I just found an idea for the back of Brody’s quilt (which in my opinion, is about as important as the front). Back of quilts don’t always have to be one fabric. Sure it’s more work to do something different on the back, but it’s worth it! So, here are some photos with examples of what the design of Brody’s quilt will look like. You’ve already seen the front before, but I’m showing it again with the back.

I laid out all of Brody’s onesies that he wore for his first year (11-months to be exact…he grew out of them) and took a picture of them. They are in no order whatsoever. Just wanted to get a picture of them to post.

I just received this from one of my friends (thanks Lauren).  I thought it taught a very good lesson (one I need to remember more often), so I wanted to share this with you.

One day I hopped in a taxi and we took off for the airport. We were driving in the right lane when suddenly a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his brakes, skidded, and missed the other car by just inches! The driver of the other car whipped his head around and started yelling at us. My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. I mean, he was really friendly. So I asked, ‘Why did you just do that? This guy almost ruined your car and sent us to the hospital!’  This is when my taxi driver taught me what I now call, ‘The Law of the Garbage Truck.’ He explained that many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it and sometimes they’ll dump it on you. Don’t take it personally. Just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. Don’t take their garbage and spread it to other people at work, at home, or on the streets. The bottom line is that successful people do not let garbage trucks take over their day.

I purchased some very cheap and soft towels from Target this past week to make a hooded towel for Brody.  The towel was $3.99 and the hand towel was $2.99.  Since you cut the hand towel in half, you could buy two towels to one hand towel to create two hooded towels (for a total of $10.97 plus tax).  Not a bad deal.  That’s less than $5.50 per hooded towel and they make a great gift!  I followed an easy tutorial.

I had some frog fabric on hand, so decided to use that as an accent for the hood of the towel.  I think it turned out cute.  Made it a bit more personal and definitely looks more hand made.  Now all I have to do is try it out.

And last week, I went to my friends house (thanks Lauren for your help) and she showed me how to make a tutu for my 4-year-old niece.  My niece loves to play dress up.  I can’t wait to see my niece in this tutu.  It was so simple to make (just very tedious).

So, there you have it.  My latest creations.  Next on my list (and this won’t happen until mid December), is making a quilt out of the onesies that Brody wore his first year (what memories).  I got them out this past week and some of them are so tiny!  He hasn’t wore a onesie since he was 11-months and now looks like such a big kid with his shirts and pants.  He’s growing up so fast and this quilt will be one way to preserve his first year.  Here is a picture of someone else’s onesie quilt that I’m going to try to copy using these fabrics (see below).

Have you ever heard of this before?  There is actually something called a “My Faith Box” and it’s pretty cool!  How did I find out about it you ask?  Well, let me tell you…

I have an RSS feed to a Christian woman’s blog who was advertising her friends “My Faith Box” giveaway.  I was so intrigued by what this was, so of course I went over to the friends blog to check out the giveaway.  I never enter giveaways.  For one, I never win and two, I just don’t have time to enter all of the cool ones out there.

So, imagine my surprise when I received an email a few weeks back letting me know that I was the winner of a “My Faith Box”.  How cool is that?  I had just emailed my Mom that day to let her know that I wanted one for Christmas.  God has a fun sense of humor.

I went back to this website that was doing the giveaway as this lady did a blog post about the winner and I wanted to see my name.  What completely floored me even more was that she asked her husband if she could give away two “My Faith Boxes” and he said “no”.  Then proceeded to tell her that he thought that she should give a “My Faith Box” to EVERYONE who entered this giveaway.  Want to guess how many people entered this giveaway?  One hundred and fifty-two (that’s 1-5-2).  Now that’s a testimony!

So, what is a “My Faith Box”?  It’s a very cool resource for parents to guide their child’s faith journey and to capture spiritual growth keepsakes.  It includes sections for milestones, holidays, family tree, and many more.  There are also resources and ideas offered on how to be intentional in helping your child know, love and follow Jesus.  It intrigued me from the start.  I’m excited to have a “My Faith Box” and excited to start filling it out each year.  What a great keepsake to have on hand and one day pass on to Brody.

Well, not quite yet, but in the next week or two I will be.  For what, you ask?  Well, let me tell you…

Back in May, I posted about an online clothing swap called, thredUP.  Last month thredUP contacted me and asked if I would be interested in being on TV or in the newspaper, answering questions about their website and what they’re all about.  While this is not my thing…to be “public”, I do enjoy this website and what it offers for me and others, so I was more than happy to “toot their horn” for them.

This past week, I got a call from Diane from ABC11 news and we scheduled for her to stop over this afternoon to “interview” me about thredUP.

The doorbell rang around 12:15pm this afternoon.  Phil, the cameraman, stepped in and got set up.  He handed me a mic and had Jason get his laptop set up and I signed on to my thredUP account and pretended to be surfing this website.  Diane then came in and started the interview (a quick series of questions about the website and what they offer).  As the interview finished, Brody was waking up from his nap.  I gathered some clothing items that I had received from thredUP and put them on our ottoman in the living room.  Brody came in to show the size of the box that the items get shipped in (medium size, flat rate USPS box).  He was in a great mood and even flashed several smiles.

