Sewing for Baby

I've finished two sewing projects for the nursery now. First, I made curtains. I can't show those yet because I had to special order some rods today that would extend past the new blinds we ordered.

This is the crib skirt. It was a lot like making curtains: you just make panels and sew them onto a sheet of muslin. I still have to serge the seams (or I may just use pinking shears). The pattern is from Amy Butler's Little Stitches for Little Ones. Right now the mattress is at its highest. Once we lower it, I may have to tuck the bedskirt underneath the mattress or something.



I like how the panels look modern and aren't frilly. The long side has two panels plus an insert in the center underneath. The directions said to make panels for all four sides, but why would I do more work than I had to? So I just made panels for three sides.

Something Old, Something New, and Definitely Something Blue

We have already been working on getting the nursery fixed up. The walls are painted, which is a huge relief. And there are already a few pieces of furniture in the room.

First is this little rocker, which I used when I was little, and my dad, and my grandma and her siblings. Since my grandmother's oldest sister is almost 91, it's safe to say this is at least 90 years old. It's the only old furniture that I don't mind using. My grandma tried to get me to take a 100-year-old wicker baby carriage to use, but I declined. I think this rocker will be cute with a little pillow in it.



Heinz already put together the crib and changing table for me so that I can plan the decor for the room. Draped over the crib are some of the fabrics I'm using in the room. I'm almost finished making the curtains and then I'm going to start on the crib skirt.

Another Reason Why Justin Timberlake Is Awesome

Penn & Teller

Heinz is in Las Vegas this week at a work conference. He really wanted me to go with him, but I have a lot of freelance work to do this week, and my personality type makes me feel agitated if I try to travel the week the magazine closes. So I opted to stay home, which Heinz is never going to forgive me for. Because he missed out getting picked to do a trick onstage with Penn & Teller, his favorite magician/comedy duo. Heinz was sitting in the front row, and Penn went up to him and asked if there was someone with him who could call his cell phone. Apparently giving your number to the person sitting next to you wasn't good enough, so he didn't get to do it. The trick is that they take your cell phone and hide it and it reappears sealed in a bag, inside a fish frozen in a block of ice, in a box sealed with duct tape, underneath someone's chair in the audience. But the coolest part is that they turn on the videocamera on your phone, video you with Penn & Teller doing the trick, and leave it on the whole time so you then know how the trick is done. I hope Heinz can forgive me some day. At least he got them to sign his program and got his picture taken with them. Oh, and he got to hear Teller talk.

Knitting for Baby

Yes, yes, I have a blog. No, I haven't felt like updating it in quite awhile. Mainly because I didn't have much interesting to share. But now with a little one on the way, I'm busy making plans. I painted the nursery this week and finished knitting this Buga Baby Bunting tonight. It's the hardest thing I've knitted so far and I'm proud how it turned out. I can't wait to see a little baby in it! The background is the back of this quilt that Katie made for the baby.



Here's the pattern picture. My favorite part is the little foot sticking out.

I Need One of These

I saw this on a recent episode of the Big Bang Theory. I think I need one. It's a t-shirt folder.

New Year's Projects

I am motivated to work on a bunch of projects. Here's the lineup.

1. Card making. I am going to make big batches of cards to use for the rest of the year: Mother's Day, birthday, and Father's Day. I may even start to put together design ideas for Christmas cards. I started a prototype of my all-purpose birthday card for the year.

2. Get rid of a bunch of stuff. This one scares me. I've set my DVR to record Hoarders to help me be unsentimental about giving stuff away. My parents saved most of my childhood toys. I'm not sure if I'm going to try to sell some of them or just give them away and get a tax write-off. Maybe a bit of both.

3. Sewing. I'm not as scared by this as I once was since I've already made a few projects. I want to make some pillows and a quilt for the guest bedroom first of all, and then I have some other projects waiting.

4. Knitting projects. These are ongoing as I work on them as I veg and watch TV in the evenings.

5. Digital preservation of slides and negatives. I recently bought a slide scanner (that will work with my Mac) so that I could scan in slides for my dad. It will also be great for a lot of our photos that are predigital. Then I'm going to make a movie on Apple's iMovie for my dad of the trip he took to Europe when he was 17. I also need to digitize some records of the trip to include in the movie. I'm hoping that I can work on some cards in the craft room while these slides are scanning in.

I'll be posting my progress!

The Best Popcorn

Some time ago my dad gave me this used popcorn popper. I tried it once and kinda forgot about it. Then recently Heinz read this article in the New York Times about people at a popcorn plant getting sick from inhaling the chemicals used in the butter flavoring. (The danger is inhaling the chemicals as the popcorn pops, not actually eating the flavoring.) So Heinz made me throw away my microwave popcorn. I hesitantly got this popper out and realized how easy it is to use. It doesn't need oil or anything. You just pour in up to half a cup of kernals and plug it in. That's it. And the popcorn is tender and fluffy and tastes so much better than any from the microwave. The popper is cheap on Amazon and it has great reviews. I highly recommend getting one.

