Domestic Bliss

My Life in a Nutshell: Goals and Resolutions

2012-01-11T12:45:00.001-05:00

Happy New Year! At least, I hope it is. And I mean hope in the truly Catholic sense… “the desire of something together with the expectation of obtaining it”.

2011 took me by surprise. Life became really challenging really fast for me, particularly beginning in September when school started, and I am wrestling with the helpless feeling that it will be like this forever. I used to think that I had a lot of room for improvement in my home organization and family management skills, but I know now that I really am doing the very best I can, right now with what I’ve got in terms of resources and energy, and it is simply not enough oomph to get all my ducks in a row. I see the light at the end of this tunnel, even if it’s a temporary one called “summer vacation”, but getting there is going to be an uphill battle.

My 2011 goals were not unreasonable, but given the complexity of the past 4 months, some things became more important and I sacrificed ideals for actuals. I could have done it more gracefully, but alas, I am human. My 5 goals for 2011 were:

Finish and clean up one project before beginning another. Keep work surfaces tidy and usable.

Well… I will give myself credit for serious effort here, if not complete success. My work area is much better than it was in 2010, and all my work surfaces are generally usable. The kitchen has also seen significant improvement after I purged and reorganized the cupboards to be more efficient, but we still fight the good fight with clutter on the countertops just like every other self-respecting American family. I plan to maintain what I’ve reclaimed and conquer new areas slowly, as is possible, and curb the acquisition of more “stuff” in every area of my home.

Give completed handmade (or store-bought) gifts rather than promising to make them.

I really did well with this one. Knowing I had given myself permission to not make a million gifts took the pressure off. I did end up making quite a few things for quite a few people over the course of the year and it wasn’t always stress-free, but I hope to plan much better for birthdays and holidays, and commit to cutoff dates after which items will be purchased if I have not been able to make what I had hoped. Real life has to factor in somewhere, right?

Plan ahead 3-4 meals per week. Make fewer trips to the grocery store.

Another goal with so-so results. I did cook more (helped by not being pregnant for 3/4 of the year), but I don’t think I really cut back on my grocery shopping trips. I think the desire to plan ahead got lost in the daily struggle for survival and I ended up wasting a lot of precious time and energy. Another goal to carry forward and keep working on. In November, I became the happy owner of an iPad, and I am steadily working on simplifying many aspects of my life, including the arena of meal planning and grocery shopping.

Update the family blog at least once every 2 weeks. Schedule at least 1 blog post per week for Domestic Bliss.

Nope. Blogging was one of the big things that truly suffered from my lack of available creative time. I don’t feel bad about it since it falls under the category of “hobby”, but since I use my family blog as a journal of our life, i really wish i could have been better about that. Sigh.

Be back at pre-pregnancy weight by the end of 2011.

Never before in my adult life would I have thought this could be the easiest of all my goals, but it was. In fact, I was at pre-baby non-overweight-weight by midsummer! Hooray for Weight Watchers! I have been staying right around my goal weight since then, and I have the tools to drop a couple pounds if things start feeling tight. Thanks to the collection of illnesses we have been suffering since before Christmas, I haven’t had to worry about extra holiday weight. The silver lining?

I’ve been struggling to feel positive lately, as is amply apparent from most of the recent posts you may read. After mulling over the wins and losses of the year gone by, I am mentally and physically preparing to alter my modus operandi to bring my goals in line with the life I have chosen. I am realizing more and more that I have responsibilities to fill every waking moment of my day, and I have no entitlement to other occupations any more that I am entitled to a full night of sleep or an uninterrupted shower. Those are nice things which hopefully will be realities at some point, but they are not benefits of the job description. I’m in it for the long haul... better or worse, richer or poorer, sickness and health. Giving up the sense of entitlement to be creative whenever I feel like it hurts a little, but I know it’s all a part of the process of becoming real (a la Velveteen Rabbit) and growing in maturity. I can do it. I can and I will.

So, my 2012 resolution, in three short but quite possibly life-altering words:

Less is more.

*except when it’s not.

Perhaps not so much a resolution or a goal than a mindset to guide as many of my decisions as humanly possible. I hope to waste less time, energy, money and resources when possible. Procrastinate less. Decide what is truly important to accomplish and do less of the unimportant things. Stress less – stop feeling guilty about what I can’t do and dedicate myself to what I can. Complain less. Acquire less. Unfortunately, this probably means blogging less for the present.

There are also situations where more is more, like prayer and family time and cooking healthy food and making kids clean up after themselves. Those goals are no less important, and go hand-in-hand with the overall “less is more” mindset.

I’m going to be mindful, do what I can, let go of what I can’t, and enjoy this year no matter what comes my way.

Happy 2012! Bring it on!

Merry Christmas!!

2011-12-25T00:28:00.001-05:00

It’s 12:22 AM, Christmas morning. We just finished getting presents under the tree, stockings hung, tonight’s goodies out of the car, tomorrow’s goodies into the car, and all the kiddies are snug in their bed, coughing away as we try to wind down for the night. It’s been quite an Advent. Not very comfortable, not very pretty. But in our hearts we prepared for today with everything we had to offer. This year I felt very much like the Little Drummer Boy, and my humble gift to the King was each day trying to be what I’m supposed to be, the best way I can. Even in difficult times I feel the real blessing of Christmas, and I’m so grateful for that blessed babe in a manger who came to separate true happiness from mere circumstances.

Happy Christmas to you and me!! See you in 2012!

From the Kitchen: Tinsel Tree Gingerbread Cut Out Cookies

2011-12-14T22:30:00.003-05:00

I can’t believe this is my 4th (or is it my 5th?) Christmas blogging here and I haven’t yet shared my gingerbread cut out recipe. Well, it was requested by my fabulous neighbor DeeDee, so here it is!! I like requests because they make me see past the mile-long to-do list and do something a little more gratifying for a couple minutes :) I had already photographed them in an optimistic hour during one successful naptime, so I was able to share this year’s batch with you. Enjoy with friends!

Classic Gingerbread for Cut Out Cookies

Ingredients

· 6 cups sifted all-purpose flour
· 1 teaspoon baking soda
· ½ teaspoon baking powder
· 1 cup butter
· 1 cup packed dark-brown sugar
· 4 teaspoons ground ginger
· 4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
· 1½ teaspoons ground cloves
· 1½ teaspoons salt
· 2 large eggs
· 1 cup molasses

Directions

In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Set aside. In an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Mix in spices and salt, then eggs and molasses. Add flour mixture and combine on low speed.

Divide dough in thirds and wrap in plastic and flatten into approximately 1” bricks. Chill for about 1 hour. Heat oven to 350°. On a heavily floured surface, roll dough 1/8”-1/4” thick (depending on preference). Cut into desired shapes. Transfer to ungreased baking sheets. If dough will not hold shape well, refrigerate cut-outs for 15 minutes before baking. If dough is too stiff to roll without cracking, allow to warm up before rolling and cutting.

Bake about 8 to10 minutes, until puffed but not darkened, or longer if you prefer crispier cookies. Allow cookies to cool on wire racks, and then decorate as desired.

As you can see, I opted out of the traditional cookie cutter method for these. I thought it would be quicker to cut them with a pastry wheel (that rotary thing is used for pie crusts, they tell me, though I don’t make pies). Hmm. Let’s just say that the cutting and baking is the fast part, so I didn’t realize my dream of speedy completion. But I love the end result and it was worth the work, as always :) They remind me of A Charlie Brown Christmas (watch teh first couple seconds and then go to 2:43 in the video to watch my favorite part!). I like to roll these thick (1/4”-ish) and bake them to be softer and chewier than most gingerbread tends to be, but feel free to follow your instincts and/or traditional preferences to make them your own.

I use the royal icing recipe here (I generally use about half the meringue powder that Martha suggests because I don’t like the taste of it in my icing). I decorated them simply with some really pricey metallic sanding sugar from Williams-Sonoma. As much as I love browsing the store and catalog, Williams-Sonoma is not a place I normally shop for myself, but I love the look of these edible tinsel trees and I have a ton left over for future cookie decorating needs. Sometimes a little kitchen upgrade goes a long way, especially for cookies made to be given away.

Happy Advent! I hope to be back before Christmas with more cookies…

Real Life: Advent Snapshot

2011-12-07T09:53:00.001-05:00

I’m starting a new section. The purpose of posts titled “Real Life” will highlight just how easy it is to crop out and gloss over the unpleasantries when blogging. I’m real, you’re real. I have little irksome tasks that don’t get accomplished every day, moreso when I cook, bake, make and create all the things that are so much fun to blog about. I’m sure you do to.

My morning:

So cute, right? Look at him. Sweet chubby shiny-eyed baby with a Christmas blanket. Adorable. Don’t you just want to nibble those cheeks and snuggle him??

True, but harder to see all that cuteness when I don’t artfully omit FROM THE VERY SAME PHOTO….

Undecorated artificial tree (except a few candy canes in the kid-reachable areas).
Toy hockey net from yesterday’s play.
Long-term Playdoh storage in random Ikea bins, bane of my dining room.
CRUMBS!!! Almost always there.
Animal flashcards abandoned by bigger kids.
Stuff hidden behind the couch because I don’t have room anywhere else.
Yep, that’s the tree skirt he removed from the tree. Himself. By crawling.
More crumbs! Under the rug fringe. It happens.

Today I’m going to TRY to do something other than clean, feed and cook. Because that’s what I mostly do these days, and I need a break. The crumbs can stay. The tree skirt can live in the middle of the floor. I’m going to tackle some FUN projects. Maybe sew. Maybe design Christmas cards. Maybe make some future blog posts (I have so much to share, and no time to share it!). Tomorrow I’ll pay but it will be worth it for a mini-creative vacation from the routine. We all need that now and again to keep our sanity amidst the… crumbs :)

My Life in a Nutshell: Facebook is not Reality

2011-11-14T08:00:00.000-05:00

I recently had a wonderful Facebook chat with 2 real-life friends who currently live in other states. It was like a girls’ night out, but digital. In our discussion it came up that sometimes we all feel down because we are constantly getting the impression that everyone else has rosy lives filled daily with delicious and attractive meals eaten with perfectly satisfied husbands and clean and helpful children who never have tantrums at school and positively never ever pick their noses. And other such impossible realities. The truth of the matter is that Facebook lies to us.

On Facebook, like on many blogs, we only see the really notable aspects of someone’s life, generally the most photogenic or comment-worthy. We see pictures of their wedding, new babies, vacations, reunions, New Year’s Eve parties. We don’t see those same people feeling miserable or doing mundane activities. You know, the stuff we deal with regularly that doesn’t feel notable or particularly satisfying. In March this year, the journal Pediatrics published a paper on “Facebook depression”, a phenomenon among teens and tweens (and to a lesser extent all users of social media). The findings indicated a correlation between depression and usage of social media, though there is no consensus on which came first. Apparently we all like to stuff our electronic bras, selectively sharing our lives with the world at large in a way that gives the best impression. It’s a natural reaction to an unnatural information society, free of context or body language - a vicious cycle in which our perceived worth is as simple as the number of people who read our updated statuses.

I try to keep it real here, but it’s human nature to make others think we have our act together. We don’t like to feel incompetent or pitiable. In a recent post I whined about how busy and scattered I am, and I do genuinely feel very much that way most mornings these days. But I am optimistic (because I need to be to survive my life right now) and sometimes I might be doing you a disservice by not disclosing more aspects of my less-than-perfect life. So here we go! A good confession is truly cathartic, so I expect to feel better by the end of this as well.

I can be shamefully disorganized at times. For example, my work room:

Do you like that I have a watermark on that photo? Don’t you dare go trying to put my “studio” on the cover of Better Homes and Gardens now, or I might get litigious. That was an admittedly bad day (thwarted cleaning/organizing in addition to a rain-induced leak in my work area). But still. Would you want to try to work there? I also had some recent shameful disorganization-related incidents at social functions, nearly-missed appointments, etc. I just renewed some library books that were due with mere minutes to spare. My kids aren’t always clean…

or dressed properly,

or polite.

I cook ugly food most nights for dinner, if I cook at all.

And sometimes my best efforts just plain fail.

(those were supposed to be lighthouse-shaped cookies!!)

I always do my best, but sometimes my best isn’t really something I think you’d want to read about. That’s been happening a lot lately given our family circumstances, and it is partly the cause for fewer posts than I’d like. But it’s my new resolution to be more honest, so hopefully that’ll translate into more posts. Shorter, less entertaining, uglier posts.

See you real soon :)

From the Kitchen: Garlic Breadsticks

2011-11-04T22:33:00.000-04:00

Mmmm… I’m in carb heaven just thinking about these. They’re essentially a knock-off version of what Olive Garden dishes out, and they are fantastic. They’d really impress with any home-cooked Italian meal for your next at-home date night...

Garlic Breadsticks

Dough Ingredients:

1 1/2 c warm water

2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

2 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp salt

4 1/4 c all-purpose flour

1 package active dry yeast (2 1/4 tsp)

Garlic Butter Ingredients:

4 tbsp butter, melted

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp salt

Directions:

(Normally I’d use my bread machine for this, but this recipe is too large to fit!!) In your stand mixer, follow directions for making dough with dough ingredients. Allow dough to rise in a greased bowl in warm location until doubled. Punch down and cut into 16 equal pieces. Grease 2 cookie sheets, and form breadsticks with each dough piece and lay on cookie sheet. Allow to rise for about 30 minutes while you preheat your oven to 400 degrees and mix the garlic butter ingredients together in a small bowl. Bake breadsticks for 6-7 minutes, then baste with garlic butter. Return to oven for 6-7 more minutes and then baste again. Serve hot!

Mmmm… resistance is futile…

From the Kitchen: Creamy Garlic Shrimp with Rotini

2011-11-03T08:00:00.000-04:00

These lackluster photos have been sitting around waiting to be blogged, but I made it again for dinner recently and realized that I hadn’t shared it deliciousness with all of you. Loved it as leftovers too. Yum. The photos are really not good at all, but when you’ve got a hungry family waiting for you to take pictures of the food so they can eat, you don’t take your time. Since I use this as my online recipe box, blogging it also serves my selfish organizational purposes. Mwa ha ha…

Creamy Garlic Shrimp with Rotini

Ingredients:

1 box (14.5-16 oz) rotini

3 tbsp oil

1 large onion, coarsely chopped

3 small zucchini, cubed (can substitute any vegetables you like)

4 cloves garlic, pressed

1 tsp salt

1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1/4 cup diced pickled red pepper (optional but good if you have it around)

1 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup freshly grated parmigiano reggiano cheese (please please please do NOT substitute for other “parmesan” cheeses! for the love of all that is holy!)

2 cups peeled, cooked, thawed shrimp (can use frozen, fresh, whatever… as long as it’s peeled and cooked before you use it here!)

Directions:

Prepare pasta, set aside and keep warm. Heat oil in pan and add vegetables, salt and pepper. Sauté the onion, zucchini, and garlic until tender and fragrant. Add pickled pepper. Reduce heat to low and add cream and cheese until very hot. Add shrimp and heat through. Remove from heat and mix well with hot pasta. Serve immediately and enjoy!!

I think the secret here is the sauce. It’s so very easy and basic, but really delivers on flavor. If you don’t keep a wedge of parmigiano reggiano cheese in your fridge, you should. Nothing at all like pre-grated parmesan cheese, this packs a flavor punch and a little goes a long way. It lasts an eternity in your fridge, so it’ll get used up eventually. Trust me. This pasta dish would ideally be served with garlic breadsticks (is there a pasta dish that wouldn’t go well with fresh, carb-loaded garlicky goodness?), so tomorrow I’ll post about those! See you then :)

My Life in a Nutshell: Minutiae

2011-10-26T09:30:00.001-04:00

My mind for 5 minutes this morning:

“Please finish eating, N, it’s almost time to go!” Don’t forget to put fruit snacks in K’s backpack. “Please give this t-shirt to your teacher so you have it when it’s time to dye for your pow wow.” Must start the dishwasher so we have plates for lunch. Is it nap time for the baby yet? He’s getting fussy. “OK, baby, don’t cry! I’ll get you out of that high chair!” More spilled milk? That is the second day in a row K has done that! “Please get a wiper and clean that up. Be more careful next time or we’ll have to go back to sippy cups."” Don’t forget to re-wipe that when she’s done. Put lunch in N’s backpack. And sign her day planner. Is M awake yet? Does he have any long pants in his dresser? Did I put away the kid laundry or is it still in the basement? I don’t remember. “N, let me brush your hair. There. Now get ready to go. I can’t walk with you today but I’ll wave out the front window. You can scooter. Your gloves are in your helmet. Have a great day… love you!” There’s M… he found some pants. “Your breakfast is on the table, bud.” Wave out the window. “Please get the broom and clean that cereal up before someone steps on it and the mess is bigger.”Shoot! I forgot to give N her asthma meds before she left. But I can still dose M. “M! Come here, guy! Drink that. Now the nose stuff. Now do your puffs.” I suppose now would be a good time to dole out some vitamins. Is everyone done eating? Now run the dishwasher before you forget. Oooh, and switch those rugs into the dryer. I wonder if the toothpaste came out. Grab that bin while you’re in the basement so you don’t have to run down again. What are you going to cook for dinner? Fussy baby. “M, can you please give the baby a toy? Thanks, guy!” Better sweep before that cereal migrates to the carpet. But he did a pretty good job this time, didn’t he? Oh, it’s gooey! That’s right, the milk. Where’s that dish rag? What is this paper on the floor? Someone’s homework? Better ask before you toss it. I better make some breakfast for myself soon. Don’t forget to call Cindy. Check the calendar for next week first…

As I ponder my life as it is and why I generally feel overwhelmed at this particular time, I am coming to the realization that it isn’t over-commitment that is causing this feeling like my brain will explode. It’s just that I have an endless train of minutiae chugging through my head, and it doesn’t need to stop to refuel. I have some ideas about how to combat this necessary aspect of mothering multiple youngsters, and I’ll share as I figure it out. But right now I had better go deal with some more tiny tasks before they cause a problem…

Product Review: Ott Lite Daylight CFL Bulb

2011-10-19T08:00:00.000-04:00

My mom has been talking about Ott Lites for a while now. All I knew, until very recently, was that they were supposed to be great for seeing true color… generally marketed to quilters trying to match colors. But they are soooo expensive! The lamps sell anywhere from $50 to $300, depending on the model. The bulbs, specific to that brand, were also very expensive. I had never seriously considered buying one for myself.

But I just happened to be at the fabric store when they just happened to be having a major sale (surprised?), and all the Ott Lite merchandise was 50% off. When I walked by, I noticed the bulbs. They actually had ones that worked in a standard socket. I could get a 100W incandescent replacement CFL for $7.50. That’s still expensive in my book, but for my basement work room, I wanted to try it out and see if it was worth the hype. I bought 3, just in case, and planned to return them if I wasn’t $7.50 thrilled with them.

When I got home, I removed the CFL that was in my cutting table pendent lamp and put in the Ott Lite. I flipped the switch and it was a glorious moment where a skylight opened into my basement and poured forth heaven’s rays on my work surface (cue the angel choirs).

OK… it wasn’t quite The Rapture I make it out to be, but it was still pretty flippin’ AMAZING. It really did feel like natural light. My doctor had suggested a sunlamp to aid with seasonal depression and vitamin D deficiency in our cold wintry northern clime, and I think these will help make me happier chugging away at projects in my subterranean studio this winter, if only because it reduces the feeling that I’m in a basement. Ott Lite doesn't make any claims to better health other than that their light reduces eye strain, so I’m guessing that studies haven’t proven any anti-depressant qualities. But I’ll keep you posted about that. In addition to better light, these bulbs have the same benefits of ordinary CFLs… much cheaper, less energy waste as heat, longer life span. Ott Lites also have a 1 year manufacturers warranty against defects. I am so satisfied with my new light source that I can honestly say it was worth every penny, and would have been at full price too. But I might go back and snatch up a few more while they’re still half off :)

*Update: I haven’t even posted this yet, but it was waiting for publication when I heard this from OttLite after a Facebook discussion where a friend mentioned that she was hoping OttLite bulbs would help with seasonal affective disorder (S.A.D.): “...Believe it or not, Dr. Ott worked with Johns Hopkins using our lighting for S.A.D. patient treatment so although we can't legally make medical claims, I think OttLite might really help you…” Cool! Not a claim, but it might. Which is better than not, eh?*

Off the Shelf: Organizing for your Brain Type

2011-10-17T08:00:00.000-04:00

So, I just checked out the book Organizing for your Brain Type from our local library. After reading the back cover, I didn’t bother reading the intro or taking the quiz to determine my brain type… I knew immediately which I was. I read ‘brain type’ as ‘temperament’ (as I discussed here), and it was really helpful and edifying to finally understand why sanguine people like me function the way I do (though it feels like I don’t function right now!). Sanguine types, the “innovating style” of brain type, are energized by new projects but struggle to fully complete them, frequently have stacks of stuff all over the place, have trouble remembering appointments, lose things, etc. Perhaps I’m generally a high functioning sanguine, but it’s all a rouse… deep down I’m a mess!

