DIY Onesie Extender
On my previous post about altering baby clothes, the most common comment I got was “You know there are these things called onesie extenders, right?” Yes, yes I do. Remember how I told you to keep your onesie scraps for a mystery project? Well here it is! DIY onesie extender!
Take the scraps from your onesie-turned-t-shirt, and pin them together. Make sure you pin it so the snap parts are facing the right direction, and will actually snap onto a onesie.
I simply trimmed off a little extra, folded the raw edges under, and sewed it together. It’s a little wide, and round, but it doesn’t really matter. I made another one later that came out much nicer, now I have two!
As you can see, my son is now enjoying an outfit he’d grown out of! He looks terrified, but that’s because the camera makes crazy lights and noises he can’t understand, yet.
So with these two tiny sewing projects, you gain another baby t-shirt, and a way to make several outfits last longer. Pretty damn clever, if I do say so myself!
Altering Baby Clothes
Kids have an annoying tendency to grow out of things before they wear them out. My sweet baby Nacho is no different. He had these two adorable pirate onesies:
And of course he outgrew them. But they’re so cute! So we’re going to alter one of these into a t-shirt! I opted to use the longer one for this, so there’s enough fabric to roll up and hem.
Cut the onesie as low as you can, as shown above. Retain the pieces for an upcoming mystery project! Now roll the extra fabric up as little as possible so you can hem it. You want to leave as much fabric as possible for the t-shirt, but you need to cover up that raw edge so it doesn’t unravel.
Once you have everything pinned in place, just sew the hem down. I did it by hand since my sewing machine has forsaken me, and it didn’t take much time at all.
And now your little rugrat can look awesome for another few weeks, until his next growth spurt!
DIY Baby Food
Making your own baby food is super cheap and easy. Before my son started eating solids, I started squirreling away food for him in the freezer. Basically you take a food, run it through a blender or food processor until it’s smooth, then store it until you feed it to a baby. It’s seriously that easy. I do have a few hints and tricks to make it even easier. I mean, of course I do. I couldn’t call myself That Clever Chick if I didn’t, could I? Well, not without shame.
Cooking:
To start off, you want to keep each food completely separate from everything else, meaning no apple banana blends until you make sure the kiddo doesn’t have a food sensitivity. I’m sure you’ve read all about this in your baby books, so I’m not going to go into exhaustive detail. So the first ingredients in your baby food will be just the food and probably some water.
I never peeled anything, like apples or pears, that I would normally eat the peel on. I did cook these things, rather than just blending them up raw, at least at first. Bananas don’t need to be cooked, but I think everything else should be. You can steam, boil, or bake your foods. For apples and pears, I cut them up into chunks and put them in a glass baking dish with some water. I put this in the oven at 350 until they were mushy. Wait until it cools to run it through the blender.
For first foods, whatever you’re making for the baby, you basically cook it until it’s mushy and will blend easily. So instead of steaming broccoli until it’s still crisp, let it keep going until it falls apart when you push on it. Once the baby gets a little older and is ready for more textured food, you can cook it a little less. Eventually you can just mash up what you’re having for dinner, and skip the blender altogether.
Tips:
Make extra of whatever you’re eating. Are you making broccoli for yourself? Make extra (without any spices or seasoning) for the baby.
Once you have the blender or food processor out, make several things at once. You can microwave a sweet potato, or just blend up some raw bananas if you don’t have anything else prepared for your little munchkin.
Rinse the container out in between batches until you’ve established what foods your baby is not allergic to. After that, run them through starting with safe foods, and ending with new foods. So you know your baby can have bananas just fine, but haven’t tried peas yet? Blend the bananas first, store them, and rinse the blender. Now when you run the peas through, if there’s a tiny bit of banana residue left behind, it’s no big deal.
Something too runny? Add a little baby cereal to thicken it up.
Too chunky? Try adding water, then blending it some more. Still not working? Run it through the microwave a bit to cook those stubborn bits.
Need ideas? Check out the baby foods at the store. They have quinoa and stuff in them! You bet I made some quinoa for my kiddo. I mix it in with fruit or veggies to add protein, and he loves it.
