Tissue boxes have become more decorative over the years. Gone are the days of the marbled blues, greens, and browns – thank goodness!

For a long time I always thought it was a shame to toss them out (in the recycling bin of course!) but never knew what to do with them if I kept them. Then one day it hit me, I could use them to make a mobile for over my daughters changing table!

All you need is an animal shape, an empty tissue box, chopsticks, string and some glue and voila! A mobile.

Here are the basic steps:

1. Cut out the animal shape from the tissue box (use two boxes for varied colors and designs). Make half of the shapes reversed so that you can glue them together and have the pretty side out.

2. Glue the pieces together with the string in between. I doubled the string and put the loop at the top to attach it to the chopsticks.

3. Use string to tie the chopsticks into an X shape. (Leave a tail for attaching it to the ceiling.)

4. Wrap the string from the shapes around the chopstick ends a few times to secure. This is where making the loop in step 2 comes in handy.

5. Hang and enjoy!

This installment of plugins features ones embe uses for layout. Without some of these, especially the custom widgets, our site wouldn’t allow us much flexibility with our different pages.

TS Custom Widgets

Enables us to use different widgets on different pages. It can also display different widgets on posts, pages, categories, authors posts and tag pages. I like this one for its ease of adding different sidebar items without having to mess around in the HTML.

Exclude Pages from Navigation

Like the name says, this plug in allows you to exclude a page from the navigation bar (or sidebar menu). This lets embe have many different pages without cluttering up our menu bar.

Wp Post Columns
Allows us to create columns within posts/pages. You can see this one in action on our Products page where we listed the products into two columns. This really saved me the hassle of creating a complicated table! (As you can probably tell I’m all about the shortcuts!)

During one of my “let’s get organized” moods, I discovered that I had a ton of craft supplies, especially paper goods–note cards, design paper, wrapping paper, scrapbooking paper, and even origami paper. They’ve all been sitting in a bin hidden away in the basement. I decided that it was time to put them to good use and turn them into something that I would actually use.

I write notes all the time, whether it’s a sweet note or a “honey do” list for my hubby or a note enclosed with a gift for my nieces or nephews. It’s a nice way of telling someone how you feel, giving a little reminder or writing just to say hello. Why not make those notes a little sweeter by adding that special touch? Here’s what you need to create these prettied-up note cards. Remember that you may very well have these pieces around the house to try to re-use what you currently have:

Supplies:

• Colored note cards (I had a pack of 100 note cards in assorted colors for 99 cents!)
• Scrapbook paper (I received a pack of paper as a baby shower gift)
• Craft punches (I had three different flower designs)
• Glue stick

All you need to do is punch out flower designs using various paper designs (including solid ones from the colored note cards) and adhere the flowers in any arrangement you like. It’s as simple as that! Not only are these great for writing notes to friends and family, they can also make great gifts too (Note to self: Christmas gifts!!)

So maybe the next time I write my hubby a “honey-do” list, he’ll be so impressed with the “sweet” delivery that he’ll do it without complaining…okay, okay they’re not miracle note cards!

                             “HEARTS”  

embe is pleased to announced that we are partnering with Darn. Knit. {Anyway} (DKA) to sell several embe items at their shop including our Colton sk8er booties, Alison baby booties, Isaac/Sophie growth charts and Avery kimono sweaters! DKA is a sweet little yarn/fabric shop in Stillwater, Minnesota and will be opening in mid-October. So if you’re in the Stillwater area, be sure to check out their shop this fall (it will be embe’s “candy” store with yarn and fabrics galore!).

When my husband and I had our house built, we went with tile flooring on the main floor. We thought that wood flooring would require more upkeep and seeing visible scratches and dust bunnies just didn’t appeal to us. For the most part, we’re happy with our decision–it looks nice, it’s durable and the dust is not so visible. I bet my son would say otherwise! When he started crawling, we noticed that once he’d get to tile area, he would just stop. And then when he decided that he didn’t want to limit his crawling area, he developed what I would describe as this “crab crawl”. He’d crawl with his right foot planted on the floor while his leg was underneath. It looked quite funny, but then I decided that my son was very smart for adapting to the harsh surface! I felt really bad so I brainstormed what I could do to make his knees feel better when he ventured out onto the tile floor.

