{DIY} Padded Crutches Tutorial

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Emily had surgery on her foot a week ago and has made her way around on crutches quite well so far.  But, after two days of using the crutches full time at school her arms were very sore, so I knew I needed to come up with a fix, quickly.

I scouted the web and found many options to buy padded covers for the crutches but that didn't suit me well.  I needed something now, not a few days from now, so I went on a search for some instructions for making a set of covers at home.  I didn't find much.  I could duct tape a towel around them but I knew that would not go over well with Emily so I brainstormed and came up with my own solution.  And now I'm going to share with you.  You're welcome.

Lay the crutch on a piece of paper and trace around the top of it.  Cut out your pattern.

You need to cut the fabric quite a bit larger than your pattern because you need to adjust for a seam allowance and more padding than what is there now.
My first pieces weren't cut wide enough on the bottom.  Thankfully I pinned the pieces and tried it before sewing them or even cutting another set.
The bottom of your cover needs to be at least the width of the top of your crutches or the cover will not fit over the top when finished.  In the end, the top of mine could have been quite a bit more narrow, so you don't need as much extra as I have here.

With right sides together, sew your pieces leaving the bottom open; then clip the corners so the cover will lay correctly once turned right side out.

Time to iron your bottom hem.  Turn up the bottom edge 1/4" and press, then turn up 1/4" again to create a finished edge, press.  Sew hem in place close to left edge.

Now to make these covers stay on your crutches.  Using a small width elastic, place it an equal distance from bottom edge.  Secure elastic in place with a few stitches and then pull it taught with one hand while you sew.  This will gather the material as the elastic relaxes.  Fold over your ending piece of elastic and stitch to prevent it from unraveling.

To make your crutches more comfortable you will need some sort of padding.  I used quilt batting here because I had some left over but I would have used old towels or t-shirts if I didn't have the batting on hand.
Cut two pieces of padding, one just slightly smaller than the width of the top and the second piece the width of the middle of the crutch.  Most of the weight bearing is on the middle of the crutch so I felt it needed the most padding there.
Wrap it around your crutch and secure.  I used painters tape because I wanted to be able to easily remove it.  The painters tape secured the batting very well.

Place one side of your crutch into the cover and then carefully stretch the cover over the other side.
You now have much more comfortable crutches, and they're cute too!

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This is post is part of Made By You Monday at Skip to My Lou.  Skip on over to see what others have made this Monday.

Happy Birthday!

The other children usually meander into the kitchen for breakfast on their birthday acting somewhat tired, just waiting for me to squeal, "Happy Birthday" or break out in the birthday song.  

But, not Claire.  

No, she cheerfully waltzed into the kitchen with a huge smile and both arms outstretched and announced "today is my birthday!" in a grand fashion.  Then she ran into the living room, or blue room, we affectionately call it so I can feel like we have a house big enough for a maid.  Oh wait, any house is big enough for one of those!

Anyway, she ran into the blue room and said "I'm going to see how many presents there is for me birthday" (and I tactfully refrained from correcting her grammar because, hello, today is her birthday).  Then I realized she was thinking a birthday fairy delivers overnight like Santa so I gently told her birthday fairies don't exist. OK, so maybe I was laughing but admit it, it is pretty funny.

J is gone this week so we are celebrating her birthday on the weekend.  She's asked for a Minnie Mouse theme and asked me 3 days ago if I had her cake done.  I must really have her fooled that I can do it all; where is that magic birthday fairy?

Happy Birthday Sweet Girl.

 

Gems from Jacob

While cleaning out the car recently I found this; a drawing Jacob drew during church a few weeks ago.  The pastor was explaining during Jesus' days they would annoint a guest's head with oil to welcome them into their home, and how we would think someone is bizzare if they met us at the front door with a bottle of olive oil.

 

three

The number of pumpkin pies my family has consumed this weekend.  6 people, 3 pies.

Halloween 2011

The finishing touches were put on the gladiator boots today and the pattern pieces were finally folded and tucked back into their proper envelopes; another costume sewing season has come to a close.

And, I am thrilled.

This year's costumes were fairly time consuming and I decided to take a 2 week break in October to take the kids to Virginia so I really felt under the gun to get the last costume finished on time.

