I wanted to share my yummy Sloppy Joes recipe

Now I know how hard it is to make something for the whole family that everyone will eat, especially with picky eaters like my Jaden, so I thought I'd share one of my staple recipes that always get gobbled up and I always have the ingredients on hand, not to mention it's easy peasy! Tonight when I made it I decided to actually measure the ingredients and write it down, I've always been sort of a pinch of this, dash of that kind of cook so if you want just adjust the amounts of really any of the ingredients and it'll still taste great!

Blueberry Mama's Sloppy Joes

1 lb Ground Beef

1/3 C. Chopped Onions

1 Beef Bullion Cube

1 C. Ketchup

1 tsp. Mustard

1/4 C. Brown Sugar firmly packed

Salt & Pepper to taste

Scramble ground beef with the beef bullion cube and onion until well cooked, make sure you smash the bullion cube mid way so you don't get a mouthful of salt! Drain off any fat, now add ketchup, mustard and brown sugar. You might want to add the brown sugar a little at a time and taste it as you go so you don't make it too sweet for your family, mine likes it just like this but I'm sure all families are different. Remember... you can always add, but you can't take it away! :o) Put a couple of big spoonfuls on a hamburger bun and garnish with pickle slices if you want.

As you can see this little guy really loves his mama's Sloppy Joes!

My Husbands never been very excited about Manwich (OK he hates it), but once I started making my Sloppy Joes he looks forward to me making it every week or so and that makes planning meals all that much easier in my opinion! Dan takes it the next day for his lunch and I usually pack enough for his buddy to have a sandwich because he loves it too!

I'd love to hear if any of you out there try my recipe and how your family liked it!

Take care and enjoy!

Julie

I was a Sunshine Family girl!

Me and my cousin Brian Christmas 1974, originally uploaded by mama_blueberry.

Look at how proud I was with my new dolls!
This is me (6) and my little cousin Brian (2) on Christmas Eve 1974.
My Aunt had this and lots of other pictures of me growing up.
They had been at my Grandparents home and when they passed, they got packed up and stored in my Aunts basement.
I've been asking her for them for the past 4 years, but I wasn't being buggy or anything. But she retired recently and I guess she decided to go digging and delivered me about 12 pictures or more of me as little as 6 weeks all the way up to about 16. Funny how I always thought I was rather hefty all those years, well not when I was 6 weeks old silly! But looking at the pictures I wasn't really that "Large" until I hit about 17. What a waste of worry.
Now about the Sunshine Family!!! Oh I really loved these dolls!
I think I played with them for years!
Isn't it a little funny (and not planned) that Brian and I are practically dressed like the dolls? I'm in pants and his pants are a different color and print, but gosh!!!!!
Brian is 5 years younger then I am and he and his wife are expecting their first baby in September, I'm really excited for them.
I remember his first Christmas, he was born December 7th and on Christmas Eve Aunt Betty had dressed him up in the cutest little Santa suit and I thought I had a real doll to go with my new Baby Alive. Aunt Betty has a picture of me sitting in a chair packed with pillows holding Brian in one arm and my Baby Alive in the other with the biggest cheesiest smile I could muster for a 5 year old.
Oh by the way my husband is only 4 months older then Brian that makes him 4 1/2 years younger then me. huba huba!
Talk about strange I was enough older then him to have memories from the time when he was born.
And his mom is only 4 years older then my oldest sister.
I was the youngest child and he was the oldest child.
I wonder if I was as well behaved as I looked in this picture?
Probably not. :oD

How to watch the movie

I've been trying to put this in the last post but for some reason it shows for just a second and then disappears!
To watch the movie just click on it to activate it and then click on the arrow to make it play.
I hope it's not to annoying to watch! I think Jadens giggling is funny, but then again I'm his mama. :o)

<
Here's my little guys being funny. Gus is trying to learn to stay sitting up and Jaden thinks it's REALLY FUNNY!

I hope you enjoy it.

Look what I got in the mail!

Look what I got in the mail!, originally uploaded by mama_blueberry.

My new dear friend Laurie over at Old School Acres offered to make me a copy of her totally adorable new Japanese craft book on how to make little stuffies out of socks and gloves and it is sooo cute!
It must have took you an hour to make that many copies Laurie!
I was floored when it arrived packed full in a manila envelope with a Teddy Bear magazine, 4 different vintage fabrics, a delicate vintage hankie, handmade post-it note packs and a sewn fabric embellished card she made herself!
Oh, Laurie you spoil me!
It came at such a good time, I really needed the lift.
I stopped on the way home one night from the hospital and picked up some gloves to make the little puppy on the front page of the book. I grabbed 2 sets so maybe I can make a boy and a girl and use some of the fabric to make a little dress for the girl!
Ahh inspiration!
Thank you from the bottom of my heart!
Now go check out Laurie's blog and say hello! Here

Binky Blankets and Memories

Mushroom House Binky Blanket close up, originally uploaded by mama_blueberry.

I decided that I better get busy and get some more Binky Blankets whipped up and listed in my Etsy shop because all but one of the last bunch sold, yippee! I listed 7 so I've been gettin her done! :o)
So here's a little look at one with a little fairy mushroom house reminiscent of the little Smurfs house I had as a child. Man I loved those! I even had a little car too.
I'm 38 now and I still have Smurfette up in my medicine cabinet, I think one of my dogs got to her but she's a trooper and still looking pretty as always.

I have very sweet memories of my mom letting me pick out a little smurf just about every time we went to the mall to pay the Sears bill, she was a single mom raising 3 girls without any support from my father but she still managed to buy me lots of those little Smurfs.
I actually played with them and my Sunshine Family dolls quite a bit!
I don't ever remember thinking we had it bad, I guess we had lots of love between the four of us ladies and we still are quite close.

