Step Stool

A few months ago, I saw vintage step stool plans posted on Ana White's blog and I decided that I was going to make one. Myself.

We have an old "rustic" stool that was The Man's when he was a kid, but its not very tall. The Little Man uses it all the time and drags it from counter to counter in our kitchen, depending on where the action is. I figured we will be needing more stools around this place and I would like something cute. You never see cute stools in the store.

I figured this one would do the trick and get him up a little bit higher.

I convinced The Man that I was really going to do it, so we bought some lumber. It cost more than I was hoping, but what I bought was enough for a stool and half, probably. I even convinced him to carry up his miter saw out to the back patio for me.

The first afternoon I attempted to use it, The Man was already gone for work and the Little Man was supposed to be napping. I couldn't even figure out how to unlatch the dumb saw. I sent him texts and he tried to explain it to me, but I couldn't find the latch for the life of me. I had to cover it back up and wait for him to show me how. Sad, I know.

The next afternoon, however, I got most of my cuts made and realized that some of the lumber is too wide for the miter saw. Oops. Had to wait for help again. We ended up cutting through one side and then the other with the miter saw, because we don't have a table saw. It worked.

The next afternoon I had free, I needed a jig saw to cut out the sides. I found the jig saw in the garage, but there was no blade in it. I texted The Man again and he told me where to find the blades. Found them, but I couldn't figure out how to get them in the saw. I even googled for the manual and couldn't find one online, so I had to wait for help again. Ridiculous.

Anyway, I got everything all cut out and The Man helped me figure out the screws and stuff that I needed and he showed me how to pre-drill the holes and screw it all together. Yay!




Anyway, this is turning into a ridiculously long explanation, but my point is that it was actually pretty simple to make. Obviously, I had no idea what I was doing, but I did manage to make it all by myself. Which means it is easy.

The paint color is Benjamin Moore London Fog (my new favorite gray/taupe color) that I used ages ago in our basement. I love the color, but it didn't occur to me that there would be little dirty footprints on it at all times. Oh well.. I was going to take different pictures of it, but why? This is exactly how the stool is going to be used and what it will look like in my kitchen.

Now I'm thinking I could use one that is maybe a tad wider for the sink in the bathroom. . . but with only 6 weeks to go before the second Little Man is due, when would I do that? At least this time, I know how to use the tools!

Second Babies

So its true what they say about second children not getting the same attention. I'm already not paying the same amount of attention to this little guy. I'm working on it, however.

I wanted to make him a blanket of his own, but I can't find any different yarn that I like at JoAnns. I really should find a real yarn shop with nice yarn, but who has the time? I found this gray on clearance at JoAnns the other day, so I bought all they had and made him a quick blanket out of it.


I used the same seed stitch as for the washcloths and the same crochet hook as well (N). Hopefully it won't get all wonky-looking with a loose stitch, but I wanted it to be soft and drapey and honestly, it was not enough yarn. I needed a large stitch to make the blanket big enough. Its not quite as big as I would have liked, but it will be a good stroller-sized blanket and work well while he's little. And its nice and soft.


Now I need to make him some washcloths of his own! Soon . . .

Another T-Shirt

I'm enjoying the whole freezer paper stencil thing. If I had any more good ideas for designs, I think I'd do more. I picked up this t-shirt and some red shorts for the Little Man at Once Upon a Child and decided to do a lifeguard shirt. It just seemed to go with the outfit. Since he is two, I added the "swim at your own risk" to be funny.

My little paleface looks good in red, I think. It seems to be his favorite color.

He got a new toddler bed recently so that we can use the crib for the new baby (the switch went very well, by the way - yay!) and we didn't want to make the switch at the last minute and let him feel like he gave up his crib for the new kiddo. Anyway, since he is now free to climb in and out of his bed at will, he's been getting in his dresser and emptying things out and spreading toys and diapers and clothes everywhere. It never fails, though, that he finds the two red shorts he has. If anything is pulled out of the dresser, it is a pair of red shorts. Sometimes he brings them back to bed with him. Why? Heck if I know . . . it must just be his favorite color. That's all I can figure.

Houndstooth Quilt

I mentioned awhile ago that I had made a baby quilt for my sister for her baby shower in January. The shower was a bit last minute (my sister only makes it home twice a year), so I didn't have a whole lot of time to work with. I saw the houndstooth quilt on Vanessa Christenson's blog and decided to make one like that.

