Almost Home/Sewing in Baby Steps

We are staying at my parents' tonight - it was one of those things where we just couldn't go another mile even if we wanted to. Goose has been a trooper, though! I think the only thing that got her through this evening's drive was the thought that she would get to watch Care Bears at Grandma's. My mom *just* took her upstairs to bed, so it's another late night. Here's hoping we'll be back on schedule soon once we get home.

I wanted to make a quick post to point out that Valerie at Frugal Family Fun Blog is hosting a beginner's sewing workshop called Sewing in Baby Steps to help anyone learn how to sew! Though I've been stitching away for several months now, I joined to see what she's cooking up - I know I will learn some new things, too. There are instructions on the linked post on how to join the Google Group, and it starts September 1st. Hope to see you there - tell all your friends! :>)

I have pictures uploaded to my computer and hope to share a few of them once we get honest-to-goodness home. Hope everyone is well!

Microwave Chex Mix

In the summer, I like to use the oven as little as possible. In preparing for our week-long car trip to Wyoming, I wanted to pack some snacks that would help keep us going without being too unhealthy or expensive. Homemade Chex Mix fits the bill (and is delicious!!) but running my oven for an hour in August is about the last thing I want to do. Kitchen tip: use the microwave to make Chex Mix! My basic recipe is the same:

Chex Mix
3-6 tablespoons butter (less is lower fat, more is yummier; I use about 4.5 T)
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tablespoon seasoned salt
3/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
3 cups each Rice Chex, Corn Chex, Wheat Chex
1 cup pretzel sticks or mini twists
1 cup bagel chips or melba toast, broken into bite sized pieces if necessary

I measure all the cereal, pretzels, and chips into a gallon ziptop bag. In fact, I will sometimes measure it all out and just store it in the ziptop bags ready to be seasoned and cooked. (You'll need two boxes of wheat Chex to one box each of rice and corn and I think you'll end up with six total batches.)

Melt the butter in a cup or bowl, stir in seasonings. Pour over cereal, zip top closed, and shake well but gently to combine. Pour into a large bowl. Microwave on high for two minutes, stir. Microwave another two minutes on high and stir, then microwave one more minute. Bowl will be HOT! Pour out on newspapers (I cover them with a layer of paper towels) to cool and dry. Flavor improves as mix cools. Store in an airtight container if you have any leftover.

In the winter, I prefer to make the mix in the oven. I just bake it at 250* for an hour, stirring every 15 minutes.

For more kitchen tips, visit Tammy's Recipes.

And be sure to visit my give-away post - there's something for everyone!

Vacation Update

[I don't have too many links to share as of now, so I'm not doing a Reading the Whole Internet post yet.]

We're having a pretty lovely time on our vacation! We left home after Goose's nap on Wednesday, and stayed at my parents' that night. Goose got me out of bed about 1:45 with some pretty hard crying, but was able to go back to sleep after a bit. Thursday we drove all the way to Sheridan, Wyoming, intending to stop at Ft. Laramie but by the time we got there, Goose was asleep and I wasn't about to wake her up.

On Friday, we enjoyed a lovely lunch with a whole bunch of family on a beautiful lake. Hubs took the Goose back to the hotel for her nap, which she not-so-politely declined. Sigh. Of course, she slept about 10 minutes on the way to the wedding. She hung in there pretty well, but when she misses a nap like that, I really prefer to get her down for an early bedtime to make up for it. I gave in to some family peer pressure, though, and stayed for the late dinner . . .

[The wedding was outdoors and they zipped through towards the end as a thunderstorm made its way towards us. We rushed inside just as it started to rain. Unfortunately, the dinner was intended to be outdoors and no one in charge must have realized the storm was coming because they didn't pull in the tables. We waited quite a while for them to set up some alternate locations inside - I think we ended up eating in an excercise room? - then we waited for the bridal party to get back from wherever they went on a bus.]