This is the first book that I've seen that actually acknowledged that some people simply cannot stick to a classic routine. It offered practical tips to make life less stressful and create systems that will actually work towards a more organized life. I crave flexibility, and right now I’m trapped in a non-negotiably rigid schedule with the school kids and baby naps, so I feel a bit like I’m suffocating. Since my husband is also a sanguine personality type (we do have a lot of fun together!), it was extra helpful for me to see ways to make our life and home better for him too. I'm desperate for a working system for our house and schedule since I'm drowning in commitments, papers and “stuff”, and this book was really encouraging. Thank you, public library.

I can’t speak for the usefulness of the advice for other “brain types”, but if you are a creative type, I'd highly recommend Organizing for your Brain Type as an essential read. A+

Get Crafty: Waldorf Doll

2011-10-07T17:30:00.000-04:00

My girls have always always been interested in animals. Nary was a baby doll to be coddled in our house. Until recently, that is. My 7 year old adopted a baby boy doll from her 4 year old brother about the time our new baby was born in April. This doll was named Triceratops despite being fully human and having zero horns on his face, and he has become a favorite plaything. I was thrilled to see her exhibit compassion to a human thing (you know, sometimes you wonder). After this, they girls began talking about me possibly making a cousin for Triceratops for my 5 year old. Certainly!! I want to encourage play mothering so they will be good babysitters when they are old enough, so I began researching Waldorf dolls.

Then I ordered supplies here. I used their tutorial for creating the head. I embroidered the eyes and mouth, and Mary Kay provided the sweet pink cheeks. I used this pattern for making the body (scroll all the way down to find the link to the pattern). I eyeballed a knit onesie and made a basic hat to keep her warm until I obtained brown yarn.

I read this post before adding the hair, a lovely multitonal auburn wool I found on clearance at a local yarn shop. And then I found a vintage doll slip via thrift shop to keep her decent until I sew some dresses and other outfits (that is the fun of having a doll, right?). I plan to help my daughters sew some clothes too as an educational experience, since they always sees me sewing and are very interested.

Yep. I think she’s a keeper.

My Life in a Nutshell: Newborn No More

2011-10-05T22:00:00.001-04:00

My beautiful baby boy is 6 months old! How did that happen?

(He’s posing on my Disappearing 9 Patch quilt… blogged here and here).

Hope you have a nose-wrinklingly wonderful day!

From the Kitchen: My Full-Size Sheet Cake Adventure

2011-09-19T08:00:00.000-04:00

*Here’s a little catch-you-up post from the heat summer… I started it but never finished it, possibly due to lack of final product photos...? Oh well. In an effort not to have wasted that time, here it finally is.*

I have many, many wonderful friends, and a particularly special set of them are celebrated their 10th anniversary this summer. They organized a vow renewal Mass and a reception for their family and friends, and were in need of a cake on a budget, and I was in need of a special gift for them. So… I just couldn’t help myself… I volunteered to make the cake.

I was being optimistic about my skills (I ~~got to experiment with icing under the eye of a professional~~ helped decorate a wedding cake once) and my available time (I ~~was trying to keep it together with a 3 month old and 3 other kids~~ had no babysitter). But I did it! I baked, frosted and decorated a giant cake to feed about 100 people! And it looked OK! Some parts even looked great! And it was very tasty. It took a long day, but I was proud that I accomplished it, and can now check this particular feat off my bucket list.

I baked four 11” by 17” pans… two white cake, two devil’s food. I was really nervous about cooking it thoroughly without toasting the edges, and having it bake evenly to avoid excessive doming. For each layer, I used 2 boxes of Betty Crocker cake mix, prepared with 1 extra egg per mix. I greased each pan, poked 2 flower nails (to help the center cook by conducting heat) through parchment paper to line the bottom of each pan, then greased that too. I baked them at 325 for about 38 minutes each, and flipped them successfully onto wire racks to cool after 10 minutes in the pan after baking. They domed a little, but were baked just right.

Getting them onto the board was tricky, but I was ultimately successful. I piped a buttercream dam around the edge to hold the filling (a chocolate Bavarian cream mousse on the chocolate cake, and a strawberry peach cream mousse on the vanilla). I then awkwardly managed to get the two top layer cakes on almost straight, and gave up trying to get them perfect to avoid tearing the cake. I leveled by eyeballing with a large thin bread knife.

Then I did a little dirty icing (I prefer that term to “crumb coating” because it sounds like more fun, don’t you think?). I am no good with thin layers, and I needed some depth to cover a multitude of ugliness underneath, but it worked. It was finally iced, as smoothly as I was willing to work for, with no visible crumbs. Hooray!

I used a toothpick to draw a heart on the top to define the area for text, then used a red thread as a rough guide to help me write in straight lines. It didn’t work… my writing on this cake was terrible. It was mostly straight, but I used a calligraphy tip I had never used before (big mistake), didn’t plan out exactly where the text would go, and it didn’t help that I was leaning over the gigantic cake in a weird way to avoid a) smashing it and b) further straining my already strained back. Meh. I’ll eventually get over it, and all my friends were much too polite to comment.

Then I slapped on a piped pearl border and some buttercream roses. Don’t I make it sound easy? Well, it wasn’t, actually. They were difficult for me and took a long time. It was good practice though, and maybe the next time I’ll make them it won’t be in a hot, humid house destined to wilt even the stiffest butter-based icing. The end result looked good enough to me.

Then I added leaves (those really were easy), and it was done! Frosted, it measures about 23” by 1” by 4”, and is the cake equivalent of about 192 cupcakes. Dangerous. I would have liked to have weighed it, just out of gross curiosity, but since I couldn’t even lift it by myself, that was never going to happen.

Ta da! One giant cake. Final cost… about $40 and 6 hours of my time, but the experience was priceless.

Get Crafty: Bunting Birthday Banner

2011-09-14T22:58:00.001-04:00

Today my baby… my oldest baby… turned seven! My how the time flies when you’re having fun :)

For a long time I had wanted to make a reusable birthday banner for the family - something to easily put up and take down, that complemented our decor and which would last many years. Just yesterday, an unexpected request came in from one of my very favorite local portrait photographers, Melanie Reyes, for a cute wedding/engagement banner, and that started me off with a close deadline to get something done in this vein. The birthday banner tested my planned process, and I’m happy to say that today I succeeded! I’m terribly impressed with the accuracy of my process and the overall end result...

We celebrated the big day with an unexpected roast turkey Thanksgiving-type dinner (our garage freezer died several days ago, so the partially thawed turkey found gainful employ in feeding tonight’s crowd). The vintage garden-inspired banner added to a festive atmosphere and, since it rained, we stayed inside and it was actually seen by our guests rather than just noted in passing. It makes me happy, just like my wonderful daughter, and I look forward to keeping them both around for many, many birthdays to come.

Happy birthday, honey bun… I’m so lucky to be your mom!

From the Kitchen: Chicken and Pasta in Lemon Cream Sauce

2011-09-13T08:00:00.000-04:00

This recipe was a bit of a surprise winner, actually. I wasn’t sure if the lemon would go over, but I needed to use up some cooked chicken (long story) and my husband required pasta before last night’s hockey game. I used several recipes for inspiration, then just worked with what I had on hand. It was easy, tasty and filling. Cooking the pasta in the broth gave a real depth of flavor to the dish, and my husband, after one bite, said, “This is good… whatever it is.” I had debated adding some vegetables to the dish, like broccoli or zucchini, but at the last minute I decided to serve them raw with dinner because then my kids would eat them instead of picking them out (you know how it is). But you could add them in if you wanted.

Ingredients:

6 cups water

4 chicken bouillon cubes or 4 tsp chicken soup base

1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

juice of one lemon

1 tsp lemon zest

2 large cloves of garlic, pressed or finely minced

1 lb pasta (I used bowties)

2 cups cooked chicken, pulled into bite-size chunks

1 cup sour cream

Directions:

Bring water to a boil. Add bouillon, pepper, lemon juice, lemon zest, and garlic. Add pasta and cook on medium until pasta is all dente and there is about 1/2 cup liquid left in the pot. Add chicken and continue heating for about 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in sour cream until well combined and creamy. It may still seem a bit runny, but the sauce will thicken as it stands. Serve hot and enjoy!

I’m sure this recipe could be modified a million ways and still be wonderful – rice instead of pasta? roasted peppers in the sauce? mushrooms? - but the basic concept of creamy lemon was the big winner of the day. Unexpectedly extraordinary :)

Get Crafty: Catholic Embroidery

2011-08-22T10:15:00.001-04:00

We are so blessed! Yesterday was the baptism of our 3rd godson, Daniel Xavier! He’s such a precious little bundle, as are all godchildren, and we are so excited to have a little bit of responsibility for him as he grows and becomes who God intended him to be. And special days call for special projects, so I decided to embroider a baptismal stole for him, inspired by one that was handmade for my son Michael. I wanted it to not only be made by me, but to be made just for him. Daniel was named after the biblical Daniel of the Lion’s Den, so it was appropriate to incorporate the image of a lion as a symbol of his namesake. I’m no whiz at embroidery, but I think it turned out pretty great!

I designed the embroidery pattern myself, and used a trick to get it on the fabric (would only work with light colored fabric, I think). I found a lion shape I liked from Google images, and inserted it into a Word document. I then added the text in a script font, centered the whole thing, and traced it onto the fabric directly on the screen like a lightbox. I taped the white cotton fabric in place and gently used a silver fabric marking pencil, and it worked like a dream. I did the same for the chi rho symbols. The fabric I used measured 6.5” by 24.5”, and I sewed it along the ends and one long side after embroidering, so the finished dimensions were 3” by 24”.

Our second godson was baptized a little over a month ago, and I was so disappointed to see that our church (wonderful though it is), provided a stole that was made of polyester felt. I’m a snob about quality materials, and my insides felt sad at this discovery. Every other stole I had seen was a respectable white cotton with a red chi rho symbol machine embroidered on it. I had thought about making a stole for little Andrew Paul, and I kicked myself for not trying it at that point. Just another reason I was not going to miss this current opportunity. Andrew did, however, get a very cute wooden saint doll made by St. Anne’s Pixies on Etsy, a great Catholic mama and talented artist, and this was a personalized, play-with-able, baptismally-appropriate gift that I was very proud to give.

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Our first godson, Eugene Joseph, got neither stole nor saint doll, but I made him his baptismal garment. I was no experienced seamstress then, nearly 8 years ago, but I am still proud that I was able to do something meaningful for him. Let me see if I can dig up an ancient photo… ah, there we go… it’s humble, but it got the job done :)

I just love baptisms. And the smell of chrism. And sweet little newborn babies…

From the Kitchen: Tea Cup Cake

2011-08-14T14:35:00.001-04:00

Did you know you can make cake… delicious, moist chocolate cake… in the microwave? You surely can. So go find a small set of hands willing to help you (shouldn’t be hard to find if you phrase it the right way), grab a couple microwave-safe tea cups, mugs or ramekins, and prepare to nuke.

Tea Cup Cakes (makes 2 tea cup cakes or one mug cake)

Ingredients:

1/4 cup flour

1/4 cup sugar

2 tbsp cocoa powder

1 egg

3 tbsp milk

2 tbsp oil

1 tsp vanilla

Directions:

Mix all ingredients in a large microwave-safe measuring cup (or a large mug) with a spoon until well mixed. Don’t be too particular. If you’re making tea cup or ramekin cakes, pour half into each cup/ramekin. Sprinkle with a few chocolate chips, if you like. Microwave each separately for 1-2 minutes, until top stops rising and bubbles burst leaving open holes. If you’re making a mug cake, microwave it on high for 2-3 minutes until done (you might want to put it on a plate in case of overflow!). Serve with ice cream, or mix up a dab of chocolate buttercream (butter, milk, powdered sugar). You can also double the recipe and nuke in a bowl, then split (or tort, if you prefer) the cake and ice in two layers with frosting. Dangerously good. Now you might hate me…

(I had wanted to take a photo of 3 uneaten cakes, but someone got to one before the camera did)

From the Kitchen: Helga Bread (or, Knockoff Olga Bread)

2011-08-09T20:00:00.000-04:00

In high school, I had a lengthy walk to the bus stop after class until my older sister got her driver’s license. We’d walk together through downtown Ann Arbor, occasionally browsing the cheap college town thrift stores (one of my lifelong passions, apparently). And, when the day was just right, we might stop in at Olga’s Kitchen and get an order of Olga Bread to share. Mmmmm… Olga Bread.

From the Olga’s website:

It all started back in 1970 when Olga Loizon opened her first restaurant in Birmingham, Michigan. It was there that she began selling the Original Olga® sandwich – a mouth-watering combination of beef and lamb topped with onions, tomatoes, and tangy Olgasauce all wrapped in her secret recipe Olga Bread.

Olga Bread… mildly sweet, soft, chewy and substantial. Not like pita bread. Not at all airy or dry, ~~impossible~~ very difficult to fold, and uncrackable when you do finally manage to roll it up. And delicious. Did I mention that it’s delicious?

I introduced my husband to Olga’s recently, and we agreed that it’s proximity to the kids’ play area in the mall is dangerous on days that are unpleasant to be outside. Like hot, humid, buggy days. Days when your air conditioner isn’t working very well. Days you don’t want to cook in your own house. Well, needless to say, it’s a tempting habit. But then it occurred to me to look for a knockoff recipe. Lo and behold, food.com had the answer. After reconsidering the directions to accommodate my schedule and lazy cooking habits, I can share a mouthwatering recipe with you. I am naming it Helga Bread, since it’s the less popular younger sister of Olga Bread… you know, the one that might not be as pretty but is just as sweet inside and is probably much more available to watch the kids if you need a babysitter in a pinch. And she goes well with grilled chicken, colby jack cheese, tomatoes, onions and Greek yogurt too. And probably won’t give you heartburn later.

Helga Bread

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cup scalded milk

1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup butter

1 egg

1 tsp salt

2 tsp active dry yeast

4 cups bread flour

Directions:

If you have a bread machine, use the dough cycle following its instructions for order of adding wet and dry ingredients.

Otherwise, in a large mixer bowl, combine milk, honey, butter and egg until butter is melted and egg is thoroughly mixed. Make sure it is not too hot (should feel like bathwater to the touch). Mix salt and yeast with flour and then add it, 1 cup at a time, to the wet mixture and knead until it cleans the sides of the bowl. Oil top of dough and flip to oil bottom as well. Cover oiled bowl and allow to double in bulk.

Divide dough into 16 pieces (or just pinch off plum-sized bits), and roll each piece out into a rough circle with a diameter of about 8-10 inches. Heat a dry skillet to medium high. Place one piece onto hot skillet and cook for 15-30 seconds. Flip and cook an additional 10-20 seconds. Remove from skillet and repeat with other rounds. Enjoy warm or cooled! They will also freeze well in an airtight bag or container.

My Life in a Nutshell: Happy 4th of July 2011!!

2011-07-04T23:13:00.001-04:00

Since becoming linked to my husband’s family, I’ve inherited annual participation in a wonderful long-standing family event. The same party (more or less) has been occurring on July 4 for the past 49 years. It began with my husband’s grandparents hosting a party with their neighbors. Today we had 4 generations, brilliant weather, and a lot of fun. My contribution, in addition to the majority of the children, included some festive sugar cookies (recipe here).

I also made a couple dresses for my girls… something that could be paired with red ribbons but also function on non-patriotic occasions as well. They were a hassle (since I designed them myself), and took forever with lots of ripping out of stitching, but I’m pleased at the result and proud of myself for finishing them at all, and even more so for finishing them on time. A day early even. Go me. They were a combination of a tiered skirt (inspired by a great tutorial on Cool People Sew sent to me by my friend Natalie) and a back button closing bodice, using some blue cotton fabric selected jointly by me and the girls with all other random materials I had on hand. Note to self: get more white thread.

I hope all you Americans out there had a lovely, festive day… a day to be proud to wear red, white and blue. Our country’s nowhere near perfect, but I’m sure glad I have it this good. God bless the USA!

Get Crafty: A Manly Kindle Cover for Father’s Day

2011-06-19T07:00:00.000-04:00

Happy Father’s Day!! Not that I think many dads actually read this (except maybe my own… hi Dad!!). I had wanted to do something special for my fabulously lovable husband for our anniversary earlier this week, but a back problem derailed my plans. But since Father’s Day was less than a week away, my second chance came right in time.

I had gotten the darling man a Kindle for his birthday just a month ago, and we determined that a cover would be in the best interests of all involved parties. He suggested leather, and I got to design it. Perfect!

Since my sewing machine, wonderfully obedient though it is, cannot handle upholstery weight leather and, due to the unfortunate back injury, I was unable to dig through my heavy bins of fabric to find the suede, I opted for some very nice, very expensive faux leather remnants left over from a recent upholstery project. Rich brown face and lovely suede-like reverse, this material was a dream to work with and is a VERY convincing leather alternative. And it was the perfect size for this case, easy to cut with a rotary tool and flexible enough to mold to the items inside.

The features of this case include:

a fleece-lined compartment for the Kindle itself
a layer of plastic canvas stabilizing each side for superior protection
two zippered compartments for storing the USB and power cord adapter
a pen holder (you never know when you’re going to need one!)
a single snap closure

I’m so pleased with how this turned out! It is both handsome and well-built (just like my husband), and I feel that the Kindle will be well-protected in its new home. Hooray!

I love you, Baby! Thanks for all our precious munchkins :)

Off the Shelf: Sewing Tips and Trade Secrets

2011-06-16T17:02:00.001-04:00

I hurt my back this past weekend, so I’ve been doing a lot of sitting around and reading. Lucky for me I picked up a couple books at the library last week, so I turned out to be fairly prepared for this episode of pain and inactivity. One of the books (which I had already checked out years ago when I couldn’t appreciate all the good ideas), Sewing Tips and Trade Secrets, is essentially a compilation of tidbits from Threads magazine. I devoured this book over the past 2 days… it was so fascinating to read new ways and better ways to accomplish some basic sewing tasks. I’d highly recommend it!

A giveaway where everybody wins!!

2011-05-19T08:56:00.000-04:00

Regular readers will note that that I’ve mentioned fellow blogger Jodi at www.sewfearless.com on multiple occasions. But for those of you who are new, let me introduce you! She’s an amazing crafty gal and a sewing genius, not to mention a wonderful friend of mine and fabulous mother to 4 beautiful children (including the 7-week-old cheeky little Gladys pictured below). She just entered the Bernina “win an ultimate sewing room makeover contest” on their Facebook page, and I really want her to win!! If she wins, we all win. You see, Jodi makes tutorials and sewing patterns that she gives away for free on her blog, and if she has a better work space, we’ll get to see more of her wonderful work!!

To help make this dream happen, I’m hosting a giveaway of my own. And it’s the best kind… everyone wins! All you have to do to get my original animal ears hat sewing pattern (retail value $4.99) is vote for Jodi to win a $5000 sewing room makeover from Bernina, then come back here and comment to tell me you did it! That’s it! And if you come back daily and vote 5 times by May 25, I’ll send you my eskababy booties sewing pattern too (retail value $6.99)! And one very lucky winner will be randomly chosen from all the entries to receive a gorgeous handmade recycled wool flower pin from my Etsy shop, TheJuneBride!! These eco-friendly blooms are perfect to brighten up your summer wardrobe! Be sure to include the name of your favorite flower in your first entry and I’ll try to connect you with your favorite when you win… click here to see what’s available!

To vote for Jodi, click on THIS LINK.

Then add a comment on this post so I know you voted!!

When you click the link to vote, Facebook will ask for permission to install Bernina’s contest application (if you’re not already a fan of Bernina). Click on the VOTE button underneath the picture (same picture as above). You are allowed one vote per day, and you can vote every day until May 25.

OFFICIAL GIVEAWAY RULES:

Maximum entries per person is 7, and each entry must be its own comment on this post.
Patterns will be emailed in .pdf format as entries are made and/or as soon as I can, depending on how many entries there are.
Using random.org, one flower pin winner will be chosen on Thursday, May 26, 2011. The winner will be contacted via email to collect address information for shipping.
Participants are welcome worldwide.
Please make sure to include your email address in your FIRST comment only so I can send the hat pattern to you! No email = no pattern. Subsequent comments must not include your email address (so I don’t send you the same pattern twice!), but must be numbered up to 7 so I know how many times you have voted for Jodi in order to send the booties pattern to you after 5 comments. Please also include the name of your favorite flower pin from my shop so I can send your selection when you win!

Have fun! Tell your friends! Vote every day!

