Family Organization

Our ever evolving way of doing things around the house has a few new 'helps.'



We've not been as diligent with the family blessing hour as I would have hoped, but just a few days ago we did it and it was great! Then we went out to see a movie and coming home to a clean house was fabulous!!! So I have renewed hope in this tool!



Next, I have a huge problem in the kitchen: I don't enjoy cooking. Sometimes Digger truly does believe that he married someone exactly like his mom. I'm just not a quilter and don't like diet pop. My MIL wishes the kitchen would fall off the side of the house and I've got to tell you, most days I'm with her. However, with my husband just having been diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes, we've got to be more serious about eating at home and eating healthy.



I loved this post and idea and implemented it last week. Of course, Jessica makes it so easy on you....you can just print them onto magnet paper, but......I have to do a green/frugal Misha spin on things (read: I had no magnet paper and didn't want to go out and spend money on it.) I used scrap scrapbook paper and magnets from the front of new phone books, pizza ads, etc. (I get a bit teased for saving them on the side of my fridge, but they come in handy a lot!) As for the meals, my husband has had success in the past following the Abs Diet, so that is where most of them come from. (Yes, this diet comes across gimmicky, but it is essentially the Superfoods Rx book geared toward men. It's healthy and I approve, so we're using it.)




Finally, my boy is having trouble staying on task. I have no idea where he gets this from, by the way. Ahem, anyways, we have a new chart that I am hoping will help all of us. My friend Shauna suggested letting Spanky choose 3 chores from a list, so I did columns. I'll explain to him that he'll have to mix it up and not avoid certain chores, or we'll have to change the way we do it.






What do you think? What works for your family chores and meals?

Big Bad Diaper Bag

So remember the small diaper bag I made? It's still my new favorite purse. And I went on to reworking the measurements and coming up with a larger one, that's a little more 'diaper bag-ish.'

Still reversable, still a long enough strap to wear messenger-style or put across a stroller handle, bigger better pockets with snaps on the center one....

...and still utilizing cool buttons. These are vintage from my stash, thanks Katrina!

Eek! I love it.

I'm working on a simple tutorial so if you want to make one you may. Coming soon!

Whoa Mama, check out that belly!

Have a great Tuesday!

Darn near perfect!

If I do say so myself! Whipped up this small diaper bag Wednesday, but I'm using it for a purse already, because I love it! It's reversible, has three pockets inside and out and the sweetest little button closures. I started with the 'recipe' from this book, but it is a little too simple so I busted out my trusty graph paper and redesigned it with boxed corners, a longer strap---well by the time I made all the changes...it's pretty much my own design.

I think it will be great for short outings and church. I will be making a pattern for a larger version for longer time way from home. Also in the works are wet-bags for dirty little cloth diapers and cloth wipes. Coordinating of course.

let's do lunch

how about a goal of minimal waste from school lunches for this school year? not to mention not having to buy the disposable lunch junk! there's still going to be an occasional go-gurt or raisin box, but no paper lunch bags because we've got cool, washable, insulated, snap top, little-pocket-inside-for-love-notes-from-mom.....cloth lunch bags:

these are the three i made for spanky and two of his friends (plus the tester one i made first):

(roughly based on these instructions) can you guess which one is spankys???

this is the cutesie one i made for the little girl in my life who starts kindergarten in two short weeks:

(based on this tutorial) and i must say that she chose the butterfly fabric, which is heidi grace, who also designs scrapbook paper.....love that!

it was a learning experience to make these. my sewing skills are far from perfect, but i'm getting better. i used insul-bright, lined the bags, applied snaps......the works! it took some brain power let me tell you.

i've revised my to-do list to be my today list. even when all things are not accomplished, the list still says today at the top and tomorrow is an new today, right? if that made sense to you we either are or should be bestest friends. so.....on the today list are some napkins, fabric sandwich wraps and snack baggies, but i am awaiting a fabric order to complete those projects. i'm going to make my own patterns this time, i think i can handle it.

i just might put a few up in the shop in the near future as well...

the machines are cleaned and oiled and calling for me, must run!

