It's planting season!

Jackson watering the seedlings

'Tis the season to roll up your sleeves and start digging in the dirt. Spring is finally here, and that means it's gardening time! I've been sowing seeds indoors for a couple weeks now, based upon this seed starting chart found on yougrowgirl.com. Lettuce, pepper, eggplant, and tomato seedlings have already emerged in a combination of Jiffy peat pots and cardboard tubes from rolls of toilet paper. Last spring, I used only organic potting mix because I couldn't find organic seed starting mix. I had a lot left over, so this year I've planted some seeds in regular organic potting mix and some in the organic seed starting mix. I'm curious to see what difference, if any, it makes. I had very good success with the potting mix last year. This year, seeds planted in potting mix seem to be sprouting just as well as those in the seed starting mix. I think next year I will be brave and try making my own seed starting mix and see how that compares. Just as last year, I'm using mostly clementine crates to contain all my seedlings, and they are perfect for the job -- sturdy yet lightweight and easy to move as needed for watering and sunshine.

This week, we'll be starting basil seeds indoors and planting spinach seeds out in the garden. We seem to have everything we need -- compost, organic garden soil, good existing dirt, nice weather, seeds -- except the time to plant. Between everyday work tasks, potty training our son, OB appointments for my current pregnancy (our second baby), home projects, and more, we are keeping awfully busy these days. I'm hoping for a return to our normal, more relaxed schedule soon.

With Jackson turning 3 in a couple of months, he has become very interested in learning and helping and loves to be given small jobs that make him feel included. I try to find ways he can help me cook, clean, sort laundry, or whatever we're doing. Gardening has proved to be another great activity for him to learn, play, and help Mommy, and I'm so happy to be able to include him this year. He has helped me mix soil with water, fill up pots with dirt, plant seeds, and water them as needed. He talks to the "seedling babies" and delights in seeing how they've grown. He helped my husband rake and clean up the garden and discovered lots of wiggly earthworms in the dirt. We talked about how the worms help our garden grow, and we always talk about what types of vegetables will grow from which seedlings. I can't wait to go through the transition of indoor planting to outdoor planting and then harvesting with him. He may not remember these activities down the road, but they are so good for his development and so much fun, too.

Here's what my gardening schedule looks like for spring/summer 2012:
This week: Plant spinach seeds in garden and start basil seeds indoors
3/29-4/05: Transplant lettuce to garden
4/05-26: Start cucumber seeds indoors
4/12-19: Plant carrot seeds in garden, start watermelon seeds indoors
4/12-26: Start zucchini seeds indoors
5/3-10: Transplant cucumbers to garden
5/3: Transplant tomatoes to garden, move basil container outdoors
5/10: Plant green bean seeds in garden, transplant peppers, zucchini, eggplant, and watermelon to garden

These dates are approximate and will vary as needed. Also, I will likely stagger some of these plantings, such as the beans, this year to avoid an all-at-once harvest like we experienced last year.

I'll update on our garden progress as it unfolds. Stay tuned for more gardening adventures (and hopefully more adorable pictures of my toddler in the garden)!

Happy planting!

DIY: No-Sew Roman Shade-style Fabric Blinds

When we bought our house about 2 1/2 years ago, we were thrilled that the previous owners left us custom-made curtains for every room in the house. We were first-time parents to a 2-month-old as well as first-time home buyers, so one less thing to worry about was a big deal. But we didn't exactly share the same style as the previous owners. Over time, as we settled into our home and parenthood -- and the baby began to sleep at night -- we started to care about things like "style" again, and it became apparent that our home didn't feel like it was truly ours yet. It felt more like an extended stay in someone else's house.

As time and money permit, we are slowly taking steps to change that and make our house feel like home. The day the rooster wallpaper border came down from the dining room walls was one of our happiest days in recent memory. The country-style curtains paired with old plastic mini blinds were the next to go.  But what to replace them with?

While poking around some craft sites one day, I found this no-sew fabric blind tutorial, which was perfect for our space. The existing blinds helped with the blinding sunlight while still allowing some natural light into the room. But they didn't do much for ambiance, and many of the slats were broken from hasty yanking on the cords. Using this tutorial, we were able to use the original blinds (with all but 4 slats removed) and retain their functionality while giving the room an all-new look.

