Upcycled Baby Jeans

 I made these jeans out of a pair of Mr. Sir's old work pants. Mr. Sir's pants had a rip in the crotch and that is almost impossible to thoroughly mend. So I cut them up for these cute little pants. I did a little bit of embroidery on them and added embellishments. The fabric inserts were supposed to be pockets but I messed up the pattern so now they are just decorative panels. There are also black suspender straps but they blend in with his black shirt really well. They are too big on James right now because I made them a 2T for him to grow into. He is only a year and a half right now. 

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New shorts for the little guy

So I have a pair of jeans that give me a saggy butt. Quite the saggy butt too. So I finally cut the legs off and turned them into summer work shorts. That way I am not tempted to wear them in public.

The leg fabric was perfectly good denim though. To use it up I made James a pair of little boy shorts. I whipped them out in about 20 minutes by cutting off a strip  of fabric from an old T-shirt for a soft waistband and adding 1/2 inch elastic. For the shape I just traced a pair of his other pants to get the crotch right. They are a little snug because (not thinking) I used a pair of 12 month pants, and though he is a little on the lean side he is still almost 17 months old and growing.

They are still pretty darn cute on him.

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Fitted Diapers, with snaps

Here I go, upcycling again.

My snappi's no longer fit James well, they take quite a bit of stretching. I suppose with 17 months of daily use, 5-10 diapers a day they were well worth the money. Time to tuck them away for future babies.

In the meantime though, I needed to find a better, easier way to diaper James. With Mr. Sir gone off to training, cloth diapering has been put on the backburner a bit. Diapering, washing, drying and dealing with rash and ammonia isn't what I really want to deal with. Actually, I still WANT to deal with it, for the environment and the savings. It is just time consuming.

So, for my sanity I am finding other ways. This latest grand idea is to take the thinning prefolds, add a center absorbant strip that isn't sewn to the diaper, that way it has more surface area to help dry it. I bought a plastic snap pliers with some snaps to play with. I also use elastic on the waist, and legs to keep the messes in and for a slimmer fit. So far I have maybe 6 of these fitted diapers. Enough for one full day at home before I wash, dry, and repeat.

I am also upcycling old flannel cloth that I have lying around for the inserts, the flannel is from some shirts, sheets, and old projects. The inserts are also from some really thin diapers that only work as stuffers. I am trying to use up some odd thread colors that I have too, that is why the thread does not math.

Being human, I will admit that I do cheat. We use a disposable overnight because he sleeps better when he doesn't wake up with the urine next to his skin. Which makes momma sleep better, which in turn makes everyone happier. I also use a disposable in the mornings when he is sure to poop. Oh, the ease.

I have been sewing one at a time for a couple of months now. I intend to make a bunch more because I like them that much.

Oh, and the snaps. Amazing. He can pull them off but not as easy as velcro. They are easy to install too. I can add more snaps to them to create girth as he grows into the diaper. I only spaced out the snaps for girth on a few of the diapers because I am still playing around with the sizing.

But here you go, enjoy!

Yes, that is Garfield you see peeking at you from the open one.

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Woodland Romper

  Haven't made too much lately. But I found this adorable woodland fat quarter at a Quilt Show that I just couldn't pass up. I only had a fat quarter, not enough for the whole thing but I think that I like it better this way.

It was just a simple romper pattern that I had. It is a size 2T which is why it is pretty baggy on my little 17 month old. But this way he can wear it for quite a while!

 

Of course, I can't post to the blog without a couple of selfies.

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Colorful Diaper Bag

I have been missing for a little while. I just haven't done anything much to write about. With Mr. Sir gone, I have been keeping really busy. Visiting family, cleaning, reading, working, etc. etc.

But last night I needed to do something with my hands and for a while now I have been going crazy with my diaper bag.

 Yes , it is a big blue backpack. I wanted something that Mr. Sir wouldn't feel weird carrying around, it was big enough for cloth diapers. It worked and it was free. Win, win win. But now that I am doing all of the diaper bag carrying. I want something a little more.... well.... less blue backpacky. Also, 90 percent of the time, it has been a dumping ground for anything needed carrying.

So, to solve my problem of lack of pockets and blue backpackyness, I made a new bag. JoAnne's had this fabric on sale and in their remnant bin. I don't know if you realize this but anything in the remnant bin is 50% off the sale price of the fabric. So I always go scrounging through the bin, I like scraps. There is a lot you can do with 1/2 or 3/4 of a yard of fabric which is what a lot of the pieces are.

