Superhero Pillows

What is Superheros?  That would be the correct answer if you were on Jeopardy and the question was "What is the new theme for Parker's bedroom?"  

I've been trying to come up with a theme for a while now and when I was at JoAnn Fabric the other day I found this superhero fabric, that I thought it would be fun for P's room.  Parker has been all about superheros and bad guys lately.  Not sure where he learned about the bad guys, must be preschool.  Boys!  I want to keep things fairly neutral in his room, with a few fun accents.  That way if he gets bored with superheros, I won't be too upset changing it.

I decided to make pillow cases to go over a couple throw pillows I already had.  It's nice to be able to re-use something, plus cases are much easier to take off and throw in the washing machine to clean.

The pillows I had were 17" x 17" and I used three pieces of fabric to make each case.  I used a solid color for the back of each pillow to tie them together and it was a little cheaper that way.

Front (Superhero Fabric)

18.5" x 18.5"

Back Pieces (Navy Fabric)

14" x 18.5"

11" x 18.5"

Batman & Superman Fabric
(Pretty much the only fabric that wasn't on sale)

I started with sewing a hem on one of the 18.5" sides, of each of the back pieces.  This is for the opening for the pillow.  I folded over about an inch of a fabric and sewed a 1/2" hem.

I obviously didn't iron the fabric very well after washing it

After sewing the hems, I was ready to sew the case together.  Place the front fabric piece facing up and then line up the two back pieces on top of it.  The back pieces should overlap by a few inches, making sure the pillow doesn't show at all.  Then pin fabric together and sew around the all sides.  I usually sew about 1/2" in, so the case should end up being about a 17.5" x 17.5".

Turn inside out and you should have a pillow case.  Insert pillow and enjoy!

Bam, Whap, Krack!

Stay tuned for more superhero projects I have planned!

Happy Champagne Thursday!

Cheers!

3 Months

Ryder is now three months old!  Where does the time go?  Here are some pictures from his 3 month photo shoot.  Enjoy!

Firsts:

Rolling from tummy to back (video at end of post)

Rolling to from back to side (as seen in the picture below)

Snow and lots of it

Lots of cooing and "talking"

Favorites:

Sucking my thumb or my hand or both my hands

Laughing at my big brother
Bath time

Lights and the TV

Dislikes:

Sleeping in my own room

Napping

Ryder 3 Months Old

What are you doing mom?

My hands are so yummy!

Ryder Rolling Over

(It's amazing the amount of videos there are on YouTube with the title Ryder Rolling Over.)

Happy Champagne Thursday!

Cheers!

Fun Valentines

All these Valentine ideas came from where else, but Pinterest, with slight variations to make them our own.

This first set of Valentines were for the Grandparents and involved two cute boys and some paint.  We did hand prints for long distance hugs or at least we tried to.  Getting a hand print from a 3 month old is a little tricky, so we opted for some foot prints and tried to make them in the shape of a heart.  

The directions are for the long distance hugs are pretty self explanatory, but just in case...

Long Distance Hug Directions

1. Make hand prints

2. Cut out hand prints

3. Cut ribbon the length of the child's arm span

4. Trace the hand print on a separate sheet of paper and cut out

5. Tape ribbon on back of hand prints

6. Glue the blank hand print on the back of the actual hand print, to cover up tape

7. Personalize

8. Send out some long distant hugs!

Parker working hard on his Valentines

Long Distance Hug

Cute baby feet

This next batch is the Valentines we made for Parker's school.  I wanted to include some sort of little treat with the Valentines and everything at his school is suppose to be store bought, somewhat healthy and nut free.  I saw a cute idea with Swedish fish and decided I could use Goldfish instead (that was as healthy as I was getting).  His Valentines are fish bowls that say "Glad we swim in the same school".  These could easily be created on a computer and printed out, but I'm having a fight with my printer right now, plus homemade Valentines are more fun.  After making the fish bowl Valentines I put them in a Ziploc bag with a package of Goldfish.  It would have been a little cuter if the fish weren't in a separate package, but you gotta follow the rules of the school.

Fish bowls

Glad we Swim in the Same School Valentine

This last Valentine is the one I made for Chris.  I created it in Photoshop and had it printed at Costco, then glued it to some cardstock.  I thought it was pretty cute!

YOU + ME = AWESOME

Hope everyone has a happy Valentine's day!

Cheers!

I Heart Muffins!

Do you want to make a little something sweet and special for your Valentine?  You can make heart shaped muffins or cupcakes very easily by adding a marble to the outside of the baking cup.  I remember my mom doing this when I was growing up and I loved it.  Super easy and sweet!

(Sorry the pictures aren't the best, I took them with my phone.)

Cheers!

Brownies & Kitchen Gadgets

I was checking out my friend, Tina's blog, Cooking is a Whim, the other day and found a recipe for Honey-Bean Brownies and decided I needed to try them.  Tina has a lot of recipes I want to try!  She is so creative!

Honey-Bean Brownie Ingredients

Recipe from Cooking is a Whim

Honey-Bean Brownies

1 can (16 ounces) black beans or red kidney beans, rinsed well and drained

1/2 cup raw honey

3 tablespoons butter

1/3 cup baking cocoa

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

Dash salt

1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1/3 cup pecans

Place beans in a food processor and process until fairly pureed. In a small glass bowl, microwave the honey and butter at 70% power until melted; stir until smooth. Add to the beans and process until blended; pulse in the cocoa.

Add the eggs, vanilla and salt; process just until blended. Add the chocolate chips; give a couple quick pulses. You want to stir it up a bit, but not chop up the pieces.

Pour into a greased 8-in. square baking pan and sprinkle with pecans. Bake at 350° for about 25 minutes or until top sprigs back when gently touched. Cool completely. Refrigerate for about 2 hours before cutting. Yields: 9 servings.

I used walnuts instead of pecans, because that's what I had at home and I used my new immersion blender instead of a food processor.  My parents got Chris and I an Immersion blender for Christmas and I love it!  I was a little skeptical at first, I didn't think it was all that different from a food processor, but it is.  It is quick, easy and works great!  It works great in soups.  I love that you can use it, right in the pot or bowl, you are already using, so you don't need to get out some other gadget with a million pieces.  It came with a chopper attachment too and chops up veggies in a flash.  It's easy to clean up too, which is a major bonus.  I think it will work well to make baby food in the near future.

My mom also got me a nut chopper, that I love too.  Kitchen gadgets are so much fun!  I only wish I had a bigger kitchen to store them all.

Immersion Blender

Walnuts Before

...and After

Anyways, back to the brownies...Parker and I are fans of the Honey-Bean brownies.  They fulfilled my chocolate craving, without being too sweet.  I do wish I would have had a little ice cream to go with it though.  It's a treat I feel great sharing with Parker, since they are not loaded with sugar and they are made with black beans.

Since Valentine's day is coming up, I thought it would be fun to cut them into hearts and serve them.  It was easy to do with a heart shaped cookie cutter.

Parker Approved

I hope you go check out more of Tina's great recipes at Cooking is a Whim.

Happy Champagne Thursday!

Cheers!