A Case of the Mondays

For the most part, I look forward to Mondays. It's the start of the new school week. It's laundry day, which with the gorgeous weather, my new lines outside, my new deck and my discovery of Soap Nuts has turned a chore into a task. Big difference. It's also the day that I mentally map out projects that need to get done around the house both in the homestead, school room and sewing studio.

Yesterday, I made a test batch of these Crayon Wallets

Which the girls just love to pieces. So, now I have a new project to stock in my Etsy store.

Today is also the first day after the Sunday mail hiatus. I love mail. I got a lot of mail today.  Last week I got a custom order request for five of the block toy bags in my shop. The fabric I need to make them came today along with size tags for the pants I want to make this week, cell phone lanyard things to make Lego brick zipper pulls, the Zorb and organic bamboo for cloth mama pads and some Pul for wet bags. I also got the organic bamboo cotton jersey knit to make yoga-esque pants. And to top it off, I got another Starbucks Free Drink reward coupon. Nice!

So far the kids are behaiving relatively well, the garden is looking good even if there were a few stink bugs on the tomatoes and other than Max being a little sick, we're all fairly healthy and are recovering from a fabulous weekend of a barbeque on Saturday that turned the kids from this:

To this:

And a wonderful Children-led church service on Sunday.

Where they had the fabulous idea of putting on a play. Where they didn't have any lines. Or any mud.

Here, here for good weekends and even better Mondays!

My mind's abuzzin

I really need to step back, organize and figure out what needs to be done on a daily basis. Right now I feel like I'm on a tilt-a-whirl. It's a good kinda feeling; excited, a little scary, wrapped up in the motions and just a little nauseous.

I'm finally getting projects done.

Which is a good thing except I keep thinking my dance card has a free space and adding new projects to it that I've been wanting to do for a long time. You can actually see the top of my sewing desk now. I'd like to keep it that way...at least for a little while.

We've gotten into a groove around the house. All the laundry is washed, sheets have been changed, the kids have been getting dressed when they're told (well, mostly) and making their beds in the morning, a couple sewing projects have gotten finished or close to it, homeschool has been easy and most of the errands have gotten done without much fuss.

So, of course, I decide that I need more stuff to do. Why I can't let things just slide I don't know. There are so many things on my list of stuff to learn and things to do. I want to learn to make soap. With lye. I want to make new quilts for all the kids, I just threw in a batch of homemade dog biscuits in the oven, I tried to can some strawberry jam. We're having a bbq on Saturday and I'm sitting here on the verge of looking up homemade pasta recipes. I have the semolina and we're almost out of pasta.

We might be changing our homebuilding plans from pier foundation and stick frame to slab and concrete. So, add in the multitude of research needed for that. Yesterday, I bought all the supplies on Etsy to make reusable cloth pads. And still last night, I bought fabric to make dresses for the girls that weren't even close to being in the queue of projects. I'm contemplating starting new seeds to add to some spots in the garden that things didn't sprout.

Why do I do this to myself? Why can't I be idle? I don't know why, I'm not sure I'm meant to not have a project in hand. I suppose this is a wonderful attribute for a wanna-be farmer but darn it if it doesn't get my mind buzzing with all the possiblities of things I could learn or things I could do when even a minute spot opens up in my schedule.

Productive

I've been a project making fool this past week with actual completion. Now that I've had two sales in my Etsy store I'm all eager to get more stuff listed. I finished two quilts earlier this week.

I made all the quilt blocks for Olivia's birthday quilt yesterday. I'm trying out this new method of quilt as you go but modified a bit. I made the squares first and then sewn them onto the individual batting squares. This is the largest quilt I've ever made. It's just smaller than a twin.

I'd like to make quilts for all the kids eventually. I'm really bad about making stuff for other people or for sale and my kids get the shaft. I have to get a flat sheet for the backing, sew the squares to themselves and do a binding. I might, if it seems too small, add a boarder before finishing it off.

I have another quilt (that was supposed to be for sale but I messed up on a portion so it's mine now, but I think that was subconcious since I really want that quilt anyway) that needs to have the last of the binding finished which I'll be taking to church with me today to do.