I asked my Aunt the other day if she had any of my old baby pictures that had been at my grandparents home and she said she would look and sure enough she brought me a large manila envelope of my childhood photos.
There's one that had a picture of me and my cousin at Christmas Eve and I have my Sunshine Family dolls sitting like I was queen and my husband pointed out to me that my cousin Brian and I were practically dressed like the dolls! How funny is that?
I need to get them scanned so I can share them here.
Now I just need to go to my mom's house and see if I can find my dolls, boy did I play with those for allot of years!

You use cloth diapers? Why????

Well, yes I do! Why????? So I don't have to buy disposables anymore! I finally got the guts to do it, what started it all was a trip to the thrift store where I eyed a couple of stacks of flat fold diapers tied with a string for $1 for 12 and there were 2 bundles. I thought hey! I could sell those on Ebay! They sat on the counter for about a week and I decided they were probably a little too heavy to ship so I just kept looking at them thinking I wanted to do cloth diapering but could I really do it? I'm proud to say we are on day 3 and no leaks!
Gus is big enough that he doesn't do the poo every day and with all the research I've done it really isn't all that bad. What's another small load every couple of days? Nothing really. I wash a load about every day anyway.
Do you realize how much money you could spend if you had it and wanted to do cloth diapers? well there are people selling what they call All in Ones that are basically just a cloth version of a disposable for $55 each!!!!!! insane I tell ya!
Now my 2 dozen flat folds cost $2 and I found a very nice Bummis wrap for 75 cents. Then I won 3 more nice used wraps for $17.50 (Ebay), 7 Snappis fasteners for $10 (Ebay), 5 wrap seconds from Prowrap for $31 and that totals $61.25! I was buying a $15 box of diapers for Gus every week so these should pay for their selves in a month. Then it's money that can go to other more important things. Fabric? *wink*
I also decided to start taking my canvas and mesh bags with me to Wal-mart to have the cashiers (OK me!) bag my groceries in them. I have a garage that isn't attached and I seem to always buy heavy stuff so I can carry more in these bags then those cheep plastic bags. I tell myself that's my only reason for doing it but deep down I think I really want to be more environmental.
I'm starting to feel a little bit crunchy! Look at me I'm a Breastfeeding/Co-sleeping/Sling Wearing/Cloth Diapering Mama! (and I love tie dye too!)
Real reason I ...
Breastfeed : IT'S FREE, no bottle washing, it's already warm!
Co-sleep : I'm a sucker for a snuggly sleepy baby and my baby sleeps and doesn't cry, and I don't have to get up to go feed him!
Sling wearing: I make spoiled babies and they like to be carried.
Cloth Diaper: After a month or so these babies will have paid for them selves!
I think I've rambled on long enough, if anyone cloth diapers or sews your own I'd love to hear about your experience!

blog blah

Hello everyone!
I've been having a little trouble getting into the blog thing this past few weeks, didn't you notice? Well, most of the problem has been worrying about my mom, she had a bad fall on Friday and it wasn't much of a surprise because her sodium was low and with lung cancer, at least in her case that makes her weak and topsy and not very good at making sound judgments.
I guess she had been sleeping and my sister had checked on her, then her husband checked and a little bit later he checked again and she was on the floor not able to get up. She had a large knot on the back of her head and a big bruise turned up a little later on her back. When she has trauma her body just shuts down and she goes to sleep and looks like she's going to die. It's very upsetting, but she has always snapped out of it and at least gets where you can talk to her, so hopefully that's going to happen this time too!
This week marks the 2nd year that she's been suffering from her cancer, I've had a hard time with it because I have such small children that I want to know her and it's made it hard for me to do my part in caring for her. My 2 sisters have older children, 4 each and most are in high school and they can stay home alone or with each other. Last time she was in the hospital around mothers day she was in quarantine so I couldn't take my children in to her room while I visited.
Well enough about my problems!!!!!
Now I have been doing a little crafting, I'll try to get some pictures of what I've been working on.
Have a good week!

Binky Blankets

Binky Blankets, originally uploaded by mama_blueberry.

I have some new baby items in my Etsy store!
Somehow I manage to get the kids occupied to get some sewing done! :o) Amazing!
Well these little handy things were designed out of necessity, when Gus was brand new he had a really strong sucking urge and after nursing was well established I introduced the binky to him, it was a real nipple saver for me! I remember Jaden nursing on me for hours.
I let my babies nurse on command but he took to the binky but didn't depend on it by any means.
So the reason I came up with this was because at night I would give him his binky and then I couldn't find it in the middle of the night and I got to thinking how it would be nice to have something to help me find it and the Binky Blanket was born.
It's really handy for cleaning spit-up too and you can see where it's at when it gets dropped, how many times have you lost a pacifier when you went shopping?


Update: All these Binky Blankets are sold!
I guess I need to get to sewing!

So much going on...

Hello, I've been gone for a few days and feeling guilty about not posting.

Lots of things have been happening around here, I had my mom over for 3 days, her lung cancer is stalled for now so I feel blessed to get to spend time with her and to have my children get to spend time with their Grammie. Because of that, I haven't been spending as much time on the computer. My mom is a very handy person to have around! She likes to hold Baby Gus most of the time she's here and he seems to be demanding that allot lately, now if we could just keep him from spitting up on her so much! :o)

On other news I am the new owner of a family heirloom that came from my Grandmother! It's a Hoosier cabinet! I haven't checked out yet to be sure it's actually a Hoosier but it's that type of cabinet. I don't care if it is or not really because it holds some really great memories of a woman that I loved dearly. Here's a picture of it in my home.

