~Itty Bitty Toddler Dress~

After making the Itty Bitty Baby Dress for my coming niece, I was itching to make another one...only bigger! I used the Itty Bitty Baby Dress Enlargement pattern found here. It is enlarged to 3T and I would say that's accurate. My daughter is still in 2T, so I'm guessing this dress will fit her for a while...maybe even next summer! While it is large on her, it is still perfectly wearable, and she wore it to church last Sunday.



No outfit is complete without bloomers!




The little tag...I machine embroidered a design down twill tape. I *heart* my new machine. :D

~Itty Bitty Baby Dress~

I am going from 0 to 4 nieces and/or nephews in a period of 4 months! That means lots of sewing! :-)

First up is a baby girl due in July. It was really fun to put this little outfit together.

First, the Itty Bitty Baby Dress by Made by Rae. I used a good quality quilting cotton from JoAnn's. I made it in the 0-3 month size, to ensure that it will fit. The newborn size was tempting, but I thought the slightly larger size would be better.


It was the first time I've done piping, which was a lot of fun. I see more piping in my future! :)


It is super hard to find solids to match prints! Have you had that problem? I had to go to another fabric store to find a matching solid. It was a lightweight batiste, which works well for bloomers:


For the pattern above I used Rae's Newborn Baby Pants pattern. I cut the leg about 1 1/2 inches below the crotch, and added elastic.

And then, a headband, of course.


All together:


I've been dying to post about this, but had to wait till after my sister's shower, since she occasionally reads my blog! Now that she's had her shower, I can share!

Next in line is my husband's half sister. She's due in August and isn't finding out what she's having till she has the baby. I haven't made anything for her yet, I'll probably wait to find out what she has before I make anything!

~Phew! I found it!~

A while back, someone recommended a book to me. I checked it out of the library. It was a paperback fiction, and I didn't care for the writing style and some of the content, so I never finished it (though I did read the end! LOL).

It disappeared.

I renewed it twice.

I asked the librarian if it had been returned and not checked in (thinking I had returned it and forgotten that I had returned it). Nope.

I determined to look methodically through every room in the house. Particularly in the low spots. ;-)

Bathroom: No

Hallway: No

Kitchen: Hello lost book! It was on top of my crock pot, in a lower cabinet.

I'm so glad this book wasn't thrown away or permanently lost! I wouldn't have minded so much if it were a book I'd actually enjoyed, but I didn't really want to replace a book I didn't even like! :P

~Lions and Tigers and Bears! Oh My!~

We went to visit Kevin's sister and her husband recently, and Kevin's mom came too. It was a great family time! While we were there, we went to the Milwaukee County Zoo. It's a pretty impressive zoo! Kevin took the following pictures.

~A Little Update~

Ants: all gone. I'm not sure why they are out of our house. I swept and mopped and they came back...and I threw my hands up in dispair and ignored them. I think I went outside and weeded or something. Kevin did put some ant bait around our house, and if that is what worked, it worked magically fast. All I know is that they're gone, and I hope they don't come back!

I thought they weren't getting in through the basement, but I am seeing little piles of dead ants around spider webs down in the basement. So I guess they are coming in through the basement. For once the spiders are working for me! Go spiders! (Just the little spiders. The big spiders can stay AWAY thankyouverymuch.)

Squash:
I see something forming here:


What do you think?

And what are these? Squash bugs? Yeeks.

~The Ants Go Marching One by One~

For the first time since we've lived in our house, we have ants. It also coincides nicely with having a 2-year old who leaves a trail of crumbs!

Last night I thoroughly vacuumed the living room, pulling all the furniture from the walls. Then I mopped, using vinegar in my water since ants supposedly don't like to walk on vinegar residue.

A half hour later the living room had ants crawling all over the floor. And they were carrying food. Where did they get it??? It reminds me of when my daughter was 9 months and I'd sweep, swiffer, mop on my hands and knees and she'd still find all sorts of things to stuff in her mouth!

We haven't found a point of entry, and there isn't a trail. I've read all kinds of things online that are natural ways to eliminate ants, but it's helpful to know where they are getting in or find a trail. Maybe next I'll shake pepper all over the place. ;)

~Pint Jar Soap Dispenser~

I saw this tutorial and had to make one for myself! So I rushed down to the basement, grabbed a used lid, and went to work with my husband's drill.

The finished result:


This particular tutorial suggests covering the lid with decorative paper. In my house that wouldn't last long. Maybe I'm a messy handwasher? At any rate I'd have water splashed all over it the first time I washed my hands!

I highly, highly recommend clamping your lid onto a scrap of wood before drilling. I was practicing on a different lid, and it was spinning around. I reached down to stop it from spinning, and the spinning edge cut my finger. Thankfully it wasn't a deep, but it could have been much worse.

I already had the lid, soap pump, and jar. Fun, free project!

~Your Guess is as Good as Mine~

Last summer and fall, we had one of those rotating compost bins. It broke, so Kevin dug a hole in our side bed and dumped the compost into the hole. Then he covered it with dirt, grass clippings, and weeds.

I now have these beautiful plants growing in the bed:


I'm hoping all the plants are the same, so they don't cross polinate! It could be cucumber, zucchini, pumpkin, butternut, buttercup...pretty much anything from the squash family!

Any guesses what they are? Right now, your guess is as good as mine! :) I'll report back when I find out!

~Eleven~

Eleven years ago, I said "I do." I'm so blessed.

~Simple Scalloped Edging for a Receiving Blanket~

This pattern works well as an edging for a receiving blanket. You could use a purchased receiving blanket or start with a piece of flannel. I use a 36" square of flannel and round the edges, then narrowly hem it.

Crochet Pattern:
Round 1: With crochet cotton and a size 6 hook, *sc, ch 2*, repeat from * to * around blanket edge. Join with sl st to first sc. It would be a good idea to count your ch 2 spaces and make sure there is a multiple of two.

Round 2: sc in next ch 2 space, *5 tr in next ch 2 space, sc in next ch 2 space*. Repeat from * to * around. Join with sl st in first sc. Fasten off and weave in loose ends.



This pattern is reposted from an entry from last March. Feel free to enjoy this pattern however you like, including items for sale. However, please do not copy text or pictures without my written permission. Thank you!

~Cookies for Breakfast?~

Yes!


Recipe here.