Home Study Update

     Yesterday we had our home study update meeting. We have been waiting for a placement for 21 months now. There hasn't been much to blog about, because we haven't even really heard anything lately. The visit was very short, about an hour long. We talked about the changes that have happened in the past couple years, and updated our information. Debra, our social worker, walked around to make sure the house was still in good shape, and there hadn't been any structural changes. Before Debra had arrived, my father-in-law had called to talk to Chase. Chase told him that we were cleaning up because a lady was coming to see if our house was clean enough, and to find out if we would clean up after a baby.    

      Debra said that in the world of adoption, there are busy periods, and there are very slow periods. I remember when we were first applying with the agency, they were really busy. It seemed like every time I called, they were at the hospital with a birth mother. And then the past two years have been super slow. They've had a lot of women calling for information, but rarely do they follow through with adoption. She said in talking to other agencies, they are experiencing the same thing. It's kind of frustrating, but I know that it's all in God's timing.

     She also talked to us about a couple of other options that we have. We can use multiple agencies in hopes of a quicker match. She also recommended that we let everyone know that we are hoping to adopt in the event that someone we know knows someone that is considering placing their child for adoption. She said it was actually quite common that people find a distant cousin in a different state, or a friend of a friend, and they do an independent adoption, which is actually considerably cheaper because you don't have the placement fee, which is the big fee. If we were able to do an independent adoption, that would save us about $12,000. Basically an independent adoption is where you adopt from someone without the agency as the go-between. There are risks involved in that, but it is usually quicker, with most families finding a child within the first year.

     We've been working on our fundraising. We are doing that primarily through my Etsy shop. The summer has been really slow, but I'm expecting it to pick up in the next couple of months for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Last year I stayed busy from October to December, so I'm praying for another busy season. I had the baby room all set up for a while, and I've been using it as my sewing room. I've been running out of room, so I took down a lot of the baby stuff. I was surprised because it made me a little sad. The room has been sitting there for a year and a half, and so it was practical to put it to good use, but I feel like I had worked so hard, and she's still not here.

     We did adopt a cat a few months back. I have been begging Cory for years to let me have a cat. He finally gave in, and I found a hypo-allergenic Balinese cat (related to the Siamese). He wanted to try it out first to make sure it really was hypoallergenic, so we told the kids we were babysitting him for a little while. After a couple of weeks, we decided to keep him. We sat the boys down and told them that Wyatt had a family that couldn't take care of him anymore, so we were going to adopt him, so that he would become part of our family now. They were so excited! He's really a beautiful cat!

     In other news, Chase is going into third grade, and Ryland is starting kindergarten this year! What??! We need a baby now, because his baby status is expiring in like two weeks! It's going to be really strange with him not around. He's my sidekick. He loves to go everywhere with me, even the grocery store. Every morning, we have "coffee snuggle time" (yes, I let my 5-year-old have coffee, although it's mostly milk). I'm sure when I get used to it, I will really enjoy my kid-free time, but for now, the thought of it makes me a little sad.

Fabric Easter Basket Tutorial

Round Fabric Easter Basket Tutorial

I've been wanting to do a tutorial for this Easter Basket I made, mainly because if I don't document it, I'll forget how I did it, and have to figure it out all over again, and let me tell you, the first several baskets I did were not pretty. I kept working on it though, and figured out the best way to do things so that anyone could make it look professional.

Here's what you need: (Dimensions are in inches)

10x22 piece of outer (main) fabric

10x22 piece of inner (second) fabric

2x16 piece of main fabric

2x16 piece of second fabric

A round piece of inner and outer fabric, with a diameter of 7 1/4 inches.

9x22 piece of fleece

1 1/4 x 16 piece of fleece

9x20 piece of very stiff interfacing

A round piece of stiff interfacing with a diameter of 6 1/2 inches.

I know it sounds like a lot, and by the time you're done cutting it all, you'll be sick of this basket, but it'll be worth it, I promise. =) For the round pieces, I literally scoured the house for round items that were the size I needed and traced them. I just happened to have the perfect sized dessert plates. Try to find this size, because I've done the math for you. If you're monogramming your basket, you'll want to go ahead and do that before you start sewing.

