Pack n Play makeover

I finished this long ago, but haven't been able to get a good photo of the finished product. Oh well, here are some bad ones:






The reality of my life is that using a pack n play full time is a much better idea than just for when we travel, since we have to travel a lot. Its better to just use it exclusively and its one less adjustment for the baby. But I really could not look at this pack n play for another 2 years. I thought I would spruce it up a bit, a make it a little more homey. This is handed down from my brother and sister-in-law, and we our getting our miles out of it for sure. In reality when we are done with it, it will still be around Chiang Mai for another 10 years because everyone is always looking for a pack n play here.

Waiting around

So today is my due date and... nothing. I am just taking it easy. I can't even sew much because sitting at the table hurts my stomach. We have been baking chocolately things lately, and enjoying the last few showers of rainy season. We made caramel yesterday and dipped lots of apples into it-our tribute to fall in America. Here are a few more things I made that I thought I wouldn't get to make, but the baby hasn't made an appearance yet, so these were sewn in 10 minute increments since that's about how long I can sit and sew. Some burp cloths with my last bit of fancy designer fabric. I really stretched that yard and a half I bought!

A skirt I made for Eliza. She wasn't being a very cooperative model! The bottom layer is actually an amazing scarf I bought at the market, I thought it would be pretty in the skirt.

And a butterfly shirt. After I finished Eliza said it was ugly and that we should give it to her friend. She is so particular about her clothes these days.

More Experiments

A mosquito net for the carrier, my friend has one of these. I thought it would be good to go ahead and make one. The mosquitoes are really bad this year, so many people got Dengue Fever this year- in the city! It was quite easy to make, but hemming this material is definitely tricky!


I made this mobile. I wanted to make it like a cone, but it turned out looking like a Hershey's kiss-haha. I bought these little animals to make a mobile for Eliza before she was born, whoops. They are from McDonalds I bought them during Chinese New Year they had an animal for each year. That's why there is a chicken, sheep, cow and monkey, yes the monkey doesn't really fit, but it was way cuter than the rat.

Burp cloths and baby blankets

I think I have posted almost everything now.Some burp cloths for a friend. Easy and quick.

And some blankets for baby #2. This is one side...

... and the other. ( I made one like this for Bethany, but no ruffles this time.)
And another back...
and front (and wrinkled).
And one more back...
and front. Still twiddling my thumbs until the baby comes. She has to wait at least until Saturday. Our friends that will watch Eliza are out of town until then.

Trashy Baby

This was what I was most excited about making for baby #2. Micah had to help me balance it a bit. This mobile is made from drink lids, canned good lids, toilet paper rolls (the flowers), beads from around the house, some foam shapes I cut out, and some random wood from Micah's stash. I totally copied the idea from the plumpudding blog (http://myplumpudding.blogspot.com/2008/06/mobiles.html). She is amazing, and she works with felt a lot too. She keeps a lot of "trash," to use for crafts and she has made some great stuff. This craft is especially great because I try not to throw too much stuff away.


Not because I am some great environmentalist, but when you live here you are judged for every piece of trash you throw away. The trash cans in my neighborhood are like the town hall. EVERYONE goes through the trash. And no one throws anything away. My landlord has every empty can/bucket of paint she has ever bought sitting in her yard. There is a big yellow barrell in our yard that I hate but fear what would ever happen if I removed it from the yard. After Eliza's birthday party I actually bagged up all the trash from the presents and was going to take it to another dumpster in town because I knew I would get a battery of questions from people in my neighborhood, but Micah beat me too it and took the trash to our cans. And oh did the questions fly. I hate when we get pizza because everyone will eventually see the box and discuss how we had pizza for dinner. I also hate throwing out a rotting vegetable or two because everyone will discuss how rich we are to be able to buy vegetables and forget about them and simply toss them. And oh what about the time I was scolded for throwing out the apple peels when I was making my friend an apple pie. What a waste, she said. I am telling you, it messes with your mind.
And here is picture of me from last night. 38 weeks, there is no more room in there. I am ready to sink back into non-pregnant oblivion. I can hardly take the gasps from the tiny people I pass on the street when they see this huge woman coming at them. (Since I already tower over most of the women being 5'5" and all, the belly is just too much for them.)

Little things

I have made so much baby stuff buy I am slow to post it. Here are a few more things:
Bitty booties, that still need some threads trimmed.


This was Eliza's outfit, it had a picture of a bear on the shirt that always bothered me since its obviously a bee outfit, so I did a little work. I feel like this is turning into a baby craft blog and it isn't very expatish. I am nearly done with everything so maybe we can become more well rounded soon.

I have been as sick as a dog for almost 2 weeks now. A cold that won't stop which we picked up from Eliza's preschool and I got food poisoning last week. Now I have an ear infection so my doctor told me to go get some drugs this morning. I love that I don't need a written prescription here, she just told me the dosage and everything over the phone and I bellied up to the bar myself and bought it all. (I normally would go get checked out, but this is my gazillionth ear infection, so I can tell its the real thing.) Hopefully baby waits to come until my cold is cleared up.

My House part 2

Here are few shots from our room. I forgot to take pictures of our bed, oh well. I still need to take pictures of the baby's corner too. But we really like the color of our walls. I love almost all shades of blue, so it isn't hard to pick out blues.

My window with some curtains I just finished.

Our rented chair, it came with the house, it is comfy but HIDEOUS. I had to make a little throw for it and a pillow. I had to make a cozy spot where I will soon spend many nights for all the late feedings. I could never get the hang of feeding in bed. Still searching for some sort of footstool... The little table is from the second hand market, but it is another thing we adopted when friends moved away. It is cute and old. I am thinking of painting it. I wanted a bright color but maybe just white, or a whitewash.

And this is the beast. I just got this for my birthday from Micah. It is super old from the second hand market. It is a big, beautiful dresser. I have NEVER had a dresser as long as I have lived here, most people get by with those plastic drawers, so this is definitely special. Micah sanded and stained it. When I found it at the market is was gross, unstained and COVERED in dried mud, and it was beautiful.