My sister went traditional in the nursery and its completely done up in pink and white, so I did the quilt in the same colors. I didn't buy the pattern, because I figured the block was easy enough to figure out on my own. It took me a little tweaking to figure out the size of the strips to cut to make the block size that I wanted, but I got it and it turned out nicely.

I was too tired to remember to take a picture of the quilt before I gave it to her. How lame is that? Pregnancy does that to me, I guess.

Here's a bad picture from the shower, though.

I can't locate any specific instructions for making the houndstooth block at the moment - I don't remember what blog it was that I got them from, but you could pick up V & Co's pattern if you don't want to figure it out yourself.

I also saw a post awhile back at Camille Roskelley's blog with a ruler that would make the block as well. I should find this ruler somewhere in case I ever want to make one again.

Catching Up {again}

I know I said I was going to try to start posting again, but surprise surprise, it hasn't really happened! But I have a good excuse.

We are expecting again. Our second little boy is due in September. I'm sure you know how it goes...at first too tired to do anything, then too busy trying to do everything and then too tired to do much again.

I have been doing some things here and there, though. This is a project that I made for the Little Man for Christmas. Its his very own monogrammed bean bag. It turned out nicely, but it was more of bear to make than I expected, though.


I Googled for free bean bag patterns for awhile before I settled on one. I wish I could remember where I got it from, but I can't. Its been awhile. I just picked one that seemed as if it would be big enough. I made an inner bladder for it out of muslin so it could be washed and of course, this means that the outer cover needed a zipper.

I've never really understood zippers and I've only attempted it once or twice. I ended up buying a couple zippers before I finally got one that would be appropriate. I think it was a parka zipper or something ridiculous that I had to buy in order to get one that was long enough. I found a tutorial for a hidden zipper and it turned out well enough.

Then I picked out bean bag fill. I wanted to buy the tiny little beads so that it wouldn't smoosh down completely over time. Well, I can't say I recommend what I settled on. I bought the Poly-fil Micro beads. They're expensive, but I didn't figure it would take too many bags. We bought them at Joanns one bag at a time so that I could use coupons on them. And each time, I would carefully dump the bag in, make a HUGE mess, and realize that it wasn't going to be enough. Seriously. I can't remember for sure how many I bought, but it was waaaay too many. Six at least. They cleaned up easily enough, but they were everywhere.

I sewed up the muslin and the outer bag with a regular stitch and went over that with a zig zag stitch as well, hoping that would ensure that the bag would be leak-proof. I monogrammed Jack's name on it (that part turned out well - yay!) and stuffed the bag.

Well, the bag has been loved and enjoyed by both the little man and the dog since then. It of course, has needed to be washed by now. I took it apart in the basement, since it felt like there were stray beads inside. There were. Everywhere. There is about an inch long opening in the bladder. How? I have no idea. I tried to vacuum them out of the cover and then I gave up and put it in the washer. After the washer filled, I fished beads out by hand as best I could.

Its been sitting in my basement now for months while I get around to sewing it shut.

Long story short....I think I'd recommend plunking down the cash to buy a monogrammed bean bag elsewhere. Or don't use micro beads. Maybe shredded foam? This project was way too expensive and messy and aggravating. I did actually buy the pattern for a Rollie Pollie from Dana-made-it and perhaps sometime I'll try it again with another fill. Someday. When I recover from my annoyance at this one.

The Time In Between

Life gets away from me, I guess. I'm not sure if I should just drop the blog altogether or start blogging about more of my personal life. It doesn't really matter either way, I suppose. I just have very little time to really create much any more. Oh well.

I do have something to show you. I've been itching to try freezer paper stenciling for awhile now. I bought freezer paper a year ago or more (ha!) and bought some plain t-shirts for the Little Man over the winter and I've never gotten around to doing it. No good reason why, other than I can't seem to settle on a design.

But I finally sat down and did it last week. I figured if I didn't do it now, he'd grow out of the shirts I bought! I started with a white & navy t-shirt that I found at Once Upon a Child for $1.50. Can't beat that. I bought some Jacquard textile paint at JoAnns (months ago), because I read somewhere that it was good paint. And here it is:

I think the design could be a little crisper. I wasn't sure how to long iron the freezer paper on, but I think perhaps it should have been a little longer than I did. It turned out pretty well though, and the navy paint is nice and dark. I haven't washed it yet, so hopefully it lasts as well. After it dried, I put the little H on the front. It was actually super easy and didn't take too long, either.

