Crafty Mamas Unite!

mamaqdubu · January 2020

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5020794/uploads/editor/gt/dgd4zgesnll5.jpg

Someone mentioned crafting in this weekly check-in and it reminded me that we had a crafting projects board in my past BMB's. A fun place to share ideas & progress of things you're working on! Can be anything from a sewing project, to a kitchen renovation, to pinterest baking fails. Doesn't have to be baby related, but I'm sure once all of us get closer to the big day we'll have some fun nursery crafts or decor to share that we're working hard on. Post your most recent projects or works in progress below!! I did a search and didn't find a board for this, but let me know if it's a duplicate!

mamaqdubu · January 2020

I’ll start. I’ve been working on this crocheted baby blanket for a while. It’s taking me forever to find time to work on it, but I love how it’s coming out. I’ve never done a whole blanket, so actually finishing this will be an experience. Also, I got a cricuit for Christmas so I’m excited to do some nursery projects before May!

drkoyya · January 2020

I’m not overtly crafty but I want to be. Since I’m not doing much nesting (at least not until the shower), I have a strong urge to create something for baby. The first thing I did was paint bookshelves to add a pop of color to the nursery. I plan to paint other wall art in the same colors. My friend has a cricuit and offered to make me a sign with baby’s name (she’s more crafty than me). I’m searching Pinterest to find other little things I can make for baby.

mamaqdubu · January 2020

@drkoyya love the colors you chose!

lisush · January 2020

@mamaqdubu that blanket is looking awesome! I plan to knit one but still have to buy the yarn. Deciding on a color is so hard!

@drkoyya love those shelves!

soprano19 · January 2020

@drkoyya I love your shelves!

This is a fun idea for a thread! We live in a 100+ year old house that needs some work and attention, mostly because previous owners have rented it out to people who have treated it badly. There have also been some stupid or straight up unsafe design and construction choices made that we are slowly trying to remedy. It’s more home design and less crafting related, but we have some projects planned for this year and I will post pics as they progress.

pirateduck · January 2020

I don't know where to begin. I will throw out there that we picked up a die-cut machine over the summer at a garage sale. Once in awhile I spend some time figuring out how to use it. I've found that if you use someone else's project plans it's fairly straight forward, but if you have your own ideas of something you'd like to do and there's no template for that sort of thing, the software is not exactly user friendly. We've found we've needed to purchase some parts/accessories for it the times we've used it, however the closest store to do this is an hour and half or more away in the city, so yeah, I haven't figured out as much as I'd like.

I started baking on Christmas, personal tradition, and made 3 batches of cookies and would like to get back into baking more. Since I've been spending more time at home being pregnant I'd like to do a baking project a week on one of my days off as well as a crock pot meal. I have tons of cook books, but the only one I look at is the cookie book. Baking at high altitude doesn't always work as planned, but I do like to try new recipes.

Lastly I will say I love home decorating and design and can't wait to do up the nursery and have been gathering ideas for a few years now. It's also what I do for work, but I've never gotten to do a nursery for work because I exclusively work on vacation condos, so lots of kitchens and bathrooms as well as furniture/lighting plans. I wish the nursery was a start from scratch project, but through work I get lots of free furniture that clients are getting rid of, so I'm probably going to keep the furniture that's there plus add a crib, it's in good shape, the price was right, just not my style. If you are looking for inspiration or staring an online project board where you can save ideas I love the website houzz for pictures of completed projects, wayfair for products, and pinterest for diy ideas. They all allow you to set up a free account and save the things you like for later.

mamaqdubu · January 2020

@pirateduck what kind of machine did you get? I got an ecraft before our wedding (7 yrs ago) and did our wedding invitations which was crazy difficult, and then a lot of random projects until it broke about a year or so ago. I'm excited to have a newer one now to do both decorating projects as well as fun crafts for the kids.

That's so cool that you do interior decoration stuff for work! I would love spending other people's money and get to decorate spaces. The closest we get is that DH flips houses so I normally get to pick out some light fixtures, paint colors, and kitchen cabinets/countertops which is really fun.

m6agua · January 2020

I plan on crocheting a blanket for this baby using my late grandma's yarn. I did one for DD that was pink and grey, I plan on doing the exact same one but in blue and grey. I will have to get pictures later.

We have all the furniture for DD's big girl room, it is a really pale wood color. I'm not a huge fan, but the price was great on marketplace. I want to sand it all and paint everything white. Who knows if that will happen.