Storing:
I used normal ice cube trays to freeze the baby food into small, ~1 ounce portions. Once these were frozen, I popped them out and stored them in freezer bags. The food cubes fit into baby food jars, so you can just grab one, pop it into a jar, and then store it in the fridge or put it on the counter to thaw. They’re so small, they thaw pretty quickly. I got baby food jars from a friend who bought her baby food, but you could also buy your first few jars. You can also use Tupperware. Nothing says you have to feed your baby out of those classic glass jars.
Note: If you’re going to make baby prunes, soak them until they’re soft first. I destroyed my old food processor trying to blend them up too enthusiastically. Also, they DO NOT pop out of ice cube trays, so when making prunes, freeze them in small, individual containers. They stay sticky and never freeze solid. I haven’t tried other dried fruits, but I would take the same precautions with them.
I hope you’ll try this. It seems like there’s some special process Gerber goes through to make their baby food, but there really isn’t. Making your own is surprisingly easy, and cost effective. By my rough estimation, homemade costs half as much as store bought, if not less. Think of all the toys you can buy with the savings! Or something boring, like college savings.
Dog Toy Repair
Our corgi, Flapjack, has been a bit neglected since my son, Nacho, was born. Neglected as in “no longer receiving endless attention”. To remedy this, his Aunt Lis brought him a new toy! Star Wars themed, no less! Unfortunately, Boba Fett is strong enough to withstand the Great Pit of Carkoon, but not the Mighty Jaws of Corgi. But Flapjack still loved his busted bounty hunter, even bringing him up to bed each night. I had to perform some armor repair.
You can see I very crudely wrapped denim around the torso, and sewed it shut. The denim is way tougher than the initial material, and has not lost a single thread yet. So maybe Boba Fett seems to be wearing a bath towel…and one arm is still attached a bit tenuously. Flapjack is happy, and Boba’s guts are protected.
I basically wrapped the fabric around, tucked the raw edges under, and whip stitched the whole thing. I mean, this is going in my dog’s mouth. I love him, but not enough to hand him a work of art.
See? He doesn’t care. He’s just happy to have Boba back where he belongs: begging for mercy from a giant beast.
How to Shop for a Baby Shower: pt 2
This post got a little unwieldy, so I broke it into two parts. See part one for advice on registries and baby clothes.
4) No stuffed animals – kids get millions of them, and according to the American Association of Pediatrics, they shouldn’t sleep with them until a year old. Stuffed animals can be cute, but they just take up space until the kid is old enough. If you want to buy a toy, check out Lucie’s List for some helpful suggestions (but always check the registry first).
5) Don’t buy any baby shampoo, lotion, or baby powder. Doctors recommend avoiding baby powder altogether now. For the other two items, my son has eczema which is very common in babies. Our doctor recommended avoiding anything that was not unscented and hypoallergenic. Plus, lots of people will buy these items for new parents, so avoid overkill.
6) You still have no idea what to do? CASH – It may sound crass, but cash is the best thing ever. The new parents can buy diapers, books, Chinese delivery, pay for housecleaning or yard services they don’t have time to take care of for themselves, or get that baby monitor they registered for, but no one bought.
Cash is far superior to gift cards because of the versatility. This is especially great if your friend lives far away (cheap shipping!), is registered at some specialty boutique you can’t get to for whatever reason, or only registered for items that are out of your price range.
If you don’t want to look lazy and cheap by sending cash, buy one of those cardboard baby books and tuck the cash inside. Cash WILL get used, I promise, and you don’t have to worry about duplicates!
7) Strapped for cash – make a card and offer to bring them food after the baby comes. A week or two after they get home from the hospital, send a text or email (something unobtrusive that won’t wake a sleeping newborn) and say “I’m free on (list a few dates). Would any of these work for me to drop off some food for you?” For people that may not have gotten to the store in awhile, produce that doesn’t spoil quickly, like apples and oranges, would probably be welcome as well.
a) You can even make and freeze food and give it to them before the baby comes. If you’re traveling to see them or are a terrible cook, even a frozen lasagna is helpful. Just check in advance for dietary restrictions and freezer space.
b) Really can’t cook? As I’ve said before, paper towels and toilet paper are extremely helpful. You can also offer specific help, such as “I can come over and watch the baby while you nap or shower”, or “I can run some laundry and dishes for you” or vacuum, or walk the dogs, whatever. Try to think of the things that get out of control when you get sick for several days. Again, give a few specific dates when you’re available so the frazzled new mom has to think as little as possible.
