Soft Baby Photo Book

This is a padded fabric photo album or book just for baby.  It's a great way for baby to be able to handle, hug and love pictures of his or her family! 

Every time I sit in the rocker with Gracie, she reaches toward the picture of her family that sits on the lamp table by the chair.  I point to her image, then to her parents. She likes to gnaw on the sharp-edged frame, so I tried to imagine a set of photos featuring the princess herself and her parents that would be soft and could be handled roughly or chewed on without hurting her.  I looked on web sites and found some similar to what I had in mind.  Most wanted a lot of money to customize one for me.  The whole project challenged me and I decided to try my hand at making one.  I have finished two - I mentioned that I had lots of babies in the family - and am thinking about the third.  It gets easier each time because I have also created a pattern to follow that would be helpful to others who would like to try their hand at it.  It has taken me days to put that together, edit it, add pictures and clarify instructions, so I am charging $6.00 for it.  This project is very satisfying creatively.  You can make yours entirely different from anyone else's. 

If you want me to make one for you, you would need to send me 10 pictures that would be sewn into the book (not reusable after) and payment.  I also need to know the information you want on the front and possibly inside the book.  Choose a color, but the fabric design is up to me.
I need two weeks to put it together, mainly because I tend Gracie every other day.  The price is $35 plus shipping.  (See shipping page.)

                                                                                  

Pattern price is $6.00

Gum on the Bedstead

I should be sleeping, but in my desperation to keep from coughing my head off, I tried chewing gum to see if that would stop the tickle in my throat.  It worked for a little while until I remembered a scene from my childhood in which my mother had to cut a mat of hair and gum off my head because I went to bed with gum in my mouth. 

That image led to the next memory of the twin beds in the bedroom my younger brother, Pete, and I shared when we were kids.  The beds' head and footboards were brown turned wooden spindles that were fun to hold onto and do flip flop summersaults at the foot end between the beds.  There were always hard, sometimes sharp, petrified remains of the gum we couldn't separate from the headboard where we would park our gum for the night so we could continue chewing it in the morning.  Gum was hard to get, so we had to make it last.  Our doctor, Noall Z. Tanner, would give us a stick, but it wasn't worth a shot or nasty medicine to get a stick of gum.

homemade by jill: burp cloth tutorial

homemade by jill: burp cloth tutorial

homemade by jill: three more quiet book pages#links#links

homemade by jill: three more quiet book pages#links#links

Yummy Recipe

I love the ease and speed with which one can make bread following the Pantry Secrets method using a stand mixer and the kookie ingredients you buy at a specialty store or order online.  Here's my version of the most wonderful squaw bread from a combination of a bread maker recipe and the Pantry Secrets method.

Squaw Bread - makes 2 loaves

2 1/4 cups bread flour ( I like Lehi Roller Mills Flour)
2 cups whole wheat flour (I like to grind my own)
1 cup rye flour (grind my own - can buy grain at specialty store like Kitchen Kneads)
1 1/4 tablespoon Saf-instant yeast
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 cup brown sugar
Mix dry ingredients.


Add:
2 tablespoons liquid lecithin (specialty store or health food store)
1/4 cup applesauce  (if kitchen is cool, heat in microwave if taken from fridge)
1/4 cup honey
1 3/4 cup hot tap water


After adding hot water, mix 1 minute using dough hook on mixer.  Check consistency of dough.  It should still be very sticky.  If not, add a little more water.  Mix for 10 minutes.  Spray counter and pans with pan spray.  Shape loaves (spray hands with pan spray, too), put dough in pans, cover with dish towel.  Raise 29 minutes.  (In winter when kitchen is cold, I put a pan of hot water in oven on bottom rack and put loaves on middle rack to rise.)  Bake at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes.  Remove loaves from pans carefully and immediately onto cooling racks.

Burps and Bibs

Having three new babies in our family (extended) this year, I have found that I love to make bibs with coordinating burp cloths.  If you would like a handmade gift for that baby shower, but don't have time or inclination to make it, just contact me.

The burps match the bibs or coordinate.  They are made of cloth diapers with fabric trim to match.  The bibs can be embroidered with a design of various baby items and/or a name.  The Little Lamb bib also has a black lamb appliqued on it.  The bibs have a large snap fastener rather than scratchy Velcro.  Colors and themes made to order.  Fabric is cotton or flannel.  Train fabric is cotton.  A layer of batting prevents drippy chins from leaking onto clothing.  Choose small for birth to 6 months or medium for 6 months to 18 months.

Prices: Plain reversible bib and burp $8.00
           Bib embroidered on one side and burp $12.00
           Bib embroidered on both sides and burp $14.00   
Order by calling:
801-544-2466 or
email:
kat.sewfun@gmail.com