tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-77487506627154897162024-03-18T23:45:14.100-04:00googiemommasewing, baking, kids, funny stuff. i think that about sums it up.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15438982905074697491noreply@blogger.comBlogger498125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7748750662715489716.post-64149953320799553932015-08-28T08:00:00.000-04:002015-08-28T08:00:03.788-04:00#artsplash our Grand Adventures: Philadelphia Museum of Arti'm starting in the middle/end of our summer Grand Adventures, because this program actually ends on September 7, so you can still make it if you rush!<br />
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you know how sometimes places advertise a Kid's Program! then when you get there it's lame, understaffed, out of paper, broken crayons, empty stands where demonstrations should be...that kind of thing. you feel me, right?<br />
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well, rest assured--<a href="http://www.philamuseum.org/artsplash" target="_blank">Art Splash at the Philadelphia Museum of Art </a>is NONE of those things. it is absolutely awesome.<br />
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let's break it down.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe2MAZEFXy2eUxo-WGXtdP5xZxpYQ21Z6Rg7Tz6VQfErcSBBTa4HzAbZzRPWxGNsMvRIYd9r3TosZURno_nWsUj7qpJYpndVh61BxExgbLljkDGfoPCSgZnH8JvAGbI2a95OHUdb_UzhY/s1600/20150819_103548.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe2MAZEFXy2eUxo-WGXtdP5xZxpYQ21Z6Rg7Tz6VQfErcSBBTa4HzAbZzRPWxGNsMvRIYd9r3TosZURno_nWsUj7qpJYpndVh61BxExgbLljkDGfoPCSgZnH8JvAGbI2a95OHUdb_UzhY/s640/20150819_103548.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">please excuse the crookedness of this photo. i'm blogging, you can't expect photo editing, too...#babysteps</td></tr>
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<b>TRANSPORTATION</b>: two moms, one grandmom, 10 kids ranging from 15 to 3. we caught the train (<a href="http://www.septa.org/" target="_blank">septa regional rail</a>), which is a 5 minute drive from our house, and a 45 minute ride to the city. you can get a<a href="http://www.septa.org/fares/pass/independence.html" target="_blank"> Family Independence Pass for $29</a>. it covers 2 adults and up to 5 children on <b>rail, bus and subway for one whole day. </b>plus you don't have to fight the traffic and construction on 95. #ugh<br />
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it's about a mile to a mile and a half from Suburban Station to the Art Museum. (you're much closer to the <a href="http://www.ansp.org/" target="_blank">Drexel University Academy of Natural Science</a>, the <a href="https://www.fi.edu/" target="_blank">Franklin Institute</a>, the <a href="http://www.freelibrary.org/" target="_blank">Free Library</a>, etc.) not really a terrible walk, so long as it's not 200% humidity. but what it lacks in physical coolness is made up for in the idiomatic coolness of culture and experiences <i>(like the homeless town just past the <a href="http://www.rodinmuseum.org/" target="_blank">Rodin Museum)</a></i><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGN20atm3QIcZfXJuYc3fvNVXSp0LvqCl-9GWrM0WnftQcqEN_WLFutj7hX3UWScZszGaTLXdxd5RPdFwrUhSdQmzSqCeeceRcKLCnH9Kpt8fzyyzJ8WcXdDcbgCLv_DnykFz6OrwuCTs/s1600/20150819_100532.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGN20atm3QIcZfXJuYc3fvNVXSp0LvqCl-9GWrM0WnftQcqEN_WLFutj7hX3UWScZszGaTLXdxd5RPdFwrUhSdQmzSqCeeceRcKLCnH9Kpt8fzyyzJ8WcXdDcbgCLv_DnykFz6OrwuCTs/s400/20150819_100532.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">checking out the GIGANTIC screens in the comcast building</td></tr>
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<b>real talk</b>: regional rail is relatively clean and safe. mostly commuters headed into or home from work, or college students. if you miss rush hours there's a good chance you'll have plenty of room. and once you get past the hairy parts of making sure your kiddos don't fall onto the tracks<i> (not gonna lie, that gives me all sorts of heart palpitations. even standing 10 feet away and holding on to them for dear life)</i> and making sure you don't miss your train, it's basically stress-free. you can drink your DD and laugh at all the fools stuck on 95.<br />
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<b>THE MUSEUM: </b>admission is $20/adult, kids under 12 are free. your ticket is valid for 2 consecutive days, and also gets you admission to the Rodin Museum and the Perelman Building. <i>(plus you get that sweet little metal button with a foldover tab to clip on your shirt, and i'm instantly in 3rd grade again)</i><br />
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there are a lot of discounts if you keep your eyes open. we actually grabbed Groupons for this trip, so we paid a little less. you can check the museum website for more info.<br />
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<b>real talk:</b> the museum is obviously an experience in and of itself, but honestly the thought of taking children under the age of 10 into echo-y marble halls filled with priceless works gives me the cold sweats. they. don't. whisper. they don't understand that <i>yes it's a chair but NO DON'T SIT IN THAT CHAIR IT'S NOT </i>ACTUALLY <i>FOR SITTING</i> and <i>no, this ISN'T the museum where you can touch things</i>. but this program helps with that. i'd go so far as to say that Art Splash made us feel <i>welcome</i>, and made the museum feel more accessible.<br />
