This Crib is BUMPIN!

So in my post yesterday, I mentioned that I found evidence of Nathan chewing/gnawing on the railing of his crib the other day.

All of those little white marks are the damage so far.

Wanting to nip this problem in the bud, I got materials to make a rail bumper to compliment the one we have that goes with his crib set.

His current rail bumper is precious, but too big for the side where we have the problem.

My plan was to just steal the basic design, which is a large padded rectangle with Velcro on the inside, so when you fold it over the rail, it sticks to itself. Easier than ties, if you ask me!

I got started having no idea how it was going to turn out. It's not like I had a pattern, but it's not like the concept was difficult either.

The fabrics I chose compliment the crib set, but aren't exact, but I liked the way it looked with the original stuff. I also grabbed a high loft batting.

I bought new fabric scissors because someone (my husband) used my old ones at some point and then I just kind of wrote them off as being regular scissors, so for this project I wanted new ones. I also decided to give a rotary cutter a whirl for the basic reason that it looks really fantastic when I'm watching Project Runway and they're slicing fabric effortlessly while I am struggling to make a straight cut with my janky scissors.

Let's talk about that rotary cutter and how it is the best tool for someone to sew with. Well, there's not much more to say than it's a great tool and anyone who sews regularly should get one. I used a 50% off coupon I got from the Joann's website and was able to get mine for $12.50 instead of $25. I also wanted a good straight edge and cutting mat so I bought those too.

My sewing in the past has mostly been pretty unadventurous, so I didn't have those items.

I bought 2 yards of the solid color fabric (45" wide) and 1 of the polka dot (45" wide) and then 1 yard of the batting, which was SUPER (90") wide, but it was all I could find in the high loft by-the-yard option. I'm sure I'll find a use for that leftover batting eventually.

I measured the rail I was planning to cover and also measured the existing rail bumper so they would be the same width.

The measurements I used were 29" x 17" for the rectangle. That provided a 2" seam allowance on the long side (I needed it to be 25" by 15") and a 1" seam allowance on the short side. I chose huge seam allowances because having no idea how this project may go, I just felt safe having the extra fabric. It ended up being completely unnecessary, but that's ok.

So I made my giant rectangle, and without thinking, left a long side open. I should have done a short side open, just because it would have been easier, but it worked out fine.

Knowing that I was going to put trim on the edge, I sewed it shut the easiest way since nobody would see that edge. Work smarter, not harder, yo.


Next is the trim. I picked the width based on a little mistake I made trimming the seam allowance off. I got carried away trimming the fastest way with the rotary cutter (I may have been a little over-eager to use it!) and trimmed off part of the seam. Thankfully it was on the ugly edge, so I ended up making wider trim to cover my mistake.

I cut a strip of 8"-ish wide fabric and pinned the edges back. I  just picked a width. I did NOT sew these down until I was actually attaching it to the rectangle because I didn't want the extra line, or the pressure of sewing it exactly on top of a seam.

 I did sew down the short side to keep the edges from getting weird.

 

I originally cut the strip when the fabric was doubled over, then cut that piece in half so I would only have to make the long cut once. After I got the strips pinned, I pinned them onto the rectangle.

Then I cut another strip of the trim to run across the long side. I wasn't sure if I was going to to both long sides or just one (since one side is on the inside of the crib) and I repeated the process of pinning and attaching to the rectangle.

When attaching the rectangle, I knew I wanted it to be mitered, so I looked up how to miter, and I was too ADD to watch videos and read several different sets of instructions to make sense of it all, so I just made it up as I went.

The next pictures show how I did my own take on a mitered edge (ha!)

 

It only looks pretty from the front. The back...not so much.

See? It's not pretty on the back side (above) but it works. The front corners aren't sewn down, but on the back side, I did a hand-stitch that makes Dr. Frankenstein look like a skilled tailor. The truth is I didn't care about how the back looked because it's going to be folded so nobody will see it. I doubt that the Queen of England or Martha Stewart is going to come over and demand that they see the inside of this rail bumper, you know? So I didn't waste my time making it pretty.

