Heidi @ Honeybear Lane | HoneyBear Lane

Weigh-in Wednesday #7: So. Very. Tired.

February 21, 2012 By Heidi @ Honeybear Lane 5 Comments

I think I might be missing that part of my brain that tells me to stop eating dessert. And hence, no weight loss this week. Actually, I haven’t been trying to lose weight the last few weeks because I’ve been trying to figure out how to get my milk supply up. Monday was an all-time low. I thought I’d figured it out with Powerade and Fenugreek. But Monday there was almost no milk, all day. And it was a very hard day.

I was talking to my sister and she mentioned that her biggest milk-killer was not getting enough sleep. And Saturday night I’d gone to bed at 2:30 am. So Monday night I went to bed earlier and the next day my supply was fine. But last night E woke up at 4 am, then 5, 6, and 7. And I dwindled again today. Sigh.

So. Very. Tired.

Click for Source

New plan: go to bed by 11 every night.

Other new plans: I’m starting up Weight Watchers again this week and continuing with the Powerade and Fenugreek. And now that my hubby’s darn Board exam is over (today!!) I am going to start running early in the morning a few times a week.

I’ve also been experimenting with different bottles, trying desperately to get E to start drinking from them. I tried a Playtex Nurser, which she liked the nipple, but not the flow. Those are the ‘drop-ins’ kind with the plastic bag and it makes the flow different than a normal bottle. She got frustrated with it. Then I tried the Avent because the nipple shape was similar to the Nurser and she took to it! She drank almost the whole thing.

Okay, I’m off to bed.

Share and Enjoy

Filed Under: breastfeeding, Uncategorized, weight loss Tagged With: motherhood, Weight Loss

Make a Colorful Planked Sign

February 21, 2012 By Heidi @ Honeybear Lane 5 Comments

I am guest posting at Kristen Duke Photography today as part of her Decorating with Portraits series. Definitely go check it out, the whole series is so fun!

In the meantime, I wanna show you this sign I made:

I just finished re-doing my dining room gallery wall. Before was a sad story…black, black, black. And outdated pictures.

I was sick to death of the black frames I had for years and wanted to infuse this wall with lots of color and brightness. So I sprayed the frames green and glazed them with dark brown to give it an aged look. Then I took my kids outside and did some pictures. I love how the color pictures look in the bright color frames. And yes, I did coordinate my baby girl’s outfit to go with the colors. Haha.

The instructions on how to make this type of sign is very straight forward. I used some old planks I had leftover from another project. I mixed acrylic paints to get the right colors and painted them. And I distressed them a little by rubbing the planks together on the edges.

I picked this super cute quote from Winnie the Pooh because it reminded me of childhood and it was so sweet. I cut out a stencil in my Silhouette and here are my tips:

1) You might want to use contact paper but if it’s clear, don’t do it! It’s really hard to see when you put it on the wood and near impossible to get it straight. That’s why the word ‘day’ is crooked…because I used my clear contact paper first. Once I switched to black vinyl it was a zillion times easier.

2) Trim the vinyl on a paper cutter so you can line it up along the bottom or top. That’s how you can keep all the words straight. I wish I’d known all this stuff when I started. Maybe I wouldn’t have stayed up till 2:30 am finishing.

3) When you paint the stencil, use the blotting method rather than back and forth strokes. And then remove the stencil before the paint has dried.

To get all the planks together, I just super glued them. And I used a wire thing for a hanger. If that’s vague enough for ya.

Linking up to:
Blue Cricket Design
Organize and Decorate Everything

Share and Enjoy

Filed Under: home decor, Uncategorized Tagged With: craft, Home Decor, Painting, slider

St. Patrick’s Day Printable- an Irish Blessing

February 20, 2012 By Heidi @ Honeybear Lane 6 Comments

My kids are sick. Possibly with Pinkeye. So I am busy Lysol-ing and sanitizing everything in sight so my baby doesn’t get it. In the meantime, here’s a St. Pat’s day printable for ya.

Click and drag to copy. This is sized to an 8×10.

Share and Enjoy

Filed Under: printable, st patricks day crafts Tagged With: Holiday, Printable, slider, St. Patricks Day

Rope Wreath Tutorial

February 17, 2012 By Heidi @ Honeybear Lane 6 Comments

I had this old yarn wreath lying around FOREVER but it was broken. So the other day I was eating my Lean Cuisine and looking at the wreath and this bundle of sisal rope I’d also had forever. So in the next ten minutes, I scratched up my hands and made this.

I know it’s a bit early for this type of summery decor, but remember where I live, this is the best weather I get. Plus I love sisal and beachy stuff. In case you hadn’t figured that out yet. I really like it!

This is pretty straightforward. My photo tutorial has two pictures because it’s so easy, I didn’t want to insult your intelligence.

Start out with a foam ring and some rope. I started the rope by hot glueing it down.

Then I began the wrapping. It was like putting lights on a Christmas tree…a lot of awkward looping and I got scratched a lot. The weirdest thing was that even though I was pulling the rope tight, it started to slant instead of being straight up and down. And as it went along, it was even more slanty. So to fix this problem, I just spaced the rope out a little more. It didn’t look quite as tight as I’d like, but I didn’t really care.

To end it I just cut the rope off where I’d started and hot glued it again. And the white fabric is just strips that I wrapped around and pinned.