Goose chattered all the way home, and didn't fuss much going to bed, which was nice. She didn't sleep in, though. We got packed up and headed on to Little Big Horn, which is where Custer's Last Stand took place. We ate lunch there then walked around the trails, and Goose ended up falling asleep in the stroller, which has *never* happened before. Better yet, she stayed asleep for the transfer into her car seat (never EVER happened before!) and actually ended up sleeping around 3.5 hours, tying her recently set car nap record. She woke up about the time we got to Bozeman for supper, and we continued on to Big Sky where we had hotel reservations.

Our room is fantastic for what we need - there are two queen beds in the main room (one for sleeping, one for stuff!) then another queen bed in a separate bedroom. I've learned that Goose and I both sleep better when we are not in the same room. (Someday, I'll do a long post or series of posts on what to do when your baby is a terrible sleeper.) Last night, she'd reached the end of her rope, though.

We splashed around in the pool for a while hoping to wear her out, and it was quite late by the time I put her down. She spent an hour and a half alternating between crying HARD and saying "blanket! help!" and holding her taggie blanket that my MIL made her. I couldn't for the life of me figure out what she wanted to do with it - I tried every part of the crib and her and finally gave up. I got her to sit down and patted her back until she was nearly out then I leaned her over and she thankfully stayed asleep.

This morning we visited West Yellowstone before heading into the park. We were walking with Goose when she slipped out of both our hands, fell, and bonked her poor head. I felt awful, but it was pretty minor. Hubs drove through the park while Goose and I slept, which was nice. :>) Actually, we only slept through about half of it, and stretched our legs (and had some ice cream!) then saw some spectacular sights. (Yes, I know I should post pictures but it's late and my borrowed camera and cord are all the way across the room.)

We went back to West Yellowstone and visited . . . something - don't remember what it's called. It was billed as some sort of bear and wolf place but it sure wasn't worth the money. The best part was the playground where Goose and another little girl had a blast on the slides. (The other little one was a week younger than Goose.) Then it was off to supper where the inevitable happened - Goose took a face plant. She has been running more and getting braver this trip, so it was bound to happen. It wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been - she didn't even cut her lip. But I still felt awful and I hope we don't spend much if any time in that town tomorrow!

As a blessing, she went to sleep without a peep tonight, and at a pretty reasonable time, too. Tomorrow should be a good day! We're planning to drive through the south loop of the park then toward home, though I don't know that we'll even make it as far as my parents'.

I'll get some pics posted soon, I promise. Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Homemade Baby Leg Warmers

Greetings from beautiful Wyoming! We had a lovely trip here (mostly) - beautiful scenery, 2-year-old took a 3.5 hour nap in the car (!), I forgot my wallet, my camera, and a bracelet device that I use to control motion sickness when driving through the mountains(!). Luckily I brought most of the cash we intended to bring, Hubs has all our credit cards, and the only thing I'm really missing is my drivers' license. My mom loaned me her camera, and we'll pick up some Dramamine or such before heading into the mountains. On to Frugal Friday!

When I got pregnant and started reading all the "baby propaganda" out there, one advertisement that stuck out as *cute*cute*cute* was for Babylegs. Ever the cheapskate, though, I set my sights on more practical items that we actually needed. If YOU wish to buy a pair or six of my leg warmers, I'd be happy to oblige, though! Please click over to my Etsy shop from the sidebar.

One day, I stumbled across a tutorial on flickr to make baby leg warmers out of socks. When I went back to link to it, it said the page was now private. I've not taken pictures when I've made any, so this post was an attempt to walk you through it in words. Goose is shown above sporting her cow leg warmers. [edit: here it is!! And here is a tutorial on how to make them using a dollar store scarf. Awesome!]

First, get your hands on a cute pair of adult knee socks. Unless they're for a tiny baby, you want actual knee length, not mid-calf or crew or anything else - and adult size, not girls. Lay them out flat whichever way they come out of the package, usually with the fold running down what would be your shin and where the stocking seam would hit down your calf if ladies still wore such things. (How's that for a visual???)

