Crayon Holder

Crayon Holder!
a tutorial

I love this project! It can be modified for so many different things. I've made it for knitting needles and paint brushes so far :) I wonder whether it would work for taking cutlery on a picnic... maybe double as a napkin? Hmm...


I found the most adorable fabric at JoAnn's! Crayons... on fabric! It's part of a "back to school" line... all of it is so cute it makes me glad I'm not teaching any more or I'd feel obligated to buy it all and find something to do with it ;)

ANYway...

You'll need two fabrics - one for the outside and an accent color for the inside. I tried using batting for one of the knitting needle carriers I made a while back but it was WAY too bulky. Don't do it... the two layers of fabric work just fine!

Cut two rectangles (one of each fabric). The rectangles will be a different size depending on what you're putting in them... you want the height to be a little more than twice the length of the crayon (or paint brush, etc.) and the width will depend on how many you want to be able to put in it. My rectangles were 22" by 8" so I was able to cut enough for two crayon holders out of the 44" wide fabric off the bolt. (Note: when I make this again I'll make it 12" by 22"... see final product and comments at the bottom of this post)



If you're going to do any embroidery, now's the time! First I embroidered the name on the crayon fabric but it was so busy that it blended right in... so I made a patch to put over the first attempt :) After embroidering the name, cut it out, iron the edges under, and stitch it (I used a zigzag stitch in the same color thread as the name) onto the fabric that will be the outer layer. Please fold the outer layer fabric the way you anticipate having it folded for the pocket later on to figure out where to line up your patch... the first time I did this the name ended up really off-center. Thankfully the recipient is 2 years old and doesn't care... but you can learn from my mistakes and avoid this one :)




Next, sew the right sides of the rectangles together, leaving about 2 inches open somewhere so you can turn it right side out. Include a hair band or piece of ribbon in the short end seam right next to the name. You'll use this to tie the whole thing together when it's all rolled up. The part that will go around the holder needs to be poking inside... just a little short section should poke out with the raw edges right now. Don't forget to back stitch over it to make sure it's secure.

Turn the holder right sides out.


Next, iron all the edges...

... tucking in the raw edges of the hole you used to turn it right side out and creasing well.


Fold up the bottom edge and iron across the full length of the holder. Check to make sure the depth of the pocket is correct for the item being put in... I made this one so it reached about half-way up the crayon (so that when the crayons get worn down they won't get stuck... at least for a while :)
Top stitch across the long side that will be the top edge of the pocket.

Top stitch around the perimeter of the rectangle (the bottom edge is 4 layers of fabric due to the fold). When you sew the short ends, be sure to strongly secure the corner of the pocket and back-stitch across the tie.

Use the crayons/paint brushes/knitting needles/etc. to determine how wide the pockets should be and PIN PIN PIN! Then sew from the bottom edge up to the edge of the pocket. I recommend back-stitching to reinforce the top of the pocket since there will be a lot of tugging going on while the crayons are being put in and taken out.

I made the pockets wide enough for the fat crayons that my nephew will use first (he's turning 1... happy birthday, Titus!), but I don't have any yet so here's a photo of what it looks like with regular crayons in it.
(Kat - they're in rainbow order for you ;)

Then roll up and secure with the hair band or ribbon!


(You'll notice that mine isn't quite tall enough... it's supposed to have enough fabric left at the top to fold down and hold the crayons in. When I did this for paint brushes the top flap folded all the way down and overlapped the bottom pocket by an inch, which was much more secure.)

Happy 9 months, Andrew!

Yesterday on July 4, 2011, we celebrated Independence Day, 3 years of owning and living in our house, and Andrew turning 9 months old :) He is now 2 feet 4 inches tall and weighs 19 pounds 12 ounces. That puts him in the 41st percentile for height and 37th percentile for weight... he's slowed down in the past few months! His head circumference, however, is still in the 91st percentile!


He's still a very happy baby... especially when he wakes up in the morning and after naps.

Good morning, Momma! I'm so happy to see you!

I like sleeping with my feet sticking out :)

(Naps are fun times to stick feet out too!)

We're both really enjoying having James home from school this summer! He's had a few weeks on and off of working so it's been a great combination of time at home and additional income :) Andrew really loves having both parents at his beck and call ;)

Playing with Daddy on the blue couch.

Andrew finished cutting two more teeth about 6 weeks ago (so he has 8 now) and now he's working on his canines now so EVERYTHING goes in his mouth.


Uncles Kevin and Kirk came to visit 2 weeks ago. It was fun to finally have Andrew meet the man from whom he got his middle name! We had a great time spending time with them and they were great with Andrew - all very comfortable with each other and a source of continual entertainment.