Then I sewed the trim down. I ended up only doing the trim on one side. It wasn't important enough to me to cut and pin another piece of the trim. (Those faux-mitered corners were a trial and error success the first time, I didn't think I'd be as lucky the second time).

Ok, so it's not perfect, but I figured if it was awful, I'd make another.

 The next step was getting the Velcro on. The bumper we already have has a long strip across the bottom and a few going perpendicular to the long strip, but I felt like I didn't need the short strips. If I felt I needed them, I could always go back.

Again, working smarter, not harder. I didn't want to take time to do extra work that wasn't necessary!

Did you know they make IRON-ON Velcro? I didn't until yesterday!

 I stuck the strips of Velcro together, trimmed them to the right length and stuck them to the fabric ready to iron them on.

Pardon my busted nails. I painted them yesterday on a whim and they weren't dry when Nathan wanted my attention.

I ironed the Velcro on with the bumper folded over and just flipped it to get both sides done. The only downside was that I wasn't thinking and the iron melted the batting on the inside, but I didn't care. It's just not as fluffy as the top portion.

As soon as I got the Velcro finished, I put it on to see if I was happy with it!

I'm very happy with it! When it's on, you can't really see the flaws, thank goodness!

So I brought Nathan in to break it in!

The bumpers don't match, but the colors in the bumper I made are in his room and in the comforter.

It didn't take him long to go for his favorite spot. That's directly on top of the part of the crib where he left marks.

Mom...this is different.

I decided not to make one for the other side because he NEVER stands there, and if he starts to, then I'll make one, but he actually loves his mobile and that's in the way and...I'm just not wasting that energy!

Once I had it figured out, it wasn't too hard to do. I know it would take me half the time to make another if I needed to. I'm feeling like Martha again, y'all. ;)

I would like to thank my sweet husband who watched Nathan pretty much all day by himself while I worked on this project. You are appreciated! <3

I feel like freakin' Martha Stewart.

Sometimes, I think, "Ok, I can be domestic. I know how to cook (kind of), I can clean (when I feel like it) and I can take care of my child. Sure, no problem.

Then Nathan starts getting into everything and I'm like, "Oh, yeah...about that huge pile of dishes in the sink...I guess they'll wait."

See, I regularly praise mothers in my head that seem to make all of these things possible. If it weren't for my husband, I have no idea how I'd manage to keep our home even remotely manageable, keep the baby happy and have time to wash my hair.

Single parents everywhere, kudos to you. You, my friend, are a rockstar.

So today, I felt like Martha Stewart a little bit. I haven't yet read The Tao of Martha by my favorite author, Jen Lancaster, but I'm sure that's what she felt like when accomplishing little projects.

I need to read this immediately. I love everything Jen writes!

You see, yesterday, I was in Nathan's room and noticed a white spot on the railing of his crib that faces the bedroom door, so I took a closer look and discovered that he has been chewing/gnawing on it in the mornings when he's waiting for me to come get him.

We already have a padded-velcro bumper to put on the long side of the crib to protect it from his teeth, but not for the side, so I was like, "HEY. I CAN SEW! I'LL JUST MAKE ONE!"

Really, it isn't difficult to put together, so I know I can do it. Today, my mom, Nathan and I made a trip to Joann's to find fabric and then stopped for lunch on the way back. The plan was for my mom to come over and help keep Nathan entertained while I started my project, but she got called into work, so that didn't happen. But what would Martha do in that moment? She'd find a new project to embark upon that isn't quite as consuming so she can tend to the wee one, yes?

Nathan was in a pretty good mood when we got home, so I decided to start the blueberry scone recipe I mentioned in my post yesterday. It seemed easy, and it would allow me to stop and tend to Nathan as needed, so I got started.

