Lent.

We attend a Presbyterian church, so we don't "do" Lent as a church, but my family always did. My mother always tended to make it a diet, but my dad always took it seriously and for what it was meant for. It's a chance to see and experience a tiny glimmer of what sacrifice means.

This year for Lent I gave up secular music in the car. And hey boy howdy as a person who lives and breathes music- this was hard! My brother, dad and I were talking on Skype the other day and I mentioned it. My brother was sooo confused as to why I would give that up, but my dad explained it better than I ever could. He said "It's a major part of her day, Matt. Music is the soundtrack to everything she does. Not to mention, car radio is what your brain eats- what goes in has a major effect on what comes out."

It's so true! I need something positive and uplifting pouring into my brain as I'm driving- especially when I'm being cut off and people are driving like idiots around me- or I could easily slip into a terrible mood.

Luckily, we have an awesome contemporary Christian music station in Charlotte and they play tons of old and new songs. The other day I heard this one and was immediately taken back to 10th grade. Love it.

What makes you happy?

Can I just say that Facebook has been a little ridiculous ever since they start letting middle schoolers have accounts. Everytime I turn around I'm getting a chain letter message, reading someone's status about their celebrity lookalike/bra color/middle name/old school picture or seeing that my little brother became a fan of "taking one last sip of my drink before leaving a resturant" (I wish I was joking).

However, I do love those quizzes that people send around and tag you in in the notes section - and today I get to do a blog version! Yay!

I was tagged/awarded this little find by Meredith over at La Buena Vida. Have you read her blog? If not, go do it! She is such an inspiring beautiful lady who loves Jesus and is always uplifting and at the same time very real. Her blog has tons of pics (which I love - short attention span, you know) and she has a precious teeny tiny little lady named Lizzy who is always fun to look at!

The point of this award is to list 10 things that make you happy. Here I goes!

1. Quilt fabric. Oh man. I don't even sew well or a lot, but I sure love looking at all the pretty options out there for when I finally do get my act together and make a quilt!

2. My Blackberry. I'm sorry if you hate me because of it, but I am that lady who plays on her phone while waiting... for anything. Unless I have someone to talk to in person, I'm gonna be checking Facebook, playing brickbreaker or BBMing people. I should be ashamed and embarassed, but sadly I'm not.

3. Girl Scout Cookies. Doesn't matter what kind- I love them all.

4. Bald Head Island, NC. No cars, passenger ferry to get over there, golf carts and light houses. Love. If only Kate Gosselin hadn't ever stepped foot on it, everything there would be perfect.

5. LOST. Ok, well in 2 weeks, Joe and I watched the entire series from the beginning. Now, I long for Tuesdays.

6. Coffee. If you have a child, you understand this.

7. Dresses. I can not wait for it to get warm enough for dresses again! Every Sunday I growl and grumble and poke around in our closet for something to wear with black pants- I hate it! I have approximately 12 dresses hanging in the closet ready to go! Come on, temps above 50! COme to mention it...

8. Spring and Fall. Best. Seasons. Ever.

9. My Brother PE750D (embroidery machine). You had to know it was coming, right? Seriously, I have already made so many gifts with it already! It's seriously perfect for anything! Wedding? Monogrammed towels. Birthday present? Monogrammed tote bag. Baby shower? Monogrammed onesies and burp cloths. Joe wishes Noah had an Avett Brothers shirt? Thanks to a banjo .pes image- done.

10. Baby Led Weaning. We start this craziness Friday, so while I can't say I love it from experience, I 'm currently reading the book and I love the idea- can't wait to get to it!

Now to tag some peeps:
Michele at The Dr's Wife
Kerri at I'm Just Sayin'
Daisy at The Crunchy Wife
Jawe at Eco Friendly and Frugal
Leslie G
... and anyone else who wants to play! Just leave a comment here and I'll come check out what makes you happy!

wordless wednesday

oh geez.

I have found my people...

... at a sewing and embroidery shop. LOVE!

As I mentioned before, Joe got me an embroidery machine for my anniversary, all the threads and accessories and 3 classes to learn to use it. *swoon* I attended my first class Monday night. It was awesome for many reasons:

- I met people my age (!!!) who are into crafting, sewing, embroidering etc! Finally! Someone to talk to about this stuff that's under 60! (although I do love me some Mrs. Mary Agnes at church!)