Opting for a more sophisticated style, we chose a burgundy/gold damask fabric that we were able to purchase 40% off with a coupon at a certain craft store that distributes coupons every month. Marking and cutting the slats was easy-peasy. Next, we had to glue the fabric in place. The tutorial suggests using Goop adhesive to glue the fabric to the slats, and I second that. I had Goop all-purpose adhesive left over from a prior project, so we used that, and it worked perfectly. It is strong, dries quickly, and does not leave marks on the front of the fabric. A note of caution, though: Goop comes with some pretty strongly worded warnings about inhalation as well as a Prop 65 warning about birth defects. If you do some research on products with Prop 65 warnings, you'll find that so many things have them and they may not be as scary as they seem. But since I'm now pregnant with baby #2 (if anyone didn't know: surprise!), I figured it was worth being cautious and had my husband do all the gluing this time (while wearing a dust mask, just in case).

Overall, this was an easy, straightforward, and inexpensive project. We used blinds and glue we already owned and bought fabric on sale, keeping the costs to a minimum. Even if you have to buy new blinds for this project, the cost shouldn't go up much; the original author said she found plastic mini blinds at Target for about $3 each. You can save even more on fabric by shopping at discount fabric stores.

We are so happy with our new blinds! Check 'em out!

with the sun shining through before dark

in the evening, with no sunlight coming through

Happy crafting!

How-to: Old T-shirts Into Prefold Diapers

Before I start the tutorial, I'd like to announce to the blog readers that I am 27 weeks pregnant! It's a healthy, active little boy and he's due April 17. Yay!! Now on to the diapers I made for him...

Ashley is the one who originally introduced me to the cloth diaper revolution. (I wasn't even aware I had a choice) I've done a lot of research on the subject and decided to try out several different kinds before making an investment. One of the most cost-efficient types are prefolds. These are cloth diapers that can be folded and placed inside a diaper cover or even used as a doubler or insert for pocket diapers. I found a great tutorial from fernandfaerie.com on upcycling old t-shirts into diapers. Since my husband's time with the Marine Corps has come to an end, I found us left with piles upon piles (I'm not exaggerating) of olive drab undershirts.

Supplies you'll need for one diaper:

-2 t-shirts

-scissors

-sewing machine

-"snappi-able" fabric (optional)

I started by cutting off the bottom hem and a straight line across from armpit to armpit to create a square.

Seperate the square into 2 separate squares of fabric and repeat with the second shirt so you have 4 squares. Put your squares into stacks of two and fold each in half.

With folded edges toward each other, overlap the two sides so that it creates 3 equal columns of fabric that are 4x8x4 layers thick.

Sew along each center folded edge. If you want to add the snappi fabric, now is the time to do so. I chose to conserve the fabric I got and placed mine as follows.

The final step is to either serge around the edges or you could trim them all to make sure they are even and carefully zigzag stitch. Here is the final product.

For me, this project was virtually free. We already had the shirts available and I spent 3.50 on a remnant fabric for use with the snappis. There's still a LOT left so the amount I used on one diaper was a minute amount of change.

There are many ways to fold and use these diapers and I've found YouTube to be a great source of instruction.

In February, I am taking a class at my local Joann's on making a waterproof cloth diaper cover which is one option to use in conjunction with the prefolds. Stay tuned for a tutorial after I learn how!

Make a Felt Animal Plushie

I recently discovered the joys of crafting with felt. Craft felt is relatively easy to work with, and so inexpensive! My son received two amazing books from his uncle and auntie for his birthday - How Loud is a Lion? and Hidden Hippo - featuring hand-stitched felt illustrations by Clare Beaton. After reading the stories to him, I found myself flipping through the books with admiration long after he had moved on. I was so inspired by the felt jungle scenes in these books that I began to plan a felt jungle project of my own. At first I envisioned a felt board, but ultimately fell in love with the idea of a collection of plushies for play and bedtime snuggling. I found this felt penguin tutorial and used it as a guide for my own plushie.