Home Sweet Home: Spring Blooms

2011-05-16T11:05:00.001-04:00

This time of year is birthday season, and I love that lilacs are usually blooming on my birthday. I try to spend the afternoon outside inhaling the heady aroma. Not this year. They are just blooming now, as our crab apple blossoms fall (they usually bloom a week before the lilacs). But we did get to enjoy the tree at its peak, and later today, when the grass is dry, I hope to go out and clip a few lilac branches to bring inside and cheer up my house.

Before it rained, the wind was blowing the petals down , and it was too magical to pass up. The kids tried to make petal angels, but it didn’t work quite as well as they hoped.

I think we made the most of it while it lasted :)

My Life in a Nutshell: Thirty

2011-05-05T08:00:00.000-04:00

Today is my birthday. Today I turn thirty years old.

Every milestone makes you stop and think about where you are in life, what you’ve accomplished, what you hope for in the future. All I can say is that, while life hasn’t always been rosy, every new year has been better than the last. I don’t expect this year to be any different :)

So, goodbye dear 20s… it’s been fun! A degree, a wedding, a job, a house, four kids, a small business, and rather a lot of life experience in 10 short years. I am feeling very content closing out this decade… no regrets, no remorse, no fears about the future. A lot of gratitude for all the gifts and responsibilities I’ve been given. What more could I want?

Happy birthday to me!

Through the Looking Glass: Small Miracles

2011-05-03T08:00:00.000-04:00

My Life in a Nutshell: Bye Bye Baby (Weight)

2011-04-25T10:00:00.000-04:00

I’ve been quieter on the blog than I had hoped since little AJ was born 3 weeks ago, but I guess I’ll accept that as a fair trade for some much needed rest (or at least the pursuit of rest) and baby bonding. We are doing well… healthy, generally happy, and excited for the future. Part of that excitement for me involves losing the baby weight and getting to the point where some of my pre-pregnancy clothes fit again. To be honest, I’m really excited about that. Because right now nothing fits except maternity clothes, and I hated wearing those even when I was pregnant. Now, 3 weeks out, I can tell the weight loss will be the same hard-fought battle it was after each of my other pregnancies, but now I’m mentally prepared for it. Today is Day 1 of the process of reclaiming my body.

To get back down to a healthy weight I’d like to maintain, I want to lose between 28 and 34 pounds. I am exclusively nursing my baby, and I’m not the type of person who automatically drops the weight the minute baby starts eating. Nope… no matter what people may tell you, sometimes nursing makes you really hungry and being really hungry makes you eat more and eating more does not a successful dieter make. For me, it’s always a little depressing to get home from the maternity ward not having lost even the weight of the baby. How is that possible? Well, post-partum water retention and the requisite milk-producing expansion of “the girls” can easily account for it, but that doesn’t make it feel any better when looking at the scale. And after birth, new mothers really do need to take it easy so their bodies can heal properly, so exercise and diets shouldn’t happen right away. And that’s where I am now…

My plan of action? Weight Watchers.

I love Weight Watchers. The only successful dieting I have ever done was using their plan. I lost weight as a teenager when my mom was doing their plan (and so I had access to the tools too). I also lost 20 pounds after my third child and, for the first time in my memory, I was not overweight. It felt good. It felt very, very good. And I enjoyed the process! I think that the WW plan works by helping you understand what you’re actually consuming, creating healthy food choice habits and encouraging variety in both food and exercise. I used the online program and it made keeping track of daily food intake and exercise easy and fast, and kept me accountable for every choice I made. It worked well with my budget-minded mentality… if you want to splurge on something, you have to plan ahead. Today I signed up for a 3 month plan… I don’t want to wait a year being chubby before I decide to get down to business. WW allows nursing mothers to diet safely by calculating the right amount of extra nutrition to make healthy milk. The cost is generally about $18 per month, and I consider that a wonderful price to pay to see real results. And besides, that’s probably less than the new pants you’ll happily buy when you lose the weight :)

Since WW has revamped their system since I last used it, I am spending today acquainting myself with it and planning my next shopping trip. We’re out of the grocery essentials anyway and, with the inherent hassle of shopping with 3 kids under 5, it will also count as some exercise for the day. Double bonus!

So, in the spirit of Keep It Up, David! (David has lost over 165 pounds over the past 16 months… check out the blog for some great tips and motivation, as well as laughs and weight-loss camaraderie), I intend to keep you updated about my progress. So, off I go with a smile and a plan :)

Celebrate the Baby: Quick and Easy Baby Shower Gifts

2011-04-18T08:00:00.000-04:00

I’m writing this post very very very much in advance. It’s mid-March and I’m due to have my own baby sometime in the next 4 weeks or so, and my lovely sister-in-law is due to have a little boy about 6 weeks after that. Since this is her first bundle of joy, we’re throwing her a shower! Actually, when this posts, we will have had the shower a couple days ago. And hopefully my own baby is a couple weeks old now… but if you’re a regular reader you will already know when he or she was born, right? Writing for the future is weird when there are unknown and life-altering events to take place in the meantime. But I digress… we’re having a shower and I don’t want to post about the gifts I’m making before the shower, or they wouldn’t be a surprise! And besides, since I have a very new baby myself at this point, I’m probably desperate for ~~sleep and~~ pre-made blog posts. So it works out in everyone’s best interests :)

I really wanted to make a baby quilt to give but, to be honest, I just didn’t have the energy for another sort-of-major project. So I compromised between real quilt and no quilt, and ended up making this sweet but boyish blanket. It was so simple… just 1 yard of quilter’s cotton on one side, and 1 yard of soft and cuddly fabric on the other. I made the cute bias binding myself (I used a whole yard of fabric to make about 10 continuous yards of 2” bias, which resulted in a 1/2” binding). I just love how it turned out!!! And the best part? I made it in one lazy evening.

I also had some new cloth diapers around, so I embellished a few with more of the bias tape for distinct burp clothes…

And made a pacifier clip to match (had to get a snap in there somewhere!).

Baby legwarmers have come into vogue since my last newborn 4 years ago, and I wanted to try making some (using a new pair of knee-high women’s socks)… they were very successful, if a little boring in the color department (I didn’t think the little guy would want too many crazy patterns going on when he looks back at photos of his infancy). I cut off each sock at the heel and sewed a hem with a zigzag. So easy!

And, for the discerning newborn gentleman, I embellished a onesie with a necktie. I just love these, and they really are terribly easy. My very stylish sister-in-law would have loved to have some cutesy items if this baby would have been a girl, but she’ll find that boy things can be just as much fun :)

For more formal events, I couldn’t help but make one with a bowtie as well. Mini James Bond?

I hope my sister and brother-in-law enjoy using these things for my little nephew as much as I enjoyed making them :) I’m so excited for all the joy this baby will bring to their lives… babies are such a very good thing :)

Welcome to the family, Andrew!

2011-04-08T20:30:00.000-04:00

I’m so happy to announce the birth of our fourth child, little Andrew! He made a quick and exciting entrance at 2:25 AM on Monday, April 4. Our little guy weighed in at 7 pounds and 2 ounces, and 20.5 inches of beautiful baby boyhood. I just can’t believe he’s actually here… I’m totally in love!

Celebrate the Baby: The Best Bib Ever

2011-04-06T08:00:00.000-04:00

*This is a pre-scheduled post due to the likelihood of my being out of commission… today is my due date, though hopefully I’ve already given birth to the little bean and am napping blissfully with my new babe-in-arms. Or at least sitting down somewhere comfortable. Enjoy!*

My aunt Beth introduced me to the clever design of Dex Dura Bibs when she and my uncle adopted my cute little cousin Kimmie about 5 years ago (and now a little sister Patty too!). These bibs are seriously the best, easiest, most convenient, most washable bibs ever created. It is pure genius, and I highly recommend them as essential feeding gear for children of all sizes. The design allows it to be snapped up to give a seamless catchall for every manner of wet and dry dribble, and then unsnapped for easy wipe ups. It’s made of a waterproof vinyl material, so even big liquid spills will not make it to the clothing. It can be machine washed when it gets funky, and sanitized on a daily basis with an appropriate detergent and wet cloth. It’s brilliant. Did I mention you should get one? I think they sell them at Walmart, Meijer, and a variety of other brick-and-mortar locations in addition to Amazon.

Now, we’ve gone through a few in our time and, eventually, maybe after 2 years of continuous use, they tend to crack where they are always being folded and unfolded. Not a bad life-span, I think. But now that I have awesome Kam Snaps and the means to install them, I figured I’d try to make my own copycat version. Here’s the original, for reference:

To make mine, I picked up some pleather on sale at JoAnn’s. I love the glittery silver… sort of gender neutral “rock star” looking, if you ask me. I’m not sure it’ll have the same lifespan as the actual Dura Bibs because I just feel like this fabric will crack sooner, but who knows... maybe I’ll be surprised. Next time I may look into other waterproof fabric options. I bought a half yard which will probably make 5 bibs. For the black edging, I used some fold over elastic bought many moons ago on Etsy. And black Kam Snaps, of course.

I simply traced the original bib on the back of the pleather and cut it out with my mini rotary cutter. I also made a second piece to cover the bottom back of the pleather when the bib is snapped up, since the back was not nice-looking. I then sewed the FOE around the edges. I’d be sinning by omission if I didn’t mention that I had to rip out a couple areas and re-sew them where I didn’t fully catch the pleather. I suppose practice would make that skill perfect, but I’m not frequently in need of FOE. But with black thread, you’d never know it now. Add in the snaps (again, just using the original as a template), and I have a perfect working copy! I’m so pleased!

And here it is on my slightly-too-big model, just moments before I discovered he had drawn on the walls in two of the upstairs bedrooms. Oh, you naughty boy! Look at that impish smile. If only this bib could prevent THAT sort of mess, then we’d be in business…

Get Crafty: DIY Fabulous Baby Shower Cookie Favors

2011-03-30T08:00:00.000-04:00

*Pre-scheduled post… no baby yet, but we all need distractions, right?*

This post was hard to categorize… It’s both kitchen and crafty!

Many weeks ago I was asked to assist a friend with some baby shower cookie favors. I don’t advertise myself as a cookie decorator, but I guess I’m getting good enough after a few fun Christmases of baking. I was given a batch of 3” homemade gingerbread baby carriage cookies (I have got to get this recipe!!) and given free reign to decorate them in boy colors. I used a confectioner’s sugar and meringue powder icing (maybe 1 tsp meringue powder to 1/2 cup powdered sugar?), and simply adjusted the consistency depending on whether I was making distinct lines or filling them in. I used pastry bags for the outlining and flooding, then a parchment paper cone for the detail work and to spare my hands from too much squeezing.

They started out naked:

Then got some outlines:

Then got some color:

Then got some details:

I think they turned out so cute!! I love that these are a really special but inexpensive favor. I’ve got another baby shower coming up for my sister-in-law and first ever nephew (I’m so excited to be an aunt!!) and I am hoping (if my own little baby complies with my plans) to try out some more baby-themed confections. I guess time will tell!

My Life in a Nutshell: Bargaining

2011-03-29T20:57:00.000-04:00

Get Crafty: Homemade Ergo Baby Carrier Accessories?

2011-03-28T12:04:00.001-04:00

After yesterday’s rant about being soooo impatient about this baby not being here yet, today I want to focus on something distracting and positive. Enviable baby gear!

This past weekend I went to yet another Mom2Mom Sale (useful for stocking up on quality baby gear for cheap but also a welcome distraction and time-killer for end-of-pregnancy moms with nothing else to do). After musing a while back about making my own soft structured baby carrier, I hit gold at this sale and walked (waddled?) away with a steal… an actual Ergo baby carrier for only $25.00! They cost $100+ new, and the one I picked up was in practically perfect condition, having been used for only 2 months with an older child (so no drool, spit-up or poop stains… yet!). It came in its original box with the manual. I held off on the happy dance until I was out of the building and back in the car, because this mom had NO IDEA that used Ergos sell easily for $75+ on eBay. This carrier had never needed to be washed, and only had one very small stain that came out immediately with a Tide To Go Instant Stain Remover Pen (which is also essential mommy gear, FYI).

So, now that I’m prepared for some serious baby wearing, I would like to hack some of the accessories that generally accompany the carrier itself. Each of the accessories here cost about $15-25 new, and if they can be hacked, I think it might just be worth it (unless I find them miraculously cheap too).

Apparently “sucking pads” (a name that just grosses me out right now) help keep the straps tidy when baby is big enough to chew on things whilst being toted around. They help reduce the amount of washing the carrier itself will require, which is a good thing. And they should be super easy to make… bonus! The ones sold by Ergo look like rectangles made of a couple layers of terrycloth with binding on the edges and either Velcro or snaps to keep them in place. Easy peasy.

And, more immediately useful, would be the infant insert. There are two types, the old flat “cradle” type and the new “Heart2Heart” version. Understanding the importance of keeping pressure off a tiny baby’s developing spine, I will likely make something more like the Heart2Heart version. It’s more or less the original plus a little round pillow in the middle on which the baby’s bottom rests, with an adjustable strap that snaps into place to swaddle the baby. This has the advantages of keeping pressure off the bottom, making baby feel more swaddled and like a natural arm hold, as well as boosting the baby up further in the front carry so there’s adequate ventilation and for easier nursing (if you’re talented enough to do that… not sure about my own range of abilities yet).

The last and least likely accessory for me to hack is the front pouch. I’m not really into fanny packs, but if schlepping must be done, an extra pouch could be handy. I’d have to think about this one… I don’t think it would be difficult, but neither do I want to spend time making something I wouldn’t use. But I like the idea… it basically velcros onto a strap on the waist support beneath the child for extra room to stash the essentials.

Not sure when exactly I’ll get to these things… I’m sort of really really hoping that baby decides to arrive in the next couple days, but if not, maybe I’ll find the motivation and energy to turn out a couple items. Time will tell :)

My Life in a Nutshell: Acutely Expectant

2011-03-27T16:00:00.000-04:00

Oh dear… this could get ugly. This blog was started as a creative outlet for me, even before I opened my Etsy shop 3 years ago. My darling husband at first referred to it as a creative crisis rather than a blog… he perceived correctly that I was desperate for some way to express myself outside of changing diapers and making kid-friendly meals. Today I have to beg your pardon ahead of time since I am returning to my roots of desperation in a ~~very likely unsuccessful~~ hopeful attempt to let out my current frustrations. Since I have given up complaining for Lent (an effort that has been, in general, going very well), I have had to wait till Sunday (not technically a day of Lent) to write since this might end up sounding like complaining. I’ll try. Really I will.

I think in addition to a very specific due date, every pregnant woman has THE POINT where she simply wants to be done being pregnant and just get on with life, snuggle a sweet-smelling newborn, and face the future… come what may. Everyone expects, or at least hopes, to make it to 37 weeks and still be pregnant. Then the baby is considered full-term and, if labor begins, no effort will be made to prevent its continuation on to delivery. And so women are conditioned to see that date as a green light. Many women, myself included, get to 37 weeks and figure that most babies are not born that early, so they contentedly continue waiting until 38 weeks, which is a more typical time to begin getting anxious about when baby will arrive. Most pregnancy-related literature explains the imprecise nature of a due date… “you should think of it more like a due month rather than a due date” caution the pamphlet writers and birth experts. The vast majority of babies are born between 38 and 42 weeks gestation, with only about 5% actually born on the assigned due date. It’s reasonable, therefore, to acknowledge the possibility that baby could be born around 38 weeks, or anytime up till the due date. And so begins the waiting…

Most pregnant women at 38 weeks feel big, irritable, and hard-pressed to relish the prospect of waiting up to 4 more weeks to meet this growing baby inside of them. And, with baby gaining from 1/2 to 1 pound per week at this stage, clothes, even the most generously cut of maternity clothes, become ill-fitting, short, tight and uncomfortable. Sleep is almost guaranteed to be elusive, rolling over is practically impossible, and the ever-increasing midnight pee breaks just add to the grump factor. Other potential nuisances include swollen feet and ankles, stretch marks, varicose veins, hemorrhoids, backache, heartburn, itchy skin, exhaustion, shortness of breath and a whole host of other woes. Add to these physiological issues the social/mental ones… people inquiring if you’ve delivered yet, overly “helpful” strangers who make you feel like an incompetent whale, friends with close due dates giving birth before you (thanks Jodi and Kathy!) or your OB (whom you respect and trust) telling you you’re in a “holding pattern” of not making “progress” in terms of dilation, effacement or stage of engagement. Full-term preggos can’t plan activities and distractions because baby *might* arrive anytime. Everything is “play it by ear” based on baby-unknown timetable. Boredom and inactivity breeds anxiety and desperation.

This is where I am. I have reached THE POINT. I am acutely expectant…

Beyond THE POINT, pregnant women will do crazy things to try to help get things moving. Things like jumping on trampolines. Going off-roading or driving the bumpiest roads they know of. Walking miles at a time (guilty!). Eating food so spicy they can’t taste for 2 days (well, it wasn’t that spicy). Even drinking 6 oz of castor oil isn’t off the table for some (though even I think that is crazy!). Hopefully the crazy things that women do once they’ve reached THE POINT are relegated to the world of safe activities, but not all “safe” labor-inducing techniques will leave you feeling good. Some of the food-related ones are purported to work by causing diarrhea, which then stimulates sympathetic uterine contractions. Not so cool, in my book. And walking miles with chubby feet will surely produce crater-sized blisters on already tender tootsies. THE POINT has a way of making an otherwise content and normal life a little more unpleasant, one way or the other.

The lucky will avoid reaching THE POINT, either by actually delivering their baby early or by making sure they do not expect to deliver early. My OB predicted I would go early. I therefore predicted I would go early. It is still early (9 days till due date). However, I have reached THE POINT and there is no going back now. I am trying to meter my frustrated feelings by being grateful for a) being pregnant at all, b) having a healthy baby, c) not feeling physically miserable (truly, I have been very fortunate to not suffer the worst of the pregnancy complaints… yet) d) having a loving husband who picks up my slack, e) Spring and f) every other good thing in my life (and there are lots, so don’t mistake my brevity here for want of material!). A little perspective helps put the acute expectancy in check, but it is still there…

So, before I head out to the local mall for some errands and aggressive walking (I can’t fully eliminate the “crazy” or “optimism” or whatever you want to call it), I will admit that this post has provided me with a bit of a cathartic experience. Perhaps some other acutely expectant women are reading this, and perhaps they feel a little less desperate knowing they’re not alone. I don’t know. But at least I feel a bit better now. A bit more patient. A teeny tiny bit more willing to accept the time frame that I can’t do anything appreciable about anyway…

In the Family Way: This is Your Brain on Baby

2011-03-24T17:00:00.001-04:00

I don’t even know where to start on this one... And that’s exactly what this post is about.

You see, I have been suffering from “pregnancy brain” lately. Forgetting things, losing things, coming up short with answers I swear I knew not 5 minutes ago. And it’s generally making me feel like a 1st grader stuck in the body of an adult woman.

And I’m not alone. During the later portion of pregnancy, numerous research studies have shown that women’s brains actually shrink, and brain cell volume decreases by about 3-8%. This shrinkage maxes out at term, with mothers-to-be averaging about 15% more forgetfulness than their non-pregnant counterparts (I apologize for not linking to the studies I read.. I can’t remember where I wrote them down). While we like to generally think in terms of “quality, not quantity”, that doesn’t necessarily apply to brains, unfortunately. We also know that lack of sleep affects memory and brain function, so add the two together for a proven winner in the world of forgetfulness and mental missteps. So it should be no surprise to anyone when a preggo can’t find her keys, forgets to switch the laundry into the dryer or can’t return from a basic shopping trip without leaving off half the items on her list. If it’s any consolation, these studies also indicate a full return to pre-pregnancy brain size and volume at about 6 months (though I know many a mom who would like to keep using that excuse indefinitely).

The jury is out on the cause of the shrinkage and why it actually occurs. Hormones are a likely culprit, but in terms of evolutionary advantage, few theories have been suggested. My personal take on this data? This phenomenon is a gift from God. It must be for the benefit of humankind if expectant and newly post-partum mothers remember as little as possible about the experience. I’m only partly kidding :) Seriously, if people remembered the pain and sleep-deprivation caused by childbirth and newborns, it would be a miracle if the species survived. But that’s just my two cents… and the product of a currently dwindling brain. If there’s a third trimester pregnant woman in your life who doesn’t have her act together, please do what she does… forgive and forget :)

In the Family Way: Musings about Post-Partum Sleep and Swaddlers

2011-03-23T08:00:00.000-04:00

I am 37 weeks pregnant as I type this. I’m scheduling this post a week in advance just in case my little peanut decides to show up early. I’m not sure how things happened so fast. I suppose the first half of a pregnancy might be the “fast half”, if you’re not feeling too sick during that time and if a whole heap of other variables align (heartburn, midnight pee trips, fatigue, etc). But for me, the first half tends to be the fast half. The second 20 weeks necessarily involves more physical discomfort, aches, pains and other unpleasant side effects of the hormonal changes taking place. At any rate, with this gestation marching on rapidly towards inevitable delivery, I’ve been mulling over the actual arrival of this baby much more and how exactly life will change.

