bonnets!

Her Grannie brought her back a bonnet from Niagra Falls; it was comically small!Still cute, of course. I set out to make her one that actually fits:
my busy little model
I almost have the pattern perfect, these will be great for the beach this summer!

P.S. you will also notice my little girl is sitting up BY HERSELF. AAhh! Where did my baby go?

just a little detour?

I made my first baby dress the other day:

Instant gratification! It was so easy- I'm hooked (as if I wasn't already addicted to textiles)! I started with my favorite white button down that had served its time (originally $10 from old navy, I wore it out). I simply cut out the neck area to use as the top of the dress then gathered the bottom half of the shirt to form the skirt. A bit of ribbon, some lace, a couple french knots and Done!

How am I supposed to focus on home renovations (see nasty bathroom vanity below)

when this is the alternative:

ahhh saturday

me and amelia had THE BEST four hour nap!

because we woke up bright and early to hit some garage sales with hali:

*you know she is prepared because she has a fanny pack*

amelia is modeling hali's new fur hat

this is the rocking chair i found- pretty comfy! i can't wait to reupholster it....

hope you had a relaxing saturday,

kassi

the nursery

I've been trying to get A's room decorated lately. I scored a free papasan chair on the side of the road that I may turn in to a nest of sorts (not sure how literal I'm gonna go with that). I went fabric shopping and found the perfect curtain fabric! but at $20 a yard that is SO not happening. side note- miss A thoroughly enjoyed the fabric store, I guess I'll have to bring her back there, shucks! I've decided to paint something on a white sheet and possibly line it with blackout fabric. This is what I'm thinking....

I will post pics of her room soon!

new house

We are finally emerging from a long home renovation intensive! We closed on our house on the 15th of April and have been fixing it up since. Apparently the previous owners were not bothered by dust or dog hair- lets just say it was really gross. If you know me at all, you know this was my worst nightmare. We have mostly banished the 'heebeejeebees'; just a few more areas to sanitize like behind the dishwasher. Frankly, I am afraid to look.

We also, in a moment of naive ambition, decided to remove the popcorn ceilings. It was a crazy large undertaking that we only survived with help from our families. A whole lot of scraping, dust, and painting later we have much nicer and CLEANER ceilings. we also removed wallpaper from the kitchen, dining, utility, and bathrooms (some easier than others) and painted almost every room and the kitchen cabinets. huh, i'm tired just typing it all!

here are some before and after pics:

KITCHEN

before

after

Living

before

after

Dining

before

after

We still have a alot to do (like paint the cabinet doors), but all of the major messiness is finished!

phew!

I had not painted anything in a while, so it felt good to exercise my painting muscles. I finished my entry for Wild About Downtown thanks to some babysitting help from my mom!

It will be displayed all summer; be sure to visit downtown Opelousas and vote for your favorite piece :)

cloth

Well I might as well write about what I am up to my eyebrows in everyday- diapers.

I decided to go with cloth because I am trying to avoid getting caught up in a disposable lifestyle (and I'm a hopeless romantic, oh and a cheapskate). I made sure to do my homework before broaching the subject to my husband, who was skeptical yet supportive. It sure made for an interesting baby shower. My younger cousins struggled to grasp the concept while older relatives cautioned me with tales of washing. I believe my family could be described as quietly, dubiously waiting to see what happened.

Modern cloth diapering is far from the days of washboards and plastic pants; my daily routine only differs by 1 load of laundry. Granted, I have not extensively used disposables.

Really the biggest question, when it comes to cloth is "What to do with the poo?"

Some people use a disposable liner while others rinse/shake it into the toilet. Breastfed baby doo will just wash away in the washing machine. So far we have used a mix of rinsing and just putting it in the wash. I'm not quite sure how I feel about this yet. Ideally you want to get it in the toilet, but this is not always practical.

I wash each batch once on cold with no soap and then on hot with soap. Every once and a while I give them a long soak in baby oxyclean. I usually let them air dry unless I need them right away.

The only main drawback is that cloth diapers are bulky. Most baby pants are cut to fit over disposables which are slimmer, so you need pants that are a size bigger or homemade. My diaper bag also gets a little crowded; when we travel I usually pack a beach tote of clean diapers.

So far, I'm satisfied with my decision.

And I just realized my first post is mostly about poo. Probably not the best start, oh well.