Like I said... everything goes in his mouth. Laptop wires (and Nintendo wires, while the Hellers were here and it was set up) and shoes are the ultimate goal... neither of which are we thrilled about :-/

He's doing a great army crawl now... our new game is to build a tower across the living room with his stacking cups and watch him crawl over to knock it down and then repeat ad nauseum. (Sadly, I don't have any photos of this...)

In his efforts to increase his mobility, he's starting to rock back and forth on his hands and knees. He can crawl for real if we help move his knees but he hasn't figured that part out on his own yet. He's more concerned with trying to stand up... except he tries to do it from lying on his belly and only succeeds in doing some funny yoga-style moves.

(Daddy thinks I look like a dog peeing on a fire hydrant when I do this, but Momma just rolls her eyes at him)

One of the fun things to watch Andrew do now that he's a little bit mobile is playing with the toys that roll. Except they usually end up under the futon and he gets stuck under there when he tries to go get them (it's high enough to get under but low enough that he bonks his head when he tries to look up and turn around). This results in Momma rescuing him many many many times during the day. We're working on coaxing him out and teaching him how to get out without our help :)

(I'll smile for the photo, Mom, but I'm really not happy here and you really should come help me before I get all the way under!)

This weekend he actually took a book to James, handed it to him, and then lay still while James read it to him! We don't know whether it was intentional or not, but it sure was cute :) He loves having books read to him right now! His favorites are Moo, Baa, La La La (Sandra Boynton) and Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes (Mem Fox, Helen Oxenbury). He GRINS and laughs when we start reading (or reciting!) them. He smiles and likes to help turn pages (making sure to taste them while turning) regardless of which book we're reading. (side note - Sandra Boynton has a huge series of baby board books that would make great grandparent gifts!)


He's been eating a wider variety of things now. He likes yogurt and apple sauce and Cheerios any time we give them to him and baby puffs are always a good snack or dessert too. Other baby foods (carrots, sweet potatoes, garden vegetables) are usually acceptable if mixed with apple sauce... otherwise they earn a "this is DISGUSTING!" look and lots of fussiness. He has successfully eaten pasta with tomato sauce, chunks of raw tomato (skin removed), bits of bread, potato, and tortilla. Most recently added to the "I think this is yummy and will keep eating it until you say I'm done" list is mango! Berries he likes but only gets occasionally, he still isn't a big fan of bananas, and cheese is definitely a NO for now.

I'm happy that he's learned how to drink from his sippy cup by himself (instead of requiring us to hold it up at an angle to get the water down in the nipple) but he drops it off his high chair frequently... we're trying to figure out how to teach him that when he drops things he doesn't get them back without unintentionally teaching him that when he's finished with his cup he should drop it on the floor.

Bye for now!

Pinterest

Ok, I've jumped on the bandwagon. I joined Pinterest.

What is that, you say?


It's awesome.


And addicting.


And awesome.


Do you find all sorts of great ideas online, bookmark them, and then forget about them? Or can't remember what you titled the bookmark and spend more time clicking on 40 thousand bookmarks to try to find the one you want and then just give up and try googling the idea anyway?

Yep.

Then Pinterest is for you :)


It's an online pin board. When you find a great idea, you "pin" it to your pin board and it shows a picture of the awesome thing with a link to the original site. Crafty ideas, furniture ideas, new recipes, quotes, tutorials... anything :)

Now why didn't I think of this?


Not only that, but it allows you to see other people's pin boards so you can get even more awesome ideas! And you can follow your friends' boards (or other people's boards who you like most of their stuff so you'll probably like the stuff they pin in the future) too. Yea!


Like I said: addicting :)


Happy pinning!

How to Fold a Fitted Sheet

I used to think that figuring out how to fold a fitted sheet wasn't worth the time, hassle, brain cells, or aggravation. Then my brilliant Aunt Cathi showed me this trick and now my sheets no longer look like this in my laundry cabinet:
Step 1: Find two adjacent corners. Put your hand in one so it is pointing out. Put your hand inside the next so it is pointing inside out.

Step 2: Fit the second corner inside the first and smooth out the wrinkles. The elastic edges should line up with each other.

Step 3: Do steps 1 and 2 with the other two corners. You will end up with the sheet folded in half and to sets of corners folded inside each other.

Step 4: Invert one set of corners. They will point the same direction as the other corners.

Step 5: Insert corners 3 & 4 into corners 1 & 2. Now corners 2, 3 and 4 are inside corner 1... in other words, all four are together.


Step 6: Smooth out wrinkles. Fold the left edge (with the corners) in to the center and fold the right edge (with the end of the elastic and what is actually the middle of the sheet) in to the center so the edges meet and make a hot dog bun shape.

Step 7: Fold the sheet like a hot dog bun, along the center line where the edges meet, and smooth out wrinkles. Starting at each end, fold in toward center until it makes a hamburger bun.


