"Tucked In" Toddler Shirt

My little 3 year old gets to go to preschool this year.  She started today, in fact.  One of the most exciting things for me was to go shopping for her school clothes (by myself).  I picked up a couple of t-shirts that would look so cute tucked into the skirts that go with them but it's hard to keep a shirt tucked in with a toddler.  I thought about just tying a knot or using a safety pin in the back but that didn't look right.  I decided to add some elastic to the bottom of the back of the shirt so it just looked like it was tucked and I never have to worry about fixing it.

I sewed the end of the elastic at the bottom hem, starting at the side hem.  Make sense?

Then I pulled it tight and sewed all the way to the other side.

Here's the other one that I did.

Healthy Cookies-ish

Let me tell you about something that is hard for me.  Eating well and not seeing results!  Obviously I won't see results of eating well until after November when I'm no longer pregnant.  But this time I have a goal to eat and exercise well during pregnancy.  When I was pregnant with Morgan I sort of let myself have whatever I wanted.  Bag of Halloween candy in one sitting?  Why not?!  I exercised the whole time, if walking for 30 minutes a day counts (which it does for many people, but not for me).  I gained 43 pounds!  FORTY THREE POUNDS!  I thought that was fine because I was on the lower end of my "healthy range" when I started, but 8 months after Morgan was born, when I was still trying to lose the weight, I realized that those bags of candy were so not worth it.  I just couldn't lose the last 10 pounds.  So this time I am trying hard not to gain the last 10 pounds so I don't have to lose it (and because we have a cruise scheduled in March and I want to look freaking awesome).

Does that mean I eat totally clean and never have treats?  Um, no.  I eat more treats than I should.  However, I do eat a whole lot better than I did with Morgan.  I am trying to skip the sweets during the week and only have them on weekends.  It's not totally working, but there are days where I don't have any sweets.

So, the point of this post is to introduce you to this "cookie" that I found on Pinterest.  It is more of a "healthy bar" than a "cookie," but it hits the spot when I want a treat.  Add a little peanut butter (I didn't have walnuts to make them) and you have a great, balanced energy bar. (PS If you want to follow me on Pinterest, go here or click on the button on the right).

Original Recipe at Watching What I Eat

Ingredients:

2	bananas
1 1/2	cup oatmeal
1	cup unsweetened applesauce
1/4	cup chopped walnuts
3	tbsp raisins
2	tbsp dried cranberries
1	tsp vanilla extract
1	tsp cinnamon

Directions:

1. preheat heat oven to 350 degrees
2. mix vanilla extract & cinnamon into the applesauce
3. blend applesauce mixture with all other ingredients & let sit for 10 minutes
4. drop cookie dough, by spoonfuls, onto a parchment paper lined cookie sheet & flatten cookies into rounds ~ (makes 12 - 16 cookies, depending on size)
5. bake approx. 30 minutes, or until golden & done
6. remove from oven & let rest on cookie sheet for 5 minutes, then move to cooling rack
7. when completely cool store in a covered container
8. ~ MAKES 12 LARGE OR 16 REGULAR COOKIES

Nutritional Analysis:

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 56.6g

Amount Per Serving

Calories 90 Calories from Fat 21

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 2.3g 4%

Saturated Fat 0.2g 1%

Trans Fat 0.0g

Cholesterol 0mg 0%

Sodium 2mg 0%

Total Carbohydrates 16.1g 5%

Dietary Fiber 2.2g 9%

Sugars 6.0g

Protein 2.3g

Vitamin A 0% • Vitamin C 4% Calcium 1% • Iron 3%

* Based on a 2000 calorie diet Nutritional details are an estimate and should only be used as a guide for approximation.

Legend

 Fat
 Protein
 Carbs
 Alcohol
 Other

Calorie Breakdown (?)

Daily Values (?)

For more clean-eating meals, check out Watching What I Eat.  It's got a lot of great, healthy stuff!

Make Your Own Mod Podge

Hi friends!  I just want to make sure you are stocking up on glue while it's on sale for back to school.  I'm sure you can get some for free with coupons and sales, but if you don't have any, Shopko's ad has $.28 Elmer's Glue (4 oz bottle, limit 4).  Super deal!

Why do you want glue?  Mod Podge, of course.

50/50 mix of glue and water

Matte finish:
Fill a jar half way up with white glue (like Elmers)
Fill jar with equal amount of water.
Shake Well.

Glossy finish:
Same as matte plus 1 TBS of clear varnish.
Shake it!


All of that said, I have read that the homemade Mod Podge is not quite up to par with the real thing.  See this post.  But, I don't care enough right now to not make my own.

No IKEA Tuesdays

If I haven't mentioned it before, I live about 5 minutes from IKEA.  It's the first time in 4 1/2 years that I've had one in my state, let alone super close to me.  Anyway, the IKEA near me has free kid's meals on Tuesdays and my friend, my mom, and I made the mistake of going (with 6 kids).  One stigma that Utah has is that there are a billion kids.  Well, it's true.  And they were all at IKEA around 12:30 on Tuesday for free food.  Believe me, I will never shop there on Tuesday again (unless it's completely necessary).   So not worth $2.99.

Needless to say, I was a little flustered with the scenario and I decided that I didn't care about the cost, I was going to buy a lamp for my husband's nightstand.  This is what I got (below).  

Not sure if I love it since it is still in the box and will be until the room is closer to being finished.  Don't worry, I will definitely spice up the shade a bit -- unless I find another that I like more.  

Has anyone found any "must have" items at IKEA or anywhere else lately?

IKEA Step Stool

I was reading a friend's blog the other day and she had this step stool for her daughter's bed.  Since Morgan has been grabbing her bedding and pushing on the nightstand to get up, I though it would be a nice, functional addition to her room.

This stool is the Bekvam step stool from IKEA.  It costs $14.99 and is totally worth it!  I bought two.  One for her room, one for the bathroom.  

order it here

I painted this one to match her room.

Now she doesn't need to knock the nightstand over in order to get on her bed.

Make Your Jeans Skinny

I'll be honest.  It sometimes takes me a while to jump on the fashion train.  It's a good thing I have friends who always look cute and wear stylish things.  My friend Michelle only wears skinny jeans so a while ago I bought some after making sure they were okay with her.  I love them!  In fact, I love them so much that I decided to make some other pants the same.   

These are some new maternity pants that I may dye blue or mint or coral.  For now they remain white and they're still a little big.

I turned the white pants inside out and lined up the insides (inner thigh) of the pants and drew a line with a pen along the outside edge of the skinny jeans.

Then I pinned them and sewed along the line.

After I made sure they fit right, I cut the excess material.

These are another pair that fit right now.  I did the same thing to them.  They used to be boot cut
.

And this is a pic of my belly at 24 1/2 weeks.

Anyway, making skinny jeans out of boot cuts is pretty much the easiest sewing project ever.  All you need to do is follow the line you drew.  I'll probably do it to a few more pairs.

Who Wants 1/2 Priced Paint?

Hey everyone!  This is sort of an unconventional post but I wanted to let you know about this Groupon deal that I just got.   It is for the Salt Lake City area but it might be in your area too.  So anyway, there are 3 days left to get this deal.  Go here if you're in the SLC area or search your own city's Groupon deal.  Maybe you have it too!

Kwal Paint – Multiple Locations

$25 for $50 Worth of Paint and Redecorating Supplies