Tag Archives: Do It Yourself

When My Son Goes to Bed

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When my son goes to bed, what do I do you might be wondering, Absolutely nothing! FREEDOM!

Just kidding of course. What can be done is really up to anyone. And depends on the day also. Ill write the two ways I would spend my time “kid free” once he went to sleep. I say this because as I write this I am pregnant and well, some things changed from being pregnant and when I am not and how I fill my time! Let’s start with when I am not pregnant shall we!

My son goes to bed regularly around 7pm. This is after he is done rolling around in his crib, talking to himself, potentially throwing his blanket out of the crib and whining for it, or having his soother fall to the floor and having to go in to get it for him again. A few times a week I am streaming. At the time of writing this I am streaming 3 days per week, this might change in the fall when I want to add a bi-weekly podcast into the mix but that is an after thought!Currently at the time of writing this I stream and am live playing games, or even doing art on Monday/Wednesday/Friday. I typically start this as soon as he goes to sleep with my intro playing as he settles. My goal ultimately is to stream between 2.5 and 3 hours however sometimes less depending on how I feel. After if there is a few moments my boyfriend and I would watch something quick on TV. Sometimes it would be a quick show, or depending on how we feel an episode of a series that we are watching. On day’s that I don’t stream sometimes I do things like working on blog posts, writing in my novels or books, doing artwork for my house, different things as well too. This is time I try to look after myself. Rarely do I do housework unless maybe the dishes, I try to do that during the day so that tonight I can hang out and just relax without having to think about anything. I sometimes have a bath or sometimes do absolutely nothing at all!

Now, when I am not pregnant it can be a bit different in terms of things that I do once he goes to bed. The streaming never changes that is something that is good. And I do try to stick to the no housework rule. For my own sanity sake. The most I will do for housework as mentioned is the dishes however if the toys are everywhere on the floor I guess I would pick those up also! The major difference is that when my son goes to bed I would smoke a joint. I know. I am a stoner mom. However I don’t believe in smoking while pregnant obviously for multiple reasons. That is a different blog post though! Other than that I would say a lot of the things are the same. I view smoking a joint as if some people have a glass of wine. I actually talked about that in a previous blog that you are more than welcome to check out here where I talk about the difference between wine or weed and why I think one is viewed so drastically. I will also note that if my boyfriend is away for whatever reason or I am alone with my son I will not smoke in case something happens and we need to travel anywhere either. I treat weed just as I would booze. And occasionally my boyfriend and I especially in the summer time will will sit outside and have a drink together. I prefer coolers however me drinking a lot is kind of the days of my past when I was younger and doing the bar scene!

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Something that is important to remember once your child(ren) go to bed is that there is nothing “Set” that you should or shouldn’t be doing. Sometime people will do housework and relax that way, and believe me I have done that myself if my house is in a state. Once we move (If we haven’t already by the time this has come out!) I am sure I will be in the cleaning boat as we get the house to our own happy place. There is nothing wrong with doing absolutely nothing though. Use this free time to catch your breath. Being a parent can be hard especially if you are in fast a single parent too. Some days with children are easier than others. Some days you have a teething baby or you are pregnant yourself again. You really need to find what works for you because it can legit change so often. For me I try to do something relaxing and self care like, regardless of what that is. I think it is a great way for me to decompress from the day.

When being a parent we often put our children first. This is natural and normal. I know my parents did that with myself and my brother and sister. Regardless of what we were doing they would put us first and that is okay. But I know my dad would sometimes go to his friends house for a few hours on Wednesday nights after work if he was home. My mom would go bowling on Thursday nights (Which I also did however this year being pregnancy about 7 months will not be for me!) and at one point she also did water aerobics. You really have to find something you enjoy and if you are a single parent that is okay also! A lot of the things that I do once my son goes to bed is at my house or I am bringing the camera to sit on my deck and enjoy the outside.

What are some things that you do once your children go to bed?
Is there anything different or the same that we happen to do the same?

Let me know in the comments below! I would love to hear what you do.

