A Rare Sale at the PeanutEnvy Shop!

There is quite the sale going on at PeanutEnvy..and a rare one too! All Russian dolls are $25{reg. $34}, Owls are $35 {reg. $42} and wallets a mere $10 {reg. $14}. There is a new member to the PE family and that would be Fritz the Fox...see him below! That guy is also $25! For more sales and updates with the shop, check out our Facebook page!

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HOLIDAY HANDMADE GIVEAWAY by Gifts Define!

Not long ago, I stumbled upon a super cute site with super cute handmade birds, mobiles, party favors, personalized gifts and more. At first I saw the GiftsDefine blog and then their Etsy Shop and it was over. I have a soft spot for uber-cuteness...which I think evolved after having children; I would see things that we're so adorable and instantly want them even for a 1 year old who would just chew, gnaw and drool all over it. So now they are having a giveaway for 2 lucky people who will win their Baby's First Christmas 2010 keepsake you see above (no Santa hat, though). But you can also find them on Facebook where they give great updates of all that they got going on. You will not be disappointed! 

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I love Levi!

Of course I love this kid, he doesn't bug me when I want to scarf down a bag of dark chocolate peanut M&Ms... while I have send the other 2 to play in their room at times like this. Its funny being a parent. Its also funny when you wonder how the baby will be while you are still pregnant. I mean, you always have those friends or family who tell horror stories of how they hadn't slept in a year or how they can't leave the house or the kid will throw tantrums and destroy an entire city block. I had the 'perfect baby' who slept wonderfully and never threw a fit. Heck, we could take her to the movies without a problem. But all kids are one of a kind. My second is the city block destroying type. I also never slept until she decided she was ready to sleep thru the night...at 19 months...and it was still quite shaky. But this lil guy...he is a gem. He is just so sweet and cute and lovable and snuggable...ok, I'll cut that out. 

Now that I have 3 under 5 yrs old I'm noticing the biggest challenges. Like simple things that become complex...like going shopping - they all cant go in the cart with the food and I aint pushing 2 carts!! We need a bigger car, bigger living space (check!), more arms, more hours in the day, more everything. And on top of it all we're moving, painting, priming, fixing, working several jobs and trying to keep our wits about us...especially when these kids refuse to nap! But, as I hold Levi as he sleeps in my flabby arms, to heck with everything else. Its nice to relax and look at his sweet little face. ♥

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Earth Day Plan for the Frugal Future

In honor of Earth Day (you could also say 'in honor of frugality') I'm deciding to make my own reusable items - as many as I possibly can! I am done with skyrocketing prices even at the cheap stores (Walmart is not included, I refuse to shop there). I had to get baby wipes because I have a newborn and a 21 month old in diapers. I get them from target, and I get the target brand 3 pack of refills which used to cost 2.97 - now its 4.97. WTH?! So nuts to YOU Target, I'll make my own wipes! For those of you who agree...but may not sew yourself - here is a cute option... BareBebe PureBebe Cloth Wipes

 I also want to make my own produce bags. Who needs plastic poisoning their food? Not I. These ones are cool... Reusable Produce Bags by SeventhSphere

I already have the supplies to create some snack bags but I really thought these were cute.
Reusable Snack Bags by BananasaurusRex .  Its probably smart to make like 10 of these, since kids tend to lose, drop or destroy.

Reusable Paper towels by MooCowMomma

I'm still on the fence about making reusable paper towels...with 3 kids under 5, messes are plentiful. I would need to make about 50 reusable paper towels...I think in this arena, I'd opt for just buying them.

So in a few ways, I'm saving some green...which is what Earth Day is all about.

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Make a Better Cup of Coffee

I got a bunch of Great Lakes Coffee from a friend who works for the company and it is the best coffee I've had in my life. Starbucks and any other corporate cafe cannot even compare! I used to enjoy simple coffee, say, from Dunkin Donuts - but now I can't stand the stuff. Now everything from everywhere tastes too burnt, watered down, and all around quite lackluster. Anyways, Great Lakes has great coffee - I made that point.

So while I was in the hospital for a week - some of my coffee was beginning to dry out...the beans were not as oily and aromatic once I got back...and that happens. So I decided to make some of it anyway - it was the Organic Costa Rica stuff. I really hate the taste that not-so-fresh coffee has so I thought of ways to make it taste better:

1. Use the french press! I love the rich taste, body and frothiness you get from using it. Machines are good too - but I think some taste is lost - plus you don't have as much control over it as you do with the press.
2. Before I added the boiling water to the press (its a 32oz press and I fill it with the max amount of coffee, btw) I added about 1/8 tsp each of ground cinnamon and cardamom to the dry grounds plus about 1/2 tsp of vanilla. Its best to add to the grounds and not to your cup afterward - since such powdery spices just sit on the surface and are hard to completely mix in.
   