My Grandmothers Cabinet Originally uploaded by mama_blueberry.

Sorry about the blur but I took about 8 pictures and finally gave up! I don't remember if this counter top stuff was on here when Grandma was alive, but I wish it had the original metal top. Oh well I say! I need to go down to the basement and find my other treasures that she personally gave to me, one was her coffee grinder and a little tea pot that she hand wrote "to Julie, love Grandma" I know that doesn't sound that impressive but she was over 100 when she died and it was amazing that she could actually write at the age she was at the time.

I miss her very much, she was the Grandma that everyone wanted, she had very long gray hair that she wore in a little bun and she could grow just about any vegetable that a country woman would want. Her fried chicken was too die for, we always had sliced tomatoes and sweet onions that she cut like an apple, we would dip the onion wedges in the real mashed potatoes and homemade pan gravy when we had Sunday dinner, ahh memories.

Just about a week before I found out about grandma's death I had had a very clear dream that Grandma came to see me at my bedroom window and told me that she would always love me and that she was sorry about all the problems we had had with my father (her son) that had problems with alcohol and she looked so wonderful and healthy and at peace. In my dream I had made a window box that had grass and pretty flowers and a little mini pond with swimming baby ducks and I told her that I had made it for her. I know this sounds silly but it was so real and wonderful that I got to say goodbye to her and to tell her that I loved her and to please come back and visit me. Then about a week later I was told she had passed. Talk about getting goosebumps! But if I had to have someone visit me from the other side, I would definitely want my Grandma to be the one!

OK, have I made up for my absence? Oh, you want something crafty, huh? I'll get right on that for ya! Well I need to get to bed, so everyone have a wonderful week and don't get to warm!

PS: that's right I have wood on my ceilings and floors and it's also on the walls in the living room too! Yeah, western decor baby!

Pom pom chicky

Pom pom chicky
Originally uploaded by mama_blueberry.

Here's a little pom pom chicky I made the other day with handmade pom poms.
Snow Bear inspired me here but hers are sooo much cuter!
It's funny how big the pom pom's start out and after all the trimming they get pretty tiny.
I sent this little gals sister to live with my 4 yr old niece and out of all the stuff I gave her, like the pink monster with pillow and blanket and a princess crown, she snatched this little peep and hauled it to her bedroom. I guess I should have just made her 3 of these and a little nest.
I was always drawn to little things and I still am so I can see why she liked it so much. :o)
I picked up some cream and black yarn at the thrift store yesterday and next I plan to make a little herd of sheepies.

My new laundry sorter

My new laundry sorter
Originally uploaded by mama_blueberry.

OK, you know I'm a dork when I get excited about a new laundry sorter! And take pictures of it!
Well, I've been wanting one of these for quite a while and I've been determined to get my house organized and make it look as uncluttered as possible. Is that really possible? I wonder

Sock Monkey Love

Sock Monkey Love
Originally uploaded by mama_blueberry.

Sock monkey meet Gus!
I think this monkey is in love with my baby Gus!
Gus likes the monkey but he was a little more interested in trying to grab my camera because it was making all the little beeps and flashes. :o)
I took this picture while we sat outside waiting for the house to air out.
Air out ? you say?
Yes yes yes... well, I have a bit of a phobia about spiders and the other day when I started to go down to the basement there was this HUGE spider about the size of a 50 cent piece that just about made me jump on the ceiling, and that wouldn't be any small feat I tell ya. What's bad is that this wasn't the first one of these I've ran accross.
It was sitting on my Hubby's muddy boot and I just about walked right over it and then I seen it move and I went into combat mode!
My bug killers of choice are as follows...
1st Lysol antibacterial kitchen cleaner (great for ants but not HUGE spiders)
2nd Fly swatter (not strong enough)
3rd Broom
4th Shovel
If the 1st doesn't work then go to the next.
I think this particular spider made it level 3, it's now dead and laying on the step as a warning to all other spiders that may think to come up the stairs.
WATCH OUT FOR MAMA!!!!!!!
Now I just hope they aren't getting a group together to get me when I go to sleep at night. Please God protect me!
I don't think I was even able to sit through that movie about the spiders called Arachnophobia.

Ahem... I need to calm down and think of something more pleasant...
Well back to my baby and his sock monkey.
I made this monkey for my 3 yr old and he hasn't gave him much interest and being that Gus is really into toys right now I thought what could be cuter then these two in a picture?
Well maybe both of my boys, but Jaden was playing in the dirt making "dinner", he was happy playing so I let him be.
Can you believe this little guy is 17 1/2 lbs at just 6 months?

Sometimes I go nuts

Take Along Farm
Originally uploaded by mama_blueberry.

OK, well back around Easter I had seen some little bunny people on a blog and I just fell in love, they were from Playmobil (I'm now a huge fan) and it was a special Easter set that had a teacher bunny with students that he was teaching how to paint eggs, and lots of bunnies and things to feed them and the list goes on and on, well I bought about half of the set and have been hording them because I just have a hard time sharing them with a 3 yr old that isn't quite ready for them yet.
Can you imagine how hard it is to play with something that cute and only when your child's taking a nap? Impossible!
I decided finally to trim down the little dangerous items and leave them in the box and just play with the bunnies and we had so much fun!
So today Jaden was running around the corner and tripped and smacked his face into the door frame and hit his nose and upper lip. ouch! fat lip with a bloody nose.
Now my little man doesn't usually cry for very long when he gets hurt so I new this one smarted, he cried for about 5 minutes. wow!
So after we doctored him up he went down for a nap and Mama decided he needed a new toy. OK, maybe I wanted it!! fine! I'll admit it!!!
I new Target had this little Take Along Farm and it comes with over 60 parts for under $30! It has pigs, cats, bunnies, horses, mice, doves, and a farm family!!! (can you tell I love this?)
He's been playing with it all evening. :)
You should go check out their site, they have some really far out sets, and really reasonably prices to boot.
Check them out here... Playmobil

Here's a link to a list of some of the funnier Playmobil sets at Thingamababy.

