No Sew Curtains

I had a fairly inexpensive sewing machine, and I just had a hard time with it! I would love to be able to sew and maybe one day I can get a nice one and actually learn to use it. For now, I hand sew very small things (buttons, hems, etc.) and I use fabric glue for my little DIY projects.

This is my Go-To bottle, which I purchased at Hobby Lobby:

There are lots of great tutorials out there for making your own curtains. I've done several different things here in our home, but the most recent was in our master bedroom. We have a long, narrow room and the bed makes the most sense along the back wall, between two windows. I've had really dark brown curtains hanging in the past, but I lightened it up about 2 years ago with some valence curtains we already had. Sorry the photo quality is so bad!

I was on the lookout for some curtains, but was having trouble finding what I wanted for less that $30/panel. I had decided I would just buy fabric and make my own, when I came across the trusty clearance end cap at Target. These were actually 104" tablecloths, but I liked the pattern and the fact that they already had a hem! They cost $13.98 each.

 I laid each one down flat, folded the top over about 3 inches. I just made sure that each curtain was folded the same amount so they would hang evenly. Then I slowly glued down my "hem". I let them sit overnight and they were ready to go the next morning. I ironed them both really well, then put the curtain rod through the little hole I'd made, and hung them up.

I moved the curtain rod up as far as I could. I measured down from the bottom of the crown molding so the rods would both hang at the same level.

I put them up a few months ago and I haven't changed them, so if you know me that means I must like them!

I think I will always be pleased with this room as long as it's not PURPLE (like when we bought it!). It's all about perspective, isn't it?

Here are a couple more ideas for making your own no sew curtains:

No Sew Drop Cloth Curtains

No Sew Burlap Curtains

No Sew Window Treatments

 

Dear New Mom: What I really needed.

Our house is ever-so-quickly moving out of the baby phase. 
Some days this makes me want to cry tears of joy, but I certainly have moments that I want to cry tears of GIVE ME A BABY RIGHT NOW. OR ELSE!

I am just one mom with my own experiences, but there are a few products that I was certainly glad I had while our babies really were babies (They Will Always Be My Babies). If you have more than one child, you will quickly learn that they are all different, from day one. Sometimes even before they arrive they make that obvious.
The first thing I will say is all babies really need is food, their bottoms wiped, and to be loved. This is easy for someone to say that sleeps all night and does not keep up with pacis anymore (cue tears of joy). These things are just things, but they made having babies easier and more fun. Maybe it will help a new mom somewhere along the way!
Before I start, I will also mention that if you're having your first baby, and plan to have more, go neutral when buying the big stuff. It just makes sense. Buy a gray pack n play and throw a pink blanket over that baby girl so that future boy is not stuck in a floral one, or even worse, you feel the need to buy a second one so your boy is not surrounded by pink. Just, go neutral when you can.

