Little Pretties

I'll try to post a few more things now since (dare I say it out loud?) both girls are napping now and I have a few minutes. This is the stencil I made for Frances' 2nd Birthday Party. (Thanks Mom for the use of your nifty stencil cutter and paints). I stenciled chicks on the bags for the party favors. Inside were lots of stuff for 2-year-old fun: bubbles, a lighty ball, sidewalk chalk. And for the babies in attendance...

I stenciled two chicks on a onesie. I think they turned out pretty nifty--despite the drama I had in making them--long story. I'll just say that Eleanor is wearing one from the second batch of the lot.

Here's a close up.

I finished this crib bumper a long time ago. In fact, I was still preggers with #2 when it got done. Wasn't sure if we were expecting a girl or a boy at that point. All I knew is this baby was gonna be huge. And to keep my mind off my monster belly (and heartburn, sciatica, and gerneral miserable-ness) I decided to jazz up this plain, boring bumper.
I bought it at IKEA in white with just that in mind, actually. Fundamentally, I am against crib bumpers. In fact "people who should know" say that all that stuff we parents spend way too much money can be pretty dangerous. The experts say bumpers and quilts, etc are all potential smothering hazards (what isn't, I ask you?)
However, Franny used it for awhile when she got older b/c she kept getting her beefy gams tangled up in the slats which would promptly jolt her from a slumber. And that just won't do--never awaken a sleeping child, for heaven's sake, is my motto.
So, before we passed it down to Ellie, I wanted to make it prettier and this is what I came up with. I am quite happy with the results.

Here's what she looks like from the other side. Have I mentioned that I'm totally into polka dots?

And there's Eleanor really enjoying it. By the way, this kid really needs a bumber. It's lilke there's a magnet on the top of her head that attracts her to the wooden rails of this crib. Now at least she won't have the slats imprinted on her anymore (hopefully.)
And yes, child rearing experts--I know it's supposed to be "Back to Sleep", but have you seen the rippling biceps on this child? She's way more comfy on her tummy and is in no danger here. So there.

Here's the finished product. Finally. I used some denim ribbon yarn for this and seems like it turned out not to be as stretchy as I would have liked it to be. Or maybe just not stretchy in the right places. Sigh. Oh well, it was pretty/very easy to knit. And I got the yarn on super-dupe clearancio (yes, that's how I usually talk) at Jo-Ann's or somewhere. I wanted to try working with ribbon. I didn't use near as much as I ended up buying and now I have a TON of this stuff left over. Don't really want to look at it for awhile now.

So, This is me in the tank. I always get annoyed at people who post headless pics of finished stuff. I'm always so curious to see what they look like. Now that I'm blogging my stuff myself, I can see why it's OK to leave some things to mystery.
Overall I'm pleased. Not because it's stunning, but because it's a finished project that I'm actually planning on wearing. As opposed to balling up in the corner of my closet never to be seen again. I'm not gonna lie and say it looks fab. Not sure whether to blame that on my craftmanship, or my post-partum-bosomy bounty. Probably a combo., but I don't care. I made it. It's summer. It fits. I'm wearing it. So there.
By the way, the Hub took this pic of me on our balcony. I love our balcony b/c there's all sorts of friendly trees and they're starting to crowd over our railing. Since we're up in the air, it makes for a nice Swiss Family Robinson feel. I've always wanted to live in a treehouse, you know.

So, this is what I've been busy making lately. Diapers. That's right, folks: sewing cloth diapers. Why you ask? Your husband is trying to dissuade you, you reason? You have two kids in diapers now, are you crazy? you say.
Well, I guess I am crazy for wanting to do this. It's just that ever since I saw some patterns for making cloth diapers out of stuff I had lying around anyway, and since I thought they were super-duper cute-sey, the idea of making my own diapers has been stuck in my craw.
Originally I was just looking around for ways to save us money (we're trying to squirrel away for a house...yeah, that's going to take longer than I origianlly had daydreamed). So, I saw all these sites about buying cloth diapers. "Hmmm," I thought, "these look make-by-me-able." Alas, I forgot about cloth diapers for awhile, though b/c the inital cost to start them was kind of an investment--and I wasn't really sure if I'd like doing it or not. Would it be worth the time I'd be spending washing them?
Then Mother sent me this site about how to make your own. I really get a kick out of re-using/re-cycling stuff, so, I decided to give it a whirl after all. Now maybe that nagging voice in my head telling me to do this will finallyl give it a rest!

Here's my little model. I haven't given Eleanor the official nod yet because I'm still looking for the right sort of material for the diaper cover.
I did by some nylon and covered it with som cute "polchester" as my sister would say. But there was...shall we say....unpleasantness in the inial test run. I guess you could say that it wasn't a dry run. Not dry at all. Was it the fault of the diaper cover or too loose leg gussets? Don't know. Gotta do some trial and error yet.
I am planning on waiting until Ellie's a bit older until I turn her bladder and bowels loose (yes, that mixed metaphor was intentional. aplogies). She goes all the time now, so waiting until she's a bit more regular is fine by me. Maybe by that time I will have found the perfect working combo.

This is what most people will see--Ellie from behind--so I thought I'd share her modeling the questionalbe-but--cute diaper cover that I made. By the way, this is the pattern I used for the diapers and lots more patterns here.

I made an apple strudel! I thought it tasted so good that I wanted to share it with everyone else, too. I got it from a recipe book for babies and toddlers, believe it or not. What kid wouldn't love this? Although with the coffee, it does make it more of an adult-oriented treat. Come to think of it, I don't think Frances even ate any of it! I remember offering it to her and her turning up her nose. More for us--her parents--who of course need more calories like a seamstress needs more pins in her mouth.