Recovering a moses basket

Before I recovered it.......

 After I recovered it

I am trying to be more of a seamstress in my life.  I have done lots of baby blankets but beyond that I have not done much.  My husband got me a sewing machine for Christmas which I absolutely love.  I had a complicated older machine and he got me a simple machine that just goes without all the hassle.   I had gotten this moses basket from a consignment store and it worked good, I would just put a blanket in it because the fabric would never stay up on the sides.  I have to say that without a pattern or much direction it turned out ok.  Being a perfectionist in some ways I can see many flaws but it it is A LOT better then it was.  First I took apart the old cover to use as a template.  I knew that the sides had to be taller, since this one did not work, but I just guessed on the measurements.

Then I pinned the "template" to my new fabric.  I took some leftover fabric for a liner and cut out the liner and the soft fabric together so that it would match up. The bottom (under the mattress) I left as just the liner

After assembling the sides with the lining and the bottom I covered the mattress by just cutting it out with the template and creating a cover. I left one side open so that I could get the mattress out for cleaning.  I could put velcro or a small zipper but it works ok with it open too so that I can clean it in case of any accidents.

Then, I took some leftover batting and doubled it up to create a barrier between the basket and the baby.  I just stuck it in there and put the cover over it.

I was going to put elastic on the edge to hold it in place but that did not really work because my measurements must have been a little off so instead of redoing the entire thing I took some leftover ribbon from my mobile project and sewed it on to create some ties.  This worked great and I love how it turned out.  I know it is not the best but it works for us.

Baby Mobile

I wanted to create something for my baby girl to look at when she is in her crib.  I got this idea from my sister in law.  I got 4 colors of ribbon from the craft store for 50 cents each and a hoop for $1.29.  My daughter loves to look up at it and stare at the colors.  It was really fun to make too!!

3 months old!!

Three months old already!!

I cannot believe how big you are getting.  Some of your new tricks include holding your head up, cooing, and saying something that resembles "hi" although I think that is just wishful thinking on our part. You also have learned how to smile and follow us with your eyes around the room.  You have blue/gray eyes and your hair has a touch of red in it even though your daddy in in denial about that.  He says it is not red it is strawberry blond :) You are able to hold yourself up when you sit on our laps and your eyes absolutely sparkle when your daddy comes home from work.   Both of us love you more then words can say and we love seeing what a fun little princess you are turning into!~Love always Mommy and Daddy 

Below are some of our favorite pictures from the past month 

Soaked Granola

Soaked Granola

I recently tried to make some homemade soaked granola.  It turned out very good and I wanted to share the recipe for those that wanted to try it also.  I originally got the recipe from a great blog called passionate homemaking.  I really like this blog because it has some great recipes and lots of other information.  The recipe they had is listed here.  My recipe which was adapted the passionate homemaking recipe is listed below

• 8 cups rolled oats
• 3/4 cup melted coconut oil
• 1/2 cup melted butter
• 2-2 1/2 cups raw milk (only enough to make it moist)
• 1/2 cup raw honey
• 1/2 cup evaporated palm sugar (although next time I would probably substitute maple syrup for this.  You can use any dark sugar and it would work fine including brown sugar)  
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 4 tsp cinnamon
• 4 tsp vanilla extract

The following is what I put in my granola but any combination of things in your cupboard could work including nuts, raisins, dates, coconut......the possibilities are endless!

• 1 cup raisins
• 1 cup dried cranberries 
• 1 cup sliced almonds
• 1 cup pecans

melt together the coconut oil,  butter, and honey.  Add to granola and then add the sugar, spices, and milk and mix together until all the granola is wet

Let this mixture sit on the counter to culture for 12-24 hours

Then put in a dehydrator or the oven on 200 degrees for 2-4 hours or until it is crunchy.  I would recommend putting parchment paper down....I made the mistake of not doing that :)

Add your favorite ingredients and mix

The finished product!  Very good with some cold raw milk or over some yogurt....enjoy!!

New Beginnings

2011

In this new year my husband and I have embarked on a new adventure.  We moved back to Sonoma county for a great opportunity for my husband with a new job.  Now I have the privileged of staying home with our little three month old daughter.  I love being with her every day but I am also trying to stretch our budget to accommodate me staying home.  With that said, God provided an amazing house for us to live in. It is actually the old homestead from the 20's or 30's.  It has it's quarks of course but it is a great place to be.  It is really fun to think that we have our own little homestead in the city.   It has a great yard and I am going to try to start a year round garden for us so that I do not have to spend as much on produce for my family.  We try to eat organic and fresh vegetables but that really adds us.  I spend anywhere from $25-$30/week just on produce that I could grow a lot of it in our own back yard.  I have been reading a book that my aunt loaned to me called One Magic Square by Lolo Houbein.  This talks about growing organic food in a 3 foot by 3 food box.  It shows ways to use every inch of the box to grow your vegetables. I am using this idea but I am going to have 4 foot by 4 foot boxes because of where we are putting them in the garden.   There is also a website that I came upon, it is a year round planting guide for Sonoma County.  I was so excited because I could grow things year round and this guide is so easy to follow.  I am sure that it could be changed a bit to show almost any climate in California.  Now I just need to get my husband to start on the boxes.......my birthday is coming up maybe I can have them built for my present :) There are so many new possibilities when there is access to having a garden.  After reading this book I now realize that it does not take a lot of room to provide a lot of food for you and your family. Now if the rain would just go away and spring would come..............on well we need the rain!  Have a great day everyone!!

 We are going to put the boxes along this fence line

This is the other side of our yard. I think I am going to put flowers along this fence line.  

And this is our little ranch homestead.  It needs a lot of work on the outside yard because no one has really cared for the yard in about 5 years but it is a fun project for my daughter and I.