I love checklists. Seriously, like Goob from Meet the Robinson's. Every morning I revise THE CHECKLIST; the one that gets added to, scribbled on, and even has been used for a coaster. Every week I start a fresh one and any old paper will do, but I am a tid-bit obsessed with graph paper as of late. The only thing better than the actual checklist, is completing a task and checking it off.

One more 'before Axel gets here' project is complete-my glider and ottoman are covered! I now have a place to sit and nurse in comfort, a place to rock my baby that is all fresh and washable. The old cover was gross and not removable, so there wasn't a whole lot I could do about it. Now, thanks to my awesome KAM snap setter, I can just unsnap the covers and toss them in the wash. For the ottoman, I basically made a fitted shower cap, it just slips on and is held in place with elastic. Even gave my tush and arms some extra comfortable padding. One of my favorite things about this chair now is that it is girly. There's not a whole lot of girly in my house and I'm not a super girly-girl, but having a little feminine touch is kinda nice, now that I see it.

Here's the glider as modeled by Gunther, who apparently approves (he's not afraid of his feminine side, he sports a pink collar with rhinestones) :

The thing about crafting/sewing/scrapping...heck any project, for me, is that while I'm working on it, my brain comes up with complimentary projects. It's like trying to finish the laundry...that's my definition of insanity. So it was obvious early on in the re-covering process that this is a whole lot of the same print and so now I MUST make a couple of little red pillows to give her some contrast. A coat of paint would be nice, but that'll have to go on Digger's checklist, no fumes for me and the babe.

Also on the checklist for this week:

*one dozen size small cloth diapers

*at least two more projects off Axel's list

*boppy cover (with snaps for easy washing, of course!)

*more listings for etsy and ebay

*set the crafting aside and play with my boy...

What's on your list?

cut, mark, stitch

I've finally got three whole listings up in my etsy shop! More is on the way and I am really excited about the 'crafting with kids' items I have in the works. Even figured out how to add that nifty little box to the right....ohhh, ahhh! Watch out!

I am saving my pennies for my Doula's fee and some necessary baby items I just can't make myself (namely, car seat.) Speaking of making baby things, it's about time I share a few little goodies I've been working on for my own little goodie! Without further ado, I present:

The first diaper!

Warning: It's addicting. I said....just this one and then I need to finish up other projects BEFORE I dive head first into serious diaper making...

...but one just wasn't enough. I've got a six-pack of newborn nappies and I made my templates for the next size up this morning! They are so dang cute (if I do say so myself!)

***No six is not enough newborn diapers, but I will be using prefolds and a few hand-me-downs. Plus, Axel is already a big boy, so I will be focusing on the size small for a serious stash.

Here's the pattern I am using from Very Baby.

Now remember that stash of fabric I bought in May? Here's what I've got completed so far...

Roll-up changing pad:

Soft blocks:

Drool bib:

Tag blankies:

Little pants:

baby toes

Two friends had baby showers last week. If I were truly on the ball the little outfits they got would have been homemade, but......I did get little shoes made using this tutorial.

A pair for baby boy:

And a pair for a baby girl:No matter how I photographed these little pink cuties, I couldn't capture the glittery fabric. Trust me they sparkle. I also included a package of homemade thank you cards and found the cutest onesie at Hot Topic of all places. This family is totally into super hero's, so when Dig pulled a pink onesie off the rack featuring Wonder Woman, Bat Girl and Super Girl that reads: Girl Power! I knew we had to buy it!