Why I Think Plastic Canvas Should Be More Popular

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Since I was a young kind I remember seeing different types of sewing materials all over my family from my mom crocheting and knitting to my Nanny quilting or using plastic canvas to sew different things including patio lanterns that I would later find out would mean so much more than patio lanterns. This is my plea to you and why I think they should be used more in the world as most people who think about it think they have to do with retro things.

What is it you might be wondering? Plastic canvas is normally sold in sheets or in small shapes. Think cross stitch but plastic. It has different hole sizes but mainly I typically see that it is used for 7 mesh. This is the size that I typically reach for as well too. I can then try to cut it to whatever shape that I want to and see how it works for the project that I am doing. If it is something frequently that I do I would keep a pattern piece so that I can easily cut out future ones instead of re-cutting one at the time. Typically you would sew this with yarn since regular thread of string might be far too thin and won’t exactly fill the holes that you are wanting to. I don’t know if there is normal size yarn or not but if there was grab that kind. Not the frilly or different things with whatever but just a strand that is “semi” thick and what not. This seems to work the most efficiently and let’s be honest, if you plan on doing a lot of these you will have so much yarn for future projects. I have nearly every color not and I am in no way in a position to be running out at all!

I learned about plastic canvas through my grandparents. They would sew these lanterns (Yes, the ones on the main page and what I have included here too!). My grandfather would be cutting out the patterns and my grandmother would be sewing them together. I used to take the scraps and try to sew different things with them. There were a lot easier ways to get these back then. Now when I want the colored plastics I would have to order through the states because there is more colors there than in a store here. However if I want clear plastic for whatever project I am able to get them through amazon. Relatively inexpensive 12 sheets for about 25$ CAD. Seeing the lanterns my grandparents were sewing or together creating made me want to really get into this as a form of crafting.

There are so many pro’s that I could say about this. One being the clear anyways being inexpensive. I think another pro would be that anyone can do this. It really is something that you don’t even need to have a sharp needle to use either. I used to use a dull plastic one and that was the best as a child. I would make different things with scarps and it was easy to do. You could really do whatever you wanted. Not to mention there is so many patterns as well that you can find certain things you want to make everywhere. I recently had gotten myself a graph scribbler so I can make my own patterns for things that I really like and want to remake or something I seen the pattern for and maybe I want to change something on it to suit my needs better too. The accessibility for using plastic canvas is really something that should be seen. You can even get basic colors or clear and white plastic canvas at shops like Michael’s if you don’t want to order online!

The only con that I can really think about for this would be that if you are looking for specific colors like I do for my patio lanterns is that finding multiple colors can be hard to find. I live in Canada and so I can only speak for this however when I was at Michael’s I only had seen colors such as white, blue, purple, red or clear. That was the only colors and obviously I am looking for more as that would be pretty boring patio lanterns with only a few colors. I had to do some searching online for a website specifically for plastic canvas was when I found the colors. Now shipping was a bit pricy as well too so for me it was one of those things that I had to almost put in a bulk order so that it made it worth my while in order to get it shipped to Canada. Though when I ordered it I believe I had gotten 30-45 sheets of colored plastic canvas and the total with shipping was about 90$. Which was not that bad in the big scheme of it all. I ended up making 3+ sets of lantern shades as well as some other crafts. Each set has 25 shades so I would say it was worth it for sure.

So then I have to leave myself with the question, Would I recommend this for anyone? Yes. I would recommend this to anyone looking to learn sewing. I find that with the bigger holes it can be an easier learning curve than doing something like cross stitch where the holes might be a little bit a little bit harder to pick up as apposed to plastic canvas. Not to mention anyone of any age can also do this with all of the multiple types of crafts and things you can do. From jewelry to tissue box covers to ornaments for the Christmas tree too. Maybe for me it is more of a nostalgic feeling since I remember seeing my grandparents use plastic canvas since I was a small child but I hope in the future that my kids will want to show an interest in this and I will gladly show them what I know!

Is there a craft that you think is underrated that maybe you learned at a small age?
Is it something you think should be more popular?

Let me know in the comments below! I would love to hear all the new crafting things from you all too!

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Our Game Plan for Our New Home!

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If you have been following our housing journey thus far you will know that it has been nothing shy of a roller coaster. BUT I am super happy to announce that we do in fact have a house! We closed and are waiting for the final things to happen. We officially own the house on June 30th however we won’t be moving until the following week or so. We want to be able to hopefully hook up internet on a day that my dad is off and he can check a few things.

