Day 7-Pair of Mittens a Day...

It is an Ellie Elephant pair in a teen to women's size.

Just one today:)  I am trying to design and cut out as many mittens as possible for the upcoming weekend when Matt and I will be away for a conference.  I take my machine and get some time in between sessions to do some sewing back at the hotel room.  I do not want to have to pack much as far as materials and supplies, so having all of the mittens cut out and ready is the best way to go.  I am doing my best to resist sewing them up once I have them all cut out though-that is tough.  Hopefully I will have quite a bit to bring with me this weekend.  But here is today's pair.

                                       I really enjoyed how these two colors worked together.

Nine Weeks Old!

He just gets yummier every day!!

Day 6-Pair of Mittens a Day...

After a nice weekend break, I was up before the crack of dawn ready to go(not so much anymore-at least not anywhere but my bed). Accomplishment of the day-a dental cleaning after a rough pregnancy!!  My teeth are happy now and I feel I've conquered the world(I fear the dentist like many of you out there).  I also finally got in to get a trim for my hair!!  I had a very chatty hairdresser and felt like I was in a daze by the time I left;). Not sure yet if I like how it was cut, we will see tomorrow.  At least it is only hair and will grow back.  We had a family night spent in the backyard because we have a busy week of travels ahead for different ones of us and will not all be together until next week.  Unfortunately, the night had a tough circumstance in store for our little man Noah.  The girls and Noah had their tents set up in the back yard and each had their respected pet with them.  When Dad called them for some help, Noah did not secure his hamster(which was his birthday present this year), and the dog, well, was a dog, and decided to "play" with the hamster.  Those tears he cried, along with all of his big sisters' tears as well, still just make my heart ache. We buried Duchess in the garden and Noah is learning a tough lesson about the finality of death. The girls have scraped together their money(they feel partly responsible for not helping him keep Duchess safe) and I think we will be picking out a new little friend for Noah sometime soon, but I know Noah is struggling with the fact that it will not be the same.  The sunlight tomorrow will bring dryer eyes,  a bit of hope and a little more forgiveness towards the dog;).

Well, here are the accomplishments of the early morning hours at work.

                                                       Owl Party Mittens-Womens

                                         Toddler Pair of Bullseye Mittens

Day 5-Pair of Mittens a Day...and a Chilly Night Game

Here are the mittens of the day....

 

Blueberry Pie Wool Mittens

Toddler Spotty Dotty Wool Mittens

                                                 and we are on our way to Indiana this afternoon
                                               for Cole's football game tonight.  It is the first night game
                                               of the season and it is going to be a chilly one!!  Rainy too!!
                                               We pulled down all the winter gear this morning, from the attic.
                                                We will definitely be wearing hats and mittens tonight!!

Day 4-Pair of Mittens a Day and a Few Other Cozies...

 

Today's mittens are a darker plum pair of ellie elephants.

 I have also begun stocking up again on the coffee cozies.  The pumpkins are a new design this year.

 And there are a few new ellie elephant hats in the shop too.

Remembering...

Today I am remembering and praying for mom and dad.  My brother Jason would be 35 today.  Jason went to be with Jesus in the middle of the night when he was 2 1/2 months old. There really are no words to describe a loss such as that.  As I ponder what my mom and dad went through, it feels as though the wind was knocked out of me-I cannot even begin to imagine going on after loosing a child.  And yet, my parents did, changed forever, of course, but loving on me and eventually my two younger sisters with all they had.  I wish I could take that pain from my parents. I am thankful to  know that one day, they will see Jason again(what a day that will be!-almost wish I could be there to see it). Life here is so temporary compared to eternity with Jesus, but for the here and now, praying that their hearts keep mending. We are all grateful we can watch Cole, Noah, and now Israel grow and imagine how Jason may have looked or spoken or played. But I long to see him face to face some day!  I am treasuring these photos a little more with each year that passes.

Day 3-Pair of Mittens a Day...

There are 2 pairs of mittens for today.  A red Ellie Elephant pair.

                                      And a Grape Jelly pair.

So far, so good.  Got up extra early after feeding the babe, to finish today's pair and I snuck in a little bit of time after school yesterday, to finish the grape jelly pair.


Little update...I was able to finish this wee little pair after dinner tonight.  I do not do toddler mittens all to often, but I think I will probably do more this year than in past years. This is a heart pair in the shop.

Day 2-Pair of Mittens a Day....

I finished the pair for today earlier this morning.  It is a purple Ellie Elephant design. 

-----I was also able to finish up a little hat for wee little girls.

Pair of Mittens a Day...

