Tie-Dying

While we were visiting I mentioned to my sister-in-law that all summer I'd been thinking that it would be fun to tie-dye with the girls, but I just hadn't gotten to it yet.  We decided to do it while we were there so one evening on her way home from work Brittany picked up some shirts and a dye kit and we got the work.  Charlotte was excited!

 Lily was still working on her ice cream.

 Brittany found some while cotton skirts as well for the girls so they got to help us dye those.

Tyson and I even got to do a shirt and I did a onesie for Gideon.  We got a picture of us all together, which incidentally, is the first picture of all 5 of us.

 Lily calls it her rainbow shirt and wore it for 3 day straight.

 Charlotte loves that hers is "pink and lellow"

 Not sure what little man here thinks yet, but I think he's cute as a button.

Getting Things Organized

I like to cook and I'm a little bit obsessive compulsive. I like things organized and I function best when I have systems set up.  I've been making menus and planning our meals since we were first married, and sometimes I do better at it than others.  I also love to try new recipes.  I have more cookbooks than I could ever use and yet I still spend a lot of time online looking for recipes and ideas.  I've ended up with so many sheets printed off all over my kitchen counters and menus written on shopping lists on the fridge and I finally decided to buckle down and organize it all.  This is what I have come up with:

I started with a binder, just an ordinary binder, some plastic sheets, and dividers.  I found this cute cover the binder here (she also has several other color options).  I went online and printed out a calendar for the year, that's right, all of 2012.  I found this particular calendar here.  You should have seen Tyson's face when I told him that I was printing off an entire calendar for menu planning, poor guy thought that I was crazy enough to plan out our meals for the entire year all at once!  I put all twelve pages in one sheet protector, that way I can see two months at a time, but I also have past months to refer back to for ideas.  We tend to get stuck in a rut and repeat meals so this way I can see when we last ate something so that I can space them out better.

Before filling in any spaces I went over our normal calendar and made adjustments for days that we would not be eating at home, like date nights or time out of town.  Then I marked our leftover days.  My husband has a crazy schedule so two days a week he is only home for breakfast.  Those days we have leftovers.  I make sure to plan meals that will leave lots of leftovers for the day before our leftover day.  Sunday is also crock pot day in this house because I have such a limited amount of time to get dinner ready between church and the time that Tyson has to leave for work.  I also write down the primary vegetable that I plan to serve with the meal, one less thing to think about when it is time to grocery shop or cook.  With these things in mind, I turn to my meal ideas list and then fill in the calendar.  My list continues on to the back and keeps growing.  No more meal ruts for us!

 The meal ideas list is a lifesaver, it will save you so much time and frustration with your menu planning.  I made a list a few years ago and recently updated it with new favorites.  To make the list I went through my favorite cookbooks and printed recipes and wrote down the names of all of the recipes that we have tried and would like to make again.  I wrote today's date in the corner and as we try new recipes I'll write them on the list and every few months I'll add them to the doc and reprint it.  This is my current list of meal ideas if you want to some ideas.  And if you would like any of the recipes just shoot me an email, I love to share!  No secret recipes here!  

Behind the meal idea list I have my recipes.  No, I didn't type out the recipes from my cookbooks, I'm not that nuts.  This binder organizes the recipes that I find online or friends give me.  I like having systems for things and loose recipe cards and sheets of paper, pages take out of cooking magazines just make me crazy!  I type them up, and put them in sheet protectors, organized by category.  I use the sheet protectors for 2 reason; first they keep the recipe clean, and second, because I can keep things in alphabetical order.  I love having things in alphabetical order, they are so easy to find that way.  I've seen a lot of people just put the recipes that they printed off or clipped from a magazine right into sheet protectors and that would work great, but my OCD wants them all to be uniform in typeface and format so I retype them.

 Isn't that so nice and clean?  I love it!  I have to admit, I am way too excited about this binder!  My husband can't quite understand my excitement, but I'm sure that there are others out there who can.

Vintage TV Makeover

Again I found an idea for a project online and I couldn't help myself, I had to try it. I was perusing one of my new favorite blogs and I came across this http://www.infarrantlycreative.net/2010/09/roadkill-rescue-vintage-tv-ii.html.

I love watching craigslist for free stuff that I can rework and remake into something new, so the other day when I spotted this old TV I jumped on it. Tyson went and picked it up for me and brought it home.

This was our starting point.

I pulled the back off and it was instantly clear that the people who owned this TV for the last 40 years must have also owned cats. It was filthy inside, but my first goal was to get the tube out.

We got everything out, but the interior needed some serious work.

I forgot to take pictures in between, so sorry, but steps are missing. We added a shelf and facing. I had intended to paint it an off-white, but when I was at the store, the apple green called to me. I can't help it, I love green and since this table it for my girls' playroom I figured that I could get away with it. This is a picture after the first coat was applied.

