Gifts For Kaylee

We're back from our trip to Arizona! More details to come on that, but I wanted to post some of the presents that I made for my sister's (the above mentioned Kaylee) graduation/18th birthday.

Kaylee has decided that she's going to go to cosmetology school in Provo in the fall. The only downfall to this is that she's going to have to wear ALL BLACK. Not too hard for many of us who like black and wear it all the time, but Kay's favorite color is YELLOW, and she's always wearing plenty of color.
I thought I would make her a cute top to wear to school! I bought a plain black Old Navy shirt and added some roses to it to make it more fun!

Those roses up close! I followed the Sew A Rose Out Of Knit Tutorial on the sewtakeahike blog. It was really easy! And I'm REALLY happy with how it came out. I may have to do this to all my Plain Jane t-shirts. Don't be surprised if roses are just falling off of me.

I also made this jewelry organizer for her. I was thinking she's not going to have much room to spread out all her accessories (and she'll be taking them ALL since she's going to have to add some flare with all that black) so this could double as wall art!
I bought a frame at the second hand store for a few bucks. It had a picture and glass and such, which I just tossed, and then painted the frame- what else? YELLOW!
I glued in some screen that Dale so awesomely cut for me (which he already had) and then glued some of my left over fabric from my chair reupholster job to the back. There's just a bit of space between the two layers for easy earring hanging.
Then Dale drilled some holes in it along the bottom and I screwed in some cup hooks for necklaces.

I didn't make these, but bought these at the second hand store for Kaylee, too. They were only a few bucks, and were all dirty and bronze-y. No wonder they were still sitting there waiting for me! I took them home, soaked them in some jewelry cleaner, brushed 'em up, and bling! They are more amazing that I could possibly say. What a great find, I almost kept them for myself...

Why I Never Get Anything Done

Dale often comes home and wonders why I didn't get anything done that day. Especially when I have a 19 1/2 month old who is so eager to help out.
Brighton loves to help me get ready in the mornings. She makes sure that anything I could POSSSIBLY need is out and at my fingertips (or toe tips, if you will). Be it lotion, nail polish, q-tips, the entire box of bandaids, every brush and curling iron i have, or even dog shampoo and bubble bath. She actually wasn't doing a very good job that morning...

She loves to help me sweep. Whether it's standing right in the middle of the kitchen watching me while I try to get all the dusties around her, or tearing the broom away from me because she wants to do it.

She loves the vacuum! Brighton loves to help me by trying to sit on the front so she can show me where I need to go. So thoughtful. Sometimes she wants me to test the suction power by throwing toys in my path.

She helps me put the dishes away. Or maybe this was when she was reorganizing the cupboards for me. B is so great at helping me keep things in their place and clutter free.

Or maybe she was just making some room for herself to sit down while she went on a snack break.

Brighton is so excited to help me dust that she grabs the dust rag out of my hands, steals the Pledge, and goes at it! Maybe I just missed a spot? Perhaps I just need to be more thorough and THAT'S why she wants me to take three hours to dust the living room.

Yep, I missed a spot.

She even helps me make my bed. She gathers up the pillows and makes sure they're all fluffed and ready to put back on the bed.

Brighton even wants to help me bathe the dog. Except he's learned by now to run away when she comes near. But it's not like dogs are somehow faster or more slippery when they're covered in bubbles.

And she helps me with laundry. Whether it's hiding that red sock in with the whites, stealing wet clothes from the dryer without me seeing and hiding them in her toys, running off with dirty clothes and hiding them somewhere, or helping me to (un)fold. Or she steals my laundry basket and hangs out in it.

Sure, I guess I could try and get all this done when she's taking a nap. But then, when am I going to eat lunch without having to share it with her, check my email, call friends, post on my fabulous blog, or get any of my sewing and crafting done?

Newborn Gown With Flip Over Hand Cover Tutorial

Another newborn gown that I made this morning from one of Dale's old work "team" shirts. Again, I used this mama makes stuff's tutorial. I also joined her flickr group and checked out some of the other ones she's made. She had a cute one with the sleeves that have a little flip over hand cover, which is SO necessary in those early months. I decided I would try and make my own, and put it into a tutorial for anyone who wants to try it too, and so I can reference back to it when I make my NEXT ONE!