My version of a wee folk doll

wee folk doll
Originally uploaded by mama_blueberry.

Here's my try at a wee folk doll from Sally Mavors book called Wee Folk.
I used acorn caps from my mom's front yard.
My maiden name was Oaks and she has 2 large oak trees that flank her drive way. The squirrels have a hay day with all the acorns.
Did you know that Sally Mavor actually has some of her own handcrafted wee folk for sale on her site here?
And their actually pretty affordable!
If I only had some extra cash. yeah right! :o)

Swap treasures

Swap treasures
Originally uploaded by mama_blueberry.

Here are the 4 little babies and crocheted bag that Louise of Prairie Mouse sent me from New Zealand when we did a swap.
Aren't they adorable? I sure think so! You can see more pictures at Flickr here
I send her some Shrinky Dink plastic and a bunch or freezer paper which she can't get there.
Here's a link to her new blog .
See for yourself she's talented beyond belief! xoxo

I am getting a package of goodies rounded up for her as an additional thank you for the little babies, I don't think the shrinky dinks and freezer paper was worthy of such workmanship!
Make sure you check out her new blog, this gal is a treasure!
Love ya Loulou!

Baby girl monster

Baby girl monster
Originally uploaded by mama_blueberry.

Here's a little girl monster that we again found near our home, only this time it was in the wood pile.
She wasn't crying when we found her but she just kept looking up at Jaden with those big blue eyes and grunting like she wanted to be picked up. What were we to do? Just leave her there? Inconcievable!
She was covered with dirt and wood chips so we washed her with dog shampoo and blow dried her and she seemed to be purring so I think she liked it!

This little darling went to live with my neice for her 4th birthday, I think they will get along smashingly!

Self portrait

Self portrait
Originally uploaded by mama_blueberry.

I've been wondering what type of picture to use for my banner, you know, one that shows you who I am but not too distracting.
So I got to thinking what I should do is put on my favorite clothes and snap a picture.
I love over-alls, I know they aren't really the most flattering garments but with all the pockets they really rock! And these are a pair of my favorites, I bought them new and over the years they have became so soft! Then I put on one of my favorite shirts, I like this one because it's such a pritty burnt red color with the little teeny flowers and the little ruffle at the neck! Then of course I had to put in the scissors in the pocket! Well I couln't put the sewing machine in it! :)
Hopefully this get's across who I am.
I'm a strong yet soft person that likes to sew. (don't laugh sis!)
I think I actually managed to not photograph my double chin in this shot too! Gotta love that!

I'm moving to Typepad

Hi Everyone!
I decided I'd take the leap and go on over to Typepad!
I really like Blogger but I think Typepad is a lot easier to work with.
This will be my last post on Blogger so please come over and say hi!
http://blueberrymama.typepad.com/
Julie

Papa rocks shirt

Papa rocks shirt, originally uploaded by mama_blueberry.

Here's a shirt that I just did for my sister to give to her grandson who just turned 1. He loves his Papa!

Adventures of a baby monster

My creation
Originally uploaded by mama_blueberry.

Here is a few of the pictures of the little baby monster we found in the garden under a mushroom. He was crying his eyes out and was groaning for his mama. I think she must have just wandered off and left him.
Such a sad ending it could have been if we hadn't found him in time!!!
Gus and Jaden have taken quite a liking to him and named him Pilcher, luckly he doesn't eat anything but weeds and spiders (2 things I hate!) so he's a very good thing to have around!
We think we might just have to go back and see if we can find some more!

These pictures show Pilcher playing hide and seek with Jaden, stealing a ride on the garden tractor sprinkler, sun bathing in the flowers and his mug shot just in case he get's lost again.

Gus and I

Here's what I did the other morning.
I've heard of Self portrait Tuesdays but I seem to always do this on
Wednesdays!
It was really beautiful in the morning, Gus was his usual smiley face so I thought I'd put on a little makeup and put a little curl in the hair and get Gus dressed and set the timer on the digital camera!
Jaden was still asleep so he didn't get to be in the shot until later and by then it was getting a little hot and he wasn't wanting to be cooperative.
I had told my hubby the night before that I didn't have any pictures of Gus and I except for the one quick shot of me laying in bed with him in my arms right after my C-section! And I had just had my hair done that morning and it had all that gel and hairspray in it and I think I looked pretty bad from laying with a hair cover on for an hour or so.
My hubby said I looked fine but I needed a more vertical picture. :)
It's funny how I take pictures of all my family, and no one takes any of me. I guess that's what I get for living 30 miles from my sisters and in a home with a cowboy and 2 little kids!
Who would take pictures if I wasn't here? NO ONE!
So I guess I just have to set the camera on the timer every now and then and do it myself!
So here ya go... my picture. more to come someday....:)

PS I just noticed that this picture has some strong similarities with my blog photo (minus the flowers in my hair)! Red shirt, child in denim, holding child on left side! I think I need to try something new. :) But those are my favorite colors.

little orange monster puppet

I decided to go on a cleaning spree and ran across this little guy I made a about 6 months ago after watching Potty Time with Bear in the Big Blue House a few times and I really love the otters so I tried my hand at making a puppet.
This one doesn't really have a regular mouth like the professional ones do, it has more of a sock puppet kind of mouth where you just tuck it in and it didn't really want to stay so I sewed a loop of elastic where the mouth is and you slip it on your index finger and there ya go!
He has quite a lot of personality but my 3 yr old seems more interested in his Mater from Pixar's Cars! Oh well. :)

I've started a new Flicker group!