It is that time....well, actually it is a bit later than that time-the time for a pair of mittens to be made a day!!  I am setting that again as my goal this fall season in preparation for the winter season.  Hoping to stick as close to that as possible but also allowing for the reality of other things to pop up on the sewing table as Christmas approaches for all of us creatives!  I will be hopefully adding a new set of mittens to the shop each day and I will try to post a pic here as well.  Maybe I can inspire some creativity for you too:).  The mittens are made from recycled wool sweaters that I have felted. I line them in recycled fleece as well.  There are quite a few different designs now and I am adding one completely new one this year-Ellie Elephant- I am also using some designs that I did not use all to often the last few years - resurrecting them, so to speak.  I actually am off to a good start-I added two new ones today(definitely helps to have my husband around on his day off).

Ellie Elephant

Garden Blooms

and a few more in the works....

Nearing 7 Weeks...Let the Smiles Begin

Israel is just about 7 weeks now.

He and I had an impromptu photo shoot today

he cooperated quite nicely

And is even giving me nice big smiles to melt my heart

He is a keeper!!

Baby Budget Savers...

My posts are probably going to be pretty simple for awhile.  They will probably entail sewing and baby updates, but nothing that needs me to dig too deeply in thought.  ;)  I am a bit to tired these days to put together an entire thought, much less a sentence.  You all know understand that baby haze in the beginning months, I know.  So, I am just going to go with it, and not keep waiting for more depth in my thoughts to share with you-at least for now.

I have been very pleasantly surprised at the lack of need we have had to go baby shopping.  Because we had gotten rid of all of our baby things after Noah, I thought we would have so many things to replace.  But, honestly, I have been able to meet most of the needs for Israel(and I mean the littler things like clothing,  blankets, etc) by just staying home and being a little bit creative.  So I thought I would share some things that have helped us stretch that baby budget or in some cases, not even need a baby budget! Matt and I notice each day just how important it is to find new ways to need less with the ever growing cost of things, and I know that so many of you are feeling it so much yourselves.

Most of you know, one of my enjoyments when it comes to sewing and creating is to use reclaimed fabrics(thrifted fabrics from linens, clothing, etc).  I very rarely buy fabric from a fabric store now.  While most of the time I buy poly cotton bed sheets for the shop and my own projects, I have picked up some jersey cotton sheets along the way as well.  I finally dug into and depleted my stash of those when our little man arrived.  This is what I have used them for...

I have not had to buy one receiving blanket-I made some for Israel using a few really soft jersey sheets. I am very taken with how incredibly soft these turned out to be!  I paid no more than $3 for a sheet and was able to get multiple needs covered with that.  Here are my thoughts to pass on when choosing jersey sheets that are pre owned...make sure you check the softness-if it's not soft to the touch, it's not worth buying no matter how cheap it is.  If it's piling-skip it.  And make sure it has a really nice stretch because it's even better for swaddling then.  The one great thing about thrifting for fabric is that you get to actually see how a fabric holds up in the wash, unlike when you buy it brand new from the store.  So often i have been disappointed with a new clothing item and how bad the quality of the fabric is once it goes through the wash.  Also, do not be surprised at how crazy crooked jersey sheets are-more often than not!  But for projects like this, even the crooked ones are a good investment.  I will work from the sheet's center for blankets and then use the edges that are all wonky, for other little things.

I used the left overs from the sheets to make some teeny tiny pants-Israel wears these constantly!  After I made them, I went thrifting to match them with tops and happened to find a few that would mix and match.

These are my most favorite burp cloths ever!!  I wish I had done this for the first 5 of our kiddos!!  I have made some of these from jersey sheets, but i have also used super cuddly pjs, and shirts for their fabric.  Thick, cuddly and absorbent-not to mention very cute!

Next, as we are widdling down the scrap size-I opted not to buy those cheapy baby washcloths and I made all of ours again out of the jersey.  These were from a pair of lounge pants that I also made two hats from!  So, two hats(one will go in the shop) and 4 washcloths for $2.00.  And the quality of the fabric is much better than the store bought packages of washcloths.

And yes, hats(a real weakness of mine).  This was a tank top and I was able to make the hat and a washcloth.

I have one more quick project that may help some of you with wee ones who are growing too fast!!  This is about making the little one piece outfits go just a little longer(or shorter).  Israel's length has been where I have seen the change the most in the past 7 weeks!  Some of those little outfits would still fit if he wasn't so long-so I decided to make them into shirts.

before

after-again, wish I had thought of this a long time ago!

Hopefully this helps open up some options to make that budget go further without sacrificing the quality you would like!