Adventure Time Bedding - FREE PATTERN!

One year ago I posted the Adventure Time room I put together for our nephews who were staying with us temporarily.  I promised a tutorial for the comforters but never got around to posting it...so although it has been a long time coming (and after many requests) here you go!

 

I made a pattern using Microsoft Publisher.  I printed out my giant-size pattern and taped it together.  I will tell you that I did this project again just two months ago for a paying customer and it was a lot easier a year ago when I wasn't 8 months pregnant.  Crawling around on the floor pinning the biggest pattern I've ever made with a basketball-sized stomach is not something I ever plan on repeating.

 

This comforter is reversible.  One side has Jake and the other has Finn.  Although no single step is particularly hard, it does take a long time to do this project.  However, I haven't been able to find any sort of Adventure Time bedding for purchase so making it may be your only option.

 

 

For the Jake side, I just got golden colored fabric from the store and sewed it together so the seam ran down the middle vertically.  I printed out the pattern and taped it together.

 

 

It's easiest to work on a large hard surface so I ended up moving my kitchen table and working on the kitchen floor.  I find when I work over carpet the fabric bunches, I end up pinning the fabric to the carpet, and sometimes I snag the carpet while I cut.

 

I got a bunch of black fabric and ironed Heat'n Bond to the back according to the directions on the package.  Then I made sure the fabric was nice and flat with no wrinkles and pinned my pattern to the black fabric.  I cut out the fabric along the lines (as pictured below) and used scotch tape to tape it onto the golden fabric.  After it was taped around a few edges to hold it in place, I moved it to the ironing board and ironed the black fabric in place.  (MAKE SURE TO REMOVE THE SCOTCH TAPE ONCE YOU GET TO THE IRONING BOARD BEFORE YOU IRON)  The Heat'n Bond on the back of the fabric secures it to the golden fabric.

 

 

Then I ironed Heat'n Bond to white fabric and used the same pattern to cut out the eye circles in white.  I used scotch tape to put the white parts where I wanted them and then moved it to the ironing board again to iron the white circles in place.

 

After everything was ironed and secured, I used a zig-zag stitch to go around the edges of all of the black and white fabrics just to be sure they won't fray or come up when laundered.

 

Okay...for the Finn side.  For this side I bought 3 sheets from Walmart.  I bought the white and bright blue in twin size and the teal in the size of comforter I was doing.  (Last year I did twin size, a couple months ago I did a queen size)  Walmart sells them for pretty cheap so it's cheaper and more convenient than buying fabric.  I also bought some flesh-colored fabric for the face.

 

 

I printed out the pattern and taped it together.  I spread the flesh-colored fabric on the hardwood floor and made sure there were no wrinkles.  I pinned the pattern to the fabric and cut out the shape of the face.  Then I pressed in a 1/4 inch edge all the way around the face.

 

I used the pattern to cut the top of the white twin sheet and pressed in a 1/4 inch edge all the way along the cut on that as well.

 

I used the pattern to cut the curve of the bright blue sheet and pressed 1/4 inch edge all the way along the cut.

 

I then spread out the teal sheet making sure there were no wrinkles.  I placed the white part where I wanted it and pinned into place.  I then placed the bright blue part where I wanted it and pinned that into place.  I used a zig-zag stitch to sew along all the edges and then laid it out flat on the floor, again making sure there were no wrinkles.

 

I used some of the leftover black fabric from the Jake side to cut out the circles for eyes and traced where the smile is on the face using the pattern and a pencil.

 

I pinned the face in place and used a zig-zag stitch to secure in place.  I ironed the eyes on and used a zig-zag stitch along the edges of the eyes to ensure they don't fray.  I used a regular stitch on my sewing machine with black thread to sew along the smile I had traced with pencil.

 

Finally, I had the name embroidered on the Finn side along the edge.  Last year I embroidered the names by hand but this year I paid someone to do it and loved how it turned out.  (I can get you my contact if you're in the Utah County area - it was inexpensive and she did a great job).

