DIY Spot Cleaner for Upholstery and Clothing

If you have kids you know that messes are a big part of life. With a baby on the way I have started nesting a little earlier than usual because I know how fleeting time can be. So during nap time I decided to try a cleaning trick!

I have wanted to tackle Emma's car-seat for a LONG time. With juice and food spillage and it sitting in the heat of a car

<<<<<<<<< That's what were left with!

Yuck yuck yuck!!!!!

The majority of the seat only needed a little vacuuming and spot cleaning, but this pad was downright gross! I was determined to make it spotless before our San Diego trip.....so off to Google I went. I found a tutorial that recommended specifically the blue Dawn dishsoap. Well I didn't have the blue Dawn because I prefer to be frugal....I.E I won't spend $5 on a teeny tiny bottle of dishsoap. So I thought to myself I would try it with my Ajax dishsoap and see how it goes. Heck, it would probably be cleaner in the end anyways than it was before. So off I went to start my little adventure.

Here's what you need:
Dish soap (any kind that is a degreaser)
baking soda
hydrogen peroxide
toothbrush

Mixing Instructions
Step 1: Mix one part dish soap with two parts peroxide in your chosen container.

Step 2: Then add 1–2 tablespoons of baking soda, making a paste.

Cleaning Instructions:
Step 1: Pour a generous amount of liquid onto the stain. Using a toothbrush or garment brush, rub stain remover into the stain. I used a generous amount and used circular motion to really get the dirt out of the seat pad. **If your cleaning a clothing item be sure to do the same to the underside of the garment, where the stain may have bled through. It is important to treat both sides of the stain.**

Step 2: Let the item sit for at least an hour (more for really tough stains), and then wash according to the clothing label.

Step 3: Check the clothing item to be sure the stain is gone before you put it in the dryer. Dried on stains are harder to remove. Repeat the process until the stain is gone, then dry accordingly.

After the first scrubbing and washing I noticed a little area that didn't completely come out so I did another round just in the areas that needed extra love. Each time I washed it with towels. Once I was satisfied I just let the pad air dry.








Now for the reveal!

DUDE!!!!!! I was so impressed with this that I am going to treat every garment that the new baby girl will wear that has some spit up stains on them, and even do Emma's keepsake clothes! It's not perfect, but it looks almost brand new and I just used my on hand dish soap! Woohoo!

Backyard Bench Makeover

When we bought our house we inherited a three decrepit looking benches and a collapsed firepit in our backyard. It was nice to have some seating back there, but upon inspection they were in need of a strong sanding and a deep clean. I thought to myself...."self.....these could use some sprucing up." So I did what anyone else does.....ran to Pinterest for some inspiration.

There was lots of inspiration for building benches, or just cleaning them up, but I wanted something a little different. After searching for sometime I did find a cute inspiration, but the colors were just BLECH! Since we have these and some kids adirondack chairs already I knew I wanted to stick in the blue family. SURPRISE SURPRISE!

I enlisted the hubby to do the sanding and I would do the painting but he chose to do work on this project in 100 degree heat! Took the whole thing apart, sanded each board down and even bought new hardware to re-attach it. He asked if I wanted to paint the boards and I politely declined to stand in the 120 degree garage and paint....so he did it! This project was all him with a little direction from me. I love it and can't wait to see the next bench complete!

Now to find a clearance fire pit so we can dump the old one and have a great conversation piece in the backyard. projects for fall and spring.....fix the sprinklers and paint the deck! Then to remove the old "fish pond" and plant something around the deck and in the planters. Lots of projects!

Patriotic First Birthday - The Details

Hi! I know I promised I would be back with an update on which projects we were going to do for the party, but I got caught up in actually doing the projects that I didn't have time. I thought I would at least share with you a teaser post of all the details we did for Miss Emma's Patriotic First Birthday Bash. Mind you I will come back with an updated post detailing the day! I made a ton of crafty/treats and it was just perfect!

Here we go:

Streamers // Homemade Banner // G.G. Made Apple and Cherry Pies // Rice Crispies // Chocolate Dipped Oreo's // Jello Cookies

Cake Inspiration

 

Painted wood pallet

Firecracker Centerpieces with peanuts!

Tin can bowling, the kiddo's loved this!

Gigantic bunting decor

Corn Hole!

 Sack Races, with flag guides and handmade sacks

Miss Emma enjoying her homemade smash cake!
Banner inspiration here and here

More banners and balloons!

DIY Drag Along

Before Emma arrived I had these vast plans of making a million little items for her. I planned parties and her nursery, but my energy and time fell by the wayside and she arrived with not a thing made by her mommy. I was quite sad. I had started a diaper bag, but it never got finished, and it still sits at my parents waiting for velcro and snaps.....such is the life of a parent.