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Art Splash starts in their studio. there's a new "theme" every 2 weeks, and we hit <b>S is for Shadow</b>. the staff (who are super nice) demonstrate an art project, hand out supplies, and let you have at it. no time limits, no pressure.<br />
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the studio also has a little reading area with comfy chairs and some toys for smaller siblings who quickly lose interest.<br />
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once you're done there, hand over your license and get an Ipad mini. it's all set up with their scavenger hunt type program, based on the book "A is for Art Museum". letter by letter the Ipad leads you around the museum, tracking your progress and congratulating you when you find the next work. At each stop the program gives you a little more: arrange your adult in the same position as the statue, watch a video about how this was made, listen to the sounds the birds in this tapestry make, use the flashlights to find more details, etc.<br />
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it gives them a PURPOSE. there's something for them to DO now, besides walk and walk and NOT TOUCH, and something to look for besides boobies and pee-pees. (you know it's true and don't lie)<br />
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you also have access to the closest bathroom location, on demand. thumbs up.<br />
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along the way we ran into another art stop, where the kids made and played with shadow puppets. we have big plans of recreating this activity at home.<br />
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it took us about 3 hours to do the whole alphabet, with a break for lunch.<br />
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the museum seems to be trying hard to involve you in the experience. there's touch screens to explain smaller exhibits, we translated our names into Korean and printed them out, and we only had one run in with security...when the 3 and 4 year olds decided to climb on an ancient column capital. oops.<br />
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after we finished and returned our Ipad, we spent some time in the Art Splash Gallery, which is right outside the studio. more artwork on display, including some hands on exhibits. like this magnetic leaf tree, which we rainbowtized for them. you're welcome.<br />
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so in case it's not obvious, we had a blast. i highly recommend this activity, and fully plan on doing it again next summer if they have it.<br />
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<b>RATINGS</b>:<br />
mom: ☻☻☻☻☺<br />
"ha! made you learn in summer!"<br />
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guinevere (age 15) ☻☻☻☻☻<br />
"the art museum is amazing"<br />
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harrison (age 13): ☻☻☻☻☺<br />
"it was fun."<br />
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ava (age 11) ☻☻☻☻☻/☺ (that's 4.5 happy faces)<br />
"there was a lot of beautiful art"<br />
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gigi (age 6) ☻☻☻☻☻<br />
"i number it 10 happy faces"<br />
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elliot (age 4) ☻☻☻☻☻<br />
"i liked it super super super much"<br />
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<b>BONUSES</b>: obviously, there's letting your kids do the Rocky run up the front steps, even if they have absolutely no idea who or what he is.<br />
Rocky himself is no longer on the top of the steps, he's relocated to an area at the bottom right in the trees.<br />
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also, i highly recommend <b><a href="http://www.ccdparks.org/sister-cities-park" target="_blank">sister cities park</a></b>, especially if it's hot. it's about a 10 minute walk back towards city hall. they've created an oasis in the heart of the city. kids can explore and splash and burn off the energy built up by all that NOT TOUCHING.<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15438982905074697491noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7748750662715489716.post-66456350988835045392015-08-27T14:43:00.001-04:002015-08-27T14:47:12.784-04:00summerthis summer came with a bit of a mission. nothing crazy, it's just that last summer...well, last summer straight up stank.<br />
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when you start the summer with<a href="http://googiemomma.blogspot.com/2014/06/max-and-mac.html" target="_blank"> losing your dog,</a> it can only go up from there, right? wrong. this time last year i was just recently released from the hospital after some fun with asthma, and even before that the weeks of vacation had slipped through my fingers like a melting popsicle. nothing exciting, nothing to write about on that first day back to school: This summer I: _____________ ...watched a lot of tv?<br />
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so i was determined to make this one <i><b>better</b></i>.<br />
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beginning with our Grand Adventure Day. once a week (ish) we set off to do/explore/have fun/get dirty/learn something. we live in a good spot here in SE PA, within an hour or so we can get to anything from mountains to beach to city.<br />
