Baby Tutorials and Links

I always email myself links and then save them for when they come in handy some day. I have a whole bunch of pregnant/nursing/baby links and tutorials that I thought I'd throw out there for the blog world.

Tablecloth Diaper Changing Mat Tutorial from The Polka Dot Umbrella

The Nursing Cover that I already made I got from Diary of a Quilter's Tutorial

Boppy Cover Tutorial from Katie J. Gibson

Christmas in July

I had this pretty awesome idea for my kitchen that involves a whole bunch of Dresden plates, so I thought I'd experiment with some Christmas fabrics before I went ahead and dove in to my big decorating project. 

Dresdens were so quick and easy! 

And, I think, very cute. 

I used this template from this tutorial from SewMamaSew. 

Since it turned out so well, I'll definitely be moving along with my kitchen project. I ordered this handy-dandy $13 cutting guide off Amazon (I LOVE AMAZON) to make things go even faster. Can't wait to post about it!

Rachel Jankovic Article on Mothering

Read the whole deal here!


"Christian mothers carry their children in hostile territory. When you are in public with them, you are standing with, and defending, the objects of cultural dislike...
"It isn’t enough to pretend. You might fool a few people. That person in line at the store might believe you when you plaster on a fake smile, but your children won’t. They know exactly where they stand with you. They know the things that you rate above them. They know everything you resent and hold against them. They know that you faked a cheerful answer to that lady, only to whisper threats or bark at them in the car.
"Children know the difference between a mother who is saving face to a stranger and a mother who defends their life and their worth with her smile, her love, and her absolute loyalty."

Headbands

Yesterday my little sisters-in-law and I started working on some reversible headbands. This was my little girl size tester. I started with the template from Happy Together (love this blog, btw!). We made the band a little skinnier and a smidge shorter for the smaller heads. This one turned out great! 

Williams-Sonoma Peanut Butter Chicken Curry

This recipe is out of my Williams-Sonoma Chicken Cookbook. The original recipe uses thighs, but I don't care for them, so I used cut up breast meat instead and consequently didn't need to cook it for nearly as long. The recipe below is my version.

Prep. Time: 10 min.
Cook Time: 35 min.
Total: 45 min.
Serves: 4

2-3 T. canola oil
2 large chicken breasts, cut into 1" cubes
salt and fresh ground pepper
2 carrots, sliced 1/2" thick
2 celery stalks, sliced 1/2" thick
2 shallots, chopped
2 T. peeled and grated fresh ginger
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 t. curry powder
1 1/2 c. chicken stock
1/2 c. peanut butter
1 c. coconut milk
2 T. cornstarch
1 c. white rice, cooked

Be sure you have all your ingredients very near at hand and ready to dump in the pan. Once you get going, things move fast!

In large deep skillet or dutch oven, heat oil over medium high heat. Add chicken and brown on all sides, about 6 minutes. Transfer to plate and season with salt and pepper.

Add carrots and celery and cook uncovered until softened, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Add shallots, ginger, and garlic. Cook until shallots soften, about 1 minute. Add curry, stir 15 seconds, then pour in stock.

Return chicken to pot. Raise heat to high and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer uncovered until chicken is no longer pink inside, about 10 minutes. (If you want the chicken to be more tender, add more broth and let it simmer longer, say...30 minutes.)

Stir in peanut butter. Then add coconut milk and cornstarch. Bring to boil, then remove from heat. Serve over rice.

Stir-fried snow peas make a great green side.

Crock Pot Version

Memory Card Game

I want so bad to make this scrap fabric memory card game but I know it's gonna be at least a couple more years before we'd get any mileage out of a matching game around here. But I'll post it just because it's so awesome.

Cheaters Never Prosper

The nursing cover turned out fabulous. Except that I cheated and now I seriously wish I hadn't. I didn't have any boning on hand, so I cut up a wire hanger. I don't know what I was thinking. The hanger makes the neck stick out, sure, but then it promptly tips forward for the world to see what's going on in there. So, I will have to tear it all out and do it again with boning. But I didn't want that to keep me from posting pictures, because it still *looks* good. It is green because that's gender neutral-ish. It has flowers because I myself am not gender neutral. And flannel. Because then it can double as a receiving blanket if it must. Another big reason NOT to use a hanger, but rather boning. Also, so that it can fit in your diaper bag without getting bent out of wack. What was I thinking?!

Grow Chart

I finished this grow chart a while ago, but I only recently got it all hung up properly. It's made from a moda charm pack (Punctuation, I think?). I found the idea on Moda's Bake Shop website. 

I cut a long dowel and slid it into some fabric pieces sewn to the back (one dowel at the top and another at the bottom).

Then I used some orange yarn to tie it to the door like this. I'm sure there's a better way, but this will do for now!

Andy was 21 1/2" when he was born. I hope to make it part of our birthday tradition to go measure the kids on the grow chart.

Knit Dish Rags

Here's the pattern I like to use for dish rags from here.

Size 7 or 8 needles

Worsted weight cotton, less than 1 ball

K = Knit

P = Purl

K2tog = Knit two stitches together

K2tog tbl = Knit two stitches together through back loop.

Inc = Knit in front and back of same stitch

Cast on 3 stitches.

Increasing Half:

Row 1: knit

Row 2: K1, inc, k1. (4 sts)

Row 3: Knit

Row 4: K1, inc in next 2 sts, k1. (6 sts)

Row 5: Knit

Row 6, 7, & 8: K3, yo, knit to end. (7, 8, & 9 sts)

Row 9: K3, yo, k1, purl to last 4 sts, k4. (10 sts)

Repeat Rows 6, 7, 8, & 9 until the cloth is your desired width, ending with Row 9.

Corners: (I use short rows for a neater corner. If you do not wish to make your corners this way, I put the short row corner in brackets, so you can eliminate that portion and just do the row as written.)

Row 1: {K3, turn; sl 1 st, k2, turn; k2, turn; sl 1 st, k1, turn; k2, turn, sl 1 st, k1, turn; k3, turn; sl 1 st, k2, turn}; k2, k2tog tbl, yo, k2tog tbl, knit to end.

Row 2: Repeat Row 1.

Decreasing half:

Row 1: K2, k2tog tbl, yo, k2tog tbl, knit to end.

Row 2: K2, k2tog tbl, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to last 4 sts on needle, k4.

Rows 3 & 4: Repeat Row 1.

Repeat Rows 1, 2, 3, & 4 until you have 7 stitches left on your needle.

Row 1: Knit.

Row 2: K1, k2tog tbl, k1, k2tog, k1

Row 3: Knit

Row 4: Bind off, knitting last 2 sts tog before binding them off.

I had these all rolled in a bundle to give someone and they won't lie flat now, so I folded them in half for the pictures. :D

Dairy Free

Check out my Dairy Free Recipe Blog: http://nomoojuice.blogspot.com/

Cloth Diapers

We're lovin' these one size pocket diapers from Charlie Banana!

My mother also just bought me some Thirsties Hemp Inserts and they work great! They're super thin, so the diaper is less bulky, and they absorb more than a regular cotton insert. 

Just started using this idea to make home made cloth diaper wipes, only I'm using a light-weight terry in addition to the flannel. I've made a couple and will give them a try before I make a million more. First, I need to make a diaper wipe spray. 

Also planning on sitting down to make a new nursing cover since the old one isn't holding together properly.