 

I came across this tutorial on Pinterest for a DIY messenger bag, I liked it but it didn't have enough pockets for me so as I went along, I added extra pockets.

I really like how it turned out. There are a few things that I would definitely change about it if I made it again. But honestly I whipped it out in about 4 hours and 2 of those hours were also spent distracting James. So for the time and money involved it is well worth it. It's also a bit classier than a big blue backpack.

 

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Coloring Easter Eggs and a Stripey Tie

Easter was a lot of fun, it was the last weekend before Mr. Sir left for Basic Training. He left yesterday and should be arriving in Texas sometime this evening. So we did lots of man-stuff. Grilled brats, drank beer, (well, he did... I don't like beer) played football, and watched Thor.

James enjoying the spring time.

Also, this weekend was a prime time to color eggs with the in-law's. Instead of getting white eggs from the store, they get brown eggs and I think coloring brown eggs is prettier than the white ones. The tones are a more neutral color. I also dug out a crayon to make pretty patterns, and my sister-in-law dug out a rubber band for stripes. 

 

 

On Easter we had a goodie hunt where my Mother-in-law played Easter Bunny and then we went over to Granny's (Grandmother-in-law) House where the kids had an egg hunt. James had fun picking up the eggs and toddling around of course sporting his stripey-tie. I can't believe it still fits him! He got this when he was born.

Then, yesterday after dropping Mr. Sir off, James and I went to the Natural Food Coop where I buy my honey and spices to pick up his new sippy cup lids. Before he was born I scored a deal at a thrift store, getting 4 Lifefactory glass baby bottles for $8 total, still in the packaging. New, these bottles would have been about $60. I love these bottles, they don't break, they are easy to grip, they are glass so I know they are clean, I can sterilize them easily. We have 2-8 oz. bottles and 2-4 oz. bottles which are the perfect sizes. So I spent $7 and bought sippy lids so that James can use them longer. They work much better on the smaller bottles,  Little James could not get the sippy to his mouth with the big bottle. But this purchase made me a happy momma. I am also happy that he figured the sippy out with no problem and it is so cute to watch him toddling around with his sippy cup.

 Live and Love... until next time.

Pictures of the Recently Enjoyed Springtime

Spring is here. Even in Minnesota we can finally say that it is springtime. When the 'official' spring rolled around on March 20th, I could just see Minnesotan's rolling their eyes and saying "Yeah, right." If I recall, I am pretty sure it snowed that day. Or sometime near that day.

Now though, now it is spring. Last week I think it almost got up to 70 degree's. Today it was cold, below freezing , I think it was around 30 degrees. Hey, it's Minnesota though, we are scheduled to get back up to 73 by next Monday. Such is the life.

Enough about the weather though. Now for some cute toddler pictures. I know I post about James a lot, but hey, where else am I supposed to show off this adorable face?

 I came home from work one morning, after working an overnight shift. This is what I saw when I entered the bedroom. It melted my heart. 

 

 Enjoying the springtime with Grandma.

 And with cool uncles, who let James get close to the puddles.

(Just look at those adorable cowboy boots.....)

Mr. Sir, James and I went on a date to the city. Going for walks along the Mississippi wear a little guy out. He fell asleep on daddy's lap at the restaurant. Slept there for a good 15 minutes. 

"Daddy, look! A book about airplanes!"






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James's First Birthday

James turns 1 on Wednesday! So we had a birthday party with family, it was a ton of fun. Here is a mini picture montage.....

Toothers.

Grandpa and Grandma made him a puzzle board!

Grandma is reading a 'Daddy and I' book that I made James, to read to him while daddy is gone.

Birthday Decorations.

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Future Doctor

*Cue dramatic TARDIS music*

whoooo wheeeeeeee whoooo wheeeeeee whooo wheeeee

I am a Doctor Who fan. Yes, I am. I like the 'new fangled' doctors but I do enjoy a throwback day to the old doctors. Mr. Sir is not so easily impressed by sonic screwdrivers and old faded police boxes. So its a good thing that I dress James most days.

My sister got James this "Future Doctor" outfit a while ago, and he has worn it a few times. But today he wanted to climb into this box with his drumstick. I had to take pictures!

My little man, in his little blue box.

"Geronimo!" Or should I say "Allon-sy!"

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