{maternity series} for Emma

At long last... I've finally compiled my maternity series photos into a slideshow! I'm also planning to make the photos into a photo book at some point. Looking back at all the photos, I'm so glad I decided to do this project. There were many weeks where I sooo didn't feel like being photographed, and there were more bad hair days than I would have liked, but I'm really happy to have this so I can eventually show Emma how much I truly loved being pregnant with her. Thanks for sharing this journey with me! :-)

link love - 9.9.11

Whew! What a whirlwind few weeks it's been... Jared's parents came to stay with us for 10 days, and then we went on our first trip with Emma to NYC for a truly special and gorgeous wedding. Hence the lack of blogging. Sorry! Anyway, here's what caught my eye this week...

  • Instagraham Crackers on Bakerella - How stinking cute are these graham crackers!?? I don't even use Instagram (my 3 year old iPhone does well to send an email these days... fancy photo apps will have to wait until I get the new iPhone this fall. And yes, I'm counting down the days.) Anyway, I love the idea of homemade graham crackers, with or without the fancy fondant.
  • 25 Free Scrap Busting Tutorials on Prudent Baby - Like most people who sew, I have a rather unruly bin of scrap fabric just begging for another project. So my ears perk up any time I hear the words "scrap busting." The best thing about most of these projects is that they're also quick, and quick sewing is the only kind of sewing I have time for these days. I especially love the keychains, eye mask, concentration game, and snack bags.

link love - 8.19.11

Finally another Link Love post! This week has been a bit calmer but this weekend is going to be a little nuts. I'm flying home to DC for 36 hours for my sister's baby shower while Emma stays home with Jared and his parents. Our freezer is filled to the gills with pumped milk and I'm crossing my fingers and toes that it's enough. It'll be a whirlwind weekend, but I'm so excited to see my family and help throw such a joyous event for my sister. (And okay, I'm also a little excited to be able to take a nice long shower, sleep in, and give my back and arms a much needed break!) :-) Anyway, here's what caught my eye this week...

  • Girl's Upcycled Shirt Dress on Grits and Giggles - I have a whole bag of Jared's old dress shirts just waiting to be repurposed into cute little clothes for Emma, and this is one of the sweetest versions of the upcycled shirt dress I've seen in a while. I especially love the little flower detail.
  • Healthier Zucchini Bread on Prudent Baby - Zucchini bread was one of the few really good food options in my dorm at college (Spartans! Whoop whoop!) but I haven't had it since. This post reminded me how much I love it and with zucchini in season, I think I'll just have to make some!

  • Laziest DIY Cushion Slipcover  on Prudent Baby - Our outdoor cushions are in pretty rough shape and I've been meaning to cover them for a long time now (okay, years actually.) This tutorial was just what I needed. Hopefully I can snag some outdoor fabric on clearance this winter and get our cushions all spiffed up in time for next spring.
Have a great weekend!! :-)

grill, baby, grill

The weather in Portland lately has been absolute perfection, so we've been grilling a ton.  Or should I say Jared has been grilling a ton. Did I mention he cooks dinner for us pretty much every night? Did I also mention he's the best husband ever? I did?  Well, it bears repeating after the deliciousness he cooked up this week. We have a nice arrangement really... I pin new recipes to try, and he makes them for us. Here's what he made...

  • Chicken Parm Burgers from Annie's Eats - Jared looooooves Chicken Parm, so when I saw these I knew we had to try them. They were soooooo good and easy enough for a weeknight meal. (A note about using ground meat - if you have a Kitchen Aid stand mixer, I HIGHLY recommend getting the meat grinder attachment. We started grinding our own meat a couple years ago and it makes a huge difference. In our experience, freshly ground meat stays much juicier when cooked than store-bought ground meat.)

