How To: Magnetic Serving Tray Board

This feels like cheating a bit since I haven't actually had any time to craft lately.  My craft room is more a dumping ground for papers and clothes that need to be mended or ironed.  This craft is back from my baby bonding days: a glorious time when S napped more, I didn't work and I had more time on my hands.

I finally found a use for one of the metal serving trays that I got in a garage sale a gazillion years ago. It was very "retro Hawaiian" so it didn't really go with the vibe of my house but I got the idea from the blog Casey's Elegant Musings to turn the tray into a magnetic board.  It looks great in my sewing/craft/cat room since the look is a bit more eclectic in there.

It's super easy.  All you need is a tray, super glue and some metal picture mounts. Glue the mounts to the back.  I did one on the short and long side just in case I turned it to hang later.  A few seconds for the glue to cure and you've got yourself a cute metal memo board.

Missing you

I am missing so many people right now.  My good friend H just moved New York City and my sister and her family just ended their two week visit and returned to Pennsylvania.  I have a weird way of coping with missing people.  Denial is one of my favorite ways but I also like to surround myself with things that remind me of them.  It's either food, books, drinks or movies: anything that I know they like and enjoy.

When H was packing up at work she gave away some tins with paper clips and other office supplies.  Tucked into those tins were also sticky notes with names of movies and books that people had recommended to her.  I put a bunch of them on my library cue and I think of her every time I pick up a "H" inspired pick.

I made a special Raley's run to pick up gluten-free crackers, cheese and Chai tea mix - all things that we ate and drank while my sister was here.  I also picked up the book she was reading while she was here- Four Kitchens.  It seems silly when I read about what I do but having those familiar things around me helps me think of those I miss and helps with the pain of missing them.

Now please excuse me while I go eat some Fage yogurt with honey while drinking some PGTips tea.  Miss you and love you tons D.

Milestones

Wow- a lot has happened since my last post.  Baby S is six months old!  He is rolling over like crazy, has cut his first tooth and is eating some solid foods.  All of a sudden its like I have a real boy!  K has started back to work and I'm starting a new position with my company on the first of the month.  New beginnings all around for the family.

I am loving being a mom.  I love S so much and love everything he does.   It is so neat to see all the things I don't even notice anymore fascinate him.  Some days I feel like he helps me rediscover the world.

Balancing Act

My baby bonding time has ended and I'm back to work now.  The first day leaving baby S was horrible.  I didn't get much sleep the night before because I was crying and I cried almost all the way to work.  It was the ugly cry.  When I finally got home I practically smothered him with kisses .  Now I have another dilemma.  How to spend every second I can with him and not let my husband, housework and personal life go by the wayside?  I've already seen the dust bunnies uniting and forming a union  It's going to be tough.  

One thing that will help is that I have already set aside vacation days for "dates" with my baby.  Whole days of snuggling and playing and napping.  This will help give me something to look forward to.  It is so weird how much I intensely look forward to time off now that I'm at work again.  Each day free is like a light at the end of a tunnel.  A way to hold on to my sanity and hold on to my sweet baby.

Getting my Granny On

One of the things I wanted to make for baby S was a granny square crochet blanket. The small problem with this plan is I had no idea how to make a granny square. Despite many attempts and a patient teacher I was no closer to making a granny square.  I then went to plan B and made a simple knitted baby blanket instead.

Now that the delivery date time crunch is over I decided to try to learn the granny square again.  Many hours, YouTube clips and wonky squares later I found this website and FINALLY got it.

I'm slowly making a bunch of squares using leftover yarn and will eventually make a blanket.  I am trying not to rush and to enjoy the process.

I may be a granny myself by the time I'm done.

Remember to be a better Meal Planner

Alternative title: Never go to the grocery store hungry.

I'm trying to meal plan more.  If I don't plan ahead we have too many mac n cheese nights which is unacceptable now that I'm a parent.  Who am I kidding, mac n cheese rocks.

Anyways I found this cute meal planning template which I laminated and it's cuteness inspires me to fill in the pots and pans with yummy dinner ideas.

Now all I need is the inspiration to actually cook the planned meals.

Ode to Elastic

I put away my maternity jeans today.  I'm excited to fit back into the pre-baby pants but man I will miss those elastic panels.  The perfect potluck pants.

Elastic is a girls best friend. Sorry A, but you've been replaced.

Remember to be creative

One thing that I hope I won't lose when I go back to work is the free time to create and especially sew.  I've been enjoying sewing projects for baby S and am trying to get back into sewing for myself.