1. Cut two rectangles measuring 4"x3". The 4" side is the hemmed side. I used one of the sleeves from an old shirt of mine, as you can see. You could also use the bottom hem of the shirt. I just didn't want to hem one side of the little flippy thing. If you want to hem it yourself, just make sure you add in a little extra fabric for folding over.

2. With right sides facing each other, pin the flippy pockets to the sleeve so that it is flush with one side. Make sure you put it to the opposite side on the other sleeve. Pin and sew onto the middle of the sleeve using a 1/4" seam allowance. (Isn't my ironing board cover SOOOO cute?! Thanks, mom!)

3. Flip the flippy pocket over and iron the seam. Baste along the bottom and side edge.

4. Trim the extra off the end of the flippy pocket so that it matches the angle of the sleeve and continue on with the rest of the tutorial!

Now, I'm no expert, so if this is confusing, or you have a better way, let me know! Have fun making newborn gowns with flip over hand covers!

What I Made Today

I took a break from tailoring my friend's clothes to make something for the little guy that's going to be here in just three and a half months! I have like NO time to get all the things done that I want. I'm going to be working hard these next couple months!

I used this tutorial from this mama makes stuff. She is awesome- it's turning an old t-shirt into a newborn gown. I've had this tutorial saved in my favorites for almost a year. I didn't need to make one for Brighton (she was too big by that time anyways for one of these nighties) and I didn't want to practice on one that I would give away to someone else. It was SO easy. I seriously spent maybe an hour on it.

The tutorial is really well done, the pattern pieces are easy to cut and it turned out super cute. One suggestion if you end up using it- she used a zig zag stitch which caused my sewing machine to try and eat the knit, and made it stretch a bit too much, which you don't want either. I ended up just using a regular stitch and things came out just fine. I'm planning on making a few more, just so I won't have to buy any gowns. Yay for saving money! I feel so green.

I'll be raiding Dale's closet for more shirts so be ready to see a few more. Just don't tell Dale and maybe he won't notice that some of his old t's have gone missing...

Mother's Day

I just realized I never blogged about Mother's Day! How could I be so thoughtless and crazy?! My parents sent me the beautiful flowers with a great little note about how awesome I am. They're good like that- always rooting for me.
Dale was gone the week before Mother's Day. I picked him up from the airport Saturday afternoon and he decided since we were down south, he wanted to take me to my favorite restaurant (CALIFORNIA PIZZA KITCHEN!) for Mother's Day. I was ALL over that. He also gave me this great card, again, telling me how awesome I am.

Brighton made this card for me in her nursery class at church. There's a cute little poem on the back. I'm such a dork, I nearly cried when she gave it to me. My very first Mother's Day card from one of my children. It's sporting itself on my fridge for most likely the next year!

While this has nothing really to do with Mother's Day, I thought I'd share. Dale had a work dinner last night. He's been so busy this week and felt bad that he hasn't been able to come home and spend much time with me. So, he brought me home some chocolate cake! The frosting got a little messed up from the box, but it still tastes yummy. This is my lunch today. Don't hate on me! I like cake. I eat pretty good most of the time, and I'm pregnant. I'm allowed a treat for lunch, don't you think?

And then I thought I'd share a little something about my own mother. She is AWESOME! Isn't she so beautiful? I'm so grateful to have such an amazing mother. She married my dad when I was only 6 years old- and she was only 21. Can you imagine being the mom to a 6 year old when you're 21? She was so brave. And she did an awesome job.
She's taught me so much in the past 19 years. She's the most thoughtful person I know. She was always trying to teach us to serve each other and others and to give thoughtful things to one another. She's beautiful and has a great sense of style. She's a great decorator and has helped me so much with my own house. She's a motivator and just a super spectacular woman!
But most of all she is my best friend. As I raise my own children, I'm trying to be like my mom. She's such a great example to me of pure love and unselfishness. Thanks mom for being so great! Words just aren't enough.

Alright, I Did It...

