28 Weeks

28 Weeks with baby #3

I am now in my third trimester and with that starts my favorite part of pregnancy:

RIB SKIN BURNING! 

Yep. It feels like a curling iron is sitting on the skin over my ribs,

and the flesh below is painfully numb. Anyone else ever experience this?

I have had it with all 3 of my pregnancies. Ice packs are my best friend right now. 

That is an icepack in an Ace bandage. I rock that at the grocery store.

By the afternoon I usually have a heating pad on my back and an ice pack on my ribs.

Makes this instinct they call "nesting" a little difficult;) Heh.

I do it anyway, but pay for it later.

Last night I cut out the pieces for a "Mary" costume that I am making for my daughter(she is going to be Mary in our church's Christmas video) and not only did it take me twice the time, but I practically cried the whole time.

Oh the things we do for our kids! Am I right? <--- Rhetorical question.

This is my view at 28 weeks.

See the stains? Yeah, I thought about photoshopping those out, but then I didn't;)

Ha! I figured most of my readers are moms and would get it.

The thing I am really enjoying right now is feeling and watching the baby move. I have been feeling him since week 10, but now the movements are so strong that it takes my breath away (with both pain and joy). I dream about who he will be and what he looks like. I love him so deeply already and know that all my suffering will be worth it...he is worth it.

 

Refinished Garage Sale Mirror

 It has been so long since I bought this mirror…just look at my flat tummy!
This was right before I got pregnant...I will be 28 weeks tomorrow
and am really missing my waistline right now.**Sigh**

Okay, back to the mirror.

I bought it at a garage sale for $5 and knew exactly what I would do with it.

I loved that it was a DIY mirror and that the glass was cut in 1980.
It has the date on the back.

I sanded it a little and primed it.
Do you like my canned food stands? Use whatcha got, right?

Then I painted it this scrumptious mustard yellow:)
The color is Solar Fusion by Behr.

…then I painted my face a little.

The yellow was a little bright,
so I busted out the RL Tobacco Glaze and dirtied up the shiny paint job.

  I found some hooks with an oil-rubbed bronze finish at Target and had the husband put them on. I could have done this myself, but I am such a freak with the measuring that I just delegated. I’m learning! ;)

This weekend we finally remembered to pick up some hardware to hang the mirror and my husband hung it up for me…not once, but twice! Yep. I have some holes to fill. The poor guy got it all hung up where I asked him too, only to look over at me making an “I hate it” face. Ha!

So then he lowered it about 9 inches and I was a happy wife!

 

See the hutch in the mirror?

Um, yeah…that’s another LONG overdue project that I am still working on.

It’s not that it is such a difficult project, it’s just that I can only work on it once my 2 year old goes to bed and by then I am so exhausted that I can’t do much. I am determined to get it done soon though! I am only getting bigger and more uncomfortable with the pregnancy, so it’s kinda like “now or never lady!” I’m going to have to COFFEE UP and push through the pain, but I am sure it will be worth it.

It is primed and now I just have to paint and glaze.

Dressed up a little for Christmas…I LOVE the colors together!

Added bonus: I have somewhere to hang my favorite ornaments from Restoration Hardware

that are too heavy to hang on our tree! Boom!

~Amy~

Linking up with some of these blogs:

Fingerprints on the Fridge, Making The World Cuter, Dittle Dattle, Mad Skills Monday, Skip to my Lou, Craft O Maniac, Delicate Construction, Ask Anna, New Nostalgia, House of Grace, Sassy Sites, Not Just a Housewife, Today's Creative Blog, My Craftie Life, Sew Much Ado, Seven Thirty-Three, Someday Crafts, A Diamond in the Stuff, My Girlish Whims, Somewhat Simple, Momnivores Dilemma, Paisley Passions, Fun to Craft, Make it, Wear it, Gluesticks, House of Hepworths, What Allie's Making Now, Finding Fabulous, A Little Knick Knack, Mommas Kinda Crafty, Its a Hodgepodge Life, Inspiring Creations, Be Different Act Normal, Wildflowers and Whimsy, Tatertots and Jello, The Idea Room, My Repurposed Life, Sew Many Ways, I Heart Naptime, Thirty Handmade Days, Under the Table and Dreaming, Creative Itch, Oops I Craft My Pants, Addicted 2 Decorating

Homemade Laundry Cream

I have been wanting to try some homemade laundry detergents for quite awhile now.