- It was from 6-8pm so that means that Joe bathed, fed and put Noah to bed- I came home to a quiet house! Amazing!

- I am learning all of the things that my machine can do other than just pictures and letters!

So guess where you'll find me during every naptime this week?

Un-Paper Towel Winner!

The winner of the Eco-Friendly and Frugal UnPaper towel giveaway is.......
#9- nsees! Congrats!
I've sent you an email with details and to see what pattern of towels you would like- so check that out and get back with me!

Congratulations!

Easy-Peasy Headband Tutorial

Ok, confession time: I have big hair.

Scratch that- I have very, VERY large hair.

Don't believe me? Want proof? Ok well here you go:

So what do I do to manage my insanely big hair?

Well, I use Dove mousse, don't brush it after it's dry and wear my hair pulled back a lot.

However, wearing a ponytail all the time doesn't exactly look put-together, polished or professional now, does it? So, after about 20 years of NOT wearing headbands (because the plastic ones get so tight right behind my ears and give me a headache!), I have given them another try and I LOVE THEM! They're so cute, no hassel (can you say "go 3 days without washing my hair?" If you think that's gross, sorry. Having a 5 month old does that to you.) and, I learned last week, easy to make (plus the elastic in my version is so much more comfy)!

Want to give it a shot? Here's my very first ever picture tutorial for
the Easy-Peasy Headband
(it's big-time picture-heavy so you might want to right click and save the file)!

Go ahead and make yours wider or thinner, shorter or longer- whatever works for you! Even if you don't end up making one, still look through the tute and let me know if I'm just mindlessly babbling, or if it actually makes a teeny bit of sense!

Feeling lazy today? (that's ok- I'm lazy most days) Hop on over to my Etsy shop, wee little winslow, and grab an Easy-Peasy Headband! There's even a "pick your fabric" option!

Custom accessories for dirt cheap? Heck yes- One of the many reasons I love Etsy!

Have fun and look cute!

I have a new favorite thing.

RUN to check out http://us.moo.com/en

Oh my word- the possibilities!

I think I may post a super easy little tutorial tomorrow.

... if you don't mind.

Wordless Wednesday (NEW PROJECT!)

Let's talk GREEN- with a giveaway!

Here's my view on being green, take it or leave it:

God made the earth.
He said that it was good.

He then intrusted us to take care of it
and to be good stewards of what we have been given.

In my opinion, the best way to do this is to not waste and try not to use products that are manufactured in places that produce a ton of waste! The biggest and most expensive change to go "green" that I've mentioned before was cloth diapers for Noah- but there are TONS of smaller and much cheaper little changes that you can do! Every little bit helps and keeps garbage out of landfills!

Today, we're gonna be going on a little tour of my kitchen- thrilling, right?

One (waaaay cheap) thing we've done is gotten rid of paper napkins! I found these cloth napkins at a Vera Bradley sale for $1 each. Booyah! Score! We keep them on top of the microwave in a little basket so we can grab one after we fix our plate and head to the table!

The next thing we did was get rid of paper towels (I mean, we're already washing dipes and napkins, right?). I have few different kinds of "un-paper towels" and we keep them in a basket right beside the sink where the paper towels used to be:

From left to right we have Owlie Towelies from Eco Friendly and Frugal on etsy (oooh more on that in a sec!), some little scrubby-ish towels made of terry cloth on one side and flannel on the other (that I made as wipes for Noah but they just work better in the kitchen!) and then some towels from IKEA (10 for $3!)

After the towels get dirtied up, we just throw them in a basket on top of the dryer (note the vinegar- I could write a whole post on vinegar, but I'll spare you and just point you to this website that can explain a TON of uses for white distilled vinegar! And no, it doesn't smell like vinegar when you use it in laundry and to clean):

Oh our laundry? Glad you asked! That stuff in the candy jar right there is Charlie's Soap (10 cents a load, people!) We also use vinegar to soften the fabric and Fuzzy Wuzzy Dryer Balls instead of dryer sheets (aren't they pretty?)

But enough about all of the goings-on in the kitchen- let's talk about these babies (click for a larger pic): Un-paper towels from Eco-Friendly and Frugal!