The house we bough is straight from the 70’s. There is wallpaper in some rooms not completely but there is some which we will be removing thank god. And on top of it there would be some shag carpet that has got to go. Cosmetic wise there is not a whole lot. It is a split entry, 3 bedroom upstairs, downstairs has a place we can easily make a 4th bedroom for when our kids get older and want their own space. It also has a living room upstairs and downstairs it also has a rec room. We will eventually open up the space a lot more but for now the focus will be a lot of the upstairs. I will be taking the opportunity to be paint the entire house first upstairs and then downstairs. And the flooring my dad will be able to help us as well too. That will be huge save on money as we will just buy the flooring and he will help us when he is off for a day. This shouldn’t take too long but these simple fixes will also be nice to make the place our own. I already have colors picked out for them, my boyfriend is basically giving me all the freedom in terms of paint colors. Right now it has pale yellow in the kitchen, as well as white walls everywhere and a super retro bathroom also too.

Now on to the major things. The bigger things that we needed to have done was number one electrical. The electrical is dated for sure. Hopefully we can find a reliable person to check it out after we do our 2 week quarantine. This is a bigger issue we need to have fixed. The inspection had said there was an outlet in the bathroom that was humming. Due to being dated and for whatever reason. There is also a few plugs like one in the hallway that doesn’t have power to it. We need to address these in case something were to happen. Hopefully it won’t be too expensive however this was a huge thing that we need to address immediately before it becomes a bigger issue.

Next is there is a few cracks in the foundation. They are about or under a centimeter. I’m not entirely sure as I never received the reports (Boyfriend handles this thankfully!) and they also need to be checked. Whether they be repaired and see what happens. What we do know is that they are not leaking which is a huge thing. If they were leaking that could be a lot more problems for us in terms of mold or what not. But the fact that it is not leaking is great though the cracks being the size they are is a reason we want them addressed quickly. We do not want to have to worry about leaking in the future or if they were to get worse. The fact is a home over 40ish years old having cracks is not abnormal. It’s just taking care of them before they become un-fixable.

Lastly there is just figuring out the home and what not. Most of the things we would like to do is cosmetic. And once we get some of the bigger issues done we would also like to do things in terms of creating a backyard oasis. The good thing is behind our home is forest to there is not going to be any one building behind thankfully. We would like to get a fenced in yard as soon as possible whenever that might be. Not the entire yard but some of it so that the dog and kids can play safely. We also would like to have a gate towards the back to be able to explore and what not when the time comes too. This year we will probably get a quote and see what happens with the other two issues before doing the fence. Just because it might be pricey. We will be doing it in metal due to the price of lumber and so hopefully that is the cheaper alternative.

Overall we do want to get things like a swing set, an above ground pool, build a fire pit hopefully this year also. A fire pit will probably only cost a few hundred bucks for the bricks as we would like to build it. This is more of a nice relaxation spot for us when we have a bit of downtime to sit by the fire and relax and hang out in the cool air while roasting marshmallows or eating hot dogs too. Not to mention smores also! This will be a nice change and since we haven’t really ever had our own nice fire pit before this will be a good thing we both are looking forward to. We also would like to kind of map out the yard though to plan a bit where everything will go from the pool, to the hot tub eventually (Boyfriend would like one of those not me!) and then the fire pit and swings. The home is on septic so finding out the pipes and things will be huge in planning the backyard but I believe we have plenty of space to figure this out though.

Overall I know there will be some work to be done but this is our forever home and we couldn’t be happier. With the market the way it is there could have been a lot worse things happening in terms of housing and any house unless built under the last 5 years will have some sort of problems. It just is how much are you willing to do to it? Not to mention, if we were to pay more for a home with the same problems it might have been super skimped on trying to upgrade it and make it our own.

Oh yeah, And before I forget, Yes! I will be adding a section for home renovations to this blog so you can see what is being done in terms of before and after’s. I will also be posting these on pinterest as a lot of our inspiration has also come from there. Plus with a home so dated, why not share the progress as well with everyone!

Have you ever done major home renovations?
What was some of your biggest challenges for it?

