September 2012
  

September 2012 Sharing Time


We've had some really fun things going on this month including a celebration, a bunch of special giveaways, and some guests joining the party to share some really fun tutorials with you! There are more giveaways to come that will go into the next month, but here are the ones you'll want to enter before the end of the month!


And here are the giveaways ending at the end of September!

Morning Has Broken CD Giveaway


Camera Coats Giveaway


Pick Your Plum Giveaway


Mabels Labels Giveaway


I Want to Be A Mommy Giveaway


This one isn't going to end yet- it's a newer one, and you have really great chances for it since the method for entering is a little unusual, and not very many people have entered yet!





Back to School (and a Lysol Giveaway) #HealthyFamilies


Talia started grade one at school this year, which means that she goes to school every day. She only went for a week before we went on our trip to Texas, and now we’re into her 2nd full week of school. I’m already really happy with her teacher. She seems totally nice, Talia likes her, and she even went out of her way to come to our house to drop Talia’s backpack off when she left it at school the last day before our trip! Talia is adjusting a bit to grade one (which, she has informed me, has less play time than Kindergarten). I am happy that she is excited for me to volunteer in her class, and I look forward to the opportunity both to help out, and to see how things go for her in her class.

Another ‘fun’ bonus of back to school time, is that we’re back to lots of germs ;) We’ve already received the “watch out for lice” note! Yikes! Luckily we’re still in the clear for that! But I know Talia will be exposed to sickness and in turn we’ll all be exposed to any germs she brings home!

So that brings me to sharing with you Lysol’s news: They’re having a special contest for your Kid Who Touches Everything and your local school with the announcement of the Lysol No-Touch Hand Soap ‘Is Your Kid a Kid Who Touches Everything?’ Photo Contest!



The winner of the grand-prize gets a $10,000 cash prize and $10,000 to donate to a school of their choice!

To enter, you can go to Lysol Canada’s Facebook Page where you can submit a photo of your own kid who touches everything exploring and discovering their world in their dirtiest, messiest, stickiest, and germiest situations! Details can be found on the facebook page. I can’t wait to see the crazy photos! :)

And that contest isn’t all, after you enter that contest, hurry back here to enter this giveaway just for my blog readers! Share the link to your own contest entry on the Lysol facebook page and you’ll be entered to receive a free Lysol No-Touch Hand Soap kit, which includes the dispenser, batteries, and 1 refill!



Disclosure: I am part of the Lysol® Healthy Families Ambassador Program by Mom Central. I received compensation as part of my affiliation with this group. The opinions on this blog are my own.

Oh, The Memories! #FirstCheerios

So how many of you remember giving your kids Cheerios for one of their first finger foods?

Here's Katrina discovering Cheerios inside of a plastic Easter Egg during an Easter Egg hunt when she was 1 year old :)



General Mills has a First Cheerios campaign going on where you can go onto the Life Made Delicious Facebook page and share a photo of your little one’s first Cheerios moment.

The first 1,000 participants will receive a coupon for a FREE box of Cheerios, with a $1.00 off coupon for everyone after the first thousand. ( Legal details: Limit of one (1) Free Box of Cheerios coupon per household, and one (1) $1.00 Off Coupon per household per calendar year.)
Also, you could see your baby on a box of Cheerios! In Spring of 2013, they’ll enveil the completed mosaic of first Cheerios moments on a limited-edition 400g box of Cheerios!

So, head on over to the Life Made Delicious Facebook Page & join in! You could see your cute baby on a Cheerios box! :)

Disclosure – I am participating in the First Cheerios Blog Tour by Mom Central Canada on behalf of General Mills. I received compensation as a thank you for participating and for sharing my honest opinion. The opinions on this blog are my own.”


Tutorial Tuesday: Gyozas!

You want to try these!!



Sharing the recipe for Gyozas over at HowDoesShe today!

