Baby

Darling Dexter

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This kid has been an absolute ray of sunshine during this time! I wasn’t sure what it would be like to be alone with him for 24 hours everyday for whole a whole week. But it’s been great. He keeps me entertained and he’s been giving me lots of snuggles. It’s been easier not to think about the negative aspects of moving because I’ve been so caught up in all the new things he’s learning.

His favorite thing this week? These hand-me-down flip-flops! I put them on him one day when he was trying to wear my flip-flops, and he’s been totally attached since. He just stares at them and chuckles 🙂 Of course, I do too, look at those chubby feet 🙂

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I love his face 🙂 Even when it’s dirty. And I love how focused he gets on things.

I was also really excited to find some blocks in our storage unit. I’d bought them for a little boy I used to babysit. Dex loves them. He calls them “Bah!”… but then again, he calls most things “Bah!”

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Dexter, Art Vandal

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In the process of moving, we’ve decided to let go of a lot of our possessions. Tonight I was going through my paintings, deciding what I could price to sell, and taking pictures. My 14 month old, Dexter, was being quite rambunctious. Why didn’t I just wait til he was in bed, you may say. Why, indeed.

To distract him, I gave him crayons. I thought to myself, “What a clever mommy I am! This will keep him from grabbing my paintings!”

A specific painting I photographed was one everyone seemed to love. It’s an appropriation of American Gothic I did in college. I call it American Urban.

Not five minutes after taking this picture:IMG_5413

I turn to discover that my dear Dexter is enthusiastically adding his own touch to the painting:IMG_5429

I gasped and exclaimed a long “Nooooooooooooooooo!”, with wide-eyed disbelief.

And then I started laughing. What can you do? Dexter knew I wasn’t happy, he had a concerned look. He probably figured the laughing was a precursor to a complete mental breakdown. So I squatted down to get a better look and he leaned in and kissed me lol.

All is forgiven, but he’s been relocated to the highchair to complete the rest of his studio time. IMG_5444

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Hopefully the crayon will come off my painting. If not, anyone wanna buy and Rebekah-Dexter collaboration??

Monster Hats, Photo Shoot Bloopers, and The Few Tips I Have

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I’ve been planning to make monster hats for my Etsy shop FOREVER. But I kept putting it off. I finally got the motivation to do it, and I’m loving them! I have 5 listed in my shop so far, and almost 20 more started.

Shooting them was so hard, though. The older Dexter gets, the harder it is to photograph him. He was all over the place. Plus, even though he has been an active hat-wearer since birth, he felt it was an injustice to his soul to have to wear these hats for me. (Am I allowed to say, “I carried you for 9 months, the least you can do is let me exploit your cuteness to sell hats!!”?)

IMG_5087 “But Mom, it’s JULY!!!!”

IMG_5149 “Ok, I’ll be still, I just need to blow some kisses first!”

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He spent most of his time running around on the far side of the room with my camera’s lens cap in his mouth.

I made the mistake of making him think we’d go outside, just to lure him closer to the natural light… drama ensued.

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The best tips I can give are these:

1. Shoot when your baby is comfortable (not tired, not hungry, not wet, not too cold, not too hot…)

2. Distract, distract, distract! He chose the lens cap and my phone, and then I tried pulling out a mirror so he could check out his hats. But in the future I’m going to find some props that I won’t mind ending up in the pictures.

3. Do your best to get natural light so you can shoot without your flash. My pictures aren’t the best, but that really brings them up several notches. Just keep in mind that if there’s not enough light, your pictures will look blurry.

4. WORK FAST! If you have a digital camera, don’t get picky. Just focus and shoot as fast as you can, because those babies are quick. You may be able to use a quarter of the pictures you take 🙂 If you’re lucky :).

In the end though, if you can get just one drooly, lovable picture of your dude, it’ll be worth it 🙂

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Tutorial: Turning onesies into shirts

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These were done for my awesome twin nephews, Ty and Micah. My sister loved the shirts, but neither of us really like onesies for our boys now that they’re past the tiny baby stage.

This was a really easy modification. It probably doesn’t even require a tutorial; it’s more to show how something you don’t like as much can be recycled into a piece you’ll use. For example: you don’t want your baby to look like a dork with his polo shirt tucked in.

IMG_4966 In picture, the shirts are already complete. But I cut as close to the legs as possible so the shirts would be long enough.

IMG_4967 This up-close shot shows how I just turned it under and zigzag stitched the hem. As you can see, there is a little waviness to the bottom. It’s hard to tell how much is because of wrinkles and how much is because of warping. But I read recently that you can run a steamed iron over the wavy hem and it will help it relax. I’ll know more after they’re washed too. However, I feel like the shirts are fine for the little boys 🙂 They actually turned out better than I expected. The only thing I’d change if I could is to be able to fold the hem again for extra unraveling security, but I was just afraid I’d lose too much length. Hopefully I’ll get a picture of them wearing them this weekend!

Sanity Saver Sleeved Bibs

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Update 3-26-11: While updating my older posts, I realized this site doesn’t currently sell the bibs! They might start back, so maybe check anyway!