This child is my 4th. My first three all arrived within 3 years, so this is my first time to have a newborn when I’m both an experienced mother and not also chasing tiny toddlers around. Sort of luxurious, if you ask me! But no matter how you cut this cake, newborns are tough on parents. I read recently that the average parent of a newborn loses 200 hours of sleep in the baby’s first year of life. 200. Two hundred. For a person used to getting 7-8 hours of sleep a night, that is approximately the equivalent of not sleeping for an entire month! Good grief! How can I shuffle the future, details being what they will be, to cut that number down to a reality that isn’t so scary? 200 sounds about right given my other children’s respective first years. I don’t think any of them were regularly sleeping a normal night through until about 11 months old. Hmmm.

When my third was born, I finally got so bored during my hospital stay that I watched the new parent videos the hospital provided in their TV programming. It was then that I discovered The Happiest Baby on the Block. This is definitely worth a watch (if you’re in the hospital and it’s on the list of available videos) or a read. It outlines the 5 ways the soothe a crying baby… easily remembered by the 5 S’s: Swaddling, Side/stomach position, Shhh sounds, Swinging and Sucking. And, when applied to an irate neonate in combination, it really works! I’m not averse to a pacifier or well-monitored stomach sleeping, I have a swing around here somewhere, I’ve got an excellent white noise maker (the Cloud B Sleep Sheep… fabulous and portable!)… so my only real area for improvement is in the swaddling. We had previously swaddled with the hospital-size flannel receiving blankets, and never for long since our wiggly ones found how to get to their hands within a couple months. I’ve heard great things about the Miracle Blanket, but I’m a bit too “economical” and DIY-oriented to buy a new one just yet (though I picked up a couple used ones recently at a Mom2Mom sale and obviously haven’t tested them yet). It also seems to have a weak point where the arm-flaps join, so most used blankets aren’t so nice in the aesthetic department (though that’s really a negligible concern if they still keep the kid sleeping!). Here’s a picture of the holes I’m talking about (I’ve seen holes like this on every well-used Miracle Blanket I’ve encountered).

For this wee one, I am cooking up some different wrap blankets to keep those spastic little limbs under control, and hopefully keep our sleep loss to a minimum. First, you’ll remember that I made a nice large flannel receiving blanket and, at 43” square, it’s ample enough to securely swaddle a wiggly child for a couple months at least. For more security, a second smaller flannel blanket can be used behind the back, tucking the arms down to the sides like is done with the Miracle Blanket, before regular swaddling with this blanket. Not ideal for very warm weather, but we’ve got a few months before that’s going to be a real problem. I am also told that Aden and Anais make a very nice cotton gauze blanket in a 47” square size, but itmight break the bank.

And this knit swaddler, in my own design, should swaddle well and also avoid the problem of weak points (and the eventual holes) at the arm flaps that Miracle Blankets suffer. And an easier construction… Miracle Blankets are sort of weirdly assembled, in my opinion. I like to think human bodies are generally pretty symmetrical, but the pocket part of the Miracle Blanket is not symmetrical, and the bothers me. ~~Pardon my apparent nerdliness.~~ I have eliminated the secondary flap on the left side because I didn’t think it was at all necessary for secure wrapping, and I made the leg pocket and right arm flap from the same piece of fabric to cut down on the stress at that point caused when wrapping the baby. I used a really thin weight rayon/cotton knit from my remnant stash (was a little tricky to work with but better for warmer weather), and I used a simple serged picot edging to finish the raw edges quickly and without unnecessary bulk. A conventional machine zigzag stitch secures the pocket and right arm flap. Not bad ~~albeit ugly~~… I’ve shown it on my 3 year old son’s baby doll (this is the only doll in our house… he is named Triceratops, in case you are questioning why the boy is the only one of my 3 children to care about dolls).

I’m looking forward to testing it out with a real newborn very soon :)

DIY Tutorial: How to Convert a Velcro Diaper to Snaps

2011-03-18T13:00:00.000-04:00

This post is for me dear sweet friend Becky… when we first talked of converting diapers, I had no idea!

So you want to convert your Velcro diapers to snaps, do you? Well, let me tell you a story…

At a Mom2Mom sale in the past couple years, I found 5 gently used all-in-one cloth Kawaii Baby pocket diapers. Beautiful condition! I already have a nice set of Mother-Ease cloth diapers and covers that I loved using when I had only one in diapers, and I intended to cloth diaper again when I was back down to one in diapers (rather than 3). So I bought those 5, with 2 doublers each, for $2 apiece (a total steal, right?). Turns out 2 of the 5 were velcro rather than snaps, like I had thought… I guess I didn’t pay attention. I don’t like velcro in the wash (oh the snags!), and I much prefer snaps for their fundamental inability to inflict skin damage to baby. I figured they were a lost cause but socked them away with my other diapers until it would be time to pull them out again.

Turns out that time was now. I got all my cloth diapers out, stripped them, freshly washed them (with Allens Naturally detergent) and folded them (I like folding diapers, unlike anything else, because they are all the same and just feel nice in your hands). The pocket diapers got the same treatment, but then, I realized that I now have this awesome set of snap pliers from Kamsnaps.com, and I decided I could convert these two measly diapers with no trouble at all. I had the pliers and snaps and a seam ripper to remove the velcro. I plunked down in front of Man vs. Wild and began the conversion…

First, I ripped out all the velcro on one diaper. That part took 30 minutes! There was a lot of stitching (a testament to how well-made they were, actually), and it was not pleasant work that resulted in a small cut on my finger as well. Then I used one of the snap Kawaii Baby diapers as a template for the snap locations (I just lined them up and poked the awl through where each snap was) and put the correct snap part in place on the previously velcro diaper. It was easy, no denying it, but the snapping part took at least 30 minutes as well since there were 24 snap parts that needed to be placed and applied individually. The converted results were just as functional as the snap diapers, so it was technically a success, but for the time it took I was not enthused about the prospect of converting another one. I stitched the original label back on, just for posterity. The stitching damage from the original velcro is still very much visible, the doublers will not fit into the pocket quite the same, and the plastic snap backs will be touching baby’s skin, unlike the diapers that began their life as snap diapers (though I could sew a fleece panel over them if I cared more). Small concessions, but they do factor in.

Take home message from this tutorial: Converting your own velcro diapers to snaps is probably not worth it!!!!

If you have a bunch of diapers to convert, consider hiring a company to do it for you. Basic online searching provided a well-reputed small business that converts diapers to snaps for the VERY reasonable price of $3.50-$4 per diaper (when you consider how long it takes and how many snaps are required to convert each one)… http://www.convertmydiapers.com/. The diaper owner must pay shipping both ways, but I don’t see how it would be worth it to convert a whole set of diapers yourself unless you really really want to do it, especially if you have to buy the pliers and snaps especially to do it. But that’s just my tired, lazy, unmotivated, 37 week pregnant opinion on the matter, and I certainly won’t think less of anyone who decides to do it themselves (but I might give them an award for patience and perseverance!)…

From the Kitchen: St. Paddy’s on Ice

2011-03-17T12:00:00.000-04:00

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!!

Today is all about testing out the freezability of sugar cookies iced with royal icing. I wanted to make cookie favors for the upcoming baby shower of my sister-in-law, but since my own baby’s birth will happen shortly and I don’t expect to be able to do anything for at least a month, I’ll need to make some cookies NOW so they will be ready LATER. St. Patrick’s Day was the perfect reason to make cookies ahead of time, freeze them for a couple days, and thaw them out to see what happens.

It’s generally accepted that naked sugar cookies and sugar cookies iced with a buttercream-type frosting will freeze very well, but royal icing could easily be marred by the effects of condensation since the icing will not hesitate to dissolve and migrate a little in the presence of adequate moisture. My research, therefore, would indicate that cookies iced with royal icing should be allowed to dry completely, then stored in a completely airtight container (with parchment paper in between layers) before being placed in the freezer for up to a month. To thaw without damage, the container should be removed from the freezer the day before the cookies are to be eaten and allowed to come fully to room temperature before opening it, so that moisture in the form of condensation will not collect on or near the cookies. Makes sense, right? To fulfill my due diligence, I am testing the theory…

I made shamrock sugar cookies with my standby sugar cookie recipe, sloppily dipped them in greenish royal icing using meringue powder, then sprinkled some with colored sugar, some with round white sprinkles, and left some simply iced. I wanted to see what would happen to each of those conditions upon thawing.

I pulled them out yesterday to thaw overnight, and here they are today…

They came out perfect. They tasted fresh-baked… not dry or soggy, no color bleed, no running of the colored sugar even (there was a tiny bit from when I first sprinkled them, but it did not worsen over time)! I’m glad I tried this. So, after careful baking, decorating, drying, packing and plastic-wrapping… into the freezer go my baby shower cookies…

St. Patrick, patron saint of engineers (and Ireland, of course), pray for the people working on the nuclear disaster in Japan!

Feathering the Nest: Really, This Past Week I Was Planning to…

2011-03-07T16:00:00.000-05:00

…Write a tutorial about sewing a contoured changing pad cover.

Until I realized that wrapping a towel neatly around the pad was not only easier, it was more practical as well. A wonderfully orange towel from HomeGoods (and I bought a spare)… $4.99 each.

…Hack a new cover for my well-used Boppy nursing pillow.

Then I found this wonderful and free Boppy slipcover tutorial and pattern from Vanilla Joy. I used anti-pill fleece and ended up putting the zipper on the side (because I didn’t have the size the tutorial needed), but it still worked great!

…Make my husband install a couple Ikea wall shelves for me.

But that sounded like a hassle for him, so I did it myself.

…Sew a few more sheets for my Arm’s Reach Co-Sleeper Mini Bassinet.

Then I found out that king-size pillowcases fit this size perfectly. Problem solved (thank you, Google), and on the cheap (just $6.99 for a set of two 100% cotton 400 thread count king pillowcases at HomeGoods… and they even match the nursery color scheme!).

…Buy some larger-sized flannel receiving blankets.

But I got some yardage on sale ($2.99/yd) so I made my own in about 15 minutes (used 1.25 yd per blanket, 44” wide after serging the edges). This fun print will work for either a boy or girl, right? I had enough left over to make a couple flannel-diaper hybrid burp cloths using this quick and easy tutorial from Bobaloo!.

…Make dinner.

Oh well, some things were just not meant to be. Despite it seeming like all this progress got done in short order, I assure you that today was not stellar (sick kids, sick mom, kids drawing on walls, mom repainting walls, kids in time out, mom crashing on couch and watching crummy daytime programming, etc). How about a little pre-Mardi Gras paczki, anyone? Have a Happy Fat Tuesday, a thoughtful Ash Wednesday and a thoroughly penitent Lent, everyone!

In the Family Way: My Favorite Birth & Baby Products

2011-03-02T08:00:00.000-05:00

While getting ready for this baby, it occurred to me that I have developed some distinct preferences in terms of baby gear and those other items I’d consider necessary to survival in the peri-natal arena. These are items that helped me cope with the transition from pregnancy to motherhood, so I’m going to share (in no particular order). If you’re a guy or easily grossed out, you may opt out of reading this post… consider yourself warned.

Exercise Ball (aka birth ball, yoga ball, Swiss ball)

This $10-$30 piece of equipment is indispensible for relieving back pain while pregnant (I’m sitting on mine as I type this), and many natural childbirth advocates tout its abilities to induce and/or speed up labor (I’ve never used one for that though). It is also indispensible for bouncing an agitated newborn baby without having to stand up… like at 3 AM… after you’ve been up for 2 hours already. We used one with previous babies and, after our first ball became an outdoor toy and ultimately succumbed to fatal puncture wounds, we recently bought a new one.

Lansinoh Lanolin

Ahhh… the breastfeeding mother’s friend. I hated nursing my firstborn for about the first month… it hurt. It hurt a lot. Chapping, cracking, leaking, sore. You use a tiny amount of lanolin to apply to the nipples after each feeding (until you no longer need it) and it helps keep them away from moisture, and that prevents the soreness and other worse conditions. One little tube of lanolin (a waxy substance exuded by sheep to waterproof their wool) will last forever… my 2 oz tube has lasted through 3 kids and is still about 75% full. You might get a sample of this at the hospital when you deliver, and that will probably last a long time!

Nursing Pads

Not everyone will need these, but if you’re a leaker (and boy am I a leaker), you will want to have these around from Day 1. Put some in the hospital bag, trust me. If you have a powerful (and sometimes painful) letdown reflex, once your milk comes in you may find yourself inadvertently spraying milk across a room (I’m NOT kidding). It can be like trying to feed a newborn from a fire hose. To deal with the blessing of over-abundance, there are a million brands to choose from in the world of disposable pads, and some good options in terms of reusable as well. I used a combination of both. For disposable convenience, I opted (again) for Lansinoh brand… they seemed the most discrete while still very absorbent and non-leaking (some are so bulky they make lumpy circles in your bra so it looks like you’re smuggling silver dollar pancakes). Right off the bat, I used a set of what I think are called “nursing cups” (often used to treat inverted nipples), which are generally gigantic and obvious but keep you comfortable and can each hold about 2 oz of leaked milk before you need to dump them. The closet thing I can find to what I used are these plastic/silicone shells by Medela. Once breastfeeding is well established and no longer irritating, I use Lilypadz. They are silicone discs that sort of stick to you and actually prevent leaking rather than absorbing it. Very discreet, easily washable, lasts for months, worth every penny if you’re a leaker.

Triple Paste Diaper Cream

This amazing (though pricey) diaper cream was first recommended to me by my pediatrician when my little guy got a bad yeast diaper rash after a round of antibiotics. If you’ve ever heard of or seen a yeast diaper rash, you probably know it’s very painful for baby, very hard to get rid of, and downright gross. It really needs to be treated with an antifungal agent, but you also need to protect the skin from general rashes while you cure the yeast part of it. Enter Triple Paste. This cream comes in a tub instead of a tube, so application is a little bit more complicated. And it’s expensive. But, I’m telling you, it’s worth it when your poor little kid has a diaper rash (yeast or otherwise) and you want to eliminate as much suffering as possible. I buy the 16 oz tub and it lasts a long, long time.

Oxi Clean

There is nothing better for getting poop, spit up, vomit, blood, food and any other baby byproduct out of clothing. Oxi Clean is worth it’s weight in gold, make no mistake. I use it for my cloth diapers and as a general soak for soiled clothing. I put some in a shaker (like the thing that you’d see at an Italian restaurant for sprinkling hot pepper flakes), sprinkle it onto a fresh stain, then drop the whole article into a bucket of hot water to soak. Magic!

Arm’s Reach Mini Cosleeper Bassinet

I love this thing, but it might not be for everyone. I like having my newborn in my room for the first couple months, mainly so I can lie down while nursing at night. Most any bassinet will do, but the cosleeper makes it basically foolproof to get baby into and out of bed with minimal movement, and it spares some of that precious sleep time you just never have enough of as the parent of a newborn. Our master bedroom isn’t huge, and it fits very well. I was lucky enough to get mine used for less than half price, but they can be hard to find in the secondhand market (like most amazing baby products). Now, if only it would change the poopy diaper that seems to follow every night feeding…

Other Items I Love:

Vibrating Baby Seat – basically a bouncy seat with a battery-operated motor to vibrate baby to sleep… fabulous!
White Noise Maker – we like the Cloud b Sleep Sheep, but anything will help, even a rickety old fan
Baby Carrier – which type you get is a totally personal decision, but you NEED at least one
Dura Bibs – best bib for catching BIG spills, liquid and solid; a pocket bib that is EASY to clean and sanitize!
Fisher-Price Healthy Care Deluxe Booster Seat
Ultimate Crib Sheet – Makes midnight linen changes a breeze
Massaging Teether – Vibrates to soothe sore gums when baby bites down… I love this one

Well that was fun… and it had the unintended side-effect of making me feel much more prepared for this baby than I was feeling before. I have all this stuff around already!!!

In the Family Way: Today’s Pregnancy-Induced Mood Swing

2011-03-01T08:21:00.000-05:00

It is 6 AM. I am lying awake in bed, feeling yucky. I continue to lie there for another 15 minutes before I have to get up to pee. Back to bed. Still feel nauseous. Decide I’m hungry. Ask husband to get me some dry cereal. Wonderful man brings up a small bowl of Special K. Hands it to me. I spill it all over myself and the bed. I cry. Cereal sticks to my face. Husband doesn’t laugh but rather cleans up my mess while I wallow in self pity. Ugh. Husband then proceeds to be very sweet and try to make me feel better. It works. I feel extra loved even though I feel like a combination of Jabba the Hut and Oscar the Grouch, and about as attractive as Steve Buscemi. Then I remember that I will have the afternoon to myself thanks to my fabulous mother-in-law. And it is no longer February (my least favorite month of the year). And it is sunny outside. And I have time for a shower before dealing with the kids. There is a light at the end of this tunnel…

My Life in a Nutshell: A Whale Tale

2011-02-23T07:00:00.000-05:00

There comes a time in every gestation when you cease to be “cute pregnant” and start to be “scary pregnant”. I’m not talking about mood swings, either. You know you’re there when strangers stop trying to rub your belly and instead try to stop staring… after all, you’re so big your baby might actually be a basketball, and who wants to birth one of those? You’re no longer “glowing”… you’re simply red-faced and out of breath from the exertion of trying not to fall over. Your round little baby belly that mere months ago looked like body butter advertisements has now ballooned to planetary proportions, and the rest of you is helpless against its gravity. You used to be able to balance your bowl of ice cream on your tummy while reclining on the couch, but now it begins to slide towards your now over overly-ample bosom. No more the inquiring grocery store oohs and aahs over when your baby is due; instead, you are offered a Rascal for your convenience and asked politely not to deliver in Aisle 11.

At this particular point, everything going on below the maternity support belt is a complete mystery to you, and probably has been for some time. No longer can you see your toes, small children or where you’ll be taking your next step. However, lest you think this is all bad, some might consider it a distinct advantage to be in ignorant bliss of varicose veins, underbelly stretch marks, linea negra, hemorrhoids, and the swollen cankles brought on by unavoidable fluid retention. So what if you can’t paint your toe nails without an extension pole? So what if you can no longer shave your legs because you can’t reach them or balance in the shower? So what if you can’t see the ever-increasing number on the scale? It would probably not go over well anyway.

There seems to be no end to the impossible skin stretching, gasping for air, back discomfort and pelvic achiness, and the people around you are becoming legitimately anxious. Not so much for you and the baby, but apprehensive about what in the world they would do if your water broke right in front of them. How does one deliver a baby? Before I had my first kid, my free ride to work was contingent on the fact that I not give birth in the car during the drive. It would have been terribly inconvenient for my coworker… I’m sure it’s no fun to clean up the “goo of life”. This is why most people go to the hospital or birth center to have their baby, after all (isn’t it?). Put me through labor but, please dear loving God, don’t make me clean that up.

Well, let’s come to it… at 34 weeks, I am rapidly approaching that scary point, and I’m not quite sure how I’ll make it to the end. I will make it, to be sure, but the actual process of going from pre-natal to post-natal seems strangely curious to this experienced mom of three. I’ve done this several times before, I keep telling myself, and yet… I just don’t remember how it happens! The miracle of birth encompasses several miracles, really, including the ability of a body to forget the agony and occasional indignity of some of life’s most profound moments (luckily, you do tend to remember the really good parts).

For my sake and for that of the people biting their fingernails when I waddle by these days, I’m tempted to put together an emergency birth kit… all the stuff someone would need to deliver my baby if I don’t make it to the hospital. I know I should be packing the birth bag, finishing the nursery or completing the prerequisite paperwork, but I just can’t help that my mind goes to 911 scenarios instead of pastel wall colors or picking a name. It’s part of the territory of impending motherhood. Resistance is futile.

But what would go in this kit? A tarp, for starters. Avoidance of “goo of life” on furniture, floor coverings and auto upholstery is crucial to the success of a delivery gone rogue. Then something to tie off the umbilical cord in two places, and scissors to cut it, of course. For some reason I also think it would be handy to have a bucket for the placenta (yeah, I said it), because it would have to go somewhere. I mean, someone would want to look at it, right? Hopefully someone with obstetrical background… to make sure nothing was amiss to cause hemorrhaging, right? And blankets. And towels. And diapers… Usually, once I get to the part where I’m considering diapers, it occurs to me that I would require something akin to a diaper for tidiness purposes before baby and I are whisked away from our adventurous birth experience to be examined by the medical community at large. It’s then that I decide I’d better get down to the business of preventing that scenario instead of planning it.