And then, after all that, the most commented costume of the night?  Jacob and his banana.  The one that we spent 10 minutes of online searching, typed in a few numbers and then waited for it to show up.  Every year I say, "next year I'm just going to buy them" and then somehow I decide to make them.  But, next year....

Strawberry Shortcake & Raspberry Tart

Roman Gladiator

Banana (who felt like he should spend his pre-candy time on the computer and I thought it was too hilarious looking to pass on a picture)

And all my costumed creatures together.

And now I need to go inspect their candy to check for the poison laced apples.  You know, the ones our parents had to check for too.

Sentences of stuff

I think about blogging almost every day, but the day to day grind is what fills my time and when I think about blogging, I put it off; and obviously, put it off for quite a long time.  It quickly entered that weird "it's been so long since _________ that know I don't exactly know how get it back."  Such as the distance between friends or family that you know is there but can't seem to figure out the best way to call them up.  Yea, that is me and this blog.

So, maybe I'll just start trying to get back into things by journaling what we've been up to and hope the writing flows and becomes a more regular thing for me again.  I also use Facebook a lot so sometimes I feel like blogging things here is a repeat.

Morsels of life from September and October:
Over Labor Day we submitted to the kids' desire to go camping.  They all positively loved it and I know we'll be back there again when the temperatures climb above 50 at night.

To make the occasion even more memorable I picked up a package of Jiffy pop.  I didn't realize I captured Jacob making this face when I took the picture.  It gives me a good laugh every time I look at it.

Halloween started early here.  I was able to get the kids to decide on costumes in September and then drug out the sewing machine and turned my formal dining room back into the designated craft room.   Emily is going to be Strawberry Shortcake with Claire as her Raspberry Tart and Matthew is going to be a roman gladiator.  Jacob never decided so I'm pretty sure his will be purchased last minute, as it usually is.  He's entered into that weird stage of not knowing if he should dress up but still wanting to so he doesn't make any decisions until a few days before Halloween.  I'm cool with that, as long as he doesn't hold it against me that I don't sew his costumes like I do for his siblings.

J is gone for awhile for training so I decided to load up the van and drive 14 hours with the kids to visit him for a week during their fall break from school.  We met J in Washington D.C. for a quick weekend trip of sight seeing and also got to watch him run in a 10 mile race with 30 thousand other people.  We then went back to his temporary home in Norfolk for the week and enjoyed some easy going family time.    I have tons of pictures from this trip so I'll try to do a post of them soon.

I'm pretty sure we could squeeze a couple more little ones in the frame, don't you?

And this is where I sign off because I probably just made my mother have a heart attack.  :)

Make your own: Instant Oatmeal Packets

I read that it was possible to make your own instant oatmeal packets several years ago.  I filed that away in my bookmarks for the day that I decided spending $2.50 on a box of conveniently packaged oatmeal was far too hard for me to accomplish.
OK, so maybe I had inclinations of being frugal and healthy way back then but let me tell you, with 3 kids under 5 years of age I was far too busy to care about the sugar content in instant oatmeal.  I needed that sugar just to survive the multiple diaper changes in one day.

Making your own instant oatmeal packets will save you money and best of all put you in control of what you and your family are eating.  You might not know this so I'll let you in on a secret- I'm a control freak, so this is right up my alley.

What you'll need:

3 cups Oatmeal
Pinch to 1/8 tsp. salt for each baggie
Baggies
Blender (or food processor)

You can use either quick-cooking oats or rolled oats; your choice.  If you use rolled oats you will need to chop them up in the food processor or blender to make them into quick-cooking oats.

Take 1 cup of the oatmeal and process it in the blender or food processor until it is oat powder; you may need to process 1/2 cup at a time if using a blender.

Make your packets
1/4 cup quick-cooking oats
2 Tbsp. oat powder
pinch of salt

To prepare:
Dump your oatmeal in a bowl and add 3/4 cup boiling water.  Mix and let rest for 1-2 minutes to thicken.  I have also had success with mixing 3/4 cup water in the bowl with the oatmeal and microwaving for about 90 seconds, stopping once to stir.

Flavor Combinations
We all know oatmeal usually tastes better with yummy flavors mixed in; here are a few flavor combinations you can add directly to your packets.

