Blog a la Cart

Paper Towel Stars

Talk about simple upcycling! Slice up a paper towel or toilet paper roll and you’ve got yourself a glittery, star ornament!

Week 15

This post is behind. While the photos were taken on time, I didn’t get around to editing and processing them until today. Primarily because James and I have turned into nocturnal beings to accommodate Courtland’s new and wildly inconvenient sleep schedule. The kid likes to be awake from 3am-6am. Which is awesome when Sunny awakes at 7:30am. Especially on mornings like today when she not only awakes at that hour, but does so with feces-filled underwear.

Her potty training has regressed since she started school last Monday, so I began my Sunday morning by reenacting Hansel & Gretel, except not with bread crumbs. And Courtland, well, I don’t know why we’re having the sleep regression. I blame the horribly stuffy nose that she’s had for going on 3 weeks. This causes her to wake in fury because she cannot inhale without sounding like a stampede of wild boar.

It’s pretty gnarly around these parts. But we’ve got wicked Christmas cheer to help get us through. And a baby on the brink of rolling over, which makes this series simultaneously harder and more entertaining than ever to capture.

Courtland: 15 weeks
Addison: 30 months

Crochet Candy Cane

Sunny is absolutely obsessed with candy canes. Problem is, she would rather eat them than look at them hanging on our tree and I can only handle so much sticky toddler in my life.

To solve the problem, I whipped up this crochet candy cane last night while watching marathon episodes of Gossip Girl. I’m only mildly ashamed to admit that this is how I spent my Friday evening.

Use the video tutorial below to make some for your tree!

Gift Bow Hair Bow

Talk about a fun way to jazz up an outfit for the holidays! I scooped up some fun, glittery ribbon in Sunny’s favorite color, made a gift bow, attached a pin and a bobbie pin, and VOILA! DIY HAIR BOW GIFT BOW. We’re cute enough to give as presents, eh?

I cannot stop watching this.

This video is priceless for so many reasons, not the least of which is Addison, sans culottes, calling James, James. I particularly love her pronunciation of the name.

I’ve rewound the moment when she sternly declares, “I get to call you James” at least a hundred times. Ah-mazing.

Baby Sock Advent Calendar

Happy December! Happy advent calendar! Because, to be honest, that’s my favorite part of the Christmas season, turning back a flap of the calendar each day of the month to reveal a fun surprise. Ah the simple pleasures and joys of the holidays!

To keep up this tradition chez Cart, I decided to merge my love of the advent calendar and baby clothes nz. I had accumulated a pile of now-too-small baby clothes, and among the heap was a slew of itty bitty baby socks. I’m such a sucker for baby socks and shoes and decided that rather than pack them away, I should repurpose them to enjoy for years to come. Thus, the Baby Sock Advent Calendar was born.

I simply selected 12 pairs of socks and ironed fabric transfers with numbers 1-24 onto each one. The font I used is called Ribbon (it’s free! Yay!).

You could also do this with baby mittens! And if you were handy with a needle, you could embroider the numbers on each sock or mitten. The possibilities are endless.

I strung the socks from a simple, white line and used mini-clothespins to secure. I stuffed each little sock with goodies for my toddler to discover from now until Christmas Eve. Everything from stickers, to ChapStick, to toy cars, to toothbrushes, to Hershey’s kisses.

Best of all, I’ll be able to reuse this calendar every year, filling it with sweet surprises for my girls as a yearly Cart Family tradition. And I’ll get to enjoy these tiny baby socks and mourn the onslaught of time. How is it possible that their feet ever fit into such tininess?