Something for babY

For those of you who don't know, I'm getting ready to welcome my 3rd baby (first girL) in just about...well, any day now.  So as you can imagine there has been a lot of BabY on the BraIn as of late.  Especially once I realized (about a week ago) that I have not 'made' anything for her yet.  I also realized (about a week ago) that I was a little short in the blanket department...unless you count all the blue ones packed away in storage.  So in this instance what would any rational 9 month pregnant woman do...take herself to the local Target to purchase a few...probably.  But I'm a different kind of crazy and decided I would still try to make some instead.  So that I did. 

I found the fabric at Hobby Lobby.  Love it.  Also love the so very cozy minky...but must say it's a beast to sew!

I wanted to add a little something extra and turned this once felt flower Easter garland (also Hobby Lobby) into a little embellishment.

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I probably should have prefaced this post by saying (and I know I've said it before...many times) I don't sew.  Never have had a lesson (unless you count me sitting on my grandma's lap at the age of 7 'helping' her sew up a few pillowcases).  I don't know the terms, don't know how to use a pattern, I'm really not quite sure if I even thread my sewing machine correctly...I'm totally winging it!  But nevertheless.  I don't think baby's even gonna notice.  What she will remember (hopefully) is that the blanket that she dragged around for years and years when she was little was made with love...crooked lines and all. 

Now call me cocky, but I finished the blanket and just couldn't stop myself.  I still had a bit of fabric left so I made a few burpies to match... which, by the way, turned out to be trickier than the blanket for what ever reason?!  It's a learning process...one that I may or may not ever tackle.

So the moral of the story for today is...go for it!  Try something new.  Something you might not have clue how to begin.  Make some mistakes.  Then try it again.  So what if the lines aren't 'PerfeCt'. That doesn't stop me.  And it shouldn't stop you either!

Stay tuned for my next installment...'CraZy Pregnant Lady That Doesn't Sew Makes a QuiLt'.  Ha!  Just the thoughts of it makes me laugh!!

Shabby Apple WiNneR!



And the LuCkY winner is...

...Brianne...

Oh! I'm so jealous.  I cannot wait to be back in normal clothes again.

So sick of wearing the same 3 maternity shirts and elastic pants!

Okay Brianne, I don't have a way to get in touch with you...so you have until the end of tomorrow to get back with me.  After that, the dress is back up for grabs!

.......................

Huge thanks to Shabby Apple for the giveaway!

Our PLaYrOoM

Remember clear back...oh, about a year ago...when I said I was working on sprucing up our playroom?  A YEAR ago! Where does this time go?  Well, with all of the spring cleaning (nesting) going on around here I was able to clean up enough to get a few pictures of the 'finished' room...still not where I would like it to be, but it will do for now.

The entire purpose of this room is to provide a place for my kids and all of their mess  toys.  This room is a bit separate from the rest of the house, it's a bonus room above our garage.  I love that they have their space to play and make their messes and (the best part) if I don't want to, I don't have to go up there and see that mess.  Out of sight, out of mind...I can choose to ignore it completely.

One of my favorite things in this room are my Ikea shelves.  They are the perfect place to store lots of stuff and help keep things looking organized and clean.  The big canvas storage bins work great to hide all the little nic-naks that need a place to be...they also are great to incorporate the colors of the room.  I found these at Walmart and Target.

When we painted, I knew I wanted to put chalkboard paint somewhere in the room.  We decided on doing a strip on the back wall...

I finally finished the ABC canvases that I talked about here.

Another good (cheap) storage solution: garbage cans.  I found the blue garbage cans on the bottom shelf below at Target for $2.50 each.  They're hard plastic and sturdy enough to handle my boys.

I found these paper mache letters at Joann's and covered them with scrapbook paper.

Also, talked about these owl canvases here.

And that's it.  Our playroom...on a good day. 

Believe me, it never looks like this!  Usually the carpet is not visible.



Shabby Apple {Giveaway!}...just in time for SpRiNG

I was totally ticked off when I woke up this morning and saw SnOw on the ground outside my door!  Where are you spring?  I'm dying for a little sunshine, green grass and lemonade!  Anybody else with me? 

Well, let's see if we can't lift the spirits a bit with a little (actually I would call this BiG) spring giveaway. 

How would you like to WIN this dress?

 Shabby Apple 

has offered to giveaway this dress

(perfect for spring and a little lemonade sipping, I must say)

to one lucky fiCkLe piCkLe follower.

To enter, here's what you need to do...

1.  If you're not already a follower of the fiCkLe piCkLe, now's the time to become one!

2.  "Like" Shabby Apple on Facebook and leave me a comment saying you did so.