Sweetened Oatmeal: 1 Tbsp. sugar or other dry sweetener of your choice.
Brown Sugar & Cinnamon: 1 Tbsp. brown sugar, 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
Apple Cinnamon: 1 Tbsp. brown sugar, 2 Tbsp. chopped dried apples, 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
Banana Bread: 1 Tbsp. brown sugar, 2 Tbsp. chopped dried bananas, 1/4 tsp. cinnamon, dash of nutmeg
Fruit & Cream: 1 Tbsp. non-dairy coffee creamer (I used vanilla because that is what I had) and 2 Tbsp. dried fruit (you could use peaches, apricots, blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, etc.)
Raisin: 1 Tbsp. brown sugar and 1 T. raisins (you can also add raisins to the apple cinnamon oatmeal)
Health Packed: Add 2 Tbsp wheat germ and/or 1/2-1 Tbsp. ground flax meal

I added 1/2 Tbsp. of ground flax meal to each of my packets; it's an easy way to sneak in some beneficial ingredients without my kids knowing.

When testing these packets I first made all brown sugar and cinnamon packets.  The three kids who eat oatmeal tried it and proclaimed it was the best they'd ever eaten, so I take that as success.  This time I made 3 different flavors for some variety, banana bread, apple cinnamon, and strawberries and cream.

Good luck and have fun taking control of your oatmeal!

Weird obsession

My kids have this weird obsession with cemeteries; they would walk around cemeteries for hours if we let them. I suppose maybe I created this obsession several years ago.  If I would have known how excited they get when I say something like "I was looking on google maps and found a cemetery right in the middle of a neighborhood" I may not have encouraged the stop over.

A few years ago while trekking to the beach, we saw many signs in the South Carolina country that marked historic sites.  I kept saying "we need to stop at one of these and see what is there."  So, one time we did.  It was a very, very old church that had a cemetery behind it.  It was completely abandoned but we had a good time looking a piece of history and the kids became obsessed with running around the headstones looking for the oldest one.
"Dad, this guy was a general in the confederate army!"
"Mom, this one is from the 1800's!"

An obsession was born.  Now our trips include phrases like "come on, we need to stop at that cemetery."  "Please mom, it'll only take a few minutes."

Emily has learned how to look up cemetery records online and can tell you the oldest grave and then like a scavenger hunt she needs to find that grave.

While I admit that finding the resting place of people who helped shape the city you're from is kind of cool, it is still a bit weird and I try to keep a button on their lips while out in public.
"Mom, let's go that cemetery we saw on the way here" tends to raise a few eyebrows.

A day with a friend and Burg Lichtenberg

Today I had the pleasure of meeting an online friend, in person.  Our husbands were both creeped out by it but we were both so excited to actually meet each other.  I had the best time hanging out with her for a day in the real Germany.  First we went to a farmer's market nearby that was simply awesome; I saw the best produce I've ever seen today.  Then I tagged along with her for the rest of day and got to see her kids' schools, their music lessons, her house and real German villages.  It was a normal day for her but I had the best time.  We may have to have discussions with the kids soon because it might be really cool living here.

J came and picked me up from her house and then we spent the evening at Lichtenberg Castle which is right up the street from her house.  Seriously, right up the street.

This castle was built in 1200, making it over 800 years old.  That is just hard to fathom.  The castle caught fire twice so the ruins have been turned into grounds for a church, restaurant and youth hostel.

We climbed up into this lookout tower to enjoy the view of the countryside.

We had dinner on the patio of the castle restaurant before driving back to the hotel for the evening.

It was a very fun day and I love that it got us away from the touristy areas and the Americanized Germany.

Burg Nanstein

I learned yesterday that burg means castle so this would be the Nanstein Castle.  This castle has been turned into a summer theatre and it also has a small restuarant/bar (mostly bar) at the top.  We saw lots of beer but no food so we sought out food from a different location.

There is also a 10K hiking trail that goes all over the mountain that Nanstein is located on.  J has been to the castle twice before and hiked the trail once so he wanted to take me up there.

It was a very uphill journey but after a few minutes we came to this.

More pictures from the castle grounds.

Rothenburg, Germany

The historic district of town is surrounded by the old town wall.  Cars aren't allowed within the historic district unless you live there or you are a hotel guest.

You can walk up the towers to the top of the wall and then walk around the entire city.  A bit dark and creepy in some spots but really cool.