That's right crafty girls!
I thought it might be fun to start a group where everyone can post pictures of all the neat stuff we make for the little ones in our lives.
Handmade clothes (new and altered), stuffies, toys, decorations, accessories and just about anything else!

I'd love to see what you've made!
Crafting for kids Flickr group join here !
please please please please please!

baby crinkle bag toy

baby crinkle bag
Originally uploaded by mama_blueberry.

With Baby Gus really into chewing on stuff I thought I'd make him a little chew toy.
I used some of my treasured Sock Monkey Yearbook fabric on one side and some red polka dot fabric with a big fleece "G", then I put rainbow rickrack and assorted ribbons for different feel and texture and then stuffed it with a big Doritos bag that I previously washed and dried and crammed inside.
I added some rings to it and there ya go! Crinkly and chewable!
A variation of this could be good for kitties too I think.
Can you tell he likes it? I think he does. :)

I also decorated his onesie (suprised?:)
I did tie dye and put a little fleece worm with a bow tie and an orange book.
Reading is good!

Yummy fingers

Gus' new pants

I made Gus some pants today. I was planning on getting a little more fancy but then I decided to at least try the pattern out first.
I've been looking for a pattern with a wider leg and it seems like most patterns have tapered legs.
Well I think this pair turned out pretty cute!
Next I think I'll make a pair of reversable pants so I can turn the cuff up and show a coordinating fabric. Too cute!

fairy shirt

fairy shirt
Originally uploaded by mama_blueberry.

Here's what I did today in about 30 minutes!
I found the stencil image at Stencilry on Live Journal
here's a link...Stencilry
This is addictive! :)

bunny spot

bunny spot
Originally uploaded by mama_blueberry.

This is what you do when you have an annoying little red spot on your arm and a sharpie marker.
Make sure your little kids aren't watching!!!
It is kindof cute!

What I've been doing...

My creation

Click on the images to see a larger picture.

Well, I got all my onesies done and shipped and now my swap stuff done and shipped. Yipee!
Here's the stuff I've been working on for my swap on Craftster!
I got it done rather quickly but I'm very pleased with the results!
In the first photo is a t-shirt fixed to look like Syndrome from the Incredibles with a blue super hero cape!
Originally I thought I would attach the cape, then decided a seperate one would be better for a 3 yr old.
I put the S on with a feezer paper stencil that I free hand drew.

Then I made the little girl a cute little pink and white daisy sundress with flower buttons at the shoulders.
I happened to have a daisy hair clip my sister had crocheted out of embroidery floss that matched just perfectly!
The little mouse is made from furry felt that I had on hand from a free stuffie pattern at Sewing Stars that was super easy to make!
I made it look sleepy so the little recipient might like to take it to "night night" with her. :o)
Last but NOT LEAST....
I was requested to make ID bracelets because they are going international in a few weeks and wanted something in case they God forbid get seperated from Mom.
I used a new Velcro I found and made lables with transfer paper ironed onto muslin and sewn to attach.
As you can see "ID INSIDE" is all that can be seen and the Mothers information is on the inside.
That way if they do get away, the person who picks up the child has to match the name in the ID.
My son thought they were so cool that he wore his for quite a while!
I'm making them for all my family and friends with little ones.
The shoe ID's are just the same but they hook on the buckles or laces of the shoes or just about anywhere you want to hook them.
Do you like the cheesy shoe cards I drew so the Mom would know how they attach? Hey! It get's the point across!:o)

Things are looking up...

They really are. First off my Mother is home from the hospital and starting to walk on her own. I feel so lucky that she's still with us and not in any pain and starting to get some strength back. I love her very very much.

On a little lighter note, I did the craft show at the festival and did pretty good!
It's always nice to get a little money back from all those fabric purchases. :o)
This was really a flea market but there were a few crafters mixed in and I had a pretty good day all together.
I sold lots of onesies and got some orders and gave out a ton of business cards.
Last year was my first show and I was still getting special orders for 9 months after the show! yee haa.
Here's a new picture of my set up, I was getting rather low on merchandise when I snapped this pic. and the wind was blowing hard.
I plan to really revamp my set up and get a book together with onesie sayings that are categorized to help inspire customers.
I asked my husband for some ideas for cowboy sayings and here's what he said..

country boy
chicks dig me
hey ladies...i'm single
I'm up to somethin'
road the horse, won the buckle (my sis said this one)
Aren't those funny? I think so.

I also want to make some sample boards that show some names and initials
and little things that I can embroidery to.
I'll also be offering birth announcement onesies that have the babies info on it and then you can take a pic of your baby in the onesie and send it out with your announcements!

Baby Gus

Dec 29th 2005 3:03pm

8lbs. 7oz. 19in long

(or whatever the people want)

Oh the ideas are just swirling in my head about as fast as the wind outside is!
Now I have to finish my orders (almost done) and get started on my Craftster swap items so I can get to making some cute stuff for my boys and my shows!
I'll be posting my newest creations soon.