Recipe:

3 cups Bisquick
2 tbsp sugar (I personally suggest doubling that. Keep reading for my explanation)
1 cup frozen or fresh blueberries
2 eggs
1/4 milk

Glaze topping:
1 egg (beaten)
2 tbsp sugar

Preheat the oven to 400.

The first step is to mix the Bisquick and the 2tbsp of sugar together, then add the blueberries and stir.

After eating these scones, I actually think you could double the sugar. My sister-in-law and I also discussed adding a little vanilla or even cinnamon to give extra flavor. I'm trying that next time.

Next, in a separate bowl (or if you're lazy like me, in the measuring cup, add 2 eggs to your milk and beat them.

Add the milk/egg mixture to your mixing bowl of other yummies and mix it up until it a crumbly dough. This is the part where I didn't really know what just how 'crumbly' is the right amount of crumbly. I didn't want to smash the blueberries, and the dough gets thick quickly, but just mix it until the Bisquick is moistened and most of it is kind of together.

And this is the point when Nathan started fussing. Then I remembered that he didn't get a full lunch when we went to lunch earlier and that he was probably hungry, so being the excellent mother I am, I propped him up with pillows, gave him his bottle and put Baby McDonald on the TV. I'm sure even Martha had do resort to this at times. Or she hired a nanny. Judge away, super-moms. My kid is happy.

He even has his own remote! He was actually shockingly happy there!

This is the point in the recipe where I stopped and read the directions about a million times and I'm still not sure I'm right, but they were good, so I don't care. This time, instead of channeling Martha and doing everything by the instructions, I channeled my talented (and brave!) sister-in-law, The Hazzardous Housewife and decided to make my own instructions.

It says in the directions to, "Turn the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and pat into a 9" round, about 1/2" thick pan."

Well, I don't know what "turn" in baking-land means, but I took that as dump it out onto your floured surface. I didn't want to put it on the counter, so I floured a cookie sheet.

Now, by "pat into a 9" round, about 1/2" thick pan" I'm thinking it should go INTO a pan. Like, a cake pan, but then a I read ahead and it talks about laying it onto an ungreased cookie sheet.

Then I was really confused. So they want me to put this dough into a round pan and dirty it just so I can throw it onto a cookie sheet? That's ridiculous.

What I think they mean is pat it to that size, so that's what I did, as seen below.

Look at that round dough. I'm talented and I don't need pans.
AIN'T NOBODY GOT TIME FO' DAT!

Up next is the glaze. Take an egg and beat it thoroughly. Then get a little brush (or I'm assuming your fingers would work fine, assuming they're clean and you don't mind the raw egg all over your hands) and brush (or rub) the egg all over the top of the dough.

Raw eggs always make me think of Gaston from Beauty and the Beast.
"When I was a lad I ate 4 dozen eggs every morning to help me get large..."

Brush mode.

Ta-da!

 Once you've got it covered in the egg (which you won't likely use the entire egg, unless you're making it egg-stra eggalicious), you're going to use 2 tbsp of sugar and sprinkle the top.

This is where I decided to break away from Martha and channel Alissa (or Rachael Ray since she doesn't measure) and I was like, "Pffft...just 2 tbsp? WHATEVA, I'LL DO WHAT I WANT!"

So I just grabbed some sugar and sprinkled it. It was probably wasn't much more than 2 tbsp. I mean, I'm not trying to get diabetes or anything.

The next instruction is to cut it. I know, cut it before you cook? But yes. The dough is thick enough to keep the cuts, and I think it's because the scones are crumbly after they're cooked, so this gives a clean cut. It said to do it in 12 slices, but I missed that and did 8. My pieces were huge, so go ahead and be a Martha on that one, unless you REALLY like scones.

Bake at 400 for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. It took mine about 16 minutes. After about 2 minutes in the oven, the whole house smelled soooooo good.

I broke the rules and it still looked yummy!

