hello again.

I am still here. Still creating. Still exploring. Still being. BUT...now I am also being a mama! In March 2011 I had the most beautiful baby boy. He is now about 14 months old and caring for him has taken over some of my priorities (and now I have a dedicated blog about him, which makes blogging here difficult, obviously). Also, now that he is walking, talking, climbing, getting into everything, and generally growing up (Boo! What happened to my baby!?) It's even more difficult to find time in front of the computer.

I am still making lots of lovely things--mainly for the baby now--and have heaps of photos and tutorials I want to post; and I will. Someday. Hopefully sooner rather than later.

I didn't mean to just leave ya hanging like this for all these months but those of you that are mothers know the ways in which life sneaks away from you as you are caring for and cuddling your baby. So much of my life has changed and is about to change. I also realize that the focus of this space may change as my life is changing. After all, this is a lifestyle blog of sorts and right now, my small family is my life. So, there may be fewer posts on travel (or more posts on travel with babies) and more tutorials for creating kid friendly things, but I hope you can still find something charming or inspiring to hold on to.

Until next time, I will leave you with a photo of my sweet baby on the day he was born over a year ago.

Take it light and happy crafting,
Bekki

Baby Leg Warmers (Tutorial):

Since I can't stop making baby things, I made a few pairs of baby leg warmers recently! Not only do I think they look cute, but they seem like they would make diapering easier and protect the baby's knees when he begins to crawl since a lot of our home is tiled. I followed two different tutorials (this one and this one) to make them, so one pair is a different style than the other 2 pairs. Basically, I bought some (really inexpensive) women's knee high socks, cut the feet parts off and sewed a cuff to what was left. Easy. And cute! Of course, this post would be even better if I had a cute little baby to model these, but that time will come soon enough! Click "Read More" below to see the finished products.

Mardi Gras Wreath (Tutorial):

Mardi Gras is big time, even here on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. To celebrate, I made a Mardi Gras door wreath by following my own Felt Wreath Tutorial.

Gratitude...

Sometimes I feel like a complainer. I try not to be, really (and honestly don't do it too much). But some days I feel like the phrases, "AH! This acid reflux is awful!" or "I'm so tired I just want to sleep until our due date," or "My body is breaking down!" are all I say! I do realize, however, that I am actually really lucky. We are really lucky. Maybe the word lucky isn't even correct; fortunate is a better word. I am very grateful for being so fortunate and here's why (in no order):

The Baby's Pinwheel Mobile (with Tutorial)

Mobiles can be beautiful and fun to look at--they can also be really expensive. When looking for baby stuff it seemed like all the crib mobiles I liked were more than we wanted to spend on something we'd only use for awhile (although I guess if I did buy a $200 mobile, I'd keep it up forever or something) (like this, or this).

So, rather than spend lots of money I decided to make my own mobile--all for under $5! First, I will say that though I really liked some other mobiles, it seems like so many of them are designed to be looked at from the side and not from below--and let's face it, the baby will be looking up at it so I wanted it to be engaging from the bottom and not have him just staring up at the underside of plush cars or elephant butts as is typical of a lot of mobiles.

Strangers Say the Darndest Things...And My DIY Nursing Cover:

Being pregnant is really weird...in a lot of ways. Here we are having this intense personal and intimate time in our lives getting ready to for our family to grow and our lives to change forever, and everyone in the world can tell what we're going through because of my growing gut. We are having this personal experience that should be fairly private yet for some reason it's really super public. And the public has no problem chiming in about it! (And, I do realize that here I am publicly blogging about it...)

Here I Am

I am still here! I've been so busy getting ready for the baby's arrival (which is basically any day now!) that I haven't had much time to blog, obviously. But, I will be back in the next few days with some posts about some fun baby stuff I have made recently. And, my apologies in advance that so many posts lately are about making baby stuff, but that's just where my mind and inspirations are lately.

Until then, take it light,
Bekki