I've been busy

I'm sorry for not writing lately.
My Mother has gotten more sick lately, she has lung cancer and she broke her shoulder about 2 weeks ago on the side she writes with and then had chemo which in addition to some other infections made her really sick.
This happened one other time and she ended up in the hospital and we thought it was the end. It was a very sad time, I was 7 months pregnant and the hormones just made me sob whenever I thought about her (which is all the time).
Back in October when we a scare she snapped out of it in a few days so we had hope this time and sure enough she seems to be bouncing back!
Great news!!!
I've always been very close to my Mom so this has been really hard.
She's going on 2 years this summer so we've been very very lucky!
All in all, she isn't in any pain just week in her legs so walking is tricky and she tends to be wobbly.
She went into the hospital the day after Mothers Day so that wasn't good either.
Hopefully her counts will get back up and she can come home by next week.
With her counts (white blood cell counts) being low that means that she can get infections real easy and so they won't allow kids in her room. So I can't stay for long because with me breastfeeding my littlest one I can't leave him at home with Daddy so one of my sisters has to sit out in the waiting room and play with him while I get to see her. Total bummer.

Then I signed up for a craft show to sell my hand crafted baby items at the annual river festival in Wichita and I haven't been very productive.
I don't know why I put everything off 'till the last minute???
Well, today I stitched up 13 onesies so at least I got something done!!!!!
More to stitch tomorrow!
Now if I can just get Baby Gus to let me lay him down without me having to lay down with him. Oh, those 2 hour naps are great but I have things to do!
Good news is that my Hubby doesn't have to work overtime on Saturday so he's agreed to go with me to set up the heavy stuff. This will be the first time I have had to do this with a new baby and pretty much by myself.
He said he'd hang out at the festival and entertain the boys and get me food.
My sisters will be staying with our Mom otherwise they would have been with me.
After the show is over I have a swap on Craftster that I'm doing and then I think I'll start making some things for the boys.
Have a great weekend!!!!

Some of my onesies

Here is a sample of some of the onesies I make to sell at my shows.
They usually go for $8 each.
My first show I made 72 of these and could have easily sold twice that many.
I really enjoy doing the hand embroidery on these, people are surprised when I tell them I do them by hand but it's really rather easy!
I've just discovered lately that holding a baby makes it just a wee bit more of a challenge to get them done as quick as I used to. :)
But babies are only little for a little while, so I guess I'll just have to work them in between kissing my kids.

Superman at 3 years old

I'm really trying to find out what it's going to take to get this little Superman to keep his underwear dry.
Yesterday he wet his underwear so many times I lost count
I was just about in tears.

So I decided to go and get some pull ups and keep setting the timer to take him every 30 min. like I have been doing but just use the pull ups instead of having to wash 15 pairs of underwear. I know I'm a wimp.

When we went to the store to get the pull ups Jaden seen a Superman hat and asked for me to make a cape.
So of course being the crafty mom that I am, I said OK and made this one during nap time.
I told him he can keep his cape as long as his underwear stays dry. We'll see if this works.
I'll have to keep this picture for when he get's married!
bad mama! :)

Evolution

Here's my newest sign that has a little bit of a shabby look going for it.
I decided to scrap the foam core board that I was putting in the middle because quite frankly I couldn't cut it strait.
So this time I printed up the words in rose on card stock in a pretty font and sewed it onto some pink toile with some chenille with pom pom accents and a little pink button.
Sewed it to a layer of batting and more toile and then used the pinking sheers to go around the edge.
I think this turned out nicer then the first.
And besides it's more of my design.
Now I need to get more made for the shows!

Shh...baby sleeping

Well the other day I was looking through the American Baby magazine and seen an article about getting your baby to sleep and seen a little sign that inspired this one.
I'm fortunate that for now baby Gus sleeps most of the night only waking to nurse and Jaden sleeps all night. It's a good thing.
Anyhoo... I thought I would make some of these signs to see how they sell at my shows because they're really fun and quick to whip up.
Sorry for the grayness but it's rather cloudy out but I really wanted to share. :)

Thrift store score

I took the kids to the little local thrift store today with wool sweaters on my list to make cloth diaper wool wraps.
And guess what? I couldn't find any so I asked the lady working and she went in the back and brought out a tub of winter clothes and I found 3 100% lambs wool sweaters!!! score!
I'm washing them right now in hot water to make them full down.
I've never made or used cloth diapers before but I have lots of stuff to make them with and I could really use the extra $$$ that disposable diapers are costing us and then there are the ecological reasons.
Then I found this adorable mug! Isn't this cute? And so close the Mothers Day. Sweet.

Oh and I have to mention the GAP jeans for Gus in mint condition for just 50 cents! score!

Wash rag bunny

Baby Gus really likes to pull his burp cloth up to his mouth and chew on it so I thought I would make him something to chew on!
I made a tutorial over on Craftster a while back on how to make a Gnome out of a couple of wash clothes and I thought I would make a bunny also.
This is one of those things that little babies really like and you can make it into just about any caracture you want... puppy, kitten, bunny, gnome, baby you name it!
Heres a link to the gnome tutorial. enjoy. Let me know if you would like the information on making it into a bunny. :)

Potty training

So I have this cute little guy who just turned 3 and still wears diapers.
His Mom is a weenie! pure and simple! I tried to do the potty training thing a couple of weeks ago and all it seemed like I was doing was being a puppeteer by taking Jaden to the bathroom every 45 min to an hour and spending at least 30 min each time trying to get him to actually go, THEN I basically give up and have him get up and put his pants on and then 5 min later he either wets or worse. that was the game we played for a week and a half.
So I decided to give up and give us both a break and go back to diapers. I admit it I'm a failure.
I just get very irritable having to sit in the bathroom for 30 min all day long and then still have to clean up the floor so for my own sanity I stopped.