If you're super organized and kind of fancy you can take a tip from this blog and store your sheets inside their coordinating pillowcases. Such a clever idea, I wish I would have thought of it myself.

Happy folding!

Sewing Party

Today I hosted a sewing party to make clothing for an orphanage in Guatemala that our church visits on mission trips. (As a side note, did you know that there would be no orphans in our country if one family in each church adopted one child?) There are two trips going this summer and these dresses and pants will be delivered in July. So far we have completed 13 dresses and 6 pairs of knee-length shorts... we barely made a dent in the pile of cloth and ribbon that was donated. The dresses are "pillowcase" dresses, although almost all of them are made from a piece of fabric not a pillowcase. The pants are re-purposed t-shirts. I'll be distributing the leftover fabric and ribbon to church members this week to finish the sewing by the end of the month. It was such a blessing to spend time in fellowship, conversation, and productive activity!

After Andrew nursed at bedtime and we sat and talked, waiting for James to come in to pray and put Andrew in bed. I usually recount what we've done during the day so today's conversation included worshiping God with our church family, playing with me when we got home, taking a good nap (praise God!), having yummy lunch and dinner, and play time with Daddy since I was sewing with my friends. I told him that we were making clothes for children like him who don't have a momma or daddy like he does.

That sentence totally changed my perspective. I could type another three paragraphs on what my thoughts have been reflecting on that sentence, but I won't make you wade through all of that. Just humor me and look at your kids and imagine them in the place of the Guatemalan orphans our mission trip is going to visit.

I'll leave you with that thought since it's the one I'm left with after putting Andrew to bed.





Praise God... Almighty Creator, holy and magnificent, merciful and gracious, loving and just. His compassions fail not, his lovingkindness endures, his faithfulness is to all generations.

Snuggle monster momma

I remember a friend coming to visit with her 8 month old son shortly after Andrew was born. I think he was 2 months old. I was amazed at how big her baby was, especially compared to Andrew! And I remember thinking "I don't want my baby to be that big... I like him all snuggly and little like he is now!"

I still think he's "all snuggly and little" now even though he's the 8 month old now and is a lot bigger than he was at 2 months! And I'm soaking up every minute he'll let me snuggle him since he's about to be mobile and I'm sure his patience for momma snuggles will go out the window when he figures out he can get away from me :) He already tries to dive off my lap after nursing.

Makes me savor the 4:30/5 am feeding he still gets since he lets me burp and rock and snuggle him afterwards. With his sweet little sweaty head of hair tucked between my collar bone and ear. And his arms hugging around my neck and shoulder, fingers stroking and massaging my pj's. And his footie-pajama-ed toes tucked between my leg and the boppy pillow.

Speaking of which, if anybody knows a reliable source of footie-pajamas in sizes bigger than 9 months, let me know. Current working hypothesis is that he needs to be quite warm to sleep comfortably (sweat pants = good nap, shorts = no nap) and all the stores around here stop at 9 months. I can order online, but I'd rather buy in a store :)

Thanks, y'all!

If you thought breastfeeding was my soapbox...

I have something to say. It’s going to shock some of you. I’m going to say it anyway and I'm going to be honest.

My son was delivered by Cesarean Section… and that was the right decision.

Blasphemy, I know. Especially for those of us in conservative/Christian/reformed circles. And I’m not even in the “everything in my house needs to be organic” camp.

Don’t get me wrong… I went in planning on doing it all natural. Natural childbirth is a beautiful thing. And the healthiest option assuming everything goes well. I’m glad more people are choosing to go natural these days… medical intervention isn’t all it’s cracked up to be a lot of the time. I’m certainly not for scheduling surgery when it’s unneeded (I switched doctors because the first one insisted I have a D&C for my miscarriage instead of supporting our decision to wait for my body to do it naturally), and I was actually looking forward to tangibly relying on God’s faithfulness and provision during labor. I looked forward (albeit with a healthy dose of anxiousness that’s normal preceding the birth of your first child) to the contractions, the progression of labor… I looked forward to being put in a situation of coming face to face with the realization of how weak I am and how great God is. I looked forward to my husband coaching me through the labor. I looked forward to having my slimy, slippery little baby placed on my chest moments after he was born. I had twenty reasons why natural childbirth was the right way to go, had a stellar birth plan, and a healthy pregnancy and baby.

So we went with a group of midwives who deliver at a family-centered hospital (having considered home birth and birthing center… both good options but not what we ended up choosing). We received excellent prenatal care and were right on track for a natural childbirth. Even the nurses in this maternity ward are trained as doulas… none of the standard reasons to expect to have a C-section were present (there’s another hospital with an 80% Cesarean rate… not going there, thanks!)