Here's how I did it:

1.  Lots of google image searching. I searched for simple animal illustrations, stock photos, and coloring book pages with a cute, trace-able jungle animal that would translate well into a plushie. Finally, I picked this lion:

2.  A template. I could have drawn this image and blown it up on a copy machine (if the size needed to be adjusted), but my hubby is a Photoshop wiz, so I employed his help in creating a template using the image above. We traced individual shapes in the image, tweaked them to get the size I wanted, and printed them out. I then cut these shapes out.

3. Cardboard stencils. I traced the shapes onto cardboard and cut them out to create stencils for the felt.

4. Cut out felt. I used binder clips to hold the cardboard stencils in place while I cut the shapes out of craft felt sheets. Since the plushie is two-sided, I doubled up felt sheets for the mane, body, and hair tuft on the tail.

5. Attach face pieces to mane and hair tuft to tail. I selected an orange thread for the bulk of this project, and black thread for the eyes and nose. I decided to hand-stitch the whole thing for more of a handmade look. I used a running stitch for the cream-colored piece, eyes, and nose. I used a blanket stitch for everything else. I had never sewn a blanket stitch before, and I found this video very helpful in getting started. I used a running stitch to add a smile and whiskers to the lion's face. I added Poly-fil to the face before closing the stitch, using a pencil to fill out all the corners. I stitched the tail hair tuft closed and stitched it over the ends of the tail pieces (front and back), overlapping slightly.

6. Stitch and stuff the body. I stitched the body pieces closed using a blanket stitch, adding Poly-fil with a pencil before closing the stitch.

7. Attach the head to the body. I stitched the back piece of the mane to the body.

8. Stitch and stuff the head. I stitched the mane pieces closed using a blanket stitch, adding Poly-fil with a pencil before closing the stitch.

9. Enjoy!

I am pleased with how this adorable little guy turned out. He's cute and cuddly, and closely resembles my photo inspiration. I considered saving the plushie for a Christmas gift, but was too excited to wait to see how Jackson liked him. I was thrilled to see that he adores him, too.

Next, I am planning a felt plushie for my niece for Christmas, and many more in the future. I am thinking of applying the same concept to a crib mobile as well. I hope you'll take this idea and make it your own, too!

Happy crafting!

DIY: Pajama / Lounge Pants

 I have owned a functional sewing machine for over a year now, but I'm still very much a novice in the sewing world. Granted, this has a lot to do with having a very energetic toddler and not much free time, but it's also due to a lack of confidence in my abilities and not really knowing where to start. I have successfully repaired elastic on my gDiaper liners, repurposed some bed linens into an apron, and some other simple projects, but sewing my own clothes (or clothing for others) was too intimidating. But sewing my own clothes has always been my dream, so recently I managed to muster up the courage to dip my toe in with a very newbie-friendly project - pajama pants. I figured something with an elastic waistband worn in the privacy of your own home is a good place to start. Hubby needed a new pair, so I was able to justify the purchase of some flannel and matching thread to make him some comfy pants for his birthday. I must confess that his birthday was actually in March, and he ended up getting the promise of some pants for his birthday. But he didn't really need them until this fall anyway, so hubby waited patiently until I was ready to tackle the project.

Internet research led me to this Instructables tutorial, which I studied for quite awhile until I became convinced I could do it. I was a little freaked out about making my own pattern instead of buying one, but the tutorial explained it in detail and provided really helpful photos. It turned out to be pretty simple and straightforward. I took the author's advice and used wrapping paper to make the pattern. It was perfect for the job, and best of all, it didn't cost me anything since I had leftover Christmas wrapping paper in the basement. Tracing the waist was a little tricky, as you have to stretch the elastic completely out and trace that length, then connect it to the leg (which is traced without the elastic stretched out). I wasn't sure I'd done it right, but the pants actually fit perfectly when they were all done!

As for the sewing, everything was also fairly easy and beginner-friendly. The photos were awesome here too. I felt the hardest part was sewing the two legs together, as my only experience with this was making a pair of shorts in my middle school home ec class, and I have no memory of assembling those. It took some time for me to figure out exactly how to tuck one leg into the other, but now that I've done it, this will be a breeze in the future. Since I had a bunch of leftover fold-over elastic from diaper repairs, I decided to use that to minimize costs. Figuring out exactly how to sew the elastic together and insert it into the waistband was time-consuming, but again, this is a skill I will retain for future projects and it'll get easier with time.