Family Portraits (Our Cousins)

We had so much fun visiting our friend (Ken's cousin), Ted, and his family in Texas this month! We squeezed a little photo shoot in for them while we were there. Here's a peek at the photos we got:

I love this photo of Jessie & Lucy:



Having fun with dad. :)


Ted & Alyssa

I've known Ted since we were teenagers, but have only seen Alyssa 3 separate times- when they came to Canada for their wedding reception, 3 years ago when we visited their famiy, and again this Fall. I am so glad we've met- we always have fun hanging out together while Ted & Ken are busy doing guy things ;)


This is my favourite family photo of them :)

We did come out with a few other options though ;)




Adorable:

Sweet little 3 year old Lucy.

Love this family :) We already miss them and can't wait to see them again :)

Sharing Time (September 2012)


We've got some really fun things going on this month including a celebration, a bunch of special giveaways, and some guests joining the party to share some really fun tutorials with you! There are more giveaways to come!


Don't miss this week's tutorials!

Mommy Time Dice by Jodi from Meaningful Mama


Messenger Bag by Amber from Crazy Little Projects


And here are the giveaways of the month so far!

Morning Has Broken CD Giveaway


Camera Coats Giveaway


Pick Your Plum Giveaway


Mabels Labels Giveaway


I Want to Be A Mommy Giveaway




Home Again :)

We just got back from a fabulous visit to Texas to see Ken's cousin (who is also my friend from our teen years) and his family. It is so fun to get together with them because our families totally match- we each have a 6 year old girl and a 3 year old girl.



It was so good to get together to enjoy time spent together hanging out, shopping, reminiscing, playing with our kids, etc, etc.

We flew home yesterday and due to a delayed flight, we didn't get home until 5am, so we slept in as much as we could today, and then spent the day trying to get everything ready for normal life again ;)

I've got some more fun reviews and giveaways coming up for you this month. A few review items arrived while I was gone, and there are a couple on their way, so stay tuned for those! :) I've also got a fun movie party to share with you, some family photos that I took of our favourite family in Texas, and one of my favourite recipes, among other things. :)

Just wanted to check in and say hi!

It may take a day or two before the posting schedule is back to normal,
while I work on getting everything sorted out after our absence :)

I hope you've been enjoying the guest posts that have been going up while I've been away- I'm so happy these lovely ladies could help me out with keeping the blog going while I was away! :)


Tutorial Tuesday: Mommy Time Dice

Today Jodi from Meaningful Mama is visiting with a fun idea for kids and moms! :)

First, here's Jodi with a little bit about her blog:

Why my blog? Becoming a mother is hard. I learned that in the labor process, and I’ve been learning it ever since. This blog has been, for me, a desire to be more intentional in my parenting. I think I’ve spent the last four years of parenting living in the “I should” moments. I should really take my kids to the park when it’s cold outside. I really should get a reward system in place at our home. I should get off “Words with Friends” right now and spend some quality time with my kids. I should really invest in the character development of the kids more. I was tired of the “I should” and decided to become meaningful. This isn’t about me being an amazing mom. It’s about me trying to improve daily in this precious role. Every day I offer you a craft or activity, a character development idea and a parenting tip that I’ve found helpful. Is life at our house perfect? Absolutely not. Is it improving? Absolutely yes. I want to inspire others to be more meaningful in their parenting. Will I have Martha Steward moments in the process? Hopefully, a few. Mostly, I want things accessible. Things you can take away and say, “I can do that. I’m going to do that this week.” Do everything? No, but I am hoping you’ll take something away from these minutes you spend in my corner of the web that inspire you to turn the “I should…” into “I’m going to…” Please stop by Meaningful Mama for more ideas. You can also find me on Facebook or Pinterest.

And now... The Mommy Dice!