I decided to start again but this time I bought some training pants that have vinyl covers sewn on them and that holds a little more then just training pants alone.
We've had a pretty good day today, he actually asked to go potty during his nap and went yuckypoo!!! This was the first time in about 7 months since he's done a yuckypoo in the potty!!!
Yipee! We do a dance after he finishes singing a made up song about going potty.
I decided not to sit in the bathroom too! I have a good view from the living room and I think that's a little motivation to get done a little quicker.
I read somewhere that at the age of 3 if a child isn't trained it's a matter of will not skill.
That got me thinking we needed to get started again.
Plus Jaden has really started talking more in sentences and we actually have conversations so I think this little guy is playin his Mama!!!
Wouldn't getting potty trained be about the best Mothers Day present a 3 year old could give his dear sweet Mama? I THINK SO!!! xoxo
I love you Jaden! Keep up the great progress!!!

Freezer paper stencils....

Well like most everyone else I too have got on the addictive bandwagon called freezer paper stenciling. :oD
I have to say that it is really fun and easy to do.
I first got inspired over by Amy over at angry chicken when I read her blog and she showed some of the shirts she made for her little girl. Tooooo cute!
I had already checked out Craftster but didn't act on it until I was re-inspired.
Well without further adoo...

Jaden seemed to like the shirt well enough, I think I should have put the stencil of the little gnome and muchrooms on a shirt for me, besides I'm the one that loves gnomes so much.

I drew it myself with a little bit of inspiration from a cookie cutter that I recieved from my sis for Christmas. I first drew it on paper then drew it on the computer.

Now what should I make next?

Link of the day....

Jan Andreas' Sleeping Baby

What's nice about this site is it gives you instructions for lots of popular baby items that you can make yourself at a fraction of the cost!
I like the baby slings and the breastfeeding shirts instructions.

Lots of good information

I have a new mini van!

I hope everyone had a happy Easter!
We did alot of driving both Saturday and Sunday going to the 2 different sides of the family to visit.
It's nice to see people you don't usually get to see.
Something else that happened was we purchased a new mini van!
We got an '06 Dodge Grand Caravan SXT so we now have enough room to put 3 extra people in the car if we need.
My mother has lung cancer and she stays with us half of the week (the other days with my other sisters) and we were driving a Pontiac Vibe and it was just big enough for 2 adults and 2 car seats, I guess you could fit a 10 yr old in between the car seats but that was about it, so when the hubby and I and my mother decided to go out to eat, we had to drive 2 cars!

I really liked my Vibe it was little sporty and blue, that's where I got the idea for my business name. We always called it the Blueberry and I'm the mama that drives it so therefor I was Blueberry Mama.

Now what do I do? This new van is twice as big and gold (so the dirt don't show:)
I think I'll just stay Blueberry Mama. :o)
The new van has stow and go seating so I will be all ready for craft shows this year!!! yipee!!!!!!
In the past I've had to depend on others to help me get all my stuff to the shows but not now.
I will have to take baby Gus this year, ya know with me breastfeeding and all.
I don't mind, he's going to be my little display model.
What better sales booster then a little adorable baby in one of my hand embroidered onesie?

I can't think of one single thing better then that! :o) xoxoxo

Link of the day...

Giddy Giddy Hair Clips

So adorable I think I need one to help me get through growing my bangs out.

Silly Mama!

Introducing Groucho at 3 months!

Keep checking back for the upcoming family portrait. he he he!

See! He really didn't mind mama having a little fun. :0)

Use what you have month

April is use what I have month ! Started over at Simple Sparrow and I think this is going to be great and a bit of a challenge and she designed this recycle symbol with fabric patterns.
Adorable!
Friday I went into town and stopped at Hancocks and picked up some patterns, one for baby shoes and one for some cropped pants for Jaden. I'm thinking of making some reversable pants but I don't have that large of quantity of any one fabric so I just might have to wait. bum.
But on a happier note... I have tons of fabric I can use to make just about anything that requires 1/2 yard of fabric or less. I think I could make baby Gus some pants though. ;o)
Have a breautiful Saturday!

Link of the day...

Kokoleo
http://www.kokoleo.com/

KB VanHorn makes the cutest banners and pillows for your kids with their names on them.
She also makes lots of other cute baby and little kid stuff.
Check her out!

Happy Birthday Sweetie!

Can it really be 3 years since you were born?

Today was a beautiful day for a birthday, we started off with some brand new Toy Story dolls that I got on Ebay that were originally from Burger King that you paid extra for but of course that was 10 years ago so I had to try Ebay and lucked out and got Buz,Woody,Hamm and Rex they're all puppet dolls so that was kindof neat. I let him open them first thing and then put the movie on.

I'm making him a Woody's Roundup themed birthday party for the family with cowboy stuff and the Toy Story carictures. I'm making him a cow print vest and a red bandana just like Woody! He already has the boots and hat. Well he IS a cowboy after all.

We went into Wichita (20 min away) to see Grammie, Aunt Joni and my niece Amanda and her little boy Ryland and we all went to IHOP because Grammie thinks it is the only place to go right now so we humor her. :o) (but oh yum! pancakes!)

Jaden had pancakes with whipped cream, sausage and bacon of which he dipped in the whipped cream. That's right sausage and bacon in whip cream!!! Apperantly it's quite delicious!

The picture in this post is from when Jaden was about 1 1/2 and I let him climb on the fence to the horse arena. He is an adorable kid!

Happy 3 rd Birthday Jaden!!!

Mama loves you with all my heart!!!!

Tag you're it!

Here are some tags that I made the other day!
I think they turned out kind of nice, they have a laminated fabric feel and they washed up really well also!
Here is a picture of the tags after I made and cut them.
Sorry about the dim light but it's late and dark and I just couldn't wait to share!