  • Garlic Lemon Chicken Kabobs from Annie's Eats - Clearly I've been a little obsessed with Annie's Eats lately, but for good reason - she makes some darn good food! And these kabobs were no exception. So juicy and flavorful. The garlic isn't too heavy if you're someone who doesn't like a ton of garlic. We had them with rice pilaf, but skipped the tzakiki sauce because Jared's not a fan (I, on the other hand, am a BIG fan). Anyway, just make 'em... you won't be disappointed.
photo courtesy of Annie's Eats
  • Ginger Soy Lime Marinated Shrimp from Bobby Flay - We usually do an herb marinade when we grill shrimp, but we were getting pretty bored with that so we set out to find another recipe that would be just as easy and just as tasty. This recipe definitely fit the bill. It may even replace the herb marinade as our go-to for shrimp. The combination of flavors was really pleasing - not too sweet, not too salty.  Just perfect, really. We'll be making these again very soon.
image courtesy of Food Network
PS... sorry for the lack of a Link Love post last Friday. Emma decided she didn't want to nap last week so I didn't get much done. She's napping in the Moby as I type this so hopefully this week will go a bit more smoothly! :)

chop chop

Well, I did it! My good friends Heather and Alex came down for the weekend to keep me company while Jared was out of town, and Alex just happens to be an amazing stylist (he works at 7 in Seattle... if you live in the area I highly recommend you go see him.) So, I decided it was time to say sayonara to the long hair I'd spent the past 5 years growing out. Sometimes a girl just needs a change and I was starting to get really sick of feeling like a gross mom with my hair in a perpetually messy ponytail. It took us 2 feedings and umpteen diaper changes from start to finish (Emma doesn't like to nap on the weekends, which isn't super conducive to squeezing in a haircut) but I love how it turned out...

Jared had no idea I was cutting it, so he got a big surprise when he got home last night. Thankfully, he loves it. Or at least that's what he said. He'd tell me I looked beautiful if I shaved my head and dyed it purple, so there's really no telling.

link love - 8.5.11

I got way behind on my Google Reader this week so instead of my usual recent links I'm going to share with you a few recipes we made this week from Annie's Eats - one of my absolute favorite food blogs. She has a whole category for quick weeknight meals aptly labeled, "Quick Weeknight Meals," which I pinned a bunch of stuff from last weekend because we were getting pretty bored with our standard weeknight fare. Here's what we ended up making...

  • Chicken Artichoke Pesto Calzones - These were really really good, but they weren't exactly quick. I think the thing that made this a tricky weeknight recipe was having to go back and forth between the outdoor grill and the kitchen. It would have been a lot easier if we'd grilled the chicken the night before. (The recipe doesn't say how much chicken you need.  We grilled 2 pieces but only needed 1.)  Also, we didn't have a pizza stone (we try not to have anything in the kitchen that only has one use) so we used the back of a baking sheet. Be sure to put something underneath the sheet while you're cooking in case any of the cheese drips out. We learned that one the hard way and nearly set off the smoke alarm.
  • Pasta alla Vodka - The next thing we made was this yummy and simple pasta. You can use any type of noodle you want, so we used fettucini. The sauce was delicious, and while the dish didn't blow me away or anything, it does make for an excellent go-to weeknight pasta.
  • Teriyaki Grilled Pork Chops - These were definitely my favorite of the 3 new meals. They were super easy and super tasty.  We both agreed they were the juiciest pork chops we've ever had. Such a nice break from chicken and an absolutely perfect summer weeknight dish.

I scream, you scream...

With all this talk about ice cream, I figured it was time to share with you my all-time favorites.  If you're dieting or trying to cut back on sugar or just generally hungry and nowhere near any ice cream, please forgive me.

  • Breyers Mint Chocolate Chip - Ahhh, an oldie but a goodie.  This one definitely wins in the nostalgia category. It's what we grew up eating, fighting over who had dibs on those last precious spoonfuls. The ice cream is incredibly creamy and the way the chips get stuck in your molars is like a little chocolate gift that keeps on giving. It's the ice cream of my childhood and it will always hold a special place in my heart - and my freezer.

  • Edy's/Dreyer's Mint Cookie Crunch - Clearly I have a thing for mint chocolate. This flavor started out as a limited edition American Idol flavor called Mint Karaoke Cookie. Jared and I loved it so much we would buy 2 or 3 cartons at a time because we feared they'd stop selling it. They eventually re-released it as a regular flavor. Whew! The ice cream in this one could be a little denser if they really want to achieve ice cream perfection, but overall the combo of Oreos and the mint ice cream is truly fantastic.

