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.