A Picture Perfect Giveaway

I've made several photo books from Shutterfly and they turned out beautifully!  So when I had the opportunity to give a photo book to one of my readers, I was so excited.  The photo book that you will be able to create is an 8x8 album worth $29.99.  You will have to pay shipping but the cost is minimal.  I will be picking the winner on Monday, May 2 using random.org and you will have until May 31st to make your book. 

Here is the book that I made.  It is Liam from A-Z and it looks so cute in person!

If you would like to enter for a chance to win, you must be a follower AND must leave a comment telling me what your album theme would be.  If your name is chosen, you will need to email me within 48 hours and I will email you the code with instructions.  Good luck and thanks again for reading!

*I am in no way affiliated with Shutterfly and they have no idea that I am promoting their company or hosting a Shutterfly giveaway.  I'm just trying to brighten someone's day!

Lindsay

Music to my ears!

The past week has been a little stressful, to say the least.  We have been having major driveway drama (more later).  Liam knew just how to cheer me up!  He has been talking alot lately and has been stringing 2-3 words together.  Well, today before his nap, and just after giving kisses to all of his grandma's and grandpa's pictures, he turned to me, grabbed my face and said "Kiss Mama".  I melted right there on the floor.  What a sweet little boy.  I almost let him stay up just so I could smooch him all day. 

I hope all of you can find a little "glimmer" to brighten your day!

Lindsay

Potty Training?!?

Where do I begin?  I didn't think that I would be doing this for a few more months, but the past few days, Liam has been asking to sit on the potty.  I bought a potty chair a little while back and the seat comes off so you can put it on a regular toilet and that is what he was asking to sit on.  He kept saying poo poo so I asked if he has to go, and he said yes, so I put him on.  Well, nothing happened the first 2 days.  Today, was a different story.  He asked to go poo poo, so I put him on, and a minute later..... WE HAD POOP IN THE POTTY!  I couldn't believe it.  He's such a big boy and growing up a little too fast for my liking, although I will be happy to stop shelling out all that $$$$ on diapers. 

So does anyone have any advice, books to read, ways to go about this whole thing?  Let me know what worked, or didn't work for you.

Thanks,
Lindsay

Liam's 2 year photo shoot preview

The weather was nice enough today that we were able to go outside for pictures.  They turned out great!  Thanks Katie!

http://katieryanphotography.blogspot.com/2011/04/liam-s-is-2.html

Lindsay

Happy Easter!

I hope everyone has a great weekend!  We will be pretty busy but I will return on Monday with some sneak peeks of Liam's 2 year "photo shoot".  I hope he cooperates today.

Happy Easter!
Lindsay

Infinity Scarf

I love wearing scarves.  I have several, but I have been wanting an infinity scarf.  I almost bought one, until I saw the price tag.  $35 for a jersey circle?  Seriously?  Thankfully, I came across this blog,  My World, Made by Hand.  I couldn't believe how cheap and easy this project was.

Here's how I made mine.  I wanted a white scarf for spring so I headed to Family Dollar and purchased a 3 pack of men's Hanes t-shirts in 2XL (they had a $2 off coupon).  I followed the directions and even made a little rosette with a scrap of t-shirt hem.  I glued it to a clip so I can attach it to the scarf for a different look.

I wore the scarf to Liam's Tot Tumble class the other day and had several compliments.  People thought it was really expensive and were shocked when I told them how easy and cheap it was to make.

Lindsay

Wordless Wednesday

Cute tie t-shirt for Liam

I've made a few things for little girls and for myself, but I hadn't come across anything that I wanted to make for Liam.  Then, I stumbled across Crap I've Made.  It's a great blog and there are some really cute ideas.  I followed her directions exactly and used the pattern that is at the bottom of the tutorial.  I didn't really feel like dragging out my sewing machine though, so I only used Wonder Under to adhere the tie to the shirt.  I found the t-shirts at Carters and the fabric at Jo-Ann Fabrics.  I bought a fat quarter and that is enough for several ties.  I even made one for my nephew. 

I hope Liam likes his new shirt.  I think I'm going to have him wear it for his pictures on Saturday.

Lindsay

And the Winner is......

