Projects

So, I am sure that you all think I am super busy chasing after two kids, growing a baby and running a household. This is true. However, it doesn't stop me from being bored out of my mind with ways to challenge myself...

I notice a few weeks ago, a box full of Bjorn's stuff that he was going to be donating to the Good Will. Among the items were a few dress shirts that were...um, well, I'm not sure why they were being donated to Good Will. At anyrate, I took a peek at the dress shirts and they looked super suitable for an experiment that I wanted to embark: dress-making! I found a website that provided a tutorial on how to turn mens' dress shirts into cute little dresses for little girls. I decided that it was a project with just enough challenge for me. Plus, if I ruined the shirt, it was no big deal and no one got hurt in the process! I picked a shirt that I bought for Bjorn when we first started dating and he needed some normal clothes for the Academy. This is the shirt:

It took me a couple of nights to work on the dress....as I only worked on it while the kids were asleep. Plus, I had AMAZING babysitters (Uncle Erik and Ms. Clarise) flown in as well (more on that later...). After a little bit of frustration (okay, a lot) with my sewing machine and then threading issues, this is what the finished product looks like:

Unfortunately for me and all my efforts, Audriana hates the dress. It took quite a bit of kicking, tackling and screaming for her to get the dress on and once it was on, she couldn't get it off fast enough so that she could find some thing pink and purple to wear! The dress was SUPER cute on her, but she has given me the green light to give the dress away to her friends...and quickly. I can't quite part with the dress yet because I still hope in the smallest recess of my heart that she will somehow fall in love with this dress and ask for more (I know I should be careful of what I wish...).

I also had the opportunity to work on a project for Haakon. Being the teething monster that he is, I have been noticing that he likes to chew on his crib railing...not only leaving marks on the crib, but chipping off paint as well. With a toothy grin and paint chip plastered to his face, I decided that lead poisoning (okay, so its probably not lead paint, but still, it can't be good to be ingesting paint chips) was NO GOOD and it was time to find a solution. After searching the internet, I settled on a website that had a tutorial on how to make your own crib railing guard. While my babysitters were in town, I took the opportunity to make a run to the JoAnn Fabric store and buy my necessities. Apparently, it is not cheap to make things yourself. Note to self: check out BabiesRUs before embarking on such projects again. I digress...

Anyways, after 2 afternoon naps and 2 nights after the kids had gone to bed: it was done! I was so giddy with excitement with my excellent sewing skills (if any of you are familiar with my sewing skills, you are aware that they can sometimes be subpar...especially if it has to do with the seam in the butt region....) that I snuck into the nursery at 12:21 AM and tied the rail guard to Haakon's crib. It was a PERFECT fit and Haakon did not wake up. I wanted to stay in the room and marvel at my handy work. But as it turns out, one can only marvel at her work in the dark for so long. So, off to bed I went and in the morning when I walked in nursery...Haakon was happily chewing at the crib railing that I had just covered! Eat your heart out BabiesRUs!! It was worth every penny to see that my efforts paid off. The finished product:

Next project is to make a rug for the new playroom (we will be converting the main toy room...yes, we have two toy rooms...into a bedroom for one of the kids). That one is slated to take a bit longer that the previous two projects. A latch hook rug using Daddy's and Grandpa Anderson's old t-shirts (and what a collection they have amassed...). Wish me luck!