Sewing for Baby: Tula Corner Drool Pads

Ahh summer...my favorite time of year.  It has been so nice to be off from work of course but it has been even nicer to have adventures with my little Lyla.  One thing that makes having adventures with a baby even more fun is my Tula soft structure carrier.  Last time I posted in the Sewing for Baby series, I shared the hood that I made for my Tula which you can read about here.  Carry Ella Creative made that pattern and also the pattern for these drool pads which you can find here.

Just like the hoodie hood pattern, the directions for this pattern are so well written.  I was able to bust out this project in one nap session (2 hours, which is longer than her naps lately but she had skipped her morning nap that day).  The only thing that I did different from the directions was use terry cloth for the absorbent layer instead of heavyweight flannel because I had the terry cloth on hand.  It was a little bit more difficult to sew through all the layers using the terry cloth because it was so thick.  It worked out fine though, it just gave my sewing machine a little bit of a workout.

The drool pads got immediate use after I made them when I wore my daughter in a back carry while my choir sang at a baseball game.  She definitely enjoyed chewing on them as they were soaking wet afterward!

I have been busy with many projects as usual and I actually have another sewing for baby project ready to post but this one is for a baby boy!  I can't wait to share that fun project with you.  Here is a look at the other projects in the Sewing for Baby series:

More Updates in the Bonus Room

When I last posted about this room it looked like this:

And here is a reminder of how it looked before:

After the workers were done with their part of the redo it was our turn to start on our work.  First off we selected some baseboards at Home Depot and my husband took on the task of installing them. There are still a few left to install but we are waiting until we get a new door for the closet first.  Then it was time for paint.  I didn't mind the paint color in this room which is also in the hallway upstairs but for some reason it looked pink under the lights in this room.  It was even more noticeable in person than in the above photos.  We had to paint anyway since the bottom 3rd of the walls were removed and then replaced because of the drain tile installation.  The color we selected is Behr Windrush.  It is a lovely greige that looks different in different lights and at different times of day.

We purchased a new futon because the frame of my futon that I purchased in college was shot.  I think it had been taken apart and reassembled too many times with many moves over the years.  We purchased the Emily Futon in gray linen from Target.  I like this futon because it has a nice modern look and it isn't as bulky as my old futon.  It is also so simple to change it from a bed to sofa.  My other futon required two people to switch it back and forth but this one is easy to do all by myself.

I also purchased this 5' by 7' area rug at Target.  I wanted a soft surface for Lyla to play on in the room.  

This room still needs a lot of things:

1. finish installing baseboards, fill nail holes, caulk, and paint

2. install closet door (the current door wouldn't close)

3. paint trim around the closet door

4. curtain rods and curtains

5. media furniture for the TV

6. toy storage

7. pillows and a throw for the futon

8. wall decor

I hope to have the room mostly finished by the end of the summer.  Wish me luck!

Sewing for Baby: Tula Hoodie Hood

Hello everyone!  Summer break has started for me and I am looking forward to taking lots of walks and having lots of adventures with my daughter using my Tula soft structure carrier.  I have enjoyed wearing my baby girl since she was a newborn and I carried her around in a Boba wrap.  It is also an awesome way to get a baby who won't nap to take one because those really young babies can't resist falling asleep while being snuggled up against you.  A Tula carrier was on my list of major wants and once she started to get too big for the Boba wrap I decided to make the investment on one and I love it!  I bought the Fizz canvas carrier which you can find here.

I joined a Facebook group for Tula wearers and the people in the group were always talking about the accessories that they bought for their Tulas.  When I found this pattern for a hoodie hood by Carry Ella Creative I just knew that I had to make one to accessorize my Tula.

The tutorial and pictures that come with the pattern are great.  The pattern instructions are so easy to follow and there are lots of options with the pattern for instance you can add ears (I of course had to add some kitty ears!) or you can choose to add a bill (like I did with the eyelet trim).

