Diapers.Deadlines.DIY

DIY Ann Taylor Shirt

2011-04-28T20:50:00.001-07:00

One day, I was shopping online and came across this shirt from Ann Taylor Loft. It retailed for $30, which led me to the challenge to create it for less.

Since the pink stripes were dyed, I knew I could use Tulip One-Step Dye and get the same look. It's really easy to make, and it only took me 10 minutes.

Supplies
-White t-shirt
-Tulip One-Step Dye (Fuchsia)
-Sponge Brush
-Plastic Cup

Step 1- Soak the shirt in water and wring it out well. You want to make sure it's damp and not soaking wet.

Step 2- Lay the shirt flat

Step 3- Fill your dye bottle with water, shake and pour into plastic cup

Step 4- Dip sponge brush into dye and draw a line across the shirt. Make sure to leave a lot of white space in between, since the dye will bleed.

Step 5- Let your shirt dry for 4 hours (I let mine dry overnight)

Step 6- Through it in the washer on warm with some detergent

Step 7- Wear it and be proud that not only did you make it, but you saved some $$$

That's it!! Super easy and it's not your typical psychedelic tie-dyed look.

There's so much you can do with tie-dye. I love it. In fact I like to dye Baby C's clothes that have stains on them or are starting to look a little shabby. It's a great way to repurpose your clothes.

Here's a bump shot for ya!

4 Months

Easter Funness

2011-04-25T12:01:00.000-07:00

Well, hello there! It's been awhile, and I apologize. A lot has been going on since Baby C's birthday. Right after her birthday, we found out that I'm expecting again. It's another girl, due this October.

Unfortunately for me, I get really sick and this time it's worst than when I was pregnant with Baby C. It started around 5 weeks, 3weeks earlier than before. I would like to know who came up with the name "Morning Sickness", cause thats not the case for me. It lasts all day and well into the night for me. So needless to say, I've been spending these last couple of months resting and trying to get through this difficult, yet wonderful time.

Since Easter was coming up, I had to start up with my crafting. I found this tutorial on Bunny Baskets from Postively Splendid and thought it would be perfect for Baby C to gather up her Easter eggs with. I was hoping she would be walking by now. She is walking, but with some assistance.

I'm not comfortable with the sewing machine, and this project really wasn't the first one for me to learn on. So, I had my mother-in-law help me with it. It was challenging for us both, but we managed to get through it. The hubs says that I was running a sweatshop, since we worked for 3 hours straight on it and I wouldn't let her quit. There were a few changes I made with the embellishments. I added Tulip Iron-on Crystals and some Tulip Dimensional Fabric Paint.

It turned out pretty cute and was perfect for Baby C.

On Saturday night, we dyed Easter Eggs. I wish I took some pictures of Baby C throwing the eggs into the dye. She thought it was so neat to pick up an egg and plop it into the dye. A few of them cracked, and a lot of them were blue, since that was the closest dye to her.

We spent Easter Day over at my sister-in-laws. Baby C got to test out her new Easter Basket while hunting for eggs. She just thought it was the neatest thing to pick up an egg and throw it into her basket.

I made her fabric flower. I'll show you how in another tutorial.

Baby C even found one with money.

Easter was a fun day for all of us. I hope you had a wonderful Easter.

Family Name and Established Date Artwork

2011-02-11T11:02:00.000-08:00

Here's a fun and inexpensive way to design your own art. I never realized how easy it is to design stuff in either Photoshop and Illustrator or even in Publisher and then have them printed wherever you have your photos done.

For Baby C's invites, I had one of the graphic designers here help me design her invitation and I had it saved in jpeg format, and then printed them out in 4x6's at Costco. Easy-peasy, and great for saving money.

Around the same time, I came across this tutorial for how to design your own family name and established date artwork. I love how she even broke down the measurements for the layout in the Publisher program.

All I had to do, was head over to this site by Leo Reynolds and pick out the letters and numbers to use for my photo. I think that was the hardest part.

Once finished, I saved it as a jpeg and sent it over to Costco. I got the print within an hour for $2.80. Not bad.

I did struggle with finding a frame since I made a 12x12 print. During my hunt for the right frame, the sales associate at Aaron Brothers told me to use a 16x16 or 20x20 and have a mat cut out for that. When she told me that the mats start from $50 on up, I knew what to do. It would require my own cutting skills.