But that’s where I am now. Feeling like a whale, imagining birthing a bowling ball in the bathtub before the paramedics arrive, and wondering how it will all truly come to pass. I know not the day nor the hour, and I hope I’m ready when it arrives. But I will probably put a towel in the car anyway... you know… just in case…

*All images used are under attribution licensing via Flickr. Click a picture to see photographer’s name.*

Celebrate the Baby: Sewing Pattern – Hospital-Type Newborn Wrap Top

2011-02-19T07:00:00.000-05:00

I have been trying to get myself motivated to post a real pattern for a while now… too long, in fact. But I’m happy to end that today with this basic pattern for a hospital-type wrap top with optional hand covers to prevent scratching (one of my big baby annoyances… they’re so cute till they maul themselves about 3 minutes before you want to take pictures!). I based my design on the ones our hospital uses, but this will allow you to make much cuter, more personalized ones than the standard white-with-spit-up that you’re used to (well, that I’m used to, anyway).

I made this pattern with Garment Designer, and I am making it available for download as a PDF via Google Docs. You will print it, cut out the pieces, then tape them together (FYI, Garment Designer isn’t the most efficient with use of paper, and you don’t actually need to print pages 3,4 and 6 of the 8-page pattern). I may at some point put this up for sale as a real pattern with real directions in my Etsy shop, at which point it will no longer be free here (so get it now!). But until then, enjoy, and please leave a comment and link back to pictures of your creations! Since this is a unisex garment, it would be a great way to spice up some baby shower gifts or upcycle/repurpose some old knit shirts.

I’m not going to do a lot of describing… you’ll have to figure out your own construction (I used a serger, but you can use a conventional machine with a stretch stitch) and binding (you can use whatever method suits you best… knit binding, fold over elastic, or a simple rolled hem). You can use snaps (be sure to reinforce the fabric where you add them) or add ties to close it. The included seam allowance drafted into the pattern is 1/4”… feel free to make that wider if you need. To make the scratch mitt cuffs, fold each sleeve (while flat, before sewing into a tube) 1.5” from the hemmed edge of the sleeve (right sides together) and stitch in the center (so you can flip one side of the cuff over in either direction to cover the fingers). Then sew into a traditional sleeve. The bits of ribbon to which I attached the snaps on the brown top were 2” long and folded in half. The pink trim was 2” wide, folded in half, serged in place then wrapped around the seam and zigzagged to finish (it was quite bulky… I’ll probably rethink that next time).

Hopefully the photos help illustrate my construction… feel free to leave comments with any questions so I can clarify if I’ve left out anything crucial (very possible!). Pregnancy-brain is a real problem now!

DOWNLOAD the pattern here.

Have fun!!!

From the Kitchen: Carol’s Chicken a la King

2011-02-17T07:00:00.000-05:00

It’s been a while since I posted a recipe, but I have been cooking! My 2011 goal of weekly cooking is going very well. Unfortunately, I tend to take the best photos by natural light and, since we’re still in the dark evenings of our Michigan February, main dishes haven’t been forthcoming in photogenicity (notice the unnatural cast to the photos here). I made a nice Valentine’s Day dinner for my beloved… a pan-seared steak with red wine and shallot sauce recipe from Cook’s Illustrated (super yum!!)… and, although I was lovingly accused of orchestrating the meal primarily for a blog post (that’s how good it was!), it is clear now that that was not the case.

But back to the case at hand… here’s a great recipe from my mother-in-law. This has always been a family favorite of theirs and, now that I’m family, it’s one of my favorites too. Sadly, I don’t make it often because I rarely have puff pastry around. It’s not exactly a freezer staple. And, though it is possible to make your own puff pastry, apparently it takes 3 days, and I’m much more likely to go to the store than spend that kind of time and advance planning for one meal. But it’s easily found in your local grocer’s freezer case, near the frozen pies.

Carol’s Chicken Ala King (3-4 servings)

Ingredients:

· ¼ cup butter

· 3 tbsp flour

· 1 cup strong chicken broth

· 1 cup milk (I used cream!)

· 1 tsp salt

· 1.5 cups fresh, chopped and sautéed mushrooms (I used a combination of white button and baby bella)

· ¼ cup chopped pimentos

· 2 cups diced cooked chicken

· 1 pkg Pepperidge Farms puff pastry shells, baked as directed (1 pkg has 6 shells)*

Directions:

Blend butter and flour in saucepan. Add mushrooms and sauté until well browned and bubbly. Slowly add broth and milk, stirring constantly until thickened. Add salt, pimento and chicken. Heat through. Serve hot in pastry shells.

*Note: Puff pastry does not reheat well, so consider baking more shells for using the leftover filling.

Product Review: KAMsnaps Pliers and Plastic Snaps

2011-02-14T08:00:00.001-05:00

I feel this is an appropriate topic for Valentine’s Day… my love for this tool may be young, but it is true!

First, an admission: I have always wanted a snap press. A big, heavy, tabletop snap press. Why? I don’t really know. I’m a toolaholic, no doubt. Ever since I bought a bundle of Mother-Ease cloth diapers for my first kid, I have heard the quiet siren song of durable, washable, resin snaps… what can’t they be used for? So many possibilities… but the press was so expensive… it was my little pet crafty pipe dream.

Second, a confession: Several years ago, I purchased a set of Dritz pliers for metal snaps and eyelets. These seemed to be the only available middle ground between no snaps and the snaps I really wanted. If you’ve ever read a review of them, you know they are garbage (they rank 2 stars out of 5 after 50 reviews at JoAnn.com). Honestly… rather than helping you complete a project, they more often ruined the work you’d already done. They first require a hole to be punched through which you try to mate the snap cap to the business side of each snap, and disaster ensues. If all 6 prongs of the metal cap don’t align perfectly (a likely scenario), your snap looks crummy and won’t actually snap. So you have to rip it out by violence, throw it away and try again with a new snap. And then again. If you use this “tool” (labor-saving device? I beg to differ), prepare to be frustrated. And did I mention that the snaps themselves are prohibitively expensive? On average, maybe $5 for about 12 metal snap sets, not including shipping… a fact especially chapping when you need to try at least 3 sets to get one that works. FAIL!

But last week, for some unknown reason, my subconscious prodded me to look again. I wandered into several glowing reviews of KAM Snaps pliers, and I knew I was going to have to do a little more research. I found that California-based KAMsnaps.com had a great selection of resin snaps (maybe close to 100 colors and styles, with various cap sizes and prong lengths), had discounted plier sets and offered free shipping with a minimum purchase of $28. Beautiful. My impulse control was immediately gone, but that wasn’t a big deal because a very good starter set including pliers, awl, and 400 complete snap sets was only $34.95. Sold! 100 complete snap sets in regular sizes, with a full spectrum of colors to choose from in matte or glossy finish, cost only $5.00.

It arrived in 2 days! Amazing, but true… um, I think I will keep using Kamsnaps.com!! When I opened the package, I’m pretty sure I could hear the angel choirs. I might have been imagining that bit, but the pliers and snaps were surely Heaven-sent for the good of mankind. I ripped open the bag, pulled out some snap parts, and within 2 minutes had managed to make my first perfect working snap on the Tyvek mailer in which the tool was packaged. Open *click*. Closed *click*. Open *click*. Closed *click*. Awed silence…

The snaps work their magic with a one prong method. You take the awl, poke a hole where you want the snap to go, then stick the cap prong through and top with a stud or socket, depending on which side of the snap you’re applying. Then you seat the cap into the die part of the pliers (you swap this out with the included screwdriver depending on the size of snap you’re using) and press down hard. The pliers flatten the prong into a disc so that there is no way it can fit back through the stud/socket hole, and your snap is perfectly secure and done! If something should go awry in this process (though it hasn’t happened to me yet), you only have a pinhole in your fabric, and you could easily redo it without damaging your project in the process. It sounds more complicated than it is… if you’ve ever tried other snap pliers, this set is intuitive and works perfectly. If you need a little visual help, they have excellent photo and video tutorials here. They were everything I had hoped they would be, and even easier.

I have since completed several projects with the pliers and snaps, including some stuffed animal pajamas (for practice) and some newborn kimono tops for Baby #4 (I hope to post a pattern/tutorial for this soon). Today I am planning to make a couple adjustable chinstrap hats and some more baby layette items to experiment with the possibilities of snaps. Probably also a diaper clutch and pacifier clips. And maybe I’ll convert a regular bra to a nursing bra. Or put snaps on some mittens we already have around so they can snap together and not get lost between wearings… I want to snap everything!!!!

I really have nothing bad to say! I’m thrilled at the quality and performance of the snaps, and the pliers function just as they indicate and, with all metal construction (and replaceable cap dies), they should last forever. Unlike the Dritz pliers which I will now run over with my minivan, burn, then fling into the ocean while tears of joy run down my cheeks. That, or I’ll just toss them out like the garbage that they are, and move on without remorse. My creative life has taken a turn for the better, and there’s no reason to dwell on the painful past.

KAMsnaps? Oh yes! A+++

Get Crafty: Inspirations from the Couch

2011-02-10T10:35:00.001-05:00

Oh me, oh my… it’s been a solid week of whole-family illness and I’ve been dreaming of healthy days and the energy to do some projects! I have to catch up on the housework first, but here are some fabulously crafty tutorials and projects from fabulously crafty bloggers that have been keeping my spirits up in anticipation of happy days to come…

Firstly, I’m sort of obsessed with the idea of making a new baby carrier. I haven’t settled on a specific type yet, and I’ve been seeing a lot of neat ideas. One very attractive purchasable Ergo-like sewing pattern option is the sweetpod, with optional saddle bag attachment. I probably won’t end up making this due to the higher cost involved in the patterns and materials, but it was really neat to see what other crafty moms have made with in this flickr group.

I have also seen some amazing mei tai carriers made by my friends using this great free tutorial by stilllearninglife with an optional hood/head rest add-on.

Another free mei tai tutorial, which uses buckles, is also quite appealing.

And I’d love to make some of these fabulous peekaboo toy sacks to help contain our burgeoning collections:

And then there’s all manner of little tiny clothes for all the little tiny people who will soon be ex-utero… I especially love the 90 minute shirt and knee pad pants from MADE.

And for the baby girls especially, this cotton onesie tutorial by Prudent Baby is almost too cute…

There’s so much more I want to show you, but I need to go do some real work now… *sigh*… maybe tomorrow??

Stay healthy!!

My Life in a Nutshell: The Waiting Game

2011-02-01T10:15:00.001-05:00

I’m getting rounder and less agile (if I ever was “agile”) every day now… and finding that simultaneous energy and motivation are a tall order. The end is in sight, but lately I’ve been battling boredom and succumbing to my 2 worst end-of-pregnancy weaknesses: labor and delivery daytime TV programs AND lemon gummy bears. Darn you, TLC, and your terrible time-wasting ploys! Not that I have anything better to be doing, but normally I hadn’t started this baffling trend until the last month or so. I know I’m not the only preggo watching them either, given the commercials they air during the show. That doesn’t comfort me, though, and I find that it doesn’t help me focus on the hundreds of other, more worthwhile tasks I could be doing in the meantime. Argh… but I guess if I’m tired and it’s keeping me sitting down, it’s not all that bad. But just a teeny, tiny bit depressing since I’m a person who relishes completed projects more than down time. Seasons of life…

When I’m not doing that, however, I’ve been playing around more with my new software acquisition… Garment Designer by Cochenille. I am discovering more and more its possibilities as well as its limitations. As I contemplate making my own soft-structured baby carrier (think Ergo or Boba), I am realizing that I cannot use this program for that project with any amount of ease, since it’s just not a traditional garment. That said, Garment Designer can come up with a great sloper that will aid in determining measurements for the carrier (if I ever make it). I’m also playing around with some basic newborn-size garments for several impending arrivals, and the software, with its built-in average slopers, makes that a breeze even without having an actually neonate in my arms to measure (which would not be so fun or easy anyway). I hope to design a few patterns to share, but I am not even at the prototyping stage given the aforementioned lack of energy. Maybe tomorrow? We’ll see :)

I’ve been doing very well with my 2011 goal of cooking more and shopping less, and lately I’ve been working on finding recipes and making freezable meals to make life easier down the road. Since the due date is a ways off, I expect any meals I make now to simplify life near the end, and I hope to do some serious meal prep in a month or so to stock up before the baby arrives, but without risking freezer burn. I have a couple cookbooks for that sort of cooking, like The Best Make-Ahead Recipe and Once a Month Cooking, but I’ve also found some wonderful online resources as well. Mom’s Budget is a site that has a nice assortment of freezer recipes, and Allrecipes.com also has a nice selection. I’m attempting to make a recipe database in MS Access that will assist in calculating the necessary ingredients for large batch prep of multiple meals at once, but I haven’t figured out a good way to do that just yet. But that’s just a matter of time and trial. It’s a perfect low-energy project, but the mental effort may outweigh the physical ease, thus thwarting my progress. Meh. If I were more motivated, I might care :)

Celebrate the Baby: DIY Fitted Crib Sheet

2011-01-25T07:00:00.002-05:00

As I was puttering around and thinking about the nursery, I realized that I don’t have any crib sheets that fit my new color scheme of pale teal and orange. Not even a single white crib sheet to be found…

But I did have a designer twin-sized fitted sheet from a thrift store set I had bought a couple years ago for just such projects. It was a pinky peachy orange paisley. I had been putting off using it in excess for the nursery even though I love the pattern, if only because we are not finding out the gender of this baby until the big day arrives and, in truth, it seems a teeny tiny bit girly to me. I used some of it for the disappearing nine patch quilt I made earlier in the pregnancy. But then I rationalized that any boy of mine would still be proud to sleep on a handmade crib sheet (or not care anyway), no matter the color. I decided this would be the fabric to test a DIY fitted crib sheet tutorial I had found recently linked to on the Michael Miller fabrics website. I took liberties with teh specific instructions, using it mainly as a guide for the actual size for fabric cutting.

So, here is my fabric… it’s been cut to 45” by 69”, folded into quarters, and 8” by 8” squares have been cut out of each corner (lovely basement floor background, no?).

Then I serged each corner, right sides together… I was lazy and just used the red/gray combo thread that was already threaded in my machine.

Then I serged the raw edges to finish them, incorporating the elastic all the way around as I sewed.

And here it is… on the crib mattress, with the quilt, in the nursery. The sheet was just a little roomy on the mattress, if we want to get picky, but it wasn’t worth adjusting it to perfection and I won’t do anything differently next time (yes, I’m lazy). In total, it took about 30 minutes to make.

I love how it all works together, aesthetically and economically. The crib was purchased (in perfect shape, with mattress and owners manual!) at a garage sale for $35 before we had our first child. It happens to match our garage-sale-found changing table (not shown) exactly, though we did not buy them at the same time. The all white crib bumper was a Value World special at $1.75, and the crib skirt (a white and teal stripe that matches the wall color perfectly) was a Goodwill find for $2.35. Both pristine and completely washable (a thrift store must!). The wool Karastan rug, originally $900, cost me a meager $40 at a garage sale. The little animal hanging off the crib side is a travel-sized Sleep Sheep by Cloud b… purchased new from Amazon for about $20, but worth every penny since it lulls baby to sleep at home or on the go (purchased after our 3rd child). The crucifix was a wedding gift from thoughtful friends, but you really can’t put a price on eternal salvation, now can you? All we need now is a baby! Well, and to finish tidying and arranging the parts of the nursery you can’t see in this picture…

Off the Shelf: Easy Labor and Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth

2011-01-18T07:00:00.000-05:00

This past weekend was a lazy one (though “lazy” implies that I was willingly shirking other duties, and I’m not sure that was the case). I had a backache and was very tired, so I spent most of it napping, reading and watching BBC miniseries. Since it’s been a few years since I did the whole “labor & delivery” thing, I find myself in a position to brush up on my knowledge about the process and consider my current thoughts on pain management.

First, some personal history (TMI? Meh. After 3 deliveries, I defy you to find someone who hasn’t seen me in a hospital gown)…

My first child was delivered after a necessary induction at 39 weeks. After taking a birth class (I suppose it was closer to Lamaze than anything else, but it was more generally informative rather than a particular philosophy, like Bradley classes, for example), I had a birth plan… no IV (I hate needles), no planned pain meds but an open mind, and I asked that everyone knock before they entered the room and ask before bringing in students (ours is a teaching hospital). But when I was diagnosed with severe preeclampsia and found out that I was going to require continuous IV medication and a catheter, I opted for an epidural. My OB had recommended it since epidurals have a side-effect of lowering blood pressure, and that is the main concern with preeclampsia. The epidural worked like magic… I went from pain-induced vomiting to complete relief. I managed to take a nap, wake up fully dilated and push effectively for 20 minutes until my daughter popped into the world. Overall, the outcome was as good as could be hoped, and the recovery went well.

19 months later, when I was checking into triage for the induction of my second labor for pregnancy-induced hypertension (basically pre-preeclampsia) at 39.5 weeks, I let them know that I was planning to get an epidural at some point. I did not require preeclampsia treatment as I had the first time, but the point did come when I was ready for an epidural. Like the first, it was complete relief… until it wasn’t. I don’t remember everything in stark detail (I was in a lot of pain, after all), but what I do remember is having increased pain with every contraction until I was sure I was getting no relief at all. Unlike the first epidural, this time I had a button to push every so often when I thought I needed a boost for the pain relief, but I was in a situation where this little boost was not nearly enough to do anything for the pain. I let the nurses know this as it was happening, but I don’t recall anyone taking action to get the anesthesiologist back to fix the situation. I don’t think it lasted very long though, and after some very painful but short-lived pushing, my second daughter was born.

Then, 13 months later (“the lipstick was still on”, as my grandmotherly neighbor would say), I found myself back at the hospital with my third birth experience. This time labor began spontaneously at 38 weeks, and I was admitted by a resident who first lectured that my contractions were probably brought on by being dehydrated before conceding that I was dilating and, in fact, actually in labor. I had meant to do more research about pain options during that pregnancy, but with a baby and a toddler and all the joys of pregnancy, it just hadn't happened. I was hoping that my bad epidural was just a one-time thing, but it happened almost exactly the same with the third as it did with the second. Again, I had a beautiful baby (a boy this time) and an ideal recovery, but the pain was not handled well and my “satisfaction” with pain management by my hospital was nothing to write home about.

So… here I am again! Very excited for baby #4, looking forward to labor with more anticipation that worry, but very interested in knowing all my options for pain relief and a sincere desire to have a better birth experience this time. In discussing it with my OB, he made a good point… some women want to carefully orchestrate all elements of their birth experience, and others just want to get through it. He likened it to vacuuming… some people want to see a pattern in the carpet when they’re done vacuuming, and some people just want the vacuuming done so they can enjoy the tidy room. I’m more of a get-it-done person, and this time, I’d like to be more comfortable as I deliver. My OB agrees that I was probably in the most intense pain but without the advantage of having gotten there more gradually, as would have been the case without an improperly functioning epidural, so my two bad epidural experiences may have essentially been my worst case scenario in terms of pain. I certainly survived without emotional scarring, but this time I’d prefer to save the suffering for the first twelve months of sleep-deprivation and the teenage years, thank you very much.

I don’t think that everyone needs pain medication to get through labor… childbirth is certainly natural and undeniably survivable. But also personal and individual. And pain and suffering are not the same thing, and felt differently by different people. Some pain can be good, and many people think this of labor pain. Personally, I am not afraid of labor. But many are, and justifiably so. It is exquisitely painful. There have been documented cases of painless labors without medication, but no one should have any expectation of completely avoiding pain, no matter what sort of philosophies are employed to mentally and physically prepare. Every labor is different, and any number of unpredictable factors might come into play to change the experience (preeclampsia, dystocia, back labor, issues with the baby’s heart rate, etc). Ultimately, the only things that can be counted upon during labor are confidence that it can be done and trust in the people caring for you.

And since knowledge is power, I picked up a couple books at our local library to explore pain relief and coping mechanisms for labor. I have a few books around already, like the ubiquitous What to Expect When You’re Expecting and The Birth Book, but I wanted a more targeted selection. I wanted books that respected women’s decisions to manage their own births, as well as providing actual data… given my biology degree, I understand the importance of proper research in forming conclusions, and I want real data to back up claims of safety or danger, especially the effect of certain medications on the health of the newborn.

