Sewing Project with my mom! (bedside book holder)

I found this on Pinterest and really wanted to make one for my son's bed.


The problem? When I press the link on pinterest it takes me to a website that says OPPS! Which means I had no instructions on how to make it. So I found another blog who which did have instructions for a similar bedside book holder.


http://www.allfreesewing.com/Sew-for-Kids/Make-a-Bedside-Organizer


Since my mom came to visit for a week, I asked her if she would help me since I have no sewing experience. Of course she said yes!

these fabrics will be used for the pockets. I wanted three pockets each being a different design. These are
21-1/2" x 18-1/2" they were a $1.79 a piece. we folded these pieces of fabric in half so that they measured 21-1/2"x9".  should note that the nice side of the fabric was on the inside when folded it.

next we took batting and cut it out around the pocket fabric. Batting costed $5. we got it on sale! 

then we pinned the pocket fabric on top of the batting. we sewed all four sided leaving a small opening on the 9" side wide enough to place your hand through. Once sewed, put your hand through the hole and pull it right side out. Than sew up the hole. Most quilters will make an invisible stitch but we didn't go through all that trouble. 

this is what it looked like right side out.

than we sewed diamond designs on to it (see below picture)

I did sew one pocket myself but it took me forever! So I let my mom do the other two :)

 One finished!

we used a 2 yd pieced of muslim fabric for the backing. We bought this at walmart for about $7 I think.

here we are placing the pockets where we want them. NOTE: we hemmed in the bottom and top of the muslim fabric about an inch.

My mom doing the hard part of sewing the pocket material onto the muslim fabric.

we had a lot of the muslim fabric place under the mattress to make sure the weight of books and toys in the pockets would not cause the the whole thing to slide out.

this what the inside of one of the pockets looks like.

finsihed product! My son loves it!

in total this project was less than $20!

Ramen Noodles Doctored Up

I HATE cooking. It is probably one of my least favorite things. Thankfully, I have a husband who doesn't mind doing it. But sometimes, like the other day, he isn't always home to make dinner for me. I was so hungry and wanted something fast and easy to make. So I just kind of threw some stuff together, and wow was I surprised! You will not believe how good this is! I made it again the next day for my husband and he was surprised at how good it was also and wants me to make it again. So I thought I would share my surprising good meal to everyone else. 

this serves about 2 people

Step 1: boil 1 pack beef ramen according to package

step 2: meanwhile place a frozen hamburger patty in a pan with some cut up onion and place lid on top to help it heat faster.

step 3: when the meat is soft enough, ground it up with a spatula. When it is nearly all browned add some chopped mushrooms.

step 4: By this time your noodles should be done. So drain all the water from the noodles. Place the noodles in with the browned beef. Add half of the season package or the whole thing if you want, but I did half and that was plenty. Mix it all together.

Step 5: Add shredded cheese on top. I used finely shredded cheddar cheese. Mix together again.

Step 6: I added some veggies to help make it "healthy" I added about half a can of french style green beans and some cut up tomato.

step 7: serve and enjoy!

How simple is that? and it actually taste good!

Spring Project

 Easter Tree

Ornaments can be found at Michael's but I got these from my mother-in-law

Kydan helping me paint toilet paper rolls to make flowers

Toilet paper rolls cut into 6 pieces but I only need to use 5 to make the flower.

Pieces glued together using hot glue. 

cut out squares of tissue paper. I missed a picture. Take Elmers clear glue and place a puddle on a paper plate. Place the flower down in the glue pull up and place on tissue paper. Let dry.

cut the excess paper 

all finished cutting

using elmers clear glue and a paint brush paint some glue on the tissue paper in the flower. Add glitter.

these sticks you can buy in the baking isle at walmart they are commonly used for cake or cookie pops. I happened to have some lying around so I painted them green for the stem.

with hot glue add a a yellow pompom 

and glue on the stick.

Here is a jar that I painted. Using acrylic paint I squirted one color in the bottom and around the edges. shake and bang around until it spreads. add more colors above the fist color. This was my first time using this technique so hopefully the next time I make one it will look better.

all finished

New Traditions

I can always find an excuse to make a dessert. I got to spend New Year's Eve with my nieces and mom. We hadn't planned on doing a party, but the girls were sitting around bored. I only see them a few times a year, so of course I couldn't let their time with me boring. I kept thinking about what we could go out and do, but nothing came to mind and money was an issue.
Finally we got out the good ole crayons and colored a banner to welcome in the new year. We colored, cut, and taped paper chains to hang on the ceiling. Then we made party hats to wear...although they made us look more like garden gnomes more then anything :)
Lastly, what is a party without a cake??? So we made a cake. I printed out large 2013 letters and placed on top of the frosting and spread sprinkles all over the cake till you couldn't see anymore frosting. Then slowly and gently I removed the paper letters.
Then I thought of the idea to place candles on the cake so the girls and my son could blow out wishes that hope for the next year. I think this will be a new tradition for me. This year we did it after dinner since my son is too young to stay up till midnight, but when he gets older I think it would be nice to blow out the candles at midnight and eat a slice of cake with our sparkling cider.
Happy New Years to everyone and I hope everyone's wishes come true!

Christmas Crafts and Calendar

Christmas flower Ornament made out of a toilet paper roll. (Unfortunately, I forgot to take a before picture.) I had Kydan paint the toilet paper rolls. You can paint both inside and outside...it looks better if you paint the inside too. Once it dries you flatten the roll and cut into strips. Hot glue these together at the bottom end of each one till they connect.

On the tree

These neat little containers can be bought at the dollar tree and you get 10 in a pack!

We painted the clear plastic with spray paint that is made for plastic so that Kydan wouldn't be able to see the treat inside. I was planning on painting the lids to make them look like ornaments but I got lazy :) Instead we just bought Christmas stickers at the dollar tree and put those on the lid. Add some ribbon and you can hang it on the tree or on twine/ribbon on a wall. Since Kydan has his own Christmas tree we let him hang them on his tree. Each night after dinner he gets to pick one. They all contain chocolate candies that were purchased at the dollar tree as well. (in the above picture you can see it hanging on the tree)

Here was an idea I thought up to help Kydan visualize when Christmas will be here. I cut out the month of December from our calendar. I then went on clip art on microsoft word and found a Mary and Joseph traveling on a donkey to Bethlehem. I cut them out and put some tacky stuff on the back so that each day Kydan can move them to the next day. The first day I showed him he tried to move the Mary and Joseph straight to the 25th where the gift sticker was since I told him that was the day he could open gifts :) 

On the 25th I also added a picture of Mary and Joseph now holding a baby Jesus so that he would know Jesus was born on that day.

I also added other pictures for days that he will be doing things.

 tacky on the back to make it movable from day to day

 Christmas day showing Mary and Joseph with baby Jesus. Also a present to let Kydan know that is the day we open our gifts.