What I love about these:
- They can also be used as napkins! Hello, versitile!
- With two layers of flannel, they are super absorbant (especially if you use vinegar in the rinse- the vinegar helps breakdown any detergent build-up, making flannel more absorbant!) and made very sturdy. They're turned and topstitched, meaning the two layers are sewn together not once, but twice to ensure that they won't come apart.
- This may sound strange, but after using a few different kind of towels in the kitchen, these dry very well! You know how sometimes you have to wipe up water, and the towels not neccessary dirty? With some towels, they dry very stiff and make it hard to use it again before washing- not these! They dry soft and pliable and ready to use again!

What I don't love:
- I kind of wish they came in different sizes- or maybe just a little bit smaller. You know, like the paper towels that you can tear off 1, 2 or 3 depending on the size of the mess? I do a lot of wiping up little spills and wiping down counters, so that could just be me.
(but I'm sure that is something that Eco-Friendly and Frugal could do something about- special order, maybe?)

So.... you want to try a set of these?

Buy 'Em!
Roll on over to the Eco-Friendly and Frugal Etsy shop
and check out her other stuff while you're there!
(Minky wipes?! Noah's butt says "yes, please!")

Win 'Em!
Eco-Friendly and Frugal has offered up a set of these to one of my readers! This is a perfect first step (of 100th!) towards doing your part to keep garbage out of landfills! Plus you are seriously saving some money!

To enter, leave me a comment here (don't forget to include your email address!) telling me how you try to "go green" at your house (or office or school!).

Want more chances to win?
Leave a separate comment letting me know you did any of the following:
- Follow my blog (if you don't already!)
- Follow the Eco-Friendly and Frugal Blog
- "Heart" the Eco-Friendly and Frugal shop on Etsy
- Become a fan of Eco-Friendly and Frugal on Facebook

I will choose a winner on Monday, February 22nd and notify the winner by email.
If I don't hear back in 48 hours, I'll pick another winner. Good luck!

... and I jumped on the "52 Reasons I Love You Book" bandwagon

There were serious ones, but I like the funny ones best.

from me:

and from Noah:

I never claimed to be original

For Noah's first Valentine's Day, I wanted something easy to do but still better than those dang ole store bought Valentines. I stumbled upon a blog that had this great (and so easy!) idea for Valentines. Then, I found ANOTHER blog with the same idea. I have no idea who came up with the idea- maybe one of these, maybe someone else- but I love it! Here are the ones I found and where:

24-7-365

my insanity

Well, the one small detail that I didn't think of when planning this little project was how the hang I was going to get a 5 month old to make a fist. Mmmk?

Well, we had a mini photo shoot in which Noah didn't pay attention:

blew raspberries:

and pulled the blanket backdrop over his head:

le sigh.

We did finally come up with something useable, though it's not as clear that he's supposed to be "holding" the lollipop as the other pictures are.

Oh well- Happy Valentines Day from Noah!

Wordless Wednesday

(... because all the cool blogs are doing it.)

Noah is truly his father's son.

... gotsta get that xbox controller.

Wait, does that mean we're officially MOBILE?

Netflix and Sewing

Those are the two things my life has consisted of for the past week and a half.

First thing. "LOST". Holy crap, how did I not know about this show?! I mean, I knew about it, but had never seen an episode. Then, this week, Joe and I watched the "catch-up" episode and then the season premier and holy cow, I'm hooked.
We've spent the past few days watching the series from the beginning on Netflix. It's so addictive! I honestly want to turn it off sometimes, but can't! I'm sucked in!

Secondly, I've been sewing a lot. My wee little Etsy shop has been doing pretty well for itself these past few days, I've had a few friends (and my parents) "order" stuff and I had a lot to make for a baby shower that was today!
I have officially re-claimed the guestroom as my room. :)
Here's a few pics of the "in progress" organization...

(there are now IKEA shelves over the embroidery table)

I went to a baby shower for my dear sweet friend Kimberly today. Kimberly found out she was pregnant right after I did and was due 2 weeks after me. Heartbreakingly, she and her husband lost the baby right after her first trimester. However- she is now pregnant again and due next month with a (precious and charming, I'm sure) baby girl named Jillian!
Here's one of her gifts I made for her:



Ahh! RUFFLE BUTT!
(Oh, how I wish it was appropriate to put boys in ruffle-butt things... )

Kimberly has also decided to cloth diaper and I am so excited for that! So along with that onesie, I made her 2 monogrammed burp cloths, a wool soaker with (duh) ruffles on the butt, a Bum Genius Organic All-in-One diaper and 18 orange-edge prefold diapers! I'm just so thrilled for her and her sweet husband. This little girl is going to be so loved!!!