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and the fall back is always beach. summer = beach, right? eh, i'm no beach girl. sunburn + sharks, nevermind. there's so much OTHER fun to be had...<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">just like Rocky</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE3jDiY-1yFgfpf0W3vz2KPocI9pQHneuZqLYFcfSfDJ7r5M59Wf0oLudwpRbwH__6kjADpDcSyXz9ftP0Z-8ELiPOmy23iSHnra_hKaVL8O4YvvlXNjo7Avala2c2wPI5W_raB260_8g/s1600/20150818_151445.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE3jDiY-1yFgfpf0W3vz2KPocI9pQHneuZqLYFcfSfDJ7r5M59Wf0oLudwpRbwH__6kjADpDcSyXz9ftP0Z-8ELiPOmy23iSHnra_hKaVL8O4YvvlXNjo7Avala2c2wPI5W_raB260_8g/s640/20150818_151445.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">peach picking, only fun for about 15 minutes. then it's just sweaty manual labor.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMJsE1Mu0bmFBhkAiI6p7K7RdOc6Txj6L6s8mVIoK8eXHiriiHN85i6GvtjpRIF18EYShcAttncywfyNLzorwcujB6VROHOJmu61MBdTSPuCMfcNc2XmL82PYHi4tROHL3LUUsaIbNSys/s1600/20150815_135213.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMJsE1Mu0bmFBhkAiI6p7K7RdOc6Txj6L6s8mVIoK8eXHiriiHN85i6GvtjpRIF18EYShcAttncywfyNLzorwcujB6VROHOJmu61MBdTSPuCMfcNc2XmL82PYHi4tROHL3LUUsaIbNSys/s640/20150815_135213.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">pretty much our favorite park in the whole wide world. ish.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjy6JZJMNj_T1s0G5EpEgsoFLTokqZGN69Oh5TCvga2XgPaYXw9cNfvVffu1D55rccfbdLlKgaV66-O3HHGmPwfSE-BGlG8RPMC4SRj5SYssq5x6-oN2sjPvcnE5E9MbO0LLkwbY4NHIQ/s1600/20150812_115618.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjy6JZJMNj_T1s0G5EpEgsoFLTokqZGN69Oh5TCvga2XgPaYXw9cNfvVffu1D55rccfbdLlKgaV66-O3HHGmPwfSE-BGlG8RPMC4SRj5SYssq5x6-oN2sjPvcnE5E9MbO0LLkwbY4NHIQ/s400/20150812_115618.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">cows. girls.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3xmcQaLQXPx_XFm8teRJTqDKPPNsSaZBepRcWTG-Se7nT0D78dTS_QQOd0xAV5ZDDUencE1nhM527wRCISSi343vgZFGGpKRe6bhYQTDB9BhKi7-xMe-Zfohnm4SWuvpc9wxjMOCvkJE/s1600/20150729_173338.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3xmcQaLQXPx_XFm8teRJTqDKPPNsSaZBepRcWTG-Se7nT0D78dTS_QQOd0xAV5ZDDUencE1nhM527wRCISSi343vgZFGGpKRe6bhYQTDB9BhKi7-xMe-Zfohnm4SWuvpc9wxjMOCvkJE/s400/20150729_173338.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">you can keep your plastic water slides, thankyouverymuch.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHwQo8EowSel3KYHREHkSzx9dDab4z2G-lBFsXZ_bau6t2ti5UvFybP32CR5LbTk6uvMeIAdbNf_fITx6Ou0ZnsDz7Jdjb6McNblHnqJnl6oueO3JO0PMi_w6vAJzD_kAb0aBKm8QT8UI/s1600/20150729_130443.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHwQo8EowSel3KYHREHkSzx9dDab4z2G-lBFsXZ_bau6t2ti5UvFybP32CR5LbTk6uvMeIAdbNf_fITx6Ou0ZnsDz7Jdjb6McNblHnqJnl6oueO3JO0PMi_w6vAJzD_kAb0aBKm8QT8UI/s400/20150729_130443.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">nothing says fun like....</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjywj9K5l2J82iEL1uGxkz2l587HeilCdqVJ2UnrPZiPQ6BBakEoyZ7JiVGybXTeayXSKjLCWkmnUddxVfmqtpDrlRWM7-YGL9Ehxfl3vGHRZQX9N-bbaEa64j_pHq_v1JVRnHDG-2oXbw/s1600/20150721_125811.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjywj9K5l2J82iEL1uGxkz2l587HeilCdqVJ2UnrPZiPQ6BBakEoyZ7JiVGybXTeayXSKjLCWkmnUddxVfmqtpDrlRWM7-YGL9Ehxfl3vGHRZQX9N-bbaEa64j_pHq_v1JVRnHDG-2oXbw/s640/20150721_125811.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">and that about sums them up.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
the big two kiddos started school yesterday, the other two start tuesday, so our Grand Adventures have ended for this summer.<br />
but i have to say they were an all around success.<br />
we found new places we love (some we've already revisited), most we'd never even heard of.<br />
which got me to thinking...how about a little review of some of our spots? i spent hours searching for places to go.<br />
i have some pretty specific qualifications: Fun.<br />
<br />
actually, there was a little more than that. but i'll save the details for the later posts. wouldn't want to overwhelm anyone, seeing as how it's been months between my ramblings here. ;)Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15438982905074697491noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7748750662715489716.post-38124827155889035972015-06-25T20:21:00.001-04:002015-06-25T20:21:55.334-04:00adventures in once a month meals, part deuxWell, I'm four months in. Let's make this quick:<br />
<br />
- yes, i still love it. super duper a lot.<br />
<br />
-yes, i've had some mess ups with amounts, and a couple recipes that didn't go over well with everyone. including this "Black Bean Ranch Tortilla Casserole", which SOUNDS like it's awesome but really is quite nasty. nasty enough that personally i'm of the opinion that the original recipe blogger was playing some sort of joke on everyone dumb enough to layer smashed tortilla chips, ranch dressing, yellow squash and a bunch of other stuff...but moving on.... but honestly these issues are far and few between.<br />
<br />
- i discussed my food budget in<a href="http://googiemomma.blogspot.com/2015/03/adventures-in-once-month-meals.html" target="_blank"> the last post</a>, and I'm happy to report that in the last 4 months of doing this I've saved a total of $700. SEVEN HUNDRED DOLLARS. not that I have that money stashed under my bed (or even on my bed so i can roll around in it). it went to important things like underwear and socks and...i don't even know what. but seriously, SEVEN HUNDRED DOLLARS. hard to beat that.<br />
<br />
- i have talked at least 5 friends into giving it a whirl. i should sell this trash.<br />
<br />
- i just used up the last of my sam's club giant box of gallon freezer bags and foil pans last month. they lasted me through 4 EPIC COOKING DAYS. not bad.<br />
