Thursday Things (Random, March 2012)

There are several 5K races that are currently on my radar. I am hoping to do at least one of them {hopefully April-ish}. 

Is it weird that I am more psyched about participating in a 5K than I am about shopping for clothes? I might like shopping more if I could just order outfits I liked off of Pinterest {but only if they were cheap}.

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I haven't done any crafts in the last couple of weeks. Not because I don't have a long list of projects I want to start, more because my crafting partner is moving back to the city and I just haven't felt like crafting by myself. Next week, I will buck up and make the crib skirt for my sister and cover some boxes in fabric for Jack's toys.

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My friend that is leaving is also the person that got me interested in running. We ran our first 5K together back in December of '10 and then we committed to running the Nashville Half Marathon last April. It was an amazing experience. I am thankful that she motivated me to run. I will miss her.

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Speaking of friends, I am so glad that Daniel and I are good friends. There have been so many times I would be lost if it wasn't for our friendship. Being in a big city can be lonely. Being in the country can be lonely. Friends move. We move. But Daniel and I are each others constants and I am grateful for that.

Pin It: Completed Projects

Over the last couple of weeks I wrapped up two projects. One was a Crayon Monogram "J" for Jack's nursery {if you remember, I made an "L" a few weeks ago for my nephew}.

The other thing is that I finally finished knitting Jack's baby blanket. My sister informed me that it is actually a "throw" as baby blankets are 2'x3' and my blanket is a bit bigger. On second thought, it is perfect for me to snuggle under... maybe I should just keep it for myself!

I have several new ideas for projects to start on this week.

Thursday Things: 3 Products We Regularly Used for Jack (0-3 Months)

Every time I try to make Granola, I burn it. every.time.

Cloth diapers really are saving us a boat load of money. Jack is 3 months old and we have only spent $100 on disposable diapers. Woo-hoo.

My nephew should enter the world sometime in the next 24 hours. Jack will have a little boy cousin who is 3 months younger than him. We can't wait to meet Levi.

I am not cooking as much as I used to, but I still manage to knock out 3 meals a week – we are eating more leftovers these days. 

I am almost done knitting Jack's baby blanket. Unfortunately Walmart is out of my yarn and I only need 1 ball of yarn to finish. Not sure what I will do if they are no longer selling said yarn...

After 3 months of being a mom, my top three products for baby are:

• The Fisher-Price Rock 'N Play Newborn Sleeper – Jack is still sleeping in our bedroom and this is perfect for night time as well as naps.
• My Kindle Fire – it plays Pandora (we like the Lullabye and Family Folk Song Stations) and it is great for reading books or perusing the internet when I am nursing Jack.
• An elastic hair band for my wrist. This is how I track what side to nurse Jack on... pretty high tech :) I just move the elastic band back and forth to each wrist. It is the easiest way for me to keep track (especially in the middle of the night when I am tired). If you are into techie things, I have heard good things about the Baby Connect ap for iPhone.

A typical day: Jack and Sophie napping on the couch while I work on freelance projects.

Pin It: Crayon Monogram

This week I had to bail on craft day since Jack wasn't feeling great, but I did manage to squeeze in a Pinterest craft earlier that I thought I would share.

 {via}

I came across this Crayon Monogram Artwork a while back and thought it would be cute for a nursery. My sister's baby shower was this past Sunday and I decided to make her an "L" to hang in her little one's room. Her baby, Levi, is due in about a week. 

She loved the gift and laughed that I had made sure to get her some artwork for the nursery {when I was preparing for Jack to arrive, I had my nursery art done before we did anything else in that room!}.

The best tip I can share for this project is to use an exacto knife to score around the entire crayon and then snap it in half. First I tried cutting the crayons with scissors. Then I tried a chef's knife and then wire cutters. All failed. Daniel thought I should try softening the crayons in the toaster oven first, but I had visions of melted crayons that I would have to clean! Scoring the crayon is definitely the way to go!

Pin It, Part II

Our second Pinterest craft day was a success.

Laura finished her Paper Book Wreath 

and started working on this daily calendar 
{seen on DesignSponge via one of my favorite bloggers: AshleyAnn}.

While I worked on the baby blanket I have been knitting for Jack. 

My inspiration for the blanket was this blanket from PurlBee.

My Nana actually made us this gray baby blanket after the PurlBee pattern

and I used this easier pattern for my first knitted blanket.

Pin It

Back in October I blogged about my desire to be more proactive in actually taking my Pinterest inspiration and putting it to use. Two months and one baby later, I finally decided to start a Pinterest craft day and I asked my friend, Laura, if she wanted to join me. We have decided to get together at least once a month to craft and today kicked off our first official Pinterest Craft Day.

Our crafts of choice included a Paper Book Wreath for Laura and quilted Christmas stockings for me.

 Laura's Wreath Inspiration

 

My Paper Wreath Inspiration from 2009

Interestingly enough back in December of 2009 I made a paper book wreath and started working on a set of Christmas stockings but never finished (after 9 years of marriage, Daniel and I still don't have Christmas stockings).

Original Stocking Inspiration from 2009

More Recent Stocking Inspiration

Laura liked my wreath and wanted to make one for herself and I wanted to get my stockings made, so we spent the afternoon hanging out and working on our various projects.

Progress on our projects {my 2009 wreath is on the right}.