I Tri and Craft

thoughts from a mother of boys, a marathoner, a triathlete, a crafter, a wife, and a scientist


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Why I need my own drill

Ian LOVES stuffed animals.  Always has and, I hope, always will.

This love of fluffy, furry, cuddly little friends has led to an abundance of them.  My sister loved to pawn my nieces old ones off on us.  We would be over there and he would be carrying one around and asked “I take dis home?” and Tante would say “of course you can!”

At first they all lived on his big bed, then when he moved to it they moved to his crib.  They would come out periodically for him to play with, but they were hard to get to.

I wanted somewhere they could live, to which he had access, but that would get them off the bed and out of the crib.  Baby Sid is going to need the crib soon and it is too hard to change the sheets with 50 stuffed animals living there.

I remember I had a stuffed animal hammock when I was a kid, so I went and got one for Ian’s room.  My husband had to put it up because of the need to drill holes in the wall.  The drill is his and he uses it for work, so it is usually not at home.

I told him I wanted it above the bed at a height where Ian could reach.  So I putt all the stuffed animals in it and showed Ian.  Later I came back and this was how I found him….

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After my husband put it up, I didn’t like where it was because I thought it looked bad, not because I thought Ian would use it as a hammock!

Now I put them all away and he comes in to take them all out and then take the hammock down too….

If I had my own drill I would have been able to move it after realizing the location was bad.

This boy is going to give me a heart attack one day!

 

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Pinterest Tuesday Feb 5

On the first Tuesday of every month I will post about something I found on Pinterest that I actually did!  Sometimes it will be about a craft project, sometimes about food and sometimes about a ‘miracle’ cleaning product.

So this months Pinterest Post is actually something I didn’t make, but enlisted my to do so for me.  While I probably could have fumbled my way through this project, it was much quicker to ask my mom.

It is all about nursing!

I saw this pin:

and knew I needed to do this.

One of the things I hated about nursing was the exposed stomach and/or back.  I have a few nursing tops that fix that problem, but they are expensive.

I also have a few of these nursing tank tops from Target.  Which I love, but let’s be honest, there is no support for anyone larger than a B cup.  Plus they are thick and so not very good for wearing under shirts.  But I do live in them at home.

I have a nursing cover, so that takes care of the front, but I still hated thinking my back was exposed.  Not to mention when I am pumping, while no one can really see my torso, it gets uncomfortable and cold.  I thought this was a great solution.

I am not going to post a tutorial because I want you to visit her site to get it.  It is really easy to do, you don’t really even need to know how to sew.

Basically you start with a tank top/cami, I got mine at Forever 21 and only paid about $3 a piece.  I guess everyone knew about their cheap cami prices, but it was news to me!

I then printed the tutorial out for my mom and gave her the camis.

This is what she gave back to me:

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My finished cami

I  had her add a little bit of elastic to the back to help hold it up.  They actually stay up just fine as long as the tank is not too big, but it makes me feel better to have the elastic.

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How my cami hooks to my bra

I just attach to my bra and go!  They are not really good for layering if you have a low-cut top because they do sit kind of low on your bust line.

The tutorial is really easy to follow and these are so easy to make!

My mom is so handy with a sewing machine!  I also had my mom make me one of these when I had my first son:

She just used whatever fabric and bra clasp she had around. It fits more like a bikini top then the ones you can buy.  If you are handy with a sewing machine it is fairly easy to make.  Sorry, I wish I had directions on how to do it, but my mom was the one who put it together.  If I have her make me another one I will post it.  She really made me more than one, but I ended up giving them away!

This is another great tutorial for us nursing mamas:

Source: hourglassy.com via Dawn Marie on Pinterest

It is hard to find a good bra, let alone a good nursing one.  So it is great that you can take a normal bra that fist the way it should and turn it in to a nursing one.  I haven’t made this one yet, but the tutorial  makes it look easy.

Happy Pinning

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MistleToes Plates

Happy New Year everyone!!!

This Pinterest Tuesday is a craft project we made for some Christmas gifts.
I pinned this on to my Hand & Foot Print Art board many months ago with Grandparent gifts in mind.

MistletoesSource: igameals.com via Dawn Marie on Pinterest

The pin provides a link to the original source but I couldn’t find it on that website until I Googled it.  You can read her post here, she says she paid to have it painted.

My plates don’t have that nice distinct edge, so I didn’t attempt to paint a border.

I went to The Craft Warehouse (our new one) and they had a ceramic paint section where I found paint that said it was dishwasher safe if baked.  Now the paint isn’t FDA approved, but it is not supposed to chip off when cured.  I bought my plates at my local Fred Meyer store.

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After washing the plates with alcohol, as the paint directions state, the fun part begins…

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The plates are slippery so the wet feet had a tendency to slip.  So I would just wipe off the plate with a wet paper towel and try again, as long as the paint hadn’t dried.

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For Baby Sid’s feet I had to pull out the Bumbo

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We also made a couple of mugs with little hand prints, they did not turn out as well as I had hoped.  With the slickness of the dishes the hands got really blurry, but Ian loved making them.  (I did Baby Sid’s while he was sleeping)Mistletoes06

The curing process takes place in the oven.  You can let the pain air dry, but to make it dishwasher safe you must cure it.  Please read the directions on the paint first, and follow what it says.

Place dishes in a cold oven and then turn it on to the temperature the paint states.  Cook for about 30 min then shut the oven off, open the door and let dishes cool.Mistletoes07

We made a total of six plates and two mugs

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Ian decided he needed to help so I got to keep the sixth plate….

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I learned that the heel of the foot should not be at the top of the plate in order to have them hanging.   I also would have like a plate with a distinct border like the one in the pin, and maybe use a serving platter instead of a dinner plate.

I tried to write ‘mistletoes’ with a stencil because my handwriting is so bad, but that turned out worse and was way more work.

I would also like to try paint pens next time for the details.

I can’t wait to make more hand and foot print art, I just love them!

Happy Pinning

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Last Menu Plan Monday of the Year and Our Christmas Card

Happy New Years Eve!

Here are the Christmas cards I made this year, although they have not actually been sent out yet…

Something is wrong with my printer, and I have not been able to even try to figure it out.  I have really bad hand writing so I don’t want to address my envelopes, I can’t tell you how many times I have gone over to my moms to print out the envelopes or mailing labels and never got around to it.

This week I am making it my mission to send them out!

Merry Christmas

made with kits from Just So Scrappy

 

Menu Plan Dec. 31-Jan. 6

Mon: Crispy Chicken with Creamy Italian Sauce

Tue: Philly Cheese Steak Sloppy Joes

Wed: Buffalo Chicken Soup

Thr: Country-Style Pork Loin with Parmesan Rice

Fri: Baked Ziti with Italian Sausage and Easy Parmesan Knots

Sat: Leftovers

Sun: Crispy Cheddar Chicken with Beer Mac & Cheese

 

Happy New Year of Cooking!

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