Allison: Christmas ABC Book

Hello, everyone!  I know we've been a little unreliable lately with posts, but we're figuring it out.  This is our first Christmas with a blog, and the balancing act is a little tricky.

Today, I'm going to share the text from the cute ABC Christmas book that I posted some pictures of last week.  This was such a fun project to put together as it brought back so many fun memories from my childhood.  In case you didn't read my last post, this ABC book was a book that my Grandma Golda put together for each of the families of her children.  The book includes a Christmas card for each letter of the alphabet, with a cute sentence.  I remember sitting for hours and looking through this book.  Sara and I have had ambitions of recreating this book for year.  We've been collecting cards, but this year I decided it was time.  Sara had given me the cards she had collected, so I made her a book first.

It was really easy to put together.  I felt a lot of freedom to make it specific for Sara's family, and didn't worry too much about making it look exactly like my Grandmother's book.  You can find the text here.
I used the font "Harrington".

I found this photo album at Joann's for $12.99.  Of course I used a coupon and it ended up being closer to $7.  I also used my favorite little paper stamp to round the edges of the letters and text (also from Joann's).  As far as the lay out of the book... that's up to you.  Have fun with it!  The book only had 10 pages, front and back, (though inserts were available), so I doubled up on some pages.

I hope you all are wrapping up your Christmas gift shopping/creating (pun intended), and have some time to relax and enjoy the season.  Until next week...


Allison

Allison: Car Seat Cooler Tutorial

Hello again!  I love reading about all the fun stuff that Lisa does with her cute family!  It makes me really excited for my little family to do similar things in the future.  That being said, with a twenty-month-old, we don't really go on many outings.  If Costco counts as an outing, then we go on A LOT!

Isla and I spend our days doing pretty basic things: cleaning, shopping, watching Toy Story 3.  That's about it.  But anytime we do venture out of the house, I face the same dilemma:  Arizona heat and a hot car seat.  Luckily, Isla doesn't really seem to mind the heat as much as her pregnant momma does.  Lately I've really wanted to fix the hot car seat problem, but have been pretty lazy about making her one of the really cutesy car seat coolers I've seen on Pinterest.  So I decided to embrace the laziness and make the most basic one I could that would still get the job done.  It took me a total of about 10 minutes and will give her all the relief of an overly-embellished version.

Before I describe the process, I should probably explain a car seat cooler, if you haven't already figured out its purpose.  When you leave the house, you grab the cooler and take it with you.  Once your little one is out of the car seat, you place the cooler in the car seat, tucking the straps with those hot little metal buckles underneath the cooler, and go about your planned activity.  Once you return to the car, you remove the car seat cooler and place your child in the nicely cooled seat.  Genius!  Okay, here's what you'll need to make your own:

The towel I bought was $3 at Walmart.  Can't beat that!  I would have preferred to use smaller packs, but these will still work.  I pictured the colorful little coolers because I thought they were so stinking cute.  Isla was a big fan of them too.  :)  These could also be used in a smaller version.  Here are the four easy steps to make your cooler:

#1- Fold your towel hot-dog style (or the long way), and then cut in half.  Technically this one towel can make two coolers.  Maybe one for mom's seat too.  :)  Next sew the top closed after inserting a ribbon or some kind of strap that will be used to hang the cooler from the headrest.

#2- Sew the opposite end closed.

#3- Measure the length of the towel, and divide by three (or however many packs you plan to use.  Smaller packs may need more "pockets".).  I used a disappearing ink pen for marking.

#4- Sew straight lines the width of the towel to create your pockets and insert your packs.  If you'd like to sew a little strip of Velcro to keep the pockets closed, you may want to do that before you sew the lines across.  I figured it would be hanging and the packs would stay put, so I didn't add any.  And... I'm lazy.

That's it!  Isn't that easy?  I realize it's not the prettiest thing I've ever made, but it'll do.  I've read on different sites that the packs can stay cool for up to 6 hours.  I have also seen others use the gel packs.  I don't want to deal with possible leakage, so I think I'll stick to the plastic packs instead of the gel.

I realize that most of you probably aren't experiencing the kind of heat we are here, but hopefully this tutorial may still be useful in some way.  I know that my little Isla will enjoy the fruits of my lazy labor.  :)  I hope you're all enjoying your outdoor outings and these Summer months!  Have a great week!!

(Don't want to make your own?  I'm now selling them in my Etsy shop.)


****UPDATE- 5/30/14****

It's been almost two years since I wrote this tutorial.  It has had almost 3000 views, and I have heard some feedback from those that have used it.  I have made only slight changes to the coolers I make now (like hiding the seams), and have enjoyed adding a personalized element.  Here's the new cooler I made for my now almost four-year-old:

I've also enjoyed playing around with color combinations with custom orders in my Etsy shop.

Thanks for letting me share!!  :)


Allison

Lisa: Summer Activity Board and Cool Summer Sleeping Bag!!

Summer Kick Off!!!

This week our theme is a great way for me to start thinking about all the upcoming summer and the fun that it can be!!  One thing my husband and I have found to help motivate our children and to help organize our summer is a Summer Activity Board!  We let the kids think of activities and places they'd like to go near our home that are reasonable (we did have to nix the deep sea diving off their list!).  We then have them write their ideas on a poster board and keep it up where we can all see it.  Throughout the summer, we make plans to do an activity whenever we can and whenever chores are done.  It helps to make sure our summer doesn't pass us by without us getting anything done!

One of the children didn't get the idea that this was summer activities!  The ice fishing might have to wait till next winter!!

So my craft for this week is for a summer style sleeping bag made out of one twin sheet and a pillowcase.  With our summer comes a lot of family camping trips, sleepovers, summer camps, and sleeping out under the stars. All of which need a sleeping bag.  We have sleeping bags for each of the children but sometimes it is just too hot to sleep in them!  I have an old flat sheet that lost it's matching fitted sheet so I thought, why not?  A sleeping bag made out of a sheet would be so much better!  It is really a simple project and very good way to use your old bedding!  I was slightly embarrassed at how plain my sheet was so I went to Walmart and got a twin flat sheet for only $5!  Not bad! 

 I also purchased a matching pillowcase at 2 for $5. 

Materials:

1 pillowcase

1 twin sheet (for children or larger for taller people!)

Steps:

1) Fold sheet in half lengthwise with the inside out and cut to desired width.  Hem raw edge.

2) Sew up the newly hemmed edge and one of the ends.

3) Attach pillow case to the center of the unsewn end. 

4) Turn right side out and you're done!

I did go a step further, though, and changed the opening of my pillowcase so that I can just fold up the sleeping bag and keep it in the pillowcase when not in use.  To do this, I opened the seam on one side of the pillowcase.  Then I hemmed that newly exposed edge.  Next I cut off the cuff of the pillowcase and sewed that end shut.  Finally, I just attach the pillowcase to the sheet (like in step 4 above).    

Very simple and easy to put together but I think it will be really useful!  It would also make a great sleeping bag liner!  Here it is all folded up.

Kind of cute, isn't it?!I thought about putting straps on it so it could double as an overnight bag but I don't like the idea of long cords near my baby's neck at night!!  Call me crazy!  And of course, my other sweet children wanted what their sister got so I used what I had on hand to make them something.  First up, the cute IKEA fleece throw turned summer sleeping bag for my perpetually cold baby.

Super cute and perfect for her little self!!  Then of course, for daddy's little boy:

Go Cougars!  This is just made from two fleece panels that fabric stores sell.  We've had these floating around the house for awhile now.  Finally they have a purpose!

 Perfect!!  How are you and yours kicking off summer? 

Lisa