This year DH and I will finally do our American flag pallet art for our living room. We have the pallet all separated with the nails out, just need to cut, assemble, and paint it.

rachelg777 · January 2020

@mamaqdubu I love that blanket!!

I love crafty things and I need to start making more time for it! I'm mostly into paper crafts, I have a Cricut etc. but I got a sewing machine for my birthday last summer and I really want to start learning. I'm not sure if I should try to do a class or just dive right in. Any suggestions?

pirateduck · January 2020

@mamaqdubu I have a silhouette, we'd talked about buying one off and on for a few years, but could never decide on a model, so when we found one (with some random supplies/accessories) at a garage sale for $30 we had to bring it home!

If I had the funds I'd love to flip houses on my own and not work for someone else. I'm also a bit obsessed with looking at land and 100 year old houses for sale online. I inherited a small sum of money when my grandmother passed and we've been sitting on it with the goal of investing in real estate somehow, but it's not a huge amount and we want to spend wisely and don't want to waste it. We're still toying with the idea of relocating as well, so it might be best as a down payment on something, or it might all disappear once baby is born now! We're trying to figure out if there's any way to invest in something else without selling our current home, but it's hard.

@m6agua I admittedly take home more pallets and scrap lumber without immediate plans for them than I care to admit. My husband does the same. I'm sure our neighbors hate our scrap wood pile! A friend just dropped off 2x4 remnants at our house about a week ago. We don't need them, so much as I'm sure we'll eventually use them for something! We built pretty much the whole chicken coop, duck house, and fenced run from scrap lumber, as well as our snow fence.

mamaqdubu · January 2020

@rachelg777 I have a sewing machine and don't use it as much as I would like!! My mom taught me the basics, but I think if I didn't have her I would join a local sewing club or look for classes at like Joann Fabrics or Micheals. A lot of them have beginner classes & some fun/easy projects. My personal favorite beginner project is drawstring pajamas. They are comfy, you can make them for yourself, and they are hard to mess up since it's not something tailored. Now that I know the basics, I normally use Youtube to help refresh my memory or learn something new.

catem07 · January 2020

I want to be crafty and I have the ability and tools, but not the energy right now. I sew (quilts and other home stuff, not clothing) I also bake, and actually do that with some frequency. I know how to knit but have never knit anything of consequence. I want to make this baby a baby quilt before she's born...if I get to that, my crafting will have been a success...

rachelg777 · January 2020

@mamaqdubu yes I think the best time investment would be a class since I'm a complete newbie minus a few projects with my grandma when I was a kid. I just need to actually commit.

shamrocandroll · January 2020

@rachelg777 I would take a basics class. I started out with a class that went for several weeks, and we made throw pillows and tote bags (which were really nice heavy duty canvas, and I made many versions of as gifts for people). That got me going enough to try some stuff on my own, and then I took a class on how to follow a pattern, and I made an apron. I started making a quilt on my own, but I only made like 2 squares before I got distracted and never finished it, haha.

My goal for this pregnancy is to make the back cushion for the glider in the nursery. I've had the materials for it since before DS was born, but never got around to doing it. I've just been using a spare throw pillow for like 3 years now. So at least the new baby will get SOMETHING of their own? Haha.

miss_lynn9 · January 2020

@pirateduck I used to bake a lot but went GF for health reasons. I've started eating it again in fear that baby will get sensitive if I don't introduce it when breastfeeding and luckily my body has changed and now accepts it so now I have the urge to bake sourdough cinnamon buns. What's your favorite cookie to bake?

@m6agua I love the idea of making a blanket from your grandma's yarn!

MH and I invest in real estate. We buy older bungalows and fix them up. We currently live in the first one we bought and made a suit in the basement which we live in. After 4 years it is almost finished! We finished the fireplace a few weeks ago and I am so in love with it!

Baby wise I love making string art and I've been thinking up a piece to make with baby's name for the nursery. This is one that I made for my nephew. I haven't decided on a theme yet though.

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5020794/uploads/editor/tm/nld0nsebb717.png

m6agua · January 2020

Here is a picture of the blanket I made DD.

mamaqdubu · January 2020

@jess09lynn that is one of the best string art signs i've seen! Also that's so cool that you and your DH flip bungalows. My husband is currently on a search for his next project. the last 2 have been 1820 & 1840 farm houses with all original woodwork. They turned out beautiful.

