A good reminder

At my last MOPS meeting a prayer was said that I felt was really touching and meant a lot to me as a mother. I wanted to share it here in hopes that it will touch another mother or father. I have heard a christian family that I highly respect say that as parents we should praise our children 10 times more than we correct them. They also say that when the praise is done in front of others it is even more powerful. You can multiply the power by how many people are in the room that hear the praise. This is something I try to follow everyday. It resonates with me and I believe it is a true and good practice as a parent. Being raised as a young child in a family that was deeply divided on this topic, my father was a believer in strong corrections and ruling with an iron fist, my mother was on the opposite spectrum, I find that the pain that remains from the harsh cristicsm I received as a child only hinders me as a person and makes me self doubt any good decisions I make. In our personal life positive reinforcement works very well for my husband and I. The joy in my sons face when we praise him is so much more powerful than the times we lose our patience and correct a little too harshly. This prayer provides a good reminder to me of how I should be treating my child and it helps me to know that I am not alone in this journey.

A Parent’s Prayer

O Heavenly Father, make me a better parent.
Teach me to understand my children, to listen patiently to what they have to say and to answer all their questions kindly.
Keep me from interrupting them or contradicting them.
Make me as courteous to them as I would have them be to me.
Forbid that I should ever laugh at their mistakes or resort to shame or ridicule when they displease me.
May I never punish them for my own selfish satisfaction or to show my power.
Let me not tempt my child to lie or steal.
Guide me hour by hour that I may demonstrate by all I say and do that honesty produces happiness.
Reduce the meanness in me and when I am out of sorts help me, O Lord, to hold my tongue.
May I ever be mindful that my children are children and I should not expect of them the judgment of adults.
Let me not rob them of the opportunity to wait on themselves and to make decisions.
Bless me with the bigness to grant them all their reasonable requests and the courage to deny them privileges I know will do them harm.
Make me fair and just and kind.
Fit me to be loved, respected and imitated by my children.

(unknown author)

Times, they are a changin'

My life just underwent some major change. My family and I moved from a western mountain town to the deep deep south. It was probably the biggest move in my life, even trumping the first time I moved away from home to attend college. That's because so much more was at stake. We have a child, a house, pets, and not to mention all the things that go in a house. It was exciting and scary and time consuming. Which is precisely the reason the last post I made was Day 2 Instructions of a quilt I was making for my son, over 4 months ago. Now that quilt is boxed away in our new home wondering if it will ever be finished. It will so don't worry if you are making one too and waiting for those instructions. They will come, eventually.

Moving to the deep south from a liberal western city was quite monumental for many reasons. For one I had no idea what changes I may be about to face. I wondered about the cultural differences, the schools, making friends, finding a playgroup, the weather, etc, etc. I was moving further away from my side of the family and even further away from my husbands side. We were truly going into unknown, at least to us, territory. My husband was opening a new office in a new city on his own. No transfer with a big company that provides moving help. We were literally on our own. SCARY! Not to mention that we know this move most likely will be temporary. Which of course means we will get to do it all over again in no time at all. Yay. (slight sarcasm inserted here)

Well we survived the move. Which wasn't easy, but we have been here for about 45 days and we seem to be settling in just fine. We both miss our old city and friends but we are diving in head first. With hope that it will help ease the transition. We definitely have encountered differences but we are trying to roll with it. We know that every place has something to offer you just have to follow the saying "When in Rome".

I am sure there will be plenty of experiences here to learn from and hopefully grow from. The hope is I will be up and crafting and sewing again in no time, with plenty of fun crafts to share with all of my old friends far away, and my new friends right here.

Quilting time Day 2....a strip is a stripe is a strip

After finding my inspiration I have begun the construction of my quilt. I decided to do stripes because I am going for simple. I should have way more done than I do but I must secretly strive on deadlines, or at least I'm trying to make myself since every project I have going on gets pushed together at the very last minute. Hmmm, could this be a problem? Or just some amazing time management secret. haha. A girl can dream.

Back to the project at hand, er machine. I purchased my fabric according to how many strips I would need to make the finished twin quilt size with the help of my lovely lady friends down at Harriet's Treadle Arts. They are so sweet and helpful. Thanks Ladies!

I purchased enough fabric to make stripes using 8 colorways. I made the strips different widths which in hindsight may or may not be a good idea since it then left me with uneven strips (meaning I had more strips in some color than others).

Since I tend to have large amounts of time between when I get to work on a project I always need some way of remembering pertinent information. I decided this time to lay out the stripes in the pattern I wanted and take a picture. This way I can see what color needs to be sewn next.

The picture will give you an idea of how many strips it takes to make a twin size quilt. Always measure and ask your local quilt store if you are unsure. They are there to help!

Standard quilt sizes are as follows:

Type******Mattress Size****Quilt Size

Crib ******28"x52" *********50"x53"

Twin *****39"x75" *********65"x88"

Double****54"x75" *********80"x88"

Queen ****60"x80"*********86"x93"

King*******76"x80"********104"x93"

Cali King***72"x84"********100"x97"

Tip 1* To save money you can use a sheet for the back of the quilt. Just be sure to either use the same material or prewash the quilt fabric so that the top doesn't shrink and the sheet stays the same (if it is a blend of poly then they are not going to shrink like cotton would)

Tip 2* Instead of cutting each strip of fabric tear it. It will always be a perfect straight line (if the fabric is 100% cotton) and it saves you time. I don't mind the frayed edges though so consider that before ripping away :)

If you are looking for fun, fresh and contemporary fabrics check out pink chalk fabrics online at www.pinkchalkfabrics.com !!

