Faire Houre

Ok guys, I make clocks! I have been working on this project for the last year and a half, but mostly just the last few months. I have had SO much fun putting together my site and shop and taking pictures and just making beautiful things. It has been a much needed and enjoyable creative outlet for me. If you know anyone who is in the market for a good clock or is looking for a great Christmas present, send them my way! I will keep my blog and shop updated with new stuff so check back if you are interested.

The Things that Summer Brings

We took a fun little trip to Alexandria with Rose and Hill and her friend Robin and saw lots of little shops all along brick sidewalks and charming homes. We found cute little pillowcases for a dollar and I made mine into a cute top for Mae.

Cuteness

It has been so great having my mom here to help. She brought this beautiful quilt for Mabel, and helped me finish this bassinet cover that I have been working on for quite a while. So far Mabel has only been waking up once in the night to eat and just sleeps most of the day, can't complain about that. I tried using a bassinet with Wes but he made so much noise when he slept that I couldn't keep him in our room. Mabel is a nice quiet sleeper so it has worked out great! I can't believe I have two children, it's so much fun.

Getting Closer

I think I have been nesting for the past six months at least.
My to do list:
finish blanket, check
bleach Wes' old baby clothes, check
make hair bows, check
find more furniture for nursery, check
finish bassinet (hopefully will be done in a few weeks)
make a blessing dress (this might be a stretch, we will see)
pack for hospital (to do once I'm in labor)
organize storage room (almost there)
have all food storage planned and in order (dreaming)
have all christmas presents purchased and wrapped (another dream)
finish Wes' costume (this week I hope)
get new tires for van (hmm, maybe next week)

Blanket

I love using flannel for babies especially the super soft silky flannel, but it's hard to find, I have been looking for the last several months. Well, I finally found some and made this blanket for the baby. It definitely didn't turn out perfect but it will work. My first baby project done, many more to finish.

New Binder

I hate going to the store to buy binders, they are so expensive, I feel like they are worth $1 or maybe $2 max, but most of the good ones are around $7! So John brought me home this one from work that they were going to toss out and I have been meaning to recover it for months. I've seen so much lately on decoupaging that I thought I would try it out. I found an old seminary song book at DI and used the pages, I like how it turned out, we'll see how it holds up.

Some things I found

These are all either from the farmer's market or DI (and all under $4 except the dress): rain boots, little italian shoes with bells (well, they both had bells when I bought them, then Wes ripped them off of one shoe when we got home), freshwater pearl bracelet, red girl shoes, pillowcase dress and vintage patterns which I am excited to make.








I love Wes' cute chubby legs in these pictures!

Best of

Best day in: Monday, John had work off and we just hung out and had fun.

Best night out: Wednesday we went to Pizzeria 712 with the Pecks who came down from Salt Lake, fun and delicious.



Best smell: Orange nectar from my new oil burner Mel got me for my birthday, thanks!

Best mail: my new diaper bag that I have been looking for for a year. I saw it last summer and have been tracking it down ever since and finally found it online for half the price! I'm saving it for when the baby comes.



Best recipe: Mediterranean Linguine



Ingredients:
9 ounces uncooked linguine
1 pound uncooked medium shrimp, peeled and deveined (I used chicken)
1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 medium tomatoes, chopped
1 can (14 ounces) water-packed artichoke hearts, rinsed, drained and halved
1 can (6 ounces) pitted ripe olives, drained and halved
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper

Directions:
Cook linguine according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large nonstick skillet, saute shrimp and mushrooms in oil for 2 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients; cook and stir for 5 minutes or until shrimp turn pink and sauce is heated through.
Drain linguine; serve with shrimp mixture. Yield: 6 servings.

Best productive day: Tuesday, vacuumed twice, mopped three times (what happens when I try and clean while Wes is awake), cleaned the bathroom and the kitchen, went on a nice long challenging walk (which I have to say I do every day not just this day, five days a week for the last three months, first time ever!) and worked on a few side projects.

Best completed project: Making my binder which has everything in it I ever need, it's basically my brain, and now I feel much more organized. You should make one too, I put these categories in it:
Weekly Schedule
Meal Planning
Personal Projects
Home
Landscape
Finances
Goals
Parenting Plan
Vacations
Emergency
Vital Info

And then making myself a mini desk, since I don't have my own studio, office or even desk, I made a little work space by getting a cheap tray and putting my binder, planner, stickies and a pencil in it. I can take my new desk with me wherever I want to work, brilliant.



Best news: hearing the baby's heartbeat and scheduling the ultrasound in three weeks!

Best blooms: My fuschias, which are finally recovering from near death when I went to Idaho and left John to water them.



Best surprise: My grandparents called and said they are in town and will be three blocks down from us for a wedding reception so we walked down to our church building and got to say hi.

Best reward: waking up in the morning to about thirty wet kisses from Wes (all his idea) after a very trying day with him the day before.

It has been a great week!

Make your own

Did you know you can make your own oil cloth/vinyl fabric using paper or fabric and iron on vinyl? Im really excited to do some projects with this stuff, although all I can think of right now is coasters and placemats.




fyi: this is our 100th post since we started this blog, about a year ago.

I would . . .

make these pillowcase dresses if I had girls. They are so cute. I just got some cute pillowcases from downeast for $3 just to use for the fabric, it beats $9/yard at the store.

Another

I learned how to machine quilt and finished this baby blanket for Natalie in time for her shower. It was fun to do a pink girl quilt this time.

Pillows

I finally covered our pillows. They have been sitting around the house without covers for a while, I like this much better.

Quilt

January 31

I finally finished my first quilt. I started making it for Wes last fall and it's finally done, time to move on to the next one.

Projects

These are my projects for the month of december (plus a few more that are gifts so I'll have to post those later). Fleece bean bags, holiday trees, quilted tablerunner, baby girl sweater dress, wool bag, and a vintage apron.