DIY Bow Holder (Beware, this tutorial may result in extreme cuteness)

When I was shopping yesterday I bought so many bows. They were so cute that I couldn't just store them in a container somewhere! So I went online to find a tutorial to make something to hold all those bows, but I couldn't find one that I liked. A lot of the tutorials used picture frames or chicken wire, and thats just not the look I wanted. So I improvised.

I decided I would make my own tutorial.

First off you will need:

• Any size canvas you want
• Material 
• Quilt Batting 
• Ribbon
• Scissors
• Glue Gun

Next, decide how much batting you want to use. I wanted it to be extra fluffy, so I used two layers. Cut out a piece bigger than the canvas. Then cut out a pice of your material bigger than your batting position it on your canvas like so:

Using the hot glue gun, glue the batting to the back of the canvas, making sure you pull tight. Do the same with the material.

Don't worry about the back looking nice and perfect. As long as there are now wrinkles in the front, everything will work fine.

Now for the fun part! The ribbons! I love this because you can do whatever you want. I chose to place them diagonally, but strait up and down would look cute too! Also, I found it easier to pin down the ribbon to keep it in place, but I'm sure it is possible to do this without the pins. 

Lastly, glue the ribbon to the back of the canvas! And there you have it! An adorable bow holder! 

It's a Girl!!!

It is really going to be hard for me to contain my excitement on this post. So I'm not going to even try! We are having a little girl!! 

Upside down, but you get the drift!
Baby at 21 weeks 4 days

 Sorry about the picture of a picture! I need to get to Walmart to get these scanned and make more prints! 

It was the coolest thing, seeing my baby for the first time. I was thinking she was going to be a boy, so I was pleasantly surprised when the ultrasound tech said I had a healthy baby girl growing inside of me!! 

I had a bunch of family coming down to shop for the nursery yesterday as well, and goodness we had fun getting pink stuff.

That is the crib and some of the items that we bought. (Don't mind the creepy fiancé stalking the picture in the background.) :) 

We also got a lot of wall decals which have yet to be placed in their permanent spot, a changing table that is arriving in the mail, lots of cute clothes, and some other odds and ends. 

It was such a fabulous day!! 

Side note: 

I am still on my diaper making kick! I made a newborn fitted diaper a couple of nights ago and it is so adorable. I will be making tons more since I went a little overboard and bought too much fabric! 

I am loving this diaper! I hope it is as functional as it is cute! More diapers to come! 

Sew Crazy!

I need to work on posting more often. ehh.

So being pregnant has made me quite crafty. I am constantly thinking of new projects I want to do and make for the baby! So I figured I would share the things I have made and the things that I want to make!

So first off, I am experimenting with making my own diapers!

Don't ask why the diaper is wrapped around our Wii... haha

I'm not crazy about this pattern for the diapers, it makes a really wide diaper. I will probably be looking around for a different pattern. But nonetheless, I am having a blast sewing diapers! 

I am anxiously awaiting Monday when we find out the sex of the baby! I have warned my fiance that I am going to be sewing like crazy once I know what kind of material I can buy! Here is a list of things I would like to make for baby's nursery: 

• Curtains
• Crib bumpers
• Crib sheets 
• Crib skirt
• Changing pad cover 
• Pail liner 
• Wet bags

The list could probably go on an on. I am pretty excited! I just learned that you can buy fabric online. So I will be buying lots of that. 

So, be looking forward to lots of sewing projects in the future. Hopefully I can get started on the nursery stuff as soon as Tuesday. 

Help with my registry, PLEASE! :)

I am having the HARDEST time deciding how exactly I want to set up my baby registry. I know I want to get a lot of cloth diapering items that regular stores such as Walmart and Target just won't have. But, I also want regular baby shower gifts as well.

I am familiar with myregistry.com, but I really don't like how the website is set up, and I'm afraid that some of the older, less technological savvy guests might get confused and not be able to use it.

I am completely clueless to this sort of thing. Is it appropriate to register at two different stores?

Also, I know exactly what type of items I want when it comes to cloth diapering, but aside from that, I am kind of clueless as to what else I should register for! I know the big items, and the big toys like a bouncer, vibrating chair, etc.. but what else should I be putting on my registry? What are some items that you use/used with your baby that you couldn't have lived without?

Sorry about all the questions, but I figured if anyone can give great advice it is you all!

Side note 

So I got the cutest things in the mail today. Like seriously, this is the cutest diaper I think I have yet.

This is my Charlie Banana. I am in love with this diaper already. It is so soft on the inside and all the prints are so adorable. I am registering for tons of these for my baby shower. 

I also got this one today. I always feel safe buying a BumGenius 4.0 because I have never heard a bad thing about it. But, I have to say, if the Charlie Bananas work anything as close to how I know the BG will work, I probably won't invest in too many more BumGeniuses. Because, as I said before. I am in love with Charlie Banana!  

