Our Garden Plans - Watercolor

It's been rather rare for me to get on and create a post for any of my blogs lately. I've been reduced to quick posts on Facebook and maybe a little something on Pinterest. So I'm here with just a smidgen of a moment to share a watercolor painting I multi-purposed yesterday. It is a layout plan for this year's attempt at a garden. I've already made some changes in my mind, but it was too pretty to trash the drawing.

In addition to the multi-tasking of being artsy and planning my garden, it was accompanied by my sitting at the table helping 3 of our children with their school work. I homeschool, so this was no easy task. I'm simply astounded that I created this without a single spill or mishap. I truly believe you get the bad days (like I had the day before) so you can appreciate the good days!

 Our Work in Progress Garden

 

Over the next few years I'm hoping to embrace my family's creativity and fill our walls with our framed artwork instead of that of strangers. I'm very surprised I didn't do this earlier. Of course, we've always had fridge art. But in 14 years, it wasn't until this year I decided I'd be okay with the kids taping their favorite drawings on their bedroom walls. I guess I am a little OCD about visual conformity. I have 7 kids, it's time I get over that!

Happy carefree, family chaos filled, multi-purposed, mommy time crafting!
Melissa

Keeping Quiet in the Pew

With 7 children of our own, it has been obvious that some productive entertainment is necessary for many families to have along in the church pew at Mass, weddings, funerals and other services. In the past year I've been developing products that are great Catholic accessories to have in your own church bag - or "Quiet in the Pew" bags as I've named them. Items that will enrich their experience of the Mass, not deter from it.

Catholic Seek and Find Card Set

  

Each set of 30 colorful and child-friendly cards comes as a Digital (PDF) File for you to print as many times as needed. (I currently do not have these premade to ship on my shop).

Catholic Seek & Find Cards 14pg PDF File

For Personal Use $8.00 USD For Classroom Use $10.00 USD

More ideas to add to your bag can be found here:

Quiet in the Pew Bags

I've really enjoyed sewing many totes over the past years, including a little more than a dozen for our parish. These are holding all the fun Catholic books and activities they need to keep occupied and engaged in the Mass. They also make great gifts for Baptism and First Communion.



This bag is a basic quilted front panel (Fabric: Timeless Treasures "God Gave Us") with a corduroy back panel. Lined inside with fleece for softness and padding. Both styles of bags are padded so there is no thumping on the wood pew throughout the Mass, wedding or funeral.

These bags are easy to make with pre-quilted fabric, ribbon handle and a Christian fabric top edge. 

These may be available in my Modest Mommies Etsy Shop,

filled with the custom items I've designed. Visit my shop - or request a special order!

The Church Bag Stand

And finally, for those who wish to have these in your home parish, we designed a church bag stand that is inviting and functional for holding all those great quiet bags! I couldn't find anything I liked online, to purchase or ideas from other churches. So I made one up myself! A Modest Mommies original.

"Let the children come to me…"  Mark 10:14

I would like to price these for sale, but until I have a spare moment for woodworking.... I thought I'd share the basic design. It's more important that these are available in churches around the world. Please excuse my casual, non-carpenter descriptions!

*This design is copyrighted, this design/pattern is not to be made to sell without permission. However, you may make it for your home or a church donation as we did.

First, build your cross.

1. Using a 10 ft 4x4, cut a 4.5' section (verticle), and a 4' section (horizontal).

2. Line up the horizontal piece 2ft down on the verticle piece. Mark board width on both pieces.

3. See photo for layout. Cut to interlock, cutting half way into the 4x4 the width of your pencil marks. Make it a tight fit.

4. Do any joint sanding now.

5. Piece two sections together, with wood glue in the joint. No screws. (A rubber mallet helps)

6. Sand again, rounding edges.

7. Drill a hole in the bottom of the cross in order to insert a long bolt from the base into the cross.

Next, build your base.

8. Cut two sheets of 1/2in MDF to 2'x2' and screw together.

9. Drill a 1/4" hole in the middle. Put bolt through hole in base and into the cross. Add long screws in corners for stability.