  • Haagen Dazs Five: Milk Chocolate - This ice cream is exactly what chocolate ice cream should be. Simple, creamy, not too rich, not too sweet. I have yet to find a better grocery store chocolate ice cream.
  •  Almond Brittle with Salted Ganache at Salt & Straw - This picture doesn't even come close to doing this ice cream justice. I dare say it's the best ice cream I've ever had. Salt & Straw is a new ice cream stand here in Portland, and for better or for worse it's located only one neighborhood over from mine. Their claim to fame is being "farm to cone" - so very Portland. The unconventional ice cream flavors garnered a lot of hype when S & S first opened up, but this place - and this flavor - completely lived up to the buzz. This ice cream alone might be worth a trip to Portland. The chunks of homemade almond roca combined with the ribbons of chocolate ganache make for the perfect marriage of crunchy and smooth. It's just ridiculously good. No words will do it justice. (PS... try it by itself on a cone the first time.  The second time, pair it with a scoop of the Sea Salt with Caramel Ribbons. Your mouth will thank you.)

 

11 things

1) I've seen What a Girl Wants approximately 47 times. It sucks me in and I can't turn away. I'm not proud. 2) For a long time, my bucket list included singing "Here's a Quarter Call Someone Who Cares" by Travis Tritt at karaoke.  I did. About 20 seconds in, someone shouted "You suck!" I replied, "I know" and kept going. Here's proof:

3) Jared's out of town for work until tomorrow night. Since he left this morning I finished off a pint of ice cream and had a brief cry. Not at the same time.

4) I laugh at Emma's mullet at least once a day.

5) Love Actually is one of my favorite movies ever, but I always have to fast forward through the part where Laura Linney takes call after call from her brother instead of banging hot Carl. I thought once I watched it enough times it would get less uncomfortable... nope.

6) I lost 20 pounds within a couple weeks of giving birth, but it's becoming quite clear that these last 13 pounds of baby weight are going to be a real beast to get off. Sad.

7) Perhaps I should have eaten less ice cream during my pregnancy.

8 ) Perhaps I should eat less ice cream now.

9) I love ice cream.

10) I start to miss Emma when she's been asleep too long. Unless I'm also asleep.

11) I'm contemplating cutting my hair. Or maybe just taking a shower.

link love - 7.30.11

Man, the weeks this summer are really flying by. Emma's already 6 weeks old. Craziness. Here's what caught my eye this week...

  • Caramel Topped Shortbread Bites on Doughmesstic - I'll try pretty much anything that involved salted caramel.  It's quickly moving up on my list of favorite foods.  So when I saw this recipe on Pinterest, I was sold.  I'll definitely be making these puppies soon.
  • Kid's artwork keepsake book on Kaye Winiecki Designs - I inherited my mother's lack of sentimentality, whereas my husband has the ticket stub for every show he's ever been to. This genius book idea will be a great compromise for us when it comes to preserving our little one's masterpieces. Simply take a photo of your kid's artwork and put them together in a photo book.  All the sentimentality but none of the clutter!
  • Photo Display on Be Different... Act Normal - How great is this? I love the idea of doing this for a big birthday like 30 or 50, but it would also be cool for a wedding (using the initials of the couple's first names) or a little kid's birthday (1, 2, or even the kid's initials).

Emma's birth story

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“The best way I know to counter the effects of frightening [birth] stories is to hear or read empowering ones... Stories teach us in ways we can remember.  They teach us that each woman responds to birth in her unique way and how very wide-ranging that way can be.” - Ina May Gaskin, Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth

When Jared and I decided to start a family, I dove head first into researching and educating myself about reproduction and fertility.  I pored over Taking Charge of Your Fertility (the “bible” for women with fertility issues, or - in my case - super Type A wannabe mamas) before we even started trying.  I wanted to know everything I could... I thought that the more I knew about my cycle and the “ideal” time to conceive, the faster I would get pregnant. Seriously - this is how my brain works. So by the time we’d gotten through 3 months of trying and charting and negative pregnancy tests, I had convinced myself that there was something wrong with me. (Don’t worry, looking back I fully realize how ridiculous my thinking was. I don’t regret learning as much as I could, but I wish I had been more patient in applying what I learned.) When the 4th month of trying rolled around, we were pretty burned out on the charting and fertility talk so we decided to take a break from all that, went on an amazing anniversary trip to Hawaii, and - lo and behold - a week after we got back we found out I was pregnant.

