Look what I did this week!

My friend Kim, blogger extraordinaire, over at Yep, they are all mine has a new thing called "Grab a beer and look what I did last week." In the spirit of blogging, friendship, and friendly blogging, I'm participating, even though I think it's really selfish of Kim to start a tradition involving beer when I'm going to be pregnant for four more long months. But I digress. Here we go.




Everybody, grab a beer raspberry leaf tea and look what I did last week!

The weather this week was incredibly disgusting. It was rainy and windy, the kind of rainy and windy where your umbrella turns inside out and your pants get soaked. I spent much of the week hunkered down inside; understandably, there are no pictures of that. Here's what was worth documenting from this gray, soggy week:

(1) We celebrated Asher's friend Lilli's birthday at Bouncetown in El Dorado Hills. Omg, this place is sooo much better than Bounceopolis in Folsom. Why did I not know about this sooner? Asher spent the whole time going down the big slides. I am fascinated by how he can be so fearful about things that seem innocuous and then so brave about things that I would think he'd be scared of, like these slides.

Then it was back to Lilli's house for pizza and cupcakes. No surprise, my kid loves cupcakes.

 

 We tried to get a nice group shot of the kids. This was the best we could do.

Declined to be photographed: Liam

(2) A serious need for retail therapy, plus the fact that all my boots just bit the dust, got me out in the rain to Nordstrom Rack, the best place ever for shopping for anything you'd ever need. I came away with boots, cardigans, dish towels, tights, a cake server, and cocktail napkins.

Rain boots and fancy cowboy boots? Yes, please.

(3) Pedis and cocktails (or mocktails in my case) with some of the hot mamas. I hadn't had a pedicure since October, and the toe situation was getting pretty dire.

Much better!

As an aside, are the flowers on the toes a California thing or just a thing that has popped up in the last several years? I don't recall ever seeing flowers on the toes of anyone when I lived in Michigan or North Carolina. Midwesterners, I need answers here!

(4) I made these cookies, which I swear were the best cookies I have ever made!! I substituted milk chocolate toffee pieces (available next to the chocolate chips in the baking aisle) for the chocolate chips, and OH MY GOODNESS!! Sorry there aren't pics; I didn't know they would be anything special, and now, 24 hours later, there is only one left. I am going to try every combination of toffee chips, chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, and nuts in this recipe.

(5) I like to clean house on Sunday afternoon and Monday morning to start the week out (sort of) fresh. Things have usually been neglected on Friday and Saturday, so I need to swoop in on Sunday before we get nominated for Hoarders or something. Seriously, how does a house go from fine to wrecked in, like, a nanosecond??

I swear this kitchen was JUST clean!!

This too!

Oh what a glamorous life I lead!!

Playroom pillow makeover, part 2

I also whipped this up using leftover orange felt (from my old tootsie roll costume project, for those of you who remember that gem):

Unlike the ruffle pillow, this couldn't have been easier. I basically just followed steps 1, 7, 8, and 9 from the ruffle pillow tutorial, adjusting the measurements for this pillow form (and I didn't even do the sewing in step 7). Then I took fun oversized buttons and sewed them on the top flap. These aren't working buttons, because I don't know how to sew buttonholes (one of those things I'll learn later). This is true fakin' it. I also stuck some double-stick velcro under the flap just to help it keep its shape. I might sew the velcro to reinforce it later. And voila. This is a quickie project, like much less than an hour if you don't make any mistakes. And it cost me less than $2 since I only had to buy the buttons!

And here's a teaser for the next pillow project (not a quickie!!):

Ruffle pillow tutorial

Ok, so here's how I made that awesome ruffle pillow. First, I googled "ruffle pillow tutorial" and read several examples, then I adapted to meet my own needs. I still made several mistakes, which I will try to help you avoid with my helpful TIPS below. This is not the quickest project ever, but it's not really difficult, and it's so worth it!

Let me begin by apologizing: I thought I had been a lot better about taking pictures of all the steps than I actually was - sorry!!

I started with a pillow form, which is just a plain cotton pillow waiting for a slipcover. You can buy them at most craft or fabric stores. They are a lot easier, in my opinion, than stuffing a pillow yourself. Also, when you tire of the slipcover, it is easy to recover later. My pillow form measured 20" x 20". I wanted to cover it using red felt I had leftover from a previous project. I also wanted the cover to be removable for washing. Sooo...

Step 1: Pre-wash your fabric if there is any chance it will shrink. Cut 3 pieces of fabric.
    (a) One piece 21" x 21" (that's the 20x20 with 1/2" seam allowances)
    (b) One piece 10" x 21"
    (c) One piece 15" X 21"
    Piece (a) is the front, pieces (b) and (c) are the back.

Step 2: Cut strips of red felt for the ruffles. The length and widths of the strips will depend on the look you want. I cut 10 strips 2 inches wide and 36 inches long (if I remember correctly...). TIP: ONLY CUT ONE STRIP FIRST AND FOLLOW STEPS 3 AND 4 TO SEE IF YOU LIKE HOW IT LOOKS BEFORE CUTTING ALL YOUR STRIPS. If you have a rotary cutter and cutting mat, this is the perfect time to use it. If not, don't fret. It is ok to cut with scissors (I did). You won't see uneven edges once you gather the ruffles.