True Random Number Generator Min: Max: Result: 6 Powered by RANDOM.ORG

Congrats to comment #6. 

kasilain said...
This is ADORABLE!! Most items for my second baby I have been hand making - breast feeding cover, sling wrap, maternity jeans even! I love this idea. I will be sharing this on my Facebook page if it counts as an extra entry!

You won the diaper clutch!  Please contact me at lmatyska at gmail dot com with you address so I can send it to you.  And stay tuned everyone.  I have 3 new projects coming this week.  Two for moms and one for a little boy. 

Thanks to all of my followers and I hope to have another giveaway soon!

Lindsay

Giveaway Reminder!

Today is the last day to enter for the Diaper Clutch Giveaway.  You must be a follower and leave a comment for that day.  I will be choosing the winner via random.org tomorrow.  Thanks and Good Luck!

Lindsay

How to Make a Tutu

If I could wear a tutu, and not look like and idiot, I would.  But I can't, so I made one for Liam's friend.  I've seen many different instructions on line, but here is how I did it.  What you need:  2-3 rolls of tulle in colors of your choice (the rolls I bought were 25 yards long and 6 inches wide), ribbon and scissors.

Measure the child's waist and add 20 inches for the "tales" to tie the tutu.  The little girl that is getting this tutu is 2 and close in height to my son so I determined that I needed to cut my tulle into 25 inch strips.  Measure 10 inches in from the end of the ribbon and tie a knot.  This is so the tulle will not slide off of the ribbon.  Start tying the tulle strips on by using a lark's head knot (pictured below or click the link).  You can tie a double knot, but I think the lark's head knot looks better.

 

The 25 inch strips of tulle will make the skirt about 12 inches in length.  Continue tying the tulle until you come to 10 inches from the end.  Tie another knot so the tulle will not slip off of the ribbon.  It's that easy.  You can use the same color or alternating colors (I used pink and purple).  You can also add sheer ribbon every so often or add little gems or beads.

Liam thought the tutu was pretty cool and I really needed to try it on to make sure that it would fit his friend, so I had to put it on him.  He loved it and kept spinnig around and saying "tutu, tutu, tutu, tutu!"  Troy would not let me take a picture.

Lindsay

Wordless Wednesday

Diaper Clutch and a Giveaway!

I have seen several diaper clutches and love the idea.  Now that Liam is a little older, I don't really need to carry around a diaper bag.  I'd love to carry around one of my beautiful purses again.  While googling one day, I came across this beautiful Poopy Clutch.  I can't take credit for the idea or tutorial, though.  I found it here, I Still Love You.  I did make a few adjustments however.  I found a nice piece of grey vinyl, that looks like leather, in the remnant bin and then wanted to add a pop of color with a pretty liner fabric.  I couldn't find the button stud that was used for the closure but I found something else in the purse aisle at Jo Ann Fabrics. 

Here's how I made my diaper clutch.  I used Wonder Under (follow the directions exactly and your vinyl shouldn't melt) to fuse the liner fabric and the vinyl together.  Then I outlined the template found at ISLY and cut it out.  Here is how it looked after it was cut:

And here is a close up of the clasp that I used.  It's a silver toggle clasp.

I used the stencil to mark the place for the clasp on the top of the clutch and then I traced the toggle and cut out the hole for the hardware.

Then I used the stencil to mark the location of the toggle and that was also used to close the 2 sides and bottom of the clutch.

And here is the finished product.  I think it turned out great and I can't wait to go to our play group on Tuesday so I can throw it in my bag.

I have 3 diapers size 4 diapers tucked in and there is still room for me to add my travel wipe case and a disposable changing pad. 

Since I have enough fabric to make another clutch, I thought I could make one and give it away to a lucky follower.  I will choose a winner, via random.org, on Monday, April 18th.  In order to be considered, you must be a follower and leave me a comment.  You will get an extra entry if you share this on your blog (let me know if you do).  Good Luck!

Lindsay

Weight Watchers and Me

Hi my name is Lindsay and I'm a Weight Watcher.  I joined back in Sept. 2010 because I still had baby weight to lose.  Yes, that's right, 18 months after my baby was born I was still 20 pounds heavier than before I got pregnant.  I hated how I looked, I hated shopping, I hated getting dressed and I was depressed.  I did not feel like myself and I needed to make a change.  My cousin and I spoke about WW and decided to join together and support each other.  I cannot thank her enough for the encouragement and weekly texts and progress reports.  I am also so proud of her for what she has accomplished!  Today, I became a Lifetime member at WW.  That means that 6 weeks ago I hit my goal by losing 30 pounds and have maintained it for those 6 weeks.  It also means that now WW is FREE!!! 

