Whoa! Where did I go?

I have been BUSY! I had a small human in early July, started back full-time in college in August, and I have a 3yr old. Nuff said. I have opened an Etsy shop! I am loving crochet and decided to take the plunge! It's got all kinds of cool stuff check it out! http://www.etsy.com/shop/DaphadillyArt

And last but not least, here is the little guy who has kept me so busy!

Thanks for reading!

Matching elf hats

I decided to make new baby an elf hat for a few reasons. First it's super cute, second I needed to learn how to switch colors, and third because I have a friend starting a photography business and I thought she might like it when my boy out grows it :) Once I started making it, Daphne decided she wanted one too. I used this pattern by Carrie Piper. And you can see the project details over at my Ravelry.

Thanks for looking!

Helping a toddler with gift giving

It is hard to explain to a child that the present you just bought is not for them! Especially when it is for a birthday party. Birthday parties are for friends and friends have common interests so a present for a friend is usually a want for my daughter. We had this issue this week and sure enough she did want the present when she saw it. I did the usual reassuring of  "you will get presents on your birthday", "you are going to chuck e cheese for your birthday", and "this is for friend because it's her birthday and she wants you to come play at her party". She continued to ask to open the gift but never got to tantrum mode or worked up about it. The day of the party I unrolled enough wrapping paper to wrap the gift in. I used old Christmas paper and flipped it over to the blank side. Then I gave my daughter stamps and highlighters and let her color the paper for her friend's present. She. Loved. It. Pictures follow :)

Bake sale cookie fun!

We made cookies today! I found them on pinterest and combined 2 pins. I used the actual cookie idea (but just used a bag of sugar cookie mix) and I used the tip I found on putting a box of instant pudding in your cookie dough to make them chewy! Here is what we did in picture form, enjoy!

Helping a Toddler understand "soon"

The baby is coming. Not today or tomorrow but before your birthday. This is what I tell my almost 3yr old. Now that there is less than a month until his eviction date (hoping he beats it) and a bit more than a month until her birthday I did a fun little craft to help her understand when it will be time. I saw this when my husband deployed and I had heard of it from some friends who used it to get their children through deployment. It's a tear chain, one loop for everyday that needs to pass before it is that very special day. One friend's husband wrote a message on each loop so that his boys had encouragement from him everyday. My version is much simpler and much less profound but serves it's purpose of helping a toddler visualize when a future event will occur. I even added a blue loop for baby brother's eviction date and ended with a pink loop for her birthday!

Cloth shoes!

I found a free pattern for cloth infant shoes via Pinterest. It led me to Stardust Shoes, a blog that has a pdf pattern and instructions available to download free. Here is my final product..

And I have been making things here and there for my daughter to give her as a big sister present when baby brother arrives (and she is bored in the hospital). I found this on pinterest as well. It is a makeup container (eye makeup containers work nicely) with the makeup removed and nail polish poured in it's place. The polish hardens and you have a neat play makeup made from extra stuff you already have!

Thanks for stopping by!

June Citrus Lane unboxing!

I love Citrus Lane! For $25 a month, I get a box filled with products recommended by moms in the know. I think you're going to love it, too.


  Right now you can start your monthly subscription for less! Take 10% off the cost of your subscription with code SPRINGFUN. You'll save $7.50 on three months, $12.50 on six months, or $25 on twelve months!

This month's theme was Little Artist. I was wondering how they would pull that off for a newborn since my boxes are for my unborn baby boy due next month. Well I forgot how many kinds of "art" there are! This month's box would retail for $73.13 if you bought the items separately or without this awesome subscription!

Included this month was:
2 Hohner Kids Musical Instruments, a shaker and a bell. (My almost 3yr old stole these immediately!)
A $35 voucher to Minted.com where I can get an art print, announcement, invites, etc.
A Pop & Lolli Decal, these are fabric whimsical decals. Ours is a super cute Owl and I think my daughter might steal that too!
Putumayo 2012 Playground Sampler CD which has 8 fun kids songs!
Wee Gallery Art Cards. These are thick like a board book and high contrast for infant eyes.
*Not pictured* Babyganics Stain Eraser on the go! I forgot to include this in the picture but it is a travel stain remover that is safe and non-toxic for baby.

Want your own monthly box of awesome? CLICK ME!

Very Jane Giveaway!

I love Very Jane! So when they decided to host a giveaway I had to post it on my blog! Very Jane is like Groupon for WAHM/handmade goods, they have great steals! So if you would like to win some money enter below!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

I have been crafting ;)

I really have! LOL I am just so exhausted and overly pregnant I craft then pass out from the exhaustion of concentrating! I am also helping teach a VBS class this week and we have 23 very rambunctious 4 year olds! So here is what I have been doing!

I learned how to make this cute headband from a link on Pinterest. I used my daughter's smaller shirt to make her a bracelet. The tutorial can be found at Make It and Love It. That blog is full of fun projects!

I also crocheted a pair of wool shorties (wool diaper cover). You can see all the details on my Ravelry project page.  Here is the finished project..

Thanks for stopping by!

I'm addicted!

I am so addicted to crocheting! I am so happy that I switched from knitting! My second project was a sleepsack and cap. It was a lot of triple crochet and took about 2 days. Well maybe a day, I started last night and finished tonight. If you go to my RAVELRY you can see the pattern I used as well as what hook and yarn. Here is a picture!

