September 3, 2010
This morning I had that old poem in my head that starts something like this:
I stand before you to sit behind you to tell you something I know nothing about.
Next Thursday, which is Good Friday,
There will be a Mother’s Day meeting for fathers only.
Admission is free, so pay at the door.
Pull up a chair and sit on the floor.
Remember that one? It’s full of contradictions. The contradictions remind me of raising children. So I came up with my own poem based on those thoughts. Keep in mind, I’m no poet!
I jump around in front of you while I make a mess behind you.
I don’t like my feet dirty. I refuse to wear a shoe.
I get along with my siblings. Only days that end in y, we fight.
I only got up 4 times when I slept through the night.
I can’t finish my lunch. I’m starving for a snack
I only eat the foods you give me. I sneak a cookie behind your back.
I don’t need to go potty. Will you wipe me please?
I only eat foods that are green. I won’t touch broccoli, green beans or peas.
I finished my homework. I’ll do it after dinner.
I know I lost the game. Just for this round, the loser is the winner.
I didn’t jump off the bed. I thought I could fly.
I know everything. I always ask why.
Please read me one story. I cleaned off the bookshelf.
I need you to help me. I will do it myself.
Enjoy your weekend!
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September 2, 2010
Tuesday was Katelyn’s birthday. I still can’t believe my little girl is already 7 years old. I need to get the pictures of her birthday ready to share. She got her first American Girl doll and lots of fun stuff to go with her. I also made her a new dress to wear to school. I usually let the girls wear a pin to school that says “Birthday Girl” on it. After spending hours making a dress, the last thing I wanted to do with it was to put holes in it for the pin. So I decided to make her a necklace instead.
I found a Shrinky Dinks kit at Jo-Ann Fabric & Crafts. It was just what I needed. It came with sheets of shrinky dink paper stuff, a hole punch, jump rings, a chain and some colored pencils. That was great so I didn’t have to dig out my jump rings or my hole punch!
I made the birthday pendant and I ran a ribbon through it for her to wear.
This started more ideas in my head so this morning, I played around with them some more.
I have this cute dog fabric sitting in my stash waiting for me to make Madison a new dress. I decided to use it to make a necklace for her. Maybe it will inspire me to get more sewing projects finished.
This is a great way to coordinate jewelry and other accessories with clothing. Just trace the pattern or object. You can string the object on a pendant or leave off the hole and glue it on something, like a hair bow. These would be a cute way to make personalized wine charms. Then I thought buttons would be fun to make too!
So I’m going a bit nutty with this Shrinky Dink stuff. Here’s the process I used to make the dog.
I placed the Shrinky Dink paper over the dog I wanted to trace and colored it with colored pencils. The Shrinky Dink papers have a smooth side and a rough side. You have to be sure to color on the rough side.
Then I cut around the dog shape, leaving a small area at the top for punching the hole.
Next, it is ready for baking. I use the toaster oven because it’s easy to heat and keep a good eye on it while it’s baking. It only takes a few minutes.
I line the toaster oven tray with foil and then sprinkle it with cornstarch so the plastic does not stick. Almost immediately, the Shrinky Dinks start to curl up in the heat. Then they spread out flat again. Once they are flat, they are ready to come out. Don’t walk away from the toaster because it’s a fast process and it’s fun to watch.
I took pictures in the toaster, they aren’t the best, but you get the idea.
After it comes out of the toaster, I just rinse it off and add the jump ring and it’s ready to go. Here you can see the comparison of how much it shrinks since it was the same size as the dog in the fabric before I baked it.
After the dog, I made these two.
First, I made three pendants with the name of each of my daughters then I tried out a monogram.
Katelyn requested a mermaid and Emily is still thinking about what she wants. I am also going to make holiday ones for them.
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August 31, 2010
Make Juvenile Myositis a Memory
If you have a minute, please click on the link above to vote and help cure Juvenile Myositis. I have a dear friend who has beautiful twin daughters. One of the girls has JM and winning this Pepsi project will go a long way to helping find a cure so these children do not have to suffer.
Thank you!
Voting ends today, so please don’t forget to vote!
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August 27, 2010
I’ve had this project half finished for many months now. Last night, I got back into Katelyn’s room with my little paint brush and completed her trees. All I had left was to paint the leaves on the bigger tree. So now it’s finished. On a whim, I added the love is all you need phrase up there too. She was playing in the backyard and had no idea I was working in her room so it was a fun surprise when she came in to get ready for the shower.