Unlike quilts and toys, sewing clothes requires fitting to your body.  Cue sighing.  I've been putting off sewing clothes until I was the size I want to be but that hasn't happened for a while. 

Now post-baby I'm just happy to have a waist so to celebrate I'm putting off "until I lose X number of pounds" and saying "I'll work with what I've got now."  I've got some ideas saved from old Anthropologie catalogs.

                                    
Here's to Happy Sewing!

(Farm animal quilt pattern from Embroidery Companion: Classic Designs for Modern Living by Alicia Paulson, Patchwork Ball pattern from Seams to Me: 24 New Reasons to Love Sewing by Anna Maria Horner and Bunny pattern from by Martha Stewart's Envyclopedia of Sewing and Fabric Crafts: Basic Tips for Sewign, Applique,Embroidery, Quilting, Dyeing and Printing, plus 150 Inspired Projects from A to Z by Martha Steward Living Magazine)

I'm in a Love/Hate Relationship

So I'm in a love/hate relationship with my son's baby swing.

On one hand it's the best thing ever because S loves to sit in it and watch his "fish friends" go round and round.  It is sometimes the only way I can get him to go to sleep.  On the other hand the swing makes me feel like a bad parent.  The guilty voice inside my head says I should be able to get him to sleep without the aid of a mechanical swing.  The guilty voice says I use the swing too much and that I'm a bad mom.

Oh swing, what a precarious relationship we have....

Recipe Failure

I have been collecting recipes from magazines and cookbooks since I was thirteen. Unfortunately the word collecting is way too accurate.  I have maybe a thousand recipes (no joke) and haven't tried but a few handfuls.  To remedy this, my new goal is to try a new recipe at least once a week.

So far, not so good.

Out of the three recipes I tried for a BBQ and for Easter two were duds.  One was downright weird.  I should have known that Kentucky Beer Cheese Spread was an iffy bet.

Even though I haven't had much success yet I am excited to be cooking new things again.  I think I just need to make better choices :)

Gratuitous Cat Post

Enough said.

The Most Addictive Cake Ever

I have made a horrible discovery which is a cake that is amazingly yummy, horribly easy to make and ridiculously good warm, cold or frozen.  Help me.  It is the Kate's Winning-Hearts-and-Minds Cake that I found on the blog Orangette.  

I made it for my four year anniversary as a surprise for K.  I wasn't able to go to the grocery store because S was napping so I used the ingredients on hand to create this beast.  It is super thin and super rich (I made a powder sugar heart to spice it up).

After dinner we still had 3/4 of the cake left so I wrapped it up and froze it.  The next day I snuck into the freezer and the rest is history.

Now it's your turn to make the cake.  And then I apologize for introducing you to the most addictive cake ever.

Baby Crafts: Stuffed blocks for baby S

I'm slowly getting through some of the crafts that I started while pregnant.
One of the easiest and fastest one is from the book Sweet Booties!: And Blankets, Bonnets, Bibs and More by Valerie Van Arsdale Shrader. I just used some scrap fabric leftover from other baby projects. You just cut out six squares that are four inches on a side.  I used three different fabrics and cut out twenty four squares, eight of each fabric, to make four blocks.

Sew right sides together of two fabrics with 1/4 inch allowance and continue until you get a strip of four.

Sew last two fabrics on bottom of the strip of four to make a "T" shape.  Leave a 1/4 inch spot on top that you will later pivot and sew to start shaping the block.

Take one of the fabrics on the "T" and align it with closest fabric (for this block it is the adjacent trees fabric).
  

After aligning fabric sew 1/4 inch allowance seam to end of square but stop 1/4 inch before edge.  Pivot and align the square with the adjacent square.

Keep sewing and pivoting until you have sewn all sides but one.  That open side you will use to stuff the block.

After you have sewn all the sides to make a block turn the block inside out so the right side of the fabric shows.  Use  a pointed object to push out corners.

Stuff the block and then slip stitch the opening closed.

Can't wait for baby S to be old enough to enjoy them!

Remembering to be in the moment

People always say having a child changes everything.  They usually point out the negative: loss of sleep, loss of independence and all the poopy diapers.  In actuality you can't fathom all the amazing and wonderful changes that come with having a new baby.  For me one of the important changes was a change in focus from always thinking about what to do next to enjoying the now.  Having baby S really shows you how quickly time flies and things change and that you need to savor the moment.  At two months old baby S is starting to be more independent and not as snuggly.  Before I know it he will be too old for tummy kisses and too big to be held.  So my new mantra is "remember to be in the moment."  It seems cheesy and obvious to most but I find myself repeating it a lot each day.  I hope it helps keep me focused on what is truly important.