Thanks for looking!

I quit one and took up another :)

I think I posted on here that I was attempting to learn to knit. Well knitting is haaaaaaard! LOL! I hated it, it wasn't fun and I just could not get it! So I quit and took up crocheting! Crocheting is soooo much easier for me! My friend Melody got me started by introducing me to an awesome youtube channel. The Crochet Geek on youtube has helped me along the way! I would crochet, watch tutorial, crochet, watch tutorial!

My first project was a Little Fire Soaker. I posted it on my RAVELRY and you can get the free pattern and all the specifics there. I messed up and didn't attach the front to the back in the center so one leg is way bigger than the other! LOL! I learned quite a few stitches doing this project though, and I am very grateful to those who make patterns and post them for free.

Thanks for looking! I plan on starting another crochet project tonight :)

Kindle case hacked

My husband bought me a kindle and case for Christmas this past year. He wasn't happy with the case he got but it was the best one he saw. I liked it, it was very functional and not ugly but not pretty either. So this is the case he bought.

I decided to take the outer fabric off, keep the squishy foam middle, and keep the inner minky.

Me and my seam ripper have never been so close! LOL I lie, I'm not a great sewer so I use my seam ripper like it's my job. This was not as easy as I thought it would be. And the end product was not as ....... clean as I had hoped but it still looks cute!

Overall I am happy with the way it turned out, if I was a better sewer or more thoughtful in the planning process it might have turned out better but I plan on using it and like it just fine for me :) Up next fabric shoes!

Princess Costume

Sorry for the misleading title, I did not make what YOU know as a princess costume. My daughter calls everything costumes. Swimsuit is swimming costume, dresses are princess costumes. I think it's adorable but I am a tad biased. What is not adorable is that she REFUSES to wear anything but a dress. So I went to town hacking her wardrobe to create new dresses for her to wear out of cute things she hasn't been wearing. I also made a fat quarter pillow case dress from a tut I found on pinterest. Here are the pics!

Made a shirt into a bubble dress

Hello Kitty dress made from 2 shirts. I accidently sewed the skirt part on inside out, LOL!

Fat quarter pillow case dress. Came out a tad big, my DH called it a potato sack dress :P
Thanks for stopping by!

DIY water/Hot weather wrap

I live in Fort Polk, LA. It is hotter than hades here and has been for months now. I never wore a coat last winter. I have a few cardigans and they kept me warm all winter long. We live in an upstairs apartment that was built in the 70s. Needless to say we spend the entire summer at the pool. Well except my husband who requires spf 1000000000 to just walk outside ;). 


Since I looooove babywearing and spending all of our summer at the pool I knew I needed a breezy wrap. After looking on etsy and finding a shop that made hot weather and water friendly wraps I decided to forgo the $30 price tag and make my own. Now if you are thinking, "Lady I'm lazy and $30 is not bad for a wrap I can actually wear in the heat" Then go to etsy and see TexasMommaDi. She has what you need in many colors :)

Now if you are feeling crafty, this wrap is so super easy to make and can even be a no sew wrap if you like. 

All you need is 5 yards of jersey mesh fabric. I bought white from WalMart and if I want to I can dye it later

but white is fine with me. You fold your material in half and cut it right down the middle. Congrats! You just 

made 2 no sew wraps! You can gift one to a friend or use one for pool and one for everyday! 

I wanted a finished edge so I got out my trusty walking foot and attached it to my sewing machine. I am going

to go on a tangent real quick. I was googling how to attach a walking foot and found none of the directions 

applied to my Viking Husqvarna Emerald 183. I am going to show a couple of pics on how I attached it for

anyone else who may have this problem.

You can see where I had to remove the part I normally attach a foot to and use the screw that held it on to 
attach my walking foot.

The the movable arm on the right side goes around the part that holds your needle in.


If you are asking, "excuse me crazy lady? Why are you using a walking foot?" It's because the walking
foot grips your fabric and is very useful when sewing things that are slippery or stretchy, like jersey knit.

In order to have a nice edge I just double folded and stitched.

Here is the finished project! Thanks for looking!

Mail time!

Here's the mail it never fails... sorry. Mommy to a 2yr old ;) I had an awesome mail day today! I got my box from Citrus Lane and my new Mommy Necklaces from their spring release!

First let's talk Citrus Lane! I love Citrus Lane! For $25 a month, I get a box filled with products recommended by moms in the know. I think you're going to love it, too.

  Right now you can start your monthly subscription for less! Take 10% off the cost of your subscription with code SPRINGFUN. You'll save $7.50 on three months, $12.50 on six months, or $25 on twelve months!

This month's box was all about summer fun! I got a subscription for little brother so my box is for a newborn.

This month's box was worth $57.96. I got an iPlay sun hat, Green Toys twist teether, Episencial protective face balm, Dapple dish liquid, "In My Ocean" finger puppet board book, and $15 Joyus gift card!

Next up my haul from the Mommy Necklace spring line. These necklace are friendly for curious fingers. They have breakaway clasps and strong cording. They are also super cute!

See happy happy mail day! Now I have to go clean the house :)