Drinking my way to more crafts

So my boyfriend decided the other day to try a new beer. Bud Light Platinum boasts being triple filtered with a smooth finish and having a 'top shelf taste'. Well I could care less about all that junk. Don't get me wrong, I'm a beer girl. Cant stand wine.  But the reason I bring this up is because after having drank before mentioned beer, we set our empty bottle on the counter and went to bed. While I wish I could report I awoke to small cleaning fairies coming out of the bottles and cleaning my kitchen and making breakfast, something else slightly less wonderful happened. As I rounded the corner to my kitchen the sun happened to be streaming in through the window and hitting the beauty that is these glorious cobalt blue bottles.

 It was like seeing them with new eyes. My little crafter's heart screamed out "I must use these!" I promptly washed them and removed the labels, and set them in my kitchen window... Where they sat for a month. What?!  Iv been busy! and I wasn't quite sure what I even wanted to do with them. I thought about breaking them and using the glass for something. I also thought about cutting them and using them as candle holders (which may still be the fate of a chosen few).  But neither ideas seemed to fit my life right now. I need a fast, simple, nap time craft.  I want a craft that can be completed in the time it takes for my beautify little girl to take a nap.

So I have my inspiration. Without a clue what to do with them. As pretty as they are I didn't really want them to scream "I'm a beer bottle" at me every time I looked at them. I also happened to have a wine bottle (not sure how or why). I clustered this all together and...TA DA!

Pretty great right?!  You dont have to lie, its far from great.  Technically it could even be called trash. But it will be great. I promise. It just needs a little...something.  I dug through my mountain of crafting supplies for my trusty glue gun and some twine, called a friend over with some bottles of her own and we got to work.

I started at the top of my wine bottle and glued the twine around the bottle so it was fully covered.  I recommend using a lot of glue at the start so its secured good.  As you go you can use just a dot or two of glue after every 3-4 wraps around the bottle. Then use more glue again towards the bottom to make sure it wont come undone there too. After covering my wine bottle I realized I needed another bottle of a different size/shape to cover in twine.  Off to the Man Cave I go to see what I can find. Hmmm, beer while crafting? Don't mind if I do.  After drinking and cleaning the bottle ( I don't bother to remove the label since it will be covered anyway) I continue the same process as with the wine bottle.


Finally a cluster them all together, tie them with some more twine and, TA DA! Ok, NOW their pretty. :-)

Time needed for this craft? about 45 minutes.

Pregnancy, Holy Crap here we go

As many of you know I'm a new mommy, and as every new Mommy likes to brag, I thought I would dedicate a page of my blog to the little girl that holds my heart. I will try to update this at least once a month with her accomplishments, new baby product reviews, and my successes and flops as a new mother :-). So with that in mind I thought I better go back to the beginning and get you all up to speed.

I actually had the joy of finding out I was pregnant for my birthday. I went out to dinner with friends and had a drink, not knowing at this point I was pregnant mind you.  Everything was fine until I went home that night, it felt like a had several drinks.  I thought it was odd but didn't think too much about it right away. The next day I was laying in bed still feeling like hell and it dawned on me. I did a mental count in my head and sure enough I was late by a few weeks!

After taking an at home test and going to the Dr. for confirmation sure enough, I was preggers.  I was both excited and unsure. We hadn't planned this, it wasn't even really on our radar for the near future. So I was unsure what my other half would have to say.  I knew he wanted kids. I just didn't know if he was ready right now.  I sat down with him and basically said something along the lines of, " Hey baby, so ummm, well, I think, well no, I know that I'm pregnant."...long pause...He just looks at me with this shocked face and can only muster out a "Really?" I was a little unsure how to continue until he busted out in a rather cute grin and just jumped up and hugged me.

By the end of our conversation it was clear we were equally freaked out and excited.  I feel like this is the one true thing that will change your life forever. I mean if you think about it, everything else you do practically can be changed. Get a tattoo and don't like it? Cover it up or remove it. Buy a house? You can sell it. Get a puppy and realize you cant handle it? Find it a new home. Choosing to have a baby changes everything you'v ever known in your life, not just for a little while. Forever. And in 9 months we were going to jump on that parenting roller coaster and hold on for dear life.
H o l y C r a p.

My pregnancy went well, I gained weight, I grew a belly, then I grew a bigger belly. I cant say I had any crazy cravings or weird prego dreams that I can remember.  I was torn between wanting a boy or a girl. I grew up with an older brother so I liked the idea of hopefully having a boy then a girl. Big brothers are the best thing a little girl can have I think. But part of me also wanted a little girl pretty bad. My boyfriend of course wanted a boy. Don't all guys want a boy?!  Anyway As you now know we had a little girl so I cant kill you with suspense and drag it out before telling you . My pregnancy was really pretty easy. I didn't have much for morning sickness or any unusual swelling or pain. Really what I remember more than anything was the point when I hit the wall.