I try to eyeball where the sock seemed to smooth out at the ankle coming up from the heel to make that first cut - essentially, you're cutting to make a long tube for the main part of the legwarmer, so you want that bottom seam to be as even as possible, and cut the foot off the sock. Consider the design on your sock, and decide if you'd rather have an extra inch in length or straight stripes in the design on the bottom.

Next, you're going to cut the toe and heel off the foot of the sock so that you have the small tube that goes over the middle of your foot, and we'll use that to make the cuff. Again, eyeball your sock and try to cut so that you'll end up with the most even top and bottom possible. The original instructions identified to cut the cuff to a certain size, but I found that some socks (cough*cheaper ones*cough) didn't come out well when I tried to do that. Since your foot is taller the closer it gets to your ankle, the tube will be wider at that end. I tried to just trim it up evenly and take off the least amount of fabric possible near the toes. (Clear as mud?)



You'll discard the toe and heel, unless you want to use them for sock monkeys, or some such. I made this sock monkey for my niece for Christmas last year - but you use a whole pair of socks, no need for extra heels or toes. Unless, I suppose, you have socks with the heel worn out, in which case you'd be glad for the extra heel pieces! I promise her mouth doesn't look that crooked in real life - yikes! But I digress. Sorry.


If the intended recipient happens to have chunky thighs, you may want to use a piece of knit or ribbed fabric instead, and make what used to be the top of the sock (that reaches your knee) into the bottom of the sock (that sits on baby's ankle) and make a larger cuff for the top. You'll use the same principle as we will for our cuff.

Fold the cuff in half lengthwise (so that the top is the part that was near the ankle and the bottom is the part that was near the toes) with the RIGHT sides together, or basically inside out. You can use a machine to stitch these together if you prefer, I found that I could control my tension better by hand stitching. Stitch down the side of the cuff so the top and bottom are still open. Make sure you use good knots - these will likely take some abuse!

Then fold it in half the other way to form the actual cuff, so the wrong side of the fabric is inside. Take a look at the pattern on either side and decide which one you prefer - you might also look at how it will join up with the bottom of the other part of the sock. Situate it so the part you want showing is to the inside and insert the main part of the sock/legwarmer in the cuff with the three cut edges together. (MAN, that is begging for a picture - sorry!)

I would try to line *something* up between the top and bottom, be it the seam of the cuff and the fold line of the sock, or whatever works for the pair you have. Then start stitching! This is where hand-sewing really worked better for me. I'd sew several stitches, then give the opening a stretch all the way around so that the smaller cuff would stay lined up with the larger sock.

Once you get it all stitched on, tie a good knot, snip your thread, and turn the cuff right side out - admire your work and repeat on the other sock! The tutorial recommended using a serger or zigzag stitch to finish off the raw edges inside, but I never have and they seem to be fine. Feel free to e-mail me at the address on the sidebar or leave a comment with any questions!

If you don't want to make a cuff, and the intended recipient is an older child, check out My House Boutique's leg warmers that are simpler to make.

And for more frugal ideas, visit Life As Mom.

Microwaved Scrambled Eggs

Sometimes it can be tough to get toddlers to eat enough protein. If Goose asks for eggs in the morning, I'm happy to oblige! The problem is that she wants eggs NOW . . . and though we're working on patience, first-thing-in-the-morning hungries are pretty rough.

To get breakfast on her high chair tray FAST, I use the microwave to cook a scrambled egg. I use a round glass dish, around four inches across. (I used to use plastic, but I think this method is pretty hard on them.) Grease it according to your favorite method, or whatever strikes your fancy in the morning - nonstick spray, bacon grease, butter, etc.

You can crack the egg directly in the dish and scramble it with a fork, or you can crack it into another bowl or cup, scramble, then add to the dish. The advantage of using a separate bowl is that you don't disturb the grease and the egg sticks a bit less, though I've found that either way I still need to handwash the bowl.