8) Use your skills – if you have something you’re good at, consider how to use that for the new arrival. We are so fortunate to have talented friends, and we received a crocheted narwhal, a tiny pirate outfit, pirate quilts, a beautiful scrapbook, and a pirate cross stitch, all handmade just for my baby Nacho. (There seems to be a theme emerging…)
This got incredibly wordy, but I promise, it’s simple. Anything you can do will be appreciated, and hopefully these guidelines will keep you from feeling too lost.
How to Shop for a Baby Shower: pt 1
It can be hard when you know nothing about babies, and your friends insist on spawning left and right. You then get invited to the celebration of said spawning, and are expected to provide something useful and meaningful for the spawn. If you have no babies this can be a HUGE challenge. I know it sent me into whole new territories at Target I had never ventured into before, even when I worked there.
Well here’s a trusty guide from me, a relatively new mom, with almost no prior baby experience. I can help you navigate this madness!
1) Registries – ALWAYS start with the registry. Most pregnant ladies focus their nesting instincts on picking out exactly the right crib sheets and baby bottles. If they’re like me, they neurotically compared ratings and safety information across several websites before adding even a pacifier to the registry. Acknowledge all that hard work by getting them exactly what they want. A couple more hints:
a) Make sure the item is listed as “Wanted” and not “Purchased” or something like that. Items are not REMOVED from the registry after someone buys it. You want to avoid duplicates so the massively pregnant lady, or the new mom hauling a tiny baby, doesn’t have to trek back to the store to return or exchange it.
b) Make sure your purchase is marked off the registry. This also helps prevent duplicates. Check with the store or retailer to see if there’s a special process to have the item marked “bought”. Even just double checking the registry to see if it was marked off can be helpful.
2) Get a gift receipt – if you’re shopping online, I don’t think this happens, but I could be wrong. Even if you followed the above steps with the registry (good for you!) not everyone else giving gifts did, I promise. Hopefully, when the mommy ends up with two pack-n-plays, you’ve provided the receipt so she can return one.
3) Baby clothes – New parents do NOT register for baby clothes. They are told not to, and with good reason: EVERYONE wants to shop for baby clothes. We got TONS of them. My son is 6 months old, and I’ve still never bought him an outfit. If you desperately want to shop for baby clothes, go for it, but keep a few things in mind:
a) Most people buy tiny clothes, like newborn and 3 month. Help the new parents out by buying older sizes, like 12 or even 24 months. My son was born so big he never fit into several of the smaller outfits we had for him.
b) Keep the season in mind. If the kid is born in winter, s/he’ll be one year old again in winter, so buying warm 12 month old clothes makes sense. Buying warm 18 month old, not so much.
c) I would buy something practical, like a thermometer, in addition to the clothes. But that’s just me. Or, of you want to buy practical clothing items, consider Onesie Extenders. These are short pieces of fabric that have snaps on both ends. They can be added to a onesie to make it fit longer. The link I provided is for Amazon, but you can also find them on Etsy and Ebay.
d) Buy something washable and practical. Read the washing instructions. If it says anything like “Dry clean only”, or “Hand wash separately, lay flat to dry”, PUT IT DOWN. Ain’t nobody got time for that, much less new parents.
e) Also make sure the neck opening has snaps or fabric folds so the baby’s giant melon-head can fit through. We got one outfit that was super adorable, but had no way to get it over my kid’s head, so I have no idea what to do with it.
This post got pretty wordy (What? Me, wordy? Never!), so I decided to give your eye balls a rest, and break it into 2 parts. Stay tuned for the thrilling conclusion! Same Bat Time, same Bat Channel!
How to Hem Pants
If you’re like me, your significant other is about your same size, and likes to steal all of your pajama pants. Even the fairly effeminate Mr. Bubble pants, that are mostly pink. “His name is MISTER Bubble. That’s not effeminate!” is Hubby’s defense, but I still need something comfy to wear.
