Nursery Bedding DIY - PART 1: Crib Sheet

 

I was a little intimidated about the thought of making a crib sheet at first, because, well, lets be honest, just folding the darn things are impossible and they aren't always the easiest to put on!

 

I was surprised to discover it was actually pretty easy, easy enough even for a beginner sewer.

 

So don't be afraid to try this yourself!

 

 

 

What you'll need:

 

2 yards fabric of your choice

62" of 3/8" elastic

 

 

 

You will need your fabric to be 69" long and 45" wide. Most fabrics are 44" wide so you will need to leave on the selvage ends. (You won't see them when it is finished anyway!)

 

(Side note: one of my fabrics was narrower than most and the widest I could get even with the selvage ends was 42" and it still worked fine for me. I shorten it 3" as well to only 66" long. I made two other adjustments a long the way as well that I'll mention when we get to those steps.)

 

 

Folding the fabric into quarters, matching up all four corners, you will then measure and cut an 8" x 8" square through all four layers. (Make sure the side you cut has NO folds)

 

(For the small sheet I mentioned above I only cut 6.5" x 6.5" squares)

 

Unfolded it will look like this:

(Excuse my wrinkles, I didn't feel like ironing it all. Who's got time for that? lol)

 

Starting with one corner, you will match up the two edges that you cut the square from, right sides together. You can pin them if its easier for you. I didn't. I'm a rebel.

 

Sew edges together, using a 1/4" seam allowance.

 

I then went back over with a zig zag stitch to reinforce the seam and prevent fraying.



 

Do this to all four corner.

 

 

Next, with the right side down, you will iron down 1/4" all along all four edges and then fold over again another 1/2" and press.

(I did this one edge at a time, but whatever works for you)

 

I pinned the edges in a few places to help keep the folded edges in place.

 

I sewed a straight stitch all the way around, leaving about 2" open so I could insert the elastic.

(Picture's not very clear, but in between my fingers I didn't sew)

 

I attached a safety pin to the end of the elastic to help me thread it through and measured 62"  and made a mark. You won't want to cut it until your elastic is threaded all the way through.

 

(For the small sheet, being the last one I made, I only had 60" left of the elastic and it worked out just fine)

 

Once you've made it all the way around, match up your end and where you marked and cut.

 

I attached the two ends of the elastic with a zig zag stitch and went over it a few times to make sure it was secure.

 

 

Lastly, I straight stitch sewed the opening closed.

 

 

BAM!!

 Finished crib sheet!

 

The two other sheets I also made for baby boys crib:

(the plain mint one on the left is the smaller sheet I mentioned above and I couldn't even tell the difference)



Stay tuned for PART 2!

xo



 



Apple Nachos

 

 

 

This is a quick, super simple and relatively healthy snack to satisfy your sweet tooth!

I used an apple slicer to section apples, and then cut each section in halves or thirds.

I added about 1/3 cup oats and a sprinkle of a little brown sugar to a baking pan and put it in the oven to broil for a few minutes to toast up a little. It would probably work better to bake, but I was super impatient and was going for quicker lol.

I melted a couple tablespoons of peanut butter in the microwave and drizzled onto the apples.

Once the oats were toasty enough, I sprinkled them over the apples and peanut butter.

Lastly, I melted a couple chunks of dark chocolate and drizzled onto my creation.

SO GOOD! :)

Enjoy!

Breakfast Casserole - Round 1

Pretty much every week I make three healthy meals a day for J to take to work to eat. (Sometimes four if you count hard boiled eggs or tuna salad that he sometimes snacks on.) We have similar goals for diet/nutrition generally speaking, a majority of our meals on the healthy side.

One is usually leftovers from dinner the night before. Easy.

One is usually baked tilapia, sometimes chicken, and rice/veggies. (I'm not sure how he doesn't get sick of this, but he says he doesn't.)

The third one is some sort of egg dish or breakfast casserole for J to take for breakfast. Most of the time the ingredients for this one depend on what I have in my fridge or what needs used up. Other times I plan different versions to change it up a bit.

In this weeks edition of "What's in my fridge" ...

Jimmy Dean breakfast sausage, egg whites, green onions, mushrooms, yellow onion, red pepper from my Gma's garden, other peppers (not sure what kind to be honest, more peppers my Gma brought me) and garlic.

I started by preheating the oven to 350 degrees while I browned the sausage.

When it was browned, I poured it into a 9x13 baking pan. Next I started sautéing the yellow onion, mushrooms, and garlic.

After a few minutes head start, I added the peppers.

 

 

Once the veggies started to get a little soft, I added them to the sausage in the baking pan and mixed it all together.

 

 

 

I pour the entire carton of egg whites over the top and topped it with about a 1/2 cup cheddar cheese and the green onions.