My first trimester was filled with excitement, disbelief, and a whole lot of getting sick. Thankfully, my second trimester was the blissful time everyone said it would be. Now that I was feeling better, we started thinking about birth options and, once again, I began learning everything I could. I was pretty sure I wanted to try for a natural birth, and after watching the documentary, “The Business of Being Born”, Jared and I were both convinced that natural birth was the best fit for us and the safest, least stressful option for our baby. At that point, I dedicated the rest of my pregnancy to “training” for a natural birth. I started taking an amazing prenatal yoga class (if you are pregnant, I HIGHLY recommend any type of class or activity that includes open discussion with a group of other pregnant women... it was so invaluable for me), we took 5 weeks of hypnobirthing classes, practiced the hypnobirthing exercises daily, and read multiple books on natural childbirth.  I felt empowered by what I was learning, and so completely supported by Jared - who was a true partner throughout both my pregnancy and birth.

Once I hit 39 weeks, I started getting pretty impatient. Thankfully, the day after Emma’s due date, I went into labor. It was around 9:30 at night and Jared and I were sitting on the couch watching TV. I started secretly timing the contractions, not wanting to make a big deal of it if it wasn’t for real.  After about a half an hour of contractions that were 10 minutes apart, I said something to Jared along the lines of “so... I’m pretty sure I’m labor.”  We decided to try to go to bed, knowing that if this was for real we’d need our rest for what was to come. Needless to say, neither of us slept very well that night.  I got some sleep between contractions, but 8 minutes at a time is hardly restful.

My contractions were about 6 minutes apart by the next morning, but by the time I had finished a light breakfast, my labor had pretty much stalled.  I knew this was normal, especially with a first baby, so I tried not to get too discouraged.  I called the midwife who said to go about my day as normal, and that labor would probably start back up again later that day.  We went for walks, took a nap, and started working on a puzzle to help pass the time.  I had random contractions throughout the day, but nothing consistent.  Around 7 that evening the contractions picked back up, and were even more intense.  They were anywhere from 10-20 minutes apart, but much stronger and more focused in my lower back and tailbone.  We tried to sleep again that night, but it was even harder than the night before.  I got maybe a half an hour of sleep total that night.

My contractions were still pretty far apart by the next morning, so I called the midwife again who told me that based on the pattern and type of labor I was having it sounded like Emma was likely posterior and my body was slowing the labor to try to give her time to move into a better position. I’d been in labor for a day and a half at this point, so this was not welcome news. She gave me some techniques to try to get her to turn, which I spent all day doing without much progress or relief.

By that evening, my contractions were just as intense, but still stuck at 10 minutes apart.  I checked in with the midwife again, who was starting to get concerned about my exhaustion.  She instructed me to take some Benadryl, take a bath, and hopefully that combo would knock me out enough to sleep through the contractions. If that didn’t work, she said I could come into the hospital and they would give me a sleeping pill and some morphine and really knock me out.  After my bath, I got into bed and tried to fall asleep.  About 5 minutes after getting into bed, my contractions picked up.  They were 7 minutes apart and way too strong to sleep through.  I decided it was finally time to go to the hospital... either this thing was actually happening, or they’d give me a sleeping pill and I’d be able to get some rest.

When we got to the hospital, the nurse who got me set up in maternity triage was clearly skeptical about my labor having progressed enough to justify coming to the hospital. We got the definite sense that if the nursing staff placed bets on who was going to get sent home for not being far enough along, she would have bet A LOT of money on us going home.  After about 20 minutes of fetal monitoring, one of the midwives, Maggie, came in to examine me.  This was the moment of truth... had I actually been making progress during the past 50 hours of labor?  She asked me how dilated I wanted to be, to which I responded “More than 1... please just let it be more than 1.”  She replied, “How about more than 5?”  I’ve never been so relieved. It turns out I was 6-7 centimeters dilated. This was really happening.  Hallelujah. I heard the nurse say under her breath that I wasn’t acting like I was 6-7 centimeters dilated.  Ha!  Thanks, hypnobirthing.

We checked into our birthing room, and everyone seemed confident that I’d labor for a few more hours and then be ready to push.  They started setting up the water birth tub, and I walked the halls trying to encourage the labor to keep progressing.  My contractions were intense, and Jared had to apply strong pressure to my lower back during each one, but they weren’t unbearable.  I focused on my breathing, stayed relaxed, and never got to a point with my contractions that I felt like I needed drugs - which was a relief because despite my determination to have a natural birth, I was never certain that I’d be able to bear the pain.  The way the pain built up then eased off made it manageable... it was only super intense for less than a minute at a time.

