Sleep Sack for a Toddler

I have a monkey for a 21 month old. She is all arms and legs and climbs everything, including her crib.

She also FREEZES at night. I've never met anyone quite so cold blooded, and I have a hard time believing she is related to me, who likes the thermostat set to about ice box or below. (In the below pic she's helping me create a pattern for her new sack.  We were using her old sleep sack as a template to create the new one.)

Now, I'm not quite ready to move her to a big girl bed, because, well, she's also uber-curious, and I can only imagine what she'll get into if left to her own devices in her room.  (just look at those deceptively quiet deep brown eyes.)

So we solved the climbing problem AND the freezing problem by putting her in a sleep sack. Can't get a leg up when they're tucked inside a sack. But Little Miss Long Legs is too long for her sack. And apparently the baby clothes making companies don't think anyone over the age of 9 months need these.

To solve the problem, I made her a big(ger) kid sleep sack.  This is the last of the material from these covers which used to be stocked in my shop.  I had just enough material to make sure the fabric pattern centered nicely on the front and the back, but not enough material to allow extra room in the fabric pattern to meet perfectly across the zipper.

Because I had limited amounts of material, I couldn't get as much of an a-line cut on the front pieces.  That meant I needed to put a little box pleat in the back piece when I sewed them together.  Had I been thinking (instead of trying to sew this in time for her nap while she and her brother jumped around the room like wild monkeys, tossing new Christmas toys willy nilly and in general causing mayhem of one type and another), I would have not made it an inverted box pleat, as it would look prettier on the outside.  But this job was rushed so that it could be used at nap time.

Also, I didn't get the light pink bias tape cut for the right armhole.  But maybe before bedtime :)

I did take pictures along the way, so I'm thinking I can put this up as an easy peasy tutorial, too.

Kid Art Note Cards

 

This post from Prudent Baby on kid art trivets reminded me of a similar project we did last Christmas.  Ben made art note cards for his greatest fans - his grandmoms.  With Valentine's Day approaching, this might be a nice gift if you need something for the loving grandparent in your kiddo's life :)  It's also a good way to use some of the thousands of finger paintings that are decorating your fridge.

They turned out better than I had imagined.  I was picturing something cutesy for the grandmothers to use as notecards, but thought it might end up looking uber "kid" like.  Which is fine, because these ladies pretty much love whatever their grandkids do :)  But I was pleasantly surprised that not only were they a great kid project for the grandmoms, the cards ended up looking pretty cool in their own right, too.

Homemade Lavender Lemon All Purpose Cleaner

 

With a two year old and a 10 month old, we are always pulling out the windex and cleaning up some spill or another.  Besides the fact that we were spending lots of money on cleaner, I really wanted a more environmentally and kid friendly cleaner around.  So I did some research (read "google") and decided that a vinegar solution was what we needed.  But I didn't want to smell vinegar all of the time, so I decided to use up some of that lavender and scent our cleaner.

Click on "read more" to get the how to.

Motivational Sticker Chart for the Preschooler

So is Skinner right?  Several of my friends have had great success motivating their almost three year old kiddos to do wonderful things by using a sticker chart.  We're giving it a try, Ben style.  He picked out the poster board.  And the stickers.  We wrote down the positive behaviors together.  Each time he does one, he adds a sticker to the chart.  I had visions of 1) a fabulously behaved preschooler and 2) an adorably organized chart much like the ones I remember from elementary school.  Read after the jump for the reality :)

Double Sided Fleece Blanket for Toddlers - Naptime Project

Ben, the three year old, has been so patient as I keep stitching things up for his little sister, and I have been really wanting to make him something of his own.  Every time I'm working with fleece, he steals the fabric and says it is his blanket, so I thought I'd make him one.  The boy loves his Baltimore sports teams, so I bought a yard of each of the fabrics above and made him a blanket that he can actually use.  I told him if he took a good nap, I'd have a surprise for him when he woke up.  And I did!  I don't think I've ever been happier to give someone something I made.  He has been wanting a blanket from some of my fabric stash for so long.  He immediately wrapped himself in it and stole my heart.

Click on "read more" to get the full how to.

Katrina's Soaker Tutorial for the Novice Sewer - Part 3

Depending on when the kiddos wake up from their naps, this will be the last in the Katrina Tutorial Series!  The first tutorial covered cutting the pattern and sewing the wetzone layer on to the soaker.  The second tutorial showed sewing the soaker body and the waist and leg bands.  This one will show you how to sew the waist and leg bands to the soaker body.  And you'll be all done!

Katrina's Soaker Tutorial for the Novice Sewer - Part 2

Here is part two of the tutorial.  Also, if you are a super newbie sewer, this post on Prudent Baby's Blog is a great place to see a quick and easy video tutorial on using a sewing machine. 

For Part One of the tutorial, click here.

Read more after the jump.

Home Grown Lavender Oil and Potpourri

I love the scent of real lavender, and I have a LOT of dried lavender from my garden.  It's all sitting very prettily in a basket on a shelf just waiting for me to be inspired.  In fact, it's sitting right next to all of the empty baby food jars which are also waiting for some magical inspiration.

So here is my current inspiration: two easy things to do with all (ok, some) of that lavender.

First is an oil infusion which I think I can use for several things.  I'll use it in the cloth wipe solution for Josie's bum.  I'll use it in the bathtub on my sad and dry winter skin.  And I think I'll use it as a hostess gift, too.

Second is an easy peasy potpourri using a baby food jar.

Not that there is too much of a how-to, but read about it after the jump.