I bought the 16x16 frame from there, but then immediately headed over to Michaels and bought mat there for $5. I measured everything out, and then used a cutter to cut it. It's not perfect, but it will do.

Wouldn't this make a great wedding gift?

Baby C's 1st Birthday Party

2011-02-08T13:26:00.000-08:00

Well, Baby C turned 1 this last Sunday. It was on Super Bowl Sunday, so we decided to have her first birthday party on Saturday. I tried to go for a French theme, but instead it turned out more like a pink party.

It was a sweet treat party, which meant, nothing but sweet goodies to eat. I made chocolate dipped marshmallow's, rice krispy treats and pretzel rods with toffee bits. I even attempted to make Cake Pops, from Bakerella. Although, they didn't come out as expected.

For the cake, I made a large red velvet cupcake and a large carrot cupcake for Baby C, along with tie-dyed pink butter cupcakes.

Here I was trying to go the easy route with making the sweet treats, and instead it turned out to be an 8-5 job. Oh well, nothing but the best for my Baby C.

The party decorations were real simple. Paper pom poms are the latest craze, and I found this tutorial on how to make them. So, I had pink pom poms everywhere. I was going to make a banner, but I just didn't have enough time.

Baby C was wearing a tutu made by myself.

I wanted to make sure it was fluffy, and I think I accomplished it well.

The party turned out great. We had over 40 guests and Baby C loved every minute of it. Although, I'm not too sure about the cake. She wanted nothing to do with that. I don't know how she's my daughter.

For those who know me, know that I LOVE sweets (I mean after all, I did make it a sweet treat party ;). Maybe if I shaped an avocado into a cupcake, that would of been her style. She does like her fruit and veggies.

All in all, the party was a success. Thank you, to everyone who came and made it her special day, EXTRA special!

On her actual birthday, we just took it easy and laid low. Of course we watched the Super Bowl at our house and had her open her presents from hubby and myself.

Happy Birthday Baby C!!!

We love you soooo much!!

My newest discovery of Burlap

2011-02-01T15:11:00.000-08:00

OK, I'm back!!! Let's just say the holidays really took a toll on me. The funny part about this, one of my New Year's resolutions was to be more active with my blogging. Yet, I still never got a chance to do it.

Baby C has been sick since Christmas Day. She had some kind of nasty virus that was just horrible. She never got a fever, but we did have to make a trip to the hospital one night. Her coughing has kept her up all night for over a week. Finally, after a month of all this, the doctor finally prescribed antibiotics, and within the first dose, it all started clearing up. So now the family can sleep at night and Baby C is a happy baby again. Hooray!!!

Enough of my excuses. During the holidays, I decided to test out my crafting skills and make gifts for some of our family members. I came across this frame tutorial and absolutely loved it.

Which led me to my discovery of burlap. It's my new favorite material and it's super cheap. You can do so much with it. I really want to try to make decorative pillow cases with it or even curtains.

Check out my new wreaths I made, one for the big LOVE day coming up from this tutorial and the other to cover up the mirror in our living room originally from Where the Heart Is.

I really liked having my Christmas wreath from my last tutorial over my living room mirror. So here's it's newest replacement. I decided to use fabric to tie around it.

Not too shabby!!!

I'm sure I'll have other projects that involve burlap, but that's it for now. :)

Pottery Barn Inspired Wreath

2010-12-15T14:15:00.000-08:00

Finally, my last DIY wreath. I love saving Pottery Barn catalogues for inspiration. I found this wreath and thought, I can totally do it. And for only a fraction of the price. These were selling for $79. By the time I finished mine, the total I spent was only $6. Again, more Christmas presents for Baby C.

Speaking of Baby C, she was my little helper with this project.

This project is SUPER easy and it only took me 15 min to make. The wreath I got from Michael's for $2.99 and the ornaments were from the Dollar store. I had chosen colored ornaments. I like LOTS of color.

My assistant applying Teething Gel to the ornaments.

Here's what I did, I just tied the big ornaments with floral wire and glued the smaller ornaments all around. I had a bag leftover, I think I may need to add it to the wreath.

That's it for this year with making my own wreaths. I can't wait for next Christmas, I'm thinking about making Boxwood wreaths.

DIY Christmas Wreaths

2010-12-10T12:32:00.000-08:00

This week, I was a little busy with two simple projects for Christmas. We put up our Christmas tree and decorations during Thanksgiving weekend. I noticed that I don't have much Christmas decorations, except ornaments for the tree and a few table top decorations. I'm totally fine with it, because it inspires me to start making my own decorations.