By the time the tub was ready, my contractions hadn’t gotten much closer, but I got the green light to get in and holy moly did that water feel good.  I’d been looking forward to getting into that tub for 2 days and it was everything I’d hoped for.  Unfortunately, after 40 minutes or so in the tub, it was clear that it had started to slow my labor a bit.  So I got out, walked some more, got back in, and again, it slowed my labor.  Bummer.  The water felt amazing, but pain relief took a back seat to moving this labor along so we went back to walking the halls.  By 7 the next morning, about 8 hours after hearing the wonderful news that I was dilated 6-7 centimeters, I’d only progressed to 8 centimeters.  We were so tired, and so frustrated, and it was starting to feel like I was going to be in labor forever.  Women who’d gone the drug route came and went, and we were still walking the halls.  Every time we passed the nurses station we’d get looks of pity, or comments like “you’re an inspiration.”  I didn’t feel like it.  I felt defeated and exhausted.

Maggie’s shift ended and a new midwife (Penni) and nurse (Jackie) took over.  I was approaching nearly 60 hours of labor, and we started discussing next steps for trying to progress my labor.  We tried stimulation, but that actually slowed my contractions.  Penni sat down with us and discussed our remaining options, including pitocin, but I was determined to try every natural option possible before I would consider drugs.  The baby’s heartbeat was still normal and she wasn’t showing any signs of stress.  I’d come so far and I was so close.  Why make Emma’s journey so much more intense and stressful with pitocin if it wasn’t medically necessary?  I was 9 centimeters dilated... only one more to go.  But at the pace my labor was going, it could take hours more before I was fully dilated.  Both Penni and Jared were very concerned about my exhaustion - would I have any energy left to push?  My bag of waters was still intact, so I decided to have Penni break it as a last ditch effort to speed up my labor.  (I can’t say enough about how supportive and reassuring Penni and Jackie were about my desire to avoid drugs.  I never once felt pressured to do something I wasn’t comfortable with.) About 20 minutes after Penni broke my water, I started feeling the urge to push.  It had worked!  I got a rush of adrenaline knowing we were so close to finally meeting our daughter.

I ended up pushing for about an hour and a half... it was the most intense, painful, challenging experience of my life.  I pushed in a couple of different squatting positions before settling on a sitting position in which I locked forearms with Jackie and we pulled against each other with each push.  This is apparently Jackie’s special technique and it worked fantastically for me. (Jared even took Jackie’s place for a period of time and we pulled against each other as he saw way way more than he ever signed up for. The man is a saint, I tell ya!)  My exhaustion really caught up with me about halfway through pushing.  I hadn’t slept in 3 days.  Emma still hadn’t turned fully anterior, making the pushing that much more difficult. I started seriously doubting my ability to keep going.  It was too hard, too painful, the pressure was too intense.  But somehow with each contraction I went deeper inside myself and mustered the strength to push longer and harder than I thought I was capable of. Finally, her head came out, and shortly after that came the rest of her body. They immediately put her on my chest and I felt a million things all at once - love, relief, curiosity, disbelief that I was finally holding our beautiful daughter in my arms. I wanted to lay there with Emma and Jared and soak in this amazing moment, but Jackie was putting an IV in my arm and hooking me up to a pitocin drip as both she and Penni were working furiously to stop the bleeding I was having.  (The irony of needing pitocin immediately AFTER a 63 hour labor is not lost on me.)  I also had some superficial tearing that Penni had to stitch up.  It was not the post-birth experience I’d imagined, but that was kind of the theme of my whole labor and birth - the journey was so different than I thought it would be... I had this crazy 63 hour labor, barely used the tub much less birthed in it, but the outcome was exactly what I’d hoped for - Emma was amazingly healthy (she scored a 9 on both her Apgar tests), alert, and took immediately to breastfeeding.  We spent the hours after her birth just holding her and taking it all in.

My birth experience taught me so much... I learned that I’m capable of enduring an immense amount of physical pain for a really long amount of time, that even in the most trying situations I can stick to the things I really believe in, that I’m insanely lucky to have Jared as my partner (I already knew that but this experience was a big reminder), and that no matter how much planning and preparing I do some things just happen how they need to happen.

link love - 7.22.11

I'm actually kind of sad that the weekend is here because my mom left this morning, which means we're back to doing this whole parenting thing without any help.  I don't know how we did it for almost 4 weeks before she and my stepdad got here!  Hopefully Emma will take it easy on us this weekend... and if not, there's always wine. ;-) Here are a few things I've loved from the web over the past month...

