Baby Gifts

I've been working as fast as I can to get some baby gifts done before I left this area. I have some great friends that I wanted to give gifts too. I hope that they like them.

I love making hair bow holders, especially when I already have all of the supplies in my stash. I think it is a great gift for little girls. Check out my other one that I made for my neice, Allie.

This is a baby girl wipe container. I just used my hot glue gun and attached padding. I then sewed two pieces of scrap fabric together and then hot glued it to the outside of the case. I then got some good ribbon (the thicker the ribbon the better it looks) and glued it around the edges. The back looks the same except it doesn't have the padding. To get more specific instructions go to Make Your Own Baby Stuff.

This is the baby boy wipe container. I did it the same way except I used a dark blue fabric on the bottom instead of having the same polka dot fabric.

This is my first attemp to make a "W" pillow for little baby William. I used one of the patterns that I got but I'm not very happy with how it turned out. I will have to keep working on it and see if I can improve with the pattern.

I had a bunch of diapers that I tried to use up with Alex but wasn't able too. So the next best thing to do with them is make a diaper cake as a gift. I also have a container of wipes and a bottle stuffed inside.

Sorry

Sorry about the lack of posting. We are getting ready to move in a couple of weeks so I haven't had much time to do much of anything but get ready for that. I have a lot of projects backed up so hopefully I will be able to go into a crafting frenzy once I'm settled. Here are a few I'm thinking about:

1. a patchwork cover for my boppy using the leftover fabric from the quilt my mom made Alex (I still have the ugly cover from Walmart on my boppy)

(current boppy...isn't it ugly?...but wouldn't it look cute with these fabrics?)

2. covering my wooden blocks like Making a Home but not girly...

I might even make them into streets and cars and signs...wouldn't that be fun!

3. a partial quilted jean baby outdoor quilt (the bottom will be made out of jean fabric but the top is out of adorable fabric)

4. magnetic key hanger/random stuff holder thing (I'm not sure how to explain)

5. For my bedroom I want to do these fabric wall hangings from Make It and Love it in Maroon and Navy Blue for sure and I'm not sure what the third color will be. My bedroom needs some decor BADLY! I thought this is a cheap, easy and cute way to add to the room.

6. Of course some decor for my new living room/ kitchen/ bedroom/ bathroom/ and everywhere in between. Red is the key color I'm using but I use different shades or different combinations in each room. My kitchen is bright red with black and white and my living room is maroon with green and my bathroom is red with dark brown, tan and white.

Be sure to check out some of the blogs that I follow. They have some GREAT ideas.

Some of my favorite HEALTHY whole wheat food

My husband and I have switched over to just eating whole grain food. We do have exceptions in our diet but for the most part we just eat exclusively whole grain. At first the switch was very difficult because white flour tastes SOOO good! We had to retrain our taste buds and dig deep for the best tasting products. I've come to really love eating whole wheat. I get full so much sooner and I have a lot more energy throughout my day. Unfortunately, not all whole wheat products are worth eating. Even with us being used to the whole grains, some food just doesn't taste good. I would like to share with you some of the things that I've found that are by far the best whole grain products (and in my price range) that I can get at my local supermarket.

First, noodles! These are a few that I've seen in several different supermarkets. I absolutely love the Hodgson Mill Lasagna noodles. In my lasagna, I can't even taste that they are whole wheat. They also help my lasagna stay together easier. I do have to say though that I don't like Hodgson Mill's linguine noodles. I don't know why but they have such a strong bitter taste to me. I have yet to find a spaghetti that I absolutely love. The Barilla kind is pretty good but it could use some improving.

This is my favorite brown rice. I've tried other kinds and it tastes like you are eating something that should be fed to cows. I have a rice cooker so it makes cooking brown rice easy. You can cook rice in a pan but after much learning I've discovered you need to add a lot of water. I try to double the water. So if my rice goes up and inch in my pan I put another inch of water. I usually just do it by looking at it. I'm sure there is a much better way to get it good but I haven't discovered it yet. This works for me.

These tortillas are the cheapest ones and by far the best tasting ones. The Mission brand ones are disgusting! I find these ones frequently sold out from the store so make sure you stock up and freeze them. Don't settle for the other brands!

Oroweat is one of my new favorite brands. They are a little more expensive then other brands but worth it. The english muffins are soooo fresh tasting EVERY time I've got them. They make great little sandwiches and snacks. I could eat a whole bag easily!

Another Oroweat product that I just discovered is there Sandwich Thins. They are thin buns! It is about time someone came out with this! I have a lot of favorite foods that you eat on a bun and I've always felt guilty when I eat them because I have yet to found a good whole wheat hamburger bun AND they still contain A LOT of extra carbs. These are perfect. They taste wonderful too!

This is the whole wheat flour that I use because it is cheaper then other kinds and to me it tastes better than some other brands that I've had. It also has whole wheat pastry flour that works great as a thickener instead of white flour or cornstarch.

I am a strong believer in healthy eating and switching to whole grains has really helped Mike and I to loose weight and feel so much better every day.