I found this recipe at A Quiver Full of Blessings and was out of laundry detergent,

 so it was time!

Ingredients:

• 6 Cups of water
• 2 Cups of Borax
• 2 Cups of Washing Soda
• 2 bars of Fels-Naptha soap

Grate both bars of soap and pour into boiling water. Once the soap is dissolved, add in the Borax and the Washing Soda. Cook for about 3 minutes and then pour into clean mason jars.
I would recommend using a funnel for this part. *wink*
My counters got a little soapy until I got smart and funneled up.

Let the soap mixture sit for 8 or so hours. You can’t see in this photo, but there is a liquid on the bottom and the top part is all crusty.

Here you can see the crustiness.

After it has sat for the 8 hours or so, put the soap (one jar at a time) into a blender to make it into the “cream” consistency that we are going for. I could just tell you that this part was so simple, but since lying is against my religion I will tell you the truth.

It was messy.

I first put it in my blender and nothing got blended. It just sat there mocking me.

My husband thinks I don’t know how to use a blender…I just think every blender we have owned is defective and out to get me.

Then I took it out and tried using a hand mixer.

That got it more broken up, but not so much the “creamy” I was going for.

After that I pulled out the Magic Bullet and finally got the results that I wanted!

I just had to do it in small increments.

NOTE:While blending you will need to add more water to get it to cream.

Just eyeball it.

Here is my finished detergent. Notice that there is more than in the photos above?

That’s what happens when you add a little more water and blend it up.

Notice the lovely butter-like creamy consistency? Uh-huh!

Okay, so now let’s talk about the soap:

I love it! I have a front loading HE washer and it works GREAT! I have been using this for 2 weeks now and use 1 Tablespoon per load. I have a family of four,so we do tons of laundry, and I just finished the SMALL jar of soap. I set my soap dispenser to the “liquid soap” mode.

My husband had a pomegranate explode on his favorite t-shirt and this stuff got it right out, no pre treating needed. I was shocked! If you have ever tried to get that juice out of your clothes, you know what I am talking about.

When this is gone I am planning to try a liquid version and then a powder one to see which one I like best. I will keep y’all posted!

~Amy~

Linking up with some of these blogs:

Fingerprints on the Fridge, Making The World Cuter, Dittle Dattle, Mad Skills Monday, Skip to my Lou, Craft O Maniac, Delicate Construction, Ask Anna, New Nostalgia, House of Grace, Sassy Sites, Not Just a Housewife, Today's Creative Blog, My Craftie Life, Sew Much Ado, Seven Thirty-Three, Someday Crafts, A Diamond in the Stuff, My Girlish Whims, Somewhat Simple, Momnivores Dilemma, Paisley Passions, Fun to Craft, Make it, Wear it, Gluesticks, House of Hepworths, What Allie's Making Now, Finding Fabulous, A Little Knick Knack, Mommas Kinda Crafty, Its a Hodgepodge Life, Inspiring Creations, Be Different Act Normal, Wildflowers and Whimsy, Tatertots and Jello, The Idea Room, My Repurposed Life, Sew Many Ways, I Heart Naptime, Thirty Handmade Days, Under the Table and Dreaming, Creative Itch, Oops I Craft My Pants, Addicted 2 Decorating

Crayon Rolls

Seriously one of my favorite gifts to make for kids.

I made these matching ones for my son Travis and his best bud Chris for their birthdays.

The fabrics are Riley Blake All Stars and some brown duck cloth.

Instead of doing ribbon on these ones I did an elastic loop…so much easier for a toddler!

Is it just me,

or does the sight of fresh crayons just make you feel like anything is possible?

BLISS!