I plan to use these on my sewn items that I sell on Etsy.com and craft shows.
I thought some for the kids clothes will be cute too.
I don't think I like the pinked edge for comfort on baby items so I'll probably make more with a strait edge.

Now you ask "How'd you do that?
Well.... I used iron on transfers for t-shirts and ironed them on a light weight gingham fabric and cut them out! Yes it was that easy!
Just make sure when you make your own, you reverse the image when you get ready to print or you'll have reverse images on your tag! (no I didn't do that this time!)
I also used a return address label making program so I only had to type the information once and it printed 30 on one sheet!
But I plan to make an assortment of tags that I can sew in my kids clothes, because have you ever looked at the pre-made ones at the fabric stores? UGLY!!!!
Wouldn't "Mama's little Monkey" look cute?
I'll post some more when I get them made.

My BIG 3 year old!

My oldest son Jaden is turning 3 on the 31st and it's so cool how
I can actually understand what he's saying, at least most of the time. *grin*
He is such a sweetheart! I love you sweetie!

Link of the day!

Here is a cool site that I ran across the other day, it makes me hungry!
Totally adorable polymer clay cupcake necklaces and other yummies.

Pancake Meow

What an angel!!!

I got out the camera and angel wings today and this is what I did...
Mr. Baby Gus is just about 3 months and quite the charmer!
Can you see the little wings?
I really love this little guy to pieces. xoxoxo
This is what bein' a mama is all about.

My new logo...

I was fiddeling around and came up with this today... I love dots! ;)

This is my new little man...Gus

Here he is!!!!
Jacob Augustus "Baby Gus" for short.
He came into the world on December 29th 2005
at 3:03pm by c-section weighting in at 8lbs 7oz and 19inches long. What a sweetie!
I had went in for a sono at 1:00pm and the tech thought he wasn't moving enough (not at all) but all the other stuff was fine so she called the doctor up stairs in his office and they sent us up and by 3 I was a mama again!
It was really fast! I was kind of worried because my sister and mom wasn't there and we had our 2 year old with us!
They ended up having a nurse play with him so daddy could be in the room. My sis and mom showed up about 10 minutes later. whew!
I had a regular vaginal birth with my first son and so this was into the unknown again!
Gotta go... Gus is crying. ;)

Craft show set up

Here's a photo of my booth at one of the last shows I was in back in Nov. 05.

I was getting kind of big in my pregnancy and decided I needed to quit for a while. Man...sitting on a bar stool for 8 hours is ruff on pregnant legs! ;)

See my display idea to show off my onesies? It's like something you would hang a regular tshirt on but I slide a onesie on each arm and it's really cool because it draws my onesies up to eye level and really makes people come into my booth.

It took me a couple of sleepless nights to come up with a good display idea that wasn't too heavy and that I could make myself and carry easy. If anyone want's a closer look I can take some pictures.

If the weather clears up sometime and I can take pictures, I plan to post how I package my onesies. Pretty cool I think.......

I've been gone for a while...

I'm sorry about being gone for so long, but with a new little baby in my arms and a active soon to be 3 year old, I seem to just get behind.

I plan to start using my idle time a little (hopefully!)better.

This weekend I'm doing a little open house show in my little town, where the local realtor has 6 homes open and has a few vendors in each house.

The majority of vendors are home parties like Stampin' Up! and skin care products etc...
So to say the least I am an original!
I hand embroider onesies with little sayings like stinky butt, mama's boy and the list goes on ans on.
You can see some of my saying at my web site www.blueberrymama.com .
The average onesie is $5 but some are a little more if there's lots of writing.
If anyones interested drop me an email.

I'm trying to upload some pictures but I'm having some difficulty for some reason....hum...
I know I'm not dence but something isn't working.

Soon I plan to start showing off some of my creations (crafts and kids) so you can see what makes me tick...

Baby Gus' Halloween Costume 2006

Baby Gus Halloween 2006, originally uploaded by mama_blueberry.

Well, I made Jaden a costume last year that's an adorable puppy outfit (pic coming soon!) and at the time I was well over 7 months pg and my mom was in the hospital so after visiting her in town I ended up not feeling up to taking Jaden trick or treating, I know bad mama but he was just little enough that he didn't mind and really didn't need that kind of quantities of candy, and mama and daddy didn't either! LOL.
Anyway, I took Jaden this year to a couple of different Halloween activities and I was just putting Gus in some store bought costumes that Grandma CJ had bought Jaden for his first Halloween, there was a clown, dalmatian, bumble bee and a chili pepper.
I felt like I was kind of giving Gus the slip on his first Halloween and being that he's so cute and he has a mama that can sew I thought I should step up and do something.
Don't get me wrong, I'm totally cool with store bought or hand me down costumes but I had everything in the house so I sat down Saturday morning and got my furry felt out I didn't have a pattern, I guess I've made a few too many stuffed animals in my time so I just winged it and this is what I came up with!
I call him Blue Jean Teddy!
I started with the hat first then I got to thinking about how to make feet with little bear toenails and after I made those and put it all on Gus, Jaden said "you have to make him paws!" so knowing how little ones don't like there hands covered, I devised a wristband with a little paw on it. All in all it took me maybe 1 hour to make and I didn't have to rip anything! It felt like this was the 100 bear costume I had made....smooth sewing, rather strange if you ask me.
I guess the Halloween costume fairies were watching over me that morning! HA!
He doesn't even mind wearing the whole contraption!
I just have to give him something to play with when I put it on and he leaves it on. What a sweetie!