And then 20 hours after my water broke, the baby was still at -1.5 and I was barely more than 3cm dilated. Yes, we used Pitocin and no, I didn’t have any problems with it. I was having great contractions. I did the positions. I was able to relax between contractions and work with (not against!) them while they were there. But sweet little baby wasn’t moving.

I was all for sticking it out for a long(er?) labor except that my water had broken and I was Strep B positive. Have you ever looked up what Strep B can cause in an infant? We had a 24 hour timeline that I wasn’t going to argue with. If I wasn’t Strep B positive then we would have had that discussion… but I was, so we didn’t.

So after 14 hours of contractions (which, contrary to what some people are thinking, even though I was only 3 cm they were real, serious contractions- I was definitely in active labor even though my cervix didn’t get that message) and an epidural to try to trick my body into letting the baby descend (which resulted in contractions seriously off the charts... and I would lie if I said I wasn’t relieved to not be feeling them any more) my midwife came to check, saying “ok, with these contractions I know we’re going to see 6 or 7cm!” only to find me barely at 3.5cm. So we tried a couple of more things to avoid surgery…

Two (or three?) hours later we went in to surgery knowing we had tried everything, trusting the medical advice of a woman who shared our values and wanted to avoid surgery as much as we did, and trusting even more that our God is sovereign and righteous and merciful and faithful.

My heart thanks my friend Kathy who said, while we were both recovering in the hospital from the birth of our boys on the same day (she from her third totally natural delivery and me from surgery), “It doesn’t matter whether you deliver vaginally or by c-section… nobody escapes the curse.” It was so freeing to hear her say that. Pain in childbirth is a result of sin, pure and simple. Even women who get to have "easy" and fast labors and deliveries have pain… both in the labor/delivery and in the recovery. Even women who plan on and receive epidurals have some pain during labor and eventually in recovery. Every person walking around today was delivered from a woman who endured pain and hardship in order to bring her baby into the world. It is something we need to appreciate about every mother… but not wear as a badge of honor or pride. We sometimes are at the point of elevating those who go through natural childbirth above the rest of us. The result of sin becomes the origin of a new sin… pride.

My birth experience was not what I originally wanted… but I still saw God’s provision and faithfulness. I still had some of the closest and most tender times with my husband that we’ve ever had. I still saw the depth of love that my friends and family have for me over the whole course of my pregnancy, delivery, and recovery. I still went through the same labor and delivery and recovery as every other woman who delivers a baby. And I still have the amazing illustration of God’s miracle of creation every day (and night!) in front of me.

I am not less of a woman for having a Cesarean birth. I did not “take the easy way out” and I am not a statistic or an example of how medical intervention is rampant in our society. I was not pushed into having surgery by lack of information, lack of effort, or lack of planning. I was not so exhausted that I would agree to whatever anybody suggested (that didn’t happen until 2 nights later). My husband and I made a well-informed, intelligent decision for the healthy birth of our child. And it was the right choice for our situation. Period.

I have been confronted with my own arrogance and prejudice to believe that “there are way too many C-sections and women are persuaded to have them by lack of knowledge and doctors who want the pay check for surgery.” And it makes me angry to realize that there are other Christian women out there who subconsciously hold this same belief. (In fact, I know several of my friends think this way because I’ve received underhanded comments or well-meaning pity in the disguise of compassion.) I’m not saying that every doctor has the highest integrity and that nobody has surgery because it’s convenient for the doctor. I know that’s the case in some situations. But not all of them. And I was foolish to think that I knew enough to make assumptions about other people’s deliveries. And my assumptions have been, I’m sure, just as hurtful as the assumptions and comments about my c-section have been to me.

So…

I’m sorry for all the times that I was not compassionate or graceful when I heard another woman had surgery instead of a vaginal birth. I’m sorry for assuming that VBAC’s are the obvious, best, healthiest choice for the next pregnancy. Now that I’m in the position of having to make that choice (no I’m not pregnant yet) and the normal anxiety about childbirth has the potential for uterine rupture added to it I can totally understand why women choose to schedule subsequent C-sections. It’s NOT just a matter of convenience or laziness or wanting to avoid labor.

All this to say…

I’m done feeling guilty for my C-section. I wasn’t worried about it right afterwards but in the past few months I’ve taken too many people’s comments to heart and have really been struggling with being self-conscious and self-critical about it. I’m done thinking that I just wimped out and couldn’t do it. I’m done thinking there’s something less valuable about my birth experience. I’m done worrying about what other women think when they hear that I had a Cesarean even when they don’t know the whole story or even about the hours of labor prior to the surgery. What you think doesn’t matter.

What matters is that beautiful little boy who grins at me while trying to learn how to crawl… and his future siblings who will be every bit as perfect if they are born via Cesarean Section as they would be if born by VBAC.