Weighted Blankets and More

Still no Etsy shop yet. Sorry. But I am still sewing blankets for anyone interested. I have gotten a lot of emails lately so I thought I would just post my prices and info. Please add $2.75 for each additional pound. I ship via USPS. Lap Pads, toddler blankets and some twin blankets fit in a medium flat rate box. E-mail me at 1squishypickle at gmail.com for more information.

12 x 22 Lap Pad (2 pounds) or 14 x 20 Lap Pad (2 pounds) $20

36 x 52 Toddler Weighted Blanket (4 pounds) $50 Labor + Materials (about $75 total)

40 x 72 Twin Weighted Blanket (6-8 pounds) $75 Labor + Materials (about $110 total)

54 x 72 Full Sized Weighted Blanket $115 Labor + Materials (about $200 total)

Custom Sized Blankets Available. E-mail for a price.

Weighted vests begin at $30.

Ummm....yeah.

Really? It's been 6 weeks since I last posted? Gosh. Life has been, well, full I guess.

What did I want to scream from the top of every mountain? Once again, Dill's preschool program was slashed from the school budget and I was told there was a 10%-15% chance of it being restored. The state money was cut and the schools district was $720 million dollars in the red. Dill's teacher actually told me if she was in my position she would get a lawyer. A lawyer? Why a lawyer? Well, because with preschool not being offered in our school district, the only placement left for Dill would be in a self-contained special education classroom. And not even the one at our school! That one was full. He could now be placed in any one of the schools located within the 227.2 square miles of our city. I cried. Then I cried some more. All of the accomplishments Dill had made over the past 2 years could potentially be wiped out just like that. I was devastated.

Immediately I called private preschools in our area to see if anyone had any openings for the fall. There was no way Dill could not be in some kind of school program in the fall. He had to have something. I needed him to have something. Of course this had to happen the last week that most schools were open. Many didn't have openings. Many didn't want him because of his diagnosis. They couldn't adequately provide for his needs they said. No problem. I'm glad they were upfront. I finally found one school that had openings and was willing to try him out. They also had an opening for Sweet Pickles too! The only problem was it was the afternoon session. Dill has OT twice a week in the afternoon. We tried to move OT around, but it didn't work. Now what?

The next day Daddy Pickles found out that the new mayor would be visiting his fire house. The perfect opportunity to tell the new mayor in person how he had to find money in the budget SOMEHOW to save preschool. Then I found out others weren't allowed in that day. Only the fire fighters on duty. That didn't stop me. I sat down and for 2 thoughtful hours composed a letter for Daddy Pickles to hand deliver to the mayor. Only, the mayor never showed up that day. I was so devastated. I ended up mailing the letter anyways figuring at least I tried. I was sure the letter would just be added to the pile of others that came in and nothing would be done about it.

A week later the state passed their budget and kept preschool funding, but slashed the amount drastically. Budgets would finally be available to principals, but they wouldn't say if preschool was saved for our city. The budgets were hand delivered to the principals on a Friday morning, but on Monday morning Dill's teacher still did not know the fate of her classroom. Monday afternoon I was invited to a volunteer appreciation luncheon at the school. It was supposed to be hosted by the principal, but she was called into a budget meeting so the secretary thanks us instead. Right at the end the principal showed up and thanked everyone for helping her through her first year as principal. Then she started walking around to the different tables saying thank you. Of course mine was the last table. I smiled and asked if she learned anything about preschool in her meeting and she said, "Let me sit down and tell you what I know." Hrmph. Must not be good news if she has to sit down.

I must tell you that I think our new principal is amazing. She has set high standards for the students at our school and a lot of them are excelling. Our last principal was, well, let's just say she had been a principal for waaaaaaaaaay too long and it was time for her to move on. I was on pins and needles waiting to hear what she had to say. She started by telling me that her budget was delivered late Friday morning and that many principals received phone calls from high ranking people in the finance department on Thursday night. These phone calls were to let the principals know that even though the city tried and tried, it just wasn't possible to keep the preschools up and running. When they received their budgets in the morning, the preschool line item would read ZERO. I tried my best to keep from crying. My brain was going 9 million miles an hour. What would happen to my Dill? What was I going to do? How could this be happening? She went on to tell me that very early Friday morning there was a meeting where they decided that no matter how great the budget deficit, they just could not cut preschool funding. They would find a way somehow to make it work. I just couldn't hold back anymore at that point. The floodgate of tears burst forth. Then she went on to say not only would Dill have preschool next year, she was moving his classroom in from the trailer in the parking lot into a huge classroom on the first floor in the main school building! More tears of joy. The woman probably thought I belonged in the loony bin. I wanted to hug her, but I didn't. I just thanked her profusely and walked out of the school and into my truck and cried some more.