• PACIFIERs -- call it binky, passee, paci, packee, ginky, plug, wubbanubb, or stopper, some babies love 'em. I read somewhere that an infant that sleeps with a pacifier is less likely to die from SIDS, so I basically forced one on my newborns. I think the reasoning was that they don't actually sleep as soundly, which sounds crazy I know. Yes, all three of my brand new babies spit them out and I just kept making them take it, essentially forcing it (gently) back into their mouths. I did have about 3 different types for them to try when they arrived and it seemed like they all took one certain kind the easiest, so that's what we went with. I had no trouble with each of them not using it anymore when the time came. The older two stopped around 2 years old and the youngest started hating his around 9 months (stubborn personality?) so I just stopped giving it to him. I really did not want thumb suckers. You do have to keep up with the things and clean them, but eventually the pacifier is gone and they keep thumbs forever. It's not for everyone, I completely understand, but for me I can't imagine those first two years without a paci. Mine used this one here, and other common choices are here and here.
• BOOSTER SEAT -- I have a nice high chair that we did use, but it has a cloth cover and is very tough to clean. I ended up washing the cover every couple of days because, I mean, a baby is sitting in there eating/spitting/drinking/peeing/pooping. That's all they do, alright? So if you do want a stand along high chair, I certainly suggest one that is easy to clean! What ended up being the most useful thing for us is a booster seat. This one here (Fisher Price Healthy Care Booster Seat). This thing is portable, straps to a seat, has a removable (dishwasher safe) tray, is plastic and easy to wipe down, has straps to strap the child in and the tray can be moved to three different widths. It is honestly all we would've ever needed. While we were still using the big high chair, I kept this in my car and took it in to people's houses when we were having dinner. When I remember, I still unstrap it from its normal spot and throw it in the car when we're going to someone's house. I have seen people (germophobes..I wish I was more of one) take these into restaurants that don't want their kids eating off high chairs other people's kids have done what kids do in them. Even when you prefer to have a nice, big high chair, I promise this thing comes in handy. Our four year old still sits in a booster at the kitchen table, so you'll get your money out of it. Speaking of which, you can find these in most major stores, and I have even gotten them as low as $17 on Amazon for baby gifts. If you happen to forget one at the park or something (I can't imagine what kind of scatterbrained mom of three with two dogs at home and a background in ultrasound would do that?) it's not breaking the bank to go grab another one.
• LIGHT BLANKET --  People love to give babies blankets. Babies are not always cold. My kids are all hot sleepers, in fact. They do sleep significantly better with a blanket over them. Two of them love blankets in the car, the other has a mild heart attack if you give him anything snuggly in the car (they're all different I tell ya!). In the summer, and even in the winter when they're wearing fleece pajamas, a wool blanket is not necessary. I had a recent issue with a hand knitted blanket. My two year old is really good to hang out in his crib and roll around and sing for a while after his nap before demanding that I come get him out. He had pulled one of the pieces of yarn from a nice hand knitted blanket out into a large loop and wrapped it around his neck while doing all that rolling around. There was a scary mark around his neck when I went to get him up and I quickly banned the knitted blankets until he gets quite a bit older. That's just something to keep in mind when giving your sweet little ones a blanket.
• NURSING ACCESSORIES -- Whether you're using formula and bottles, pumping or nursing exclusively, there are some things that are very helpful for a new mommy. BREAST PADS: Even if you don't breastfeed your newborn, you will leak. It is inevitable and obnoxious, but breast pads help keep it from getting all over you. I only needed to use them for the first few months, but I know some wear them as long as they're nursing. I used disposable ones and they were pretty much all the same to me. I also used washable ones and those were much more comfortable for me. BOPPY PILLOW: This pillow is just the right shape to wrap around your waist while nursing, or giving baby a bottle. It can free up both hands while sitting and nursing. Hours upon hours are spent somewhat trapped while feeding your baby, especially when you exclusively breastfeed, so this pillow not only allows you to have both hands available, but it also keeps you from leaning forward while nursing. That saves your back lots of aching, and also your wrists don't get as tired. It's also nice to prop brand new babies up on for one reason or another! BREAST PUMP: I was fortunate to be given a really nice breast pump and I used it a LOT with all three of our little ones. The nice ones are expensive, but if you're working and need to pump, it ends up paying for itself if you don't have to buy formula. For those that plan to nurse full-time, a hand pump is still nice to have. It can give you relief during engorgement and also give you the opportunity to leave someone with a bottle so you can be away for more than 3 hours. I had two children that took a bottle really well and one that did not. They really are all so different. ANTIBACTERIAL BAR OF SOAP: Soap? Yes, soap. Mastitis is NO FUN! Washing really well with a good bar of soap helps keep germs away from your chest and decreases the chances of mastitis.
• EXERSAUCER -- Any kind of jumper or bouncer like this is very helpful. Sometimes you need that kid to be contained, and safe. Babies are BUSY and MESSY and ever so helpful while you're trying to...well, when you're trying to get anything productive done. I loved the exersaucer so much. They can sit in there by around 4 months and being able to contain them was wonderful. I cleaned up the kitchen with a baby watching me, but not destroying it. I would bring it into the bathroom while I took a shower. I would bring it outside on a nice day. It was just one of those things that ended up being more helpful than I could've imagined.
• PACK 'N PLAY -- This portable play yard has served several purposes for us. Our house has two stories with our room downstairs and the kids' upstairs. For the first several months when my babies woke up at least once during the night, they slept in our room beside our bed in the Pack 'n Play. Our youngest is now two and we still use this thing when we travel. He sleeps in it well and it is so nice to have. Because of the way our stairs are shaped, I could not install a gate upstairs. I have used the Pack 'n Play up there to block the stairs so little people could not fall down them! If you opt to not get an exersaucer of any kind, a Pack 'n Play is also a great thing to use to contain your baby. Toss some toys in there and hope they stay content long enough for you to empty the dishwasher.

