10
Nov, 2010

cd review: ranky tanky

as a librarian, one of my favorite current responsibilities is learning about new children’s music to consider adding to the library’s collection.  a handful of albums each year become personal favorites of mine that i’d happily listen to over and over again even if i didn’t have a kid in my house.  the newest addition to that short list is ranky tanky by rani arbo and daisy mayhem.  this is one of those rare albums where i really enjoy listening to (and singing along with) almost every song (sorry, purple people-eater, you are the most frequently skipped track at my house, but i know there are other homes where you are the favorite song on this album!).  there are awesome folky favorites like “if you want to sing out, sing out” and “bushel and a peck,” there are some covers of songs i’d never considered for a children’s album but which fit perfectly (“wildflowers” & “where did you get that hat”) and there’s a few songs that sort of fly under the radar the first few listens but then when you finally pay attention to them they might become your very favorite song on the album (for me that was the song “tinny”).  the whole album is a lovely mix of tempos and aural textures and at least one of these songs is bound to become your new personal favorite.  you can hear samples of all of the songs here at cdbaby and then purchase your favorite songs or the whole album.

Posted in la la la!, library stuff, reviews | 1 Comment
08
Nov, 2010

felt and button flowers

this year i served on the planning committee for our church’s annual women’s retreat.  this meant (among other things) that i chose to go a little overboard and spend way too much of my very limited time making goodie bags (using this snack bag tutorial from angry chicken and some help from another committee member to do the actual sewing and occasionally distract my baby so i could work on the project too) and making some incentive/thank you gifts for the lucky four people who volunteered to serve as next year’s committee.  i’d been doing some searching at work for easy but impressive-looking crafts to try to do with kids at one of my upcoming programs (called “nifty thrifty gifty”) and had found some cute button and felt flower tutorials and decided it would be pretty easy to make them into pins instead of a bouquet (i just wired them directly to the pin backs), so i thought i’d go ahead and give it a try.  i loved making these!  (and they just might be easy enough for kids to do….)  and yes, i probably didn’t neeeeeed to spend time making these little extras for women’s retreat, but i’ll take any halfway legitimate excuse to craft that i can find these days.  and the recipients all loved them, and that puts a warm fuzzy in my heart.  now i just need to go buy some more pin backs so i can make one for myself!

Posted in crafty stuff | 3 Comments
31
Oct, 2010

heating pad tutorial

tonight i did a quickie craft and made a rice-filled heating pad for the happy baby (to pre-warm his bed before he goes to sleep at night) and i thought i’d do a tutorial in case anyone else might want to make one of these awesome things (they make great gifts!).  to make a heating pad you will need:

–flannel

–a few pounds of rice (no need to use “extra fancy”–i usually buy the cheapest rice i can find, but this was what i had on hand tonight)

–a funnel

–pins

step 1:  cut your flannel to the size you want your heating pad to be.  my fabric was 28″ x 12,” but you could easily have two 12″x14″ pieces instead, or pieces of any size you desire.  just keep in mind that if the pieces are a lot smaller*or larger** it might affect how your heating pad works.

step 2:  if you have one flannel piece, fold it in half, right sides together (or if you have two pieces, line them up right sides together) and sew three of the sides closed.  remember that the side you leave open is where you’ll be filling the channels, so choose at this point whether you want long channels or short ones (it will somewhat affect the direction your finished product will drape and it’s harder to fill long channels, but it’s mostly a design choice). then turn it right side out.

step 3:  sew the channels!  starting at the open end, sew parallel lines (perpendicular to the open end) down your fabric about 1.5″ to 2″ apart from each other.  continue until you’ve made channels through the entire piece (sorry this illustration is a bit hard to see.  if you’re confused, keep reading to the end of the instructions and i think it will become clearer):

step 4:  fill the channels with rice.  tuck the funnel into each channel and pour rice into the channel.  you may have to “massage” the rice down each channel, especially if they are a little on the skinny side.  leave an inch or two empty at the top of each channel.  that will make it much easier to sew up and will make the heating pad softer and more flexible when it’s finished.  if you feel like getting fancy, you can throw some dried lavender or orange peels into the rice to scent it.

step 5:  carefully fold over the unfinished edges and tuck in to hem the open end, pinning it closed.  although i don’t often use pins, this is a good time to use them as it will help keep your rice in place and make your life much easier.

step 6:  sew the pinned end shut.  you may have to support the weight of the rice in your hand so that it doesn’t drag the fabric out from under your presser foot.  also try not to sew over any rice grains as they might damage your needle.

step 7:  you’re done!  just trim your threads and you’re all set.  to use the heating pad, heat it in the microwave for 2-5 minutes (depending on the strength of your particular microwave), then use it to toast your toes in a cold bed or soothe achy back muscles or to warm up your baby’s bed (although i’d recommend not leaving the heating pad in the crib with your child while they sleep).