The first thing I do is sew the handle. Take your 2x16 pieces, and put them right sides together, and sew with a 1/4" seam allowance down the long sides only. 

Once you're done, turn it right side out. You can easily do this by using a pencil.

After you have it turned the right way, attach a safety pin to your 1 1/4" x16 piece of fleece, and pull it through the sleeve.

Make sure it fits well.  You may have to pull it back out and trim it slightly. It's okay if the fleece sticks out of the ends. We can trim that later. Once it's in place, stitch 1/4" from the edges on both sides. Then set this piece aside.

Next, you're going to grab your main fabric piece, fold it in half with the right sides together, and stitch down the side with a 1/4" seam allowance.

 If you have a serger, serge the edges. If you don't have a serger, go buy one. It will change your sewing life! I bought my little Brother serger on Amazon for like $140. Totally worth it! (For those of you that don't know what it does, it finishes your raw edges so that they don't fray.)

Now this next step makes things so much easier. I take a pencil, and mark the four "corners" so that I can line things up easier. I know I just confused you, so just check out the pictures.

Once I mark the edge (Just with a faint mark on the wrong side of the fabric) I line the seam up with the mark, and then mark the other sides, so if I'm looking at my round basket, I've made a mark at North, South, East, and West. Does that explain it? 

 

Then I take my matching round piece and do the same, marking the four corners. It's helpful to fold it in half like a taco, so you can get the marks even. I made the marks darker on the pictures, so they would show up, but I don't make them that big on the fabric.

Then you take your circle, matching up your marks, and pin it to the other piece of your basket. I use 8 pins, one at each mark, and then one in between each of those. I usually avoid pinning when I can, but I highly recommend it here to keep your circle nice and even.

Then sew around the edges. Sewing circles is one of my least favorite things to do, but if you keep it on the 1/4" mark, and stop every inch or two to make sure your edges are even, it's not too bad. Just take your time, because you really want this part to look good. Just turn the circle as you go.

 Once you've sewn all around, flip if right side out to check all the edges, and make sure there are no holes where your edges weren't together. If it looks good, serge it.

Now we're going to do your inner part. Right sides together, sew along the side and serge. Do NOT put the bottom circle on, that's the very last step.

Turn your main piece right side out, and your inner piece inside out. Put your inner piece around the outside of your outer piece. 

Your right sides should be together. Match up the seams, and using your corner marks to keep them even, pin them together. But don't sew it yet! Check the next step!

Before you sew, take your basket handle piece, and pin it on the basket. It should be in-between the layers of basket, with the raw edges sticking out. Make sure they are sticking above the edges a little further so that they are good and secure.

My purple side is touching the purple, and the pink on the pink. You should be able to pin them on the east and west side marks. Before you sew, flip the inner layer inside the basket just to check and make sure you have your handles are on right. 

Then sew around the edge, backstitching over the handles a couple times to make sure they are good and secure.

If I haven't lost you yet, congratulations! That was probably the most confusing part. Check your edges and make sure you kept your fabric lined up, and if it looks good, serge it. You can trim the extra fleece off the handles if you want. It should look like this.

 Now we're going to do the interfacing. Put your fleece and stiff piece together, with the fleece on the outside. Roll it up, and stick it down inside the basket. My pink part is kind of in the way for the next few steps, so just bear with me.

Take both your hands and stick them inside the basket, and push the sides out to get the lining in there really well, and make the basket nice and round. Take a pencil, and mark where the lining overlaps. 

Take the lining back out, and with a needle and thread, sew the top and bottom corners together, using your traced line to make sure it stays the right size.

  

Before we put it back in, we're going to put the bottom piece in. I like to get it in place, and sew just a little dot on your "corners" to keep it snugly in place.

Then you can put your lining back in, and make sure it’s a snug fit. Try to get the seam matched up with the back seam of the basket.

 I don't like to attach the big lining to the basket. In my experience, if you don't get it in there perfectly, it tends to warp the edges of the basket, and it's harder to get it round. It's better if the edges are sewn together, but not all the way down the sides, and it's able to "float" just a bit.