What I did was this: I took a pair of tube socks my son no longer wore and cut the foot part out, leaving a tube with both ends open. I slid it onto his knee which fit snuggly and inserted a nursing pad onto the knee area and voila! I made some knee pads from existing materials I had in the house. My son thought it was a little weird at first, but he soon adjusted to wearing them. Now that he’s walking, it’s great for cushioning his falls too. Now I know I can’t prevent all his bumps and bruises, but I’ll do what I can while I still can .

I’m a sucker for making the small things look pretty. At my old job I even decorated my pen/pencil holder (ie. a paper cup!) by drawing on it with a sharpie. Print-it-yourself calendars are often plain to look at. Why not dress them up by printing it on decorative paper?

These are the basic steps if you already have decorative paper:

Step 1: Select your paper.

Step 2: Open the calendar file.

Step 3: Load the paper into your printer. Make sure the pretty side is what will be printed on.

Step 4: Print!

If you don’t have any decorative paper- no worries! You can do what I did for the calendar in the image. I went to Canon’s Creative Park. They have free download-able scrap booking backgrounds, borders, stickers, and letters.

For October I wanted something halloween-ish and found this one with spiderwebs. I printed the paper first and then followed steps 2-4. I used Microsoft Word to print the calendar and moved it to the bottom right for aesthetics (I like white space! Plus it gives me room to add notes.)

As a child I had a lot of lovies. There was a teddy bear that I’ve forgotten the name of but he’s present in quite a bit of my childhood photos. Then there was Christina the faux Cabbage Patch Doll my dad made me. There was also the real Cabbage patch doll I eventually got (and also named Christina). Finally there was Sally. The famous one of them all.

She was a talking doll and would say “ma ma” or cry whenever she was turned on her tummy. My sister and I shared a room at that time and after countless nights of hearing Sally babble on and on, my sister had enough and convinced my dad to make her stop. Being the inventor that he is, he hacked into her voice box and added an on/off switch. But that’s not what made her famous.

It was my short lived career as a hair stylist that did it. To this day I have no recollection of actually doing it but it happened. I cut her hair. It wasn’t pretty – as you can see in the picture! Thinking about it I wonder if I wanted her to have short hair like I did or if I had just gotten a hold of some scissors. What I do remember is making my mom wash her hair in the bathroom sink in order to make it grow back. To my dismay it never did.

After I grew out of the lovies stage, my mom kept Sally and I recently brought her home for my own daughter to play with. I think she might adore her as much as I did. My little peanut loves to touch her face, hands and feet and try to gauge out her eyes (!!!) but what she likes the most is the kisses that Sally gives her when she wakes up from nap-time. It’s sort of a routine now and the little peanut always smiles when she sees Sally.

I’ve been debating on if I should find a doll restorer in the area to bring back her pretty golden locks. I kind of like that she’s got some character (that’s what I call it!) and it’s a little reminder of my childhood.

What do you think? Should I have her hair restored or keep it as is?

Knitting caught my attention seven years ago when some women at my workplace brought in some knitting projects for a “knitting lunch” and asked if I’d like to join. I thought learning how to knit would be the challenge I was looking for and accepted their invitation. I just needed some knitting needles and yarn, right?! I remember buying my first set of knitting needles quite vividly. I went to Michael’s and just stared at the wall of needles before me. I had no clue that there were so many varieties – had I known, I would have asked my co-worker for some advice on which ones to buy. So here I was alone in the knitting aisle, quite overwhelmed by all the choices. There were straight, circular, bamboo, metal, plastic and so on. I ended up going with a pair of bamboo circular needles. I chose bamboo more for aesthetics than anything else, but choosing circular needles was  a huge mistake–especially for a beginner.

To those of you who are contemplating picking up the art of knitting, I would suggest getting a pair of straight needles. I think straight needles are easier to maneuver, and I think you’d end up less likely to give up so quickly (oh, you should have seen me trying to work with those circulars!). I would also suggest getting bamboo needles as they have a little more friction and your stitches are less likely to slip off than on metal needles. As for size of the needles, I would choose a size that fits comfortably in your hand. The smaller sizes (US0-4) can make your hands cramp up pretty quickly and the larger sizes (US15+) can make you feel a little clumsy which doesn’t really help the confidence of a beginner! I would choose a size between US7 and US9 for small to medium size hands.