*i tried making hand warmers to keep in your pockets, but a friend confided that one of the ones i’d given her burned in the microwave when she was heating it up, so maybe small is not so good

**it will take forever and 10 pounds of rice to fill and will also take forever to heat in the microwave

Posted in crafty stuff, tutorials | 1 Comment
26
Oct, 2010

wow.

tonight at my evening storytime at work, one of the mothers approached me afterwards with a gift.  she used to be able to bring her son to my toddler time and then my morning or afternoon storytimes, but now he’s in preschool on tuesdays and thursdays so they can’t come anymore.  but she’d heard last spring that we adopted a baby and she knitted a sweater for him.

can you believe that?  i was so touched!  and look at those great colors and the super cute buttons!  And it’s so soft and stretchy and all of the other pullover sweaters i have for him are so bulky and stiff–this one will definitely see a lot of use!  i know i said i’d stop posting baby clothes, but this was just awesome and it doesn’t count since i didn’t make it myself, right?

Posted in baby stuff, crafty stuff, stuff that sparks a glow in my soul | 3 Comments
24
Oct, 2010

kids clothes challenge

i know you’ve all been waiting impatiently to see the clothes i sewed up during kids clothing week challenge, and i’m finally sitting down at a peaceful moment at the computer and i finally have photos of all (or at least most… i keep feeling like i’m forgetting at least one of the things i sewed….) of the pieces i made that week.

i started off by making a “test” pair of the big butt baby pants.  i didn’t want to waste “good” fabric doing a test pair to see if the size was right, so i found this olive drab fabric (it’s a little stiff, like a lightweight canvas, almost) and decided it was a good neutral.  unfortunately, now that they’re all sewn up, they look a little army surplus to me, so i don’t know if i’ll be able to bring myself to put them on him.

the second pair of big butt pants were made with this fine wale corduroy with super cute owls and apples.  i have to admit that these pants seem a bit…. busy to me, but he’s a baby and can get away with that for now, right?  still on the hunt for good winter pants fabric for this pattern.

this is a simple stretchy pant made from a t-shirt (actually a whole foods “team member” tee from a few years ago that i found while thrifting) and i liked the design printed on the bottom edge of the shirt and think it makes some snazzy pants.

this is actually the piece that took the longest.  i created the pattern from scratch and actually sewed up a “rough draft” (sans seam binding and snaps) first that i didn’t bother to photograph.  there are still some issues with the pattern (and i put the snaps on slightly wrong) and he looks a bit like a jedi knight when he wears it, so i’m considering painting some sort of design on it at some point.  but then again, it bugs me that e.v.e.r.y. piece of kids clothing has to have some cutesy/funky/funny/sweet/sassy illustration emblazoned on it.  maybe i’ll try something a little more lotta jansdotter-y.  i’m just thrilled to pieces that it actually fits him!  it’s very empowering to make a piece of clothing that i “designed” myself!

and this pair of pants was actually made quite a bit later than the official challenge week, but i can’t imagine that anyone wants to see even more posts about baby clothes, so i’m including it here.  plus, i just remembered that the other pair of pants that i didn’t get a picture of were black and white stripes using pretty much this same pattern, so …. use your imaginations.  i actually really like this pair of orange pants.  mostly because a) the fabric is nice and soft and thick and b) instead of just making a pair of pants because they’re cute, i actually consulted his wardrobe first and figured out what color pants would go well with more than one of his shirts and orange won out and i actually had this shirt already from the thrift store, so it seemed like fate.  and yes, it’s the same shirt that eventually also became sleeves in a recent baby shirt post.  hmm…. could he wear them together as an ensemble or would that be too matchy?

Posted in baby stuff, crafty stuff | 3 Comments
19
Oct, 2010

i am addicted to making videos… new “crafty” obsession, perhaps?

banana! from carissaabc on Vimeo.

Posted in baby stuff, laugh, yum | 4 Comments
18
Oct, 2010

look what i made yesterday!

this gorgeous batch of pink (!) applesauce was made from farmer’s market heirloom apples.  the sauce is a perfect blend of tart and sweet with absolutely no sugar added.  the happy baby is teething right now and applesauce is pretty much the only thing he’ll happily eat (other than a bottle full of formula).  i wonder if i should make more next weekend?  this was the easiest thing i’ve ever made to can (largely facilitated by the loan of a victorio strainer) and the color is just unbelievable.  in the interest of keeping it real, i should probably also mention that the day before yesterday i tried to make pear sauce and because i was also trying to do a million other things at the same time, i burned the pears so badly that they scorched the bottom of the pan and even after some extremely aggressive scrubbing there’s still a black ring around the bottom edge of my favorite stock pot.  the top layer of pears (or really anything that wasn’t touching the bottom of the pan) still looked okay, so i went ahead and mushed them up through the strainer, but even though i avoided all of the black crunchy bits, they still smelled and tasted a bit like a campfire.

this t-shirt wasn’t even on my very long to-do list this weekend, but the happy baby was in a surprisingly good mood in the afternoon and i didn’t want to waste it, so i set him up with some good toys in the craft room and i cranked out this shirt.  the longest part of the process was the designing portion.  oh, and changing thread on the serger.  i love the way it turned out and might need to make some more.

and i haven’t forgotten about the kids clothing week challenge, i will post it.  eventually.

