Restoration

10/26/10

I haven't exactly had time to start a bunch of new projects (wonder why....lol) so I will post something that I didn't before! We bought this dresser at a garage sale in the Spring because Abigail's room needed one! We didn't have a ton of cash to just buy all new furniture so I bargained shopped and looked for something that would look great....it worked! We bought it for $10.00 at a garage sale (basically and estate sale). They had a china cabinet too that was really cheap and I think would have cleaned up great but with no where to put it for a while we didn't get it...I'm a little disappointed we didn't but there is probably something else out there that we could find next year or later!

Kyle sanded it (no pic) down well.

Fresh coat of brown paint!

New knobs.

Finished product in her room!

The Birth of Abigail

10/21/10

So for all those curious, I will tell the story of my experience giving birth! It's crazy to think a week ago right now I was in labor at the hospital! Anyways, Wednesday the 13th I thought my water might have broke but I wasn't sure. It was about 9 at night. We went to the hospital cause they wanted to check me out. Well, it wasn't broke and we went back home. We went to sleep and I actually was able to with my rash! Well, I woke up and went to the bathroom, my underwear was soaked but I was sleepy and thought nothing of it so I went back to bed. Then I woke up later feeling like I had to go again and the same thing. So I changed and went back to bed. Ha. Then I woke up one last time at 3:20 AM and on the way to the bathroom it gushed out and down my leg. So I yelled, "Kyle my water really broke!" He was out of bed before he realized what he was doing.

At this point I just had lots of water coming out but no painful contractions. You just feel like you're peeing a lot with no control! When waiting to hear back from the midwife, I washed my hair and styled it! haha. So I went in about 4 in the morning to the hospital. I started from ground zero cause I wasn't dilated, even though they said I was the week before. Contractions started hurting mid-morning and I labored all day. But it was so calm and Kyle was so helpful. I just saw the whole thing as a sports competition. Every time I had a contraction Kyle would hold my hand and motivate me by telling me it was my last lap around the track or to hit a backhand in tennis. It worked and they weren't that bad to me. I got an epidural at 6:30 at night cause I was tired and the contractions were getting so strong I was going to puke.

Epidural=amazing! I could still feel everything but just had no pain. I went from 5 1/2 cm to 9 1/2 in 2 hours. Then I felt it was time to push and it was. I pushed 2 1/2 hours which was really tiring but so worth it. Abigail was born on Oct 15th at 2:19 AM. It really was a great experience and I actually enjoyed it more than my whole pregnancy which I never imagined!! God has blessed us so much and I will never forget it.1

Baby Bumper Tutorial

10/4/10

So I didn't get a full bedding set forAbigail and the only thing I really needed was bumper pads. So I decided to make them myself! I decided this was to be my first project with my sewing machine and it turned out great! I did it all by myself with no help and it took a lot of re-doing at first cause I hadn't used a sewing machine since Jr. High! But I feel that I know a little bit more and stuff came back to me from my FACS class. Anyways, here's how I did it....

I started with getting the fabric for JoAnn Fabric. I got a 1 1/2 yards of each pattern because everything I found on the online tutorials said to get about 2 1/2. So I went for 3 just in case. It turned out to be PLENTY and I was able to make a little pillow afterwards with still a lot extra. But be sure to measure your crib first! I also bought ribbon too. One spool would be enough. But I messed up and had to buy one more so you could be safe and buy two.

I made the pattern with paper. I just measured how long each side is of the crib and added 1 inch so it wasn't too short. I used the width of the paper as the length of how high the bumper would be (hope that makes sense).

I just taped the paper together to the proper length for the bumper pads. Then I cut it out.

I used 2 different patterns of fabric, so I cut them both out and pinned them together. You want the outside (side to look at) facing the inside for both fabric pieces.

Now I cut all my ribbons to tie on the crib. I did 2 each end of the bumpers because I didn't sew them altogether like some bumpers are, I just kept them separate pieces.

Then I folded them evenly in half to sew onto the bumper pad. I placed them on the ends of the bumpers and pinned them at the seam.

Make sure the ribbon is on the INSIDE of both pieces and not sticking out so it will be outside the fabric when you turn it inside out. Then you'll be able to tie the ribbon onto the crib. I originally messed up on this and had to cut the ribbon off which is why I had to buy more. Ha.

Then I sewed them together and left a hole to put the batting in. After they were stuffed I hand-stitched the holes closed! Here's a pic of the bumper in the crib....I am going to put a brown sheet so it's not so busy. But that's about it. It turned out to be pretty fun and now Abigail has a home-made bed bumper by her mommy :)