Thursday, May 24, 2012

How to make your own picture schedule!!

Right after Alex was diagnosed with autism someone suggest I start doing a picture schedule with him.  I thought to myself, we really don't have a schedule so I doubt that is going to help any. Boy was I wrong!!!  I figured one day I would give it a try and just made a very simple one for bedtime using clip art.  All it had on it was clip art and a few words (that way if he was with his grandparents or someone they could use it with him too).  All I can say is WOW!!! The first night we used it was the first night he went to bed without a fight.  I was so amazed that I decided to try to come up with a way to make a more in depth schedule for him.  First thing was that the pictures were going to have to be removable since we don't do the same thing in the same order everyday.  Second was it had to be something he could use, eventually on his own.  Here is how I did his.....

What you will need:
-A board (even a big piece of cardboard will work). I got a 12 in x 16 in canvas panal from a craft store.
-Velcro cut into smaller pieces
-pictures (either real pictures or clip art, or pecs)
-scissors
-and a permanent marker

Start by making seven sections on your board, one for every day of the week, its better to make the sections vertical and add in about 5 velcro pieces underneath.  Here is what mine ended up looking like...

Next cut out the pictures, I ended up being able to print small photos that worked great....

And the last thing to do is just put the pictures in order of what you are doing that day.  It takes the kiddos a little while to learn to use a schedule but greatly reduces transitional meltdowns.  With Alex, it was like as long as he knew what to expect he did great!! His week day schedule was usually a picture of him with his morning therapist, then one of him at school, then one of him and his afternoon therapist, then whatever we did after that.  Now that Alex is 7 and can read, he just has a regular desk calander with everything written on it.  And I also had a pecs schedule for his morning and bed time routine that was just on a clip board (we also had a travel sized picture schedule for when we went on vacation, went to visit people over night, or anything like that.) Below is his morning/bedtime routine... 

And here is the first picture schedule I made for him using clip art!



Monday, May 21, 2012

Wooo Hoooo

I am super excited today.  I made my first sale at my shop!!!  I'm not exactly sure but I think this deserves a celebration of some sort :)  I was starting to get a little discouraged but I think a sale was something that I needed to get me back in the spirit of creating!!  That is after I take a little nap, its been a long day already.

Sunday, May 20, 2012

Christmas Already???

No can't be!! I just like the colors red and green. Introducing the newest item in the shop....

Saturday, May 19, 2012

Another weighted lap pad

I added another weighted lap pad to the shop. This one is 5lb and measures 20" x 13.5in.  Its a very cute back to school fabric.   The link to my shop is on the right.  Check it out. ...

Another 2 products added to shop

The other night I was trying to get this 10lb pink weighted blanket completed so I could get it into my shop.  All I had left to complete was the border when I realized that I was going to be 4 inches short!!  A whole 4 inches was going to stop me from completing this blanket and I was annoyed.  So I ran into walmart (there are 3 within 40 minutes of me) and they were completely out, but they checked the other stores for me and the other two had some in stock but by this time I was so tired I decided to wait.  The next day I ended up pretty sick and unable to go anywhere.  Yesterday I finally made it over to the other Walmart where they had 3 of the border I needed in stock so I picked up all 3 of them while I was there since I have quite a bit of pink fabric and figure I will use them eventually.  So I finally got the pink weighted blanket in my shop yesterday after it sitting here for 2 days only missing 4 inches of border.  I also got a weighted lap pad that I have been working on forever completed so I also got that in my shop.  Here they are.....

Friday, May 18, 2012

Thank you Mommy!!!!

I want to thank my mom for my first business gift.  She got me an awesome sewing basket!! Thank you for always believing in me. Here it is....



Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Another few products in my store.

I added two new products to my store.  First is a baby blue 6lb blanket...
and second is a lime green pirate eye patch...

I'm so glad to have more time to get more products in my shop.  Next I will be working on a pink weighted blanket and a few more eye patches.  Stay tuned...

Monday, May 14, 2012

Katie's Pillow

Last night Katie had asked me to make her a pillow after she had seen the one that I made for my mom.  What she didn't know was that I had just bought some Mermaid fabric and was planning on making her one! So last night I sat up after the kids had gone to bed and made her pillow. I placed it under her clothes for this morning so she was pleasantly surprised when she came out to get her outfit for the day.  Here it is...

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Happy Mothers Day!!