 

 

 I layered the Jake side, batting, and Finn side together and then pinned horizontal lines and used my sewing machine and clear thread to quilt it together.  I did the edging in black and I was done!

 

Okay...now for the FREE patterns.

 

Free Finn Pillowcase Pattern

Free Jake Twin Comforter Pattern
Free Jake Queen Comforter Pattern
Free Finn Twin Comforter Pattern
Free Finn Queen Comforter Pattern

You are free to use these patterns for personal use.  Please do not sell the patterns or steal the credit.  Feel free to link back here but don't pass off the work as yours.

 

Email me if the links don't work for you and I will send you the file.



Meet Kate

It's been a while.  Just before I wrote my last post about how much I love my job I found out I was pregnant.  Just 3 weeks ago I gave birth to this cute girl.

 

 

I debated just keeping this post simple, but ultimately decided everyone likes to read a birth story so here you go.  My pregnancy was relatively uncomplicated and easy with the exception of the 9 weeks at the beginning I suffered through some intense nausea when I had a hard time keeping anything down.  Well into my second trimester I started feeling great and actually enjoyed being pregnant at some points, which never really happened for my first. 

 

 

The picture above is me 9 months pregnant.

 

At my 36 week appointment I mentioned to the doctor I was a lot smaller than I had been with my first.  I started losing some weight at the end and I spent the next 3 weeks going 3 non-stress tests and 2 ultrasounds per week to make sure the baby was still growing and didn't have IUGR.  Although she was small, we ultimately decided to leave her in until 39 weeks and then induce me.

 

 

I don't know how I luck out with easy deliveries but I thank my lucky stars every time I hear a labor or c-section horror story that both my babies only took pushing through 2 contractions to come out.

 

 

 Kate is tiny and perfect.  She took me a couple days to figure out but is an angel baby and hardly ever cries.  She has long dirty-blonde hair and big blue eyes.  She is just what we needed in our family and I couldn't be happier.

On a personal note...

Some of my readers may have noticed I have rarely been posting anything lately.  Unfortunately this has been a result of lack of time, not lack of ideas.  Let me give you a glimpse into what I have been up to lately.

Let me start at the beginning.  2 years ago my husband got a new job.  I decided to quit my job at a local software company and leave my steady income and great health insurance to stay home with my little girl.  Best decision ever - but also a decision that made things very hard.  We went from 2 pretty stable incomes to 1 income (the type of income people start out in hopes of getting something better, not the type of income you use to support a family of 3, a cat, and a mortgage.)

I was torn.  I wanted to help support my family in a way that made a difference, but it was very important to me to be able to stay home with Lily.

I looked into a few options, including making crafts and selling them, which I ultimately decided would be too time consuming with not enough payoff.  I wasn't willing to do anything to make money that involved selling things to my friends or family, or "take a gamble" on a paycheck each month based off of how much of something I had sold.

As I was thinking about this one day I remembered someone I used to know who supported her family doing Medical Transcripting from home.  I won't go into the details of how it all happened, but I will tell you I was definitely prompted and guided to eventually choose to go back to school to become a medical transcriptionist.

I chose Career Step because I had heard that they were one of the best schools out there, so often times a company that needed to hire would go directly to Career Step and ask for recommendations from their recent graduates, making it much easier to find a job after graduation.  It felt right, so I went for it.  I am so glad I did.

School was completely self-paced and online, so I ended up putting it off for a while due to some other priorities in my life and picked up again seriously just this summer when I finally finished.

I found out I had graduated with honors, and then just 10 days later I had an offer for a job.  I had applied and tested for a lot of companies on my own, but Career Step was actually the one who found me the job I took doing just what I had heard about, recommending me to a company who had come straight to Career Step looking to hire.

I got my dream job - the one I worked so hard through school to get.  The job I got lets me choose my own hours - and even how many hours I want to work which can vary week to week.  They just pay me for what I do.  It is the perfect home-based job for a stay-at-home mom looking to earn some extra money.