I start by microwaving for 30 seconds on high, then let the egg rest a bit to deflate. If it's a smaller egg, it may be cooked through; I usually give it another 10-20 seconds to make sure. (Runny eggs make me nervous.) Run a knife around the outer edge of the egg to loosen it from the bowl and tip it out onto a plate, then cut into pieces.

(EDIT: These are also perfect with cheese and bacon, sausage, or ham on biscuits or bagels! And now that Goose is older, I crack two eggs in the bowl and cook it for longer - a minute to a minute and a half, depending on size.)

And, if you're my Goose, holler for "sirup!" (a combo of honey and real maple syrup thinned a bit with water) in which to dip your toast and egg . . . then go to Tammy's Recipes for more kitchen tips.

Homemade Doll Sling

(Subtitled: How To Blow Off An Entire Day)

One of the nice things about having Mass so early (ours is at 8:30) is that even after it's over, you feel like you have the whole day in front of you. So today, with a house that always needs cleaning, garden that needs tending, a week-long trip to pack for, and any number of small things that I could work on, I decided to make Goose a sling for her stuffed cat and bear. Priorities, you know.

I wish I had a link to point you towards, or even instructions to give you, but I *totally* winged it. Worse, Goose was napping for most of the time I spent constructing it, so I couldn't even measure it to her - which was probably for the best because the few times I did, I think she got frustrated with my admonitions not to touch (sharp pins) and then I'd whisk it off and she'd just want to play with it. I did have a sweatshirt of hers that I could at least use as a frame of reference - she's smaller than I think!

Before her nap, I measures her back from her shoulder diagonal to her hip as a starting point (12" for her). I used a remnant of fabric (the flowers) and didn't have enough to make it as wide as I hoped, so I used another remnant (the green) to line the pouch and made it wider than the flowered part so that it showed some on the outside.

To give some rough measurements, I think the back piece was something like 11" wide by 14" long, and I intended the pouch to be about 20" wide by maybe 16" long? That way the pouch would be about 10" deep, so there would be no worries of anything falling out.

I began by hemming the sides of the back piece, then I stitched the flowered outer piece of the pouch to the green lining, with the wrong sides together. I pressed the seams open so they'd lay better and turned it right side out, then centered the flowered piece so there was about an equal amount of green on either side (about an inch) and pressed the edges so I knew where they should be. I also pressed the fold at the bottom.

The next part was the last easy thing . . . I sewed the back piece to the bottom of the pouch. Except that I did it backwards - Goose seems to be right-handed, so I wanted the sling to go over her right shoulder down to her left hip. I accidentally sewed it backwards and had to take that seam out (after I pressed it open, of course). Story of my life.

Once I got that straightened out, I had to figure out how to attach the top of the pouch to the top of the back. I knew that just leaving it as it was, it would be far too wide for her little shoulder, so I dinked around some with folding the pieces in to a point of sorts, and Goose "obliged" me by waking up about that time. I tried it on her with just pulling the front and back pieces together, and it was too big and wouldn't stay on her shoulder. I tried getting all crazy with ribbons (won't even tell you exactly what because it confused ME) and that didn't work so well either. So I just stitched a ribbon in the front and back but angled them more straight up to go over her shoulder so I could tie them, and that seemed to work.

Goose still hung on to her cat and bear as she walked around, but anyone who has used a sling knows that you do that at first, and you even find yourself doing it later out of habit or just wanting to snuggle the little bundle in there. In fact, for the picture above, I had to coach her to hold her arms out so you could see the sling. :>)

So, it probably wasn't the most productive use of my time, but I sure am pleased with the results. I'm putting this under the handmade gifts category, though I'd say it needs more tweaking before I'd actually *give* one to someone . . .

And, please visit my give-away post and sign up for a chance to win a pair of baby leg warmers, taggie blanket, bathtub fishing game, fairy wings, vintage craft books, a CUTE set of storage tins - go see!

Link Roundup, HI JESUS! Edition

So we went to a funeral this morning. About an hour before, we were on our walk around town, and whenever we walk by our church, Goose tells Jesus hi. As we walked past this morning, there were several family members standing outside and in her usual fashion, Goose hollered "hi, Jesus!" Here's hoping we gave them a bit of a smile on a sad day . . .