The next instruction was to serve it immediately with butter or jam, but I was taking it to my in-law's house, and I'm testing the recipe for a bridal shower, so was also curious to see if it was tasty cool, so I looked in my cabinet to see if I had something cuter than a cookie sheet to transport it in that wasn't my huge cake platter with a lid. Then I found this 9"-ish dish that was given to me a few months ago as a hand-me-down and I was like, "OMG, it'll fit perfectly!!! Yay!!!" and then I attempted a smooth transfer...and better yet, I succeeded the transfer flawlessly thanks to a fish spatula and a really wide spatula I bought at IKEA many years ago. I felt like Martha Stewart, Jen Lancaster and Alissa were all sending me happy good luck vibes at that moment because the scones fit perfectly in that dish and it looked and smelled amazing.

Everyone enjoyed the scones and I must say, they were pretty tasty. I will definitely be serving them at the shower I'm hosting next month. I think I'll try to form the dough into a square and cut the pieces into squares since that's a nice finger-friendly option.

After the scones, I threw together a salad and a batch of green bean casserole to take to dinner as well and managed to make it to my in-laws' house with my husband and child on time.

The domestic gods are on my side today in the world of cooking and childcare. Now if they'll add housework into the mix, I'll be all set...though maybe they should also give me some blessings in regard to sewing tomorrow. We'll see if I post about my success or failure.

It's a Pinterestin' Summer!

**now updated with links!**

Friends, summer is here and my summer has officially begun!

School let out a week later than usual this year, which is fine, because we'll start a week later, but it already makes me feel like the summer is practically over already, which it isn't...ish.

The week after school let out, I was asked to lead the Bible Study rotation at our church's VBS, which I  admit I really didn't want to do at first, because I was so exhausted from school, but I knew it was the right thing to do. I will also tell you that I am so glad that I did it. While it was a busy week of dealing with kids that are much younger than I am used to, I was partnered with a very sweet lady who happens to be a librarian at one of our elementary schools, and watching her with the kids really motivated me and reminded me that I do, in fact, know how to handle younger children. It was a great week and it was neat to see aged working in me as He worked in the lives of those children. :)

The next two weeks weren't quite as fulfilling. I mean, they weren't awful, but they weren't my favorite. Every year we host a children's theatre camp at work for kids in the area and the camp serves as a fundraiser. Considering I work with another theatre teacher who works incredibly hard ad is so considerate of my time as a parent, she really did all of the hard work, so it could have been much more demanding, but I did find myself wishing I was at home with Nathan or getting things done. I probably wouldn't feel as resentful if we actually got paid for these two weeks, but we don't. Local readers, feel free to write a letter to the school board about that. ;) After the two weeks were over, I was like, ready to fly out the door and never return. Surprise.

Since my summer has actually started, I have enjoyed having time and energy to actually do things again. I have managed to cook more than just Hamburger Helper and our other usual go-to meals. All of the recipes I have used so far have been Pinterest recipes, and ok...I say "all" as if the last almost two weeks have been boing but home-cooked meals and that's not the case. I mean 3. Ok, 3 recipes. Not meals. Well, two meals and a dessert.

Sigh.

I really do feel excited about what I've done with them so far though! I would post the links and be somewhat helpful, but I'm blogging from my iPad at the moment and I don't know how to do that...but I'll edit the post later. I just have the time right now to post and I wanted to, so...yeah!

Last week, I invited my family over for dinner. We don't all get to be together often because of schedules, and everyone was there this time except for my older brother and my brother in law, but I wanted to have the family over. I decided on a whim to get adventurous in my cooking (which rarely happens), and I opted for a Citrus & Herb Roasted Chicken that I had just pinned. It intrigued me because it looked delicious in the picture, it mostly had in-house ingredients (assuming you make regular trips to the grocery store and usually have the staples in your refrigerator), the author of the recipe said it was cheap to make, and it didn't have a long prep/cook time. I ran to the grocery store, because lately, Travis and I can't seem to find the time to go to the store together and make a real trip. I of course had to buy some new herbs because the ones I have had in our spice rack for nearly four years that the recipe called for we're looking a little too aged. I essentially spent a billion dollars at the grocery store, but it really was because I didn't have a good spice stash.

