Wednesday, August 31, 2011

What will your money do?

Want to give to the campaign but not sure if its all going to go where you want? I promise, 100% of the money you give goes towards well digging projects – and this time you’ll be able to track where the rig goes and how many wells it digs! image

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

The Big Kickoff Celebration!

Hi ya’ll! Today is the day! That’s right, my birthday. And today I’m kicking off a 3 month campaign to raise $1500 for charity:water. Maybe you saw one of the previous blogposts, maybe not. Either way you’re here now and you’re reading this one.
Let me make this exceedingly easy for you.
Today is my birthday.
image
Instead of giving me a gift, or even posting a comment or on my facebook wall, give your coffee money to charity:water. In fact, I’ll make it even easier. I will send a charity:water bracelet to anyone who helps me make it to $200 by September 7th.
image
$20 gives 1 person clean water for 20 years.
Its that simple. Now isn’t that worthwhile?
I thought so.
Then, after you give, check back here to see what challenges I’m posting.

These sites have links to this post:
http://readingandchickens.blogspot.com/
http://www.serenitynowblog.com/

Monday, August 29, 2011

Car Seat Strap Covers

DSC_0003 (4)

We got a super deal on a convertible car seat about a month ago from Target. Unfortunately, the model we bought didn’t come with covers for the shoulder straps. My Sweet Pea is just so sensitive that the straps started to bother her immediately.

So this morning I decided to make her some strap covers. Now, a lot of tutorials I’ve seen have the strap covers in a nice easy square shape. I’m sure that this is an easy method for being successful at this project, however, I’m in the mood for a something different and decided to make mine the same shape as the strap covers on Sweet Pea’s infant car seat (we have a chicco – the strap covers are half circles). If you want to make square ones, click through on the image below for easy directions – but be sure to read this post for tips on how to make the process even simpler!

image

If you want to make circles, like mine,  keep reading.

Materials:

  • Four circles cut from your choice of fabric. You could upcycle some old t-shirts, baby blankets, burp cloths, or just use some craps that you have lying around.
  • Edging – double sided bias tape if you’re in a hurry,  or, use some of the material that you’re upcycling and make your own bias tape. You’ll probably want a bias tape maker if you choose that route.
  • Four circles of cotton batting… or if you’re like me and too cheap to go to the fabric store, you can use some scrap felt that you have lying around.
  • 4 inches of velcro

Step 1. Cutting out your shapes.

I recommend you use a pattern. A big cereal bowl will probably do nicely. Fold and pin your fabric then trace your bowl. Do this twice so you’ll have four pieces of fabric. Repeat for the felt/cotton batting.

Step 2. Sewing your pieces together.

Start by pinning the fabric together with felt/cotton batting sandwiched in between, right sides facing out. It should be four layers thick. Sew three to four seams at even intervals to attach all the materials together.

Step 3. Attaching your edging

Pin the binding (or your homemade edging) to the edge of the circles the whole way around. Be sure to fold under the edge that lays on top as you finish pinning around the circle. Sew along the edge being sure to sew through both sides of the binding and all four layers of your strap cover.

Step 4. Attaching your velcro

Cut the velcro into pieces that are about 2 inches long. Sew the hooks and the loops to opposite edges of the same side of your strap cover.

Step 5. Enjoy!

Attach to your carseat, stroller, carriage, pram, or bike seat and enjoy! I hope your little ones find these to be as comfortable as they are stylish.

 

But wait, you say. home come your tutorial had no pictures? Haha. That because I did mine a little differently than the other tutorials online. If you are using a basic cotton fabric or upcycling a t-shirt, definitely use the directions above. However, if you happen to have a nice fleecy fabric scrap on hand that was left over from last year’s halloween costume… then by all means follow the directions below.

The EASY WAY:

Step 1: Cut your fabric out.

Use a bowl, same as above, but for this version you only need 2 circles.

DSC_0001 (2)

Step 2: Sew an edge to keep your fabric from fraying.

Fleece is nice because it generally doesn’t fray. To give your straps a nice edge and to keep them from coming apart, sew around the edge of each circle.

DSC_0003 (3)

It will look like this when you’re done:

DSC_0004 (2)

Step 3: Attach Velcro

Just like above, make sure that you attach the hooks and looks on opposite edges of the same side of the circle. Yep, just sew it on. I used scrap velcro so mine are a little small, but they work great!