What an ingenious idea! I could not tell you how many times Dexter has made it all the way to the end of the meal… not a drop on his clothes… only to get itchy and rub his pudgy arms all over his dirty face. “Sanity Saver” indeed!

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=34705222

These bibs can be found in a pack of 5 for $25 in Meeshspieces’s shop. They are an especially great idea for special days, when your baby is wearing his or her adorable dress clothes: Sunday mornings, holidays, picture days, etc…

Sneak Peek: New Dolls!

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I’ve been in a desperate dash to the craft fair finish-line this week! I’m pretty sure I’ve never been quite so goal-oriented in my life 🙂 Alex helped me create an action plan, and thanks to a management and production book he’s been listening to, I’m now acquainted with such terms as “throughput” and “bottle-necking” lol. I’m currently trying to maximize throughput by avoiding bottle-necking. Which is fancy-schmancy speak for trying to finish more products by identifying and tweaking your most time consuming steps. I don’t fully understand it, that’s why I said “acquainted” with the terms and not “best friends” with them 🙂

Everyday I have a specific production goal. Yesterday’s goal was to complete 3 dolls (I decided instead to complete 7 doll *bodies* and have them ready for faces, which I can do anywhere).Today’s is to finish all the sock monsters I already have started, and to hopefully begin a few more.

I haven’t had time to take real pictures, but here’s a sneak peek at my dolls, via my phone’s camera:

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They’re babies, not big girls, hence the barely-there hair. Some of them will have dresses, some of them will have diapers. But I plan to make them all a tiny blanket to match their clothes.

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This baby had pigtails, which left her hair all freaky 🙂 I definitely plan to replace them asap!

Repurposing old tees to make baby pants

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I love doing projects! I especially love doing small projects for kids. I have great ideas for things I will sew for my little girl… if I ever have one 🙂

So when I found out our baby was a boy, I hit a creative wall. I’m not about to attempt a button up shirt, and all the little romper patterns I’d seen seemed a little prissy to me (no offense to the romper-loving mommies out there, I’m just more of a skull tee and ratty jeans kind of gal).

I roamed the internet until I found a few great (and super easy) ideas for little boys. One of my favorites is a tutorial on how to make little pants from an old t-shirt. It’s a great way to scratch that creative itch while also recycling. Let’s face, it’s easier to part with your favorite shirt from 20lbs ago if a tiny person you love is going to be wiggling around it in 🙂

This pattern is so easy, you can practically do it in your sleep. It’s perfect for beginners, or for moms who love to craft, but haven’t quite gotten brave enough to tackle a time-consuming project. I do recommend that you pay enough attention to make sure the patterned side of your pieces face each other. I did not and had to spend more time ripping seams than it actually took me to sew the pants. Start to finish, you can complete a pair of pants in about 30 minutes, if you don’t mess up like i did 🙂

The first link gave me the inspiration to use tees. The second is where Rookiemoms got the idea. Handyprojects offers a slightly more complicated variation, showing how to add cute details to the pants, but I recommend referring to that site if you don’t know how to make an elastic waistband.

http://www.rookiemoms.com/make-some-easy-kids-pants/

http://handyprojects.blogspot.com/2005/04/how-to-make-easy-kids-pants.html

first-pantsI  did my first for practice from a western t-shirt that didn’t fit me. The second pair I made out of a stained polo my husband donated to the cause. I plan to use the leftover fabric to make matching hats or accents on onesies. In the meantime I’m on the hunt for other shirts to cut up (and trying to resist the urge to “accidentally” stain things in my husband’s closet) Happy sewing!

Life Change, Blog Change, Baby Carrier Change

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So. Dexter is now 11 weeks 3 days old (well, 4 days as it’s after midnight now). Things have started settling down. We’re finally getting into a routine, a shaky one, but a routine nonetheless. I’ve been able to start venturing back into the wonderful world of art. I’ve completed one painting, a few crafts for my sister’s baby shower, and started sewing again.
My most recent obsession is making a baby carrier. I’ll post more on that later. Right now I’m using a makeshift wrap from a length of jersey knit I’d planned to use for a dress, but I can’t wear it out because I haven’t cut it and it’s quite unsightly. It comes in very handy around the house though, and Dexter really seems to love it. I can tell he feels very snuggled when he’s in it and it supports his back well so he can look around while I do things. I don’t wear him all the time, I just use it when I’d be carrying him anyway, like when he’s crying right after he wakes up and I’m rushing to fix his bottle while keeping him happy. (For more info on wraps visit Moby. I decided to use the knit I had on hand in order to see if I even liked using it before I committed to one.)

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This was the first time I attempted the wrap. This piece of cloth is about 4 times too wide, so it’s much bulkier than a typical wrap would be. As you can see, Dexter seems quite cozy. And it’s very comfortable for my back, which is the single reason I started looking for a new carrier. Tip: Do not get a cheap carrier that you have not researched. I skimped and got a $15 carrier so I could take my time deciding what permanent carrier I wanted to use. Even for temporary use I believe this was a mistake. Using that carrier the few times I have has been torture. I believe strongly in protecting your back anyway you can. You only have one back, don’t take it for granted!