  • Tomato, Mozzarella, and Pesto Paninis on Pink Parsley - We made these last week and they were DELICIOUS! They were really easy to make (even the pesto) and with mixed greens on the side they made for a great summer dinner.
  • Bike Sidecar on Bike Hacks - Such a great idea! I especially love having the kids right next to you where they're easier to see.
  • And, then there's this awesomeness (courtesy of Pinterest)... :)
Have a great weekend! :-)

I'm back!

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Hi everyone!  I can't believe a month has already gone by since I gave birth!!  Taking care of our sweet little girl sure makes the days fly by.  Speaking of, here she is...

Pretty stinkin' cute, if I do say so myself. :-) Parenthood is chaotic, but wonderful. Each week gets a little bit easier. Needless to say, I haven't had any time for crafting or sewing since she was born, but I'm hoping to make her at least one little outfit before the summer is over. Stay tuned...

{nursery progress} the big reveal!

Now that Emma is finally here, I can show you her finished nursery! The expression "labor of love" has a whole new meaning for me now, but we did put a lot of hard work and care into getting her nursery just right. If you remember back to my initial post about the nursery, this is the design plan I started with:

And here's what the room looked like before:

Starting with a firm budget of $1500, we set out to try to create a sweet, DIY inspired, eco-friendly nursery...

Here's the breakdown of what we DIY'd:

DIY'd:

As I mentioned before, we set a firm $1500 budget for the nursery - and while my husband had serious doubts about my ability to stick to that budget - I'm very proud to report that I came in UNDER BUDGET at $1302.24. The biggest expenses in the room were the Naturepedic organic crib mattress ($259), the Ikea Hemnes dresser ($199), the DaVinci Rivington crib (on sale for $191.99), the Elfa stacking drawers for the closet ($99), and the Naturepedic organic changing pad ($89.10). Together, those purchases made up almost 2/3 of our whole budget. We could have cut corners a bit by not going organic for the mattress and changing pad, but raising Emma in an eco-conscious way is very important to us, so we were willing to invest a little more for those things.

Here are close-ups of most of the things I DIY'd:

Bird mobile

Paper circle mobile

Golden Slumbers print

Murder in the City print

Monogrammed throw pillow

Personalized baby quilt

Bunting

Gum Drop ottoman

I hope you like it!  Well, really I just hope Emma likes it. :-) It was a lot of hard work, but we couldn't be happier with the final result. Leave me a comment if you have any questions about resources or any of the DIY projects!

on hiatus...

If you're reading this right now, that means I finally had our baby! Wooohooo!! It also means that my self-imposed break from blogging so I can fully focus on mommyhood has started. I'll return in a month or so, and in the meantime keep an eye out for the big nursery reveal post, which I've already written and will publish sometime in the next couple weeks (I've decided that hitting the publish button on my iPhone Wordpress app doesn't really count as blogging.) :-)

Thanks so much for all your support and kind words throughout my pregnancy!! See ya in July!

link love - 6.10.11

I'm only 4 days away from my due date, so the fact that I have absolutely nothing planned for this weekend is kind of glorious. I'm sure I'll come up with some unnecessary house projects to keep me occupied, but hopefully most of my weekend will be spent lounging in the sun and squeezing in a few last nights out with my husband. Anyway, here's what caught my eye this week...

  • Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookie n’ Oreo Fudge Brownie Bar on Kevin and Amanda - And I thought the brownie covered Oreos I made a couple weeks ago were sinful! This is without a doubt the most ridiculous dessert concoction I've seen, maybe ever. And I mean that in the best way possible. What you're looking at here is brownie batter, poured over Oreos, arranged over cookie dough, served warm with ice cream on top. I've decided that if I go past my due date I'll be totally justified in making these.  Right?  Right.

  • Rosette Pillow Tutorial on Trey and Lucy - I love these rosettes, and the possibilities are pretty limitless... a whole duvet, perhaps? Okay okay, maybe I should just start with a pillow.

  • Deluxe DIY Sandbox on small + friendly - Jared and I were just talking the other day about how it would be difficult to have a sandbox out back for our wee one because of all the rain we get here, and this just might be the perfect solution. Not only is it covered, but it's also eco-friendly (salvaged wood, sealed with low-VOC protectant, and filled with all natural beach sand.)

