'm feeding his addiction with a little top for the baby reminiscent of the pillow cases I made Chuk for Christmas a few years ago.  

I'm still finding the rib knit difficult to work with. This time I tried it without using interfacing, but I definitely had some warping issues. As I went along, I realized longer stitches helps prevent some of the warping issues, so that's good to know. 

Back side

I also decided not to back the embroidery with scrap fabric. It was a lot faster this way and I just wanted to get it done quickly. I'm worried the embroidery won't hold up well to frequent washings and might be itchy on his skin, but the back side of the stitching is pretty clean and at the rate this baby is growing, he'll probably only be able to wear it for a couple of months, so maybe it doesn't need to hold up for the long term.

These are such satisfying little projects. They're quick and practical and cost next to nothing.

Linking to Friday Flair and French Country Cottage.

Embroidering a Whale Onesie

Since the baby has been born, I haven't been doing very much creatively, and I miss it. I've missed blogging and I've missed making things. So the other night I sat down and embroidered a onesie for the baby. It should have been easy, but my skills are very rusty.

I used this pattern, but simplified it a little bit and inadvertently reversed the image. It was my first time embroidering on a rib knit, and it was hard! I had to use interfacing to keep the fabric from warping and a regular needle rather than an embroidery needle, which meant using fewer strands of embroidery floss, to fit through the tight knit. It's all done in a simple back-stitch (my favorite) with French knots for the eyes.

Hopefully the baby will like it; I'm saving it for his first trip to the Pacific Ocean, next week.

Moses Basket Alternative

In keeping with our efforts to contain cost and clutter (unintentional alliteration), we haven't bought a bassinet or Moses basket for the baby. Instead, we plan to keep it in a regular basket for the first couple of months.

I've had this basket for years; it was given to me as part of a housewarming gift and held bath towels and melamine kitchenware, but I've seen similar baskets at Ikea and discount stores like TJ Maxx. What I like about this basket is that even though it's made of natural materials it's extremely strong, it's shallow, and it has handles.

To prepare the basket for baby, I simply folded up a towel to the dimensions of the basket and then inserted the towel in a pretty embroidered pillowcase. Remember, you don't want babies sleeping in anything too cushy because it can be a suffocation risk. The towel provides enough padding while still being a firm...and it's easily washable.

Because babies outgrow Moses baskets and bassinets so quickly, they can only use it until they learn to roll over, it just makes sense to re-purpose a regular basket for a few months for baby, and then re-integrate the basket back into home storage when you're done with it.

P.S. I totally don't think you need a Moses basket or bassinet, but because my husband really wants to co-sleep with the baby and there's some increased risk of SIDS with that, a basket seemed like a good way to keep the baby in bed with us without compromising safety or splurging on a co-sleeper.

Gender-Neutral Renters' Nursery

Over the weekend, we finished the baby's room. By "finished" I mean, as good as it's going to get before the baby comes.

Above, you can see the view from the doorway if you're standing in the hall.

If you follow me on Pinterest, you know that initially, I had wanted to do a nautical themed room. Chuk was concerned that a nautical room would look too grown up for an infant and would read as too boyish with so many blue accents. Since we're waiting to find out the sex of our baby, we needed a gender-neutral nursery. Ultimately, we decided to do a room of bright, happy colors with vintage accents, particularly vintage sports accents.

(From all the cords in the corner, you can tell I don't bother to stage photos. Eh, the room doesn't need to be baby-proofed immediately, right? Don't worry, we'll secure them before the baby becomes mobile.)

The main challenge in decorating this room was that, as renters, we can't paint or change the flooring or other fixed elements. Builder beige walls and taupe carpet doesn't really contribute a lot to the idea of "bright, happy colors", but fortunately baby accessories tend to be bright.

In these photos, the room looks significantly larger and better proportioned than it is in reality. Because the rest of our apartment is small too, we need to keep all the baby toys in this room and it has to function as a playroom as well as a bedroom. (It's also my husband's office. His desk and all our files and office supplies, as well as general household storage, is in the closet.) To accommodate all these functions, we tried to keep the furniture against the walls and added storage to the wall, so there would be space to play in the center of the room.

We couldn't afford to spend a lot so we took advantage of gifts, things we already owned, second-hand finds, DIY projects, and generally just made do.

We still need to finish the crib skirt, hang artwork, and decide whether or not we're going to paint the dresser (there's a long story behind it that makes the decision less than straightforward.) I'd like to find an affordable and colorful rug to disguise the carpet too, but so far, we're really happy with the room. It is such a satisfying feeling when your vision materializes the way you imagine it will.

