My baby has a fluffy butt

So I have an addiction. To fluff. That's right I LOVE fluffy cloth diapers. I adore a little baby butt wrapped in big diaper. I want to #buyallthediapers. But my hubby would be SOOOOOO mad. So I made some fitted diapers.
(I apologize for the crappy camera phone pics but my big camera was broken by the 3 year old.)

I used the Goodness Gracious free pattern but I left off the second soaker pad because I am using 4 layers hemp for the internal soaker.

Serged pirate booty take 1. I'm going to go ahead and call this a practice run.

The outer cotton print is Pirate Plaid Skulls and Anchors that I picked up from Wal-Mart's remanent bin. The inside is brown minky from JoAnn Fabrics. The hook & loop is also from JoAnn.
 Based on the sizing guide for the pattern I decided to make a large (23-33#) since my son is almost 24#.
It did not fit. It kept falling down his little booty when he tried to run away in it!

Here is my 37# almost 4 year old modeling the size large.

 So after learning that my skinny boy is not a large I made this Avengers print (fabric from JoAnn Fabrics but it is now discontinued) in a medium. I also decided to try the turn and top stitch method and added a flannel layer in the middle which I attached the soaker too. The diaper feels a lot "sturdier" this way.

I haven't added any fasteners yet because I prefer snaps but don't have a pair of snap pliers. Yet.

W wants the diaper.

I used a grey micro fleece (from Hancock Fabrics) as the inner most layer to help wick away moisture and was photobombed by a baby.

Avengers fitted with an Avengers tee. I DIE!

 Lastly I made another pirate booty in a medium (with an extra flannel layer) and did a much better job serging.

I had to include this shot of my silly boy flossing.

As for absorbency, they are pretty good. Nap time but not overnight worthy. We did nap time in the Avengers and tried overnight in the medium pirate booty but had to do a change after 6 hours. They also take a while to dry.

I'm so happy with how they've turned out and can't wait to make more! I already have a Spider-Man cutout and waiting for me. I can't wait to share how it turns out!

Oh Craft.

I am having difficulty finding more than 5 minutes at a time to sit down and work on a project. So on Mother's Day I told the family I was going to finish a project so Daddy was on duty! I'd been wanting to start this cute little sunhat by Jessica from Running With Scissors that she guest posted on Living with Punks for over 2 weeks.

 The tutorial was super easy to follow and she provides a printable pattern in 3 sizes also. I choose to leave off the little ruffle and ribbon since I was making it for my boy. The Marvel comic book fabric begged me to buy it last time I was at Jo-Ann Fabrics & it has been sitting & waiting for me to figure out what to do with it.

 

 I'm really happy with the hat. It's perfect for keeping the sun out of my little man's eyes. & now my girl each want one too. But pink ones. With no superheros.

 

 

On a completely separate note, this is my new favorite pic of my boy. He always makes the cutest little noise & smiles a lot in his sleep. Daddy & I have a theory about what he's dreaming of.

A Little Organization for the Playroom

 This is something I've been meaning to (re)do for a while now. This is the 3rd time the boxes have been labeled. This time I got smart and taped them down completely with packing tape so little hands can peel them off like previously.

 

Here's a really bad shot of the old labels. 

They would stay on the boxes for about an hour after I put them on.

Much better right?

I just used Google to find pictures of all my girls toys and then edited them with Picasa to add the text. Quick and easy. I hope this inspires you to tackle an organization project you've been putting off.

For My Mina Ballerina

Another black hole project has been completed! I absolutely love how this dress turned out. I started it back in March of last year but then my serger & I got in a fight during the project. We have a love/hate relationship.

 I was a little worried it wouldn't fit after all this time but it's perfect. I was inspired by Stef of Girl. Inspired.'s Pretty in Pink knot dress. The blue ballerina fabric is from a fat quarter bundle Mina found at Jo-Ann's back in February of 2011 and begged for and the skirt is white Kona cotton.

This is my favorite shot from our little photo shoot.

 This dress is perfect for spinning and dancing. I love the way it fans out while my little ballerina twirls.

 She insisted I take a picture of her LPS baby penguin. She loves that little thing so much it's crazy. The only problem is it's so small it gets lost ALL the time. I'm working on a little post of my solution to this problem and hope to be ready to share it in a few days.

Another Wet Bag

Hooray! I can check another project off my Black Hole List! I finally finished this little dino wet bag. I love the fabric. This was the scrap from the Dino Dress I made for my Boo-Boo a back in May of 2011.

 It had been a little while since I had sewn a zipper and it took me a couple of minutes of re-pinning and adjusting for me to remember.

 Baby's room & cloth diaper collection are coming along.

Wet bags, All-In-Ones (Sunbaby Diapers) & extra inserts.

Thirsties covers, Snappis & lots of prefolds.

 

And on a side note, my new duvet cover came! I totally love it. It's from Anthropologie's Cirrus collection but I scored this baby off Ebay for less.

Headboard Details

This is a reminder of how the door looked when I got it. 

Nice right? After some inspiration from here, I peeled the tape and stickers off & I scrubbed the heck out of it with soapy water & a scrub brush. After it was clean & dry, it got two coats of Glidden Gripper in white.

 

After letting the sealer dry and staring at paint chips for a few days, I decided to paint it Behr's Teal Zeal. I just bought the color sample size and I have just a little bit left over. 