Remember that letter I wrote to the mayor? Nah, I've blabbered on enough in this post. You'll just have to wait for another day.............

I have something that I want to scream from the top of the tallest buildings, but I have to wait until next Monday when it's "official." My son's teacher told me to lawyer up because I'm sure going to need one after the announcement is made official. After hearing that, I don't know if I can keep my mouth shut that long.

I Love ERGO Baby Carriers!

Make-Baby-Stuff.com is giving away an ERGO Baby Carrier. Click below for your chance to win! I used one with Sweet Pickles and I sure wish I would have had one with Dill. He never wanted to be put down!

Blogger Issues

I know Blogger has been having issues for a few days, but I have been having trouble for a while with Google Friend Connect. I can't follow any blogs through them. Every time I click on the follow button I am just brought right back to the same page. Has anyone else been having these issues too?

I'm participating in an ABC I Spy fabric swap at Flynn 'n Fabric. For now I have the letters C and M. I might switch out one of those letters for Q or X. Linnea is throwing in 20 extra I Spy squares for taking one of those challenging ones. Won't you come join us?

Help is Just a Click Away

What do awesome moms do when they can't find something for their kids? They find a way to create it themselves! Patty from Pancakes Gone Awry wants to start a LEGO Social Club for kids on the autism spectrum and others who have social developmental delays. She found an awesome LEGO Skills Club that is based on research through The Center for Neurological and Neurodevelopmental Health. They will train her how to run the social group, but at the cost of $1000. She has applied for a grant from Pepsi Refresh to help defray the costs of starting the club. Let's help her out and vote. You can vote right here or click on the graphic above. I'm pretty sure you can vote daily for the entire month of May. Be sure to like her Facebook page as well! Thank you!

I just linked up my weighted blanket tutorial to Sew Much Ado's We Did It! Wednesday. This is the first time I've linked up to something like this! I wish I had more time to sew so that I could link up more.

Fun!

My weighted blanket tutorial was featured on ohdeedoh today! How fun. :)

He is risen!
Alleluia!

Happy Easter everyone!

Beet juice frosting anyone?

Sweet Pickles will have his 3rd birthday in 9 days. He has requested a fire engine birthday cake. I'm going to attempt this one.

The only speed bump? How the heck am I going to make a red fire engine without using typical red food coloring? Dill Pickles and red dyes do not get along. I asked for suggestions the other day on Facebook and I received quite a few. Yesterday at the store I picked up pomegranate juice, strawberry juice, and beet juice. Let the frosting coloring and taste testing begin!

I came across an interesting blog today. It's called 100 Days of Real Food. We already try not to eat a lot of processed foods and of course food allergies keep us from eating many processed foods. I wonder if I can convince Daddy Pickles to give this a try. But does that mean I'll have to give up my Diet Pepsi? *gasp* I think that is one thing that I may not be able to live without!

Weighted Blanket Tutorial

Finally! The long awaited weighted blanket tutorial.

Here are the materials needed for making your blanket. How much fabric and how many pounds of poly pellets depend on the size of your finished blanket. For this blanket I used:
2 1/2 yards of cotton fabric (top of blanket)
2 1/2 yards of muslin (inner fabric)
2 1/2 yards of flannel (back of blanket)
8 pounds of poly pellets
thread

Wash your fabric in hot water and dry in the dryer. Iron fabric after drying.

Figure out the size of the pockets that will hold your poly pellets. This blanket was for a twin sized bed, so my final measurements were 40"x72". I like to have 2" around the edge of the blanket for seam allowances and ease of sewing. This left the available area for the pockets at 36"x68". Each pocket will end up being 6"x6" except for the top and bottom rows. These pockets will be 6"x7". I am not great with math so here is the fantabulous way I use to figure out each blanket.
Draw your grid on the muslin.
Lay the top fabric right side down and then lay your muslin on top with your grid facing up. Smooth out the two fabrics and pin, pin, pin!
Sew across the bottom of your blanket and then sew the up the columns. I like to start from the bottom and sew my way to the top to help prevent puckers.
Calculate the weight of poly pellets required in each pocket. This blanket weighed 8 pounds. I have a digital scale that measures in ounces and grams. I usually measure in grams because the math is a lot easier! Eight pounds is 3,636 grams. Divide by 66 pockets and you come up with 55 grams of poly pellets per pocket.
Measure 55 grams of poly pellets and pour them into the first column. Do this 5 more times until all of your columns are full.
Sew across the row closing your poly pellets into the pocket. Be sure to push all the poly pellets away from your sewing foot and needle. It is not fun when your needle hits a poly pellet. Continue weighing, filling and sewing across the rows until you reach the top of the blanket.
Lay your flannel right side up and place the blanket top side down onto your flannel. Be sure to smooth out the flannel as your lay the top down. This will prevent puckers and wrinkles.
Pin around the edges of the blanket leaving about 9" open on the bottom. This will allow you to right side out the blanket after sewing. Sew around the entire blanket and don't forget to leave the opening!
Right side out the blanket paying special attention to the corners. Sometimes I use the back of a spoon to poke them out.
Pin or iron around the outer edge of the blanket.
Sew around the edge of the blanket making sure you close the opening at the bottom of the blanket.
Viola! Your weighted blanket is complete! Snuggle up and sleep well!
Feel free to e-mail me with any questions. I will try to get back to you as soon as possible!