I'll admit it, I broke down and finally bought some baby boy clothes. I've been wanting to hold off until closer to the time he arrives so I didn't go crazy and buy too much by getting things here and there.
Brighton had WAY too much stuff (not because of me, but grandparents getting all excited and two baby showers), and I want to make sure this little guy gets plenty of use out of those little clothes.
But I got all of these second hand, so I don't feel so guilty. Most of them were 50% off (yay for going on the right day!) and then I had a 20% off coupon. So, I got all this stuff for a total of $38. Not too bad. Everything is 0-3 months or 3-6 months, so these things are practically brand new! Brighton hardly wore the same thing twice- Baby Boy is going to wear these babies in! And let me just say how WEIRD it is to look at boy clothes when I've trained myself to search out all things ruffly and pink.
And yes, I did buy two pairs of shoes (they were 50 cents each). I'm one of those crazy anal moms that can't stand bare footed babies.
Baby Boy Hibler has got a lot to live up to if he wants to be a best dressed boy. We've all seen Carter Green- too handsome.

What I've Been Up To

I painted some onesies for my little man today! (Click on the picture if you want a closer view)
Top left is the Dharma symbol, for those of you who are not fellow Losties. I'm a huge fan of LOST and life just isn't complete without a baby of mine joining the Dharma Initiative.
Top right is for Dale. If you know him well, you know how much he'll appreciate me dressing his son in this little number.
Bottom left is a cute little robot, and bottom right a really cool rocket!
I used freezer paper stencils for each of them. For the robot and the rocket, I ended up needing to do some detailing with a paint brush after the stencil was dry.

These are the rest of the squares that I finished for the quilt along- finally got around to taking a picture after I ironed all of them today. I think that's what I hate the most about sewing: so much ironing. I hate ironing. But you've got to do it to make things look nice.
I put the squares on a white table cloth, just to see how the quilt will look with the white sashing. It's going to take me forever just to figure out how I'm going to lay out all these squares. But at least I'm done making some for now, at least until June.

What has been so fun about this quilt is that I've used up all those scraps I couldn't bear to part with. And my stash has dwindled down to this. Just a basket of the ones that can still be folded, and a bag of the ones that are too small for me to use right now (or probably be used at all, I just can't part with them). I dug into my actual fabric stash a few times for a fabric to match, but it's pretty much just been leftovers!
Dale asked me the other day who I was making this quilt for. Then, before I could answer, he said something to the effect, you probably won't be able to give it away since it has so much sentimental value, you know, using all the pieces from the projects you've done over the last year that you've taught yourself how to sew.
I was totally thinking of giving it away! Now I can't- now it is a collage of all my craftiness of the last year. Way to go Dale. He probably meant to get me to keep it, so he could use it.

That MIGHT be it for my crafts for the rest of the month! I say might because I may just end up getting side-tracked from what I NEED to get done. I've been asked by a friend in the ward to tailor some of his wife's clothes for her birthday. I've got the buttons sewn back on, a zipper stitched back in, and a vintage dress repaired. I've still got some hemming, pockets to sewn in, linings to replace, seams to sew up, and another vintage dress to try and fix. Her birthday is the day before we leave to go to ARIZONA! So I might be caught up with that for that next few days.
But don't worry, because when I get back from the wonderful land of sun, I have baby crib bedding to make, quilts to quilt, Pay It Forward gifts to do, and plenty of other projects that are only half done to finish!

Pay It Forward: Gift #2

Brittany, Brittany, lucky you!
You get Pay It Forward Gift #2!

This is what I made for Brittany: some appliqued wash cloths. I just love this Alexander Henry fabric, Pears and Apples (or Apples and Pears, I don't remember which), and have a TON of scraps left over from various projects. I've been wanting to try to applique the fruit onto something, but was a little nervous just because of the difficult shapes. And that zig zag stitch is crazy sometimes! But I think they turned out really stinkin' cute. I almost kept them for myself.

Brittany also made me this cute little box bag. I don't know what I'll put in it- but isn't that fabric to die for cute!? I'm thinking it would make a good "catch all" in my purse for all that little stuff floating around.

Quilt Squares

The other batch of squares that I made last week. I still have more to take pictures of... I'm way ahead for the quilt-along (it's only one square a day) but we're going out of town in about two weeks. I wanted to be all caught up through the end of May so that when we get back, I'm not behind!

Brighton's Latest Silly Thing

I was wondering when this was going to happen- when Brighton would figure out she could crawl into small spaces, cabinets, drawers, etc. She finally had a fun time sitting in daddy's bookshelf. Good times.

I CANNOT get her to take this hat off. She's been wearing it for like two weeks now. When she finally does take it off, I hide it, only for her to find it again.

Playing with one of her many bracelets, and of course, the hat.