Step 3: Set your sewing machine to a normal straight stitch with the longest stitch length and low bobbin tension.

On my machine, I needed to turn this so that it was set to 6. I didn't (whoops), but I should have.

If you don't know how to adjust your tension, it will probably work to just do the long stitch length. Run a single long line of stitches down the center of each strip. Do not double back on the ends. You want the threads to hang free at the ends. 

I used white thread because I wanted the contrast.

 Step 4: Pull the bobbin thread only, which will begin to gather the ruffle. Gather until it is the width of your front piece (so in this case, 21"). You can play with the ruffles so the gather is even throughout. It's not crucial that it be perfect by any means.

 
TIP: Seriously, try this on just one strip first. Some threads are too weak and will break in step 4. If your bobbin runs out in the middle of the project, either replace it with the same thread or test the new bobbin thread to make sure it's strong enough.

Step 5: Pin the ruffles to the front piece, evenly spaced. The ends of the strips should come to the edges of the front piece. TIP: Use a lot of pins here. You don't want the ruffles sliding around while you sew in the next step.

Step 6: Adjust your stitch length to a medium length stitch. Stitch over the existing line of stitches up the middle of each ruffle. If you're using a thick fabric like I was, it can be hard for your machine. Don't worry about stitching EXACTLY on top of the old stitches, just be as close as possible. 

Action shot!

Step 7: On piece (b), fold over 2" on the long edge, iron, and sew. I sewed two lines of stitches for decoration (you can see it in the last pic later). You're piece will now be 8" x 21". (If you fabric is likely to fray, you might want to finish one edge of piece (c), too. I didn't need to with the felt.)

Step 8: Pin your pieces together thusly:
   (a) Lay your front piece down, ruffle side up.
        TIP: Pin back the two ruffles on the top and bottom edges so they don't get caught in the seam 
        in the next step.
   (b) Lay piece (b) on top of it, lining up the unfinished 21" edge to the top of the front piece.
         The "right" side should be facing down toward the ruffles. Or, in other words, the raw edge that you
         turned up and sewed should be facing up toward you.
   (c) Lay piece (c) on top of that, lining up an unfinished 21" edge to the bottom of the front piece.

Step 9: Sew all the way around all 4 sides. Tie off threads securely, and turn right side out. Tada!! You have a pillow cover!!

You can stop now. I decided to add a little decorative touch to the back. I cut two narrow strips of felt, folded in half the long way and sewed, and tacked them to the flap on the back. Then I added two cute buttons (they're paisley, you can't tell), and voila!

New project: Playroom makeover, part 1

I'm still here!

So because I can't commit to any one thing for long, I've gotten away from the gardening and have started making over the playroom. (I'm fairness, my seedlings are growing, and I'm waiting for my veggie garden class on 4/2 before finishing the garden makeover. But also, I have a severe case of project ADD.) The playroom before was fine, but once new baby comes, we need it to double as a guest room for when my parents visit. The twin-sized futon we had in there before was not going to cut it. My parents aren't that into snuggling.

So here's what we're starting with: An awesome queen-sized futon with super nice mattress that we scored off craigslist for $80, plus the free table next to it courtesy of grandpa:

Ignore the mess. We're mid-makeover, remember.

 The futon is in great shape, but the cover doesn't scream "fun kid's room!!!"

Hi, I'm neutral.

Also, a pile of throw pillows from apartments past:

The motif of the room is going to be based off the circle lights I hung (gotta love a house with no recessed lighting at all...), plus the red ceiling that was there when we moved in:

On a side note, that red ceiling apparently used to extend into other parts of the house. Yet every wall was beige. Like the most boring non-offensive-non-interesting-bore-you-to-tears beige. Weird, right? The playroom is also beige, but I don't have the time or inclination to repaint right now. A different time.

Anywho, so bright colors and circles are our themes. To that end, we ordered a bright blue futon cover, and I started sewing new pillow covers for the throw pillows (all of which are just pillow forms I covered previously). Here is my first product (and a teaser of the new futon cover):

Can I just tell you how much I love it?!?! And it was so easy. Errr, rather, it would have been easy, except I always make projects ten times harder than they have to be by making dumb mistakes. I'm not really a good sewer (as in one who sews, not as in the place where rain runoff goes), but I fake it. Hence the name of the blog, right? But the next one will be super easy. I'll post a tutorial in a different post (or if the suspense is killing you, just google "ruffle pillow tutorial").

Hopefully I'll get this done before I get distracted again. Although we did have the contractor out to give us a quote on starting the front yard makeover today, so chances of distraction are high to very high...

Sleep training update, night 3

And it worked!!!!!!!!!!! Tonight Ash put himself to sleep without getting out of bed once. We only had about 20 seconds of tears (his, not mine), which he resolved on his own. I checked on him a few times at increasing intervals and the fourth time found him snoring away.