<br />
- jeremy helped me cook a few times, and we actually had a nice system going. having a partner wasn't as confusing as i feared. but schedule-wise it works better if i cook on mondays, so i'm flying solo once again. :(<br />
<br />
- aaaand, that's about all i can think of right now.<br />
<br />
my July menu has a large percentage of grill meals, because it's summer after all. and i bulked up the lunches a bit since all the kiddos are home. it's nice to know they're not eating boxed mac and cheese every. single. day.<br />
and that's what i love about this whole process, in a nutshell.<br />
<br />
xoxo<br />
googiemomma out.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15438982905074697491noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7748750662715489716.post-4594789515848440442015-03-11T00:27:00.001-04:002015-03-11T00:27:38.198-04:00adventures in “once a month meals”<p>hello, hi, how are ya? long time, no see, kiss kiss and all that jazz. </p> <p>it’s been so long since i wrote here that i’m not entirely sure i even remember how. my computer was like<em> what? whoa! what are we even doing here? is this real life???</em> but blogging—and conversely, <em>Not</em> Blogging—are a two edged sword. Not Blogging has been sad, because i missed it, but also at the same time freeing and exhilarating. and the more time i spent Not Blogging, the easier that Not Blogging became. </p> <p>lots has changed over the last year, and lots has stayed the same. there have been many things i seriously, like for realsies cross my heart almost but not quite fully considered blogging about. what inspired me to finally dust off the ole laptop and put <strike>pen to paper</strike> fingers to keyboard is my first foray into the world of once a month cooking. or, as one commenter on my instagram account put it “cook for a day, eat for a month.”</p> <p>let’s be real:<font size="4"> dinner time is the pits.</font> cooking for a large family consisting of one vegetarian, one gluten free, one threenager who’s stock answer is<em>“i don’t like it”</em> to everything you put it front of her unless it’s a gogurt or mac and cheese, and 7 different palates, plus just being busy…ugh. <br>i’ve always tried to shop for 2 weeks at a time, with a menu, plan and list in hand. but so many nights jeremy would come home from work to a cold stove and a wife with no clue…and then suddenly it’s 7:30 and everything’s going to take too long so let’s just order. </p> <p>what really pushed me over the edge was 2 separate incidents occurring in the last month. <br><strong>o1)</strong> we went on a 2 week vacation. TWO. WEEKS. two glorious, sunshine-y weeks full of ME NOT COOKING. do you know how hard it is to get back in the swing of things after 2 weeks of all your children picking their meals from—literally—a buffet of options every day? that you didn’t need to cook or clean up? let me tell you: REALLY REALLY FREAKISHLY HARD. </p> <p align="center"><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-gSX6GBCUiBw/VP_EHydo7WI/AAAAAAAAOlo/MTt99m8TZPM/s1600-h/DSCF0126%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="DSCF0126" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="DSCF0126" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-sn7RJbjg6Bg/VP_EIXQ1EmI/AAAAAAAAOlw/sJPNFZATs7c/DSCF0126_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="577" height="433"></a><em><font size="2">whaddaya mean mom’s not serving prime rib AND lobster tail tonight?</font></em></p> <p>it feels like every day since we’ve been home i’ve said to myself<em> okay, this is it. time to get back in the swing, back on the saddle, back in the groove, back somewhere that includes schedules and regular meals</em>. but then every night it’s dinner and i’m all<em> let’s get dressed fancy and go to the dining room where our waiters will serve us and sing! wait, what?</em></p> <p align="center"><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-ICprwVO5TpE/VP_EI0keCaI/AAAAAAAAOl4/QRXmKjikviA/s1600-h/20150208_150511%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="20150208_150511" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="20150208_150511" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-GbLe9Etc1fA/VP_EJVfaDZI/AAAAAAAAOmA/BFgS-w0rCqk/20150208_150511_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="650" height="366"></a><em>hello incredible beach where i don’t have to cook. how i miss thee…</em></p><em></em> <p align="left">and then…<br><strong>o2)</strong> when i finally did my major post-vacation food shopping trip, we missed a bag. one bag, not a huge bag in terms of size, sat in the living room for an entire evening, then overnight, until the next morning when i went to do the school run and found it there. it was the bag with all the meat.<em> (cue crying and wailing).</em> chicken, roast, ice cream…about $50 worth of food—and the staples for about 1/2 of my planned meals—garbage. i never made it back to the store for replacements, so more nights than are healthy we were scrambling for meals.</p> <p align="left">SO. obviously <font size="3">something needs to change</font>. we need a reset, with a new plan of action. a family can not live on pizza and mac and cheese alone. no matter how much certain 3 year olds wish that to be so.</p> <p align="left">with that in mind i stumbled across<font size="3"> <a href="https://onceamonthmeals.com/" target="_blank">onceamonthmeals.com</a></font> and it is AWESOME. <em>(***also, you should know i’m not sponsored or paid in any way for this. people who don’t blog for a year aren’t exactly raking in the big sponsors lolz. this is just a girl, telling a blog reader, how she feels.)