Busy around here

We have had a good beginning of the summer. Buddy is done school and Princess only has 2 days of parties left. Grandma came to visit, and we loved spending time with her. We worked on lots of sewing projects, and Princess likes to ask Grandma to make her a little blanket or some other item. Her favorite is the outfit for for her doll. Thank you Grandma!!

Serging

I got a new serger about a week ago, and I have been slowly playing with it and trying to figure out how to use it.

I really have wanted to make a twirl dress out of a knit fabric, so I went to the store to buy some fabric. My favorite fabric store usually has all I need. This time it was not to be the case. The selection of knits was awful. I wanted a print and a solid that would coordinate. All the prints were older styles and really odd, The solids were some strange shades and not a single pink or red. I ended up with a strange purple print and a turquoise solid. I figured it was just my first one and it would work out. I didn't have a pattern, so I just did some math and figured out some numbers.

Amazingly it doesn't look so bad, I don't like the colors, but Princess LOVES it. Maybe next time I will try some other tricks I read about and try recycling old T-shirts into dresses and skirts, or even new shirts. If anyone knows of any good online fabric stores that have a good selection of knits leave me comment. I am going to need somewhere to buy knits. Ignore the poorly matched shirt it was her uniform shirt from the day.She loves to twirl around.

Line them up

Buddy and Munchkin were playing quietly up in their room when Buddy yells down the stairs, "Mommy come take a picture" "of what" "Of the cars we put all in a line."

It made me laugh that he wanted of picture of this, but did not think it unusual at all that his little sister had managed to take off all her clothes and leave her shoes, diaper and watch.

Hair Pretties

I picked up some plain hair clips really cheap and I was planning on decorating them with fabric covered buttons and ribbon, but since I didn't make it to the craft store to buy the button forms yet, I decided make some of these. They are just simple yo-yo's with a button in the middle. Princess LOVES them and so I have a feeling I will be making some more.

Cousins

Cousin R came to visit (with her parents) It was great to spend some time with them. The kids loved having her to play with again. My only problem is that even though she is 6 months younger and a lot lighter now she is the same height as Munchkin so I can't give her all of the hand-me-downs. We forgot to get a picture of all 4 kids, but I did get some of the girls.

Pillowcase dress

I have seen a bunch of pillow case dress patterns online, but I didn't really like any of them until I saw this one. I found a use for one of my many extra pillow cases. I love it, and Princess loves it too, she wanted to wear it 2 days in a row. (as a side notes, the spots on the dress are just water, I took her picture after whe washed her hands and dried them on her dress.)
It was super easy, all I needed to do was use regular thread on top and put elastic thread in the bobbin of my machine and stitch in circles.

Beach movie

The kids like me to take movies of them lately. I wish I could understand their little games and what goes on in their head, but they have fun, so I try not to interfere. This game they invented at the beach was all about where their hands and feet went.

Old Sewing Machine

I picked up an antique sewing machine a while ago for pretty cheap but it is collecting dust and I have no place to put it, so I am hoping to sell it. But I have no idea how much it is worth. so this post is for my Aunt Betsy. How much should I ask for this? It has all the pieces and parts, including the original Singer oil can. The only damage is the wood damage on the top, otherwise it is in perfect condition.

Sewing supplies

I posted about my button box, but then I started looking through some of my sewing supplies.  I never noticed them much before.  My first sewing machine was avocado green and was inherited from the elderly woman who lived across the street from my family.  I had just finished college and thought I might use it.  I used it a lot and I made my first few sets of curtains with it.  It was a great machine.  With it came a bunch of the woman's sewing supplies and some old church bulletins with needles stuck in them.  I think these came with it.  They are English silver plated needles.  Originally sold for 10 cents.  I have no idea how old they really are, but I think the packaging is great and I still use them. They work great.

This is another set of needles that have great packaging... you can't buy needles in a little paper wrapper like this anymore.

That old sewing machine was given to someone else when my mom gave me her old one, but there are days when I miss it.  It could sew through anything.

Tomato

I finally did it and got an upside down tomato planter. I have never had one before but I am ready to give it a try and see how it works.  Our garden in the bck yard is mostly shaded, so tomato's don't grow well there. I am hoping by hanging this is the front yard where there is a LOT more sun we might have some more success.  I will let you know.