Right now, I'm on this wreath kick. I made two wreaths this week. One to hang over our mirror in our family room. The other wreath was made to hold all of our Christmas cards. We receive so many holiday photo cards, I wanted to make something so I can display all of them. To make both of theses wreaths cost less than $5. Whoo-hoo, my savings can go towards Baby C's Christmas gifts.

With the first wreath, I used a wooden wreath and hot glued cinnamon pine-cones to it. Then I tied a ribbon, and voila there you have it! I'm not happy with how the bow turned out. It's been a long time since I've tied ribbon. I seem to be a bit rusty with it.

For the second wreath, I came across this inspiration. I used old gift wrapping, clothes pins and Collage Pauge Decoupage. It's been a long time since I've used decoupauge, and again I felt rusty with it. In fact while I was making it, I kept doubting myself, thinking it wasn't going to look good. But, now that I'm finished and I look at it, I'm thinking it's not that bad.

Do you ever doubt yourself when you're making something? How do you overcome it? I'd love to hear your feedback.

I have another wreath I'm in the process of making, stay tuned for that project.

Baby C's First Kids Show and First Tooth

2010-11-24T18:53:00.000-08:00

Last night we went to Yo Gabba Gabba, and let me just say, it was a BLAST!!! We were a little nervous when the show first started, Baby C didn't know how to handle the show. She cried and got a little bit scared. Hubby suggested to give her binky and once she had it, all was well.

It was so much fun to watch all the kiddies dance and scream with excitement for the characters. Baby C was mesmerized by everything. Hubby and I were enjoying this special time with her.

Baby C was wearing her very own Foofa shirt made by both hubby and myself. We made her shirt, out of Tulip Soft Fabric Paint and Dimensional Fabric Paint. It was super easy and quick to make. I had found a Foofa template from Nick Jr website and printed it out.
Then hubby traced it onto Freezer paper.

I cut out the stencil and then ironed it on her shirt.

Then I painted 2 coats of Tulip Soft Fabric Paint .

Once dried, hubby outlined where I painted with Tulip 3 Dimensional Paint.

...and that's it. Easy peasy!!! One thing I love about our soft paint, is how it looks like it's screen printed.

Baby C liked it. And all the other kiddies at the show liked it, too. They kept complimenting Baby C about how much they LOVED her Foofa shirt. Hubby and I just sat back and smiled.

On another note, Baby C FINALLY has her first tooth coming in. YAY!!! Just in time for the big turkey dinner. This past week has been very difficult because she was in a lot of pain and waking up a lot. Meaning, I got NO sleep. I'm really exhausted, but I don't have too much time to rest. I'm cooking the Thanksgiving meal. Wish me luck!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Gobble, Gobble!!

Feathers and Felt Rosettes, Oh My!!!

2010-11-18T12:27:00.000-08:00

Recently, I have made a discovery of felt rosettes and feathers. I LOVE marabou feathers on babies, so I made the one below for Baby C. Since she's so sassy, I think I may even want to bling it out by adding some rhinestones and pearls.

Last weekend we had our 1st family portrait and I wanted Baby C to have a cute and unique headband. I could of knitted her one, but that required too much time. Then I decided a felt headband would be way cuter. So I went onto my most favorite website ever, Etsy. There were so many cute flower felt headbands, but the prices were what got me. I kept thinking that making my own felt headband would be easier, save me a couple of dollars and be WAY more rewarding.

I had one of our craft designers to show me how to make them. OMG, they are super easy to make and so much fun. At the time, I only had three colors of felt for Baby C's headband.

Didn't it turn out cute?!?! Better yet, how amazing is this photo?? I LOVED our photographer! She does AMAZING work!!! Check out her site Gwen Hawkins Photography. I'm having the hardest time picking out our photos.

Well, it just so happened that Michaels was having a sale on felt 5 for$1.00 and I felt I needed 5 of every color made out there. Needless to say, I now have over 50+ sheets of felts. But I'm having so much fun with them.

My birthday was on November 8th, and I decided that Baby C shouldn't have all the fun of wearing felt rosettes. I made myself a headband. It's a bit massive, but that's ok. It's so darn cheap, I don't feel guilty making a new one.

I even discovered adding feathers to my felt rosettes. I feel a bit weird wearing them, but I just love them. There's something very vintage about wearing them.