The first book, Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth, was written by a very well respected American midwife, Ina May Gaskin. It was published in 2003. She has delivered thousands of babies with amazing statistics in terms of minimal interventions, cesareans, etc. Her goal is to educate women about their bodies and the amazing things they do during labor and delivery, to replace fear and ignorance with knowledge and to encourage them to have faith that they can do it, successfully and satisfactorily. I found the book to be very reassuring, but possibly not the very best resource for first time moms. Since I’ve had 3 labors already, I know what level of pain to expect. Her book discusses the concept of “orgasmic birth” in addition to outlining many, many alternative pain coping options. I think that presenting the possibility of a natural yet pain-free birth could set some women up for unrealistic expectations which will not serve them well when they find themselves facing the worst of labor pain. I know several wonderful women who had very difficult, prolonged labors, whose pre-labor plans certainly didn’t help them have a “satisfying” labor experience and, truly, made their deliveries and recoveries more difficult than would have been had there been more medical “interventions”. Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth aims to empower women to be in control of their labor decisions rather than succumbing to the whims of the medical community at large, and I think that is a good thing, especially given the turbulent history of obstetrics. She has a lot of good advice for laboring without interventions, in a manner that provides emotional comfort and physical support… again, this information is incredibly valuable and makes this book a very worthwhile read, even if you’re planning to get an epidural the minute you’re admitted. But pregnant women should also be well informed of medical pain relief options and be made aware of potential complications in addition to coping mechanisms, and this book does not cover those thoroughly or in a very positive way. Some of the data she provides seems at odds with the research documented in the second book (below), and I can’t help but be suspicious that the studies she cites regarding medical interventions, an area of care she does not provide, were presented in a way that supports her personal view that pain relief is not necessary in a normal delivery and could cause guilt, disappointment and possibly fear to women who ultimately choose medical pain relief in the course of their normal delivery.

The second book I read is Easy Labor: Every Woman’s Guide to Choosing Less Pain and More Joy During Childbirth. Written by William Camann, MD, the director of obstetric anesthesia at a large Boston Hospital, it was published in 2006. This book is much more “medical” than Ina May’s Guide, but offers a very thorough look at all the analgesic and anesthetic pain relief options currently available, as well as many alternative methods (water immersion, birth ball, doulas, etc.). I immediately felt that this book had a bit less of an agenda than Ina May’s Guide, but, being written by an anesthesiologist, was not shy to describe and tout the pain eliminating powers of modern medicine. Perhaps I only felt that way because most American women currently choose medical pain relief so Ina May had to be defensive… the jury is still out. I found it very interesting though, and I appreciated the regular inclusion and citation of research studies that described neonatal outcomes as well as overall patient satisfaction with their labor and delivery experiences. It was interesting to read what decisions doctors and midwives chose for their own labors, and seeing data I felt I could trust about the relative safety of pain medications. I was surprised to learn that there are several types of epidurals, and this might have led to my differing experiences with my 3 labors. I will certainly be more informed when I talk to the anesthesiologist this time around, and I have formed some opinions that will hopefully help me make the right decisions to get satisfactory pain relief when the time is right. This book stressed the ultimate goals of healthy baby and healthy mom, satisfying birth experience and the concept of flexibility when it comes to envisioning your perfect birth, regardless of your pain preferences and initial labor expectations.

After all this educational reading, I am feeling more confident about delivery. I think one of the most interesting new things that caught my attention (from Ina May) was the fact that privacy is a key factor in keeping labor progressing smoothly. During labor, your body is working hard to get a chubby baby out a small space, and this requires concentration and hard work. This feat of womankind is generally accomplished faster and easier without an endless stream of strangers parading through and observing your discomfort. Food for thought…

From the Kitchen: Revisiting a Memory – Stuffed Salmon with Buerre Blanc

2011-01-14T08:00:00.003-05:00

Last summer, my husband and I travelled to Kansas City for the wedding of my college roommate. It was a great trip for a variety of reasons, a big one being that we did not take the kids (!!). The wedding was lovely and sweet... just like my friend. The reception included a climbing wall, BB guns and an archery range... the perfect party for an outdoorsy couple (she thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail!).

Whilst free of our parental obligations, we also had the opportunity to visit the National WWI Memorial (at our leisure!) and roam a bit of the city (without stopping for bathroom breaks every 20 minutes!). In our wanderings, we just happened to choose a well-reviewed restaurant called McCormick and Schmick’s for an impromptu date. I don’t remember what my husband chose, but I opted for the Salmon Stuffed with Crab and Shrimp. It was SO GOOD! Just the perfect combination, and the thing that really got me was the sauce that topped it. I should have paid more attention to the menu at the time, but the pre-dinner beverages may have had a part to play in that. Anyway, weeks later I was recounting this meal to my older sister, a well-travelled fellow appreciator of delicious food, and she said, “You know, I have a cookbook from that restaurant… ” And it just happened to include the recipe for both the salmon and the fantastic sauce. A buerre blanc, as it turn out. How fortunate!

I have been wanting to try my hand at this decadent meal as soon as it hit my inbox, but sadly that day has only just arrived. I’ve never made a buerre blanc before, but it is reportedly a wonderful accompaniment to any seafood or vegetable. As you might guess from the name, it’s a white sauce, made with wine and butter, and all I can say is WOW! The salmon was easy, just a matter of combining the right ingredients and cooking the salmon thoroughly without overdoing it. I used goat cheese instead of brie (I just forgot what to buy when I was at the store, but it was still incredibly delicious). Both recipes are straightforward and the results are just amazing. I would have bought the whole cookbook just for this. I’m going to write the original recipe, even though I made a few changes and still loved the result. After dinner, I decided that I could easily enjoy it almost as much with unstuffed salmon, and my husband decided that he could love it almost as much without the sauce. For what it’s worth…

Stuffed Salmon with Crab and Shrimp

Ingredients:

Buerre blanc (recipe below)
4 (5 oz) salmon fillets (I used a gorgeous sockeye salmon)
6 oz Dungeness crab meat (I used canned crab)
6 oz bay shrimp (I used 4 oz fresh, pre-cooked shrimp, chopped into small chunks)
6 oz brie, cut into 1/2” cubes (I used 4 oz unflavored goat cheese)
3 tbsp mayonnaise
1 tbsp chopped fresh dill (I use 2 tsp dried dill weed)
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Prepare buerre blanc and set aside. Split salmon fillets lengthwise to form a pocket for the stuffing. Combine crab, shrimp, brie, dill, salt and pepper. Blend in the mayonnaise to bind it together. Divide the mixture into 4 equal parts and stuff each fillet, keeping the amount of visible stuffign to a minimum (I failed at that part, as the photos show). Bake in a buttered baking dish for 10-12 minutes (I baked 12 minutes, then broiled on low for another 3). Transfer to plate and spoon buerre blanc over the fish.

Buerre Blanc

Ingredients:

6 oz white whine
3 oz white wine vinegar
3 whole black peppercorns
1 shallot, quartered
1 cup heavy cream (I used 3/4 cup)
9 oz cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces (I only used 6 tbsp)

Directions:

Combine wine, vinegar, peppercorns and shallot in small noncorrosive saucepan. Reduce to 1-2 tbsp of syrup. Add cream and reduce again until its 3-4 tbsp and very syrupy. Remove from heat. Add the butter pieces, a few at a time, whisking constantly, allowing each batch to melt in completely before adding more. Strain and keep warm until ready to use.

From the Kitchen: Tuna noodle Supreme

2011-01-10T07:00:00.000-05:00

I found myself in a dinner pinch recently… no meat, no energy, and very little time. Lucky for me, I remembered a recipe I had encountered on Allrecipes. I was able to whip up a very satisfying and tasty meal in less than 30 minutes, with ingredients I had in my cupboard and freezer, and still had enough energy left over to make a cup of tea and clear the table. Ready? Here is a version of the classic casserole, made without the traditional baking step (I’m sure you could do that, if you’re a purist, but it’s not necessary if you’re in a hurry).

Tuna Noodle Supreme

Ingredients:

1 pound uncooked pasta (I used medium shells)

1 package frozen broccoli florets

1 tbsp canola oil

1/4 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup light mayonnaise

1 cup light sour cream

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

1 tsp dijon mustard

1/2 tsp garlic salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

1-4 oz jar chopped pimiento, drained

2 cans albacore tuna, drained

Directions:

Cook pasta; add frozen broccoli to pot for last 4 minutes of cooking; drain and leave in pot. While pasta/broccoli is cooking, Microwave oil and onion in medium microwave-safe bowl for 1-2 minutes, until translucent (or cook on the stove, if you prefer). Add in all remaining ingredients and mix well. When pasta/broccoli is ready, pour cream mixture over and mix thoroughly. Serve hot! Leftovers are wonderful hot or cold (pictures were taken the next day). Enjoy :)

In the Family Way: Maternity Support Belt

2011-01-05T11:00:00.000-05:00

Hello Third Trimester!! And, I suppose, hello as well to all the unpleasantries that come with it...

Today is the first day of Week 28… the official start of the rare and much-sought-after third trimester. The glorious 3 months during which the baby gains 5-7 pounds, the mother gains 12-15 pounds and all hell breaks loose when it comes to bodily alterations for everyone involved. Bring it on, gestation, I can take it!!

Yesterday I totally rocked out my gestational diabetes blood draw. I didn’t cry or kick anyone! I have vasovagal-type needle phobia, so I determine success in these sort of situations by whether or not I break down sobbing in front of the phlebotomist and insist that I lie down. On truly special occasions, I faint. However, I do find the gestational diabetes test to be slightly less horrible than the initial prenatal panel blood draw because a) they only take 2 tubes of blood instead of 5, and b) you get all sugared up with “glu-cola” first so you’re automatically in a better mood. When it comes to needles, I’ll take all the concessions I can get.

It’s really reassuring to have some serious experience going through this pregnancy, because the changes to a pregnant body are just amazing and often frightening. My current woes include heartburn and a snappy back. Not so much painful, but it clicks when I walk and I have the sneaking suspicion that I’ll be waddling soon. Maybe I am already and no one has told me. And in the night I get terrible twinges in my belly when I attempt the act of rolling over, a sign indicating the imminent resignation of any abdominal muscle control I have left. Oh joy! But again, I know that I will be able to do a sit-up again in the future… my hips will go back to how they were… a time will again come when I won’t have to avoid bending at the waist to prevent stomach acid from running into my throat…

In the meantime, there are heartburn treatment options, a comfy couch to sit on, and a maternity support belt for those nighttime pains. I recently tried on a couple varieties of support belts at our local maternity store, but they were either highway robbery for what they were (um, $20 for a piece of cheap elastic with velcro?) or completely non-subtle. You’d need to wear two maternity sweatshirts to hide it. They were, however, quite comfortable and eased the bulging midsection aches as well as offering some back support.

So, since I had a crafting date with a friend planned, I decided to just make one myself. It wasn’t hard, and you can make one too if this unfortunate and very unglamorous item sounds appealing to you for some reason. It involves making 2 separate parts (so you don’t have to step and/or squeeze into it, a tall order when you’re round), and is quite adjustable as you grow. Here’s the low down:

You’ll need:

1/2 yd mid-weight woven cotton fabric, preshrunk in hot wash
16” length of 2” wide elastic (cut into two 8” pieces, seal edges with heat)
24” length of velcro loop tape (cut into two 12” lengths)
8” velcro hook tape (cut into four 2” lengths, edges rounded to remove sharp corners)
Coordinating thread

Directions:

Cut 2 rectangles of fabric 22” by 12” (obviously if you are a very different size than I am, you’ll want shorter or longer rectangles). I used a random bit I had on hand... color was unimportant as I do not intend to flaunt this thing.

Fold both rectangles (separately), right sides together along the 22” length (so you now should see the wrong side of two 6” by 22” rectangles). Fold each 22” long open end back up to the fold. I didn’t take work-in-progress pictures, so I am illustrating this with paper. The last photo is what each each end should look like, “right” means the right side of fabric is visible.

For the front part, take one folded rectangle and stitch along each short end, securing all 4 layers together. Flip inside out (folded edges will come together and all raw edges will be tucked inside) and topstitch along the perimeter. Center the 12” strips of loop in the middle of the rectangle, spacing them so the outer edges are 2” apart, and stitch them on all sides securely to the fabric. It should look like this:

For the back part, take the remaining folded rectangle and tuck once piece of elastic into the center fold on each short side, as shown.

Stitch the short ends through all layers, then flip so all raw edges are tucked inside as you did with the front part, and elastic will now be sticking out of the ends. Topstitch around the perimeter. Fold each end of the elastic towards the fabric leaving 2” of single layer elastic and 3” of double layer. Place one 2” section of velcro hoop tape over the raw edge of the elastic, and stitch in place. Stitch another 2” piece at the fold of the elastic. Repeat for the other end. It should look like this:

It’s done! Just put it on, like so, and feel the relief!

My Life in a Nutshell: 2011 Goals

2011-01-03T19:00:00.000-05:00

I’m not feeling terribly resolute, folks, but I did spend a little time thinking about what I’d like to accomplish this year. In determining my aims, I tried to be both reasonable and quantifiable, two factors that my wise high school calculus teacher assured me are critical to the success of any plan. He also said they should be written down so you can actually tell if you’ve made progress. So here are some of my personal goals for 2011:

Finish and clean up one project before beginning another. Keep work surfaces tidy and usable.

Ugh! I suffer from the common artsy ailment of too many ideas and not enough time. I’m always experimenting, so I tend to get started on projects, complete enough of it to determine success or failure, then move on without fully putting it away. This leaves me with a piles of odds and ends, tools and materials all spread out and no where to work on fresh ideas without shifting the clutter. It’s inefficient and frustrating, and I want to be better about it. Unfortunately, it tends to extend to the kitchen counters as well, so that’s another area for improvement.

To prepare, my last project of 2010 was to clean up my basement “studio”. It might not be aesthetically pleasing to work immediately beside the laundry facilities, but then, it’s pretty convenient to wash fabrics, iron projects and felt sweaters! It’s definitely a basement, but my husband has given me some very good lighting and it’s about as good a subterranean workspace as I can imagine for myself. Here are pictures of it today, just for the record. Notice that big beautiful rolling storage table for cutting fabric and working on any manner of craft! Thanks, Mom and Dad!! I want it to look that way everyday, so I can just decide what I want to work on and make it happen without the hassle of searching for the right tools or having to clear an area to work.

Give completed handmade (or store-bought) gifts rather than promising to make them.

I tend to happily offer my sewing/crafting services to friends and family without thinking about the time it takes, and then instead of it being the intended gift or favor, it becomes a chore. This is unavoidable to some extent, but I want to plan ahead more or resign myself to buying gifts instead of promising something I can’t deliver without becoming stressed or behind schedule.

Plan ahead 3-4 meals per week. Make fewer trips to the grocery store.

I have never been a very good meal planner, despite several half-hearted efforts in the past. The silver lining is that I’m generally good at making meals with whatever is around, but it’s a skill that doesn’t lend itself to trying new types of recipes. And often I’m missing enough key ingredients that I have to make extra trips to the grocery store, another situation of inefficiency and, sometimes, unnecessary expense. I have a secret project that I’ve started to help tackle this goal, and hopefully I’ll get it working and be able to blog about it for you. Tantalizing clue: I will use MS Access!! I expect this will become more of a priority as my energy levels plummet further and I need to choose projects based on the ease with which they can be accomplished while lying prone on the couch.

Update the family blog at least once every 2 weeks. Schedule at least 1 blog post per week for Domestic Bliss.

This one is pretty self-explanatory. I like to write about what I’m working on, but my family blog, which includes pictures of the kids and family outings, tends to get put on the back burner since our life is *surprise* not terribly exciting on a daily/weekly/monthly basis. But I have siblings and family members around the globe now and, since they spend the time to visit our family blog, they shouldn’t be disappointed. I imagine that after the baby is born, this blog will also be updated less frequently as my projects get put on hold, but I want to keep it up at least minimally and 1 post per week seems reasonable.

Be back at pre-pregnancy weight by the end of 2011.

I’m glad I’ll have about 9 months to accomplish this! This pregnancy is shaping up to be my biggest weight gain yet, and it has me a little edgy (or would that be “roundy”?). I have used Weight Watchers in the past to lose 20 pounds (and keep it off!), so this is my go-to tool for weight loss. Weight has never come off easily for me, so I’m hesitant to even make this goal. That said, I really would like to get back down as soon as reasonably possible (life is more fun when you feel good about how you look!), and I hope that by making it a real aim, it’ll motivate me to take the steps necessary to make it happen. Steps like not making 8 kinds of Christmas cookies…

So, this is not a huge list, as it turns out, but I think it’s just the right amount for me this year. My baby is due in April, so I’ll have plenty of time to prepare and recover (in theory!). Since this is my 4th baby, I have a pretty good idea of how little I’ll be able to accomplish before and after delivery. Years past have seen my housekeeping and cooking skills improve, so I feel pretty good about (generally) not living in a pigpen and (generally) feeding my family nutritious meals. Last year I focused on finding balance with my Etsy shop and family life, and I feel that the two now flow together well and I have achieved a working equilibrium in my motivation and long-term plans for both. Those are all very good things, and I’m feeling pretty optimistic about this year’s priorities too. Wish me luck, and be sure to remind me if you notice I’m not keeping up!!

Happy New Year, everybody!!

Home Sweet Home: Merry Christmas 2010!

2010-12-25T12:38:00.000-05:00

From the Kitchen: Finally! Rolled Cookies Accomplished!

2010-12-23T09:00:00.000-05:00

I am sitting down at my desk with a cup of strong English tea, listening to my brood cheerily eat breakfast and make animal noises at each other. It feels good :) To be resting, that is. Yesterday was a great but very long day. I had put off the sugar cookies and the gingerbread house, and there was no avoiding them any longer. In our house, Santa (the combination of me and my darling husband… I’m round, he’s jolly) require sugar cookies on Christmas Eve. And I had promised the kids a gingerbread house since we had acquired (via White Elephant gift exchange) a very heavy mold for making all the parts. Yesterday was THE DAY. The official cookie day of 2010. And boy did we make the most of it! My kids we wonderfully accommodating… they played and listened to Christmas carols, and only became a bother when they started dancing to the music in the kitchen, so I had to shoo them out for safety concerns with the oven opening so frequently. It was divine intervention because, while they are definitely good kids, they are not always helpful in the traditional sense.

And I feel very good about the results of our labor! Baking cookies makes me feel festive, and it’s the best time each year that we get to share our gifts with our neighbors and take something nice to family gatherings. And a gingerbread house for the kids to enjoy… Truly a multipurpose project, and one worth investing some energy.

I made sugar cookie wreaths, Christmas trees, snowflakes and hearts. Recipe here. That assortment kept the colored icing to a minimum and used our sprinkle assortment to its best potential. Combined with the other cookies I’ve been baking and freezing, we’ve got some nice looking cookie trays in the making.

The wreaths were so easy… I wish I had made more. I used a biscuit cutter for the outer circle and a chopped off medicine cup to cut out the center. Then a piped circle of gingerbread “glue” icing and a dunk into the tub of holiday green sprinkles. Then a little piped bow in red, just for fun :) I’m not nuts about overly sprinkled cookies (I don’t want to taste the sprinkles), but they look nice and the entire rest of my family has been eyeing them up even in the dark hours of the morning. Success!

The snowflakes were simply iced in white, so I used some luster dust from our local bake supply store to jazz them up a teeny tiny bit. I don’t like glitter on cards, but it really helped these cookies find their holiday cheer :)

The hearts were sort of blah, but something has to be the least favorite, right?

The gingerbread house was not my favorite part. Pressing the classic gingerbread dough into the mold was arduous, at best, and I was skeptical that the finished pieces would fit together well enough for it to hold together. Fortunately, I was wrong. I made some royal icing to architectural grade adhesive strength (an easily-squeezable airy mix of whipped egg whites, cream of tartar and powdered sugar), and it was goopy yet solid enough and set up fast so assembling the house was quick and painless. Later in the day the kids decorated it (with a little help)…

I had plenty of leftover gingerbread dough, so I baked some gingerbread seniors. These were not boys and girls, but a rather more geriatric population including some balding Santas and Mrs. Clauses. I think they turned out cute, if not as nice as last year’s group. My royal icing was the tiniest bit too runny, so the lines were not as distinct as I prefer, but it was easier on the hands.

And that’s it! Done!! Hooray!!! Ready for plating and giving or toting. And I still have today to finish up a couple last-minute homemade gifts and take it easy before the festivities begin tomorrow. I’m feeling calm and not stressed, and grateful for a year of abundant blessings that I couldn’t even have imagined. How beautiful to have been redeemed by a Child, and to have the opportunity to be a channel of that love for others. I know every person has the same opportunity there, but it really is a gift. And it’s the season for giving… Merry Christmas Eve Eve :)

From the Kitchen: Magic Cookie Bars

2010-12-22T07:00:00.002-05:00

There are lots of subtle varieties of this popular bar cookie out there, but this version is a taste of childhood for me. I think it’s the butterscotch/coconut combo. They may not be the beauty queen of the cookie tray, but they’re the ones you’ll want to take home to meet your family.

Magic Cookie Bars (also called 7 Layer Cookies)

Ingredients:

1.5 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 stick butter, melted
1.5 cup chocolate chips
1.5 cups butterscotch chips
1.5 cups sweetened shredded coconut
1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
1 cup chopped walnuts, optional

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Pour melted butter evenly into a 9x13 pan (or just melt it in the pan in the oven). Sprinkle graham cracker crumbs over the butter. Then layer chocolate chips, butterscotch chips and coconut evenly into pan. Drizzle the sweetened condensed milk over top evenly to coat everything. Sprinkle with walnut pieces, if desired, and press down with a fork (it can get sticky). Then bake for 20-25 minutes or until the top is just beginning to brown. Cool completely, cut into small bars and store at room temp. They also freeze very well in an airtight container (for those of you with the self-control required not to get into them before the appropriate time!).