So left on my list for her room is:
1. Make new curtains
2. Repaint her mirror
3. Hang new/more artwork, maybe a bulletin board
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August 24, 2010
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August 23, 2010
This morning, Madison headed back for her first day of preschool. She was excited about going. I made her a new dress for the big day and I was so tickled that it was finished on Saturday instead of me staying up the night before school started. I used some vintage looking dog fabric for her since she loves every dog she sees. I needed to have her take her backpack off and turn her so she wasn’t squinting in the sun. I took the pictures with my phone since I didn’t realize my camera battery was completely dead.
She decided to accessorize her new dress with a great big red flower in her hair and a red and white beaded bracelet. She put it on in the car. Apparently, Katelyn left it behind so Madison decided that meant that Katelyn wanted Madison to wear it to school.
The big flower helps disguise the haircut she gave herself last week. She has a half a set of short bangs on the right side of her head.
Good thing Madison was more prepared about going back to school than me. She is excited about her new teacher and loved the first day. She colored, played on the playground, sang songs and had lunch. Sounds like a perfect day at preschool.
I will charge my battery and get some better pictures of the dress.
I’m so happy that Madison is looking forward to going back to school tomorrow.
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August 19, 2010
As my kids watch tv, they don’t beg for toys or ask me to buy the latest new food craze or sugary cereal. Nope, they are into infomercials. Then I start hearing statements and questions like the ones below. I didn’t make these up, I started writing down what they were saying when they started to spout off what they heard from the infomercial.
Mom, what’s better than a pillow that is also your pet?
Have you ever tried to cut the cat’s nails? It was pretty hard, wasn’t it?
It even comes with a carrying bag!
Do you have a hard time finding your phone in your purse?
Mom, I need a snuggie (as she is wrapped up in a quilt my mom made). See, if I wanted my drink, I would have to get my arms out of the blanket to reach it.
It comes in black and white and in color! (this was a set of Shirley Temple movies…they don’t have a clue who Shirley Temple is)
We need those pretty things for your plants so you never have to water them.
Those infomercials really suck the kids in. I guess they are doing their job. Good thing I have more willpower than them and can resist buying stuff from the tv. No matter how cool it looks or how much it will save me time or keep me organized.
That’s why I head down to the store and wander through the As Seen on TV store and gander at the stuff myself. I even tried out the silly shake your way to slimmer arm thing at the store.
The woman in this house that purchased some of that Nads green goopy no wax hair removal stuff even though she shaves her legs every day and doesn’t need to wax while and was doped up on pain medication and didn’t remember ordering it until she a week before it appeared at the door shall remain nameless. At least I she didn’t agree to purchase more for family and friends when they asked me her on the phone.
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August 13, 2010
I had this cute pair of capri pants the girls used to wear. Apparently, they wore them out. There was a stain on the rump and I couldn’t hand them down to my nieces and I couldn’t sell them.
So I kept them. That’s the logical thing to do with stained pants, right? See, now you are understanding more why these random pants on the street are calling to me. Anyway, I couldn’t part with this little pair of pants. I loved the retro feel to the fabric and the colors.
The other day I was thinking I needed a fancier bag to carry around the story dice and figured I would make a simple drawstring bag for them. I decided to use these pants to make a bag. This was really easy to make and works great for a small bag. I’m thinking about making more to carry crayons for waiting with the kids at the doctor’s office or when we are out to eat. The crayons are great to have when waiting at the doctor because they can draw all over the white paper covering the exam table.
The size of the bag will vary depending on the size of the pants. These were a size 2T, maybe 18-24 months.
Since this pair had a straight leg and didn’t taper, they worked great for the bag. I cut one leg off.
I then cut from the top, down one of the side seams about 1.5 inches. I didn’t measure. Then I folded the fabric back into the leg of the pants to finish off the edge. Using an iron will help make a nice crease to hold the fabric in place for stitching.
After folding the raw seam towards the inside of the leg, I stitched along the sides where I folded.
The to make the casing for the drawstring, I folded in the top about 1/4 inch and pressed. I then folded the top down until the fold I made reached the top of the side opening. Then I stitched along the bottom to form the casing. Then I turned the whole thing inside out and stitched the bottom closed along the original hem line.
I ran some ribbon through the casing at the top and tied a knot in each end. I filled it with goodies and now we have a handy little bag. As a bonus, it’s fun that it reminds me of when my girls wore these pants.
Now, since it’s Friday, I’m hoping you will share with me something that made your day or week magical for My Magic Friday! Either link up something from your blog or leave me a comment!
I link to these parties.
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August 10, 2010
To win this adorable bag, go enter her giveaway. The entries end tonight so hurry! Click the picture to head over there and enter.