I sure hope baby cooperates on Thursday morning, so I can make more little shoes. Did you vote yet? See the top right.

for the first time, last night when checking out at lowe's, the cashier asked 'what are you having?' i immediately thought...a can of paint and some brushes, that was an odd thing to ask. then i realized, OH...i have a bit of a bump, i bet she means boy or girl. duh, me. i kept it a secret for long enough that i get stumped easily when quizzed on the spot.

wanna know what the can of black enamel paint and brushes are for? i am starting by painting all of my mismatched frames, so they match...then i'll do a collage of our family pictures...it's going to be great! then i have a thrift store chair to paint and recover the seat, but i have yet to find the perfect fabric. then theres the case of the sad condition of my glider. it was a cheap-o walmart buy when spanky was born and it's been moved around a lot. so fabric, paint and some tightening up of the bolts, should give it a new life! if i do any of this when spanky is home, he has announced he needs to paint his bug box. that's a lot to ask of one little quart of paint, but i think we can do it!

swiss smile

look at that handsome boy....oh, i love him!

a little home decor i made:
spanky and sweet pea (a friends bird)
whoa mama! the picture i'm using for a little valentine somethin'-somethin' for my digger!

spread some love this weekend!

xoxo

Hybrid Kid ~ ABC Book

You may have noticed from the little blinkie at the top right of my blog that I am on the The Hybrid Kid team for 2009. I am so excited to have the opportunity to create these part-digital projects for and with the children. Our first project is this ABC Book that the kids can practice their capital and lower case letters, as well as several sight words and blank pages for their name, etc. All this project required was to download, print on cardstock and cut the pages...then slip them into name badge holders and clip together with binder rings. Super cute, functional and educational ~ what more can a mom ask for?

A few tips should you decide to create this project:

*You may need to resize the cards depending on the size of badge holders you purchased.

*You can use wipe-off crayons or dry-erase markers (find the washable kind, trust me...regular dry-erase markers stain worse then sharpies!)

*With every fiber of my being, I so wanted to tie on a gazillion color coordinating ribbons...I got my stash out with the intent...but Spanky knew what I was about to do and he knew this book was for him, so he voiced his opinion. "Mom, please don't put ribbons on my book, I'm a boy." So I resisted the urge to frou-frou it up and listened to his royal cuteness. Might sound simple, but it's not always so easy to do with kids, at least for me. I frequently have to hold back from trying to make it 'perfect.'

*I love the idea Mel has up on the blog about giving the child a glove to wipe the crayon/marker-off, but I didn't have one on hand, so I made the green circle eraser from some felt and a little ball chain.

*I plan to make more of these for my daycare sweeties and I will be laminating them this time. I will also only start out with the letters we are learning and then add as we learn more. The sight words will be their own book.

This project has really got me inspired! Stay tuned to see what else I am making with the badge holders and bookmark The Hybrid Kid, because I have a feeling this is going to be one amazing year of crafty goodness with the little ones!

The first week of 2009 in pictures....

Happy New Year!

(come on, give us a break......... it's midnight and we unglued ourselves from Rock Band long enough to have a very unofficial countdown and take the first picture for Project 365!)

Let's Go Bowling!

(not just a cool 90's ska-punk band, it's our New Years Day tradition....Spanky ROCKed it with 4 spares!)

My favorite confetti........it means I've been scrappin'......and no corners are safe!

whipping up a snazzy little journal for this class........so far i am loving it!

snazzy little journal complete

(office max did NOT do good job with the spiral binding. now i'm looking in to a zutter bind-it-all....have one? used one before? whatcha think?)

attribute book

this is the jan. project for the class linked above. it's not finished because i've got some pressing projects to be completed first, but do you ever just have an idea that you have to get out of your brain and into reality? i had to get this one started. each page has an attribute as it's title and will have a picture of the family member i associate that attribute with. for example...my page says DRAMATIC (who me?) it will have a picture of me and a quote.

Guitar Lessons.

Spanky loves to do the Big Rock Finish!

One of a few of those 'pressing' projects.......monogrammed journals (25 of them) for the Young Women of my ward for their birthdays.

See, nothing to it.......my pictures aren't artistic or fabulous, but there they are and they'll help me remember and journal and reflect.

Have a great week!

this week...

...an update to my scrapbook.com gallery. It's been too long. My scrap skills have been used for many projects, but not really for much real scrapbooking. It was fun to play making these for McKenzie, my SIL serving a mission in London:

(A Bazzill mini album full of embellies, ready for her to add pictures of some of the exciting things she's already seeing in England!)