Here's the links of interest for the week:

EAT
I'm a sucker for the combination of cinnamon and sugar, and Goose loves all things muffin, so cinnamon sugar muffins are right up our alley. (at Being Frugal is Fabulous)

Not sure why I haven't made this blueberry humble cake from Two Straight Lines yet. There's cinnamon ice cream involved, guys. Mmmmm.

(By the way, I finally made the pumpkin crunch cake from this reading the whole internet post and it was everything I hoped it would be. I did half with nuts, half without, and we ate it with vanilla ice cream.)

I need to just make yogurt already . . . Katie at Kitchen Stewardship has her method of homemade yogurt up. I tried making yogurt once a long time ago, but it didn't seem right. I think it's time to try again! (And believe me, Katie is THOROUGH! A girl after my own heart!)

LEARN
Other than I'm lazy and it's hard, hot work, the main reason I haven't tried canning is fear of making my family sick (or worse). Tipnut has a page on signs of spoilage in home canning to help guide me.

This is one of those things you hope you never have to know, but Stacey at Almost There did a post on how to get Desitin out - of clothes, carpet, furniture, etc.

FILE AWAY
Let's Explore has a nice list of gift ideas for kids that involves more thought and caring than cash. (The best kind of gift!)

DO
Not sure if I remember, or just think I remember these from my younger years: Mr. Yuk stickers. It's a symbol for kiddos to learn means "don't touch!!!" and it has the national poison control number on it. I think we'll request some. Goose is doing well with learning what things are a big NO, the oven is hot, she tells me whenever I open it, for one. Another is when I'm washing knives, she tells me they're sharp! That was one I really wanted to impress upon her since she has taken to pushing a chair up to the sink so she can help when I wash dishes.

Here's an old article from The Simple Dollar on ways to entertain kiddos for a buck or less.

MAKE
Goose's hair doo-dads aren't out of control yet, but I can see this framed barrette and hair bow holder at the Idea Room coming in handy before long.

Can't believe it was just last week that I posted about DIY moon sand, but Michelle at Scribbit has a different recipe for moon sand (kind of, anyway) that takes less inputs, too.

SOMETHING TO LOOK FORWARD TO
While I *really* try not to watch too much TV, there are some shows that reel me in. LOST is one of them. Trent at The Simple Dollar posted recently about the upcoming season, which is the final season, in a reader mailbag post. He had this to say:

I think the last season is going to start off with Oceanic 815 landing in Los Angeles in 2004 without crashing on the island. That means that no one who died on the island is actually dead. Afterwards, though, they’ll all start having dreams about the island and will eventually find their way there in some way or another. The final one to return will be Jack and the final scene of the final episode will be identical to the first scene of the first episode. Or maybe I’m just crazy. Lost might be my favorite show of all time.

Hmm. I don't quite see that, but it's well within possibility. Guess we'll see in January!

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
"Those Aren't Fighting Words, Dear" is an article in the New York Times about a woman whose husband came home and told her that he didn't love her anymore, and she didn't buy it. She managed to hold their family together, and I was inspired to see someone stand up so strongly for the lifelong commitment of her marriage. (I had a little trouble getting to the second page, you might have to find the place to click to skip the ad, or you might have to click back and then click on the 2nd page again. Totally worth it, though.)

Karen Edmiston posts this quote:

"I saw about a peck of counterfeit dollars once. Did I go to the window and throw away all my good dollars? No! Yet you reject Christianity because there are hypocrites, or counterfeit Christians."

~~ William E. Biederwolf

and then a brief story on one step of her journey from atheism to Catholicism. By the time I finish typing all this out, I'd just as well have typed it all but it's her story so go look. And, while you're there, click on links in her sidebar to some of the stuff she's written. She's goooood.

And last but nowhere near least, Stacey from Almost There wonders "did the Reformers have any right?"

Happy surfing!