I finished up the zippy bags, all seven of them, for the store too and one already sold!

The pallets have been finished except for the very last one and a  portion of another. I have to knock off a few boards that are cracked. I'm going to put up a tutorial on how to stream line the process along with the finshed results soon. Though, I'd like to get at least a replacement pallet (or more) before I completely "finish".

I also made eight pints of strawberry jam syrup, read three books, bought new laundry lines and visited the aquarium with a friend and her daughter.

      

whew! Can't wait to see how productive I'll be this week!

Feeling Sew Sew

Lately, just about every blog post has been about homeschooling or homesteading. Both of which are admirable and enjoyable but not all I'm about. I have crafting in my heart. More accurately: Sewing. Its ingrained, its part of my DNA. I think if I was X-Rayed they'd find 100% cotton multipurpose thread blocking an artery. But I've become wayward with my passion and recently started feeling sew sew.

I want to create again. I want to see the product of hours of work. I want to have fat cuddly babies nestled in plush quilts that I made.

What spurred on this sudden need for pins, rotary cutters and see through rulers? I saw my cousin's fat, cuddly, cute-as-can-be newborn baby nestled in a plush quilt I made. It fed my addiction. I want more. More babies, more plush, more cuddles. My own babies are getting a bit too big for the crib sized quilts I enjoy making. I need to find other babies to force my quilts on. Strongarm their mama's into cuddling them in cottony goodness.

*One adorable baby

The fabric is there, calling to me. Asking me, pleading to be one of the chosen to have the opportunity to rub up against silk soft baby skin. I walk past my machine every day, multiple times a day and get the craving to just sit down and sew.

But life isn't that easy or that accomodating. For now, I have to be content with what I have and that is very little time for sewing persuits. Very little room when I do get the chance. And very loud fabric calling to my addiction.

*Photos courtsey of my cousin up in New Hampshire and her adorable baby girl who happens to be in an outfit that matches her blankie :)

fingers and sometimes toes

Its about time for me to break out the cement again. I started a ritual four years ago (has it really been that long??) of casting my kids hands in cement as a mother's day gift to myself. I'm a fairly simple girl in the present department. I had originally meant to do it every year but, well, life happened and by the time I got to getting the supplies the next mother's day had already come up.

It's bittersweet to see how the kids have grown, though some aren't that different at all. 2006 we had Alex, Livi and Cordi. 2008 Emmy's foot got added since she was too small to contribute her handprint without the whole thing getting redone. 2010 will probably be Max's foot next to the hands of the rest of them.

I kept the fancy stamps so I can do them over and over and have them look similar. I might even have a little bag of the glass somewhere too.

The kit even came with number stamps which I placed the child's age in the center of their print.

Even though these are two years apart, Olivia was three on the first one but hadn't yet turned five in the second.

As they age and get dirty it accentuates the impressions in the stone. I used various glass shards and baubles to decorate them. It's a quick, easy project that will last a tremendously long time as long as no one drops them. It will be neat to have these year after year, then adding grandkids to the mix.

I might have to make my own mold this year though, to fit them all in.

Emmy's new old green dress

Amelia, or Emmy as we call her, has a penchant for vintage baby dresses. I love it. I try and accomodate her love of the simple old-time fashions whenever I can.

I scored this dress at a consignment store. It has a small rounded collar, a high waist, a lace hem and a button up back bodice. Little gathered sleeves round off the top. I got it at a stuff a bag sale at this great consignment store I used to frequent. They had a Black Friday sale where I got to stuff a grocery sized bag with whatever I could get my hands on before someone else, all for ten bucks. It started at ten a.m. Shoppers were already lined up in front of the store on that cold morning, bags at the ready. The owner, Michelle, signaled us a go. The smoky breath of a dozen bargain crazed women filed the frigid air as clothing was pulled haphazardly from hangers; eyes quickly darting around as we all searched for things we just had to have; bags shuddering under the weight.

Mayhem, coffee, and a rare vintage clothes find, a girl's dream come true.