A couple of months ago we were at my parent's house and we went into my mom's quilt store. I was in utter amazement by the adorable fabrics that the owner stocks her shelves with and quickly fell in love with some pink and teal graphic fabric to make a small little blanket for Miss Emma, or a "Drag Along." A mini blanket that can be taken in the car or just to snuggle with. At the same time I bought
the fabric for this quilt I also made her. Honestly my child didn't need another blanket, but mommy needed to make her something and that's where this little project came into play. Read below for instructions on how to make this adorable little carry along blanket

What You'll Need:
(9) 8.5"x 8.5" squares of fabric
(1) 25"x 25" square for backing (Minky)
(4) yards Rick Rack

Directions:
1. Ideally you want to have a minimum of (5) different fabrics for this project. Layout your fabric until you have a pattern you like. If you want to have custom embroidery done, start with that first. I chose to right set my embroidery on my center fabric. Since my baby girl's nickname is my "lil birdie" that's what I went with for my added touch. Sew your 9 squares together into (3) rows of three and then sew each row together until you have completed your blanket top. Make sure to press your fabric seams to one side to nest your seams easier.

2. Flip your blanket top and minky fabric so that right sides are together. Round your corners using a round tool or whatever you have on hand (a bowl works nice.)  Pin your ric rac so that the center falls on the edge of your fabric top. Place your minky right sides together on your fabric top and pin in place.

3. Sew a 1/4" seam around the entire edge, leaving a 4-6" opening for turning. Turn your project and press your seams flat. Pin your turning opening inside 1/4" and sew a 1/4" top seam around the entire blanket.

4. Place your baby on it and admire your work! Completed blanket size 24"x 24"

See, she really did need another blanket, just so I could take that cute photo of her! Love my lil birdie! Let me know if you have any questions in the comments below! Original pattern by Suzanne Zingg.

DIY Custom Mobile and a Peek into Emma's Nursery

For as long as I have been wanting to plan a nursery I knew that I didn't want it to be a cookie cutter from the store bed in a bag look. I planned out Emma's nursery dreaming of when she would sleep and play in it. I wanted something that would grow with her but still be graphic, fun and have a sense of playfulness.

That being said I couldn't find a mobile that I liked at all. I knew that I would have to make one. But I couldn't figure out what style I liked. I thought that I may just buy some wooden animal shapes and paint them in the teal, pink and grey color scheme and hang them on a makeshift hangar. Or just settle for something that was purchased, because I honestly didn't think that I would have time with a baby to make something cool. I was saving tons of ideas to a nursery board on Pinterest but nothing was making me scream out "This is perfect!" So I dropped it from my mind for months. It wasn't until I was looking for things to make with the leftover felt that I had from Emma's Halloween costume that I found it. A ceiling mobile kit from Apostrophe-S. It was made with felt and cardstock, but you had to buy the whole kit and even though everything was ready and all I would have to do is assemble, I thought to myself...."Self, you can make that!"

The weekend we moved into our new apartment, my mom and I hit up Michael's with coupons to get the extra things I needed. Wooden planting rings (18", 12", 6"), craft paint, grey felt (I had the pink) and beads. I had plenty of embroidery floss on hand and my mom brought the other items needed to help make these.

I don't have a tutorial for exactly how I made this, but I can give you the steps. First off I scaled in Photoshop the shape for the hangars. Then we traced them onto freezer paper and cut them out. We needed 36 pink and 20 grey to make them doubled when completed.

We used an iron on adhesive to press the felt pieces together, but you can use any type of fabric glue to get them together. We used embroidery floss to string the rings together and to attach each shape to the wooden rings. We also hung two beads to the tops of each pink shape. Darin needed to drill extra holes into the rings, to make it evenly spaced (which he had to buy a new drill for, he was ecstatic) and then hot glued the strings in place on the top. It's not pretty from above, but who sees that anyways. Figuring out placement of each tier took some finagling but the end result was far better than I could have imagined.

It took far longer to accomplish than I thought and between feedings and napping and fussy baby wanting my attention I didn't take photos along the way to show the steps. My apologies. Hopefully you can use my haphazard directions to make your own mobile. If you have any questions shoot em my way!

And now a peek into the nursery!

What?! It's still not done! I have things to hang and some things to put away and then I will reveal it all to you....just thought you'd want a teaser!