Here are some things I had but did not really need:

• BABY TUB: These are certainly nice to have. I ended up putting a towel down in the bottom of the regular bathtub, putting just a little water in there and washing them in there. I hated washing the baby tub and it took up a lot of space. Before you know it, they are sitting up and won't stay in that thing anyway.
• VIDEO MONITOR: Alright, I admit that I watched our first baby all the time and it eased my mind to be able to see her sleeping on that monitor. By the third, we didn't have a monitor at all! As you read earlier, they slept in our room for the first few months anyway. Also you just change as a parent on the third go.
• CARRIER/SLING: They were never really very helpful for me, and seemed more trouble than it was worth. Some people love theirs, I just never used ours.
• DIAPER GENIE: We used ours for several years, but by the third I started just throwing the diapers in the regular trash. I wrap really bad ones in a plastic grocery bag and take it straight to the outside trash. I don't miss it, and I certainly don't miss getting onto kids for lifting the top or taking out that NASTY long blue bag full of stinky diapers. '
• BUMBO SEAT: We had one and maybe used it a couple of times, but it just wasn't really useful or helpful.

That's all I can think of for now! Feel free to comment if there are/were products for new mommies or babies you can't live without. Every home and mom and dad and baby and situation is different, so they should all be treated as such. Please, just soak up and truly appreciate those first days with a new baby. It is hard, I promise... and messy, and exhausting, and frustrating, and exciting, and a baby makes you a completely different person. It is a lot to handle all at once! But when they're gone, they're GONE!

Why We Prime

Amazon.com has a feature, I guess you'd call it, called Amazon Prime. We pay for this service, which is $99/year, and here are the reasons why:

• Free 2-day shipping -- although not everything you can buy from Amazon.com falls in the "Prime" category, there are many items available that are eligible for Prime shipping. If you purchase something one day, it will be on your doorstep in 2 days, and you don't pay for shipping. If you need the item by the next day, you can pay for next-day shipping. You can usually choose "No Rush shipping" and get a $1 credit for a digital download of some sort if you don't need the item quickly.  
  
  The free shipping comes in particularly handy when you need to buy birthday presents for other kids but you want to stay out of the toy aisle at Target with your three kids in tow. I have also used it to ship diapers and wipes to new moms, and birthday presents for my adult friends!
• Video Streaming -- At $99/year, Amazon video streaming is less expensive than Netflix per month. We cancelled Netflix when we signed up for this and haven't missed it. Obviously, you can't watch the Netflix Original shows, but other than that, most of the same shows are available from Amazon Prime for free. We can stream them on our TV through our Blu-ray player, on our iPad, or our iPhones. There are movies/TV shows that are not included in the Prime streaming that you must rent or purchase to view. The "No Rush shipping" credits can be used for that, or for purchasing kindle books. We don't own a kindle, so we only use it when we want to splurge and rent a movie.  The credit is automatically on your account, but it does expire, so be aware of that. Also, when renting a movie, there is usually the option to watch in HD for $1 more. I will say that the extra $1 is well worth it. I chose the non-HD movie one time and the quality was horrible on our TV. For us, the video streaming itself is worth having the Amazon Prime.
• Wish List -- I have an ongoing Wish List. I add an item that I may want in the future (books for kids, Christmas present ideas, household supplies, other gift ideas) then I just let it sit there. I go back and check on the price every so often to see if it has decreased.
  
  While in the Wish List, it will let you know if the price decreased since you added it, and by what percentage. Unfortunately, it does not tell you if the price increased. When something I know I want has decreased in price, I usually go ahead and order it while it's less expensive. One thing I order on a regular basis is dog food. It is usually the same price as in the store, I don't have to remember what I ordered last time because it stays on my account, and I don't have to deal with a 30lb bag of food at Kroger. It's the little things...
• Registries -- I have friends and family that have created an Amazon registry for a wedding or a new baby and it is SO convenient to order something for them without stepping into a store. I can ship it to me if I'm going to be attending a shower, and I can even ship it to them if not.
• Amazon Smile -- You can choose an organization to support and an extremely small percentage (something like 0.5%) of your purchases goes to that organization. It by no means replaces supporting important charities and helping others financially, but it doesn't hurt either! I chose rettsyndrome.org for our sweet friend Blakely Goodman!
  