New Kitchen Chairs!

I just ordered new chairs (in RED!!) for the kitchen from Pottery Barn. I am so excited. I've had these picked out for awhile. We were making do with a $100 dinette set from K-Mart that Heinz bought while we were dating. The chairs have been falling apart for some time now, and Heinz would put them back together with some bolts and stuff. But this weekend I sat in one that was leaning and I almost fell backwards. So we felt like the time had come to buy some new ones. I brought a bit of our curtain fabric to Pottery Barn and held it up to a sample of the red chairs, and it matches PERFECTLY. Like they were made for each other. I can't wait to get them in!

Christmas Is SOOO Wonderful

I think there's too much pressure for Christmas to be perfect. Everything's supposed to be fun, cheery, and happy all the frickin' time. And a lot of time it isn't. (Especially when you have to deal with an alcoholic around the holidays.) It's easy to start stressing about getting everyone the right gift (oops, I can't forget my neighbors, I better make some homemade treats), getting your cards out on time (I'm a freak and want to make mine, which adds to the stress), plus there's work and making dinner and cleaning house on top of all this Christmas goodness. Then you have to see as much family as possible. Let's cram it all in!

Don't get me wrong, I'm not a scrooge. I love making gifts and treats, I love making Christmas cards, and I love spending time with people I love until it starts to be dysfunctional. I just think the idea of Christmas is overblown. Maybe I have it wrong in thinking I'm supposed to be happy all the time. The magic of Christmas is supposed to be for little kids, I guess, and it's up to the adults to make sure that happens for them. My niece has been asking for homemade marshmallows, and I think about years from now when I'm old and I can't make them anymore, that perhaps she'll remember how Aunt Leah loved her enough to make them for her and how much she enjoyed them in her hot chocolate. Just like I remember my old babysitter Mrs. Chick and her butter cookies and how much I looked forward to that tin of cookies every year. I always think of her when I make them and about all of the hard work she put into them.

What are some ways that you enjoy the holidays without stress? I just have to let some things go and realize that not everything can be perfect.

Dali Decal Coupon Code for My Readers

The nice folks at Dali Decals left a coupon code on my post about the decal in the guest bedroom for my readers (all five of you).

"Thanks so much for the write up too! As our way of saying thanks, here's a coupon code you and your friends can use for $10 off, no minimum purchase. Coupon code is leahinthesouth1"

I am already planning my next decal: I'm going to have them do a custom quote for the slanted wall of my craft room that you see right when you walk in the room. It's going to say "Leah's Craft Room of Awesomeness" unless any of you have another idea.

According to Dali's website, they're having a 10% off deal right now anyway along with free shipping. The code for that is HOLIDAY09 and it ends on Christmas Eve.

Sea Salt Caramels

I get a lot of card ideas and stamps from Impress Rubber Stamps. I saw this caramel packaging and wanted to make some, even thought I didn't know what Sea Salt Caramels were. But I found a lot of recipes for them. I ended up using third-person Grandma's recipe and just added the Fleur de Sel at the end like what some of the other recipes recommended. A tip for making the caramels easier is to buy precut squares of wax paper to wrap them in.

Packaging from Impress Rubber Stamps:


My version of the packaging. I designed the labels in Quark (don't be hatin') and printed them out on card stock and attached them with scrapbook adhesive squares.






Here's the Recipe:
Caramels or Sea Salt Caramels

1 pound light brown sugar
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 cup light corn syrup
½ pound (2 sticks) butter (I use salted)
½ teaspoon cream of tarter
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 teaspoons fleur de sel (sea salt), optional
Extra fleur de sel to press into cut pieces
Special equipment: parchment paper, candy thermometer, wax paper squares

Line an 8-inch square pan with parchment paper; set aside.
Combine first 5 ingredients in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir mixture until temperature reaches 245°, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and add vanilla. Pour into prepared pan.
If using fleur de sel, sprinkle 2 teaspoons on top of caramels after 10 minutes. Let caramels cool to room temperature. Refrigerate until cool.
Place a piece of parchment paper on a cutting board. Lift caramel out of pan and place on parchment paper sea salt-side up. Cut caramel into bite-size pieces and wrap in 4-inch squares of wax paper. If using fleur de sel, you may press some extra into cut pieces. Don’t use too much because a little bit goes a long way.
Makes about 6 dozen caramels.
NOTE: This recipe can be easily doubled. Use a bigger pan to cook the caramels and pour into a 13x9-inch pan.