For my next felt project, I'd like to try to make a felt rosette bib necklace. Maybe I should add some Tulip 3D Fashion Paint.

Since the holidays are here, check out some other fun project ideas with felt on our website:

Cute n' Crafty Christmas Booties

Reindeer Games Gift Tote

Jelly Gems

Our 1st Halloween

2010-10-31T21:31:00.000-07:00

Halloween has come and gone. Let me just say, that I’m completely exhausted.

I think I overdid it this time, and Baby C is not even 9 months. I’m nervous about what it will be like when she gets older, but I’m even more nervous about the next two big holidays that are just around the corner.

We’re having Thanksgiving at our house (of which I think I’m crazy, having a baby and planning a dinner, and of course decorating the house.) And then there’s Christmas, which will be Baby C’s first Christmas, so of course it HAS to be special. Hubby thinks I’m nuts since she’s still a baby and she’s too young to understand it. Maybe I am, but let me just say, I want nothing but the best for Baby C and I want it to be special for her, no matter what age she is.

Now, back to my manic weekend.

It all started from last week, I decided last minute that I wanted to dress up for Halloween. I’m known for making last minute decisions, I think it adds character to my life. Baby C was going to be a Pink Kitty, so I decided to be a Crazy Cat Lady and to make my own costume.

The clothing pieces, I already owned, but I had to embellish it to make it more authentic. I used our Tulip Tie-Dye on my sweats a few months ago to lounge around the house in. For my t-shirt, I had the phrase, “I Love Cats” using, Tulip Alphabet Stencils, Crafty Chica Glitter and Tulip Leopard Heart Iron-On Design. With the kitty’s, I cut out felt, glued them with Aleene’s Fast Grab, glued googly eyes and painted their faces with Scribbles 3D paint. That’s it! It was super easy, but it did take some time.

We even painted a Skull shirt for hubby from another cool tutorial on our website.

On Friday, I decided to have hubby and myself paint pumpkins. I found this really cool tutorial from one of our professional bloggers, Alisa Burke. Check it out here.

Friday night and all of Saturday morning was spent creating pumpkin masterpieces. I’m happy to say, that one of them did win first place at a pumpkin contest. Whoo-hoo!!

And now, some kitty action photos...

Our weekend was filled with parties to attend and on Halloween morning, hubby was coming down with a cold. So he had to stay home and pass out candy to the trick-or-treaters, while Baby C and I continued on with visiting the parties.

That’s all for now, but I won’t have too much of a rest because I have some more projects that I need to work on for our family portrait, which will be taking place in less than two weeks.

Yikes!!!

Stay tuned….

It's been 3 Magical Years

2010-10-20T07:13:00.000-07:00

It’s our anniversary today. We’ve been married for three magical years!

This is one of my favorite pictures from that day. I was going through them last night, and I couldn’t believe how fast time goes.

Thank you hubby, for being the best husband in the world, for being supportive, for being a wonderful father, for making me laugh…I still love you as much as the day we got married (if not, more).

“Today I will marry my best friend, the one I will live with, dream with and love.” ~Author Unkown

Our Visit to the Pumpkin Patch in Crafty Style

2010-10-17T21:45:00.000-07:00

Yes, indeed, we visited the Pumpkin Patch this past weekend. It was so much fun!!! It was even more fun, making Baby C’s styling outfit for the visit.

Here’s what her outfit consisted of:

• Baby Legs
• Tutu
• Onesie featuring our Halloween Iron-On Crystal Designs
• Hair Bow

All of which, were made by Me (with the help from Cheryl, our craft designer in starting off the hair bow for me, and Stacy, our crystal queen for picking out the right Iron-on Design for Baby C to wear).

Baby C looked so cute and she was definitely rockin’ her outfit.

When we first arrived, hubby was a bit nervous that we were the only family who made their kid dress up. But as soon as we got in line, we noticed that this is the norm and that all the other mommy’s had their little darlings dressed up in cute outfits that they made.

There was so much to do at the pumpkin patch…

We went on the swings

Visited the petting zoo

And of course picked out our pumpkins
I decided to be a little different this year and wanted to make a pumpkin topiary with different colored pumpkins.

Aren’t these cool??? I love Cinderella pumpkins, they’re so whimsical.

Next year, we’ll just get a regular pumpkin, so Baby C can enjoy the fun experience of carving a pumpkin.