 Now take your last round piece and match up your four corners, pin, and sew it on. Your edges are going to be exposed, so serge or zigzag stitch it.

Then tuck it down inside, and voila! You're done!

I tied a little bow on the side, but you can decorate it however you like!

I'm hoping I didn't frustrate you to the point of swearing off sewing. Like I said, I went through several baskets before I figured out the best way for me to do them. A lot of the round basket tutorials were "Intermediate" projects, and they were difficult. I feel like, while this is a time-consuming project, it's a little easier way of doing things. I hope you enjoy, and I'd love to see pictures of how your baskets turn out!

Nasty Hobbitses

     Okay, I admit it. I'm a terrible blogger. My last post was December 7th. That's over a month and a half ago. But I'll keep convincing myself that it's okay because I started this blog to keep people updated on the adoption, and there's really nothing to report on that front. I have days where I'm going crazy wanting her to be here already, and then days where I'm content waiting on God's timing. Why I can't be content all the time, I have no idea. People, if you know me, then you know once I'm determined to do something, I have no concept of patience. It's my money and I want it NOW! I'm working on that.
   
     Christmas was good here. We kept it very small this year and that was nice. It was a way to save money, and focus more on the important things. I did, however, complete a project I've been working on for some time for the kiddos. They love to play dress up. And they will use anything. I mean, kleenex boxes for Iron Man's boots, cut up cereal boxes for armor, and scraggly rag scraps for a cape. It's entertaining. Anyways, huge Lord of the Rings fans, and they've been playing Sam and Frodo lately. So I decided to make them costumes.

    I made the white shirts out of a beige colored muslin fabric to make it look rustic. Okay, I'll admit, I didn't make Ryland's. I made Chase's first, and there were just so many buttons... I don't like sewing buttons and button holes, and I got lazy, so I dug through the closet until I found a grungy looking collared shirt.

Then I made the capes and pants. I ordered the rings, leaf pins, and suspenders off of eBay for cheap. Then I made the vests. First I made Chase's with a burgundy fabric, and I did a horrible job. I was really embarrassed. And of course I waited until like 2 days before Christmas (because I'm a procrastinator) and didn't have enough to make another one. Then I found some burgundy corduroy that my mother-in-law gave me. It was old fashioned and rustic looking, and turned out perfect! I sewed a few buttons on it, and made a little welt pocket, because you can't be Frodo without a pocket on your vest! And for the final touch, I found these awesome slippers at Old Navy. The perfect Hobbit Feet! All in all, they turned out great. Only thing was I had to go back and add a pocket onto Ryland's vest because he didn't have one. Whoops.

Aren't they cute? I love how they have their pants hiked up a little too far. In their defense, I think the suspenders needed to be loosened, and were pulling their pants up. Cutest hobbits ever. 

Basically, our elf, Sparkles, every year when she goes away, she leaves them a surprise. This year, they found a present stuffed in the top of the tree, and it was their shirts with a clue to the next item. Can you imagine the excitement on their faces when they got new shirts?! Hehe. But as they got more and more clues, it became more obvious as to what it was, and they loved it. So much fun! So there you have it, probably the most exciting thing over our holiday break.

100 Etsy Sales!

Well, there's no new news on the adoption front. However, I would like to announce that yesterday I made my 100th Etsy sale! Yay! I wanted to blog when I made my 100th sale in general, but as I was trying to organize my business stuff, and thought about counting my orders to see how close I was, I realize I blew past that a while back. So, technically, I guess in the past 2 and a half months or so since I started this, I've made about 144 sales!

When I think about that, I'm just blown away by God's goodness! He has really blessed my shop! Seriously, if you go on Etsy and search for one of my items, you can literally scroll through hundreds, maybe even thousands of items before you find mine! So it's a wonder that 100 people had all day to scroll through thousands of items before they settled for my dresses! Okay, so maybe not really, but I know that God is in control, and that He has heard my prayers!

It's so encouraging when I get notes from people who have read some of my blog posts, and our story, and they take the time to send us well-wishes or share their stories! There are so many wonderful, caring people out there, and I just want you to know that your support means so much to me! Sometimes, they send me pictures of the kiddos in their fall or Christmas dresses, and it's so special. Keep them coming! It never gets old! Keep us in your prayers!