Sewing A Changing Pad Cover

I found it shocking to learn that changing pad covers cost more than the actual changing pad for a changing table. As usual, I decided to tackle the project myself to save a little money. I had no idea how to do it, but it wasn't too hard to figure out a "good enough" way.

I simply sewed a hem around the edges of the fabric, then laid the fabric upside down on the changing pad and pinned just the corners, taking up the excess fabric at the corners (like you would when wrapping a present.) Then I sewed a straight line down where I had pinned to form a corner and repeated for all four corners. I turned it right side out and slipped it over the changing pad for a semi-fitted cover. The professional covers have elastic around the bottom (like a fitted sheet) but I find it looks exactly the same if I just tuck the ends under the pad. I was able to make three covers for less than the cost of buying one.

Curtains in the Nursery

We're still plugging away at getting this baby's room ready for it. In a closet I had a pair of curtains from the room I rented when I moved to DC eight years ago. They're just cheap-y white cotton curtains from Ikea, but I have always liked the texture of them; they look and feel like linen.

They were an awkward length for the window, neither floor length nor cafe length. Though I generally prefer floor length curtains, I think shorter curtains are safer in a baby's room (so they can't be tugged on.) I sewed a big hem on the both panels and then added some ball fringe to the bottom to make them a little more fun. I love the way the ball fringe looks with the Jenny Lind crib we have.

I had the curtain rods and finials from that same Ikea shopping trip eight years ago. Chuk kindly hung them so I wouldn't have to stand on a chair with my big belly.

Other than the cost of four yards of ball fringe, which I think cost around $13 (and I still have some left over) the curtain project was free. It only took an afternoon and turned out better than I imagined it.

P.S. Try not to be too jealous that four out of the five windows in our apartment look out onto an alley with a cinder block wall adorned with peeling paint.

Lighting the Nursery

Apparently, the nesting instinct skipped our house. So when it finally dawned on us "This baby is coming soon" we decided we needed to kick it into high gear and get our former office/guest room ready to become a nursery. We had sort of been working on it for months, but our efforts were more along the lines of brainstorming ideas and decluttering and rehoming nearly everything that had been in that room. It was a big job in and of itself, but it has left little time for the fun, "prettifying" part of it.

While "prettification" is all well and good, we're still working with a budget which is best described as "the closer to zero the better". I had the lamp pictured above for at least seven years. No joke, I have a thing for acrylic furniture and accessories and it matched my feminine, single girl bedroom back in the day. It does not match our gender-neutral nursery though.

With no overhead lighting in that room and no desire to buy a new lamp when I already had a functional one, a lamp makeover was in order.

Two quick coats of silver spray paint and a new lampshade later, it looks like a new lamp. We already had the lamp and spray paint, so I'm counting those costs as $0. The lampshade was $7.99. Less than $10 for a "new" lamp, nice.

Linking to 320 Sycamore.

Mending Sheets

Out of nowhere, my favorite sheets developed three holes. (Perhaps it's all my nighttime tossing and turning?) I have a bit of a sheet fetish, so there was no way I was going to throw out my favorites. Also, sheets are expensive. I've done other basic mending before and this was pretty much the same process.

At first I tried just sewing (using a whip stitch? I'm not great with stitch names) the two sides of the tear together, but the fabric was too worn, so I cut out my stitches and used some iron on hem tape to reinforce the back of the tears with another little scrap of fabric. Then I re-sewed the two of the holes with the "whip stitch".

I didn't really love how it turned out because the fabric was a little puckered and it looked like the stitches could pull out.

With the final tear, I reinforced the back of the sheet with scrap fabric and the hem tape, but then used a satin stitch to cover the tear. I was much happier with how this turned out. It didn't create any wrinkles in the fabric and it seems like a much stronger repair.

Quick and Easy Valentine's Garland

I did a little multitasking during my afternoon TV time on Friday. Melissa, who blogs at I Still Love You, is always writing about how fun and easy it is to sew paper (for instance here, here, and here) so I wanted to give it a try too.

I made a little template by free-handing a heart on a piece of scrap paper and then folded up four pieces of printer paper so I could cut out a bunch of hearts at once. I was going to do all white, but then I decided I wanted a little color in my garland too, so I cut more hearts out of a single piece of red construction paper.

I stacked up all the hearts and took them to my sewing machine, which was already loaded up with white thread from this project. I just fed the hearts into the machine one at a time, trying (not always sucessfully) not to overlap them so the garland would still have some movement. Sewing all of them took about five minutes, and that was with me going slowly. Then I taped the garland to the ceiling between my kitchen and dining area.

I like this project because I had all the materials on hand so it was free, the mistakes I made are not noticable, and it makes a big statement for very little effort.

Are you doing any seasonal decorating? Have you ever sewn paper?