3. Finally, you must be a resident of the U.S.

And that's it.

After that go to Shabby Apple's website and check out the rest of the great women's dresses. 

They've got everything you'll need for spring...and then some.

And if you hurry, fiCkLe piCkLe readers can get 10% off anything on their website when you use the code ficklepickle10off at checkout.

I can't get enough of the South Pacific Line...

I'm also loving their new Roamin' Holiday line...makes me want to take a holiday myself.

       

And did you know they have Maternity!? 

So wish I would have known this before the 37th week of pregnancy!!

I'll be back on Sunday to pick a winner...good luck!

CraZy haIR DaY!

As part of spirit week this week at our elementary they had cRazY hAir day today.  Always a good day to express some creativity.  This was actually the second crazy hair day they've held at the school this year and last time I kind of forgot about it until last minute and didn't get as CraZy as I would have liked.  So this time my kindergartner was sure to remind me (over and over) that we needed to plan ahead this time, he was a bit disappointed in my lack of effort, I think.  Apparently people get into this.
So when I coincidentally I ran into this post a few days ago over at Bee in our Bonnet I got SO excited.  COULD NOT believe all the crazy hair!  So awesome, you MUST check it out!  Especially the girl hair!!

The InSecT inFeSted GraSs hair was the inspiration for us. 
Ours wasn't quite as fancy, but fun nonetheless.

I just used a little hot glue to stick the lizards to a hair clip, then clipped them right in there.  He tells me they stayed put until he had to take them out for gym.

He thought it was awesome to have "lizards eating his blue hair all day".  Hopefully I was able to redeem myself this go-round.

Fun and easy way to get CrAzy for the kids!

LuckY LePrechauN haTs

So it turns out that my kindergartener's school is having their spirit week this week and on Thursday (St. Patrick's Day) they're supposed to wear their craziest hats to school, along with their green.  So when I saw this post at Kiki Creates...well, there was no question...

I had to make two for my little leprechauns. 

I had full intensions of doing a tutorial on how I made mine...but then got too excited to get them done and totally forgot to take pictures of the process. So I'll do my best to tell you what I did...

Supplies you'll need:

1 sheet of felt in all colors...*except green you'll need 3 sheets

Sewing machine

Thread (could use coordinating colors, I just used white)

Ruler

 Scissors or Rotary Cutter

Back around Christmas time I made a bunch of these hats for snowman kits and used the same idea when making these leprechaun hats.  Only difference was that I had to piece together the tube part (the different colors of felt) of the hat.

Because I used the precut sheets of felt I cut 3" inch strips (2 of each color) then stitched them to together end to end making one long strip of each color (about 24" inched in length).  Next I lined up my long strips in the color order I wanted, overlapping them about a 1/4 of an inch.  Then I pinned each stripe in place.  I liked the look of one raw edge showing on the outside of the hat, so I went with that rather than having the seams all on the inside.  See pic below to get a better idea of what I'm talking about...

After that I sewed each strip together and ended up with one rainbowed panel. This is what I used  to make the 'tube' of the hat.  From there I just followed this tutorial to finish it up.  Although, again because I used the small sheets of felt I did have to piece together the brim of the hat.  To do that I cut out two half circles and stitched them together.  Also I made the measurements a bit smaller to fit smaller heads. 

So, for the brim I cut a 12" circle (or two 6" half circles)

and then cut a 7 1/2" circle out of the middle of the brim (the 12" circle)

My pannel for the 'tube' of the hat measured 22" long

And for the top of the hat I cut a 7" circle.

I hope that makes sense to someone.  Next time I will definitely take pictures!  Much easier to explain with a picture.

Anyway, If you can follow my crappy instructions, you might end up with something that looks like this...

Last step is to stuff it with a luCkY littLe LePreChaun.

It's funny, when you place them on their heads they can't help but do a littLe iRiSh jiG.

 

How we CeLeBraTe St. Patty's...

How many of you have those pesky little leprechauns visit this time of year?  They always seem to find us.  We never know what we'll find when we wake up on St. Patty's Day. 

So last year we set a trap...

 

We left a trail of lucky treats leading to a pile of chocolate gold and rainbow cupcakes (cause that's what their after, you know).

...but they escaped...

And ran wild through the house...

Turning things green...yep, even the milk!

They left green treats...

They messed with the furniture...strong little buggers!

And our breakfast (eggs)!

They splattered rainbow everywhere!

And left us a tricky little lunch...

And for dinner, a little Irish ale...our version anyway.

This year we're determined to catch one...my boys have been planning and scheming for weeks.  Watch out little leprechauns!  We're ready for you this year!

How do you celebrate St. Patty's?