DSC_0005 (2)

It should look like this when you’re done:

DSC_0007 (2)

And like this when folded over:

DSC_0009

So simple! I think it only took 20 minutes. This is a great option if you’re short on time because each strap is just one piece of fleece.

Add embellishments if you choose, or go plain and make it match your car seat. Enjoy!

DSC_0003 (4)

Saturday, August 27, 2011

Have you heard Rachel’s story?

Hundreds of people have started campaigns like mine to raise money to bring clean water to people all over the globe. One young girl in the Seattle area, Rachel, aged 9, decided she was going to give up her birthday this past summer to try to raise $300 to bring 15 people clean water. Then tragedy struck. Check out her story Then visit charity:water to donate.

 

Friday, August 26, 2011

Change is good.

There have been a lot of changes in our lives in the last 15 months. I quit my job, we moved across the country, Hubby started a new job, we made new friends, had a baby, made more new friends, found a new church, started blogging, learned to sew, the list just keeps going! I got to thinking about all the changes in our lives and have been wondering how I can help bring change in other peoples lives across the globe.

So, we’ve decided to use my birthday to start a 3 month campaign to raise $1,500 for charity:water. Watch out for more blogs between now and November 30th for all the crazy things I’m going to do to get you to donate to my campaign. And to make it even crazier, we will match every dime you donate to my campaign so we can make an even bigger impact!!

Never heard of charity:water? Check out this video for a short history and then visit my charity:water campaign page to make a donation. Heck, you should even bookmark the campaign page so you can see how we’re progressing.

Meal of the Week 7: Pasta Salad

A summery Pasta Salad
Ingredients:
  • 1 bag multi-colored spiral pasta
  • 1 cucumber
  • 1 green pepper
  • 1/2 red onion
  • 1/2 bag shredded mozarella cheese
  • 1 cup Italian dressing
  • 2 T Italian seasoning
  • pepperoni or proscuitto
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • Optional: black olives and/or cherry tomatoes
DSC_0003 (2)
I’ve never been a fan of cold pasta dishes, but my husband grew up with them as a staple summer time food so last night when he told me he was making dinner (never say no when your husband says he’s making dinner!) I asked him what he was going to make. “Pasta Salad” he replied. I was skeptical, but it was so yummy I’m sure I’ll let him make it again. You could also heat up leftovers for a quick and yummy hot lunch the day after.
Just boil the pasta as usual, chop up all the veggies, and toss with the dressing and spices. A perfect summer dinner or side.
Linked up to these parties

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

1, 2, 5, … 8, oh wait, what’s next?

I found this fabulous tutorial for making beanbags and had such a blast making them that I had to share. I think this would be a really fun way to learn to count, so I put numbers on mine. What I love about this process is how versatile it is! You could put shapes, numbers, letters, messages, or really anything on the bean bags - and they were SOOO easy to make. Unfortunately, because they have beans in them and can’t be washed I don’t really recommend them for children under 3. BUT! if you substitute the beans for plastic pony beads I think that would solve the problem.
DSC_0041
I also know that I don’t cut straight so instead of cutting the fabric out, I used pre-cut quilting squares from Jo-Anns. Enjoy!
Linked up to these parties!

Monday, August 22, 2011

Naps are back…. and so am I!

Man, its been a tough couple of months. My Sweet Pea just loves to play and learn and snuggle with mommy so much that she wasn’t napping much! Thank goodness that season is over. She’s so social and fun loving that its hard to deny her sweet request to get out of bed when she wakes up from a devastatingly short nap. So we made due with teeny-tiny nap time for a while, but no longer! And that means that I have my daytime sanity hour back again!

I’m working on a couple of projects that I’ll post soon. They’re so fabulous and easy (and even though its taken me forever to finish them), I think just about anyone could do them. Stay tuned!

WP_000483

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Meal of the Week 6: Chicken Tikka Masala (from the Pioneer Woman)

Chicken Tikka Masala
I haven’t been this excited about a recipe in months. You MUST try this if you like Indian food, Thai food, spicy food, or interesting food, or if you just want to try something new. SOOOooooo yummy!! (click the image for the link)
image 
Happy Eats!