Posted in autumn, baby stuff, crafty stuff, yum | 2 Comments
07
Oct, 2010

a little video for you to enjoy

we started feeding the happy baby solid food about a month ago or so and although he’s not a voracious eater by any means, he usually enjoys eating with us and seems to enjoy most foods–at least after the first bite.  i noticed about a week ago that the first bite he took (no matter what food it was) produced this terrible grimace, as though we were feeding him boiled socks.  so i decided to try to capture those expressions and create a montage of video clips.  i hope you enjoy it!

Baby Dude tries some food from carissaabc on Vimeo.

Posted in baby stuff, yum | 8 Comments
04
Oct, 2010

old school happy stuff

somehow today i managed to take two photos for this blog and somehow i’ve managed to sit down at the computer to blog them.  woo hoo!  okay, this first photo was my lunch today.  when i was young, my sister and i would sometimes make a sandwich out of whatever was in the fridge between two slices of bread and call it “alien casserole.”  not sure why it wasn’t “alien sandwich” (perhaps because “whatever was in the fridge” was often a casserole?) but there you have it.  today i made alien pasta salad.  or, let’s make it a little more grown-up and alliterative and call it “pantry pasta” even though i got most of the ingredients from the fridge.  it turned out so pretty and so (surprisingly) yummy that i thought i’d record it here for posterity.  stuff that was in my fridge today that went into this pasta:

homemade pickled golden beets, red pepper, red onion, kalamata olives, artichokes, some kale sauteed in bacon grease that was leftover from when we made this the other night, some mushrooms that were nearing the end of their days that i washed and then sauteed with olive oil and some garlic, the most awesome feta cheese from our local farmer’s market (this might have been the thing that made the pasta so incredibly yummy), and some fresh lemon juice

stuff that was in my pantry/spice drawer that went into this pasta:

the pasta, olive oil, red wine vinegar, jane’s crazy mixed-up salt (that’s a nod to you, my dear friend “shoveltrick”)

i am thrilled that i’ve got leftovers for tomorrow’s lunch.  maybe i’ll even find some nice crusty bread to eat with it.

today’s second photo also comes with a complimentary side of “trip down memory lane.”  when i was in high school, i prided myself on extreme thriftiness.  i shopped at yard sales whenever i found one and haunted thrift stores frequently (okay, the thrift store thing hasn’t really stopped, but i’ve sort of given up on most yard sales).  one of my favorite yard sale stories was at a community yard sale being held on my high school’s grounds one weekend.  i stopped by near closing time and ended up making a pretty nice haul including several pieces of a tea set from mexico (which we later found out had lead in the glaze so i got rid of everything except the teapot) and four straight-back chairs with no seats and i think i spent less than $5 for all of that plus probably some other random junk i’ve forgotten about by now.  anyway, this teapot doesn’t get used nearly enough, but today when i bought a cheapy bouquet of sunflowers from trader joe’s i knew they just had to go in this teapot.  i even had a flower frog to put in the bottom to make the extra-wide mouth work out okay.  i love having these cheerful colors on my kitchen island.  it’s incentive to keep it cleared off (or at least tidy) for a few days, hooray!

and, because i still don’t have pictures of the clothes that i made for the clothing challenge (they’re [mostly] done, i swear!), i’ll just leave you with a picture of the cutest baby in the world:

Posted in autumn, baby stuff, trip down memory lane, yum | 2 Comments
24
Sep, 2010

am i too late?

although i was afraid that it might be crazy, i decided to attempt elsie marley’s kids clothes week challenge this time around because i knew that i was going to be on a family vacation and so i’d have time off of work.  unfortunately, the house we were renting for the week had zero internet access and barely any telephone reception (cell or landline) and so i haven’t been able to post my progress here yet.  but i did do some sewing (not sure if it was an hour a day, but any sewing at this point is a huge achievement for me (oh how i wish i were done with my master’s degree already!) and i did get a few cute pieces sewn including one that i had to create my own pattern for!).  of course, i still don’t have photos of said pieces of clothing, but i’m posting this message as a reminder to myself that i need to get pictures of the clothes i already finished and maybe to try to sew something else on sunday (that’s the last day of the challenge, right?).

p.s.  we had a wonderful time on our vacation, but i once again discovered that carrying a camera and a baby is usually inconvenient and most of the time the baby wins, so i have very few photos, but if i uncover anything awesome in my memory card, i’ll post some photos here.

Posted in baby stuff, crafty stuff | Comments Off on am i too late?