It was one of the prettiest meals I have ever made, and it really was a light, summery choice. If you're not already following me on Pinterest, you should so that you can check out this recipe. I apologize in advance for how I lack hyper-organization on my Pinterest. I just have a recipe board, not a breakfast board, a lunch board, etc. I don't have the time, energy or desire to get that reorganized. Sorry.

Today I was feeling lazy but knew I didn't want to eat out, so I prepared a recipe (Crockpot Lasagna) that my sister in law, aka The Hazzardous Houswife (check out her blog!) made for us a few weeks ago. She is a bonafide Pinterester and is always tackling a new Pinterest project. You should seriously follower her if you don't already because she motivates you to try a new project every now and then. Anyway, I made that tonight and it was really good. It wasn't as good as Alissa's was because my choice of sauce, since I was lazy and just did the Ragu, but I'm going to steal her personal spaghetti sauce recipe next time. Again, you can follow her for that recipe (she even has her blog organized where you can look just at her recipes!) or you can search through my Pinterest, or probably just search crock pot lasagna. 

Then, my whole reason for being motivated for this post was the brownies I made tonight. Lets talk about me for a minute.

A. I am a chocoholic. I love chocolate more than most things.

B. I seldom make desserts from scratch, with the exception of my cheesecake which is always from scratch. I mean, a few weeks ago, I jokingly asked my BFF to come over and make homemade cookies because I wanted some without the work and took her up on her offer when she shocked me and agreed to make them for me.

C. I, as stated before, am rarely adventurous in my cooking, hence point B mentioned above.

So I found these brownies on Pinterest that just looked so good, with their huge chunks of chocolate and great photography. I read the recipe and noticed that I literally had all of the ingredients chillin' like a bunch of villains (seriously, so many calories) in my pantry, so I decided to go for it and make actual brownies from scratch, which I have never, ever done before,

They were soooooooo delicious. I ate them while the chocolate chunks were still all melty and gooey, and every calorie gained was worth it ten times over. I figure as many times as I chased Nathan around today, I earned those calories. 

That recipe is also on my Pinterest, posted under my recipes but also on the creatively named board. "Stuff I've Made." Actually the chicken one is there and I'll put the lasagna one there too. That's a much smaller board on my Pinterest because I pretty much neglected my Pinterest for the last year until now. 

On a non-recipe note, because I'm starting to feel like I have Ian unhealthy relationship with food since I've dedicated a very long and picture-less post about food, I also made a tissue paper pomander today thanks to instructions on Pinterest which was shown to me by my friend Jenica. She is the cousin to my BFF that makes me cookies and in the many years of our friendship, I've made numerous trips with her to go visit her family in east Texas. On my last trip with her, we were going up to celebrate Jenica's son's first birthday and she had these fabulous poms everywhere and talked about how easy they were to make. I made a mental note about them because at that time, I was just finishing up the first trimester of my pregnancy with Nathan. Well, now I'm in the midst of planning Nathan's first birthday party and wanted to be a copycat so I asked Jenica to link me to the instructions for the poms and was able to do a test run of one today. It was so easy and quick, and I've warned Travis that he will likely be assigned the task of making those with me because its THAT easy...and friends, Travis isn't exactly crafty. He's like a kindergarten student when it comes to crafts. I'm sure he could rock out a handprint project like a turkey or something though. ;)

Yeah, I would share a picture with you, but um, iPad blogging is making that too hard. Dudes, this is the most boring post ever. 

I'm also currently planning a bridal shower for one of my other BFFs, and I have a ton of recipes I want to use, but I want to do test runs of them first, so to tomorrow I'm starting that endeavor and I'm going to try a recipe for blueberry scones that claims to be super easy. I guess we'll see, and I'll try to be better about taking pictures so my next post about food is t so boring,

Thank you for making it is at if you haven't already given up hope of this ever ending!

[insert my fancy J signature photo because iPad blogger won't let me access it]