Update on my shop

I just wanted to give an update on my Etsy shop. Things are going really well! The first couple of weeks after I opened it up, I had a couple sales a week, and I was happy to have one every other day. Now it seems like as soon as I finish up one order, and start to pack it up for shipping, I hear that "cha-ching" on my phone to let me know I've got another. It definitely keeps me busy, but thankfully I'm not overwhelmed.

Chase's school had a fund-raiser vendor fair, and I participated in that. I didn't sell as much as I thought I would, but I wasn't disappointed. Since I decided to make everything to order, I was fully prepared to be completely stressed out and running around like a crazy chicken with my head cut off for a couple weeks trying to get it all done. I was able to get everything finished within one week. And my amazing bff, Kim, got me a beautiful sign. She's the best!

Also, I was really excited to be able to outfit a Christmas production! A school ordered my dresses for their elves in their Christmas play! I really hope they send me a picture, because I was thinking about making a scrapbook about my shop, and why I started it. I absolutely love it when people send me pictures of their kids in my dresses.

I'm sure things will slow down after the holidays, but it's really nice to be able see our adoption account going up. Everything, even the shipping money, goes directly into it, and then we're paying out-of-pocket for expenses and shipping, so that way it's like we're adding to the fund every month too. Once our adoption is paid for, if I keep up the shop, which I very well may, I'll use that account for expenses and what-not, but for now, I just want to see it grow!

Be sure to check it out! www.etsy.com/shop/forbeautifulbaby

One year today

Well, I suppose it's come and gone. Today, we've officially been waiting for a baby for one year. I must say, when we first started the process, I had it in my head it would probably be just under a year. But then again, I knew it could take a long time. This is one of those times where it's really hard to accept God's timing and be patient, but I know there are other families that have waited even longer.

I just pray that she will be here soon. Goodness knows I'll be ready. I think the only big thing I still need is a car seat. I have a year's supply of diapers, I'm working on the wipes, I bought the crib, made the bedding and accessories, and that's about it. My sweet mom and sister bought me some baby clothes the other day. It's nice to have just a few just in case it happens quickly, I don't like feeling unprepared. AND, in case you missed my last post, my amazing dad just made a custom shelved closet, so her room is mostly set up and organized. I love it! So one year down, hopefully no more to go =)

My dad is cooler than your dad!

Some of you know my dad, and that he's, well, awesome! You should have seen him whip up--I mean, help me with my science projects that I forgot about until the night before. Once I had to create a lighthouse, and we made one that was so real looking, and then he took a flash light magnifying glass and rigged it up so that the lighthouse lit up. Needless to say, I got an A+ on that. I've never met anyone else quite like him, someone who can take scraps and a neat idea, and literally make something that would blow your mind. He can do anything!

And he's a carpenter! Now, I have to say that it is SO convenient to have a dad that can build anything! I take advantage--I mean, he's so nice to come do stuff for me! Some of you might have seen our garage that he turned into a playroom about three years ago.

 

Before. Look at how handsome he is!

After

The cabinet on the left side there is a pull down bed. Absolutely my favorite part, perfect for guests.

Well, after 10 months of nagging, uh, I mean, sweetly reminding, he came over on Saturday and made my dream closet for the baby's room. I am so excited about it. When I was getting the room ready, I ripped out all the wire rack shelves because I can't stand them. Check out the new closet!

I love it! He's not quite finished yet. He's going to add some shelves on the sides. But I just had to share. 

I also want to give a quick shout out to my sweet sister and her hubs, Alison and Gabe, for coming out and spending the day power washing my house. I am so blessed to have such a loving family! I honestly took that for granted as a kid, thinking all families loved each other, got along really great, were always willing to help each other out, and just genuinely enjoyed spending time together. But then I remember so many of my friends, who would spend time with us as a family, would always say, "Wow, your family is so great, and you guys are so close! I wish my family was like that." Just another one of God's blessings! 

So to my family, I love you all so much, and thank you guys for your unending love, support, encouragement, and reliability. You guys are the best!