</em></p> <p align="left"><a href="https://onceamonthmeals.com/" target="_blank"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-6LSlDgkuruk/VP_EJ7_N2aI/AAAAAAAAOmI/EYnPOIXHiMs/image%25255B4%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="683" height="348"></a><em><br></em> i signed up for the “pro” plan which gives me the option to customize my menus. at $16/month, about 1/3 of the cost of one pizza night for us. (they also have a regular plan for $10/month) </p> <p align="left">when you figure out your menu, you select how many servings you need and then you get EVERYTHING. i mean, EVERYTHING:</p> <p align="left"><a href="http://onceamonthmeals.com"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-7hr5Pdrj6OI/VP_EKQoC7WI/AAAAAAAAOmM/LfniTa4Q2Oo/image%25255B13%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="580" height="410"></a></p> <p align="left">those links on the right take you to printable sheets for EVERYTHING. did you hear me???? <font size="4">EVERYTHING</font>. on the left is the top of my menu. i swapped out one breakfast i was sure no one would like for the blueberry breakfast grilled cheese, because duh.</p> <p align="left">when i want to swap, i can specify what i’m looking for: another gluten free vegetarian easy assembly breakfast anyone?</p> <p align="left"><a href="http://onceamonthmeals.com"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-NSrRtKQV64Y/VP_EK0BXSNI/AAAAAAAAOmU/covFFjcLGd0/image%25255B14%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="467" height="508"></a></p> <p align="left">they make it fairly idiot-proof. and that’s saying something. so, proud owner of one Brand Spankin’ Shiny New Pro Membership i set off on my first<font size="4"><strong> EPIC COOKING DAY…day…<font size="3">day…</font><font size="2">day…</font></strong></font> <em><---because there really should be an echo to make it more dramatic, dontcha think?</em></p> <p align="left">wanna know how it went? read on…</p> <p align="left"><strong><font size="5">STEP ONE: the planning</font></strong></p> <p align="left"><strong><font size="4">WHAT I DID</font></strong><br>i picked a mix of dinners: some vegetarian, some meat, some gluten free. i chose to cook 8 servings of each because 1) teenagers ya’ll and 2) maybe leftovers?<br>i also built a custom gluten free menu for gigi (oh yeah, gigi bear has been gluten free for about 4 months now and it’s worked wonders but we’ll talk about that later) and cooked 2 servings of each of those meals. that way i’d have a nice little stockpile of meals and snacks just for her, for when the rest of the family is gorging on gluten. also, breakfasts have been the toughest with this. so i’m hoping some solid pre-cooked GF options in the freezer will help us steer away from the expensive GF bars that have been a fallback.</p> <p align="left">on the hardware side of things: i borrowed 2 crockpots (because i broke mine, but i only used one in the end) and took a ride to IKEA for a new large stockpot (which i needed anyway) and some more measuring spoons and cups. you honestly can’t have enough measuring implements during EPIC COOKING DAY. </p> <p align="left"><strong><font size="4">WHAT I’LL DO DIFFERENTLY NEXT TIME</font></strong><br>that’s easy: break it up. i figured since i was only doing 2 servings for gigi’s menu i could squeeze it in. but what that meant was i was cooking 8 servings of 10 meals and 2 servings of 10 other meals and snacks, each requiring prep and cooking and packing and freezer space. it was a lot, and i’ll definitely continue making separate meals for gigi, but on their own day.</p> <p align="left"><font size="5"><strong>STEP TWO: the shopping</strong></font></p> <p align="left"><strong><font size="4">WHAT I DID<br></font></strong>we shopped on friday. no kids, just jeremy and i (yes, it was glorious) and my printed out lists. we started big and worked our way down: we hit up the local restaurant store first, where we snagged a 40 lb. case of chicken breast for $1.36/lb. my menu called for 31 lbs., and he usually cooks up a couple pounds a week for his lunches. that was a no-brainer. we also got a good deal on ground beef and a few other things. next up was sam’s club, where we got our roasts and some other staples. 3rd stop was aldi’s for the bulk of the “regular” groceries. a quick run in the local korean market for our herbs and sauces, and finally a breeze through the super wally for the last remaining items. <br>this may sound like a lot, but the restaurant depot and sam’s are next to each other, and the other stores run in a straight line to my house, all on the same road, and about a 3 mile drive to the furthest point. <br>it took us about 4 hours to shop, and maybe another 45 mins to unload and put everything away. </p> <p align="left"><strong>WHAT ABOUT THE COST????</strong> okay, i’ll share some figures with you, because who cares it’s the internet.<br> my monthly grocery budget is currently hovering around $900. this includes all our food, toiletries, cleaning supplies, dog food, etc. it has grown substantially in the last 2 years as our children grow. yes, it’s more than my mortgage payment. so while you’re probably all HOLY<em> GIANT GROCERY BILL BATMAN!!!</em> remember we’re feeding 7. it’s about $30/day, so about $4.29/person/day for breakfast lunch & dinner. so take your average month and times it by…whatever. i actually don’t think we spend all that much, relatively speaking.