I'm so glad I decided to do this project! The pants turned out great, hubby loves them, and I learned some very useful sewing 101 skills that I will be able to apply to future projects. I am already planning some pants for my son as well as Christmas gifts for the family. Check out my finished product - modeled by husband, with special appearance by my son, Jackson - below.

He's a good sport.

I was ecstatic that the plaid print is actually straight.

Perfect for work-at-home parents!

Happy sewing!

Cloth Baby Wipes

With all the innovations of cloth diapers, why are we still using disposable wipes?! I found a great tutorial at My Happy Crazy Life and decided to give it a try. I got a few different prints of soft flannel (which is on sale at Jo-Ann's right now!). You can cut them to any size you like and you can do just one layer or two. It is up to you and what will work. I decided to do 2 layers.


If you do 2 layers, I highly recommend either putting pins in the middle or doing a crossed basting stitch to keep the layers from sliding while sewing. Next I took it to the serger and sewed around the edges. I wanted my corners rounded and sergers apparently only like straight lines, so I will just keep practicing. (and I also realized it's okay if it isn't perfect, it's just going to wipe up poop, anyway) If you are working on a regular sewing machine, the zig-zag stitch will work just as well. Here's my final product.

These make great shower gifts or to keep for your own children. The previous link above with the original pattern also has a recipe to make your own wipe solution, or you can just use water.

DIY: Wool Dryer Balls

Dryer balls are such a simple, inexpensive solution for softening laundry and controlling static, it's a wonder more people don't know about them. They're a great alternative to softeners for those with sensitive skin or allergies. As a bonus, they also significantly cut drying time, which is especially exciting to those of you using coin-operated laundry machines. To cloth-diapering families, wool dryer balls are a godsend in a world of products that aren't "CD-safe." As I mentioned previously on this blog, most laundry detergents on the market aren't good for diapers, and fabric softeners/dryer sheets are also a no-no. Even using these products on other loads of laundry can cause diaper issues due to softener build-up in the machines.

Of course, line-drying is always a good option, or you could dry with no softeners at all. But it is always nice for the laundry to come back soft and fluffy (without the waxy stuff), and if you're like me, your kid is wearing his very last clean diaper while the others are being laundered, so time is of the essence. (This is when you will pat yourself on the back for cutting that drying time!)

You can purchase wool dryer balls online from a variety of sources, or you can follow this super easy tutorial over at goodmama. There are multiple methods for making wool dryer balls; Acacia and I experimented with hand-felting some over my kitchen sink, and they came out pretty nice if I do say so myself. But you will want at least six dryer balls in your collection, and I knew that my carpal tunnel syndrome would prevent me from making as many as I needed by hand. Because hand-felting is rather tedious and labor-intensive, I'd recommend the wool yarn method unless you are experienced in working with wool.

Making felted balls is actually a great skill to have -- they not only make nice gifts as dryer balls, they can entertain pets and young children for hours! Personally, I was amazed (and grateful) at how long and the creative ways in which my 2-year-old played with them while I was sick in bed one week. He was so enamored with them that I'm thinking of making another set just for him.

Happy crafting!

The Harvest, Part 4

With autumn lurking around the corner and each crop bowing out in turn, our garden is starting to look rather sparse. The beans are finished after a rapid harvest, and sadly the zucchini plants were taken out by powdery mildew likely brought on by high humidity and lack of air flow between the plants. We have learned so many lessons this year that will aid us in cultivating next year's vegetable garden, and I'm already looking forward to the next planting season.

While most of our plants are done growing for the season, the tomatoes and bell peppers have only just begun.   Each day I walk up to the garden and return with a fistful of tomatoes. I forgot how truly delicious and unique a homegrown tomato tastes. It's amazing. We have had tons of rain lately, which has caused many of the tomatoes to crack around the top, and in some cases, split open on the side. Apparently the rain causes rapid growth, and the tomato skins aren't able to keep up. Forgive me, but I can't help but be reminded of stretch marks on a pregnant mama.