 Lastly I added a piece of chair rail around the top edge and cut a piece 1/4" plywood to create a little shelf across the top and painted them to match after filling the nail holes & caulking the seams.

 To hang it we used a french cleat.

I'm so pleased with how it turned out and so is the hubby. In fact he likes it so much he even gave me the okay to order a new duvet cover! Our bedroom is finally starting to look the way I've been dreaming about. 

 Pooh bear likes it too. He was a gift from my hubby for our first Valentine's day back in 2007.

Headboard Love

For the first time since 8th grade (that was 10 years ago in case you were wondering), 

I have a headboard.

& I love it.

I'll post the details and more pictures tomorrow. 

(After I take some with better lighting.)

I'll be getting a good night's sleep tonight. 

^_^

Junebug Inspired Dress

Is anyone else following Project Run & Play Season 3? 

I'm slightly addicted. Maybe because one of my best bloggy friends is a contestant (Hi Stef!) or maybe because all the contestants have mad skills, and I'm hoping some of their awesomeness will rub off on me. Either way, ADDICTED. And I always have the intention of participating in the At-Home-Sew-Along but, I never get my project finished in time. This is the dress I started for the first week's Junebug Remix challenge. 

I finally finished it a couple days ago but I have a really good reason why it took so long. 

I discovered I HATE knits. 

I mean I love them, they are cozy, soft and are a joy to wear but sewing them, UHG! I had such a hard time that I gave up decided it was best to put it aside for awhile so I wasn't tempted to set it on fire. After letting it sit for a good 2 weeks, pouring over every helpful tip google provided me with a link to and watching several youtube videos, I was ready to try again. 

It's not perfect. or anywhere close to great. or even good. 

I'll go ahead and describe it as "acceptable for a first try."

Seriously, I have to give major props to anyone who can sew knits.

So without any further whining from me, here are a few more pictures of the dress.

 At least it is "a good spinning dress."

I think I'm going to take a little break from sewing until I regain some confidence in my sewing abilities.

In the meantime I think I'll work on some more nursery projects. 

Since baby is due in 7 weeks and the nursery is looking like this

 at the moment.

 And a little collage of how my bump has grown.

Can you tell I love hats?

The nesting has begun

 Despite being bone tired 90% of the time, things are slowly getting done around here. Mostly a lot of little things, like cleaning out & organizing.

Like the center drawer of my craft desk

Before nesting

After nesting

And under my bathroom sink

There isn't a before pic but let's just say this is a HUGE improvement.

 If you want to imagine the before think a bunch of gallon ZipLoc bags filled with random stuff tossed under there. Yeah it was bad.

Fresh squeezed oj & orange vinegar.

The first of every month is my super cleaning day. The coffee pot is one of the things that gets super clean. I brew 10 cups of vinegar (followed by two 10 cup pots of water) to keep my coffee tasting fresh. And I just can't justify dumping out 10 cups of vinegar so, I end up making more orange vinegar, which I use for everything from wiping counters to mopping the floor to cleaning the potty chairs. But making orange vinegar means I need the peels from about 15 oranges. So we pick and juice and peel oranges for what seems like hours. Did I mention I don't have a fancy juicer? Or any official juicer for that matter? No I'm kind of ghetto and use the bottom of a cup over a big bowl. Fun. But the end results are pretty satisfying. A clean coffee maker, a little over 3 pints of fresh orange juice and 10 cups of orange vinegar.

And finally I'm motivated to work on the nursery! 

Here are some before shots when it was my craft room/guest room.

Crap piled on my desk, ghetto blanket curtain, guest bed without a mattress because it we used it for Caetlin's big girl bed.

Unorganized fabric, extra blankets, the hubby's guitars, random crap up on the shelf.

 And now

A crib, a mattress, real curtains.

 I love the curtains. They took me about 5 months to finish and I'm kind of pissed off about it because they are so pretty I wish I'd just buckled down back in September and finished them then!

Ruffle-y deliciousness.

This morning I hung some Ikea curtains for the closet doors.

 I've still got a little more cleaning to do but most of the junk has been moved out.
Baby's dresser, which is a work in progress, is tucked in the closet and will double as the changing table.

 And last but definitely not least, our new brick walkway!

 

This is what the area looked like when we moved in back in April.

 

Here it is in October after baby girl tripped on the uneven broken cement chunks and busted her lip open twice in under an hour. I got a little crazy and decided it was coming out, NOW!

Day 2 of me ripping up the cement.

After I marked off the new walkway and started digging.

And today.

 I love it. The hubby did all of the brick work by himself. I supervised from a patio chair with my feet up. ; ) The entire project cost us under $200. I think it adds so much more to the backyard than the old "path" ever did and the girls can run and ride their bikes and scooter over it without breaking their faces.

 We also moved over a garden bed so we can have our herbs closer to the back door and kitchen & I can't wait until spring so I can plant some pretty flowers down the right side next to the house.

Oh, yeah.
 

It's now the home to my fabulous little compost bin.

 I built it at the beginning of December out of a bunch of scrap wood. The hubby was surprised and so was I! Because he actually liked it!

 And just a little update of how I'm looking now-a-days.

Yeah, there's a lot of baby packed in there now.