Enter the navy blue yoga capri pants. You think they’d be safe, right? Nope. My Hubby values comfort way over dignity. I had 3 pairs that are all identical, so I decided to make one pair into shorts. Sure enough, that was enough to keep him from adopting them! I used pink thread to hem them up, just to be on the safe side.
The best way I have found to do this is to cut off roughly how much you want cut off, leaving a generous margin for error. Then acquire a helpful friend or family member to pin them while you’re wearing them. I don’t know about you, but I’ve been overly blessed in the booty department, so if I try to sew things without trying them on, I end up short-changed in the rear. Just remember you can always make it shorter, but not longer.
Have your helpful friend fold the edge under once, and then once again to make sure the raw edge is contained in fabric. If you absolutely have to do this yourself, I recommend pinning with safety pins while the clothing is not on you, then try it on to see how you did. You may have to do this several times to get it right.
I hand sewed two rows simply because I thought it looked cute. I wore these CONSTANTLY while pregnant because they are so stretchy and comfortable. Now it’s winter though, and it’s ridiculously cold for Texas. I don’t even think I own enough layers to be outside in. I’m starting to doubt Canadians actually exist, because no human should be able to survive this.
And here I am writing a blog post about shorts when it’s less than 30 degrees F out. But, if you’re like me, you better start summer crafts now, or they’ll never be done in time. I’m still working on a scarf I started in June and I doubt it will be done for this winter. So many craft, so little time.
Valentine’s Day!
Last year my sweet Hubby surprised me with roses for Valentine’s. Flowers of course wilt, but I wanted to keep them around a little longer.
Once your roses start to wilt, hang them upside down to dry, like so:
Once they’re completely dry, you can display them again! I put them in this vase my sis Beans made for me, next to the fairy statue she got me.
You can also press flowers to dry. I’ve found it works best to let them get fairly wilted first, so there’s less moisture in the petals. I love having these dried roses, because I don’t have to worry about watering them, and I get to see a reminder of my loving Hubby every day.
How NOT to Move a Couch
Some of our very dear friends were moving across country recently, and couldn’t take their couch with them. This is a couch I have envied for YEARS, so I of course generously offered to give it a home. The couch seems normal at first glance, but it’s as deep as a twin sized bed, so I can sit on it cross-legged to do all my crafts, and it gives us another space for someone to stay over. It’s also gloriously comfortable. Our plan was to have the new couch live in Hubby’s Man Cave so it could easily double as a guest room. I want to clarify that all this happened when I was barely pregnant and still allowed to move lots of stuff. I was not doing this recently!
These two pictures show the living room after we completely cleared out the Man Cave in order to get the couch in:
Yes, that is a ton of stuff for a tiny room. The tininess of the room is why we had to pull EVERYTHING out before the couch could go in. Here is the couch, after we took the legs off and attempted to get it to its new home. Also notice disgruntled dog, who was annoyed because I wouldn’t let him get a couch dropped on him. Some people are never happy.
There are several things to consider when moving a couch:
1) Is it too big to fit through the doorway of the room you want it in?
2) Is it too long to make the turn in the hallway leading to the room?
3) Is it so long that if you try to move it on its end, it will rub all the texture off the ceiling, and attempt to remove a light fixture?
Here is the results of not taking geometry into account. That white stuff is ceiling texture chunks, and it got EVERYWHERE. We first tried to just get the couch down the hallway, but there was no way it was making the turn, so we backed it all the way out, and stood it on its end. It is 8 feet long, exactly the height of our ceilings. I did not take into consideration that a) this is not the height of any of ours DOORWAYS, and b) if it’s pressed against the ceiling, there is no way to tilt it down to the floor; there just isn’t space.
We ended up moving this new couch into the living room and replacing the right half of our sectional with it. They are almost the same color, so most people don’t even notice unless we point it out. Yes, that means there is a sofa arm in our sectional, but it actually makes this comfy, adorable little nook to sit in our store my current craft project in. Plus the arm is padded, so it’s very comfortable. It’s not a typical living room arrangement, but it fits in with my Bohemian sensibilities. We’ve been using it for months now, and I still love it. The other half of the sectional went into the man cave, and Hubby as happy to have some real seating in there finally, so it was a win win, except for the ceiling.
So what did I learn?
