Fabric Bead Necklaces

I think Charlotte may end up with at least 75 baby teeth.  I say this because she has been teething since November.  Let me back up--her bottom two teeth arrived within days of each other around Thanksgiving.  She was kind of fussy and not herself for several weeks before they finally showed up.  We got a decent break from the madenss, then sometime in January the teething business started up again.  A couple weeks went by, no teeth.  This pattern continued, off and on, until mid-March when she finally got more teeth--3 on the top, all within a couple days.  Now she's at it again, with another tooth poking thru on the bottom and several places where it looks like they'll show up any day.

So why am I boring you with the details of my daughter's tooth drama?  Because when Charlotte is ticked off about teething she wants to be carried around, which then means she wants to grab/chew/pull everything on my person, especially necklaces.  I love wearing necklaces, but I have to be careful since she can pull hard (really--she's broken 2 chains already) and I don't want her ruining anything or hurting herself.  Awhile back I blogged about a necklace I bought at the Avant-Garde Art & Craft Show (check the post out here).  It was a fabric bead necklace that was super-cute and safe for a teething baby.  It was made entirely of fabric, so no chains to break or cut into my neck if pulled.  I decided to make one of my own and found a bunch of pictures and several tutorials.  After experimenting, I came up with my own necklace and tutorial that I think is fun, easy and fast.  I love these necklaces--and they're not just for moms with young babies.  Anyone can wear them, but the "safe for teething baby" part is an added perk!

I made my necklace using the following supplies:

1 fat quarter (I recommend pre-washing)
Coordinating thread
Large wooden beads (I used 9 for one necklace)
Scissors
Sewing machine & needle
Iron

 You'll need quite a bit of length of fabric for this project since all the knots you'll be tying will use it up quickly.  Don't worry if the strip you make seems way too long--it won't be, and any excess will get trimmed at the end.

I cut 4 strips the length of the fabric, each 4" wide. 

 

I sewed each strip, end to end, to create one long strip.  (1/4" seam allowances)

 Press the seams open, then fold in half with right sides together.  Press and pin.

Sew the entire edge length using a 1/4" seam allowance, leaving both short ends open.  Trim, then turn right side out--this will take some patience :)  Once the whole tube is turned, press.

Next, tie a single knot (tightly), leaving about a 15" tail.

Insert a wooden bead at the open end and slide all the way down to the knot.  Tie another knot tightly against the bead.  Repeat this process until you have the length you want.

Once you've inserted your last bead, tie one last knot in front of it.  Hold the necklace up while you admire yourself in the mirror and decide how long you want it to be.  Trim the ends about 1/2" from the points you marked.  On one end, fold in the raw edges about 1/4" and press.

Insert the other end into the one you just folded (you may need to rip out a few seams to get it to fit--don't worry, they'll get closed back up in a second).

Stitch across the bottom seam, back-stitching a few times to reinforce, and stitch from the top to bottom of the seam, just to make sure it's held in place securely.

You could also trim the ends close to the first and last knots, then insert ribbon in and sew shut to make an adjustable necklace that ties in the back.  It's just as simple, but make sure you put something on the ends of the ribbon so it doesn't fray.

I'm making a bunch of these in different colors now, and I'm thinking of making a bracelet...that might be cute.  

Happy sewing!

~Stacy

Howard: 1, Table: 0

I was minding my own business, sitting at the dining room table, when I saw something outside that caught my eye.  I wasn't the only one who saw it.  "Do you see what Howard's doing?" asked Chad.  "He got up there all by himself, look!"

Howard had been banished from the house about 5 minutes earlier.  We had someone coming to give a landscaping estimate and we didn't want Howard losing his marbles and barking like crazy since Charlotte had just gone down for a nap.  He may be small, but his bark could wake the dead.  Anyhow, we have a large baby gate that we put up across the deck so he can roam freely up there (we don't have a fenced in yard).  He was not happy, since he knew he was being locked up because there was someone coming over and really, how does one bark effectively when one cannot see who is coming?

So Howard was outside and Chad and I were in the kitchen and dining room, respectively, waiting for the landscaper and cleaning up.  There are windows in both rooms that give a clear view to the back deck, and this is what we saw:

Banished me, huh?  Well, I'll just show them who's boss.  I'll just go ahead and SIT ON THE TABLE.  They think they've tricked me into laying on this wooden deck, but noooo Sir.  I am on the table.

 Aaackk, she sees me.  Ok Howard, be cool, be cool.  Just turn away and try to stretch away from her juuust like....that.  Good, good, keep stretching, she won't be able to see you anymore....

I think she's gone.  Turn slowly, slowly....
 
Shoot.  


I'm kind of out of ideas at the moment.

Ok, ok, maybe if I just get up and hide...Yes, genius.

 
 Good hiding, Howard.  It's like Where's Waldo, only if Waldo wore a totally different outfit and there was no one else in the picture.  I love that he knew he wasn't supposed to be up there enough to hide but that he also wanted to up there so badly he tried everything in his power to get away with it.  Look at those legs--they're about 3.5 inches long on a good day and he can jump effortlessly onto anything.  Our bed is pretty high off the ground--higher than Henry could ever jump, despite his greatest effort and a running start from the hallway.  We figured we were safe with Howard, but not so.  He was just a few months old and all of a sudden one evening, he just appeared on the bed.  I think he'd been staking it out for awhile and would practice when we were gone.  I'll know Howard's age is catching up to him when he can no longer jump onto inappropriate things.  You know, like my patio furniture.

I hope you enjoyed today's episode of "Howard's Greatest Hits."

Have a great weekend!