@m6agua That blanket is beautiful and even moreso with it being from your grandmother's yarn. So special.

m6agua · January 2020

@jess09lynn That sign is so adorable!

thepretzelchick · January 2020

I crochet. I'm currently working on a blanket for the baby and finishing up a temperature blanket for 2019. I don't have pics of either, but I do of 2018's temp blanket. Each color represents a five degree range, I used each day's high temperature, and did a 3 day-2 day pattern to make it all fit and not be ridiculously long. It's so warm and I love that you can see summer comes in March and leaves in October, lol

Six year old for scale

pirateduck · January 2020

@jess09lynn I think my favorite cookies are cream cheese cookies, super easy and super good!

Also I will say I bake more cookies than anything else. They keep for a long time and pack well to bring to work or share with others etc.

I recently tried a new recipe for apple muffins. They had a crumb topping, which I'd never done before and was skeptical about, but came out really well.

pirateduck · January 2020

I can crochet some also. I used to do it more. I have a terrible time trying to follow a pattern though and constantly have to look up how to do different stitches based on the abbreviations! One thing I do want to crochet for baby, that I know I can do, is leg warmers! Something like this... and if I can relearn or figure out ruffles or flowers to add to some that would be great.

Image result for crochet baby leg warmers

mamaqdubu · January 2020

@thepretzelchick I've never seen a temperature blanket! that is such a cool idea.

rachelg777 · January 2020

All of you ladies are so talented! Love all the blankets and other items!

miss_lynn9 · January 2020

@mamaqdubu thank you! Those houses sound beautiful.

louessbee · January 2020

These projects are all amazing! I love to craft but I haven't had the energy recently. I mostly do paper crafts and scrapbook. I have a few ideas for the babies that I haven't started yet - I want to do wooden name signs for their room, and make some art for the walls. We'll see, first I have to actually empty that room....

pirateduck · January 2020

I baked banana bread! At some point after deciding to do this I realized even with all my random kitchen stuff I didn’t own a loaf pan, so the bananas had a few extra days (like a week or more) to ripen first.

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5020794/uploads/editor/o9/2fv5pkrbakk8.jpeg

randic22 · January 2020

I've recently been teaching myself to sew and starting with small projects for the baby. I made 5 baby washcloths and next are burp cloths. They arent perfect but I'm happy with them!

lisush · January 2020

@randic22 that's so cute! I would love to have those myself.

mamaqdubu · January 2020

@randic22 that's so cute!! I have a few small sewing projects similar to that I want to make. wash clothes, burp clothes, rattle/tag toys, bandana bibs, etc

miss_lynn9 · January 2020

@randic22 I love your washcloths! I'm hopefully going to make my own too along with cloth wipes.

randic22 · January 2020

They were really easy!

@mamaqdubu tag toys is a great idea, I didnt think of that before.
@jess09lynn I thought about possibly doing cloth wipes as well.

drkoyya · January 2020

It’s not my craft but still a crafting project. My friend is gifting me a wooden sign for baby. She was going to use her cricuit but it’s way cheaper to just find everything at Hobby Lobby. Here’s the layout, I’ll update once it’s painted and up in the nursery (also a look at my friend’s 16 mo old who insisted on moving all the pieces). Super excited about it it.

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5020794/uploads/editor/0n/wdn1bgdu1ymh.jpeg

randic22 · January 2020

Just finished some burp cloths!

miss_lynn9 · January 2020

Made my own boob and belly butter. I love this recipe!

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5020794/uploads/editor/a3/2efayxv2lmno.jpg

pirateduck · January 2020

@jess09lynn can you share the recipe? That looks great!

miss_lynn9 · January 2020

@pirateduck yes of course!

https://www.mamanatural.com/belly-butter-recipe/

I made the following changes:
- Swapped half the Vit E oil with Tamanu oil
- lowered the concentration of essential oils to 0.25% using frankincense, helichrysum, patchouli and lavender

miss_lynn9 · January 2020

Finished designing baby's name sign. I tend to get a little over detailed with my drawings so it may change when I transfer it to the wood.

pirateduck · January 2020

My friend and pregnancy mentor is coming to visit in Feb. and we are planning a sewing project when she comes. We’ll see what comes of it.

soprano19 · January 2020

This is a big ongoing project, but I started a blog for working moms. There’s a lot of content out there that I always think would be great to follow if I were a SAHM or WAHM and had any flexibility in my day, but not a lot of it is compatible with the working mom life. I launched it yesterday and only have a few posts up, but I’m happy with it so far. I also made an associated Instagram account. I feel a little weird sharing the link here because it feels like self-promotion, but I can if people are interested.

sunshinesea22 · January 2020

@soprano19 Congratulations! Blogs seem like such a big commitment. It’s awesome that you saw a need for a different perspective and decided to go for it!!

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