I found the fabric for the exterior at Cotton Candy Fabrics which carries many of the fabrics that Tula uses in their carriers.  The fabric of my Tula is a Michael Miller print from the Fiesta collection called Emilia Grape.  The fabric that I chose for the exterior of the hood is also from the Fiesta collection and is called Ernesta Grape.  For the interior I used some embossed minky that was leftover from another project.

I also added a bow made from the fabric that matches my Tula and some lace ribbon.  I thought it would be a cute touch.

I probably should of taken some photos of Lyla in the Tula while wearing the hood but I am not a great selfie taker so here are some blurry photos of her wearing it around the house.  She is in constant motion nowadays so they are a little blurry.

By the time I snapped the second photo she was wearing the hood sideways haha.  I am currently making some drool pads for the straps of the Tula from a pattern by the same Etsy seller.  I can't wait to share that project with you too!

Updates to the Bonus Room

The last time I posted about this room which we have referred to as the bonus room (that is what this room was listed as on the real estate description) was back in February of 2013 in this post. In that post I talked about how this room was more about function than aesthetics for me so I hadn't done a lot of design updates to it.  This is changing now though because of 2 unfortunate springs of water damage to the room.  I don't have any photos of the water damage but the carpet was ruined. Thankfully the exercise equipment, TV, and futon didn't suffer any damage.  We decided that this room would probably continue to risk getting water in it so we had two basement companies who install drain tile come in and do bids for the room.  We ended up going with the same company that did the drain tile in our main basement and we decided to have the company do some updates in flooring and add a drywall railing to the stairs while they were working on it.

To install drain tile they cut out the bottom portion of the drywall and removed the concrete floor around the wall.  They were able to put a sump pump in the closet under the stairs. The other company wanted to put one in along the walls so we would of lost floor space in the room.

We decided to put laminate flooring in instead of new carpet.

As you can see from this picture of our cat, the staircase used to be open on one side and there was no handrail on the other side.  It wasn't very safe and it would be impossible to put a gate at the bottom of the stairs.  Since we intend on using this room as a playroom for Lyla that was a big problem.

We had the workers build a drywall railing on the other side of the stairs.  Here is what the room looks like after the workers finished up their part of the work (we still have a lot to do down there).

Our next job in this room is to paint and install the baseboards.  You can see the baseboards that we picked in the last photo.  The paint has been selected and purchased as well.  I have also bought a new futon and a rug for the room.  We will still need curtain rods, curtains, and a piece of furniture to hold the TV and to use as storage.  We also need a new door for the closet under the stairs because the one that is in the room now doesn't shut.  It will be hard to keep the baby out of that closet unless we have a door that shuts!  I will keep you updated on the progress of this room.  I am excited with how it looks so far!

Gift Card College Survival Kit Grad Gift

Hello Everyone!  Happy May!  I am back today with a very belated blog post.  Last year my brother graduated from high school and I made him a fun gift that I wanted to share on the blog. For some reason the photos of this project disappeared from my iPhoto so I was unable to.  About a month ago when I opened my iPhoto it had a message that it needed to reconfigure itself and after it was done these photos had magically reappeared!  So now I get to share it with you almost a year later than planned but it is perfect timing for anyone who needs some grad gift ideas for this year.

I wanted to come up with a unique idea for my brother's graduation gift and when I saw a gift card book and then another idea about a college survival kit with gift cards on Pinterest I decided to combine the two.  My brother is attending the University of Kansas so I purchased gift cards that he could use in Lawrence.

Then I cut some paper I had on hand to make the book part.  I purchased scrapbooking paper in black and gold colors for the decorations in the book.  I used my Silhouette Portrait and printable gold foil for all the sentiments in the book.

I got him a Starbucks gift card to help him stay awake while studying.

I got him an iTunes gift card to keep him pumped while studying and a Wendy's gift card to help with the hunger during an all night study session.

I got him a movie gift card for when he needed to take a break from studying (which he used to see the latest Star Wars movie, good choice!) and a Walgreens gift card for stuff when he was feeling a little under the weather.

I got him a Target gift card for any other essentials he needed and a KU book store gift card for school spirit items.  I made all of the gift card pockets with black card stock and my Silhouette Portrait.  I loved the way it turned out!  What do you think?