(A Bazzil Lickety Slip page protector with 4x6 pockets to showcase the lovely people who take the time to write her letters. It's double sided and she can hang it on her walls over the next 18 months.)

...still working on knitting baby hats and soon I'll be stitching them with my new-to-me surger (thank you mommy-in-law, I'm so spoiled.) Plan to hit the DI tomorrow in search of good shirts to use for them. Check out the updates to the mama-to-mama site, they've added receiving blankets to the needs list.

...went to Spanky's Parent/Teacher Conference yesterday. My kid rocks. He's doing so well and he's just blossomed this year.....he's started reading, LOVES math and is kind and helpful to the teachers and other kids. I am truly blessed to have this kid in my life and to have found this awesome Montessori school that fits us to a tee!

...talked to the kids Tuesday about Veterans Day and I happen to have the perfect display...a shadow box of my Grandpas medals with a picure of him in his uniform (so handsome!) Spanky made him a card and drew an American flag on the front, very cute.

...started going to the new gym. Yoga Tuesday night was good, but I started crying from sheer frustration (mostly with myself)...quietly, no one could tell, because the lights were turned off, thank heaven. I really like yoga, it's good for me, but I need a slow deliberate set of movements with focus on breathing and correct positions. This was a little too fast for me and when there was something that was too difficult, there wasn't really an easier option. Like on exercise videos, when there are three people doing the same thing at different levels....yeah, I need that first level. But I have a really good beginners yoga video, so I will keep doing that and keep going to class and soon I'll be a bendy Misha pretzel! I really like the Goddess pose.......it feels so POWERFUL! I wasn't brave enough to go to Pilates last night, so Dig and I did the elliptical machines while Spanky played basketball.

That's what we're up to.......what have you been doing?

one week...day one

a week in the life of the strunk fam 3 (inspired by ali)
i'll make a mini album of our week when it's done, for now...
enjoy the journey!

monday 10.06.08 fall break week
yes! my boy is home from school this week!
a box full of crafts, ready to create!

croissant rolls, mini pumpkins and knitting:

this should be a fun week!

Misha Scraps?

Are you sure? Doesn't feel like I'm much of a scrapper right now..........sigh..........Oh, I've been using my stash, but to create lovelies for my awesome Laurels and for Girls Camp goodies. No spoilers here, I wont show the goods until the girls have left for camp Saturday morning. I hope they like them, but I really hope they use them and get the messages I've tried to portray.

But back to scrapping...my scrap space is still under construction and coming along beautifully. It will be so nice to have my own retreat. I've been scouring the galleries over at scrapbook.com and borrowing an idea here and there to make my space super functional. On the cricut.com boards I saw this quote a woman used to decorate her craft room wall: "My Husband Let's Me Buy as Much Scrappin' Supplies as I Can Hide!" Is that so cute? Digger wanted me to leave the doors on the closet where he built my workspace so that he "didn't have to look at all that scrap crap!" (scrap crap being my term for the INVENTORY I've accumulated.)

So....I am challenging myself to complete the current challenge at Scrap Faith. See here.

Coming soon...

Scrap Faith

I just wanna say.........I ((heart)) Scrap Faith! I'm not a spokesperson or on the design team (although there's an open call right now, so I may send in my application)...I just love it>>>the challenges, the inspiration and the whole idea. I've gotten more scrapping done in the past two days then I would have without them. Three layouts in two days worth of nap time is pretty darn good, espcially when yer making up dinner and getting laundry done at the same time. All 3 are inspired by a Scrap Faith Challenge~

The last picture I needed to scrap from my baptism*baptism mini challenge:


*Influence Challenge:


*Do You Know? Challenge:


For a better look-see step on over to my gallery at scrapbook.com

xoxo M

Cards, Cards and More Cards...

These are 5 cards I came up with for a class at my LSS, but I am not Aprils guest designer I am Mays.......so these were practice. I can't wait to get started on the next set! These are going up in my scrapbook.com gallery if you want to see more detail.

and a bundle of thank you notes for part of a baby shower gift...

Have a happy Thursday!