</p> <p align="left">on friday, all told we spent about $580—and this includes a solid $40 worth of “packaging supplies”. we bought a case of quart freezer bags, a case of gallon freezer bags, industrial sized rolls of parchment paper and foil, etc. things i won’t have to buy again for a few months. <br>i am going to have to buy a few things in a couple weeks (think milk, fruit, etc.), but i’m guessing i won’t spend more than $200 at the high end.</p> <p align="left">SO that means—if this works, and this genuinely feeds our family for an entire month, we stand to have saved at least $120, or almost 15% shaved off our monthly food bill. looks like momma needs a new pair of shoes.<br>BUT…that remains to be seen as the month progresses. will update.</p> <p align="left"><strong>WHAT ABOUT STORING ALL THAT FOOD????</strong> i put away all the “normal” groceries, but all of my EPIC COOKING DAY items went on the counter. we lined them up neatly and i even had ava label the tops of the cans so i could see it all at a glance.<br>we have a fridge on top/freezer on bottom type refrigerator and a small chest freezer. we cleaned both of those out before we went shopping, getting rid of old items and mystery meats. all of our purchases fit, with some creative jengatetrising, which is totes a word i just invented but should be a real thing. i do it all the time. </p> <p align="left"><strong><font size="4">WHAT I’LL DO DIFFERENTLY NEXT TIME<br></font></strong>honestly, can’t think of much. i checked some sales ads, but we got better prices the way we did it. so score one for us.</p> <p align="left">actually, i take that back because i just thought of one minor thing: i went by the shopping list as gospel, and it all worked out fine, but there were a few things that were slightly off. like for some reason i had to buy 13 packets of taco seasoning?!?!?! which killed me not because of price (they’re like 34 cents each) but alllll the sodium! yikes! i couldn’t imagine any recipe that would require 13 packets of taco seasoning? in the end i only needed 2 1/2 packets, which a) calmed my heart and b) left me with a LOT of extra taco seasoning it will take me years to use up. so next time i’ll go over my list a little more thoroughly and double check some of the amounts. taco seasoning is NBD because i wasted like $2, but i’d be pretty angry if i bought 11 extra blocks of cheese or something. </p> <p align="left">and on a related note…anyone need any taco seasoning? 25 cents a packet!</p> <p align="left"><font size="5"><strong>STEP THREE: the prep day</strong></font></p> <p align="left"><font size="4"><strong>WHAT I DID<br></strong></font>they stress and stress the importance of “prep day”. don’t think you can just roll that into your EPIC COOKING DAY. prep day <em>needs</em> to be a day on it’s own. and this is absolutely the truth. <br>sunday morning it took ava, jeremy and i about 90 minutes to do all the prep. this is pre-cutting, slicing and dicing veggies, pre-cooking some rice, pasta and chicken, etc. this makes EPIC COOKING DAY run much more smoothly. </p> <p align="left">jeremy cut up 14 onions. ha. dude was straight-up sobbing by the end of it. but he volunteered for that job and i love him for it.</p> <p align="left">i also made sure the kitchen was clean, looked over my lists one more time to double check i had everything, and then banned everyone from setting foot in the kitchen. <em>don’t. even. think. about. it.</em></p> <p align="left"><strong><font size="4">WHAT I’LL DO DIFFERENTLY NEXT TIME</font></strong><br>two major things: <br>1) more prep. there are things they didn’t specify to prep that i wish i had—and i’m not saying it’s their fault. for instance, we bought block cheese instead of pre-shredded, and i didn’t think to shred it on prep day. that took a big chunk of my time on EPIC COOKING DAY. so next time i’ll look over my menus a little more carefully and make sure i’ve really done all the prep work i can.</p> <p align="left">2) label amounts on the prepped items. there were times a recipe would call for xx amount of something, like cilantro. so i pull out my bag of pre-chopped cilantro and i’m thinking, well it says 1/4 cup, and this looks like 1/4 cup, so is it this whole bag? or no? <em>(spoiler: i put in the whole bag. and i shouldn’t have, i needed some for another recipe. oops.)</em> same thing with onions…2 sliced onions on prep day is listed as xx amount to go in my recipe. a little more or less in this won’t kill anyone, so i go to dump in the whole thing, but wait! do i actually need 1/3 cup of sliced onions somewhere else down the line for another recipe? obviously i could just measure, but this process is all about efficiency. having to slow down and find the measuring cup to double check is annoying, when i could just pre-mark the amounts. so yeah, next time i’ll just label everything.