My Favorite Time of Year

2010-10-12T13:11:00.000-07:00

As I've mentioned in my previous post, I wanted to make more baby legs this past weekend. And so, I did. But that’s not all…

I finally got out my fall décor.

Decided to clean up our front porch and plant some flowers.

It looks like I need to add more flowers, but I don’t know what. Any suggestions???

Inherited my mother-in-laws sewing machine and craft table, during their transition of moving.

Found a recipe for Pumpkin Spice Cookies and baked them.

Scored some FREE 2x4 wood blocks at Lowes and plan on using them for a future project.

Finished knitting my scarf, of which my kitty loves to sleep on. Thanks Decker!!!

Started knitting Baby C her sweater. (Hopefully she can wear it this winter, since I had to start all over again)

Made Halloween Baby Legs for this weekend’s visit to the pumpkin patch. (Stay tuned, there’s more of what I made for Baby C’s adventure to the pumpkin patch).

Can I just say, that I LOVE fall?!?! It’s my favorite time of the year!

A pair of knee high socks=Baby Legs!

2010-10-06T15:31:00.000-07:00

Knee High Socks
=

Baby Legs

FINALLY, the weather is getting cooler, which means it’s time to start dressing warmer. The days are still warm, but the morning and nights now have a little chill to them.

In order to still get the most use out of Baby C’s summer outfits during this weather transition, I decided to try to make her some baby legs. These are perfect to pair with an outfit without having to pull them down to change her. Also, these are great for her crawling stage. No more carpet burns. YAY!!!

I wish I could say I came up with this idea myself, but if you go online, you can find many tutorials on this. Here’s the one I followed. In order to make it my own, I decided to add hearts with Tulip 3D Paint. Which would also be great for Valentines Day.

I don’t own a sewing machine, although it’s in my plans to get one real soon. However, I do have a birthday coming up. Hint, hint to my hubby There are so many future projects I want to make that require a sewing machine.

So, I went over to my mother-in-laws to use hers and have her give me a quick 101 on using the sewing machine. The last time I used a sewing machine, I think, was in junior high. This project probably wasn’t the best one for me to begin to sew with, even though it’s super easy. I had to have her do it for me. After a few trials and errors, we finally got it.

Didn’t they turn out cute??

Baby C loves them!!! She just scoots right along. Of course, one pair isn’t going to be enough, so I bought some more knee high socks and I plan on making more baby legs this weekend.

Appreciate the dog(s) you love

2010-09-21T16:24:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I got home in time to watch the last 10min of Ellen. I LOVE, LOVE that show!!! She was great company for me during my maternity leave. This couple was featured on the show who rescued a dog from a canyon. This man was hiking in the Utah/Arizona border canyons and found a dog 350ft below in a canyon. The dog was left to die. It was horrible!!! The amazing part about it is he rescued the dog all by himself since no one wanted to help him.

I have a huge heart for animals, and it brought tears to my eyes. How can people be so cruel?? This dog only had about 24-48hrs left to live and this guy got to him in time.

Then I grabbed our dog, Brandy and gave her the biggest hug. She's a cocker-terrier mix that we found from a local no-kill dog shelter. I couldn’t imagine someone doing that to her. I tried to think of the positive and then started thinking about how she lucked out being brought into our home. She gets fed the best dog food, including table scraps (she loves eggs and always seems to know when I’m cooking them), biscuits for when we leave the house (or for pretty much anything), she has 4 beds to sleep on, a bed that has toys piled high on it, poops anywhere she wants (that’s a work in progress…we’re getting better with that), collars for every season, a dog house (that she refuses to sleep in and tears out the bed every time we put it in for her). This dog has it all, and of course the one that matters most that she’s got is our love and companionship.

So I decided to take a trip down memory-lane with her:

Here’s when I first met Brandy (aka Baby June)
Brandy loves to go out for walks

Brandy’s first model shoot here at iLoveToCreate

Brandy’s first trip on a boat (and yes I put her in a life jacket)

Brandy’s first Halloween

Brandy taking her aggression out on a certain political party's stuffed animal

Brandy’s first experience babysitting

Brandy taking a nap with Baby C's stuffed animal, after she stole it from her room
After looking back, I couldn’t imagine a life without our beloved pooch. I love the fact that she’s a rescued dog. I’ve been raised with toy poodles and I remember the research that went into finding the right dog from a breeder. So it was very new for me to go to a shelter and find a dog there. I’m a firm believer against animal abuse. I think it’s wrong and people should pay the price for the harm they’ve done to animals. And now, I’m a firm believer in adopting animals from a shelter, escpecially if you can give them a good home.