Let me know in the comments below so I hopefully don’t make the same mistakes!

– Stacey

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How I Write My Blog Posts

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When I first started seriously blogging I had nearly no idea what I was doing. Literally none. I just wanted to be a blogger and I kind of did it however it was more rants and totally sporadic. There was no rhyme or reason. That is until I though blogging could be a serious way to make some type of footprint in the world of writing.

I started blogging seriously in preparation for my son. I was a streamer and would stream pretty heavy hours. I wanted to branch out into more than just streaming. I always loved writing and thought this could be a great way to still produce some type of content while waiting for my son to be born. Though the schedule was a bit tricky I could still schedule posts and pre-write them so I was still putting out content even when he was still a newborn and I had little to no sleep.

I first started with goals for blogging. That would be to try to have some growth and see where it goes. I knew I wanted to see if i could eventually make some kind of income though I still have legit no idea how to make that happen as of right now but I am working on growing followers as well as my email mailing list. I think that is good starts for it as well. I had dabbled with the idea of starting a blog in the past however I had no idea where I wanted to start or how I would go about it even. I had done a few posts but never really knew or understood how I would go about growing it, continuing, how often to post or anything. When I became pregnant with my son I knew that I wanted to take it a big more seriously and try to get something happening.

When I first decided to blog, I believe I posted on a few different days, still two days a week though but it was all about streaming. I thought because I was a streamer that I had to write about something that I knew. Which was streaming. I wasn’t really a big streamer by any means just one that was around a long time and felt like I could offer some tips and tricks to people if they wanted to see what it was about. I would strictly post about streaming like that was my niche. I know it seemed like a good idea. I was posting it on twitter when I was publishing posts and then I was seeing how it would go. I never really posted it anywhere and didn’t do anything to push them out. I just “hoped” that people would read them. They didn’t. After about the summer I realized that it was time to change it up. I started to write about my life, different aspects like parenting, funny stories, little rants. And well, here we are if you are familiar with my blogs you will see I don’t really have a “niche” per-say but I still do quite well I think!

Since I don’t really have any specific subject that I write about, it can be challenging to narrow down something to actually write about. What I normally do is if I am away from the computer I will save the title in my phone in a notepad and when I have a handful saved Ill save them into word press as a draft. It can be the weirdest times that something pops up. Sometimes when I wake up in the middle of the night, sometimes it has to do with something on TV or somethings it has to do with food or life or parenting in general. You can see that I kind of have a random amount of topics in here and to be fair, I just cant really narrow it down though!

I structure paragraphs after I figure out the title. I typically have an intro and outro which is standard I assume, and questions at the end of the post. In the middle I try to if I can write in subject words for the paragraphs where I can just start writing. Just words to break down what I am thinking and to help the flow with my train of though. For this I had the words “Paragraphs” and the next was “Googling Occasionally for idea jolts” to help with what I need to write about. I find it helps prevent me from having a writers blog mid way through a post, however if that does happen I have learned to leave the post and then come back to it at a later date to finish!

Sometimes I occasionally will google “blog ideas” and see if anything triggers some ideas for myself. I don’t like writing the standard posts I want to put my own spin on them. Sometimes when you google topics it can give you a very generic idea and I like to hone in on something more specific. Is that good or bad? I am not entirely sure since it can be maybe a little too specific. But I don’t want to write blogs full of fluff or rainbows. I want to write about real life subjects even if they are a bit tough too.

I would say my first year blogging I did OK, I went too hard on one subject but overall I think it could be a lot worse and I STILL could be writing things about streaming and going no where. But instead I changed my focus and here we are nearly at 200 followers and working on getting more daily/weekly/monthly views.

My goal by the end of 2021 would be to have about 500 followers on the blog. And hopefully in the process grow my email list which I think could be a great tool to use as well too. I think the hardest part is admitting that something I started might not be the same as when I finished. If I knew or thought about changing subject I would have done it a lot sooner. And to be fair, I have a lot more fun and enjoyment talking about subjects randomly instead of the same things about streaming and gaming all of the time.

How did you find this blog?
Are you a blogger yourself?
If so, What do you blog about?

Let me know in the comments below!

– Stacey

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