DIY Halloween Costume - Lil Birdie Emma

Since this is Emma's first Halloween, you know I couldn't stand idly by and get a store bought generic costume did you? Did I peruse the newborn and infant section in the party stores online? Of course I did, but mostly was fairly unimpressed by the selection and really wanted her first costume to be special. My mom made almost all of my costumes and I had some really cute ones as a child. My favorite was a Maleficent costume that was the Best! I was also a playing card and a pumpkin....she did not make the devil costumes, but my cousin and I are just too adorable not to post!

So in true form I had to follow in my mom's footsteps and make my baby girls first costume. I know I know, it's one of those things that I just needed to do. I didn't really make her anything while I was pregnant so I am making up for it now!

Since my nickname for Emma is Lil Birdie, I knew I wanted her to go as a bird. I google searched for

bird infant costumes and found a ton of owls, some peacocks and various other birds, but nothing made me jump up and say yes, until I saw a photo of an adorable little boy dressed in a blue bird costume.

Little Starling Photography made a Martha Stewart pattern blue bird for her son's Halloween costume. I instantly fell in love with the look and how adorable her son looked in the costume. I knew that between my mom and I we could totally pull off this look and do it on the cheap because it is made with felt! Of course when I went to buy the materials, lovely Martha's pattern was so vague that I just guessed how much I would need. Little did I know that I would buy YARDS too much felt and now have so much left over.....oh well. I have my sights on another project for Emma's nursery to make with the leftovers.....more on that later!


On a girls trip to my parents; Emma, my mom and I sat down to make this adorable costume. I knew I didn't want it to be blues, because of the people that would comment and ask about "him" so I picked girly colors and she is going to be dressed in pink. Instead of sketching the wings out, I printed them in a large format and cut out the templates, pinned to the felt and cut them out. I pressed all the seams, and that was all I did. Emma decided to protest her naps that day, making it impossible for me to do any sewing. My mom completed the rest of the costume and it turned out better than I could have imagined!

 

We can't wait to take her trick or treating, yes you heard me. My hubby is more than excited to parade her around in her outfit to a couple of houses and reap the candy.....I guess I can eat Skittles. (since I am still off dairy) Hope to get photo's and to do a follow up post with her in her costume tonight!

Happy Halloween!

Anniversary Subway Art

I have dabbled in wall art for a little while here. When I learned that Photoshop does more than edit photos I knew that I wanted to make Subway Art for our friends and families. It's really popular and its a great addition to your home. I have done Disney inspired art, music lyrics and of course anniversary art for my sister and brother in law.

When my dear cousin asked me to make one for her ten year anniversary, I took to Pinterest to get some inspiration and we talked wording and we came up with this:

The quotes "The art of married life is in the journey." and "It takes faith to go forward together without knowing what the future holds." are verses from their wedding vows. We used dates, various cities and other items that were important to their relationship and we included their little ones name also. I used vintage inspired fonts to keep with their retro theme that is in their home. I put it on a chalkboard background and sent it over to Costco for printing. Three days later and it was ready! It's so fun to make these and I hope to make one for my own family one of these days!

 

Happy Anniversary to my favorite cousin and her family!

Custom Quilt for Baby Emma

This child is going to be a blanket baby just like her momma and daddy. With the amount of blankets that she received at her baby shower you would have thought that I would have decided to make her something else. I was feeling guilty that I never made her anything but I couldn't figure out something to make her that she didn't already have being store bought or made from my family. I had started a diaper bag, that has yet to be finished, but will be similar to this bag I made for my dear friend's son Aidan. That will be her overnight bag and I will post that when I have it completed.....seriously it just needs snaps and velcro and its done.

So that left me with making her a blanket. She didn't need another one, but I needed to make her one and especially one with her name on it. I took to Pinterest and found this pattern. I was in love and made it my mission to make this quilt!

Here's how to make it:

What You'll Need:
(4) Fat Quarters
1 yard white fabric per quilt for the center
1-1/4 to 1/2 yard fabric per quilt for backing (We had to piece the back because the original pattern said 1 yard and it wasn't enough
1/2 yard fabric per quilt for binding
Batting
Heat N Bond Lite
Colored thread for applique

Directions:

1. Cut the fat quarters you want to use for the border so that they are 5″ x 10″. You will need a total of (14)  5″ x 10″ blocks.

2. Sew (4) 5″ x 10″ pieces together along the short sides. Press & set aside. Repeat.

3. Sew (3) 5″ x 10″ pieces together along the short sides. Press & set aside. Repeat.

4. Cut your white fabric to 29 3/4″ x 29 1/2″

 

 

5. Sew one of the 3 block strips to the 29 1/2″ side of the white fabric. Repeat by sewing the other 3 block strip to the other side. Press.
6. Sew the 4 block strips to the other 2 sides of the white block. Press. Trim off excess if necessary.
7. Quilt as desired.

