A Lovey

July 15, 2009 by lydia

You know those tags that say, “by federal law, don’t you dare rip this off or you’ll go to jail”? You know what I’m talking about,… you feel extremely exhilarated when you rip those babies off, thinking you’re living on the crazy, wildside. Uh huh. You know.

Well, for the past few weeks, Ruby has begun to start playing with toys. It’s the most precious thing ever. And, she LOVES her Baby Einstein mat. All I have to do is throw a few toys down and she’ll play for a while all by herself, perfectly content. Remember those tags I was just telling you about? They’re on the side of her mat and she just discovered them the other day.  Rather than reaching for her blocks, Ruby now scoots herself over to the tags and gnaws on them for a few good minutes. Just goes to show that you don’t have to buy kids toys, they’ll make a toy out of anything.

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Recently though, a few friends did recommend getting her a “lovey” since she was so into these little tags, thinking she’d like that too. A lovey,… I had no clue what it was until a girlfriend of mine showed me the one her little boy has. So adorable,…a small little square with different textured ribbons attached on all sides.

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I had a few scraps of fabric left from a blanket I had made for Ruby before she was born, so I decided to take a crack at making my own lovey for Ruby.

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All that is needed are two pieces of about 12″x12″ fabric (mine was a bit more of a rectangle shape) and various types of ribbon about 4 inches long.

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Place your 2 square pieces, right sides together. Then, double over each ribbon.

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Place each doubled over ribbon in between the two pieces of fabric. Do this so that the two ends of the ribbon are facing out and then secure with a pin.

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Continue until each ribbon is securely pinned in place. I did about 4 ribbons on each side, but you can do as many as you like!

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Then, sew the pieces together, making sure to leave a opening to turn inside out. I left about 2 inches open. (Sorry it started to get dark, so this was a terrible pic..)

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After it’s sewn turn right side out, iron flat, and then sew again to secure. I know there’s some sewing terminology for this but, I don’t know what it’s called and I don’t feel like google searching it to figure it out or pretending like I do know. HA!

**Hey Becky, I’m sure you know what that’s called, right? Topstitch, maybe? I’m still no sewing novice**

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This is what it looks like after I did the last sewing bit,… I chose the zig-zag stitch. FUN!

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A simple sewing project and so fun to make. It was one of those projects that gave you a sense of accomplishment because you really could make it in less than an hour. So fun.

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But, you know what’s funny? After playing with her lovey for a few minutes,…you know what Ruby did?

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She went right back to her tags. That little stinker,… he he he.

I forgot to show you these,…

July 13, 2009 by lydia

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I forgot to show you these,….

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A baby boy announcement.

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“G” is for Graham, the son of my dear friend, Jen. Graham was born just a month and a half before our little Ruby.

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We’ve already arranged their marriage, you know. Isn’t he such a handsome little man?

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Jen requested cute little birds, branches, and the initial “G”. This is what I came up with.

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I included the little birds on the back flap of the envelope, also. I just love putting in those extra little touches that normal envelopes wouldn’t have.

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I fell in love with these,… the hand drawn trees and birds; just so cute. So much so, that I still haven’t been able to brainstorm anything nearly as cute for Ruby’s announcements. Simply adorable.

Calzones!

June 23, 2009 by lydia

What’s the difference between a Calzone and a Stromboli? Anyone know? I didn’t. A few weeks ago, before we left for our east coast trip, J decided he wanted to make homemade dough for Stromboli’s. I kept calling them Calzones. So, whats the difference? Well, I didn’t take the time until now,…a month later as I type this, to finally figure out what the difference was between the two.

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Turns out we made Calzones, not Stromboli. Wikipedia told me that it’s pretty much the way you put them together. Calzone’s are pockets of dough filled with the stuffings of your choice, while stromboli is the same thing, but rolled into a long loaf, resembling a burrito shape and then sliced to serve. So there’s your answer,..in case any of you were wondering and simply dyyyying to know!

So, homemade dough… You know what? It’s really not hard at all. You need a few hours, of course, to wait for it to rise. But, J and I decided earlier in the day we were going to venture into our dough making. It did take a few hours to rise and by the time we were ready to assemble the dough, it was a bit late for dinner (like 9:30 at night), but it was worth it and SO good.

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The dough. Super easy. Flour, olive oil, salt, water, and rapid rising yeast. I found the recipe to the dough here.

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Mix everything together. I used our cuisinart mixer to knead for a bit. But, you can also use your hands,…[so old fashioned, i know].  The above picture is BEFORE I mixed it in the cuisinart.

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Stick the dough in a bowl and cover with a kitchen towel. Let rise for about 1 1/2-2 hours until it’s doubled in volume. Once it rises, roll out the dough to a flat circle,…thin, but not too thin.

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Fill it with whatever you wish! We did one tomato sauce, pepperoni, mushrooom, black olive, and basil and another with pesto, grilled chicken, spinach, and goat cheese. Both were delicious.

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Fill the half side of the circle. Fold over. Pinch the edges shut. Secure it even more with a fork, by pressing down the edges. Much like you’d do a pie. Cut a few slits in the top. Stick it in the oven at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes.

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This is what it looked like when we first stuck it in the oven.

Sorry there’s no finished result. It was super late by the time it came out and we devoured it before we could snap a pic.

See, but doesn’t that prove to you that it was good. Delicious. :)

Cozy

June 14, 2009 by lydia

How cozy is this little bird?!

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I watched him and his siblings all last week while we were on the East Coast. We had a perfect view of the little birds in their nest, which was right outside my parents back porch. By the time I got around to finally taking a picture though, this was the only little cozy bird left.
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But I’m not sure,… my little pea may be even more cozy….

Emily and Seth’s Wedding Invitations

June 13, 2009 by lydia

I know, I know… I’m real bad. I meant to start posting more frequently, but it just hasn’t happened. I’ve been keeping busy though,… oh yes. I’ve been keeping busy. 

We just got back from my youngest brothers wedding on the East Coast. It was another beautiful wedding and the last of all 4 of my siblings. I can’t believe we’re all married now. How is the world did that happen? Time flies…

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I’m planning to post some pictures of the celebratory events, but for now I wanted to get up a few pictures of the invitations that I designed for their day.

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I like to think of them as simple, yet elegant. 

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Hand drawn flowers and names with matching postage stamps that just so happened to go perfectly with the envelopes. How fun!