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August 10, 2010
They are not in the shop window of a swanky boutique.
They are not online at a posh store.
They are not even in a mail order catalog.
Nope this particular pair of pants is on the side of the road outside our neighborhood. Seriously. It’s a pair of khaki pants that somehow ended up abandoned on the street. What a lonely pair of pants. Tossed out like garbage. From my car window, it doesn’t appear that there is anything wrong with them.
I want to pick them up and make something out of them or at least cut the buttons off and save them for another project. I also wonder how they got there. I’ve made up several stories in my head about that journey.
I passed them seven times today while running errands. If they are still there tomorrow, I may not be able to resist.
I think I’ve finally lost my mind. It’s not like it’s a cool chair that I could recover or paint and would be worth picking up. It’s a pair of pants…yet I’m intrigued.
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August 6, 2010
My mom threw a baby shower a few weeks ago and asked me to make the cake for the celebration. My mom works one day a week at a quilt store and the woman having the baby isthe daughter of one the owners of the shop. So I thought it would be fun to combine a quilted cake with the train from the shower theme. I thought the cake turned out cute.
As usual, Friday appeared and I am shocked how fast the week passed. This week I enjoyed seeing our girls excited about going back to school. It makes me so happy that they enjoy learning and school is a happy place.
Please share with me what is making your week magical. Link to a post on your blog or leave me a comment.
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August 5, 2010
I’ve been meaning to share these pictures, but never uploaded them. They didn’t turn out great, but you can get the idea from them. I’m loving the new look in the kitchen. It’s so much brighter too!
Before:
After:
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August 3, 2010
Our girls have a dress code at school. They have to wear specific colors and have to have a collar on their shirt or dress. All the kids tend to look alike. Most of the girls own several navy polo style dresses. I wanted my girls to have something different. I found this Oliver + S pattern and whipped these out for them. I’m so thrilled with how they turned out and I can’t wait to make more. This was my first Oliver + S pattern and my first time sewing a placket and a collar. So I was quite nervous starting the project. The instructions and graphics were easy to follow and I will be using this pattern over and over. I also have long sleeved corduroy dresses planned for the winter. These came out a bit large, but they are comfy and leave room to grow or the ability to layer a long sleeved shirt for cooler weather.
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August 2, 2010
We took a much needed vacation last week. It was wonderful and we are all a bit sad to be back to our regular lives. As usual, the girls took to the beach and ocean like little fish. We ate yummy seafood and spent lots of time in water. I will be back to blogging this week. We are in the full swing of back to school around here too so I will be out hunting for fun back to school stuff.
Here are a few pictures from our trip.
I am going to miss early morning walks on the beach.
One of my favorite stories from the beach this year was during one of those walks. My mom and I had Katelyn and Emily with us. We were collecting seashells and throwing sand dollars and other creatures back into the ocean. We pointed out some sea creatures along the way, like crabs and mullusks like the sea cucumber. Then Katelyn pointed out a found a cigar someone left on the beach and wanted to know what it was. Mom said, “that’s a cigar.” Katelyn figured it was another odd looking sea animal and said, “oh, a sea cigar!” She was bummed to find out it was just litter on the beach.
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July 22, 2010
We tried this recipe this week and we were quite happy with the results. We made it with strawberries, but any type of fruit would be great. It would be a much healthier option than ice cream for adding fun flavors like Oreo cookies or something too. We used our indoor ice cream maker and it makes 1.5 quarts at a time. After pouring the mixture into the maker, I poured the leftovers into a couple of popsicle molds. In the end, the popsicles may have been my favorite way to eat it since it gets so hard from sitting in the freezer. I read reviews about it getting icy after being in the freezer, but we haven’t had that problem. It has a creamy texture and we can’t wait to try more flavors.
I love that it was fat free and tasty!
You will need:
2 cups fat-free plain yogurt
2 cups pureed fresh strawberries
1 (14 ounce) can fat free sweetened condensed milk
1 cup fat-free milk
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
Directions:
In a large bowl, combine all ingredients.
Fill cylinder of ice cream freezer two-thirds full and freeze according to manufacturer’s directions.
Refrigerate remaining mixture until ready to freeze.
Allow to ripen in ice cream freezer or firm up in refrigerator freezer 2-4 hours before serving.
Remove from the freezer 30-45 minutes before serving. This is why the popsicles worked so well!
You gotta love AllRecipes.com!
So frozen yogurt is making my Friday magical….
What is making your week wonderful? What has added that spark of magic to your life recently? Link up here to show me or tell me in a comment!
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