• Selling on Amazon -- You can sell all sorts of things on Amazon. All we have ever sold were textbooks, but the process was very easy. You look up how much your book is worth, print a free shipping label, box it up and take it to the post office. Once it arrives, they credit your account and that's it.

There may be other reasons to use Amazon Prime, and probably other reasons not to as well. But the service has been very convenient and helpful for us. Feel free to comment with any questions and I can try to answer. NINE WEEKS UNTIL CHRISTMAS!!! I LOVE THE HOLIDAYS!!!!!!

Tips in the Kitchen: freezing onions

Here is another tip for making your cooking a bit easier!

I buy a bag of onions when they are on sale. I peel the onions, then put one in my food processor.

I let it chop away, then I scoop the onion into a freezer bag. You can also chop the onions by hand if you don't own a food processor. There are several choices that are not too expensive, and I use mine more often than I thought I would. I label the bag "one onion" and lay it flat in the freezer. Laying them flat to freeze usually makes it easier to store, especially in a smaller freezer.

I do the same thing for each onion in the bag. When I am using a recipe that calls for one onion (lots of my soups and pastas do), I just head to the freezer and grab a bag of onions and toss it in. Usually there is no need to thaw them because they're heating up on the stove anyway.

If you're in a hurry and don't want to go through all that, you can also buy frozen onions in the freezer section at the grocery store.

silly Silly Putty

Silly putty. Fun stuff. Until it's ground deep into your carpet.

Why, yes, we do have two separate spots with two different colors of silly putty embedded into the carpet in our playroom. It happens. Well, it happened to us. But things are looking better now!

Two methods that I found online to clean silly putty off carpet: rubbing alcohol or WD40. I had both, so I tried 'em both.

EXHIBIT A: Bright Orange 

I poured rubbing alcohol over the stain.

I rubbed it in well.

After letting it sit for 10 minutes (as was recommended) things were not looking too great. I used dish soap and water (also recommended) and rubbed for quite a while with no luck.

I tried just spraying regular carpet cleaner on it and scrubbing again.

Boo!

This actually looked worse than when I started, so I just sighed and moved over to

EXHIBIT B: Lime Green

It's been there a while, so it doesn't look quite as fresh. Still, it's green silly putty on the carpet.

This time, I tried the WD40. I am so weird, but I love this stuff. I am always secretly hoping doors around here start creaking so I can spray it around. Anyway. I sprayed it on the stain.

Rubbed it in with a damp washcloth.

Then, scrubbed with dish soap and water. SO MUCH BETTER.

Back on over at EXHIBIT A, I sprayed it with WD40 this time.

Rubbed it in with soap and water and...

SAH-WEET!

After 2 hours, then vacuuming..

Lime green spot:

Orange spot:

Still not perfect, but it is certainly better.

I hope you never find yourself in a (couple of) silly putty situation(s), but if you do, there is still hope! And if you don't have WD40, you can always borrow mine. Just return it quickly before a hinge goes rusty. 

The moral of the story is: don't leave children alone with silly putty.

MIA / PSL

So sorry I have been MIA for the last little bit! We had a family trip, then Fall Break, then our internet was down for several days. All is well now, so I'll have a fun post or two for you guys this week. Although, this perfect weather has me wanting to sit outside and sip pumpkin space lattes ALL DAY LONG!
If you don't feel like forking out $4.50 for one of those, try this recipe out. Fall = PSL

Pumpkin Spice Lattes

1 - 2  cups milk

2  tablespoons canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)

1 - 2 tablespoons sugar (to taste - or 8, if you're me..)

1/2  teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1  tablespoon vanilla

1/2  cup hot brewed coffee                                                                                               

Directions

• 1 In 2-quart saucepan, heat milk, pumpkin and sugar over medium heat until hot (do not boil). Remove from heat. Stir in 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice, the vanilla and coffee.
• 2 Pour into 2 large mugs. Garnish each with whipped cream, sit outside and watch the beautiful leaves fall while you enjoy not sweating.