For months you plan and prep and dream of life with your baby. And I did all those things. Then it was like I flipped a switch and I was just done. I did not, repeat, DID NOT want to be pregnant any more. I think it was about the 8 1/2 month mark. I turned into an angry, grumpy, leave me alone or I will hurt you pregnant lady. I was tired of feeling like a blimp. Tired of getting out of my car with a massive belly in the way. Tired of Dr. Appointments every week. I was just done. My poor co works would cringe when they saw me coming. I tried everything I could think of to get my labor going, spicy food, exercise, walking, I even rearrange the whole garage (for the second time during my pregnancy, Nesting is a very real and strong pregnancy urge people). 

Nothing happened.

Nada.

Zilch.

Whoever said that any of those things could bring on labor lied through their teeth. And I was feeling like punching them in those teeth.  It was the day before my Dr. appt and just 4 days before my due date. I had every intention of strapping myself to the exam room chair and refusing to leave until my Dr. agreed to induce me. I was at work, just finishing up my day in fact. When surprisingly my water broke. I was surprised for a few reasons: 1. I had already bought the rope to tie myself to the before mentioned chair. 2. that my water even broke-did you know that only about 15% of women have their water break on its own?  3. It wasnt like in the movies where a giant puddle appeared below me. It felt much more like I had just peed my pants (oh the joy of pregnancy!).  So I told my co worker I was leaving early, called my boyfriend and told him I was on my way home.  I was so excited! Finally it was time. I went home and took a shower, didnt want to go to the hospital feeling like I just peed myself after all.  At this point I wasnt having any painful contractions, the nurse checked my vitals and told me they were going to monitor me and the baby.  She pooped and inside me and they were concerned about Meconium Aspiration.  But all I could do now was sit and wait.  Damn. Not the waiting game again.

Several hours passed with nothing happening so they finally agreed to give me Pitocin to get that baby movin. Again I was told to wait. 

I hate that word.

Finally things started moving. I was giving my epidural (I didnt feel the need to put my pain tolerance to the test.) And....I waited. Again. The nurse told me to relax, get some sleep and she would let me know when it was time to push. Relax?!  Sleep? Who can sleep at a time like this?!  Apparently my boyfriend.  So I laid in that hospital bed til 4 in the morning glaring at my sleeping boyfriend, Listening to the clock tick. 

4 AM, ok now I can push. YA! I think any minute Im going to be holding my baby in my arms and NOT be pregnant anymore.

4:30 AM pushing

5 AM still pushing

5:30 AM Still Pushing

6 AM Visions of Dory from Finding Nemo pop into my head...Just keep Pushing, Just keep Pushing

6:30 AM  Yep. STILL pushing, and getting pretty tired I might add.

6:45 AM I have come to the realization that I will be pregnant forever. Im doomed.

7 AM Dr. decides to have a little chat. Paige is stuck. My epidural is wearing off and they wont be giving me another one. I have 3 options. 1. I can have a c-section (I did not run this marathon just to get almost to the finish and have you tell me sorry, you wore the wrong t-shirt) 2. I can keep pushing through the pain (Did I mention Im also tired?) 3. He can suction the little baby right out (Downside, possible conehead baby).

Suction it is! And at 7:10 on a summer day in August I FINALLY was holding my baby. AND I wasnt pregnant anymore! Added Bonus? No Conehead baby either.And yes, all baby's come out this pretty and clean with pink bows in their hair.

Rock Hot Plate- a nap time craft

I recently came across a super cute idea for making a trivet (hot plate). And what makes it even better is there are only 3 things you need to make it.

• Hot Glue and Gun
• Felt
• River rocks

First you need to decide if you want a circle or square hot plate, as well as what size. And cut your felt accordingly. I made mine a circle, and about the size of an average sauce pan. I also decided to glue two pieces of felt together to hopefully help make it a little sturdier.  It will also help the over all look if you get your felt in a color similar to the stones. I have black stones the I purchased at my local craft store. You can also make it more personal by using stones you and a loved one have collected or even small sea shells from a trip to the beach. The main thing to keep in mind is they need to all be a fairly uniform height. You want to be able to actually set things on this and not have it too wobbly .

Plug in your trusty hot glue gun and let it heat up. In the mean time lay your felt and rocks out on the table. You'll want to take a moment to make sure you have enough to fully cover the felt. There is nothing more frustrating in the crafting world then when you are in the zone and have to stop everything to go to the store for something.

Take your glue and start by putting glue on your felt and sandwiching the two pieces together. Next put a small glob (very technical crafting term) on in small sections. Enough to put on 1-3 stones maybe. You dont want to get too ahead of yourself because the glue will harden before you get a chance to add your rocks.

Keep repeating until the felt is covered. You can try to do a pattern, or simply place them wherever. It might even turn out well to do a pattern with different colored stones.  This was super easy to do and took maybe 45 minutes. Which makes it a perfect Nap Time Craft.

Obviously this is not a spill proof trivet, so some care will be needed when using it. But for the cost (about 3 bucks) I think while it last it will look lovely on my table.