Disclaimer: I am not an OT nor do I play one in the bloggy world. The standard formula for a weighted blanket is 10% of body weight plus 1 pound. Always check with your OT to determine the proper weight for your blanket.

I'll take some oatmeal with a side of bacon please

Kids with autism and sensory issues thrive with structure and visual cues. Here are some visuals that we have around our house to help Dill Pickles. Of course Sweet Pickles benefits from them as well.
Dill has a bit of an obsession with bowling and golfing of any kind. Wii Sports has both and Dill would play all day if we let him. The boys are given 3 Wii cards a day. (Their real names are hidden under the moustaches.) They are clipped to our family bulletin board in the kitchen. When one of them want to play Wii, they must give me a Wii card. I set the timer for 20 minutes and when the timer goes ding the Wii is shut off. When all 3 cards are gone, Wii is done for the day. It took a few days for them to get used to the new routine. There was lots of crying and pleading for more time, but not any more. Now the boys fight over who gets to turn the Wii and TV off!
Breakfast used to be another struggle in the Pickles house. Dill likes to eat the same thing over and over for breakfast. Sometimes we run out. *GASP* What kind of mom runs out of something? :) In effort to get Dill to vary his menu a bit and avoid meltdowns when a preferred food is not available, I came up with this breakfast menu. I bought a cheap picture frame from Dollar Tree. Then in the Boardmaker program I made pictures of every possible thing Dill could have for breakfast. We have cereal, oatmeal, toast, breakfast bars, yogurt, pancakes, waffles, sausage, bacon, monkey milk and juice. I laminated the pictures and then put Velcro on the back. There is a long strip of Velcro on top of the plexiglass in the frame. I realize most people don't have access to Boardmaker. You can use clip art, Google some images or even take your own pictures. After dinner I present Dill with his breakfast options for the next day. He chooses what he wants and places the pictures on his menu. Sweet Pickles does the same. This has made breakfast a zillion times easier in the morning.

Monkey milk? I know you want to know what that's all about. Long ago when we were trying to transition Dill from Alimentum formula to rice milk, Dill wanted nothing to do with the rice milk. Out of desperation I bought Zoo Pals disposable cups. My mother-in-law had Zoo Pals paper plates and Dill loved them. He liked the monkey the most, so we put his milk in the monkey cup and called it monkey milk. Dill drank it like it was going out of style. Eventually it got kinda pricey so I found a create your own sippy cup. Daddy Pickles drew the same monkey on Dill's cup and then there was a permanent monkey milk cup. Two and a half years later the name still sticks. Whatever works, right?

Have you done anything creative to get your son or daughter to try something new?

I can't be the only mom in the world who gets excited about decorating their child's bedroom. It was time for Dill Pickles to move out of the crib and down the hall to his big boy bedroom. Of course I had the perfect bedroom planned out in my head. I searched in catalogs, stores, blogs and on-line to find the best themed bedroom for our little Dill. Finally- perfection found in the Pottery Barn Kids catalog. I was able to find this set gently used on Craigslist. Excellent! It even came with a matching area rug. Daddy Pickles and I put together Dill's new furniture and washed his new blanket and sheets. I was so excited to see what Dill Pickles would think of his bedroom. He liked it I guess. Well, as much as a 17 month old can tell you they liked it.


Dill stayed in his crib for a while, but within a few months he was climbing out. Not just once or twice, but CONSTANTLY. We quickly converted the crib to a toddler bed and it worked for a while. Getting Dill Pickles to fall asleep was a big problem. Huge. Finally I resorted to rocking him to sleep. I had an infant and I was exhausted. I did what I needed to to to get him to sleep.


Then one night I thought I heard furniture moving. Seriously? Who is moving furniture? Daddy Pickles was at work and there was no way that Sweet Pickles was moving furniture. I opened the door to Dill's bedroom and found his crib, which was not on wheels, pushed all the way across his bedroom. For a while I had suspected that Dill had some issues, but everyone told me that he was just being a boy. Or as a special education teacher I had too much knowledge and I was making myself think that I was seeing things wrong with my child but really, he was fine.