</p> <p align="left"><font size="5"><strong>STEP FOUR: the EPIC COOKING DAY</strong></font></p> <p align="left"><strong><font size="4">WHAT I DID<br></font></strong>okay, so i was literally dreaming about cooking the night before, i was that worked up. i was equal parts scared to death and stoked to get cracking. (yes, stoked.) <br>i woke up at 7 and got dressed—hair up, bra on, comfy shoes on. this is another thing they recommend, and i think it’s a good one. my typical M.O. would be to just jump in with both feet and no bra, but that’s a decision i’d be sorely regretting 10 hours later. i brushed my teeth and drank my coffee and got going. <br>and went…<br>and went…<br>and went…<br>it took me 15 hours start-to-finish. i sat down one time for 5 minutes to say a prayer with everyone before dinner. around 2 i took a 10 minute breather and drank another cup of coffee and threw a green smoothie down my throat. <br>now, realize that part of the excessive amount of time is because i saddled myself with 2 menus. like i said i plan on changing that up. from what i’m reading average is around 8-12 hours, but yes 15 is possible. a lot depends on the menu you choose and the amount of food you’re making. things that go in muffin tins took longer because i had to do 2 cycles in the oven, whereas if you’re making 4 servings you may get it all baked in one go. i browned 5.5 lbs. of ground beef, which takes longer than 2 or 3 lbs. so everything was stretched out a bit for me. <br>i think the key to this endeavor is organization. i taped up my cooking day schedule on the cabinet where i could easily see it.</p> <p align="left">here’s some cruddy phone pics to illustrate: (and note—this is exactly how the instructions print out for you. step by step. ev-ree-thing.)</p> <p align="left"><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-udG_aGt-fyU/VP_ELPj_KjI/AAAAAAAAOmc/Z4OugP9QbeA/s1600-h/20150310_094150%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="20150310_094150" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="20150310_094150" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-5zSUTe1b8Lc/VP_ELlnCdDI/AAAAAAAAOmk/Fzf70TMnyaw/20150310_094150_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="650" height="341"></a><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-T9vRG4F9a4g/VP_EL-46_tI/AAAAAAAAOms/EoRqFzPii7Y/s1600-h/20150310_094125%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img title="20150310_094125" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="20150310_094125" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-rcOGKKA9ncs/VP_EMZb8ltI/AAAAAAAAOm4/tQTqBwHcTKM/20150310_094125_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="271" height="443"></a></p> <p align="left">i did use my tablet for the recipes and that worked fine. i tried to keep things grouped together: salt, pepper, baking powder all in one place so when i used them they went back and didn’t get lost in my mess. i tried to wash my measuring cups/spoons/pans/pots/etc. as soon as i was finished with them, and stay on top of wiping down the counters and stove. if you don’t keep up with it you’ll have a destruction zone on your hands in no time. i had at least 2, sometimes 3 different recipes going at the same time and it took all of my brain power to keep it straight. <br>i had an area for all my “groceries”, an area designated for cooling items, and just outside of the kitchen i had a little table set up with all my aluminum pans, foil, freezer bags, parchment paper, etc. so that stayed together. see, <font size="3">organization is king</font>. oh, and i clipped my permanent marker to my shirt. but i still lost it approximately 542 times. </p> <p align="left"><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-QOYK_6NCwgI/VP_EM2-_k8I/AAAAAAAAOnA/Qz7hp2hZpaQ/s1600-h/20150309_131411%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="20150309_131411" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="20150309_131411" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-nYyxUNsfms4/VP_ENR3QUDI/AAAAAAAAOnI/Wh8CSEv8JS0/20150309_131411_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="650" height="366"></a></p> <p>this is the picture i posted on instagram, and like i said it truly is “organized chaos”. i’m fortunate to have a decent sized kitchen, but i still think this is doable in a smaller kitchen, especially if you’re not cooking quite as much. i did use up every square inch of my counter space though. <br><strong>what about having help?</strong> these instructions are really written for one person, in my opinion. i think if there was more than one person doing this it would get confusing and annoying. that said, when ava came home from school she helped me roll all our galumpkis, and it was nice, because i was really flagging at that point. but later when everyone was kind of just…IN the kitchen, it made me crazy.</p> <p><font size="4"><strong>WHAT I’LL DO DIFFERENTLY NEXT TIME<br></strong></font>this is tough, because there are some major things. our regular freezer is dying a slow, lingering death. stuff isn’t completely frozen, but ice cream is great. so in an ideal world? i’ll have a new one before then. i’d also like a bigger stand up freezer. the chest freezer is kind of a pain to organize.<br>on the not as major side, i probably won’t bother printing their labels again. they were finicky and i couldn’t get them to print correctly so i ended up just writing about 1/2 of my labels with permanent marker. <br>obviously, as discussed, i won’t cook 2 separate menus in one day.<br>also, because neve and harrison are both home during the day (cyberschool) i didn’t make arrangements for elliot to go somewhere. i regret that now, because she spent her day in front of the tv, and i wish i had set up at least a few hours playdate for her.