A Few of My Favorite Things Toddler Book

Back on my post about keeping toddlers occupied in the car, my friend Sarah had this recommendation:

The only other thing that might be fun is to get one of those little photo albums (the kind that hold one photo each page) and put in photos of family that she's going to see to re-familiarize her with some members she hasn't seen in a while, as well as pictures of her favorite things at home (cats, tractor, etc.)

She's right on with that idea! (and she knows what my Goose loves.) Goose has a Who Loves Baby Photo Book that you can insert photos into for little ones to look at (but can't ruin . . . and hers needs updating badly!) and she also has a "favorite things" book that I made her that was super cheap. I'll show you how I put it together. (with apologies for the picture . . . it was 10:30 PM when I did this!)

I used cereal box cardboard for the pages (cut approximately in half, so you get four per box), various pictures cut from magazines or printed from the internet, a glue stick, clear contact paper, and a hole puncher. The white paper is if you wish to cover the printed side of the cardboard, which is not always necessary (I'll tell you why below).

After being a mother for five or ten minutes, you start to know what your little one likes, so I kept an eye out for pictures of things that she enjoys. For this book, I used mostly animals. If you have a variety of sizes, you can group smaller ones on the blank side of the cardboard and put larger ones on the printed side. If the picture takes up most of the page and doesn't make you dizzy with the Cap'n in the background, perfect! But if you need to put several pictures on the printed side, or if your bigger pic isn't quite big enough, add a layer of white paper as the background.

The glue stick helps hold things down while you're putting it together, and is a bit forgiving if you want to move something. Make sure you note where you want to punch holes and leave adequate room - or just punch through the picture, though you may end up hearing "owie, Mama!" a hundred times while a toddler points at the hole in the kitty's tail or whatever. Ahem. Also don't forget that if the holes are on the left side on one side of the page, when you turn the page, they'll magically be on the right side! (Not that I'd know that from experience . . . ahem again).

Once your pages are how you like them, use the contact paper to cover. I kept my cardboard trimmed just enough so that I could cut the length of the contact paper to be the width of the cardboard page and have little waste. Make sense? No? Hmm . . . lay the contact paper tube on the table as it as shown above in the pic. Unroll the contact paper the width of your page - take the Cap'n piece of cardboard as he's situated above and lay him on the sheet so he's facing you in the same way (just sliiiide him down). Cut the contact paper about an inch longer than your page, and remove the paper backing from the top half. Stick the page on there as straight as you can, unroll the other half, and fold it up over so that you have a contact paper sandwich with your page in the middle. (or you can do the bottom half first - it's your book!) Press down well to adhere the contact paper and remove any bubbles, then trim the edges. Repeat with the remaining pages.

Use the hole punch to punch two (or three, if you wanted) holes in each page, using one page as a guide so you get them in the same relative spot. To tie them together, I threaded scrap yarn or ribbon through the holes, then laid a pencil along the edge so that I could pull the knot tightly but it would leave some slack once the pencil was removed so Goose could turn the pages. I recommend a double or triple knot.

I'll admit these don't last forever, especially getting knocked around, pulled out of and shoved into the diaper bag, but I have used some scotch tape and packing tape to seal the edges as needed and they're fine. The contact paper is the only real investment in this project . . . and you get an awful lot of it to use for other things. Anybody else's mother cover everything in clear contact paper when they were little? I thought it was the coolest!

For more cool, frugal ideas, visit Life as Mom.

And, if you're coming over for Frugal Friday, please visit my giveaway post! I'm giving away a pair of baby leg warmers, taggie blanket, bathtub fishing game, fairy wings, vintage craft books, a CUTE set of storage tins - go see!

Treasure Hunting at the Methodist Rummage Sale

There are at least three churches in town that have semi-annual or annual rummage sales as fundraisers. There is a lot of junk, but sometimes I manage to walk away with some cool stuff! (Which is definitely a finer thing! Go see Amy for more finer things.) Here's what I scored this week:

An old flannel blanket for a quarter that was too cute to pass up. The words on it are "me and my shadow" and the little girl is doing various gymnastic moves and tumbles. Also for a quarter each, I got a bag of electrical outlet covers, and after the stomach bug that Goose had, I wanted to get another waterproof mattress pad. This is just a pad that tucks between the sheet and mattress, but it'll do the job plus can be used on a big bed for potty training and the like.