One day I said forget it all. There is something wrong with my kid and I am taking him for an evaluation. Dill Pickles and I went for a 15 minute screening at a private therapy clinic and within minutes of meeting him they assured me that I was not making things up and yes, there was more to it than just being a boy. Dill Pickles most definitely had major sensory issues.


So what does all of this have to do with the really cute Pottery Barn Kids toddler set I got on Craigslist for a steal? Have you ever seen a weighted blanket for sale in the PBK catalog? Me neither. The ones in therapy catalogs cost an arm and a leg and are usually made for institutional use at a school or therapy clinic. Know of any catalogs that sell a weighted blanket made out of fireman material? Didn't think so. I wanted what was best for my son, but I didn't want a blah blanket for his bedroom. He was going to be using it every night to sleep and I was going to see it every time I walked past his bedroom. What was I to do?


I called my mom. Isn't that what everyone does when they need help? My mom and I sat down and thought and tinkered. We drew and we calculated and here is the results of our labors.

Here it is- the very first weighted blanket I ever sewed. Well, with my mom's help of course. It doesn't match the rest his bedroom exactly, but at least it's not institutional blue or some other boring color. Since sewing this one nearly two years ago I have sewn countless others for friends, friends of their friends and for my son's teacher and classmates. I love sewing and I love sewing things that really help someone out. I've just finished sewing another weighted blanket for my friend's daughter. Want to sew your very own weighted blanket personalized for your child? A tutorial is coming soon. I promise. It's my first tut ever so I want to make sure I get everything right.

I can't wait for warmer weather. I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels that way. Dill Pickles has been having a lot of trouble for the past week. Meltdowns over seemingly innocent things have become the norm lately. I couldn't figure out why, then I read this post at The SPD Blogger Network and it clicked. Hop on over and check it out. You might be in the same boat too.

Where have you been Mama Pickles? You know, I wonder that myself sometimes. The past few weeks have been filled with reading, thinking and sewing. And, oh yes, potty training hell. Sweet Pickles just doesn't seem to care that he has tinkle running down his leg and he certainly isn't phased when he walks around the house smelling the the elephant house at the zoo. He's going to be 3 in May and I just don't know what to do with him.

I've been doing a lot of reading trying to figure out what kind of education will be best for the Pickles family. I finished reading The Well Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education at Home by Susan Wise Bauer and Jessie Wise. It was amazing. Classical education is what I want for my children. Reading through this book made me realize how much knowledge I did not acquire while in elementary and high school. I've moved on to reading The Core: Teaching Your Child the Foundations of Classical Education by Leigh Bortins. I haven't gotten very far through this book because I have had a lot of sewing to do in the last few weeks, but more about that later. When I finish The Core I have Designing Your Own Classic Curriculum: A Guide to Catholic Home Education by Laura Berquist waiting at for me on my nightstand. As much as I want Dill Pickles to attend school with his peers, I just don't see that as a reality. Sadly I don't think our local Catholic schools will be tolerant of his sensory needs and I just don't feel comfortable with our local public schools beyond kindergarten. Daddy Pickles and I want to explore all of our options now so that when the times comes to make a decision, we will be well informed.

I have been busy sewing weighted blankets for everyone but my Dill! As my mom liked to say long ago when I was young, "The cobbler's children are always the ones without any shoes!" Dill's teacher has asked me to sew a weighted blanket for his classroom and two of his classmates wanted weighted blankets for their homes as well. Busy, busy, busy. I love sewing and I love that I can sew one for so much less than the expensive ones in the therapy catalogs. I'd like to think that mine are a lot prettier too! April is Autism Awareness month and I'm trying my best to put together a tutorial for making your own weighted blanket.

That's what I've been up to these days. How about you? What things in life have kept you busy?

SPD Blogger Network and Soft: Clothing for All Children are having an awesome Spring Sensory Giveaway. Over $200 worth of amazing sensory items are being given away in a really cute Easter basket from Pottery Barn Kids. Check out these great prizes!

"I'll Tell You Why I Can't Wear Those Clothes," by Noreen O'Sullivan

Soft Seamless Sock 2-pack

Vestibular Wedge

Sensory Body Sock

Alex Toys Monster Bubbles

Alex Toys Sack Racing: Frog and Monkey

Squiglet Fidget Bracelets

One complete Springy Soft look for girls OR

One complete Springy Soft look for boys

Click here for your chance to win this wonderful prize pack! I know Dill Pickles will just love the Sensory Body Sock and I think I'll pass the soft seamless socks along to a friend. Dill doesn't seem to have trouble with seems, but her daughter really dislikes seems.

Can someone please wave a wand and make the sickies plaguing this family go away? Pretty please? Thank you. Much appreciated.

Happy Valetine's Day!