That's all I've got for this week!  Have a great weekend, everyone!!! :-D

{nursery progress} paper circle mobile tutorial

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Here's the how-to for the paper circle mobile I made for our daughter's nursery... (similar ones sell for upwards of $50 on Etsy, but you can achieve the same look for much much less.)

What you'll need:

  • 2 12" long 1/4" dowels
  • Drill and very narrow drill bit
  • Fishing wire
  • 12 jump rings
  • Needle nose pliers
  • Clear beads (I used CraftDesigner faceted beads in crystal)
  • Pencil
  • Permanent marker
  • Needle or pin
  • 3 shades of the same color cardstock (this is to achieve a gradient effect... you could use all 1 color or multiple colors if you prefer.)
  • 1.5" circle punch
  • Hot glue gun
  • Screw hook

1) Prepare your dowels. Using a pencil, make a mark at 1.5", 3", and 4.5" from each end of the dowel so that you end up with 6 marks on each dowel. Then make a mark a 1/4" from the end of each dowel, and drill a very small hole (big enough for the wire to go through, but not so big that the bead will go through.)

2) Punch out your circles. You'll need 108 circles - 9 circles for each string, 3 of each color on each string.

3) Poke holes in your circles using a needle or pin.

4) Cut your fishing wire. You'll need 12 pieces of wire, approximately 24" long - don't worry about them being exact because you'll cut the ends once you're done putting on the circles and beads.

5) Prepare the jump rings. Using your needle nose pliers, stretch out a jump ring so that it's wide enough to fit onto the dowel. Then tie on a piece of the fishing wire and knot it, trimming the excess of the short end.  Repeat for the other 11 jump rings.

6) Place the jump rings along the marks on the dowels. Use your needle nose pliers to close the jump rings around the dowel.

7) Mark your fishing wire. Once the fishing wire is knotted onto the jump rings, take your permanent marker and make a mark every 2 inches from the knot on the jump ring.  Make 9 marks on each string.

8 ) String your circles and beads. Starting with the darkest shade of your paper circles, string one of your pieces of fishing wire through the pin hole in the paper circle. Then take a clear bead and knot the fishing wire around it at the mark closest to the dowel/jump ring. Repeat for the other 8 circles - circle, bead, circle, bead, etc. - going from your darkest to lightest shades of circles. Cut the excess wire after the last bead.  Repeat for the other 11 pieces of fishing wire.

9) Attach your dowels. Use a hot glue gun to attach the dowels together, crossing one over the other.

10) Hang your mobile. Cut 4 generous lengths of fishing wire, and knot one end of each piece of wire around a clear bead, cutting the excess of the short end. Slip each piece of wire through the holes you drilled at the ends of your dowels, so that the bead stops underneath the dowel preventing the wire from slipping through. Screw your screw hook into the ceiling where you want the mobile to hang (use a drywall screw if needed.) Once you determine how high or low you want your mobile to hang from the ceiling, tie the four pieces of wire into a knot and loop the knot onto the screw hook.

That's it!  Comment or email if you have any questions. There are a lot of variations you could do (like drilling holes and using beads to hang the strings instead of jump rings) so don't feel like you have to stick to the steps exactly.  This is just what worked for me.  Happy mobile-ing!

link love - 6.3.11

We're supposed to have FABULOUS weather this weekend here in Portland, and I couldn't be more excited. Warmth and blue skies are just what I've been needing. Oh, and I'm getting a massage, a pedicure, and we're going to see one of our favorite local bands - Sallie Ford & the Sound Outside. It all adds up to the perfect distraction from how dang uncomfortable I am these days! Here's what I loved from the blogosphere this week:

  • Bacon Lover's Mac and Cheese on Annie's Eats - The title of this recipe pretty much says all you need to know, but in case you need more convincing, here's how insanely good it looks...

  • The "Taking Notes" Skirt Tutorial on Sewing in No Mans Land - How freaking cute is this skirt???  Kelly included tutorials for making a version for mom, too, and I can't decide which one I like better. (Before you start to doubt me, I would never ever force our poor daughter to wear matching outfits with me - maybe matching aprons for my own amusement, but nothing in public.)

  • Tips for Photographing Your Home on Making it Lovely - This is something I continue to struggle with, mostly because the lighting is so hard to get right. I'm finally ready to take the big nursery reveal photos, so the timing of Nicole's tips couldn't be better. Hopefully they turn out well!

Have a great weekend, everyone!!! :-)