Making Burp Cloths

Even though I'm getting darn close to baby's arrival the nesting instinct (unfortunately) hasn't yet kicked in. However, I'm trying to deal with a bad week by being productive so I've been sewing up burp cloths.

Several months ago Chuk and I picked up a pack of prefold diapers at TJ Maxx (or one of those discount stores) for less than $1 per diaper, which is cheaper than I've seen used prefolds selling for online. I washed them up and, since the baby will be using it for burping, embroidered "Excuse Me" on them. I just free-handed the embroidery, which I've never done before and I don't love the result, but for something whose sole purpose is to be barfed on, I can live with it. Then I sewed on some fabric I already had that I had been saving for pillows. It didn't take very much fabric, so I should still be able to make the pillows.

It's a quick and satisfying project that will hopefully be useful in a few months. Now I'm off to make a few more.

The Stockings were Hung by the "Chimney" with Care

I spent Friday afternoon decorating our Christmas tree. It's three feet tall. I had bought it a week and a half earlier at Costco, just like the Christmases of yore. Ha!

Growing up, we would always cut down our own tree. Since I moved to the big city, I've mostly bought my Christmas trees from farmers' markets. This year, my husband is up to his neck with board week at work and finals at school and I'm up to my neck in pregnancy. I decided to respect our limits, so a tiny Costco tree it was.

Decorating it was a snap. It only took one strand of lights and I used our smallest ornaments to keep things in scale. The star we normally put on top of our tree was much too large, so I stuck an angel my late grandma had crocheted on top. It was meant to be a toilet paper cover, so it keeps flopping forward, but I love it anyway. I might even use it as a tree topper next year.

I spent some time Saturday wrapping all our presents. I hate theme wrapping paper, but Chuk brought this Christmas paper into our relationship years ago. Normally, I won't use it at all, but we were close to the end of it so this year, I was determined to use it up. I used it to wrap all of our presents, and wouldn't you know it, we still have some left! It's the loaves and fishes of wrapping paper.

I've finished my shopping, but Chuk has some more to do for his family. We're not exchanging gifts with them until January, so there isn't a lot of time pressure. We're spending Christmas in Texas and Louisiana with my extended family, so I expect he'll wait until the new year to finish his shopping. Hopefully, he'll get them large things so we can use up that darn Christmas paper.

As apartment renters, we don't have a fireplace, but last year I bought these JOY stocking holders after Christmas for 50% off, so our stockings are hanging from our bookshelf rather than a mantel. I wish I could hang the stockings from the bottom shelf, but the doors on the bottom half of the bookcase prevent that, so I'm just going to have to deal with them blocking the photos on the lower shelf.

The stocking on the right was made by my grandma, the same one who made the tree topper. I've had it since I was a little girl and I love it. It will always be my real stocking, but for display purposes, we're counting it as the cat's stocking. (We don't get our cat a present or anything for her stocking. So far, she hasn't noticed.) My mom got us the stockings on the left last year. I like them, but I still make Chuk fill the stocking from my grandma. It wouldn't be Christmas otherwise.

This year our decorations are very low key, but fitting for this season in our lives. I'm so glad we are able to have some festive decorations, but that it wasn't stressful at all and other than the $20 I spent on the tree, didn't cost us anything. Despite how busy our schedules are now, everything is so peaceful this year, it's hard to imagine that next year we'll have an eight month old celebrating its first Christmas with us. We can barely wrap our brains around it.

Linking to The Inspired Room's home tour.

Autumnal Decorations

Walking home from the dry cleaners, I was struck by the fall leaves all over the ground. Being an East Coast transplant from California, where the seasons are much less dramatic, the changing leaves never fails to amaze me.

I picked up a few colorful leaves from the ground and brought them home determined to do something with them. What I struck upon was decorating some candles and candle holders with the leaves. It only took a few minutes to put together and I already had all the things I needed, so it was really simple and convenient little project.

I simply chose leaves that were the height of the votive holder or candle I was working with and used some tiny pieces of double stick tape to hold a leaf on each side while I used some kitchen string to tie the leaves onto the candle or holder. I knotted the string and cut off the excess "tails".

You could probably get away with not using the tape, but it helped since I didn't have an extra set of hands helping to hold everything in place. I think it probably would be cuter to use twine or bakers' string to hold the leaves on, but all I had was the cotton string I use to truss poultry, so that's what I went with. Finally, I didn't bother to press my leaves before I started working with them, and as they have dried out over the last week or so they've curled a little at the edges, which is evident in the pictures, but that doesn't really bother me. If it bothers you, I suggest you just press the leaves.

This is pretty much the extent of my fall decorating, but I'm happy because it didn't cost me anything and I have pretty leaves to look at.