8. I used my mom's Cricut machine to find a font I liked. I also liked the idea of having all the letters lowercase. Trace the letters backwards onto the slick side of a piece of Heat n Bond Lite. Cut out roughly and iron onto wrong side of fabric. Cut out. 

9. Iron onto fabric according to directions. Hand stitch around all the letters.

Simple, straightforward and absolutely adorable. She loves to lie on it during tummy time, or nap in her pack and play with it!

If your interested in seeing the original head on over to Polka Dot Chair and give her a shout.

Baby Shower for Emma Jean

{Warning Photo OVERLOAD!}

I need to start off this post by saying I have the most amazing family and friends! Seriously! The amount of love and support that the hubby and I have received up until this point is amazing, but it certainly showed at the baby shower for our little girl. The grandmas and aunt to be went all out in creating the perfect baby shower with a jungle theme.....based on my color scheme for her nursery...pink, teal and grey!

I could not sleep after all the excitement of seeing my step mom and seeing all the little things come together! I was up at 3AM, 5AM, 7AM......finally I just got in the shower at 8 and took the pup for a walk. She then went on a lead in the backyard and I started to "help" as much as I was allowed to! I helped by putting dishes in the dishwasher, organizing the thank you gifts and placing my custom designed chalkboard outside the front door. Basically I wasn't allowed to do anything. Haha. The ladies sent me off to get chips, salsa and batteries for cameras. When I came back, baby shower set up was in full force. They did such a great job, so I am going to try and let the photo's do all the talking. All the decor was meant to be useful, so there were diaper cakes, toys, wreaths....all with things that can be used later on!

Pictured above: My mom made the blocks with Emma's name on them. They have little animals on all the other sides and they were made with the fabrics that my mom and I selected here. The photo's are of me and D as babies that my M.I.L. put on foam core and hung with adorable clothespins.....no detail shot of those. She also made the wreath with socks, headbands, washcloths and mini bathroom products.

Pictured Below: OMG....my mom made this wall hanging/quilt for the shower. Neither of us want it to be used as an actual quilt though! It's too cute! She got the pattern before I decided that I wanted elephants and pink and grey too! She knows me so well! Haha.

Pictured above: We had two different types of cupcakes made by a family friend. They were so good! Lemon Coconut and White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake! The lemon coconut ones must have been popular because they were gone! My mom made the toppers with her Cricut and a cute punch we found at Michael's.

Pictured Below: These cookies were from a friend of my M.I.L. We affectionately call the chocolate covered pretzels "Crack Pretzels" because they are SO addicting!

The dessert table!

Pictured above: The Lemon Coconut cupcakes

Pictured below: My mom made adorable popcorn boxes, like the ones we had at the gender reveal, but stamped them on each side with a different jungle animal! My M.I.L. got a giant bag of kettle corn, per daddies request, also to fill them

Pictured above: One of the many diaper cakes that my M.I.L. made for center pieces for the tables! I love the stuffed animals on top!

Pictured below: These cupcakes were done by my mom and they consist of a receiving blanket base and onesie for the icing!

As you can see there was a diaper raffle and I honestly think that I will not need to buy diapers for a LONG time. We filled two 36 gallon plastic totes with diapers size 1 and up, and still have about 10 packages of newborn diapers! Plus another awesome diaper cake!

Here are some shots taken during the festivities and everyone enjoying the taco truck, sweets and games!

My two moms: My step mom on the left and my mom on the right

Playing games with good friend! Do you think she won?

I forgot what was said, but obviously I found it amusing!

Then it was gift time! Oh my goodness the amount of love that was showered upon this child was completely unreal and I am truly grateful to everyone! I didn't take pictures of everything being opened, but here's a few shots.

Reading cards

Wall decor

Family watching

The pile won't even fit completely in the frame!

We then had a mini photo shoot with us and our wonderful moms in the backyard.....please excuse how tired I look!

Me and my two moms

Us and my two moms

Me with my three moms. See this kid is already spoiled with THREE grandmas!

Us with D's mom

Us with my mom

D and my stepmom

And finally.....my mom bought everyone these socks and we of course had to take a photo of everyone wearing them. Note: They are already in my hospital bag! Hehe

There you have it. The whirlwind of a baby shower. I know I have said it already, but THANK YOU so much to all of the grandma's and my cousin who helped put this whole shindig together. It would not have been near as good without your expertise! Also thank you to the family and friends who spoiled our little girl already! She truly is a lucky little girl! <3