Pinished: Doll Clothes Organization

I truly love Pinterest. I have a board called Pinished where I put all pins I have completed. The girls and I used a pin idea to help us organize their doll clothes. The girls kept all of their doll clothes in bins, it was a mess!The idea was to place card stock in ziplock baggies and then an outfit on each side of the card stock. I had the bins and card stock, we jut had to buy baggies. We sorted the clothes and accessories, they are much easier to find now!

 

Now we need Lego organization!

 

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pinterest projects

I know I just wrote about Pinterest, but it is very addictive. I signed up for it several months ago, but wasn't really interested. Oh dear, so addictive. At least this little addiction is fostering some creativity and project completion within the Reuter home.

These are my inspiration pin, and below you will see my finished project. Neither Brad or I could agree on which hat belonged to whom. I had to go back and look at pictures to figure it out, also had to look up their length.

Source: flickr.com via Staci Furman on Pinterest

Below are several other projects that we have made, all inspired from Pinterest. You will see the Santa Christmas countdown complete with green eyebrows. Also are some learning activities for the girls.  The little man has numbers on him and the girls used dice (on my phone :) to find the sum of the two numbers. Then they colored it with a dot marker. Next is Jillian working on fine motor skills putting colored paper clips on paper coordinating with the color I wrote. Botton is a baggie (double) with hair gel and food coloring. She is writing her letters in the gel. 

on my toes

Over a year ago I was dropping off some things at the Goodwill when something just donated caught my eye. So I asked the donation guy, can I buy that? He looked at me like I was nuts and then told me he would take it to the other side (the shopping side) and I could buy it there. It was a large chalkboard, with a nasty peach hued frame. They charged me $2.98. So I hauled it home and Brad grumbled when he saw it sitting in the garage. So he painted it.

I had him hang it in my stairwell. I wrote our weekly plans on it plus dinner items. Turns out, I was the only one who cared about it and so I let it slide. About 3 months ago I wrote my menu on there just for old times' sake. Well, one night on the way home from dance Mia said "Yes, we are having Tacos for dinner!" I asked her how she knew and she said "I read it on the board!"

She reads the menu now and checks our schedule on her own. She keeps me on my toes and reminds me what we are having for dinner. So now I just write the items on a post it note and she writes them on the board. What a helper!

recall?

One of the perks of living in a 33 year old house (trying to be positive here) are the 33 year old trees. Don't get me wrong, I really like the character of old houses, I grew up in one with an insulated milk box for the milk man and a dumb waiter. I really value an old house and its anti- cookie cutter appeal. I would love, love, love to remodel one, meaning Brad. However, my current piece of paradise doesn't have that much character, like great woodwork, old hardwoods, stonework, etc. Not much special in a 1977 raised ranch.

Back to the trees. A yard of walnut trees! That means you have to pick them all up to mow, or trip over them. Back to positive thinking. Their height makes great spots for swings! We finally took down the baby swing, which actually was great fun for "under doggies" for 5 year olds. Brad and his dad built a disc swing and a bench swing. Both are a hit! Every time we have kids over, there is a line for them. You just don't see swings like these anymore.

And this is probably why. Ouch. No wonder Little Tykes uses plastic.
Recall?

berry sweet

We made our first batch of Strawberry Jam earlier this month. It is a hot commodity! After distributing it to my regular consumers, plus teacher gifts, we had one itty bitty jar for ourselves. Which we of course ate it in one day.

We gave the girls' teachers these little gifts for the end of the year. Inside the card it said, "We hope you have a 'berry sweet' summer." Jillian had 3 teachers and Mia had 2 this year. As a teacher myself, I tend to gift them often. Actually, parents I have had in the past have been extremely generous to me. I see this now as my time to pay back, in a round about kind of way.

Such fun to cook with the girls!

Memory Quilt

Several years ago I came across the idea to make a patchwork quilt out of baby clothes. I thought it was a lovely idea and began the process of setting aside items that could be used. Mostly I used sleepers, onesies, outfits with a stain on some part, blankets, etc. I did throw in some patches of burp rags, changing pad cover, and bloomers. I started this project over a year ago with cutting the squares. Then I set it aside, typical Staci project. A couple of weeks ago I began sewing Mia Kate's because she is my first born. It actually went a lot faster than I anticipated. I finished today and am so proud of it!

The blanket is not perfect, just like my mothering is not perfect. There were times when I was sewing and thinking that making this blanket was kind of like my mothering experience. You are going along great and then, what the hell, my bobbin ran out of thread. AAUUGGH! Like you are going along great and then your child decides to scream every night before bedtime. You just rewind the bobbin and keep on keepin' on.

Mia Kate loves it! I love it and am still patting myself on the back for finishing it! The directions I read said not to include knits, because they stretch. I didn't follow that part, because some of the best pieces were knit. So, you will notice that my lines are not always exact. as the knits did stretch.

The "My First Christmas" patch is from the bottom of her bloomers that she wore on her first Christmas. Below, above the duck patch, is a purple circus print that she wore home from the hospital. It is also the outfit that she was wearing in her birth announcement. I bought it at the Baby Gap about a week before I had her. I didn't know I was having a girl, but knew it was a darling outfit, knew that I really wanted a girl, and I wanted to pick out her going home outfit. Plus, you can always return it. She didn't disappoint. Most pieces have a story and I hope to share them all with her.

I chose some sassy pieces, such as those with ruffles or pockets. Her first jeans are included as well as her first swimsuit. We will keep it at the end of her bed and maybe during colder weather she can cuddle up in it. Some of the pieces will be repeated in Jillian's quilt, as she wore some of the same clothes, but it will have many different pieces.

I had 20 rows consisting of 12 patches each, lots of sewing. I lined it with a cotton batting and then Mia Kate picked out a soft pink backing. I then tied some yarn at certain intervals, not sure the technical name for this. I was going to put a pink satin binding on it, but decided that might be pushing my skills. When I mentioned stopping while I was ahead Brad laughed at me and I said "Do you want a matching broken shoulder?" You know, I still have another child awaiting her blanket! Pretty sure he knows how to sew!

To see the instructions click on the link in the first sentence of this post or here.

Birthday Bucket

MK was given a birthday bucket, made from a paint can, for her 1st birthday. Inside we keep her party invitations and usually a napkin from each party. Sometimes a few pictures or other memorabilia. She loves to open it each year and reminisce. I bought an empty paint can (you can buy them at Home Depot or Lowe's) to make Jillian one. Three years later I finished it. I used ribbons and left over wrapping paper from her recent birthday party plus a little modge podge. Very easy!