There was only one problem...the dress is stained just a little. Perhaps that's why I was able to find it among the racks of clothes, passed by. You can't really see in the photos but there is a light brown water mark across the entire top of the bodice. There were a few other yellowish spots on the skirt as well. The lace also seemed to be a bit darker than the cream of the dress. I quickly analized the merit of these imperfections. There's nothing wrong with an imperfect dress, you just have to get creative.

Once, in a different thrift store I found a really cute red baby doll dress that just happened to be Emmy's size. It is similar to this style but shorter. She was with me that day and saw me pull it from it's hiding space on the rack. In the middle of the store Emmy stripped screaming "Dat Emmy Dwess! Emmy weared it! I pud id on!" Needless to say, that dress is hanging in her closet now. If she knew it was there, she'd be stripping right now to don it. She runs to these dresses, fetching them out of the dryer. She doesn't do this with her Gymboree ensembles. It cost me three dollars and lights up my baby's face. Can't get much better than that.

When you like vintage things, like we do, you have to take the good with the bad sometimes. This was a really well made dress. Being a fairly capable clothing sewer I checked the seams for durability. I couldn't tell how old it was because there is no tag but by the style and the stains it's probably at least as old as I am. I saw potential in the dress. I stuffed it in my bag. Pleased as punch with my find, knowing I had a little someone at home that would just gush over it.

So, I brought it home and true to form, Emmy fell in love with "Emmy peddy dwess!" (Why she refers to herself in the third person is a mystery, I can't remember any of the others doing it, but it's Emmy and we love it) I wanted to give it to her then but I couldn't let her have it without some doctoring. I pulled out a few fabric dyes I had on hand for some different projects. Denim blue or Kelly green were my only options, unless I wanted to go to the store to get a different color. I didn't want to. Kelly green it was!

Emmy was delighted watching me "Emmy dresses colors." as she put it which in toddler talk means:

 "Mommy is dying my dress Kelly green. That is my dress. I'm Emmy. I'll wear it when she's done but I'm still going to ask her a million times what she's doing, if I can help and if it's done before she gives it to me."

So, with Emmy by my side every step of the way, we dyed it green. We rinsed it. A lot. We washed it by itself and then dried it. Finally, finally, Emmy got to put on her peddy dwess all toasty from the dryer...which she wears backwards.

This Little Light of Mine - Home Made Soy Jar Candles

Recently I purchased a bunch of canning supplies on Craigslist. For $40 I made out like a bandit and got over 100 jars in various sizes in addition to bunches of other canning goods. Problem was, it had been in attic and basement storage, moved around and finally posted for sale years later.

When I was sorting through the lot I came across a good number of jars that had chipped rims. I had also started feeding Max some jarred baby food in addition to the food I had made. Here I am, knee deep in empty glass jars I didn't know what to do with.

I had heard a saying and I'm sure I'm mucking it up but it goes something like "Use it up, Wear it out, Make do or Do without" and I decided, for once, to live by it and make something with the jars. I lucked out that Michaels was having a 50% off one item coupon so I snagged a few microwavable soy wax boxes. Each box, normally $22 was $11 for 4lbs and I was able to get two large quart jars or three pint jars plus a smattering of baby food sized ones filled up with one box.

The soy was is ridiculously easy to use and spills clean up super quick. It can be washed off plastic and glass. Even the large quarts were firm and solid enough to store upright within a half hour. The only "difficulty" and I say that with little emphasis was figuring out how long to microwave the wax, which is probably specific to each persons 'wave.

Here's a photo of my set up. As you can see I opted to use things I had around the house for centering the wicks, which are wooden clothes pins. I used a $1.99 IKEA 4 cup microwavable measuring cup to melt the wax. This particular melting made 8 baby food jar candles, one large quart and about 1/3 filled second quart jar.

I got creative at one point and made some lavender scented ones but in my opinion the scents were too pricey and I hadn't had any oils on hand to make them that way. Again, just another expense I didn't really need to recycle the jars. I'm very pleased with the quality of the candles.

With storm power outages and hurricanes it's important to have candles on hand. Using (and possibly reusing) the containers to hold the candles is a bonus. After practicing with these emergency candles and still having a big box of jars left over, I'm contemplating making some scented/colored candles to give as gifts at the holidays.