The whole interview was very relaxed and fun.  Both Diane and Phil were great to work with and both have 1-year-old’s, so we enjoyed talking about all the fun happenings at this age.   The time flew by and out the door they went.

This interview will be in a news story about Black Friday, mentioning an alternative way to shop and save if money is tight.  It will air some time in the next two weeks.

Is anyone else gearing up for Christmas already?  Every year, I put so much time into finding just the right Christmas card and saying just the right thing.  This year, I’m still spending a lot of time narrowing down just the perfect thing to send, but am (for the first time) going with a photo card.  I now have photos that people want to see (of my child).  This also saves me from having to write a newsletter or lengthy “have-to-think-something-up-that-no-one-cares-about” stuff to say.

I’ve been scouring the internet for just the right photo card to send, checking so many sites out, and have landed on the perfect site for my photo card, Shutterfly.  They have so many photo cards to choose from and I love how you can narrow your search by how many photos you want on your card, flat cards or folded cards, card size, and the list goes on.  It makes it so easy to pinpoint exactly what you’re looking for without spending too much time on it.

My favorite photo card design right now is the “Faith Hope Family Religious Christmas Card” by Yours Truly.  It displays five photos, giving me the chance to put some favorite photos of my son throughout the year and at least one family photo and it’s green and red (which I think makes the perfect Christmas card colors).

Shutterfly offers so many options for Christmas photo cards.  I’m having fun going back through them to make sure I picked the perfect choice for this years card.

Since I haven’t created anything in a while, I thought it would be fun to list some of my favorite crafting blogs that I follow.  I love finding new blogs to follow (whether crafting or something else) so I thought you might enjoy exploring some possibly new blogs.  And please feel free to share some of your favorite crafting blogs (or blogs in general).

Oh, Fransson!
This blog has so many unique quilts displayed. All created by Elizabeth Hartman. She is one crafty lady! I love her choice in fabric colors and her quilt patterns are so unique! I found out about her by purchasing a quilt pattern of hers on Etsy (to make Brody’s baby quilt). Since then, I’ve followed her blog and enjoy reading her posts.

Make And Takes
This is a popular parenting site sharing kids crafts, home projects, easy recipes, parenting tips, and more. Everything posted is something to “make and take”. Whether it’s a holiday craft for kids, an easy way to spruce up your home decor, baking a delicious dessert, or a product review/giveaway, you’ll be able to make or take something.

How About Orange
This site features craft project how-tos, decorating ideas, printable downloads, useful design resources, and lots of inspiration for people who like to create things.

Homemade by Jill
This blog started as a record of all of Jill’s creations … mostly to show her mom. Since then she has become a mother, and now has a passion for creating handmade items for her two children, as well as for friends, family, and her home.

At Second Street
A mother of four who finds time to create, coming up with many ideas on her own.  She has such fun things that anyone could make.

Moda Bakeshop
This site has so many free tutorials on a range of cool things to make using Moda fabrics.  I love how simple the projects look.  I have several of these tutorials on my “want to do some day” list.

I Am Momma, Hear Me Roar!
This site is full of tutorials and fun, funky ones. Monday to Thursday features a new craft/project each day. Feature Friday she makes something from someone else’s tutorial. Soapbox Saturday she shares something she thinks everyone should know about. OR Sharing Saturday she lists some reader questions and everyone helps out by answering them. Sunshine Sunday she shows you some photos she’s taken throughout the week that show what she’s thankful for.

Eighteen25
Three sisters and eleven kids. Can you imagine? This site has so many tutorials and fun things that these three sisters share with everyone.

Crafts & Sutch
A girl who is the “jack of all trades” when it comes to crafting. She has the “I can make that” syndrome. She has some fun creations worth checking out.

Made
She had two goals when it came to this blog.  To share ideas and to help the Sewer of any skill-level realize that they can sew without a store-bought pattern.  She thinks it’s not difficult to recreate something that’s already been done or to figure out how to manufacture an idea in your head. You just need to understand some basics of how clothes are put together. She offers many great tutorials.

Shwin & Shwin
These two sisters are super crafty! One sews clothes, the other use to be a model, who now creates concoctions for your face and body. Together they have created a blog to share their creations.

A Girl And A Glue Gun
I swear this girl can make anything with a glue gun. She offers great tutorials on how to make some very cool things. I’ve bookmarked several of her items to make some time.

The Idea Room
This blog has tons of tutorials, ideas, creative things, recipes, you name it. She is the coolest Mom who offers so many creative and fun things for her kids. I love seeing her latest posts.

Hope you enjoy!

Sorry I’ve been MIA for a while.  I’ve been so busy with Brody’s birthday.  I had his 12-month well-check doctors visit, his 1-year photos taken, his birthday party, Halloween trick-or-treating, family in town, etc…  It was a great week, but so busy.  Here’s a quick sampling of his birthday party celebration.