Paint the Front Door

Ever since we moved in almost 3 years ago, I haven't been fond of our yucky brown front door. I've thought about painting it for years, but it wasn't until I saw Young House Love's front door makeover last week that I finally decided to tackle it. You know, because I'm nesting and ohmygoodnessthishastohappenNOW.  Husband wasn't in love with the idea, but with me being super pregnant he was powerless to stop me. Well, more like he just stood back and smiled and kept the crazy at bay. Thanks husband! My first step was picking up some paint samples from Lowe's.

Clearly I had no idea what I wanted so I just grabbed anything that caught my eye! I started by eliminating anything that clearly didn't work with the siding or that was the same kind of tone (I wanted something either lighter or darker so it would stand out). Then I taped the remaining contestants on the front door and stood back to take a look. A little boy had to get in on the taping action, can you tell? :)

No-Sew Fabric Banner Tutorial

A couple weekends ago was our last trip away from home before we hunkered down to wait for baby day. We headed up north to celebrate my SIL's wedding. It was a fun time with lots of family. Being super-pregnant, there wasn't too much for me to do to help. But I did whip up a no-sew pennant banner for the reception.

Supplies

• pennant fabric - I used plain quilting cotton (the amount depends on the size and number of pennants you need)
• mid-weight fusible interfacing - enough to back the pennants
• letter fabric -  I used white quilting cotton
• double sided iron-on interfacing - for attaching the letters to the pennants
• ribbon
• hot glue gun

I started by making a template for the pennants. I just used printer paper and folded it to a size that looked good. I think it ended up being about 12" tall and 10" wide. I used the template to cut all my pennants out of pennant fabric. Then I ironed the pennants onto the back of the mid-weight fusible interfacing, then cut out around the pennants. And I have no picture of this. Sorry. You should end up with a pile of fabric pennants with interfacing on the back.

Then I picked a nice fat font (so it would show up across the room) and printed out a sample letter to see how it would fit on my pennants. Once I was happy with the size I printed all the letters I needed and cut them out (remember if you need more than one of a letter, like 2 o's, you still only need to print out one).

Then I went ahead and used my iron to fuse the white letter fabric to the double-sided interfacing (just follow the directions included with the interfacing). After that I traced all the letters and cut them out. I traced on the back of the interfacing to make sure no marks were left on the front, so I had to flip my letters upside down when I traced them.

Then I peeled the backing paper off of the letters and ironed them onto the centers of the blue pennants (I measured up from the bottom of the pennant to make sure my letters would all sit at the same height, I think it was about 4")

Then I was ready to attach the pennants to my ribbon. I left a couple feet of ribbon at the beginning for tying, then used a hot glue gun to attach the ribbon across the top of each pennant. I used a ruler to make sure they were evenly spaced (I did 1 1/4" apart, but you can do whatever you like!). Just be really careful as you go to make sure your letters are in the right order!

I needed more than one spool of ribbon so when one ran out I just lined up the beginning of the new spool and kept on gluing. You can see below where I did that. At the end I left a couple more feet of ribbon for tying the banner up. 

And that was it! We put it up with a rainbow strip curtain (my SIL made it by cutting cheap flat sheets into strips and tying them to a piece of twin) and it was a great backdrop for the head table at their rainbow themed reception.

So let's talk weddings! What's your favorite DIY wedding project? What's the coolest thing you've ever seen at a wedding or reception?

p.s. I'm hoping to have some blogging interruptions in the near future. This baby is DUE! Happy 40 weeks to us all!

Beefing Up Our Freezer Stash - Burritos!

B and I pretty much chilled at home this week. I used Monday to beef up my post-baby food stash (I already have a few big crockpot meals in the freezer). I made up a big pile of burritos to add to it. These will be great because we can pull out 1 or 2 and pop them in the microwave when we need something quick. And they are super easy to make. I just laid out a bunch of tortillas and topped them with refried beans, taco meat mix (you can use anything! I use a mix of hamburger, black beans, quinoa, taco seasoning, and salsa. It's great to mix in veggies like corn or zucchini too!), and some cheese.

Then I just folded up the burritos and stuck them in freezer bags. All done!

Ring Sling Tutorial

I've talked about babywearing before (you can see my posts here and here, and how I made my own mei tai carriers here and here) but it's not something that's come up much since B decided he is definitely too big to be worn around several months ago. But now that we're about to have a new little squishy bundle, I've been thinking babywearing will be better than ever since it can keep both hands free when I need to take care of B! I still have the stretchy wrap we loved when B was tiny, but I started thinking it would be nice to have another option. Something quicker to put on and off when we are in a hurry. So I asked some babywearing friends and the result was pretty unanimous - a ring sling was the way to go! But I was not on board with spending $60 to purchase one... so I started searching for how to make my own!

 

I can't wait to test it out! I tried to talk B into hopping in for a quick hip carry, but he totally didn't go for it. Like I said, he's apparently all grown up or something. So for now I just wait for a little squish to fill it up. In the mean time, I have a tutorial if anyone else wants to give it a try!

Supplies:

• fabric - 2 - 2 1/2 yards x 30 inches 
• I used a single layer of 100% linen fabric. I've heard linen is a great choice because it's sturdy but still pretty lightweight and breathable.  
• From what I've read, something of that weight is fine in a single layer but if you want to use something like a quilting cotton you'll need at least 2 layers to make sure it's sturdy enough. 
• Also keep in mind that the tail of your sling will show the wrong side of your fabric, so get a fabric without a wrong side if you can or use two layers of cotton with the wrong sides together to make a reversible sling. 
• If you use a 60" wide fabric you can get two slings out of it! 
• pair of rings 
• make sure you get rings that are designed for ring slings and tested to be safe! I ordered aluminum from slingrings.com
• the size depends on the weight of your fabric and the width of your sling. For my 30" wide linen they suggested the large rings, but be sure to read their recommendations if you are using something different!
• matching thread
• use a high quality thread that won't break! I always here Gutterman's is recommended for babywearing projects and available at most sewing stores. 
• accent fabric (optional)
• this is just if you want to add a little extra pretty to your sling and can be any kind of fabric. I just used some scraps of quilting cotton.

Got it? Let's get started!