Beans & Rice with Veggie Chunks.

Easy Peasy 10 minute dinner! I had the leftover rice from lunch, and opened a can of black beans...2 second black beans and rice! Boiled the veggie chunks in salted water with onion, garlic and a bit of soy sauce. That cooks in about 5 minutes. Put it on a plate and dinner is ready!

What are veggie chunks you ask? They don't look like veggies do they! Well, veggie chunks are tvp:

There is only so much that can be done with rice and foam letters, and this has to be one of the greatest!

 i-spy jars are so easy and fun! Just fill a jar with colored rice or sand, and pick a theme! I used a peanut butter jar for this activity, but I have also used empty spice jars, and 16 oz water bottles.

To color the rice i used food coloring, red and blue. Add the foam letters and i was done! It's a good idea to hot glue the lid on.

I also printed and laminated an alphabet chart so Lei can tick off all the letters he found. 

Made by me! 

It took me almost 3 days to finish it, but it is done & little brother and i are happy :) It was fairly easy once i had gotten all of the pieces cut out and the straps and waist band hemmed. I wasn't following a pattern, so if you do it may be a bit easier. 

I cut the body at 22" length x 20"width. There are 2 pieces. Then i hemmed that down to 20"x18". The waistband straps are each 36" long x 10"width. The tying straps are 72" long x10"width also. There are 2 pieces of fabric for the straps, and 2 pieces for the waist straps also. So, 4 pieces of fabric all together. 

I started of hemming the waist straps. Take a strap and fold it in half width wise, so the to ends meet. Unfinished side facing out. Measure 4 1/2 inches from the fold and sew, making sure to leave one end open for turning!

Do the same with all straps.

After all your straps are finished and turned, close the hole using a topstitch.

Now it's time to attach your straps to the body. I started again with the waist. Attach the straps  3 inches into the body. Stitch a box shape, and then stitch a cross withing the box to reinforce it! Stitch 3 times or more!

Do the same with the next side.

To attach the tying straps do the same thing, but start your straps 6 inches with in the and at a 45 degree angle. Make sure to reinforce those straps also! P.S: You can add padding to the straps also.  After you turn the straps add your padding and sew down the middle to secure it. When i do my new Mei Tai, i will be adding padding. So keep a lookout for that post :)

After all that is done, it is time to close off your mei tai! Attach your other body panel and sew it on! And you are done! Time to test it out on a baby or toddler!

Sorry i didn't take pics while in the process of making it. I wasn't sure how it would have turned out, but it turned out GREAT!

This was just a try out, now i am going to make another one using better fabric. I'm even going to add padding to the straps! The best fabric for a mei tai is a bottom weight fabric, or upholstery fabric. So, now i am off to search for something i like!