magic tub potion

Poor Charlie had quite the diaper rash earlier this week. It is slowly getting better, but in effort to "super-duper" heal the area we have given him chamomile baths the past 2 nights to soothe the sore skin. (I'm posting this because I just walked into the bathroom and saw random small puddles of yellow liquid in the tub and wondered which boy to blame - ah yes, the chamomile remnants! Ha! Lucky for the boys...) We have bulk chamomile for tea and for my body care recipes so we just took about a quarter cup and put it in some cheesecloth and tied it up into a big tea bag and put it in the tub. I can't say that it alone is responsible for healing the sore tush, but it is indeed getting better quickly AND he fell asleep within 10 minutes of getting out of the tub, an hour earlier than normal. Not exactly scientific, but I'll take it!

shadowbox

This idea came from a friend of mine. I am so glad I was able to capture how perfect and tiny Charlie's little feet and hands were when he was brand new. I used Delight paper clay http://www.paperclay.com/product.htm. It dries to be feather light and is non-toxic. My friend had the name plates with birth date made for me at an engraving store, and I attached the plate with doublesided tape and the well-dried hand and footprints with a hot glue gun, as the back of the shadowbox is felt. I made one for us and I also made shadowboxes for Charlie's grandparents and great-grandparents. I remember the day I got the foot and hand impressions. I was still in new mom euphoria/shock, but Charlie was about 3 weeks old, so I wasn't feeling like such an amateur (meaning I finally had the courage to attempt the project). I remember it was the middle of the day, and I had Charlie lying on a blanket on the floor while the movie "About a Boy" with Hugh Grant was on TV. I was trying to figure out how to get his fingers spaced apart evenly and how to smoosh his hand into the clay without leaving any of my fingerprints, etc. I remember shaping the clay and putting it on a cutting board and then putting his hand in the clay and gently pushing each finger into the clay in careful new mom fashion (i.e. very deliberately, VERY slowly and worried about EVERYTHING). I'm sure getting all 5 hands and all 5 feet took me the entire movie. It was all worth it, and now every time I look at it I think of Hugh Grant.

baby wipes

In the weeks leading up to Charlie's birth, I decided to make my own baby wipes. Disposable wipes are expensive!!.. especailly considering how long you need to use them. I started by buying lightweight flannel fabric and cutting it into 10' x 10" squares. I had them nicely stacked and ready to be zig-zagged around the edges when Charlie decided to make his debut 2 weeks early. Fast forward to this scene - the new family is home - 16 hours after Charlie was born - Adam is at the sewing machine and I'm talking him through his first sewing effort. He did a great job! We began with about 30 wipes, but soon realized that life would be easier if we doubled it. Adam finished up that batch, too. Now the recipe... I modified this from a few I found to make it my own. I really like it - smells really clean and very gentle on little bums....

2 cups water (I used distilled in the beginning - very nervous mom wanting everything to be perfect - Charlie now has his bum washed with water from the tap, poor guy)

2 TBSP olive oil

2 TBSP Dr Bronner's baby mild liquid soap

2 TBSP aloe vera gel

2-3 drops of essential oils (I use tea tree most of the time - I use lavendar occasionally - you really only need 2-3 drops - especially tea tree, as it can be quite astringent)

I usually make a batch and put it in a big squeeze bottle and use it to fill a smaller spray bottle. When Charlie was really little, we would fold the wipes in half and put a dampened stack of them in a wipe warmer, then when we needed one spray it down with the wipe solution. These days we just douse a wipe with the solution and try to wipe him down as he runs away. Things change a lot in a year. We do use disposable wipes on occasion, but I find these to be almost as easy to bring with you on the go if you're prepared (with small bag for laundry, etc). I find that the flannel wipes do a much better job cleaning though. Many 3 wipe situations (paper) can be 1-2 wipe siuations (flannel). =)

Homemade board book

For this project I took 1/4" poster board and using an exacto knife, cut it into squares for the pages. I used scrapbooking glue tape to attach the pictures, then covered them with laminating paper. I punched holes with a skewer and bound it with kitchen twine. My original idea was for this to be a much more polished book, but it is very utilitarian, and if it ever gets destroyed I won't be too upset. I'm glad for this now, as it has been christened with his sippy cup and thrown/dragged all over the place and is still in one piece. He loves it, too. I blew up pictures of family members to really emphasize the faces when I could.

P.S. In typical Erin fashion, I did research after the fact. I really didn't look around online before making this. If you look around you can find some really nice"how-to's" for homemade board books. I'm not taking a dig at mine - I still like it, and it was done in a reasonable amount of time. In case anyone wants to up the ante, browse around and don't stop here. Here are some great examples:

http://degroof.home.mindspring.com/boardbook/boardbook.html

http://homemadebyjill.blogspot.com/2008/11/homemade-board-books.html

Also, VERY COOL..... http://rompstore.com/productDetail.php?productId=66&productItemId=205&optionId=

I may go back and look into that when Charlie is older - what a great gift or keepsake - let him make his own book for himself or for relatives/friends....

Charlie's banner

For Charlie's birthday I wanted to make him a banner that he could use for many years, and that would not be disposable. This one serves the purpose, and can even be used year-round in his room if he chooses. It's funny how you stumble upon things at just the right time. I had this idea in my head, but didn't know how to execute it, then I saw the cover of SouleMama's new book http://www.amazon.com/dp/1590305957/?tag=soul01-20

Seeing the banner on that book was enough help to get me going. My version is a bit different, obviously. Mine is made out of really nice wool felt from the shop at the Waldorf school just down the road. I love how the colors are uneven. I chose the felt because I think it's pretty, and honestly I have no interest at this time in applique (why applique when there is such a thing as felt glue??). I just know I'd be terrible at it, and also don't have the time or patience. I picked up fat quarters in nice bright colors at a quilt shop, and a $3.00 clothesline. Fun, easy project!