Shout out

I am excited because I just signed on as the Hospitality coordinator at my MOPS group which means I get to come up with all sorts of fun decorating ideas and share them with all of you! My post is titled shout out because i wanted to pass along some creative decorating ideas i recently got from two of my best girl friends. One gave me the idea to use our next year MOPS theme, "Momology; the art and science of mothering" and make the centerpieces using test tubes and single strands of beautiful flowers with microscope slides featuring written words that describe the awesome gift of being a mother. I also thought I could use classic art that features mothers and incorporate that into the final piece. The design is still in the idea phase but once I figure out how to make it work I can post a picture of the final creation!

Another great friend of mine told me how I can decorate a space using paper banners. She has them up at her house and they are super cute! Here is her blog, check em out!

http://www.andthenshesaved.com/home/hooked-on-banners.html

Quilting Time

It has been exactly one year since my last quilt (it was also my first quilt). I made it for my mother for her 60Th birthday and for a first quilt it was a great learning experience. I did an applique, which means stitching shapes onto the top of the finished quilt before quilting the entire top. My aunt helped me with the finishing touches, I made the top of the quilt and all the appliques. She and her friends did the back, binding and quilting design. It turned out good.

Since it is time to decorate my sons big boy room I wanted to make a quilt for his bed that he could keep forever, rather than a store bought comforter that would end up being sold at a garage sale. This time I am doing the entire thing. I started with inspiration from a magazine, it is very simple so hopefully will be quick. The first steps in making a quilt for me is:

1. Find inspiration, look through books and magazines.

2. Decide on color scheme (this always changes a bit when you go to pick out fabric)

3. Formulate your plan (the ladies at my quilt shop help immensely in this, you might also want to consider purchasing a quilting book)

That will help get your feet off the ground. I will post the steps as I go. Keep checking back for more tips.

Balancing Act

Starting this blog I had all sorts of ambitious goals in mind. I wanted to share a bountiful amount of crafts/cooking etc and thought I could post daily or at least weekly. Well, one thing I have come to realize is that life is very much a continual balancing act. After busy schedules and bouts of Internet drama (my Internet likes to work about 2 days a month) I realized that my blogging has taken a back seat.

Sorry fellow crafters/readers if you have been hanging on the edge of your seats waiting for the next craft....i hope you haven't been waiting with bated breath. But I am presently entrenched in home remodeling. Nothing grand scale, just re crafting my space to give new life. Spring renewal, I am calling it. Since our house is 110 years old, I wonder how many spring renewals it has been given. I bet a few.

Hopefully I can find some time to blog about the fun ways I have been rearranging the abode. So far not much money has been spent except in the master bedroom a new set of curtains and bedsheets,(it's amazing what new sheets can do for a bedroom) and in the guest bathroom, we put up fresh paint and a new mirror and towel rack. Not a lot of moolah but a nice improvement. We are planning on gutting it in the next year, using the newly purchased items as well as adding more. It was a refreshing change to get us through.

I have also been moving things from room to room. I have seen stagers do this and though our house is not on the market I thought I'd give the idea a try. You know, it actually works. It's amazing how a piece of furniture looks totally transformed by just moving it to another room!

We have had this nook at the top of our stairs that has literally perplexed me for years, years! But I had an epiphany the other day to make it a computer nook. My husband was not so sure, but after it was completed he said "he couldn't imagine it anywhere else"! How is that for an accomplishment :)

Next on the list is a somewhat bigger endeavor. My sons big boy room! I am excited about this one. It is going to be a decorating undertaking, but I am looking forward to it. If fact I am sort of obsessing about it. I have a lot of ideas in mind and honestly he is not even ready to be out of his crib. Ha. I will keep you all posted on things I learn along the way.

Quick Party Tips

I like to host parties. I love it when I have a chance to decorate and entertain. I especially love using quick and easy ideas that really make a big difference in your food displays. I thought I could share a few of my quick tips to make even the most last minute party really pop.

Lemon wedges make everything prettier.

• Slice them thin and place them on the inside of a clear glass pitcher filled with ice water or any beverage. If you are limited on funds and can't have a lot of fancy drinks just spruce up the look of inexpensive drinks like water, tea and lemonade.



• Slice lemon wedges and place them in your vase filled with fresh flowers that match the theme or holiday. Flowers can be a cheap add on that makes your display so much prettier. Buy the bulk flowers from your local grocery, give them a fresh angled cut and slide in the lemon wedges for that little extra. The lemon wedges also help kill bacteria in the water so it has multiple functions.

Serve Drinks in a decorative bin.

• Buy a bag or two of ice and serve your beers, sodas or sparkling water in a metal or plastic bin filled with ice. You can get really cost effective bins at your local discount stores and they are reusable so it is a smart investment. Especially if you entertain a lot. Fill the bin half full with ice, place your drinks in a pleasing display and pour ice over rest. Voila, looks like a million bucks

Think about placement and unique ways to present necessities.

• Such as plastic silver ware. Try tying them (loosely) with twine in separate bunches and hot gluing a charm that matches your party to the twine. Example, a beach party; hot glue a sea shell to the twine and it can really tie the whole theme together. Very quick and cheap but makes even plastic silver ware more special.

Hopefully you can give these cheap quick tips a try at your next soiree! Happy planning!