10. Layer 2x4s on top of base. Add mitered trim around cross base.

11. Use home base trim around the sides, and caster wheels on the bottom.

12. Woodburn if desired. Sand and Varnish entire piece.

13. Add hooks on bottom side of horizontal 4x4. Add posts on front and back for extra hanging. These are actually coat hangers and shelf brackets found at Menards.

14. Our finishing touch was an invitational sign so people knew what it was.

I hope you've enjoyed these ideas and products to keep yours or other children content and Quiet in the Pew! Please comment with a link if you've seen these items in your church, if you'd like to order something, or have seen similar posts.

God Bless!

GIVEAWAY PRIZE No1

It is the season of Lent and First Reconciliations. A time for spiritual renewal and further study of God's purpose in our lives. With that in mind I'd like to help you teach your children, at home or in religion class, about the Mass. I've created a bright and fun illustrated set of flash cards about the parts of the Mass as well as people and objects in it. Take this chance to win

A FREE DIGITAL DOWNLOAD GIVEAWAY

of my Catholic Seek and Find Cards set

for you and a friend!

For a chance to win, leave a comment on my Facebook post about the Giveaway and tag a friend! One comment per friend tag please, only 2 will win. Drawing will be this Sat 2/21/2015.

It's a great addition to your child's church bag or religion lessons. This is a digital file. Print and enjoy with your whole family or classroom these brightly illustrated cards and Bingo game about the Catholic Mass and Spiritual Gifts. 42 original images used on 13 pages of printables are included for personal/classroom use. Print as many as you need, refresh your current copies when children wear them out.

We've included these in our children's church totes to help them "Keep Quiet in the Pew." You can cut and laminate these, hole punch with a ring, or bind with a rubber band. Any way, these have kept many kids in our church (incl my own) busy for a good portion of the Mass. All the while learning about Catholic symbols, the Liturgy, Sacramentals, Sacraments, and Holy Men and Women.

Mommy and Me Set

I was privileged to get an order from an old friend of ours. She had seen online many Mommy and Me skirt and matching pillowcase dress sets, she couldn't help but get one. However, she either didn't like the length, print or price that made it hard to find one to buy. Fortunately, she knew that I love to sew modest wear and had a good selection of fabric to choose from.
All via Facebook, she messaged me sizes and ideas, including this tutorial for the skirt. When it was done, I thought - I hope she likes it…. I hope it fits…. I hope the price was fair…. I hope she doesn't see the flaws! (I'm not the best at zippers)

Then we meet up and  - she's giddy! So of course my spirits are lifted, and I confirm in my heart that I love to sew for other people. But I still hesitate, will she like it when she tries it on? Then I get a pic texted to my phone, immediately when they arrive home they tried them on!

She didn't stop there. Facebook friends saw this and they loved it too! I also later saw that they really DID wear it to a wedding the following weekend!

That's a good feeling. To know you're thought of for your talent, appreciated for it, utilized for it, did well and they like it enough to wear it in public! Let me just bask in this moment awhile…

Side note: Seriously, this has my mind working. I got to use my new sewing machine for the first time with this project (another good post), and I can't wait to sew some stuff for me and my 3 girls! This would also make a good "Big Sister & Me" project/set

Adventures in Cloth Diapering

After using disposable diapers on my first 4 children, I didn’t think starting cloth diapering would pay off. Also, I just wasn’t ready for the idea of it. But now pregnant with our 6th child, I’m all set for a cloth diapering adventure with my almost two year old and newborn when she arrives. Why? We need to save money and we hope to potty train earlier than age 4! Everyone has their reasons, but those are our top two.


So after hours of surfing online at Craigslist.org, DiaperSwapper.com, GreenMountianDiapers.com as well as many other websites – came up with all of this. When all is said and done, diapering supplies for two children will have cost us around $350 or so. Depending how crazy I get with sewing more!


People know how much I love to be organized. I can’t wrap my head around any concept if it’s not organized. After wasting time looking at thrift shops for baskets, I broke down and bought cheap but new containers at Walmart. The two white and two green baskets cost $10. Glad I did. Found in the kitchen and office supplies. The blue basket was a gift my sister found in the Target dollar section once upon a time. It works nicely.