~Stacy
 

Signs of Spring and A Book Signing

Things have been so busy this week the time has flown by!  Let me start with the most exciting part--my sister-in-law, Sondra, and I got to meet Ree Drummond (AKA "The Pioneer Woman")!!  For those of you who do not know about her, she is a blogger, (check out her blog.  Now.) author, and newly minted Food Network star.  I have all of her books and she just released her newest cookbook, The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Food from My Frontier a couple weeks ago.  She went on a book tour and announced it on her blog last month.  One of her stops was Columbus, which was the closest to us, so we drove 2.5 hours down there and back in the same evening.  It was so worth it--she was one of the nicest people I've ever met, along with her husband (AKA "Marlboro Man").  They took time to talk to every single person in line and take photos:

I'm standing awkwardly, to say the least.  She offered to let me sit in her lap, but that would have likely been even more awkward than this photo, if that's possible.  If you've never read her blog or checked out her books, you must.  Her cookbooks are amazing--delicious recipes and tons of step-by-step photos for every single one.  In addition to her two cookbooks, she also wrote a children's book called Charlie the Ranch Dog, based on her actual Basset Hound named Charlie.  He is one of the stars of her blog (famous for his love of bacon, napping, and getting into ridiculous situations) and the book is wonderful.  She and her husband signed my copy for Charlotte.  I hope she keeps writing books and touring, because we would love to meet her again!

The rest of the weeks excitement has more of what's become normal for this month--warm weather and spending time outside.  It's mostly what we've been doing and I'm certainly not complaining.  Besides the warmth and sunshine, there are signs of spring all around:

Happy Friday!

~Stacy

Rocky River Park

Today we were met with something that almost never happens:  no plans.  That, coupled with more sun and temperatures in the 70s meant that the entire day (with the exception of baby naps and meals) was spent outside.  We slept in and decided to drive to Rocky River Park, a small park right on the lake that we just discovered by accident about a year ago. 

One day last May, right after I'd stopped working and just a couple weeks shy of Charlotte's arrival, Chad and I went out to a coffee place nearby called Erie Island Coffee.  We'd never heard of it before and found it randomly on Urbanspoon.  It had been rated Cleveland's Best Coffee by Cleveland Magazine so we figured it must be good.  It turns out that Erie Island has incredible coffee, desserts, and food and quickly became one of our favorite places.  One entire side of their building has windows that roll up, like a garage door, when it's nice outside and makes it feel like you're sitting on a patio even if you're still indoors.  After we discovered this place, we went for a drive and found Rocky River Park tucked away in a residential area.  I can't believe we'd never heard about it: it has a beach, a pavilion, and a big playground.  You can also climb about 750 stairs (exaggerating, but not by much) and there's another grassy area up high where you can look out at the lake and see Cleveland to the east and the neighboring suburbs and coastline to the west.  It must be a pretty well kept secret since the park is rarely crowded.

We decided to head over there this morning and take Charlotte to both places for the first time.  We stopped at Erie Island first and got coffees and a piece of apple cake to share.  I love flavored coffee so I got mine with a shot of toasted marshmallow.  YUM.  It was like drinking a piping hot s'more.  The apple cake was like coffee cake, except that one piece weighed about as much as a brick.  The cake part was about 2 inches tall, with another inch of crumbly, brown-sugary deliciousness on top.  I wish I would have taken a picture of it, but it was gone before I thought of that.

We drove up the park, set Charlotte up in the carrier, and walked around lazily for the next half hour.  It was still early-ish, so there were only a few other people there (including a man who was doing intense exercise drills by running up and down those stairs as fast as he could.  This was happening as we were snarfing down apple cake).  The views at this park are beautiful, and today the water was so calm it looked like glass.

I can't wait to come back here.  I hope you're enjoying your Saturday, and Happy St. Patrick's Day!

~Stacy

June?

74 degrees and nothing but sunny blue skies today, and I hear the same is forecasted for tomorrow.  It's March 14th and feels like the middle of June.  I'll take it.  I wish we could have days like this all the time.

Love.

~Stacy

Baby Food

I decided to finally try my hand at making my own baby food today and was happily surprised at how quick and painless it was!  I had a few large containers of fresh fruit that I was worried Chad and I wouldn't eat in time, so I figured a good way to make sure nothing went to waste was to puree and freeze some of it for Charlotte.  She loves fruit, so hopefully she will appreciate my efforts :)

I used strawberries and honeydew.  For the honeydew, I bought a pre-chopped and peeled container so a lot of the work was already done for me.  All I had to do was toss it in the blender and puree for about 20 seconds.  Since Charlotte has teeth (5 of them, oh boy!) and has been on solids for quite awhile now I left the texture a little rougher, but for a younger baby you'd definitely want to make sure to leave it in there awhile longer to get it as smooth as possible.  After that, I poured the mixture into a clean and dry ice cube tray, popped it in the freezer, and once it was completely frozen put all the cubes into a labeled freezer bag.

I have a book on making all sorts of baby foods and it recommended a slightly different process for berries.  I washed, hulled and chopped each strawberry and put the pieces into a small saucepan on low.  I cooked them on low for about 5-6 minutes, then mashed with a potato masher (fork will work fine as well) into a finer consistency.  Again, I left a rougher texture and some tiny pieces in there (smaller than a pea) but you could mash or puree to a super fine texture for younger babies.  I followed the same freezing/storing process as the honeydew. 

Now I have two large bags full of fruit!  It was so easy that I think I might start experimenting with more fruits and vegetables.  The best part about these is they can be thawed and served as is or mixed into cereal or oatmeal.  Also, if Charlotte doesn't like them then I can just put them back into the blender with some milk, yogurt, and ice cubes and make us smoothies.  Don't those strawberries look delicious?

~Stacy