 

 





I then popped it into the oven for about 1/2 hour, until the eggs are cooked through. I usually use this time to prep other food or make dinner. Two birds, one stone.

 

 

After it cools, I put it in four plastic containers and for at least four of the five/six days he works J has breakfast lol.

Super simple. Not a whole lot of hands on time, great for multitasking and getting other things done. Lots of protein and veggies. Low carb. Delish. :)

It's a BOY!!

This weekend was one of the most exciting and nerve wrecking experiences of my life thus far.

21 weeks in, part of me can still cannot comprehend the concept of there being another human life present and growing inside me. It's the weirdest idea to wrap my head around. It's surreal. I think a lot of it has to do with i'm still only barely showing and i hadn't been feeling any movements up to this point so my brain didn't have the tangible proof it needed to fully grasp it. Part of me still expects to go to the doctor and find out it is all some joke or misunderstanding. "Oops, just kidding, no baby."

I'm weird, I know, I can't explain it.

Friday we had our second ultrasound and full anatomy scan.

Our gender reveal was planned with friends and family the next evening, and we (or probably mostly I lol) had decided to wait to find out with everyone else. Any tell tale photos were carefully folded and sealed into an envelope by the ultrasound tech, safe from potentially curious and prying eyes.

Our little baby looked perfect!

The second of our two possible concerns being eliminated. (Muscular Dystrophy from my side ruled out with a previous blood test, and the possibility of an extra digit from his side ruled out with the full anatomy scan.)

Definitely a relief.

Baby's head and tummy measuring right on 21 weeks. Baby's arms measuring ahead a week and baby's legs measuring about 2 weeks ahead!

No surprise baby is going to be long! Mommy's 5'10 and daddy's 6'4. Its inevitable.

Ill take long and skinny to deliver over big head and chunky any day! Although poor baby's probably going to inherit our big heads too! lol

And.... While the doctor was listening to the baby's heart beat right before the end of our appointment, I FINALLY felt the little one move. :)

(I have an anterior placenta blocking all the little movements making it harder for me to feel.)

It's getting more and more real for me. My brain is slowly starting to catch up.

Saturday was the big day.

GENDER REVEAL!

We planned a cookout to be shared with family and close friends, ending in pink or blue fireworks!

It went perfectly. I couldn't have asked for it to go any better (other than maybe a little less wind or a tad bit warmer, but who's complaining).

I surprisingly enough was more than okay waiting to find out. I wasn't tempted to look once. It wasn't until right before my dad lit them that I started to get really nervous. 

We were both hoping for a boy. What would it be?

Pink or Blue? Pink or Blue? Pink or Blue?

BLUE!! 

We got our wish! A little baby boy!

It took me a while to stop shaking. I almost couldn't believe it. A little boy.

Now what? lol

Life with a little boy will definitely be an adventure!

Until then, I'll be Followin' My Arrow, seeing where it takes me..

Here goes..

This is something I have been thinking about wanting to do for a long time, but for one reason or another, never seem to get around to it (like most things, if I'm being honest).

Last Friday we hit the halfway mark in our current life chapter: 20 weeks pregnant!
(20 weeks already? It's hard to even comprehend.) February is going to come up fast!

So what better time than now?

Here goes....


This chapter in our lives was not in the "plans" for a couple more years, but LIFE HAPPENS.
Life often has it's way and own plans, but, here we are.

We found out I was pregnant on the morning of July 4th. (We later found out I was already 7 1/2 weeks along.) Talk about a game changer.

Being unplanned, and unexpected, we ended up finding out late. I had been really tired for a week and a half or so and nothing was sounding good to eat. I wasn't necessarily sick or nauseated, I just really didn't want to eat anything. I remember J asking me a few days before "What's wrong with you?" (Little did we know..)

I forget what it was exactly, but something got me thinking about the possibility and after talking to my sister (and us both being convinced I was feeling the way I had been feeling due to stress) I bought a couple tests to be sure.

Anddddd... the next morning... DUN DUN DUN... positive.

I panicked for about three hours quietly to myself, before J asked what was going on as I laid in the middle of the living room floor.


We've come a long way from that terrifying life changing moment (lol).


I was sick for about 6 weeks.

We had our first doctors appointment and ultrasound at 11 weeks 4 days and told family later that day.

Life since then has been full of lots of adjusting and lots of naps (on my end anyway).

We have our second ultrasound and we find out the gender this week! I'm so excited, nervous and scared all at once. Just a few more days..

I'm in the middle of several projects/crafts for the nursery as well as painting and getting the room ready (I'll do a blog about that soon).

For now, I wait for the crib to be delivered today.


Everyday is a new adventure. Followin' My Arrow, seeing where it takes me...