From the Kitchen: Peanut Butter Balls

2010-12-20T07:00:00.000-05:00

My mother-in-law gave me this recipe… it’s truly a favorite of my peanut-butter loving husband. I don’t believe I had ever tried it, though my mind on progesterone is not what it used to be (evidence: I recently went to the grocery store expressly for powdered sugar, and came home with several bags of groceries but no powdered sugar… yikes!).

When my MIL makes them, she leaves a bit of the peanut butter ball showing, and they are then called “buckeyes” after the state tree of Ohio. I do not love Ohio (being from Ann Arbor), so I didn’t mind terribly that I possess the inability to partially dip balls of peanut butter in melted chocolate. Turns out I wasn’t so good at coating them entirely, either, so I decided to distract from the imperfections by drizzling a tiny bit of melted vanilla almond bark on top (in retrospect, I should have let them come to room temp before drizzling because it didn’t adhere as well as I would have liked). I think they look rather fancy! I hope they last long enough to make it on some cookie platters for next weekend :)

Peanut Butter Balls (also called Buckeyes)

Ingredients:

2 cups creamy peanut butter
2 sticks butter, softened
1 to 1.5 lb powdered sugar
Milk chocolate (for coating)

Directions:

Mix the PB and butter until thoroughly blended and creamy. Cup by cup, add in enough powdered sugar until the mixture is workable. Roll it into 1” balls (if it’s too sticky, add more powdered sugar), place on a tray and freeze. Using a heat-proof bowl over boiling water, melt the milk chocolate. Dip each ball into the chocolate to cover completely (I used a tooth pick), then drop onto sheet and freeze until completely solid. If the chocolate is too thick when dipping, you can add a tbsp at a time of shortening to thin it. Thaw before serving, but store frozen (if your husband doesn’t eat them all first).

I had leftover chocolate for dipping, so I dipped some pretzel rings to help use it up in a tasty way. There’s still more (I got bored of dipping), so I’ll have to find some other use for it. Cheesecake, anyone?

From the Kitchen: Chocolate Cake Mix Sandwich Cookies

2010-12-18T16:00:00.000-05:00

We’re headed off to dinner with some friends tonight, and I was asked to bring the dessert. This sounded like a great deal to me… good food and good company and all I had to do was provide a dessert. So I knew it had to be good!

I am on an almond flavor kick, and I had originally thought that I might make an almond cheesecake. But then I remembered a very important, very hard-to-forget point – there would only be 4 adults (maybe 6) and 7 kids (maybe 10). A cheesecake just wouldn’t be fair.

Enter the cake mix sandwich cookie concept introduced to me (again) by my friend Natalie.

She made a batch of these for her kids’ birthday party treat at pre-school recently (she rolled hers in sprinkles!), and the photo she posted on her blog made me want to eat the monitor. When she was describing how she made them, I couldn’t believe how easy they sounded. So I was going to have to try them! Here’s the low down, folks:

Thoroughly mix 1 stick of butter and 1 egg with 1 box of cake mix in the flavor of your choice (I used chocolate). Roll the dough into 1” balls and flatten on a greased cookie sheet (I used a small dough scoop and the greased bottom of a drinking glass, because I’m lazy). Bake at 350 degrees F for about 7 minutes, until cooked through but not crunchy. Cool completely.

Meanwhile, back at the mixer, whip up some buttercream frosting. Any recipe will do! I made a basic vanilla buttercream and added some almond extract to it as suggested by Natalie (which also conveniently met my pregnancy-induced almond flavor craving). I then put it into a zippered freezer bag and squeezed out dollops onto the backsides of half the cooled cookies, then topped each with another cookie. They looked soooo good! But I kept my hands off since they are for the party (so no “Karen’s-eaten-half-the cookie photos today… no one’s sadder than me about that!). But I did help myself to a few fingerfulls of leftover buttercream. Mmmmmm… buttercream…

From the Kitchen: Candy Cane Crisps

2010-12-17T07:00:00.001-05:00

Every year we go to our small town’s annual Christmas parade. Every year the candy output seems to increase… my kids get as excited as at Halloween, and we come home with bucket-loads of snowy candy. Some of it is edible, but most of the hard candy has been shattered by being first frozen, then tossed from a haywagon-turned-float. Including hundreds of tiny candy canes. What to do? Bake these cookies! Or make mint hot chocolate, depending on your mood and energy level :)

Candy Cane Crisps

Ingredients:

1 c butter, softened
1 1/4 c powdered sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/3 c flour
1 c rolled oats
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup finely crushed candy canes
1/2 cup granulated sugar for coating

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Mix all ingredients until well blended. Roll into 3/4” balls, roll in granulated sugar to coat and place on an ungreased baking sheet. Make a criss-cross pattern with a fork and bake for 18-20 minutes, until bottom is ever-so-slightly browned. They will get crispier as they cool.

Product Reviews: The Best Crafty Stocking Stuffers!

2010-12-16T07:00:00.000-05:00

I was just musing over what to have “Santa” fill the stockings with this year. And then I was wondering what should be stuffed into my own stocking, aside from chocolate. Which made me consider the smallish crafty/sewing items that make my creative life more fun, projects go faster and difficult tasks easier. So here’s my list… and, while these items already live in my “studio” (a generous description of my basement hold-out), I thought some of you might like to see a few of the products I value and love that would also happen to fit nicely into a Christmas stocking. Here’s hoping you do :)

For the Craft Room:

MyoTape Body Tape Measure

This handy tool won’t fully replace your regular flexible tape measure, but it sure makes taking body circumference measurement easier! I love this thing, and for well under $10, it’s great little gadget. It’s marketed for weight loss/BMI tracking, but it can’t be beat for getting accurate measurements (even in wiggly children) for garment construction and pattern sizing.

Olfa 18mm Rotary Cutter

This thing makes cutting out pattern pieces so much easier than with scissors. Just lay fabric on a cutting mat, top with paper pattern piece, and zip around tight corners with ease and speed. Makes your cuts beautiful and accurate.

Fiskars 8” SoftTouch Scissors

Fiskars has been making spring-loaded scissors for a while now, and they have the competition beat when it comes to smart design and convenience. Easy thumb operation of the locking mechanism (other brands have this feature at the back of the handle… so unless your palm can unlock it… doubtful if you’re human… it’s not a one-handed operation). Ergonomic design reduces hand fatigue, and it will last a long time if you don’t drop it. I do drop mine (a character flaw, I know) and I’m on my third set. But so worth it… lifetime warranty!

Sliding Gauge

I don’t have this particular model (mine was from a sewing kit at an estate sale), but the function is the same. It’s a classic tool for measuring hems, seam allowances and other smallish things like button size. I use it a lot, and I’d recommend it to everyone.

Clover Thread Cutting Pendant

Not for everyone’s fashion sensibilities, but perfect if you're planning a whole day of sewing or knitting (ah… everyday!). A round blade hides inside and is only accessible to thread-sized strands, not fingers. Easy to trim hanging threads without hauling out the scissors.

Bobbin Saver Organizer

Handy, portable bobbin storage. From the product page:

Holds metal or plastic bobbins of all different sizes! Shaped like half of a bagel and hollowed out, it is made of flexible rubbery plastic that expands to receive the bobbin and promptly snugs up around it. Threads wont tangle or unwind. BobbinSaver holds over 20 bobbins securely. BobbinSaver is a simple elegant gadget to store any kind of bobbin.

There are so many more items I love, but most of them are bigger and probably more expensive. These are some of my favorites and they get regular use. These are the items I’d certainly replace immediately if they ever meet an untimely demise.

Best wishes for a stocking stuffed with crafty goodies… even if you have to fill it yourself!

From the Kitchen: Natalie’s Chocolate Crinkles

2010-12-15T07:00:00.000-05:00

My friend Natalie generously shared this delectable recipe with me last year, and I love them so much I know I’ll be making them every year. These cookies are like little bites of brownie heaven. Even more than just tasting wonderful, these cookies are just so pretty! Look at them! Gorgeous chocolaty crackles peeking out from the sugary exterior... They’d be lovely for any cookie tray you might assemble for your Christmas partying needs. I’ll be making another batch closer to Christmas, and I intend to make them bigger next time since that’s the only possible improvement I can imagine for them. Thanks, Natalie!

Natalie’s Chocolate Crinkles

Ingredients:

2 cups sugar
4 squares (1 oz each) unsweetened chocolate, melted
1/2 c vegetable oil
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 c flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 c confectioners sugar

Directions:

Stir together sugar, chocolate and oil. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Stir in vanilla. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir flour mixture into chocolate mixture. Chill several hours or overnight. Roll into balls and completely coat in confectioners sugar. Drop onto greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees F for 10-12 minutes.

From the Kitchen: Chocolate Mint Sugar Cookie Drops

2010-12-14T07:00:00.000-05:00

Yum!! These little beauties are as close as I can come to the cookies given to us every childhood Christmas by our former neighbor. All the chewy goodness of a sugar cookie but with the cool smoothness of mint chocolate. Bake some, you won’t regret it!

Chocolate Mint Sugar Cookie Drops

Ingredients:

1 cup white sugar
3/4 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups mint chocolate chips (I used a mix of dark chocolate and mint chocolate)
1/4 cup white sugar for coating

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). In a medium bowl, mix together 1 cup sugar and vegetable oil. Stir in the egg and vanilla until smooth. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt; gradually stir into the sugar mixture. Mix in mint chocolate chips. Roll the dough into walnut sized balls. Roll each ball in the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar to coat. Place the cookies 2 inches apart onto the cookie sheet. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Get Crafty: All Stitched Up Christmas Cards

2010-12-13T07:00:00.002-05:00

I had no idea I was going to be so ambitious about Christmas cards this year, but when the inclination strikes, sometimes I find myself halfway into a project before I consider exactly how long it might take me to accomplish my mental picture of success. That is exactly where I find myself right now… plugging my way through the less-than-crafty end of our Christmas card mailing (the note writing part, that is).

I finished the crafty part several days ago… machine-stitching tiny fabric buntings on white card stock, then stamping glad tidings to complete the look. I really love how these turned out, and the total cost of making about 100 of them was less than $20. Not too shabby, eh? Well, then there’s the whole postage thing which tacks on another $44, but that was a given with any sort of card. Buntings make me happy, and the fabrics I used here were scraps and a couple inexpensive fat quarters I picked up for cheap at my local fabric store.

I went with vibrant teal and red, as well as some scraps of metallic silver quilting fabric I have used for making labels. The cards were pre-scored 5x7s from the local craft store, and all I did was mark a light pencil line where I planned to stitch using a round plate to make a nice “draped” look. I cut the fabric into small triangles, mainly by eyeballing it, and found that 7 fit along the line best and just guesstimated my way with each card as I stitched along. The slight differences in shape of each triangle I find just charming, and I’m sure my recipients will to :)

Since I’ve already addressed the envelopes, all that’s left to do now is write notes to my family and friends and send them on their way! I’m hoping while I finish that up this week I can also perfect a sewing pattern for a dress I’m *hoping* to make for my girls, then snap a nice family photo to include. I’m not holding my breath about either the dresses or the picture, but you never know :) Miracles do happen!
Best wishes for your Christmas preparations as well… may it be a joy, not a chore!

*I'm adding this little crafty post to the Me Making Do blog... go check it out!

From the Kitchen: Gingerbread Drop Cookies

2010-12-10T07:00:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was my unofficial start to the holiday baking season. We have a couple events this weekend, so I figured a small assortment of confections would be the perfect accompaniment and work for both parties (hooray for planning ahead!).

This particular recipe is a nice alternative to the traditional yet decidedly more laborious rolled, cut and iced gingerbread cookies that proliferate around this time each year. I love those too, but today was not ideal for being both flour-covered and on my feet near a hot stove all day. I hope to make a gingerbread house with the kids in the next week or two (we acquired a neat gingerbread house molding plate via white elephant gift exchange, and we’re dying to try it out!), so I’m letting myself off the hook for serious baking right now.

Gingerbread Drop Cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup shortening
1-1/2 cups packed brown sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1-1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
1-1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/3 cup molasses
2 eggs
3-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar for coating

Directions:

In a large mixing bowl beat shortening with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add brown sugar, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, and cloves. Beat until well combined. Beat in molasses and eggs until combined. Beat in as much flour as you can with the mixer. Stir in any remaining flour with a wooden spoon.

Drop dough by rounded teaspoons into granulated sugar in a deep, round-bottom bowl. Swirl bowl to coat dough with sugar. Place onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake in a 375 degree F oven about 8 minutes or until bottoms are lightly browned. Cool on wire racks. Store in airtight container or freeze for up to one month (I froze my extra for closer to Christmas).

Enjoy! More of my favorite cookie recipes to come…

My Life in a Nutshell: A Virtual Smorgasbord of December Projects

2010-12-08T07:00:00.002-05:00

Well, it’s been a relatively slow couple weeks for blogging, but I assure you I’ve quite busy with projects. Etsy work, minor household repairs, Christmas decorating, buying and making gifts and crafting a couple things just for me. I’ve been enjoying myself, learning some new things, reading amazing things by some amazing crafters and looking forward to Christmas celebrations with my family and friends. Being 6 months pregnant has, so far, not really affected my energy for these preparations. I’m very grateful for that, and I’m trying to make it continue by not over-working myself. I’m trying to keep this Advent truly mindful of the season and cut out as much stress as possible. If that means a few more store-bought things and a few less nights of staying up too late and regretting it the next day, that is just fine with me.

That said, most days have been very productive, and I’ve gotten to interact with a lot of people lately via Etsy. Lots of thoughtful men purchasing gifts for their women. The positive feedback from recent sales has also been very uplifting. Here are a few of my favorites feedback comments from the past couple days:

“I've loved the store forever but held off on making a purchase until now. I wish I hadn't waited so long! The flower pins are even better in person, very delicate and detailed.”

“Wow, the work on these is amazing, such delicate details, they lay perfectly and fluff up beautifully after they come through the mail. Can't wait to put these in a few stockings for the holidays this year ... they're excellent stocking stuffers."

“This is truly one of my favorite Etsy shops! High-quality and BEAUTIFUL products, professional and friendly service and fast shipping too!”

Given the seasonal rush of sales, I’ve been busy making new varieties of reclaimed wool flower pins to stock TheJuneBride Etsy shop for the tail end of the holiday rush. Etsy suggests colors to be featured each month (here’s where you’d find that info), and December’s selections include gold, silver, berry hues and teal/turquoise colors. I decided to stock heavy in those shades and, interestingly, it seems to be working… those items are selling more! How neat!

Admittedly, there has been a lot of online shopping going on here too. Some of it was out of desperation for well-fitting maternity clothes, and I’m eagerly awaiting the arrival of some wardrobe basics with breathing (and growing) room. And then there’s Amazon, the ubiquitous gift center for people of all ages who care for things more digital. I also got a great hard-copy pattern for little kid “kung-fu” pants from shortees via trade (I love trading on Etsy!!). I haven’t made any yet, but there’s a new baby boy at my husband’s office and I’d love to try some teeny tiny ones as a gift (to go with this cute onesie I traded from CuddleCanvas). They should work up quick, so I should really get to it (and then blog about it!). I also traded for this sweet fused-glass Christmas tree pendant from WillowWoods. My Grandma was the lucky recipient of that item, and I love the fact that it could be used as an adorable ornament if it doesn’t suit her style fancy.

Oh, and I’m forgetting one of my favorite Etsy purchases yet… some amazing handmade soap from SoapySweetTreats. It’s basic in terms of shape, packaging and (best of all) the price. Really wonderful HUGE bars of great-smelling soap at an exceptional price (with free Priority shipping). I purchased it for shaving in the shower (and for satisfying some of my pregnancy-related smell cravings) and I will definitely buy from this shop again (if I ever run out of the amount I bought… 6 bars with assorted scents). The soap here was just as wonderful in use as the (perhaps more photogenic) soaps at the very popular Etsy shop DennisAnderson, but cost less than half as much per ounce ($0.59 vs $1.26). This little comparison really emphasizes the value of successful marketing in one’s pricing ability, but I’m so happy that I found a fantastic “no-frills” shop. It was like getting soap at a farmer’s market, but with better selection and no barn animal smells.

I’ve also personally made a few Christmas gifts, but since I haven’t given them yet, I can’t show you now or I’d spoil the surprise!! But believe me, they turned out better than anticipated and I couldn’t be happier about it. More are on the agenda, though I also plan to abandon that ship if it starts causing me anxiety. Most are for my kids anyway, and they won’t notice :)

I’ve long been inspired by JulieGarland, and the earrings and necklace set I made a few days ago were directly inspired by this gorgeous design of hers. My gold-filled set cost about $12 to make, and I love it. I just love the sparkles… I’m ready to party!

And (“Will this random post ever end?” you’re thinking), since I was flying solo (with 3.5 kids) for a few days while my husband was on a business trip, some of my lonely evening hours were spent researching garment pattern design software. I ultimately decided that Cochinelle was the right fit for my needs and budget, and I’m hoping that this 2-person company can process and ship my order in time for me to play around with it before Christmas. The reviews are excellent, but so far the speed is a little depressing. I’ll keep you posted!

When my husband got back, we decorated the house… lights are up outside, the wreath is welcoming, the six stockings are hung by the chimney with care and the hunt for the perfect Christmas tree has ended with a pre-lit one that will hopefully last for many many years to come (I’ve never had a real tree, so I don’t know what I’m missing, in case you were wondering). We have yet to put ornaments on the tree, but it’s up and glittering in our front window. Less festive, I’ve also replaced my oven light (Did you know that happiness is being able to see the food you’re cooking? It is). And ordered new belts and filters for my vacuum cleaner. A working vacuum cleaner is even more sublime than an oven light. New belts make the thing run like new, and the annual replacement brings me joy as I contemplate the crumb situation that will ail us until the children move out. Oh yes, pure joy.

So, that’s what I’ve been doing lately. I’m sure I’ll post again with some Christmas baking and other projects, but I’m not too optimistic about being as faithful to the blog as I have been earlier this season. Ah well, seasons of life :)

TheJuneBride News: November Charity Promotion

2010-12-07T07:00:00.038-05:00

I'm so happy to report that TheJuneBride Etsy shop November charity promotion netted $232.00!!! That was $1.00 from each items sold (including wholesale items), plus a couple more dollars from buyers who chose slower shipping in order to donate more. How wonderful! It's the season of giving and I'm so pleased to say that I was able to round that amount up to $400.00 (just for fun) and it was donated to Food Gatherers.

I chose to give to Food Gatherers right now because they really make a difference for local families in need, they are a four star Charity Navigator-ranked charity (meaning the funds donated are really used for people in need), donations made when I did will be matched 50% by the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan (Emergency Food & Shelter Matching Grant), AND, thanks to Michigan tax laws, a 50% tax credit will be given for donations up to $400.00 to non-profit food banks (which means I could give more!).

Food Gatherers is a local charity that has made a major impact in feeding families who find themselves in a position of shortage. According to their website:

Food Gatherers exists to alleviate hunger and eliminate its causes in our community by: reducing food waste through the rescue and distribution of perishable and non perishable food; coordinating with other hunger relief providers; educating the public about hunger; and developing new food resources.

This Sunday was the last day of "Rockin' for the Hungry”, an annual food drive hosted by my favorite radio station, Ann Arbor's 107one, and that was also a big success for this worthwhile charity. Last I checked, they had collected 170 tons of non-perishable food items, and I'm sure that number has gone up as they make the final tally. And that doesn’t account for monetary donations made during the drive!

Ann Arbor’s 107one had this tidbit on their website:

Every day, thousands of people in Washtenaw County rely on Food Gatherers, the area's largest food rescue and collection organization. Each year they distribute more than 4.6 MILLION POUNDS OF FOOD to over 150 LOCAL NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS that see to it our neighbors in need, mostly families and children, won't go hungry.

I’m so pleased… the $400 I was able to donate was matched 50% by the CFSM, which makes $600. Food Gatherers says that every $5 can provide 14 meals to people in need, so $600 can provide 1680 meals!! And after the tax credit, it will have cost only $200 to provide that much nutrition to that many people. Amazing!

The Giveaway Winner!!!

2010-12-06T07:00:00.023-05:00

Yay! Thanks to all my wonderful readers for participating in my first ever blog giveaway! We had 119 entries, and the winner of the giveaway for 2 flower pins of their choice was lucky #78... Ruri!!!