With one of my next posts, I'm planning to make her something special. She's gone through a lot adjusting to no longer being the baby of the house. She's been a good trooper sharing her attention with Baby C. Until then, check out the tutorial on how to make her flashy dress HERE.

My 10 Week Challenge

2010-09-03T16:04:00.000-07:00

So, I’m sure there are many mother’s out there who understand the feeling of being uncomfortable with their post-partum bodies. Your body is not the same and from what I hear, even when you go back to your pre-pregnancy weight, clothes still fit you differently. This is a hard one for me to accept. There are still many of my clothes still packed away in storage, waiting for me to open them up and wear them again. Baby C will be 7 months on Monday, and I know people out there are probably saying, “But you just had a baby.” Still, this is not acceptable for me.

When I was pregnant, I didn’t care about my weight. For the first part of my pregnancy, I had such bad morning sickness that the only type of food that sounded appealing to me was fast fried food. I remember my doctor asking me what I was able to eat during this time. I told him that I couldn’t get enough cheeseburgers and ice cream. He just looked at me, with not a concern in his eye and said, “Isn’t it amazing what our bodies tell us we need?” I guess he’s thinking I needed the extra fat and calcium??? My mom was with me for that visit and I think she just about fell out of her chair when she heard him say this. She hated the fact that I would always say, “But I’m eating for two”.

I remember buying maternity clothes early-on. I was already outgrowing my regular clothes at 6 weeks. Really, I think I was just excited about the fact that I was actually pregnant and I really wanted to dress the part. Now, I’m so ready to throw all of those clothes away. I would be a very happy camper if I never have to put them on ever again.

After having Baby C, I knew the weight wasn’t going to all come off. But I did think that around 6 months, that it would just all magically disappear. Umm, no. I do have to admit, that I’ve lost a good majority of it, but it’s just those LAST 20lbs.

A few months back, I started working out with a personal trainer. She’s a really good friend and an amazing trainer. She’s helped me with my diet and has helped me get my strength back. I didn’t realize the effects of pregnancy had on my body not only with my weight, but with how weak I’ve become.

We’ve always been working out at home, and just a couple of weeks ago, we started meeting up at the gym. First, let me just say, that not only did I never think I’d be working out in a gym, but getting up at 4:30am to go work out. It’s the only time I can squeeze into my busy schedule. I actually find it to be very peaceful and it’s a great way to get my day started.

I have given myself a 10 week weight loss challenge and it’s already been two weeks. Last week was my first full week of working out in the gym. It kicked my butt, and I had lost 5lbs!!! I was on fire after I weighed myself last week. I thought, oh this is too easy!

Well, I’m sad to say, that after weighing myself today, I’ve only lost .2lbs since this last week. Nothing has changed. My diet is the same, along with my workout. My trainer says that it’s totally normal to plateau. I’ll just have to chalk this week up and hope for a better week next week.

Stay tuned for after my 10 week challenge. Hopefully I’ll meet and beat the challenge I’ve set up for myself.

Some Tie-Dyeing Fun for iLoveToCreate’s Newest Lil’ Ones

2010-08-23T10:39:00.000-07:00

One of my absolute favorite products to use is our tie-dye. I love our colors and the vibrancy of our dye. It really is one of my favorite projects to work on. Another favorite product of mine to use with tie-dye is Resist. It’s this adhesive type of product that wherever it’s applied on fabric, it blocks the dye from going through.

About two months ago, I had to test out some dye and decided to make Baby C some sleep shirts for the summer. I used the Resist along with the dye with the help from one of our designers, and voila…Baby C had some darling sleep shirts.
Our marketing and creative department has been booming with new babies. Since October 2009, there have been five babies born. I’ve been asked to tie-dye onesies for the new lil’ ones and have them model my creations. Of course I couldn’t pass this opportunity up. I was very excited for this project, but also a little nervous. I’ve mentioned before I’m a perfectionist, well this time they HAD to be perfect.

I decided to use our Rainbow Tie-Dye Kit, since the colors are more primary and there are more boys than girls that I was tie-dying for. Before I begin, I always map out the techniques and colors I plan on using for each item.
I did decide to use Resist on some of the shirts. First, I placed a stencil on the shirt, and then I brushed about two coats of Resist on the shirt, letting them dry in between.