A greater appreciation...

Okay... So maybe I didn't exactly look this hardcore while I was hand washing laundry today... But boy did I feel like it. How embarrassing is it that my arms feel like I just did 10 sets with 50 pound dumbbells? All that wringing out by hand was exhausting!

(See, I told ya I don't look near as hardcore as the woman above)

So, before you all start applauding me for not wasting energy by hand washing clothes and all that, I have to confess, I am only doing this out of desperation.

A couple of weeks ago, I made a promise to myself that I was going to concentrate on keeping a clean, tidy house. With a little one on the way, I figured it was a good thing to get in the habit of doing now rather than later when everything is hectic. So, I vowed to keep up with laundry, dishes, vacuuming, etc... Well, of course it wouldn't be my life if something didn't happen to shake up my plans a little bit. About a week ago, my washer broke. 

I thought it was great that the lofts that we live at supplied a high efficency washer and dryer. Well, that was until the washer broke, and I was told by the maintenance man that the sets that are used in this building are no longer being made and he has to order parts from frieking EUROPE. So, long story short, we could be waiting up to a month for our washer to get fixed. 

Now, I could spend 2 dollars a load downstairs in the community laundry room and worry about hauling laundry everywhere and getting tons of quarters, or I could wash by hand. Obviously I chose the latter, thinking it would be somewhat easy. But man. Its kinda really really really really hard to wash by hand! Especially things like sheets and big hoodies. 

But I am not going to succumb to doing it the easy way. Well really, I feel like both ways kind of suck. Either spend tons of time out of the comfort of my apartment doing laundry and hauling it everywhere, or spend tons of time in my comfortable apartment killing my arms by wringing out wet soaking clothes. At least the second option gives me a good workout! 

So. I will end this by saying I have a greater appreciation for women who lived however many years ago who had to wash their families clothes using this method. They are true superheroes. 

Side note: 

I just HAD to share with you all how big of a dork my fiancé is. He was really craving some wine the other night, so he went and bought some. He came home with his bottle of red wine, only to realize that somehow in our move, the corkscrew got lost along the way. Desperate for his glass of wine, he became creative...

 
This is one of the many reasons why I love him. :)

For the Love of Cloth :)

5 months ago, if you would've told me that receiving diapers in the mail would make me super excited, I would have told you that you were crazy. But goodness, I LOVEEEEE getting my fluff mail. Ahh! It makes my day!

Okay. So, there are some new diapers in here. Last time I only had the 5 Kissaluvs size 0, 3 Thirsties covers, 2 Minky Kawaii Baby, 1 Fuzzi Bunz, and 2 newborn Kawaii Baby.

So. For my new diapers... I will start with the ones I think I will like. I really, really love the BumGenius 4.0. (the orangy colored one). The inside is so soft, and just looks like a really good quality diaper. Also, I like the newborn size BumGenius diaper as well. It is an AIO, which I didn't really realize when I ordered it. But, it is super small, which could be a good thing. But I hope it doesn't leak.

I like my Kawaii Baby, it has gotten good reviews, and at 10 bucks a diaper, it is such a good price. So if these diapers are as good as the reviews I have read, I will be in cloth diapering heaven! However, the "newborn" Kawaii Baby seem like a joke. They are not that small. So we shall see.

Of course I have prefolds and snappis. I have never heard a single bad thing about Cloth-eez prefolds. So I got a dozen in newborn size.

So for the diapers I don't think I will like. I got a free Econobum diaper with this last purchase, and honestly, they seem really cheaply made. Maybe after I prep the prefold that goes inside I will be able to see how it works better, but right now, it seems like they will leak? I don't know. And the Flip, I know it is made by BumGenius, so hopefully they are good, but it seems like the stay dry insert will move around.

Let me know if you have used any of the diapers I have mentioned and how they worked out for you! Also, if you have some brands that are your absolute favorite that I don't have yet, let me know!! 

Feeling Crafty!

So before I begin, let me give credit where it is needed! I got this idea from Carrie over at 20-Something Homemaker! She made these for her diaper bag and I thought it was the cutest thing, so I had to do it too! So these are clean/dirty bags that go inside of a diaper bag to keep it organized.

I think they turned out fairly good. I mad the 11 x 14, I hope they aren't too small. If they are, I'm sure I can find a different use for these ones and make bigger ones later. They were super fun to make. 

I did however think they were going to be way easier than they were. Sewing with vinyl really sucks. But I was able to finish them, and they look decent so it was definitely worth the effort. 

I love doing little projects like this. It makes me feel productive and it passes the time nicely. I need to find more cute little things I can make. If you have any ideas, let me know!