Fresh Mommy Blog: January 2013

DIY Cupid Bow + Arrow Set

With Valentine's day right around the corner, we decided to up the love ante and play with Cupid's bow and arrow for a little bit. Of course, mama has a few plans up her sleeve and a little project in the works that we'll be sharing soon, but for now, the kids have just been having fun pretending to shoot our own homemade arrows!

To begin, I just sent the kids into the yard to collect sticks, and they proceeded to return with branches of all shapes and sizes on their fun journey of collecting wood. I set about going through the pile to find a couple of small straight-ish sticks for the arrows and also found this near perfect curved stick to use as the bow. As for all of the leftovers? Well, Aliyah took care of that by declaring that we have firewood ready for a nice chilly night. A good idea indeed.

To make your own bow and arrow set, just tie a string securely on the ends of the stick you're using for the bow. Then just create about a two inch red heart on your computer and print (or find one online) a few copies on cardstock, cut out the hearts and hot glue to the end of the sticks with the point facing the away from the stick.

Once the hearts are glued onto one end of the stick, cut out white rectangles from the remaining cardstock scraps and glue to the opposite end of the stick, covering both sides and both ends of each stick you want to use as an arrow. Once complete, just cut notches out of the white rectangles to give it an "arrow" look.

Then, have fun playing the darling little angel of love!

Happy crafting!

xo

Life, in iPhone Photos

The last few days have been lived with one eye open, but yet with no less heart because home... it really is where the heart is. It's where this mama's heart is. It's amazing the change of pace that comes with a short flight home from a lone trip away, back to hugs and kisses, back to tickles and night time tuck-ins... it's my favorite place.

All of my photos were taken on my iPhone. If you want to find me, I'm on Instagram as TabithaBlue and would love to "meet" you!

Welcome to our tradition here on Fresh Mommy Blog... on Wednesdays, when I try to be wordless, which doesn't always happen, I'm just going to dump the previous week's photos from my phone. Welcome to Hump Day Dump, we'd love to have you join, whether it's one photo or many, phone pics or camera pics, wordless or not! So just grab a photo and link up with us! You can grab my button from the sidebar, but it's not required. If you'd like to connect with some other great Wordless Wednesday participants, just click here or on one the thumbnails below. Don't forget to link up below!

Homemade Laundry Detergent... without the Stovetop

We've recently had a whirlwind of house guests, some arriving one right after the other and some overlapping so much that we re-arranged rooms in our little Case de Hotel. It's been fun and our family is always up for energy and excitement, and yet now that the house has quieted (somewhat) we're all taking a collective exhale and a deep breath in. It's the inevitable calm after the storm, the receding of the tide that leaves only a trace of the upheaval that once happened, though the memory remains.

During one of the final days of my mama's visit, and she always likes to help with something while here, she found a recipe online for a stovetop free method of making laundry detergent. With only three ingredients, plus water, I was game to try it! We've been using it for almost a week now for all of our loads and loads of laundry, and it's been working just fine! We haven't actually noticed a difference between our homemade detergent and the brand we've been buying... which is a great thing!

We've both been looking for that original recipe ever since, so that I could link to it and haven't found it... but once I do, I'll post it back here.

Ingredients needed:
1/2 C Borax
1/2 Washing Soda
1/3 Fels Naptha Bar, grated
1 C hot water, plus more for mixing

Yields about 1 gallon of laundry detergent

We spent about $9 on all of the ingredients from our local grocery store (all found in the laundry aisle), and could probably find each item for even less, but I just picked these up while I was gathering other things for dinner. With the amounts that are used, the Fels Naptha Bar would give you three gallons, the Borax would last for 19 gallons of prepared detergent and the Washing Soda would yield about 14. Needless to say, the $9 worth of ingredients will last me awhile, especially compared to paying almost that for one of these half-gallon containers (of which I'd been saving the empty cartons so that we could use it for our own homemade mix).

To make, my little bed-headed assistant mixed in the grated Fels Naptha with one cup of water and we put in the microwave for three minutes, stopping every minute to stir. Once the three minutes had passed, not all of the bar was melted into the water, but he set right to stirring, and soon it was a smooth and soapy mix. We then slowly stirred in the Borax and another cup of hot water, and then the Washing Soda along with another cup of hot water.

Since I was using my two empty half-gallon containers, we set those in the sink with a funnel and then poured half of our mixture into each container. Then just filled with more hot water, capped and shook the bottles for a couple of minutes.