Once the Resist is dry on the shirts that I’ve applied it on, I spray the shirts with water, getting them damp. For the other shirts, I just run them under water and wring out the excess water.

Next, I apply the dye to the shirts.

Usually, I let them dry for about 6-8 hours and then wash them in hot water. And that's it! It’s pretty easy to tie-dye, the hardest part for me is picking out the pattern and colors.

And now introducing, my lil’ models, from oldest to youngest:

Eric
Quincy
Caelyn “Baby C”
Roman
Lexi

Aren’t they so stinkin’ cute? I had so much fun making these for them!!! Hmmm, I wonder what I can tie-dye next???

DIY Homemade Baby Food

2010-08-02T12:05:00.000-07:00

The time has come to start feeding Caelyn solids. I can’t believe she’s already going to be 6 months this Friday, August 6th. Where does the time go??? I’ve already started her on rice cereal last month, in hopes it would help her sleep at night. Yeah…..no. She still wakes up a couple of times throughout the night. Hopefully introducing more solids will be the ticket.

While I was pregnant, I was totally fine with the idea of giving her formula and jarred baby food. I had no clue. But after doing some research, I found out the importance of breastfeeding and making your own baby food. Not only does it help financially, but babies get all the proper nutrients without introducing unnecessary preservatives.

Yesterday, I finally decided to start cooking for Baby C (nickname my hubby and I’ve been calling her since birth). I finally got to try out my new Beaba Babycook. It’s wonderful, but for larger batches, the stove and a regular food processor are better. The menu items I prepared for her were: apples, bananas, rice cereal, zucchini, and prunes (great for iron and constipation). Here’s where I found some recipes, Wholesome Baby Food. Once I’ve prepared them, I place them in ice cube trays, and put them in the freezer overnight. Ice cube trays are perfect since they measure out to be an ounce and are the exact serving size for babies. Once frozen, I place them in Ziploc bags labeled for each item.

The first veggie we tried out was zucchini. SUCCESS!!! She loved it. In fact, she was trying to grab the bowl out of my hand. Apparently I wasn’t going fast enough to feed her. I hope it goes this smooth with the rest of the food items. If she’s like me, then she shouldn’t have a problem. ;)

So, who am I....

2010-07-29T13:02:00.000-07:00

For those of you who don’t know who I am, my name is Kristina Krivochiev Wettstead. By day I go by Kristina Krivochiev, by night I go by KK, and all other times, I go by Kristina Wettstead. It’s a mouthful, I know. I work as a Product Coordinator in the Marketing Department for the largest and the most amazing creative company in the world, iLoveToCreate, a Duncan Enterprises Company. Every day I get to come to work and help come up with new ideas for new products. It’s so much fun!!! I’m also a new mommy. On February 6th, 2010, I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, Caelyn. Ever since she was born, it’s like I want to experience everything all over again, which leads me to this blog and my reasons for starting it.

Growing up, my parents always made sure I got to experience everything life has to offer. I used to dance, act, sing, craft, and played sports. Crafting emerged as my favorite. There’s so much you can do with it and so much freedom. It’s not limited to one category. As I got older, I lost that sense of touch with crafting and allowed other things to occupy my time. I got busy with college, graduated, and was bound and determined to set a career for myself. Well here I am, along the way I did get married to the best hubby ever (can't leave that important part out).

When I first started at iLoveToCreate, I remember seeing the crafting designers finished projects and was blown away with what they could do. I was living vicariously through them, thinking that one day I can create the same kind of projects they make. But, I never did, in fact I let fear get in the way and thought I could never be that good. **My biggest problem is that I’m a perfectionist, so why bother if I can’t get it right the first time, or ever, which I knew I wouldn’t .** WRONG!!! That’s the beauty of art and being creative, it’s never perfect. So here I am, two years later after having a baby and ready to dive in and tackle my own creative projects. I’m crazy, I know!!! But that’s the whole reason why I want to do this blog. I want to write about my adventures of being a new mommy, who has a full-time job and still finds time to create. Whether it be tie-dyeing or cooking a fabulous meal, anything goes when it comes time to be creative. I love reading blogs and seeing what others are creating out there. By no means am I a professional crafter, in fact I’m pretty sure that the majority of my projects will come from other crafters creations…and yes, I will definitely give credit where credit is due. I’m really looking forward to this adventure and sharing it with anyone who wants to take this adventure with me!