It feels good to feel good about myself again.  The only regret I have is not joining sooner. 

Lindsay

Really Cute Spring Tree

This popped into my head this morning because I noticed leaf buds on the trees.  I asked Liam, "Do you want to make a tree?"  He replied, "Yesssss!"  Here's what you'll need:
White construction paper (for background), green construction paper (for leaves), brown construction paper or brown grocery bag (for the trunk), scissors and a glue stick. 

Trace your little ones hand and arm, up to their elbow, on the brown paper.  Cut it out and glue it on to the white paper.  The arm is the tree trunk and the finger are the branches.

Cut leaves out of the green paper and have your child glue them onto the "branches".  Liam is in a bossy phase, so he spread glue on the leaves and then told me where to put them. 

Telling Mama where to glue the leaf.  Even Prada (my kitty) was in on this one.

I think it turned out really cute! 

Here's a picture of Liam saying "cheese" and showing off his work of art. 

You can, of course, add flower buds to the tree with colorful paper or tissue.  You can also color the leaves or tree if you'd like.  Liam told me he was done though.  This would also be a great fall project and you could use red, orange, green and yellow for the leaves. 

Think Spring!
Lindsay

Recycling Broken Crayons

Here's a great idea for all of those broken crayons.   

Wait....What?......Why do I have so many broken crayons?  Funny you should ask.  Liam goes though a box of crayons in about 2 weeks.  He presses so hard and doesn't hold them right, so they snap.  Good thing the dollar store sells washable crayons!  I started saving them so I could make swirly crayon eggs to put in Liam's Easter basket.  Here's what you need:

A disposable, foil muffin pan, cookie sheet, crayons and an oven.

Preheat the oven to 170 degrees.  Peel the crayons and break them up into 1/2 inch pieces.  You can group the crayons together by similar colors (ex: blues, reds) or just mix the colors. 

Put the foil pan on top of the cookie sheet (just in case a spill were to occur).  Fill the muffin cups no more than 1/2 way with crayon pieces.  Slide the pan into the oven for about 3-5 (mine took 4) minutes or until the crayons are melted. 

Take them out to cool.  You can pop them in the fridge if you want them to cool quicker. 

Here they are, ready for Liam's Easter basket.  I put some "grass" in a big plasig egg, which will go in his basket.  I hope I don't cave and give them to him sooner.

Lindsay

Pretty Hair Bows

I don't have a little girl, but I have been wanting to make some pretty hair bows. 

I figured I could give them as gifts to friends, cousins and my niece.  I went to Michael's ,with coupon in hand, and bought the need supplies.  I also stopped at Sally Beauty Supply for the hair clips.  You will need alligator clips, 3/8 inch gros grain ribbon, scissors, glue, and embellishments.

I cut a 7 1/2 inch piece of ribbon to wrap around the clip.  Glue the back of the ribbon and stick to the metal clip.  Hold in place for a minute or two.

Cut a 6 inch piece of ribbon and glue it into a figure 8.  Follow the pics below:

Make 2 per clip and glue them together.  Embellish with a button or rosette.  Glue onto clip.

Here is another option.  Cover the clip per above instructions.  Then cut pieces of ribbon into 6 inch, 4 inch and 1 1/4 inch.  Glue the 6 and 4 inch pieces into a circle.  See below:

Next, glue the big circle onto the middle of the clip.

Put a dot of glue inside the circle and push down to make a bow shape.  Repeat with the smaller circle.

Glue down the middle of the smaller circle.  Take the 1 1/4 inch piece of ribbon and glue the back.  Wrap it around the middle. 

Here's another one that I made where I just wrapped the ribbon and then glued on matching rosettes. 

Tell me what you think.  Would you put these in your little girl's hair or would you give them as a gift?  I'm sure I will have so many of these since the box of clips holds 80.  I might just have to do my first giveaway.  Stay tuned and make sure you are a follower!

Lindsay