The final product! We had leftover bead board from redoing our stairwell so we used that as the backing and I love the detail. Not too bad when you consider that the only cost was $7.00 for 2 cans of spray paint.

I decided to add a photo of it all filled up and in use.

Sisters' Craft Day

My sisters that live here in town and I decided that it would be fun to start having a monthly craft day. We plan to take turns finding a fun project and then we'll get together one day each month and do them. This month my sister Sarita found this great little tutorial to make a bag http://madeonmaple.blogspot.com/2011/01/bow-bag-tutorial.html. Yesterday we all met at my house with out materials and got going on them.

They turned out to be very simple, but so cute! I wish that I had take pictures of Sarita's and Ali's bags before they left, but these are the ones that I made for Lily and I.

At first I thought that I was being a little silly making one for Lily as well, but after mine was finished and I was working on hers she grabbed mine and played with it for the entire time that I was sewing hers. I scaled down the pattern a bit so that Lily's bag would be a better size for her. She has been carrying her books and baby dolls around in it all day.

And of course, while the mommas sewed the kids played. Lily and Junior specialized in mischief and playing with everything that they shouldn't. The decided to take over Oscar's crate for a little while.

Easter

As promised, a few pictures of Lily in her Easter dress. We took them this morning, but it was rather cold so I didn't keep her out for a prolonged photo shoot. The dress is a little big on her, but I love it. Mostly because the girl in it is just as cute as they come!She loves the filled Easter eggs. She has to examine each and every one of them.

Another lovely shot.

The sun was in her eyes a bit so we have a smile with a squint.

And finally, a video of our girl sorting through her basket.

All in all it was a lovely day. We stayed home this morning and watched conference and then went to my parents house for a family dinner and to watch the final session. It was a great day to spend with family and remember our Savior Jesus Christ.

Easter Dress

I finished Lily's Easter dress this morning and I am so excited about it! I made it a little big because I wanted it to fit for more than 3 months, but it still fits now. For pictures of her wearing it you will have to check back on Easter Sunday.

Anyway, here are some pictures of the finished product. This is an original pattern. The skirt is a lace entrelac motif that I just fell in love with!
I added the little flower here at the waist. And due to the entralac motif we ended up with a beautiful scalloped edge. Here is the back view with the little pearl button on top.

And of course, a matching hair clip just because I had to.

My Etsy Shop

So most of you know by now that I love to make things. I have really enjoyed making cute little things for my little girl, but one little girl can only use so much. So, I decided to start up and Etsy shop. The web address for my site it http://www.etsy.com/shop/bellesetoiles.

Feel free to poke around and please send me ideas for new projects that you would like to see and tell me what you think.

I Finally Finished It!

I started this project several months ago. I actually can't remember exactly what month it was. Anyway, I saw this pattern and I thought that it was cute. Plus, it had some fun new challenges for me. I'm still just learning how to knit and this was my first time learning to do cables.

Anyway, it was a fun project to work and here are the results!While I am thrilled to be done with it, I find myself a bit lost as far as what to do next. I've been playing with some new things and I am excited to get started on a new challenge. I should probably finish another project that I am in the middle of first though.

Baby & Nursery Update

I have been asked by several people to give an update on our little girl. First I guess that I just actually post the name that we have decided on. Last Fall, before we even knew that we were expecting, Tyson and I randomly started talking about names. He decided at that time that he loved the name Lily. The conversation ended there and then, in January when we found out that we were expecting a girl, we had to start up the conversation again. Tyson was still very stuck on the name Lily and right away started calling her that. Ann is my mother-in-law's name and also my twin sister's middle name so it seemed like the perfect choice. So, we settled on Lily Ann.

Alright, an update. This last week I hit the 30 week mark so we are over 3/4 of the way there! According to my doctor all is proceeding just perfectly. We had a problem earlier with my AFI level being low, but after increasing my daily water intake from 2 liters to over 3 per day everything is looking good. I'm also getting to the point of being very tired again, but I'm pretty sure that I can make it through. We don't have that much longer to wait.

Also, I am finally completely finished with Lily's room. I always thought that it was silly that people made such a big deal of decorating a nursery and such. However, I have pretty much gone all out. I don't know when I changed my mind about this, but I certainly did. In my defense, I did most of the work myself so it didn't cost me very much at all.

My first project was her bedding which was finished a while ago. I just finished the paintings on the wall today.

Again, had you asked me 6 months ago I would have said that the nursery letters were a little silly, but then sometime his December I decided that I had to have them so that was another little project. I found the dresser on Craigslist for $30 and brought it home and painted it. I thought that was a pretty good deal.

This was our big purchase and Tyson's way of spoiling me. He bought me this fantastic rocking chair and ottoman. The only problem is that he likes it a little too much, I have to fight him for it sometimes.