Enormous carrot

The carrots have been ready for some time, and we've been picking one or two at a time as needed. Earlier this week I discovered a rotten carrot in the bunch, which was really fascinating but pretty gross as well. The top looked normal, but as I pulled up on the stalks, the carrot top pulled right out with stringy orange goo trailing underneath that used to be a solid root vegetable. Some internet research seems to point to bacterial soft rot as the prime suspect -- yet another problem abetted by heavy rainfall. To prevent spreading, we went ahead and pulled the lot and brought them inside.

It's always exciting to see what the carrots really look like under the soil. Our soil is not ideal for carrots, so we've had quite a few interesting shapes and even some siamese twins and triplets. Luckily, silly-shaped carrots are just as delicious as the regular ones.




But I'm not sure I'll have the heart to eat this loving couple here:

Such a sweet embrace!

Since chilly weather is approaching, it's also time to dust off the old sewing machine and start on some warm and cozy projects, like pajama pants, fleece hats, and cuddly stuffed animals for the holidays. Keep your eyes peeled for more craft posts as the garden goes into hibernation 'til next year.

Be well.

The Harvest, Part 3

The first cucumber.

We have patiently waited for the day we could pluck cucumbers and carrots from the garden to throw into a salad - and it's finally here! We also have zucchini now, and wow are they growing fast! I made zucchini bread with one large zucchini last week, only to have 3 more in the fridge this week. Since I actually bought fresh zucchini from the grocery store last week because I was convinced ours wouldn't be ready in time, we are still polishing off leftover zucchini with quinoa stuffing (yum!). So working the homegrown zucchini into the menu before they go bad might be somewhat challening. But I'm up to the challenge. I'm thinking I'll do a pasta primavera for starters. If anyone has a good zucchini recipe, please share!

One of our first carrots.

Green beans are still sprouting, but the harvest seems to be slowing. I have a feeling if we were out there picking on the daily we'd have a higher yield, but we're still pretty happy with them regardless. We have about 6 or 7 freezer bags full of blanched green beans in the freezer to be enjoyed at our leisure.

Sadly, our lettuce harvest season has passed and our plants are spent. However, I've been doing some reading on growing lettuce through the fall, so I think we'll be starting another batch sometime soon. The spinach season is long gone and we were somewhat disappointed with how fast it came and went. Not sure if we'll do more spinach for fall or even next spring. One big thing we'd like to do differently in the future is sow seeds in stages over a period of weeks instead of all at once. Hopefully that will help us avoid an all-at-once harvest next time around, and we'll have crops to look forward to for a longer period of time.

The first zucchini.

We finally installed trellises for the tomatoes and cucumbers, and they are much happier with the supports in place. For the cukes, we used found materials that were left in our garage by previous owners. Brian took some heavy gauge wire, cut them into strips roughly 4 feet in length, bent them into U-shapes, and positioned them around the cucumber plants in the soil. We wrapped the vines around the wire, and they took it from there.

For the tomatoes, we decided to build a trellis like this one. Instead of metal poles, Brian buried cinder blocks in the ground with the holes facing up and placed inexpensive 2x2s into one of the holes. He cut off small pieces from the 2x2 and wedged them in the hole around the pole to keep it from moving. He did this for each side and got some garden wire from the hardware store and ran it from pole to pole about once every foot off the ground. The wire is coated in plastic to keep it from rusting. Then we attached the tomato stems to the wires with twist ties.

tomato trellis

tomato tied to trellis

bell pepper

The tomatoes are growing nicely, but still have some growing to do. Also, we finally have some tiny bell peppers growing on the pepper plants! They are super cute.

Finally, I've been reading Lasagna Gardening by Patricia Lanza and finding her gardening methods very inspiring. I want to start building my own lasagna garden this fall and pick it up again in the spring. More on that later.

Happy gardening!

Eff the Joneses, Keep Up With Yourself!

Homemaking is a 24/7 job. It is hard work and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Lately, I've felt myself slipping into a rut and if you are feeling the same way, I'm here to help you (and myself) climb back out. Everything that comes with this line of work can be a daunting challenge. Between everything you possibly have to do in a single day; childcare, food preparation, cleaning, shopping, scheduling, and maintenance, just to name a few, it's easy to lose yourself in the mix. In my own household, I only have one other person to worry about besides myself, and I still feel like I can't keep up with the mountains of dirty laundry, dishes, organization, and worst of all, personal motivation. There are a few things I've tried that have proved useful in helping me through my daily duties and I would like to share them in the hopes that it could help out a struggling friend.