Linking up at:
Lolly Jane Boutique
Blue Cricket Design
Organize and Decorate Everything

Share and Enjoy

Filed Under: home decor Tagged With: craft, Home Decor, slider

Weigh-In Wednesday #6

February 15, 2012 By Heidi @ Honeybear Lane 38 Comments

Did I weigh myself this week? Yes. Did I do Weight Watchers this week? No. Did I lose weight? Um…yes. Weird.

So I’m finding that I’m SLOWLY losing weight no matter what I do. I follow all my points to a T and I lose a pound. Then I throw caution into the wind and eat like a pig and lose a pound. Huh.

On another note, I’m having milk supply problems. After I weaned her from the shield, my supply got better and I didn’t have to supplement anymore. But no matter what I did, I never really made much milk in the evening, for her last feeding before bed. So I would try to give her a bottle. But suddenly my fastidious baby turns up her nose at bottles. The same baby who drank bottles just fine a month ago. And even still she will take a bottle in the middle of the night. So I nurse her anyway so she can comfort herself but I always worry that she is still hungry.

But now my milk starts dwindling in the early afternoon. Thanks to my advisory board (also known as the Honeybear Lane Facebook Page) I am now taking Fenugreek and Mother’s Milk herbal tea. I’ve only taken it for a day, so I’m hoping it helps. For those of you who have taken these supplements, how long does it take for them to start working? And how much does it really help?

Share and Enjoy

Filed Under: baby, breastfeeding, weight loss Tagged With: baby, motherhood, Weight Loss

If You Get Eaten By a T-Rex, I Will Miss You

February 14, 2012 By Heidi @ Honeybear Lane 3 Comments

There are many kinds of love.

Some love dies away slowly and some is eternal.

There is the undying love that a mother has for her children. The kind that makes you want to squeeze your little ones tight and never let them go and kiss them a hundred times over.

There is the love that a man has for TV.

There is the love that a woman has for chocolate.

There is the love for nature, for the beach or the mountains…the feeling that the earth can bring you of being one with yourself.

There is the love that one has for their passion, the thing that drives them…whether it is their career or creativity.

There’s the love that you have for your family and friends…the kind that is always there, steady and even…even during those times when you might not like them so much.

There is the kind of love that you have when you are 16, when you think you are in love…the kind where you love to say “I love you” just because it’s new and fun and you hold hands even when you are driving and he is in the back seat.

There’s the kind of love that you have when you truly fall for the first time, even against your better judgement and you are deliriously happy until one heartbreaking day when it’s all over and gone, as quickly as it came.

There’s the kind of love that you are unsure of, that you don’t know whether or not it’s real and you never really got to find out if it was.

There’s the love that grows over time with friendship, you spend so much time together and one day you realize you can’t live without him.

There’s the love that comes out of nowhere, when you realize you’ve met The One who will make you feel loved, special, and safe for the rest of your life. The one who sees into your heart and knows you are so much more than a pretty face.

And there’s the love that accepts you at all times, even when you are wearing sweaty pjs with holes and food on them, bed hair and glasses. And even when you fart.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Share and Enjoy

Filed Under: valentines day love story Tagged With: Personal, Valentines

Basketweave Quilt Pattern

February 13, 2012 By Heidi @ Honeybear Lane 34 Comments

I had this idea for a quilt a LONG time ago. And one day last week, in a rare quiet moment of nursing, the idea popped back into my head and I had to shove ALL other projects aside and do it. It was a little hairy at first, but after a lot of thinking and plotting, I think it turned out so cute! I know, I know, it looks like a basic 2″ square pattern–nothing revolutionary.

It looks like a lot of work, right? Would you be surprised to know that it wasn’t? That the whole project took me only a few hours?

It’s a great beginners pattern with a NO-SEW top!!

The basic concept is an old one: cut strips of fabric and then weave them like a basket. Actually I’ve never woven a basket so I don’t know if that’s quite the right description. But that’s what I’m calling it regardless.

The biggest trick to this idea was the way to transfer the whole woven top without it coming apart. I really wondered how this would be possible. At first I tried packing tape but that was a sticky mess. Finally it came to me: freezer paper!

Get the full tutorial after the jump!

[Read more...]

Share and Enjoy

Filed Under: quilting, quilting for beginners Tagged With: quilting, sewing, slider

Five Lovely Baby Quilts

February 10, 2012 By Heidi @ Honeybear Lane 8 Comments

I worked on a new quilt pattern this week and I was pushing that sucker ferociously through my sewing machine in my attempts to geterdun. But my baby likes to nap these days for approximately 20 minutes at a time and fuss for the whole time she’s awake, so I didn’t get it done. I will show it to you next week! In the meantime, here are some cute baby quilts I like…

This one drew me in with the bright bold colors. I love that it uses raw edge fabric and quilted fabric. Plus the argyle pattern is awesome!

If this quilt had letters instead of numbers, my 21-month-old would be all over it. He’s obsessed with the Alphabet! (Did I mention he knows all his letters by sight and sound? He’s a smart cookie.)

Not exactly quilts, per se, but these blankets are so plush and cuddly and I’m sure a nightmare to make (because of that slippery minky.)

I wanna do this for my kids someday. Like maybe when they go off to college…nothing says “Congrats on Becoming a Man” like a quilt with your name on it.