In case you don't know how to do it, here's the short version. Cut your freezer paper to 8 1/2 x 11" and tape the corners to a sheet of printer paper. Print your design on the paper side of the freezer paper. Take off the printer paper and cut out the stencil with a cutting mat and exacto knife. Iron the stencil to your shirt with the plastic side down. Make sure its on there well, but don't burn your shirt. Put something inside the shirt (I used cardboard) to keep the paint from seeping through and paint on the design. When the paint has dried, peel off the stencil and heat set the design with your iron. I turned the shirt inside out and put a cloth on top of it so that I wouldn't burn the shirt, because that is something that I would do. Voila!

I tried another shirt as well. This one has a more detailed design, but it worked perfectly. I found a black and white Superman logo online and added the type to the bottom. It takes awhile to cut out the tiny letters, but it wasn't bad. I ironed the stencil a little longer on this one and it is nice and crisp. I put this design on the back as well, because this shirt has a pocket on the front. I'd rather have had it on the front, so next time, I'd pick that pocket off and put the design on the front. Otherwise, its great. I have to go find some more shirts and designs to paint. This was rather fun!

Washcloths

My little sister is expecting her first baby in May. We had a baby shower for her a couple weeks ago with rather little notice to prepare. I wanted to make something for her, so I started with these washcloths again (like I made for my little one). I used the Nature's Choice Organic Cotton yard again because I like the texture and softness of them and I think they look so nice brand new. They work up nice and quick and you can get 3 per skein of yarn.


I've used them now for more than a year and a half with my little guy and the only problem is that they don't look as nice as they do when they're brand new. They don't stay perfectly shaped and there is a little bit of pilling. I don't mind, though, because they are still quite a bit softer than any baby wash cloths that you normally see.

I did make her a quilt as well and failed to get a picture of it. How pathetic is that? It was rather rushed and I was just happy to have it done and completely forgot. I'll find one and show it to soon.

Knitting

I decided a few months ago that I wanted to learn to knit for real. There's so many YouTube videos that you can watch to learn this sort of thing, there's really no excuse for not trying it anymore if you want to.

I've actually known how to cast on and do a knit stitch and bind off for ages. One of these days I'll do something that uses more than just that, but I decided to start with the classic simple scarf.

This is for the Little Man. Of course, he has no intentions of wearing it. I've tried to put it on him, but he doesn't even leave it on long enough for me to snap a picture of him. He likes to drape things around his neck, though, so perhaps if I leave it out where he can get at it, he'll eventually try it out.


I made it double length, thinking I could fold it in half and pull the ends through, making it harder for him to remove himself. Not so much. Clever little bugger. Oh well. I successfully made a scarf. Except that the edges aren't so neat. I'm not sure what to do about that. Should google it. There must be something out there to help, right?

I also picked up this book. Perhaps I'll try something from here next.

Bookshelf for The Little Man's Room

I'm going to just jump right in and start all over again here. I don't know that I really have time for blogging, but who does, right?

So I'm trying to think of things that I've done in the past year that I could post about. Funny thing is, there probably aren't many.

But if you happen to remember waaaay back last year when I posted about a bookshelf under a window that I saw in Cottage Living (I think), well, here's the update.

I did get The Man to build them for me. I happened to find Ana White's site not long after I saw that picture. She posted plans for a very similar shelf, so we modified it a bit, but its basically the same thing.

What are we doing, Dad?

Hey, its just my size!

The Little Man has loved his bookshelf, so it was well-worth putting up. He has easy access to his books - he can see most of them and can reach them all. Being the control freak that I am, I put them all back in the same place and he knows where to find the one he wants. Ha! I have since added a couple big storage baskets underneath the shelf for his toys, so it works out well in such a small room. Unfortunately, there's still too many toys in the room, but what can ya do?

It's based on Pottery Barn's Collector's Shelves, so if you don't have the inclination to build yourself one, you could buy these. They're pretty cheap to make, though.

**if you're anything like me, Ana White's site can be a huge time suck! You were warned!

CraigsEasy

I recently found CraigsEasy through Three Men and a Lady (BTW, you should check out her house photos) and thought this was too good not to share (unless you live in Pittsburgh, in which case, you should forget I said anything and leave the good stuff to me!)


How much do you hate having to click in and out of every listing that sounds interesting at Craigslist? Its a giant time suck. There are some hidden gems in there, but it takes awhile to find them and I don't always have the time for that.

CraigsEasy changes that. You drag their button to your toolbar and then when you run a search at Craiglist, just click on the button and Voila! It creates a page with all the photos from those listings. Hallelujah! This takes the time sink that is Craigslist and makes it disappear. I love this!