1.Make a schedule. I used spreadsheet to write out daily and weekly things I need to do. Mostly just so I can remember. I scheduled all of the things that I like the least for early in the morning. That way I can kick them out of the way and do more enjoyable things in the afternoon like painting or reading. I even have a day and time where I write out the next week's grocery list so I can stay on top of that and not waste time before I need to be at the store. You don't necessarily have to keep to your schedule, either. Stay flexible and don't stress if you didn't do something on your list. You can always do it later.

2.Baby steps! You're not going to have an amazingly spotless well organized living space in a day. It takes time and even then, it is impossible to achieve perfection unless no one (not even you) lives in your home. Life is messy and it's time to accept it. Do what you can when you can. FlyLady (I apologize for the gender specificity of this but it is helpful and for anyone) is a site that can help you to get on track to making small good habits a little at a time. Got a messy counter? Set your timer for 5 minutes and get rid of everything you can in that amount of time. When the timer stops, you stop. You'll actually be amazed at what you can do with just five minutes.

3.Remember that your work is meaningful and important. If you don't work outside of the home and aren't bringing in a paycheck, it doesn't mean that you aren't contributing. Of course, if you want to contribute in this way, go for it! You can absolutely do both because you are an amazing and diverse person. For those of you who choose to remain solely in the home, what you do is just as important, if not more than a paycheck. When you take into account of the actual costs of daycare, restaurants/take-out, cleaning services, maintenance work, etc., you are singlehandedly saving your family a fortune! In addition to this, these services don't provide the love and nourishment that you do.

4.Take a break. Want to read a book or go for a walk? Do it. You deserve it. You work in the home but you are not a prisoner there. Put breaks into your schedule or just sit down when you need to. You need to take care of and love yourself before you can give it back to your family. Mental health is just as important as physical health. Don't overlook it. You are a superhero, but even superheroes have their follies. Know your body and your mind and pay attention to what they are telling you.


Health and happiness to all!

The Harvest, Part 2

Over the past couple of weeks, the garden has been blooming like crazy. Everything is flowering and growing nicely. This past weekend, I noticed that we have about 6 small green tomatoes already. Since the carrot tops have been sticking out more and more, we went ahead and picked one to see how they're doing. It was a bit small and a little knobby in shape, but it tasted great! The color and texture were also perfect. Even Jackson heartily approved. I washed the carrot and left it sitting on the counter top, where Jackson found it and scarfed it up happily. I was so happy to see my toddler not only eating a vegetable, but one we grew ourselves! Hubby noticed a small cucumber (about 3 inches long) growing as well.

But somehow we both missed a multitude of green beans that sprouted seemingly overnight - that is, until late yesterday afternoon. Hubby said he saw a couple of really long beans in the garden, and I excitedly grabbed my basket and went to investigate. Beans are sprouting up by the handfuls on each plant, and many are ready for harvest! I picked a bunch and brought them inside, where we gazed lovingly at them before storing them in the fridge until dinner tonight. We boiled them tonight and served them alongside perogies. They were fantastic.

On the downside, my bean harvest led to an unhappy discovery that while we seem to have nipped our beetle problem in the bud, we now have what appear to be aphids making a nice home of our bean plants. So far I don't see much damage to the plants, but if we don't act soon, they will likely stunt their growth or kill them completely. My Organocide spray is supposed to control aphid populations, so we're hoping a few sprays should do it. I think we also need to work on watering the beans more frequently and keeping the soil moist and less inviting for the aphids. I'll post again after we see how it goes.

In the meantime, I need to pick up some freezer bags so I can start blanching and freezing green beans for the winter. Next up on my list is learning to can vegetables and building a stockpile of canned and frozen vegetables for fall and winter. Also, we need to get moving on building some trellises for the plants that need support. I'm pretty sure we should have put them in the soil when we first planted, but hey, we're amateurs.

The lettuce is still growing rapidly. We pick it frequently and always have an abundant supply for salads throughout the week. We've even given lots of lettuce to our parents and friends, but our supply never dwindles. We are curious to see how long the leaves continue to grow. I'm so glad we chose to grow lettuce this year, and we'll definitely be growing more next spring.

Happy gardening!