At times like this I almost feel like I know how to do this parenting thing. How long until he throws me another curve ball and reminds me that I'm totally just winging it? :)

Sleep training update

Not to get overconfident, but sleep training is a WIN so far!!

Last night, the wee one woke up at 3 a.m. (typical), so I went and tucked him back in and promised I'd check back in five minutes, and he said ok. You guys, you do not understand how huge this is. No tears, no begging me to stay in his room, nothing. He just laid down quietly and was back asleep in ten minutes. I could have cried tears of joy.

Then tonight, we only did 40 minutes of the back-and-forth game, and with no help from Daddy, who is playing poker (better bring me some money, honey!). The tears were also minimal and seemed largely forced for dramatic effect frankly. After 40 minutes, he was clearly fighting the sleep, so I just asked him to please stay in bed, and he did. Again, tears of joy.

I'm not getting cocky, because I know my kid, and we could very well establish a pattern where we do the back-and-forth game for 20 minutes every single night, but I'll jump off that bridge later. This is such a major victory for us. Hooray!!

Faking it: Parenting edition: Sleep training

** Let me just preface this post by saying that I really really don't want sleep advice. I have read many books and gotten about as much advice as I can handle from "veteran moms." I am very sensitive about this issue. I am putting this out there for moral support, both to get some myself and to give some to any other parents going through this. **


Ever since Ash was born, we have been trying to figure out how to get him to sleep. He is not by nature a good sleeper; or rather, he is not good at sleeping on his own. If he had his way, he would sleep in our bed with him and I tucked into one big sleep sack together. We have tried many different approaches, ranging from accommodating him to brief attempts at letting him cry it out (it's not my style, and I could never really do it), and many things in between. For years we ended up doing a family bed, which worked just fine for all of us, until it didn't work for me any more AT ALL. That was about a year ago. Since then, when we moved him into his own room, he has gone through periods of sleeping just fine and periods of waking up every two hours, the latter corresponding to periods of extreme grumpiness for Mommy.

We have been in one of those latter periods lately, and I can't take it any more. Last night, after sitting up with him from 2:15 to 4:15, I kind of lost my mind and decided right then and there that we were going to supernanny him. For those of you not familiar with Supernanny Jo, that basically means just taking him back to his room over and over until he passes out from exhaustion. Ideally, you only need to do that for a few nights before the kid figures it out on his own. Well, when you start it at 4:15 a.m. with no discussion beforehand, it makes for a long night. Picture two hours of total meltdown, followed by one hour of sleep. But then he was TOTALLY LOVELY today. The picture of sweetness. This bolstered my resolve, as obviously the trauma of the previous night had no lasting effects on his psyche.

So today we enthusiastically talked up our new plan where he goes to sleep by himself, without Mommy or Daddy in bed with him or sitting on the floor or in the rocker or whatever tomfoolery. We promised to check on him regularly, and he seemed highly ok with this plan. And he was...until after 10 minutes of laying in bed by himself, at which point he decided that this plan was not for him (even though I checked on him after 5 minutes as promised). Cue the beginning of supernanny time.

From 9:18 to 9:42, I put him back in bed approximately 20 times. All the while he's crying and trying all manner of emotional warfare with me (begging me to make him feel better, mostly). I live blogged the next 20 minutes for you:

• 9:42 - Put Ash back in bed, crying
• 9:43 - Put Ash back in bed, crying
• 9:44 - Put Ash back in bed, crying
• 9:45 - Put Ash back in bed, crying          
• Put Ash back in bed again, crying
• 9:46 - Put Ash back in bed, crying
• 9:47 - Put Ash back in bed, crying
• 9:48 - Put Ash back in bed, crying
• 9:49 - Put Ash back in bed, no longer crying - PROGRESS!
• 9:50 to 10:01 - continuous cycle of me putting him in bed, him uncovering himself before I even get out of the room, me making it the eight steps down the hall to my room, turning around and putting him right back in bed. He's not really protesting anymore, even yawning sometimes. He did make one desperate last-ditch effort by asking for a snack, which I ignored. More progress?
• 10: 02 - By now my legs are tired, and he is clearly playing a game of how many times can he see Mommy (he's in a big Mommy phase right now), so I send in reinforcements: Daddy. He regresses back to crying, but Mommy needs to sit for a minute.
• 10:03 - Daddy promises that Mommy will check on him in 5 minutes if he'll stay in bed
• 10:08 - He stayed in bed!! And I checked on him as promised. He was 90% asleep but still asked me to check on him in two minutes.

Now it's 10:25, and SILENCE. Nothing. Nada. Zip.

Like an angel

 So we went from two hours of meltdown last night to 40 minutes of crying and 20 minutes of tear-free protest tonight. That seems like a step in the right direction, no? I'm trying not to get too optimistic, but maybe tomorrow we can get down to 30 minutes of shenanigans. I'll keep you updated.