A set of Close-Up USA maps put out by National Geographic. You can read more about them here though I'm not sure which year mine are. They were $1.
A fun box of random old office supplies for $1. Goose will love the labels as stickers, and Mama loves the pile of little memo pads to tuck in the diaper bag (or an activity bag for the car). I'm not sure how Goose will feel about the labels that you have to lick to get them to stick - every time I lick an envelope, I say "bleah" and now when she sees me do it, she says "bleah" too. :>) The little white box holds typewriter correction papers . . . we do have a typewriter that Goose plays with, but I'm not so sure the keys work very well anymore. I bet we'll find something to do with it! My favorite part of this bag are the little yellow birdie notepapers - you write on the inside, then fold up and seal the back, and address and stamp the front. I'm going to have a hard time deciding who to write!
A bag of wooden beads for $1 (or was it 25 cents? I don't remember . . .) - the bad thing is that I don't think the dye is waterproof, so I fear once they get wet, they'll bleed. They might get put away until Goose is a bit older. I also picked up a bag of what turned out to be bias tape (going to have to figure that stuff out!) and other trims. My favorite - the whole reason I bought the bag, in fact - is the embroidered red trim under the beads above. I'm seeing that on a skirt or something in the near future!

Last but not least, an Easy Bake oven and cookware for $2.75. I never had an actual Easy Bake, so I just pretended to bake, but I couldn't pass this up. I'm thinking I'll put it away for an upcoming birthday - I was thinking next year (Goose will be 3) but I think the instructions say 8 and up? Anybody have or know of a little one (or not-so-little) with one of these?

Since I don't really get to town much for garage sales, I guess I make up for it at the rummage sales. :>) Anybody have a favorite find they'd like to share?

Also (get used to this footer for two weeks, regular readers) please visit my give-away post and sign up for a chance to win a pair of baby leg warmers, taggie blanket, bathtub fishing game, fairy wings, vintage craft books, a CUTE set of storage tins - go see!

100th Post Giveaway - Something for Everyone!

Edit: I'll leave it open until midnight central time tonight!!

I am celebrating some small successes here today. (To see more mom successes, visit Faith & Family Live). (and I've re-arranged the post a bit.)

1) I've been quietly collecting stuff to give away in celebration of my 100th post. Because I don't want blogging to take up too much of my time, let alone my money, most of it is thrifted (cough*used*cough) or homemade. (Please note that I've dinked around with the formatting for way too long . . . and this post will look different on the page versus in a reader versus in e-mail anyway, so I'm waving the white flag! Please excuse any extra white space and/or other wonky formatting!)

Without further ado, here is the list of goodies:



A pair of my homemade baby & toddler leg warmers. Go here and tell me which pair you like best, and chances are good that I'll be able to accomodate you. (Guide: it goes Animals, Girly-Girl, Solids, Plaids, Stripes, Argyles, Boyish, Christmas, Misc.)






A homemade taggie blanket - as you can see, it's pretty gender neutral. It is seafoam green minky fabric and ivory fleece. There is one pink ribbon and one blue ribbon, with the rest neutral.







A homemade bathtub fishing game - directions on how to make your own will be in an upcoming Frugal Friday post! The foam sticks to the tub and floats so your little fisherman or fisherwoman can catch them with the included homemade net (with no handle, so no one will be in danger of losing an eye). Goose tried hers out last night and had a pretty good time.







The fairy wings still aren't quite done. I have redone them, but I still can't quite figure out how to put them together. No worries, I'll enlist my MIL's help on them if I don't come up with something and they'll rock your socks. You'll have to stitch them on something your fairy already has. I'll update again when I do get them finished. And, if you happen to not care for my flowers, they're SUPER easy to re-do - I'll let the winner know how.