OK - It's just one die. I know that calling it a "dice" is not really technically correct. However "mommy time die" just didn't sound quite right. Agreed? I had done one of our favorite projects recently - turning your kids into interchangeable blocks. I had a few left over blocks from the original project, and I was trying to brainstorm what I could do with them and came up with this idea. This is a die to roll when we are having unplanned mommy time. It's a great thing to pull out to fill our random gaps in the day. When a moment arises, just pull out the die, have the kids roll it and what it lands on is the activity they get to do with you. It's a great thing for dads too.
What you will need is a 2 1/2 x 2 1/2 wooden block (If you are going to use my printable), mod podge, paint brush or sponge brush, scissors and printable.
The next step is to cut out the different squares and Mod Podge them onto the block. You'll have to let a few sides dry before you move on to the next. Please see my post about tips for doing Mod Podge to help you with the technique.
For those of you who like the idea but don't want to go to the trouble of making a wooden block, here's a printable my wonderful husband made. Ain't he the best?
Of course your kids will want to do an activity right away when the die dries. Our die landed on puzzles.

Thanks so much for making a guest appearance on Raising Memories today, Jodi! If you want to see the feature I did on Jodi & her blog, you can find it here!

Tutorial Tuesday: Messenger Bag

Hey! It's Amber from Crazy Little Projects stopping in to say hello and teach you to make a messenger bag. Please come visit me at my blog or be my friend on facebook




I think I have a thing for sewing new bags. I don't carry a purse, always just a bag of some sort, so maybe that's why. My bag functions as a diaper bag and purse all in one. Remember this little sling tote? And this reversible messenger bag? Yes, I like to sew bags.

I affectionately refer to my current bag as "the dungeon" because it is so large and full of so many random items. (Goggles anyone? How about an old french fry?) I wanted to try to make a new bag that was less dungeon like-maybe more compartments or maybe a slightly smaller bag.

Well, I succeeded in making a cute bag, but I am not sure that it is going to be any less dungeony. Oh well.


 

Want to make it yourself?



Here's What You Need:

1 yard of your main fabric

1 yard of coordinating fabric

1 yard of lining (optional)



Start out by cutting out your pieces. The front of my bag is 17" wide by 15" high with rounded corners on the bottom: (ya, I should iron before cutting). Cut this out of your main fabric, your coordinating fabric and your lining if you are using lining:


The back of the bag is the same width but is MEASUREMENT tall. Again, cut it out of both fabrics and your lining.

Cut 2 pieces that are 4 inches by 45 inches as well out of all of your fabrics. One of these pieces will be your strap and one will be the sides of the bag.

You should have 4 pieces total for each fabric.




If you want any inner pockets now is a good time to do that. I did a large pocket on the back inner part of my bag:




I made some compartments in my pocket for things like my cell phone and a pen simply by sewing straight lines down the pocket:




OK, next lets do the strap. Put 1 of the 45 inch strips from each of your two main fabrics together with right sides facing and the lining on the outside. Sew down each side:




Turn it, press it and then top stitch it:




Now let's put the bag together. Starting with your inner fabric and your lining (if you are using it) put the other 45 inch strip along the edges of your front piece with the lining on the outside. Pin it in place all the way around the bag trimming any excess length off as needed.




Sew around the part your just pinned. Do the same thing with the back piece, matching it to the remaining side of your long 45 inch strip.

It should look like this when you are done:


Here's a close up of the corners:



 Do this to both the outer and the inner fabric.

Now, here's the trickiest part. Turn the OUTER fabric right side out:


and the INNER fabric inside out. Slide the OUTER fabric down inside the inner fabric matching up all the seams from the two pieces.

Tuck your straps down inside the bag so that the ends stick out like this:




Starting at the top of the flap and leaving an opening, sew around the bag-down the flap, across the middle, back up the other side of the top.
Leave several inches open at the top of the flap:






 I go over the strap part several times to make sure they are very secure.

Now, using your opening on the top, turn everything right side out and push the inner part down inside the outer part.

Press it nice and flat and smooth (that's always my favorite part because it starts to really look like a bag.)

Top stitch all the way around the flap. This will close your opening and keep your flap laying nice and smooth:


 And you're done! This can also make a great diaper bag. I even tossed in my diaper and wipes carrier:


Pretty nice huh?



Don't forget to also check out these other bags:



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Thanks so much for visiting today Amber! What a great tutorial!
If you'd like to read more about Amber, here is the feature post I did about her & her cute blog!

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