1) Measure every possible angle of the furniture you’re moving
2) Measure every possible angle of the area you will have to move it through
3) You should probably just hire a 3D digital artist to build a model and do a test run for you to see if it’s even possible
4) Don’t feel like you have to stick to conventional furnishings or arrangements.
Your home should reflect your personality, not the artificial set up from a catalog. Would you use your living room more if it had your Hot Wheels ramp or pottery wheel in the middle of it? Then set it up there. There are no rules, do what makes you happy and you will enjoy your home way more.
How to fix a drawstring
I can’t be the only person who has draw strings stealthily remove themselves from pants and hoodies, right? I think this is a fairly common issue, and I may have found a better way to fix it. I tied one end of the drawstring securely to a crochet hook, then shoved the crochet hook, back end first, all the way through the pants.
It only took a few minutes! If you aren’t the type of person that has crochet hooks laying around, 1) Why AREN’T you? Maybe you should reevaluate your life choices. 2) If this happens to you frequently enough, having a crochet hook around might not be a bad idea. They don’t cost much, and if you have a friend that crochets they might have an extra one laying around. Or you could take up crochet! It’s great! You can turn your entire checking account into yarn in the blink of an eye! But crocheting is also far less stabby than other needle arts, so keep that in mind.
Money Basics Part 2: Prioritizing
Now that you know where your money is going, it’s important to decide where it SHOULD be going. If you’ve been forced to reduce your spending due to a sudden loss of income, you can still focus on priorities to get you through this tough time. Having a long-term goal in sight when you’re digging for change to buy groceries can be helpful; I promise, I’ve been there. I was out of work for a few months (not long at all compared to what some people are enduring) and we were living on credit cards until I could find something new. My goal was to charge as little as possible, so we’d have a smaller burden to escape from once I was employed again. If you’ve decided to reduce your spending for your own reasons, it still helps to have your priorities in mind when temptation strikes.
If you have a spouse or significant other you share expenses with, you should start with an honest, open discussion about what your priorities are as a team. Two cart horses pulling in opposite directions aren’t going to get anywhere. If you’re completely dedicated to saving, and your SO is shopping or eating out, it’s going to create strife in the relationship. Having agreed-upon goals set up ahead of time will prevent issues (hopefully; I mean, I’m no therapist). Maybe you want to cut your household spending by 50%, and this horrifies your partner. Explaining why this is a goal for you, for example “I’d like us to take that trip to France we’ve always talked about”, can help them see your point of view. At the same time, you may have to compromise, and agree to reduce spending by only 20% for now, or maybe have an allowance of “fun money” you’re not allowed to cut.
So what are your goals? They don’t have to be lofty, long-term ones; in fact it often helps to have small, achievable goals, especially at first. “We need ‘x’ amount in savings for emergencies”, “Paying a car off early”, “Saving for a weekend trip to the beach”, “Saving the down-payment on a house” can all be valid goals. Having a long-term goal as well, like “Retire by 60”, “Pay off the house”, “Have zero credit card debt”, “Trip to New Zealand” can keep you moving in the right direction, while small goals keep up your motivation along the way.
Hubby and I have our goals set up like dominoes; as we complete one, we move on to the next. 1) Have ‘x’ amount in savings to cover emergencies. 2) Pay off his car early (we already met our goal of paying mine off early). 3) Save up to re-side the house. 4) Save up to build out our second-story porch we’ve always wanted. As we achieve a goal, we high-five and do a little dance, and get started on the next one. It makes it so much easier for me to pass by Taco Bell by saying “Nope, we’re saving for goal #1”. Of course, we indulge sometimes, but not nearly as much as we did before I started watching the budget.
Your goals will be unique to you and your situation, although there are some that are fairly universal. Seeing progress on your goals (even if that progress is simply not going further into debt), will help motivate you to reduce your spending. Keep track of where you are on your goals, and how much you’re saving. Those concrete numbers will help keep your goals firm in your mind, and reduce back-sliding. Everyone slips up now and then, though. Don’t beat yourself up, or throw in the towel if you order pizza, or buy something you didn’t plan to. Use it as a learning moment for yourself, and try to keep on your path in the future.
My Attempts at Cleverness 