After the mixture has cooled, you could even add in a few drops of essential oil for scent and for further disinfectant qualities. I wanted to try it right away without anything added just to compare it to our usual detergent, and clothes come out of the washer clean and fresh! I just give the bottle of soap a little shake each time before I use it, though it hasn't seemed to gel up or separate too much.

Voila! Easy and homemade laundry detergent on the cheap... and without making a big mess in the kitchen.

Have fun making your own detergent friends! xo

The Maternity Series: 17 Weeks

This morning I woke, well barely woke, and through a veil of half-openend eyelids slug one foot off of the bed and then the other... a rhythm of habit. It was an automated answer to "Mommy wake up, the sun is up!" After a few minutes of cuddles in the big bed, and once I couldn't slyly extend my stay under the covers any longer, the day began. Today, I felt the tired, and yet I couldn't help but smile because I know our little one is growing. Flutters have become wee kicks and flips are clearly felt. Our conversations have turned to What it will be like with three, and handmade shops on Etsy are now an even more dangerous threat to my wallet as my baby love Pinterest board keeps growing with cute little onesies and outfits that will soon hold the little love whose name (or possible name) we whisper in prayer.

The countdown continues... we are just about half way there!

To see more from this series, click here.

Life, in iPhone Photos... Boston

I'm currently sitting in an airport, waiting at the gate and so grateful that the snow storm that was predicted to happen overnight here in Boston ended up staying over the water for the most part. I'm going home. Home to warmth. Home to two sweet waiting wee ones and my husband, and waving goodbye to a great trip, full of good food, friends and work in between.

All of my photos were taken on my iPhone. If you want to find me, I'm on Instagram as TabithaBlue and would love to "meet" you!

A few of the highlights:
-Flour Bakery + Cafe with a great Instagram-turned-IRL friend! This is a cute little cafe with great food. I highly recommend.
-Live on-camera interview with NECN at the New England International Auto Show, where we talked about the all-electric Mitsubishi i-MiEV... yes this is some of what I do.
-Another great recommendation is the Legal Harborside restaurant, we had a table full of food... and ate it all, plus dessert!

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DIY Free Standing Magnetic Chalk Board

If you've been around this space here for awhile, then you might know that my kids now share a room, and because of that change we've decided to spruce up their tandem space with a shared Boy + Girl room design... on a dime. It all started with this Room Inspiration Board that we put together, and then some key items like these DIY Pallet Beds followed. The full reveal will be coming soon, but for now I thought I'd share my most recent project, and current favorite item in their room, the magnetic chalk board! It was too easy to make, and the kids love it.

I first wanted to make this about 6 feet tall, but since I was using sheet metal and it was a little more expensive than I thought... I found a pre-cut piece that was 2' wide by 4' tall. Perfect size for the kids and still would be sturdy and large enough for a free standing item.

You'll need: A 2' X 4' piece of sheet metal, a 2' by 4' sheet of lauan board, strong glue (like liquid nails), primer spray paint for metal, chalk spray paint, 1" by 2" trim cut to fit (2 pieces at 4' and 2 pieces at 20") and a few small screws. We picked up everything, that we didn't already have at home, from Lowes and brought it all home already measured and cut.

First, Brayden helped me to spray paint the sheet metal. We started with the primer spray paint on a sunny day, so that each coat would dry quickly. Then we finished with two coats of chalk spray paint.

For our next steps we got daddy involved, though that was mostly because I was using the pregnancy card and wanted to sit and take a couple of photos.

We added some glue to the board and set the sheet metal on top, spray painted side up. Next we added glue around the edge of the sheet metal where the trim will sit and place the trim over the glue. To help secure the whole piece, we then drilled a few holes through the trim and sheet metal and then added some screws to the project.

And here is the magnetic chalk board all together! A solid, secure, free standing piece that can be moved easily, yet strong enough to hold up to the wiles of children.

They love it, I love it. It's a win-win.

And now if you'll excuse me, I'm on the final stretch of this Boston trip, my hotel bed is waiting and a 5am wake up call will be coming all to quickly to get me on a flight home in the morning to my littles and the man who shares my dreams under this same beautiful sky even when we're miles apart.

Goodnight, friends.

xoxo,

To connect with me more during these trips and other moments, come meet up with my on Instagram. You'll find me there as TabithaBlue and I'd love to "meet" you!