Happy Mothers Day to all you wonderful mothers out there!! My oldest who is 7 made me pancakes with his therapist for lunch, he is so sweet :)  And my younger two gave me tons of hugs and kisses, my favorite present of all.  And I made my mom a pillow.  Its the first pillow I have made since being in home ec in high school but found some great fabric that she is just going to love.  She is a huge Elvis fan and well here is the pillow I made.


Thursday, May 10, 2012

A homemade functional sewing basket

So as you know I am a newbie to the world of sewing and therefore don't own a sewing basket, as hard as that is to believe :)  And I got sick of having to dig through the drawer I kept all my sewing stuff in to find what I needed.  So instead of going out and buying one I decided to try and see if I could make my own. First of all I found a shoe box to hold everything.  Than it was coming up with an idea of how to keep the thread in one place.  I kept thinking that I would have to have some sort of tube or something sticking up that I could stick through the hole in the spool of thread.  Looking around I couldn't think of anything small enough to fit until I seen a box of big nails I had. I figured I could either tape them standing straight up or I could kind of hammer them through the bottom of the box and then put the spools of thread on them.  YAY me for coming up with a great idea, just kidding of course.
Next was finding some way of keeping all my blanket binding together and not just scattered in the box.  That is when I decided to tape a peice of cardboard across the box and then stand up the packages of binding, which worked out great.  Than it was coming up with an idea of where to store ribbon, needles, my pin cushion, etc. I found an old bowl lid I wasn't using and sewed around hardened fabric and then placed the bowl in it.  It made a great organizer and place to store all the extra stuff.

How To:
  1. Find an old shoe box and possibly a lid from a slightly bigger shoe box.
  2. Tape the lid to the bottom of the box.
  3. Push large nails up from the underside of the box, this is where you will put your thread.
  4. Find an old bowl that you can put in the box for extra stuff like needles, extra bobbins, scissors, etc
  5. Cut a piece of cardboard to fit inside of the shoe box and tape it in to hold your binding in place. (in the picture above the piece of cardboard is placed between the bowl and the binding, I made it go in curved to fit around the bowl).
  6. If you found a slightly larger top of a shoe box, tape it to the underside of the smaller top of the shoe box so that there is a little lip on one side where you can store additional things.
  7. If you don't have a larger top of a shoe box, tape the underside of your box where your nails are to ensure they don't fall out when you are moving it around.  
  8. And tada!!! You now have a functional sewing kit that didn't cost you a thing to make. And you can decorate it any way you like to make it more glamorous.  My shoe box was already kind of cute so I didn't decorate.

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Introduction of sorts

I have never been good at intro's but I will try my best, feel free to ask anything that I leave out.
I am Linda, 28 years old, single mom of three amazing children. 
My oldest and my only biological child is Alex who is 7 and was diagnosed with autism when he was 3.5 years old.  Its been a crazy ride but I can say that he has come so far, from being so far behind his peers to doing acedemics that are a grade level above where he is at, from being in his own little world to being over social (something we are working on), from multiple meltdowns a week to maybe one a month, from having tons of sensory issues to finding ways to help those sensory issues so they are not much of an issue any more. He loves running, climbing, video games, and playing with his siblings.
My middle child Katie is 6 and came to me when she was 9 months old. She is biologically my niece, but in my heart she will always be my daughter. Katie was diagnosed with pFAS (partial fetal alcohol syndrome) when she was 3.5 years old, then diagnosed with ADHD and ODD when she was 5.  She struggles with memory, hyperness, attention, and impulse control but has made alot of progress. She loves to play house and do girly things but is also a tomboy and keeps up with her brothers.
My youngest is Aiden and he is 3.  He came to me right from the hospital and has never left my side.  The plan for him was always adoption so he didn't have the back and forth between homes like Katie did. Aiden had so many issues his first year like jaundice, group b strep, a staph infection, torticollis, plagiocephaly, and multiple sensory issues that made feeding a challenge from birth until he was 1.5 years old. But now he seems to be doing great.  Eventually I am guessing that he will also be diagnosed with some form of fetal alcohol syndrome but for now I am just waiting and seeing.  He is a pretty typical 3 year old, he loves cars, trains, and being outside.
As for me, I love spending time with my kids.  Its amazing being a mom and watching them grow. Even though I am a single mom I have an amazing support system and am greatful for it. I like to do digital scrapbooking, and play around on the computer, I enjoy going for walks.  I am just now getting into sewing and quilting. I have always been the type to roll up my sleeves and get things done.  I would rather be the one putting together the computer desk than just sitting there watching.  I like to dig in and get things done. I love being creative, with whatever I am doing.