valentine cookies

Today's crafting took the form of baking. And for good reason. We have two guys here working on our bathroom this week. We are getting a new tub, ceiling, window, wall tile, paint color, mirror, light fixture and sink fixture. Basically everything is changing except the existing floor, toilet and sink. I could not be more excited.

All of this excitement means two things: 1) this pregnant girl can't go to the bathroom every seventeen minutes as usual. Today we went to the zoo with friends and that was a good idea for a number or reasons, but largely so I was a bit closer to the facilities. We plan on going again tomorrow. 2) Ivar adores these two men. He stands at the gate and watches them and laughs. And when they use loud tools he chuckles so loud like they're just trying to be funny for his entertainment.

Here, the guy was showing me the options for the wall tile but Ivar kept tossing him a ball over the gate, and he played and played with Ivar until I told him he would never get out of this game if he didn't just walk away.

So I made the workers some cookies this afternoon. I spotted the valentine's m&m's at Target last night and decided they were necessary. Which was a big decision because we are tightening up our budget big time and purchases like this have to later be defended as to why they were necessary. But after making these adorable cookies, I would say it's obvious why they were necessary. (I used this recipe and it's great. Pretty classic for an oatmeal and m&m cookie.)

a work in progress

Today I got out a tiny 3x5 canvas frame and made the background above with tissue paper and modge podge. This picture makes it seem a lot bigger than it is. But it's tiny. I am planning on putting a little song bird on top of it all, but Rory is very concerned I'll ruin it, and would like me to keep it just the way is. Not sure what it has to do with hearts, but it was crafty. 

But if we're talking little hearts, today I did make my next ob appointments and I now have the dates for our next heartbeat appointment and...the ultrasound!

Naturally, I got out some fun paper and made a chain with 49 loops, counting down until the day they goop my belly and we get to see the baby growing inside. Now if that isn't a project fit for hearts-and-crafts week, I don't know what is. Paper loops and staples all marking the time until we see the little life inside of me pumping its own beating heart.

heart wreath

Yesterday was a great start to hearts-and-crafts week. Two things that helped this: I have a bad cold which means we're not doing anything other than laying low at home. And the tv is off. That really helps in the productivity department. Oh, and one more...pinterest. I have ideas unending after a look around the valentine craft ideas on this site. But I am treating pinterest like a new addictive drugs. I can tell if I get to close, I might get sucked in and never come out. So for now, I'm just browsing. Not participating with my own page. But talk about a kid in a candy shop. Wow.

I found this wreath idea through pinterest on this site. Adorable, easy, and would have gotten done a lot more quickly if I didn't have a one-year-old crushing my hearts as I made them. Crafting with Ivar is a whole new experience, but he loves it. Loves the paper cutter, loves the stapler, loves the ribbon. It's all new and he's so interested in my toys. I don't blame him. They're fun toys.

pink play dough

The more I need a nap, the more Ivar refuses to lay his head down. We fought over this one for quite some time this afternoon. I am in the middle of a head cold that makes my face weight 100 pounds. I really could have used a nice long nap, but Ivar wasn't feeling it. So we got back up after a very, very long battle of the wills.

Lucky for me, I had thought about making play dough as one of my projects this week. So I got out of bed, put Ivar in the living room with some toys and made some play dough.

For me.

I have thought about this a lot lately. How hard I work to be sure Ivar learns to play, interact, develop, keep his routine. And I've been wondering how I can ensure that I still make time to play, interact, develop and keep a routine. I decided that I need more just-mama play dates.

And I decided that I need more playtime for myself. Hence Heart-and-craft Week...and the pink play dough I made just for myself to knead, to roll out, to cut into hearts. I squished, pounded, rolled it into snakes, rolled it into balls, made it into pizzas and ice cream cones. And it felt so good to play. Only trouble is that now I have a hankerin for rolled sugar cookies in the shape of hearts. (Remember these beauties?) That might have to be added to the list for heart-and-craft week.

**Here's my mom's recipe for play dough. It makes silky, lovely play dough that is easier to clean up than the store-bought kind. I have come to find that people are very partial to their particular play dough recipe. Sort of like all the varieties of chili out there, usually you like your mom's the best. I swear by this stuff, but to each her own.

2 cups flour

1 cup salt

4 tsp. cream of tartar

2 cups water (with food coloring added to the water)

2 Tablespoons vegetable oil

In a saucepan mix flour, salt and cream of tartar.

Add colored water and oil.

Place over medium heat. Stir constantly for several minutes. (It gets heavy! It's hard to stir!)

It will begin to separate from the pan and become more dough-like and look like a lump of mashed potatoes.

Remove from heat and knead with hands. Store in an airtight container.

love rocks

I didn't blog very much last week. And that was mostly because two of the three projects I wrote about on Monday's post were sort of coming to a head. I think all of my creative juices were pouring into those two things.

But now that they're in a less demanding stage, I started thinking about fun things to do with my days ahead. This pregnancy has had me down in the dumps in many ways, creatively, physically, emotionally... But I just stepped into second trimester and with all my heart I am hoping for a new season ahead.

So I decided to be really proactive about this next trimester. I thought about what I could do that would feed my soul, bring me back to the Becca I enjoy. And I came up with two solutions. #1 Unplug the tv for a week. This feels extreme because the amount of television I watched during first trimester was extreme. But I have hit my limit of the barefoot contessa, throwdown with bobby flay, income property, designed to sell and house hunters international. (I am not, however, sick of The Bachelor. And this will be a sacrifice this week. I get more enjoyment out of that amoral show than should be allowed.)

The second plan of attack this week is to make something crafty each day. Super simple is key. Something that might even be done in under 20 minutes. This morning I got out the modge podge and made these love rocks. Ivar loved playing with my fabric scraps and the rocks, I loved using my fabric scissors again and I am hopeful that tiny, little, small projects might just be what is needed to get my normal back to normal.

So get ready for a week of hearts and pink and purple and scissors and glue. I'm excited to play!