Tumblr

One of these days, I'll be back or at least in here every now and then. I did start posting a bit on Tumblr. My intention is to use it as a place to post photos or links to things that inspire me or are just on my mind, so you can check that out if you're interested.

I Just Found The Cutest Thing

I wish I had found them before the Little Man was born. Month stickers for onesies. They are transparent, so they look like they are on the shirt...CUTE!

image from pickysticky etsy shop

I have a friend who is due in a few weeks. Perhaps I'll get them for her, since its a bit late for me at least this time around. Is it weird to buy this now for a future baby??

They also have belly stickers for pregnant moms.

{few things I never get around to posting}

Really like this doily table runner idea here.

Discovered that I really want to make a pair of baby booties like these (see white on white!)

Intrigued by the idea of making something like this, if only for the excuse to make something.

Want this somewhere in my house, but can't really justify the price to myself.

Would like to put this in the downstairs bathroom, but again with the pesky high price.

Okay, I think that's it for now. I'm waaaaaaaaay behind on everything single thing just now, so this will have to do.

Out!

Another Apron

I only made one gift for Christmas. It was for my sister-in-law, since I didn't make one for her back when I made all the other aprons several years ago.


I had a heck of a time with the monogramming. The thread kept breaking on me and I couldn't figure out why. Perhaps it was just the thread, but it was making me very angry. I suppose that's why I don't use the machine more often. I always seem to be having some problem or another with using it.

But I do like the apron and the potholders were quick and easy. I didn't bother to hand stitch the binding on this time. I don't know why I did it before, other than it seems like the proper way to go. But these are not quilts, so I don't think its necessary. And sewing heavy-weight fabric like that is hard on your fingers!

New Garage Door

So here it is. Our new garage door. We ordered this waaaaay back in October and it didn't get installed until the end of the year. I guess we weren't the only ones wanting new garage doors.

I do like it, though. Its much quieter than the old door and looks better. The old door was wooden and had many coats of paint on it and someone very sloppily painted the trim. We got a little bit wider trim to cover that up. It should give us better insulation as well. Yay!

And More Animals

I've been hard at work making more animals. I may be slightly obsessed. The Little Man isn't too terribly interested in stuffed animals right now, but perhaps he'll like them better later. I'm enjoying myself, anyway.

I like the giraffe best, so far. Isn't he cute?

The monkey is cute too, although his face didn't quite turn out the way I wanted.
The giraffe and monkey patterns were from Roxycraft.

Turtle is quick and easy.

And the oversize duckling is meant to be felted, but I didn't bother.

Busy, Busy

Things are hopping around here right now! Wahoo! We finally got someone in here to rebuild our basement bathroom. Yes, that was April that I mentioned it. It took us up until about 2 weeks ago to get anywhere on it. I'll show ya that later. Its not finished yet.

We also have a new garage door coming on Monday. We ordered that over 2 months ago and what should have been 2 weeks turned into 10ish? Apparently we weren't the only ones looking for a new door right now. Figures!

BUT . . . I did find a bit of time to be crafty lately. I have been working on the little crochet animals in the evenings, but I managed to make a quilt top. Yay! It was super easy and came together quickly. Wonder how long it will take me to get it quilted??


It is my version of a quilt that is included in the Amy Butler software. I didn't quite get the colors I was going for, but it will do. I would have liked the gray a bit darker and the yellow a little more subtle. Oh well. I guess that's what happens when you buy fabrics online.

I do like it, though. It is intended for the Little Man. If I ever do finish it. Wish me luck!

Jellycat Plush

I found these stuffed animals from Jellycat awhile ago and contemplated getting something for the Little Man. Aren't they cute? These are the bashful animals.

I find myself torn between wanting to buy him everything and wanting my house less cluttered. What?! Those don't go together?? It is Christmas, though...

KitchenAid Pasta Press

photos from Williams Sonoma

Did you happen to see this KitchenAid Pasta Press on Martha? I soo need one. Or maybe not at that price. But I want one. It looked so easy and the packaging they did for the pasta was cute.

More Amigurumi

I worked on more of these little animals over Thanksgiving and I finished several little ones.

The bear needs a bow or something, doesn't he?

This is Dutch in amigurumi form. Sorta.

The penguin is my favorite. He's silly looking, but cute.

I really need to hurry up if I'm going to get any more made for Christmas, don't I? I've gotten sidetracked with other things just lately. I'll hopefully get around to showing you what those things are soon!