Learning how to hold the needles will be the most challenging part, in my opinion. But once you figure out how your fingers work with the needles and the yarn, you’ll work your way up to circular needles in no time!

Isaac turned 15 months this past Monday. He weighs 24 pounds and measures 32 inches (we think the nurse gipped him out of 1/4-1/2 inch!). His “tests” indicated that his development is that of a 21-month old (hey, a mother has a right to brag, right?!). It’s so cliche, but I’m so amazed how fast kids grow! Just two months ago, he started walking, and now he’s practically running. Here are some of his latest milestones:

1) Learning how to say a few words – he’s been signing for quite a while– it’s still his main form of communication–but he’s also learned to say some new words besides “mama” and “dada”. If he wants us to pick him up, we won’t until he says “be^’” which means “hold/carry” me in Vietnamese. When he wants to go somewhere, he’ll say “di” which in Vietnamese means “go”. He also picked up “okay” which apparently we say a lot at home. He’ll say “bye bye” every now and then, but only when he feels like it.

2) Isaac learned to walk at 13 months. It’s quite amazing how he’s mastered it in two months when you think about how he didn’t crawl until 10 months and was just born a little over a year ago! Now, he’s learning how to pick up speed and although it’s not quite running, he’ll gallop a few steps and I’ll be telling him to slow down especially as he turns the corners. And I’m not sure where he learned it, but lately he’s been walking backwards. Maybe it’s his new sense of adventure–it makes me totally nervous!

3) Isaac has become quite the athlete (I’d like to say that he picked up my athletic skills, hehe!). Just a month or so ago, he’d throw a ball and it would always land behind him. Now he can throw the ball forward and with some force too. And he’s very good at kicking the ball. It even appeared on several occasions that he’d dribble the ball too (I’ll have to get it a video clip for proof as my brother-in-law would insist upon).

4) I guess it’s as much of a milestone for us as it is for Isaac, but we’ve both learned how to get through a haircut. The trick?! BLUEBERRIES!! I don’t know any kids who eat during a haircut. It certainly gets him to sit still, and I suppose it’s better than putting him in a headlock. We just figured we’d give him what he loves the most (food) and avoid the tears which causes the hair to stick to his face and then cause itchiness and irritability (it’s not a pretty sight, believe me).

5) Speaking of food, he’s totally off the bottle (at 12 months) and jarred baby food. He’s on 100% cow’s milk and eats whatever we eat. It sure has made life a lot easier not having to make a separate meal for him. He LOVES vegetables…he loves it so much that we have to give it to him after he’s eaten everything else on his plate. If he sees it before, he won’t eat the other stuff!

6) He’s learning how to make the sign of the cross. Before every meal, we start off with “In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.” He’s gotten the “Amen” down quite well, but we need to work on the “In the name of the Father” part because he’ll touch his ear instead of his forehead. I’m sure God will overlook that for now

Yum...tomatoes!

Haircut? Show me the blueberries...

My daughter loves toys that make the crinkly noise. She also loves to wake up before us in the mornings but we’re lucky that she will play in her crib for awhile before calling out for “ma ma ma ma.” We usually know she’s up though by the “crinkle crinkle” noises coming from the crib because I always put the soft one in before I go to bed.

She only has one soft crinkly toy and not wanting her to get bored of it I decided I’d make her one. The idea struck when I was refilling the diaper basket and was getting ready to throw away the plastic bag they come in. As I was crumpling it up it made a “crinkle” and a picture flashed in my head of a plush toy. After digging through my fabric and craft boxes I sat down at the sewing machine and made Ella the elephant!

She’s stuffed with two of the diaper bags which makes it soft as well as crinkly and perfect for an in the crib toy. I added some texture using a reverse applique for the ear, button for the eye, a knitted i-cord for the tail and stripes of ribbon on the back.

I went a little overboard on the details, but it doesn’t have to be. Sewing a silhouette of an animal and embroidered facial features would be just as fun for any baby – the important part is that it crinkles!