DIY seat cushion and back

Our nursery is coming together.  I've taken a two week sabbatical from this blog to get things in order.  I spent quite a bit of time visiting family for baby showers then this week was busy washing and hanging up baby clothes.  We sure do have a lot of pink!

One of the most special elements in baby's room is a rocking chair from Brandon's grandparents.  Brandon's grandpa has a special talent for canning.  He has canned thousands of rocking chair seats and backs.  I love this rocking chair because of its sentimental reasons.  However, I know I'll be spending a lot of time in this chair and its a bit hard.  So I decided we need to make a seat cushion and while we were at it... a back.

I am a huge fan of Eric Carle and Leo Lionni sketches.  And when I found this fabric at IKEA I thought "BINGO!"  So I bought 2 meters at $6.99/meter.

Basically, to begin you will need to make a pattern.  I used drafting paper because that is what I had on hand.  You can use parchment paper, tracing paper or anything else translucent.  Just draw out your the shape of the seat and cut out.  It was easiest for me to draw one side.  Fold the paper in half and cut out the pattern.  This way the sides were completely equal.

Next lay out the pattern over the fabric.  Pin the pattern to the fabric.  Before cutting, you'll need to leave 5/6" extra around the outside.  This will be enough space so you can get that nice "poof" to your seat.  You'll need to cut out a bottom and a top for the seat.  Next, place the right sides of the fabric together and sew the outer edge.  (I recommend a sewing machine for this)  Leave enough of an opening so you can get your hand in and stuff.  Next, bring the fabric right side out.  You can now stuff and sew up the hole by hand.

If you want to add ties you'll need to cut out a large strip and sew up the one side.  You'll also need to pin this to the wrong side of the fabric before you sew the top and bottom together.  If you forget, you can always just sew the ties to the bottom of the seat.

{before}

{after}

recipe of the week: oatmeal raisin cookies

My husband told me earlier this week that we don't have any food in the house.  I thought maybe it was time to bake something... spice up our life a little.  I realized I had a whole tub of raisins and a box of rolled oats.  These need to be eaten!

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

{the goods}
**I doubled these ingredients
1/2 cup (1 stick or 4 ounces) butter, softened
2/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
**I used 1 tsp cinnamon and 1 tsp of nutmeg.  I love nutmeg.
1/4 teaspoon salt (I often use a half teaspoon, but I like more salt in my baked goods)
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
3/4 cup raisins
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped (optional)


{let the baking being}
In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, egg and vanilla until smooth. In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt together. Stir this into the butter/sugar mixture. Stir in the oats, raisins and walnuts, if using them.

At this point you can either chill the dough for a bit in the fridge and then scoop it, or scoop the cookies onto a sheet and then chill the whole tray before baking them. You could also bake them right away, if you’re impatient, but I do find that they end up slightly less thick.  While dough chills preheat oven to 350 deg.

The cookies should be two inches apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet. (**I hate parchment paper so I just sprayed the sheets with a little cooking spray) Bake them for 10 to 12 minutes (your baking time will vary, depending on your oven and how cold the cookies were going in), taking them out when golden at the edges but still a little undercooked-looking on top. Let them sit on the hot baking sheet for five minutes before transferring them to a rack to cool.

--smitten kitchen

boiler up - bear down

We are finally representing our true pride all the way up in central Alberta.  We are anxiously awaiting the arrival of football season.

easter weekend getaway

The hubs and I were able to get away this past weekend for an overnight stay at a nearby lake.  Grant it, there is still snow on the ground so we didn't any boating... or fishing... or basking on the beach.  But it was a nice relaxing weekend.  Well, relaxing except for the momma moose and baby moose we met on one of the trails!  We were walking in the afternoon on one of the trails.  We were the only ones in the park so it was very quiet.  All of a sudden I noticed a small moose in front of us on the trail.  We stopped and I took a picture.

Then out of nowhere momma moose emerged from the woods and stood guard in front of baby.  It was a scary moment because she really startled us.  If you have never seen a moose up close they are huge!  At least 3 times the size of a horse.  I wish these pictures were zoomed in a little more but we were testing our new SLR camera this weekend and I am of course a beginner.

Luckily, everything was ok.  We were kind of worried about the pup and what he would do but he was just as frozen as us.  We stepped off the trail and moved around mom and babe and everything was fine.  The rest of the weekend was much less eventful.

for the love of a motif

I posted some about patterns a few weeks ago when I started looking at DIY rug inspirations.  I was obsessed with chevrons back in the fall and now it seems my obsession with patterns is turning toward the motif look.  This has been around forever so I'm not sure why I'm suddenly drooling over them.  Here are a few of my favorites for the time being...

{west elm}

{west elm}

{allmodern}

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

{allmodern}

 

 

 

 

 

 

{zgallerie}

 

 

{zgallerie}

read of the week: bringing up bebe

I saw Pamela Druckerman on the Today show promoting her new book, Bringing Up Bebe: One American Mother Discovers the Art of French Parenting.  It sounded really interesting so I immediately put it on hold at the library. 

Summary of the story is a lady falls in love with a foreigner and ends up moving across the Atlantic to be with him.  They get married and end up living in Paris.  She explains the difficulties meeting other ladies and all around adjusting to life internationally.  Then comes baby.  She compares french parenting to american parenting and trying to fit in french while still holding on to her american roots.  French babies are not picky like American babies.  The restaurants do not have kid menus full of chicken tenders and mac n cheese.  French babies "do their nights" very early on where some American babies don't sleep all night until they are almost 2.  Since, I also live internationally and am expecting a baby I thought this book was really interesting.  Of course Canada is nothing like France.  Canadians share a lot of the same values and parenting ideals that Americans do.  However, living very far away from everything you know does bring on a challenge.  I also got a few french parenting tips out of this book that I think will be very useful.

just a typical snowy day at the shanks household

We are still trying to get our almost 3 year old airedale used to having a backyard.  Of the 5 places he has lived he has never had a backyard.  We thought he'd love it and we would love it as well.  We could just push him out there and he'd keep himself occupied for hours on end.  WRONG!  Well for now at least.  There is still snow on the ground and he is a muddy mess if he is out there for more than 20 minutes.  I also feel bad pushing him out there when its only 30 degrees outside.

So here we are... longingly looking outside.  Maybe I'll let him out.  Looks like he wants to go out.  (Note the large tote of toys behind him.  Spoiled much?)

5 minutes later I come back to the door and see his little face all covered with snow.  He isn't thrilled to be outside.  He is even less thrilled that he is outside alone.  I decide to see if he'll give up begging to come in and hang outside for a few more minutes.

 

One minute later I hear excessive barking and tapping on the door.  He is clearly not happy to be outside and is now demanding to come in.  

 

This will continue all day everyday.  Welcome to our lives at the Shanks house.