We chose to use prefolds and covers for our children, fitteds at night with doublers. Why? I guess I love the natural, soft cotton fiber against their little bums and how easy it will be to wash and dry these. Our son, age 20 months, has this stash of gently used quality prefolds (26), size large, and Flip and Econobum diaper covers. Our daughter, due Mar 2014, has Econobum prefolds (24), Snappis sz 1, and diapers covers from Econobum, Flip and WAHM (RattleMyCrib).


The bottom bins hold our extra prefolds, fitteds and changing pad covers. The fitteds (contour diapers with snaps and elastic) are intended for nighttime wear. They are gently used MotherEase, Tiny Tush and Kissaluvs. Some have doublers, but I know I’ll need to make more. I hope to order some hemp fleece from DiaperSewingSupplies.com. I also plan to sew a few of my own, especially newborn size, using all the awesomely free patterns at Prefold2Fitted’s blog.


I made several waterproof pads for co-sleeping and diaper changing. Basically it’s a square of flannel backed with white PUL (PolyUrethane Lined), leakproof fabric. To make the typical changing pad cover, I used stretchy cotton jersey and fitted with elastic using measurements of my foam pad. I’d love to make one or more for you!


I never thought I’d like butt wipes so much! I told my husband if we’re going to cloth diaper, we’re going the whole nine yards with it. Wipes included. My friend advised me to size these prewashed/shrunk at least the size of my hand. Our monster poop wipes are flannel lined with terry, and pee wipes are flannel doubled. So easy to sew on a serger, my young daughter might be making more for me. I’ll be filling a spray bottle (tucked away between uses) filled with water and essential oils (Melaleuca Oil for us) to spray onto the wipes when ready to use.


Where do I plan on throwing all of these diapers? For basic wet diapers, they’ll go into a wet bag attached to the side of the changing table. Others will be rinsed in the toilet and thrown into this Dekor diaper pail (CL find $10) fitted with a pail liner I made.

I followed the directions from RunsWithSpatulas Blog: Wet Bags and Pail Liners


Not sure if we’re going to cloth diaper on the go, but I am totally ready for it. Only difference is we’ll be taking along disposable wet-wipes. (In our Thirty-One Organizing Utility Tote) It has a few fitteds, prefolds, covers, changing pad, wet bag and wipes.


Hoping I can share my fluffy cloth diaper butt photos with you all very soon! In the meantime, my hubby will be working on building a clothesline for me before the frost sets in the ground!

More Cloth Diapering Ideas on my Pinterest Board!

My Super Heroes

Some days it is a tossup whether us parents or our children are the bigger fans of the super hero movies. But there is no doubt that our 3 year old is dead set on being a super hero now and when he grows up.

Captain America & Iron Man

He loves to wear his store bought costumes, but they just don't last. So I decided to create a T-shirt costume that they could wear most days, even in town. Here they are!

Iron Man

Red T-shirt, stitch on triangle or circle shaped chest reactor.

Store-bought mask and gloves.

(Crocheted gloves pattern @ Louie's Loops, or buy on Etsy)

Thor

Black T-shirt, stitch on circle breastplates and belt from pattern below

Attach red satin cape, rouching/gathering at shoulders.

Captain America

Blue T-shirt with star on chest, easy iron-on patches in stores

Shield (many easy to complicated ideas online) or buy one.

The IRON ONS

(print the Thor design in reverse)

The girls wanted in on the fun, so I used images I found on Google to make iron-on t-shirts for them. We had My Little Ponies as My Little Avengers, and Hello Kitty as Hello Avengers. You can find so many images mock-avenger teams, from Disney characters, Legos, and more. My son's favorite shirt was iron-ons of the Super Hero Squad characters, with their logo on the shirt pocket. Below is the Lego Avengers.

Follow my Pinterest board for more Super Hero Fun:

http://pinterest.com/modestmommies/super-hero-fun/