3. I then added the water and stirred it and pressed it.
4. I poured a cup, added cream and sugar...I ran out of regular sugar so I had to use brown sugar, which I think gave it additional flavor.
5. OMG - it was so tasty and I couldn't even tell the beans were 'getting on'!

It could may well have been that the coffee is just great old or fresh but I highly HIGHLY recommend Great Lakes Coffee - I especially enjoyed the Organic Triple Threat, its awesome!

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Spell with Flickr

We all know the endless fun of Flicker and this has been around for a while but I just found it and thought it was pretty neat! Go to Spell with Flickr and type in anything! write a ransom letter - just for fun of course. Once you type in your words, just click on any letter you would like to change and it automatically changes it for you. For instance, The "L" they came up with looked like a 'c' so I clicked it until I got to one that was decent. Go now and check it out - you can type in your kid's name (like I did), create a new shop banner or whatever

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If you have a love for Fonts...

If you love fonts, go here for over 1000 different fonts in all shapes and sizes - which includes some really fun graphic fonts - graphic as in some are little fun pictures of things aka Dingbats :) I usually type in my shop name when I feel like changing up my shop banner (which I recently did using said fonts). You just download them to your computer and install them - they will show up in all your programs like Word, Photoshop, etc.

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Another Cute Valentine Tutorial

Make these cute paper hearts with the kiddies or to give out to friends..or whatever you want. Find the tutorial here. I thought it was a clever idea and, as the blog states, perfect projects for boys as well as girls. And boys should get some crafty exposure since they are going to be the ones "expected" to shower their sweetie with Valentines. True?

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Newest Crave : Faux Food

Lately, I don't know why but I've sort of been obsessed with faux food. Its great as kids toys, novelty items, gifts, etc. The best part is being a cool handmade super fun alternative to lead paint doused toxic toys, or even boring old plastic,which carries its own scary baggage (no pun intended). I chose to showcase the Etsy shop of mclean2612 who specializes in Fun Felt Foods. The prices are great too..almost the same price you'd pay for the real thing, except these won't rot and stink up the place.

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Ah, Babies!

Just when you think your baby is sleeping so peacefully....

Last night Lucy really needed a diaper change. She was sleeping but I decided to change her anyway - she sleeps 18 hours of the day so I doubt im intruding on her beauty rest with a 3 minute diaper change. Now, breast-fed newborns have very runny poop -gross, I know! Not very smelly, but it sounds quite 'explosive' everytime it happens. So i get her from the other room and put her on the couch to change her. As soon as I get her all cleaned up, I reach for the new diaper when (insert explosive diarrhea sound here)! Baby poop shot literally 6 feet. All over the couch. ugh... So next time you see a sleeping baby, remember what they are capable of.

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Another Mission Accomplished!

I broke down and finally bought some of this awesome Heather Bailey fabric that Ive been wanting for oh so long. My sole intention was to create a nursing cover because I've come to realize how great they are! Maddy always got hot under a blanket and would rip it off, so the last thing I want is the next one trying to expose me as well. It is SO EASY! you basically sew a 26x36 rectangle, add straps with D rings and add some boning so it bows out for eye contact and viola! Not that that was a tutorial by any means! Its way easier than a boppy and doesnt use nearly as much fabric. I cant wait til baby comes just so I can use it! So I knocked this off my list of things to make. I wanted to get all the 'big' stuff outta the way. So this is whats been done so far

• boppy
• boppy cover
• nursing cover
• newborn booties

Im not sure if I want to waste good fabric on bibs and burp cloths. Why make pretty things that get so filthy? So now onto the next project!

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Bootie Call

So I knocked off 2 items off my list of things to make the new bebe. I did this all last night, I was in some sort of creative frenzy...I say frenzy because it all happened after 10pm. I made these super cute booties for the babe when she arrives home from the hospital. they are so cute ans SO small, No longer than 3 inches! Babies have small feet! But I had no 'new born' size bootie pattern so I had to be resourceful with the large pattern i had I had and I wondered how I'd get them to be small enough for a new born. So I got some tissue paper and traced the inside of the pattern about 1/2 inch, if that makes sense and cut out the tiny pieces, which to my suprize, seemed to be perfecto! The other thing I made was a boppy cover. I made it with this cute owl fabric we got on clearance at Urban Outfitters. No pics of that one. But 2 things down, many more to go, and not much time left to do it!! I'll just have to keep chuggin' along.

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My new baby sling

Just created a baby sling for my second baby on the way...it took me forever to get moving, but I finsihed it...it was quite simple! It was so much fun to make - even if I had to do alot to get the right lenth and width. I had to cut the yards in half lenghtwise and sew them together! I did it, though, and i can see my self making one for every day of the week! The picture looks so blurry - not because I don't know how to take a picture - but the way i had to take it is the reason. We live in an old building built in the 30's or 40's and this particular apartment has the original mirrors on the closet doors. These mirrors havent lasted very well thru the ages and are dim and hazy...I had to take the picture of me with it on somehow...which explaines the dim and hazy picture.

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