Ruri commented: "My favorite thanksgiving dish is my dad's made-from-scratch (I'm talking roasting and pureeing a real pumpkin) pumpkin pie!" She chose two festive azaleas which will hopefully be reaching her in short order :)

I really enjoyed hosting this giveaway, and I anticipate doing more in months to come!

Black Friday & Cyber Monday Coupon Code for TheJuneBride on Etsy!! (and a GIVEAWAY!)

2010-11-25T09:00:00.001-05:00

Hello dear readers! I hope you are gearing up for a great Thanksgiving celebration with family and friends!

Since I'm preparing for a busy Christmas shopping season, I'm offering my blog readers a 15% off coupon for everything in TheJuneBride Etsy shop starting now (!!) through next Wednesday. Just use coupon code "2010CYBER15" at checkout! Additionally, $1 from each item sold in November will be donated to local charities that offer food, heat and medical treatment to families in need. All my items are handmade and eco-friendly (and they ship for free in the USA!), so you can feel 100% good about your purchase!

And the giveaway? I'll be offering ONE (1) lucky reader TWO (2) reclaimed wool flower pins of her/his choice (retail value $25-$30 USD). International participants are welcome too!

There are NINE (9) ways to enter the drawing (and you can do them all!!):

Follow my blog (and comment)
Heart my Etsy shop (and comment)
Tweet this on Twitter (and comment)
Share it on Facebook (and comment)
Blog about it (and comment)
Comment and indicate your favorite flower pin from my shop
Comment with something you're grateful for this Thanksgiving
Comment with your favorite Thanksgiving food
Purchase any item from my Etsy shop (and comment)

RULES:

Maximum entries per person is 9, and each entry must be its own comment on this post.
Using random.org, 1 winner will be chosen on Wednesday, December 1, 2010 at 5 PM EST.
Participants are welcome worldwide.
Please make sure to leave an email where you can be reached if your account doesn't link to one!
Have fun!

My Life in a Nutshell: Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-25T08:00:00.001-05:00

I’m thankful this year. Very, very thankful. For so many reasons.

During my short stint as a drill sergeant for juvenile offenders at a weekend rehabilitation camp (this was many years ago, folks!), the crew was making their introduction to the group of delinquent teens. After the head of the program gave his amazing life story… he was found, at the age of 2, fending for himself in a house where his mother had been lying dead for a week, surviving by drinking from the toilet and eating crackers left on the table. His father, who had not permitted the “female operation” that would have saved his mother’s life, abandoned him. He bounced around foster homes for years and was involved with crime and drugs before ultimately finding God and a reason to turn his life around. He then introduced me, saying, “And this is Karen… Well, I don’t know for sure, but I think she may have had the perfect life.” It was humbling after his story full of sadness and turmoil to have led a life with seemingly no challenges. Now I can reflect on the power of growing up with a home life founded on true love, and a faith that makes many obstacles shrink in comparison. Having lived much more of my life since that time, I have experienced some challenges, and I’m grateful for them and for where I am now.

I am content. I am thankful. I am truly blessed.

Here’s my top 10 list of reasons why I am thankful:

For having been given life.
For having a Purpose.
For getting to live everyday with my sweet, wonderful, strong, kind, supportive, hilarious, charming, manly, generous, attractive, and loving husband!
For the 6 little feet stomping around the house, for the 2 stomping around my bladder, and for the tiny two stomping around in Heaven.
For a family and family-in-law who I respect and really truly love to be around.
For an abundance of inspiring, supportive friends.
For the multitude of wonderful children in our lives to help our children grow up right.
For a house filled with with much more laughter than tears.
For talents and the means to use them.
For the ability to appreciate that nothing I have is truly mine, and what a beautiful gift that is.

I wish you a safe, happy holiday full of good company and delicious food!

Random Finds: GiveawayScout.com

2010-11-24T14:31:00.007-05:00

This is just what I've been looking for in preparation for offering a giveaway... GiveawayScout.com! It's an established website that collects blog-based giveaways, promotes them and helps you get entrants and views. Wonderful! I'm looking forward to getting a little help publicizing my giveaway, and I would definitely say they're worth checking out if you have similar plans :)

My Life in a Nutshell: The Party is Over

2010-11-20T22:00:00.000-05:00

We had a great party today! We had 46 wonderful people in attendance… 28 of which were kids… all 8 and under. Michigan did not even nearly win over Wisconsin, but we were able to console ourselves with a fantastic potluck meal. One 18 pound turkey, one 8 pound ham, bread dressing, gravy, mashed potatoes, gouda and herb scalloped potatoes (a fabulous Cooks Illustrated recipe), sweet potato casserole, homemade garlic and herb rolls, two salads and fresh veggies, cranberry sauce, homemade applesauce, green bean casserole, apples with dip (I’m holding their serving dish hostage until I get that recipe!!), pumpkin pie, mint chocolate chip pie, and a crunchy chocolate-caramel bar that is too good for me to remember it’s name (oooh… yes, they’re called Kit Kat bars and I already have the recipe!). Amazingly, the real cleanup consisted only of a little vacuuming, the fixing of only one miniscule carpet stain, and the stowing of copious quantities of delicious leftovers. And I don’t have a single photo to show for it!

Thus begins my official start the to the “holiday season”. I don’t usually like to refer to it as such, but since for me it is encompassing both Thanksgiving and Christmas, I’ll let it go. Unlike the Reynold’s Oven Bag recipe for “Holiday Ham”… Couldn’t we just call it “Christmas Ham”? It’s definitely not “Hanukkah Ham”, now is it? Ah, commercialism.

Well, I’m off now to put up my sore pregnant feet and revel in the quietude with a piece of mint pie and some tea. Happy Saturday-Before-Thanksgiving :)

TheJuneBride News: Featured @ the rikrak studio blog!!

2010-11-19T11:23:00.001-05:00

Oh boy! The wonderful and kind Kristal at the rikrak studio blog is featuring my sugar cookie recipe and a giveaway today! I’m so flattered and excited :)

I featured Kristal and her fabulous eco-felt Christmas stockings a while back, and she’s been a longtime treasury friend on Etsy. Such a sweetie… Hop on over and check out her lovely and inspiring craft + fun blog!!

I’m also super excited today because I just hit 3333 sales! Sort of random, but a little bit exhilarating as well :) Just 1111 more sales until this sort of alignment happens again. I’m hoping to see that in 2011!

My Life in a Nutshell: 7 Days of Cleaning Makes One Week

2010-11-18T12:00:00.000-05:00

In preparation for our biggest party of the year, I am on a mission to accomplish some basic housecleaning. I do this every year… plan the projects that I’ll complete before our big event. Some people clean on a schedule so their house always looks spic and span, and if you drop by unannounced they apologize for the teacup they left on the end table… really, they didn’t know you were coming. Not me. I clean for company and rarely otherwise*. It’s a good thing we have people over fairly regularly, otherwise nothing would ever get done.

Today is Day 6 of the week of cleaning. I made myself a little day-by-day list of what I hoped to accomplish, trying to be both reasonable and thorough. It seems to be working so far. I am still managing to fit in some crafty Etsy stuff too, so it’s not all work and no play.

Day 1 (“The Day of the Bi-Fold Door”) – Install 2 sets of bi-fold closet doors using new tracks. Fix another set of bi-fold doors that haven’t closed properly since before my 3.5-yr old was born.

Day 2 (“The Day I Justify Estate Saling as Shopping”) – Stop by our Kiwanis Sale and an estate sale looking for some eclectic yet practical items for organization… find awesome wall-mounted jewelry display shadow box that solves one major annoyance. Also de-clutter master bedroom and tidy up little boy’s room. Purchase largest frozen turkey available at local grocery store and begin process of thawing.

Day 2b (“Resting Day”) – This was Sunday, so apart from going to Mass (which can seem like work with 3 little kids when one’s husband is playing piano for Mass), I didn’t do anything notable except make a shopping list whilst lying on the couch…

Day 3 (“Ultrasound Day”) – Clean the living room, put away some bigger items of clutter. Shop for other party dinner needs then try to safely fit them in the fridge around the thawing turkey. Pick up the 1st grader to go to my 20 week ultrasound with the rest of the family. See Little Tiny Baby and get some cute pictures to share with all of you.

Day 4 (“Grandma Day”) – Clean family room, re-shelve the kids books and scoop Duplos out from under the couch. Begin kitchen cleaning and de-cluttering. Then fabulous mother-in-law came over to watch kids so I could run errands. Shop for some basic household things that I’ve been continually forgetting (shower curtain, hand towels for main floor bathroom, nice smelling candles, clothes that fit my growing belly, etc).

Day 5 (“The Day I Hit Halfway”) – My official halfway point in the pregnancy (yay!). After a morning of pre-school with the two little ones, celebrate by moving furniture in the sunroom, vacuum high and low and wash slipcovers. The big TV for the football game watching goes in there, so proper arrangement of furniture is critical for adequate flow and optimal viewing (or so I’m told). I’m not sure yet whether the Master and Commander will rearrange my work, but at least I know that even the carpet under the couches is clean. Spot clean hall and stair carpets.

Day 6 (“Today”) – Feel sore from furniture-moving and so decide to blog, pretending it’s necessary and that people will read it. Find big box and roam the house collecting errant items and other clutter. Label box “Donations” and set in garage for Purple Heart. Make nursery habitable for visiting babies. Tackle basement workspace, preparing for kids to play down there at party. Block off entrance to workspace so curious little hands don’t get into the scissors. Do laundry. Cut boys’ hair.

Day 7 (“Tomorrow”) – Cut bread and chop vegetables for dressing. Choose serving bowls. Clear kitchen counters of anything unnecessary. Pull out turkey roaster and warming tray. Make children clean their rooms. Clean bathrooms. Vacuum every carpet. Wash windows (I use these amazing cloths from FlyLady… no chemicals and very little elbow grease involved!).

Big Party Day! – Begin cooking turkey! Wait for people to arrive :) Watch football. Catch up with friends. Laugh lots. Eat well.

The day after Big Party Day is always a great one too… the house is clean, there are leftovers for a week, and everyone is happy. Then we get to celebrate Thanksgiving with our families and someone else does the cleaning and most of the cooking :) Fabulous!

*One time I also cleaned for sanity (don’t ever watch any TV show about hoarding, especially late at night when your house isn’t immaculate), and on several occasions I’ve cleaned for charity (it’s so much easier to clean someone else’s mess, isn’t it?).

Etsy Tutorial: How I Take Product Photos for my Etsy Listings

2010-11-11T08:00:00.000-05:00

Since I am in the process of taking and editing hundreds of photos of TheJuneBride Etsy products this week, I figured it would be a nice idea to share how exactly I go about planning and setting up my product shots. Any Etsy seller who has ever stopped into the forums or read a featured seller article has learned that the best way to make sales is to have great photos. But how exactly does one do that? I’ve stumbled my way through product photography (and I’m still stumbling… I’m no professional) by way of point-and-shoot, then dSLR… but I’ve realized that nothing makes better pictures than simply thinking about composition, then working on technique.

First, there are a few things I think about when I plan to photograph items:

What can I highlight about the product to grab potential customer’s attention in the main photo?
How does the item display best?
How will the product be used? Can I show it in a “real life” situation?
Should I include a “group shot”? Will showcasing this item with other related items help make a larger sale?

My first question gives me the foresight to plan one picture to really stand out among the millions of item photos on Etsy. Rather than simply choosing the “best” of the pictures of any particular item, I try to take one with “wow factor”… something to make people want another look to see what it’s all about. Most of my items are small, so getting a close up of the texture of the wool I use tends to get good results in the view department (and more views turn into more sales). But this will vary depending on what you’re trying to sell, time of year, relative saturation of that category on Etsy, etc. It’s worth the time and energy to come up with something unique that can be fairly consistent throughout your product line, something that will ultimately become recognizable as yours.

When planning how to display the item, I have a few cardinal rules that I have come to realize cause the best views for my items… this may differ for yours, but it’s still worth considering. Below you can see my setup for photos of my flower brooches (and sometimes the food stuffs I blog about) – a foam-core board with or without a scrapbooking paper “curve”. Near a window in indirect sunlight. On the floor. Classy, eh? But it works… I just get as close in as I need to feature the item, and later can digitally crop out any undesirable aspects. No flash means naturally lit photos that best represent the true color of the item.

I always use a simple uncluttered backdrop for smaller items… a solid color without majorly noticeable lines is generally the ticket. The photos below show some “cluttered backgrounds” that draw attention away from the product. These examples could be worse because they are not too bold, but you get the idea. Polka dots would be a bad idea…

I choose a background (almost always gray or white) that helps the items show up best. I try to find the tone that best makes the item “pop”, and it can also help solve the bluish tinge that is very hard to edit out in some photos (see the pink flower below for an example). For bigger tabletop items (handbag, scarf, etc) I use a giant roll of white paper as my “curve” and background… cheap but very effective, and easy to white balance when you are digitally editing your photos.

Now, if you’re shooting larger items or “real life” situations (ex. a skirt modeled on a real person in your backyard), you’ll have to figure out how to keep the attention on the item you’re trying to sell, while letting a compatible background complement your color scheme. Aside from that tip, all I can say is that the overall picture should be appealing. It should not look like a snap shot. Using a flash is generally not a good idea. Get creative. Try out a few things till you find what works.

Now, I’m not completely sure what to recommend for a product “group shot”… it depends on a few things. Imagine you’re shopping for soap on Etsy. You find something that looks good, and in that particular listing, the seller has included as the last photo a shot of a grouping of that soap with other bath and body products from her shop that have the same scent, congruent packaging and clearly could be given together as a gift set. Maybe your Aunt Gertrude would love a combination of those items, and you decide to buy a few for her for Christmas. This is GOOD and is an example of a successful group shot. It turned into a bigger sale than would have happened if you had not seen more available items together. Now, imagine you’re shopping for a hat. In that particular listing, the seller has added as the last photo a shot of just a pair of mittens, indicating that she also sells mittens. Is this good? Well, maybe. Maybe they don’t match the hat, so you don’t think about them as a possible set. Maybe they’re cuter than the hat so you just buy mittens and forget about it. Maybe you do purchase both. The goal is for a “group shot” to act as a non-pushy way to encourage the buyers to consider making a larger order. So make sure the grouping is of compatible items and, if possible, the item for which the listing is intended should appear in the photo (or a VERY similar item should be shown so the buyer doesn’t forget why they’re there).

One caveat to being successful with a certain photography style is that people will copy your style, if not your product itself. It’s a fact, people, and the best way to not be bothered by it is to simply move on. If it’s affecting your sales, think of a new way to display. Or choose a unique prop that your competitors couldn’t possible have. Getting upset won’t solve the problem (trust me), but getting creative will always give you an edge. And it goes the other way - use others’ styles as inspiration… obvious copycatting will not help you make friends!

For editing my photos, I generally only use the basic Windows Photo Gallery option (the default on any machine running Windows), though I like Google’s free Picasa software for straightening crooked photos (it happens to everyone!) as well as other basic edits if I’m already in it. I’ll even use Paint from time to time to resize images if I forget to use the small file size on my camera for photos intended for the web (I hate doing it that way, but sometimes it’s necessary and Paint is really quick and easy). For major edits and full-photo makeovers, I use The Gimp. I don’t have the funds to purchase Photoshop right now, and all these applications really work well as an alternative.

There’s so much more, but I don’t do much more than that myself. I try to keep the non-creating aspects of the business as short and sweet as possible to maximize my time creating, and I find that this works for me right now. It must be done, and it really must be done well if you want to generate interest and sales.

Happy photo shooting! Feel free to chime in with your own tips or questions in the comments… there’s always more to learn!

From the Kitchen: Smitten Kitchen Peanut Butter Cookies

2010-11-09T18:34:00.001-05:00

These peanut butter cookie photos have been hanging around my desktop for quite a while now, waiting for a good opportunity to be blogged. Right now is perfect for a variety of reasons:

I just woke up from what started out as an afternoon nap to find my house deserted. Turns out my husband took the kids to the store (and won’t tell me which one!), so tummy baby and I are all alone.
I’m cooking dinner (beef stroganoff) and have some moments to spare.
Me want cookies!!! I can’t really blame this on the baby… I’ve already fed him/her a bag of caramel corn, a hummus sandwich and, presently, a cup of tea. None of that is really doing it for us. Bring on the cookies…

Let me tell you how I adore Deb of Smitten Kitchen. I do. She’s fabulous. Her writing, photography and recipes make me want more. Lucky for all of us she’s a dedicated food blogger and she shares her wealth of skill daily. “Thanks, Deb!” I write as if she’ll ever read this :)

I found her recipe on a Google search for the perfect PB cookie recipe. I should have known! They are truly delicious… who knew all they needed was a generous helping of chocolate chips? Deb, you genius…

And that’s all I have to say. I have to go finish dinner, so go read it. Then bake cookies. Now!

From the Kitchen: Fall Confections

2010-11-08T08:00:00.001-05:00

Mmmm…. cookies! These maple leaf cookies were made using my favorite sugar cookie recipe. Yum! I had volunteered to bake some pumpkin-shaped cookies for my daughter’s class to decorate for their Halloween party, and had extra dough to “dispose of”. Well, it was a nice opportunity to use the multi-sized maple leaf cookie cutter set that I found for a pittance at Home Goods. Seize the ~~dough~~ day! They turned out great, if not exactly as I envisioned (more veining? I don’t remember the ideal I was shooting for now).

I iced them in small batches of Autumn colors, then added the brown veining (done with a parchment triangle and no tip; enhanced by dragging a toothpick through it) and let them dry. To minimize my mess, I dyed all my run sugar glaze yellow (then iced a few), then added orange (then iced a few more), then a bit more orange (more icing), then red (more icing), etc. One bowl, so many lovely colors. Sometimes laziness does pay off! As I was photographing them, my daughter told me, “When they’re so close to me, I’m very tempted to eat them.” Me too, darling… me too.

Through the Looking Glass: Baby Zane

2010-11-06T08:00:00.002-04:00

Yesterday I was lucky enough to get to visit a good friend who had a new tiny baby… little Zane. So cute! He was an obliging subject and I had a great time hanging out and snapping a few photos for practice, posterity and hopefully to help with the birth announcement. I got to visit them in the hospital, but a couple weeks of sickness in my house prevented another visit until just now. It was nice to see his little eyes open (though he was a wiggler when he was awake), and he was quite a charmer. I used The Gimp to do a little playing around with color/saturation (the green blanket I brought was a little overpowering in the pictures, but it worked well for digital manipulation!). I also added some "eye pop" in a few of the photos after seeing this tutorial. I forgot both my favorite fuzzy white blanket and my reflector (both of which really could have come in handy for the natural lighting). On the positive, the knit fabrics I brought for swaddling worked amazingly well, and I am thinking I should make a few swaddlers for my own little bean before he or she arrives in April. Here are a few of my favorites from the day…

Get Crafty: Dyeing at Home

2010-11-04T09:00:00.005-04:00

Are you ready? This is going to be fun!

I had hoped to make an assortment of not-so-frumpy maternity tops to wear to various holiday gatherings, and I wanted some appropriately festive materials to make them. So, recently, I found a beautiful pair of ivory silk dupioni curtains at my local Salvation Army... for $9.00. Bingo!

The only problem with this gorgeous fabric is the ivory color. Lucky for me, it was ivory, not puce. Enter iDye. iDye is a readily available, inexpensive ($3-4 per packet at your local craft store, or more on Amazon.com), washing machine compatible textile dye perfect for this project. There are many colors available for natural fibers, and I chose "gun metal"...

Here is the silk before (after removing the cotton/poly lining, the panel weighed only 6 oz).

One packet can ostensibly dye 2-3 pounds of material, but since I didn't much care how light or dark the gray ended up, I decided to only dye that bit of fabric and see what happened. So, after...

one trip through the washing machine (I ran and re-ran the wash cycle with the same dye water for a total of about 45 minutes),
making sure to follow the directions for silk (add 1/3 cup vinegar to the dye water as a fixative),
washing the silk with gentle shampoo and thoroughly rinsing (the water should run clear; shampoo is an animal fiber, so washing it with shampoo treats it appropriately and leaves a nice scent!),
then drying it,
and ironing it

...it was ready! Here is my dyed silk:

It is evenly dyed for a uniform appearance, though it also has a slight purple cast to it which I was not expecting but, in hindsight, may have been predictable seeing the color on the package. Additionally, the fabric has lost quite a bit of the sheen that it had an an ivory curtain, though that is the generally accepted and inevitable end result of any non-dry-cleaning dupioni receives. The texture now is more like a crushed crepe... not bad, and a less stiff drape. So, overall, I'm pleased with the iDye process.

Also, it must be noted that there was no stinky dye! And no icky clean up! I just wiped down the lid and top of the washing machine drum with a rag (the agitation splashed little drops of blueish dyewater everywhere), then I ran a large load of old towels to clean out the washer. Ta da! Done.

I'll do a future post about what exactly I'm going to make with this dyed fabric... stay tuned!