The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding: Sixth Revised Edition. There is a 7th edition out, but this one still contains TONS of great information. (Happy World Breastfeeding Week to any nursing mamas!)



Better Homes & Gardens Patchwork Projects - 15 Full Size Patterns, including ones for each season. The quilt pictured is the only one included, I think, so lots of other stuff!












The Woman's Day Book of Granny Squares and Other Carry-Along Crochet - with 31 projects, a section "all about granny squares" and 50 ideas for using granny squares. Whoof!












Avon's Beautiful Holiday Ideas (apparently collaborated with Better Homes and Gardens on this one!) - with chapters on Deck the Halls, Share the Fun, Open Your House, Enjoy Tradition, Wrap it up, and Celebrate the Day (recipes). Use the make-up tips from 1980 at your own risk! :>)









Better Homes and Gardens Homespun Christmas Crafts - includes stuffed fabric small animal ornaments, fabric mantel bells and a garland, weaving straw, embroidered stockings, wreaths with natural items, quick and easy wreaths, a VERY CUTE storybook pillow, and painted fabric ABC blocks.












Selected Tips from Heloise - chapters are Creative Cleaning, Sprucing Up Your Home, Tackling Laundry Days, In The Kitchen, At Your Leisure, On The Road - And Off, and Personal Best.









A set of repurposed tins - I picked these up at the thrift shop and covered them with scrapbook paper (from this reading the whole internet post) Disclaimer - to get the lids to come off and go on easily, I had to trim a bit of the paper, so some of the old design shows near the top when the lids are off.




So, how do you win??? First, please have a US shipping address - it doesn't even have to be YOU . . . but I don't have the budget for international postage, sorry! (Unless you want to paypal me the shipping charges, I guess . . . ) Then check out the categories in my sidebar and tell me which of them is your favorite or that you'd like to see more posts in. It's that easy! To make things a bit more complicated, though, I'll let you CHOOSE what you'd like to win - up to three things. I'll number your comments and use Random.org to pick numbers. The first number will get their first choice. The second number will get their first choice if it's still available; if not, they'll get their second choice - and so on.

Want more entries? Do one of the following and leave an additional comment or comments:

* blog about this giveaway (please include the link)
* tweet it if you're on Twitter (please include the link . . . I don't do Twitter but I'd like to see it anyway!)
* share this on Facebook (honor system since I wouldn't be able to see it)
* subscribe to me in a reader or via e-mail (again, honor system . . . and believe me when I tell you it took me ALL of one day's LONG naptime - thank goodness it was long - to get the subscribe by e-mail box here) or follow me from your blogger profile.

It's your choice as to whether you list the same thing(s) that you want or change them up in subsequent entries . . . but what you have listed in the comment number comes up is what I'll go by to award the goodies.

The giveaway will end Thursday, August 20 at noon central time. Winners will be notified via e-mail and I'll post it, too, so you can see who the lucky people are.

Please PLEASE make sure there is a way for me to contact you, either via your blog, or leave an e-mail address (you can use the cryptic form of yourname at domain dot com if you wish), and please indicate what you want - up to three things, and leave separate comments if you help me publicize this as noted. If you have a question about something that I've made too complicated or would like a bit more info on any of the prizes, please feel free to e-mail me at the address in my sidebar.

And seriously, I have a big stack of fun vintage craft books earmarked for giving away but one of my proofreading paychecks is going to be blown on the postage as it is. Maybe I'll give away one a month or some such . . . any suggestions?

You probably have already forgotten, but at the beginning of the post I was mentioning my small successes. The others are:

2) I have managed to stay relatively calm while the toddler insists the ceiling fan (last night) and light (this morning) in her room be OFF! then ON! then OFF! then ON! accompanied by lots of crying and thrashing about. Believe me when I say I'm *thisclose* to yanking the whole thing out of the ceiling.

3) I scored some very fun things at the rummage sale yesterday for a grand total of $7.70. They can be found here.