So that is why I haven't been on much lately.  I really do have intentions of posting how-to's for the list of projects I still have to post about .  I am still planning on making that happen.  Posts just may be inconsistent.

**After graduating and getting a job I have had many friends ask me how to get into this.  I really do totally recommend it.  Please email me at jessica@utahcountymom.com for more details - I have a lot of useful information to share if you are interested!!  I know it may sound "too good to be true" but I promise you it is not.**

Live Butterfly Kits

This summer was a busy one, but one of our favorite things we did was getting a Live Butterfly Kit in the mail.

Our butterfly kit came with a habitat, food, and live caterpillars.

 

 

The kids loved holding the caterpillers and watching them eat and grow.

 

 I couldn't believe how big these things got so quickly!

 

Eventually they crawled to the top of their container and hung upside down to form chrysalides.  Once they start hanging you aren't supposed to touch the container for 24-48 hours while they change.

 

Once hardened you take off the lid and put it in the butterfly habitat to wait for them to emerge.

 

Just a few weeks after they arrived they were already butterflies!  The kids loved watching them change and learned a lot.  They would sit and watch them every day and talk about it all of the time.

 

Once we had them for a day or two as butterflies we decided to let them go.  They were very friendly and sat with us a while before flying off.

For the next few weeks we would see them around our yard from time to time.  This was a great educational activity for kids (and adults) of all ages, and took very little effort on my part to make it happen.  I definitely recommend getting your own butterfly kit to try.

 

Butterfly kits are sold many places, but I got mine here.

BYU Game Day Outfit

Are you ready for the big BYU game this weekend?  Lily is!

 

 

It's not too late to make an outfit for your little one.  Remember this outfit I made last year?

 

 

The shirt honestly only took me 5 minutes so you still have plenty of time if you have the supplies.

 

For a complete how-to on how to make this outfit as well as a link to the Fresh Living TV show on it, see my post from last year here.

Fall Bucket List

I saw this cute bucket list and decided to create a similar one for us. I do well with lists, and am excited to enjoy my favorite season with my favorite tiny girl.

 

Feel free to use my FREE Microsoft Publisher Template to personalize a list for yourself!

I will try to be more diligent at blogging as we do these fun activities!

Provo Library Summer Reading Program

We signed up for the Provo Library Summer Reading Program!  Did you?

Rules (Borrowed from their website)

• Each child will be given one Summer Reading Log.  If you lose your log, you must start over.  Please don't lose your log!

• Make your own goal of how many minutes you will read each session and write the goal on the reading chart.

• Read books checked out from the Provo City Library. The number of books checked out helps us to monitor the success of our Summer Reading Program.

• Read six days a week.  You may read ahead or catch up if you get behind. You may read more than your reading goal, but you can only collect one set of prizes.

• Bring your half-completed Reading Log (up to the blue star) to the library the week of June 25 - June 30 to receive a halfway prize.

• Bring your completed Reading Log to the library July 23 - July 26 to pick up your prizes! The library will be closed on July 24, 2012.

• Collect a Dream Passport from the Children's Desk. Attend a Canopy Capers, Toddler Time, Spanish Story Time, or a Make and Take Crafts program and receive a sticker on your passport per session attended. Collect at least eight stickers. From July 23 - 26, turn in your sticker-filled passport to receive a ticket to the Trick or Treat in July Party on July 28, any time between 10 am and 12 noon in the Provo City Library Ballroom. Children are invited to wear Halloween costumes!

Prizes:
Prizes for Summer Reading 2012 are a free book and a ticket to the End of Summer Reading Party!

End of Summer Reading Party:

• Thursday, July 26, 8:30 pm - 10:00 pm

• Exclusive pool party and treats at the Veterens Memorial Pool, 450 West 500 North, Provo, for children who complete the Summer Reading Program.

Provo City Library stresses the importance of a relaxed but consistent daily reading.  The goal is to establish a regular daily habit of reading.  There are no rules as to number of pages, numbers of books, or specific genres of books.  Simply read each day, six days a week at your own speed. Parents and older siblings can read to children as well.