I just loved all the German houses and shops all lined up.

Castles on the Rhine

I meant to add more details to the airplane photo post but here is how it went:
10 minutes before boarding I decided to post a picture for the kids.  I try to log into blogger and forget my password.  Try again: Fail.  Try again, finally right.  7 minutes to go, the people are standing in line all around me.
Start a post.  Try to upload a picture: Fail.  Can't do it that way on a phone.
Quickly set up my blog to accept emailed posts like I did when we were in China.
Type email with details, try to attach a picture: Fail.
Board the plane.
Realize I must open the picture and email it that way.  Type up a post with details and hit send: Fail.
Watch the flight attendant yell at people for not getting seated quick enough and say "we must go, just sit down and we'll fix it once we're in the air."  Listen to the pilot come over the speakers and say "we must depart, sit down, turn off cell phones."
Try furiously one last time to send the picture, type as few words as possible and hit send.
13 hours later when I finally had internet again I checked to see it really did post and only once: Success!

So, for the details.  J has a conference for work in Germany this week so I decided to come along as his +1.  We left a few days early to enjoy some sites together and our children are with wonderful Meme back home.

We flew overnight and arrived in Frankfurt around 7:30 am but jet lag seriously kicked our butts so that first day was spent walking around like zombies and crying over lunch because the only choices available were all fried food.  Seriously, it was that bad.  I made it 25 hours before falling asleep but it has proven to be worth it because today I was up at 4 am and still haven't fall asleep and it's now 11 pm.

Today we took a tour with a local company to visit a castle on the Rhine river along with a couple wine tastings, boat ride, lunch and a gondola ride.  It was all so very cool and awe inspiring except the gondola ride; that nearly made me wet my pants.  And then when we got to the top and I found the bathroom I had to pay to use it and I didn't have the right kind of coins.  ACK!

This is the castle we toured; it is privately owned now by a family and is open for tours and also has a cafe.
After the tour we enjoyed a piece of plum cake on the patio and this was our view.

Pictures from around the castle:

The basket was used in ancient times as a punishment for criminals; they'd hoist them into the basket and leave them there for awhile.

These are two that we saw on our boat tour.  I lost count after awhile but I think we saw 8 castles today.

One more interesting stories from today is that this castle sitting up above this small town on the Rhine river is currently owned by a Japanese businessman; he has his helicopter fly him from the Frankfurt airport to his castle when he comes.

I only took pictures of the gondola ride with my cell phone because I was too scared to bend over and get the camera out of the backpack.  That might rock the cable car and well, I was already breathing shallow.

Leaving

On a jet plane. In 10 hours we will be in Germany.

PPD- Phone Photo Dump

Make your own: Brownie Mix

This makes a lot.  I only made half the amount the first time to make sure I liked them well enough to mix 15 cups of stuff at once; I did.

It's hard to find a good recipe for homemade brownies when boxed brownie mixes are easy, fairly inexpensive and just... well, good.  But, they are also made with enriched, bleached flour and partially hydrogenated soybean oil; no thanks.
These brownies are a really close substitute for the boxed brownies.  They are moist and fudgey with a crunchy top.  I make our brownie mix with whole wheat pastry flour and raw sugar so I feel somewhat better about eating the entire pan myself,  feeding them to my family.

In your largest bowl, mix:

• 6 cups flour (you can use any kind you'd like, I used freshly milled soft white wheat)
• 8 cups sugar
• 4 tsp. baking soda
• 4 tsp. salt
• 1 8 oz. container unsweetened cocoa powder

Mix it well to really incorporate the baking powder and cocoa powder evenly.  If you use all purpose flour you could store this in your cabinet or pantry in a ziploc bag or plastic storage container; just attach a piece of paper to it with the baking instructions.  I store ours in the freezer because the freshly milled flour will turn rancid at room temperature.  This time I divided up the mix into individual bags because I was avoiding the house cleaning before my mom arrives to save time later.  This large recipe made 7 batches of brownie mix.

To make the brownies, mix:

• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1/4 cup oil or melted butter
• 2 cups brownie mix
• 1/2 cup chopped nuts, optional

Preheat oven to 350, grease an 8" pan.  Your mix will probably be quite thick, spread it into pan and bake 30-35 minutes.