Button Box

I have a button box.  It is the place where all the spare buttons go, the extra ones left over from a project, and the extra ones attached to a new sweater. They all end up in the button box (which by the way I think I "borrowed" from my mom, Thanks mom!) I have buttons in their that look older than me. Some of them have prices on them of 20 cents for 12 buttons.

This week the kids found my button box.  I was in the middle of something and didn't really want to be interupted by little ones, but I took a deep breath and let them join me in their own creativity. Princess decided she wanted a bracelet with some of these buttons.  So of course I found some ribbon in the scrap box and taught her how to sew on buttons.  (note the strawberry juice on her arm)

She did most of them all by herself.  I was very proud of my big girl.  6 years old and sewing on buttons, she asked today to start using the sewing machine, so maybe that will be next.
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Then of course a little boy and a little girl had to have bracelets too.  Buddy tried to sew on his buttons but was not quite coordinated enough. 

Sometimes it is fun to be interupted with their "little projects"  They are so proud of their creations.

Pencil Sharpener

I have had this pencil sharpener for about 7 years now and it has moved from house to house and has never been installed. I finally installed it and the kids love it.  Apparently they only have electric pencil sharpeners in school now.  They think it is lots of fun to sharpen all the pencils in the house.  Even Munchkin tried it out. 

Fortune cookies

I found these great Fortune cookies at Moda Bake Shop They are cool and I plan on using them as favors for our upcoming MOPS banquet.  Princess can even help me cut them and they are all gluing so no sewing required.  Of course I didn't have wire and ribbon so I used twist ties and scrap fabric.

It works.

Strawberries

It is strawberry season again here and we took Grandma and Grandpa strawberry picking this weekend. It was good picking and we picked about 30 lbs in about 30 minutes. The picking was great. So of course then we had to process all those berries.

We froze 6 quarts

Made 3 batches of jam

Made one pie

Covered some of them in chocolate

Ate lots of them plain, with cereal and with whip cream.

There aren't many left.

I still fit

Pajama time

Some days bedtime around our house is kind of odd.  I was trying to get a cute picture of the girls in their new matching pajamas... It didn't work very well.  This one with Princess holding Munchkins head is the best of the bunch. (I took about 20 pictures.)

Then I turned around and saw this little guy.  I made him take off the helmet before he went to bed.

Bags

I seem to never escape from making little drawstring bags.  The kids love them and they are great for keeping all their little toys in one spot.  I used an extra to wrap a birthday present in for a party last month and now the kids all want to wrap their presents in little cloth bags.  The kids think it is cool, because then they are giving 2 presents, the actual present and then the bag.  This week I made two more bags for 2 more birthday presents.  At least it is environmentally appropriate in that they are reusable wrapping paper. 

Beach weather

I am not a big fan of  the beach, it is hot and dirty and I don't want to spend hours sitting there doing nothing.  However, I do love living near the beach, because I can go for only 30 minutes and let the kids play without having to sit there all day. 

Last week I went twice in one day.  I took the little kids in the morning at it wasn't hot or crowded so we spent about an hour going for a walk and playing soccer and playing in the sand.   Then I took all of them after school (and ice cream) for about 45 minutes.  They got wet, but not too bad, and they loved playing in the sand for a while. I didn't even have to worry about wet towels or any of that stuff, because we just played for a while.  It was great.

Presents

I have been working on more sewing projects and this is one I found at The Clay Family blog This is for my niece's second birthday this month... I hope she likes it.  It is a felt play mat for traveling.  It all wraps up into a little package with a velcro closure,

but then you open it up and there is a pocket for the pieces and several pieces. I glued the parts on these cars and the tree.

I also cut some simple shapes for creating your own scene.

I hope she likes it. My kids like it, so I am sure I will be making some more of these for them.

That mom

I am "that" mom some days.  The one who sends her children out to play in totally inappropriate clothes and things that just aren't quite normal.  This week Munchkin went out to play in this outfit.  Complete with shoes without socks and on the wrong feet. 

Not only that, but I also let them play so that they drag their hair in the dirt.  At least my kids have fun.