</p> <p><font size="5"><strong>STEP FIVE: the aftermath</strong></font></p> <p><strong><font size="4">WHAT I DID<br></font></strong>because i cleaned as i went, the kitchen was surprisingly not terrible when i was done. while my last things were cooking i loaded the dishwasher one more time (for a total of 3 runs that day), gathered up one last load of trash (for a total of 3 full bags and 2 recycling bags that day)and wiped down the counters. then i piled up all my food and organized it between the 2 freezers—some dinners on the bottom of the chest freezer for later in the month, snacks and quick meals for gigi in the kitchen freezer, etc. <br>and i took this awesome picture:</p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-495ZkA2glOE/VP_EN7TO_EI/AAAAAAAAOnQ/eLBfMQyFMXs/s1600-h/20150309_220318%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="20150309_220318" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="20150309_220318" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-VriBIuyPHL0/VP_EOIVBYVI/AAAAAAAAOnU/FPPbT6KuGnY/20150309_220318_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="650" height="366"></a> <p><font size="3">yeah, i’m a little bit proud of that. want the run down?<br></font>12 breakfast blueberry grilled cheese sandwiches<br>48 bacon cheeseburger bombs<br>50-ish baked ravioli bites<br>2x bean enchilada casserole<br>2x drip beef<br>3x grandma’s galumkis (about 40 of them)<br>2x lemon garlic dump chicken<br>16 peaches and cream waffles<br>1x slow cooker chicken sandwiches with roasted pepper aioli (and another serving that they ate for dinner that night)<br>2x slow cooker salisbury steaks<br>2x swiss cheese chicken<br>2x thai chickpea pasta<br>2x thai salmon tacos (which we changed to tilapia because harrison got sick once after having salmon and now it’s a no-go for him)<br>10 freezer poptarts<br>48 egg cheese & veggie breakfast tarts<br>12 GF cereal bar cookies<br>36 GF sausage cheese breakfast muffins<br>2x GF chicken noodle soup<br>2x GF mac & cheese<br>2x GF spaghettios<br>GF cheez-its<br>GF sweet potato snacks<br>20 GF chicken nuggets<br>and for the life of me i swear there’s something else and i can’t remember it now. <br><br><strong>BUT HOW DOES IT TASTE?</strong> well, so far we’ve tried almost all the breakfast foods (hey, some break while you’re cooking), and most of the lunch/snack foods, and they’re all quite yummy. the chicken sandwiches they had for dinner got good reviews, but maybe less onion next time. the galumpkis were delicious tonight. gigi’s GF mac and cheese was good, considering it’s gluten free. <br>which brings me to…</p> <p><font size="4"><strong>WHAT I’LL DO DIFFERENTLY NEXT TIME</strong></font><br>some recipes i won’t bother with again: the GF chicken nuggets were a joke. they were complicated, expensive (3 lbs. of ground chicken, at over $3/lb, plus gluten free bread crumbs) and they refused to stick together. i tried everything i could think of, refusing to let that much money be wasted. in the end they’re passable, but they’re more like medium sized patties vs. nuggets, and i’m not sure how much gigi will eat them. <br>and there are some recipes where the effort vs. reward scale is skewed. the sweet potato snacks were kind of annoying (cook the sweet potato, add a bunch of ingredients, roll out the dough, bake, reroll the scraps, bake more, etc…) and didn’t make very many. and they’re not great. so scratch that one.<br>but those are things that can happen with any recipe, so i think it’s just a matter of trial and error.<br>we’ve been in a dinner rut—feels like i’m constantly making the same things, so i’m trying to branch out and be a little more adventurous /with my choices in this process (thai chickpea pasta, anyone?). i’ll most definitely have some fails, but we’ve already had some wins.</p> <p><font size="5"><strong>OKAY, BOTTOM LINE IT FOR ME</strong></font></p> <p><font size="4"><strong>will i do this again?</strong></font><br>one thing i read on the site basically said that by the end of your EPIC COOKING DAY you may hate this and swear you’re never, ever doing it again. and that’s totally understandable. but come back to me 3 or 4 days from now and see what you have to say about it then. </p> <p>dude, my body HURT last night. i had to take tylenol pm to sleep. i was wiped out. </p> <p><em>BUT</em>. tonight’s dinner was popped in the oven, and my kitchen is cleaner than it’s been after a weeknight dinner in months. tomorrow’s dinner is thawing in the fridge, and wednesday’s dinner is on the blackboard menu so i’ll know what to pull out of the freezer for thawing tomorrow. and the next day, and the next day….</p> <p>and hey, look, i even had time to blog. </p> <p>i think i can say definitely YES, i’ll see you next month onceamonthmeals.com.</p> <p><font size="1">any other questions? ask away…i’ll try to answer ;)</font></p> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15438982905074697491noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7748750662715489716.post-57566686128820446522014-06-30T08:00:00.000-04:002014-06-30T08:00:07.948-04:00max and mac.<p>so. i've been quiet here lately. it's not that i haven't been sewing, because i have. it's not because i haven't been <i>mentally </i>blogging left and right, because i have. <p>it's more that i haven't hit that legendary ideal triangle where time, desire, idea, and project have all intersected. ummm. i guess that's a square, actually. <p>so, while i'm here, and i've got the ole keyboard dusted off, let's talk about a few things happening in das googiehaus. <p>this is kind of a biggie. our almost-11-year-old dog max had to be put down a few weeks ago. it was a combination of reasons that led to the surprisingly painful decision. <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-WeCnPWyb47Y/U63UpR2DO1I/AAAAAAAAMXU/XYKmde6T00c/s1600-h/image%25255B3%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-1jZktfzBdDo/U63UqfxaQbI/AAAAAAAAMXc/upandp0_oS8/image_thumb%25255B4%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="491" height="484"></a> <p align="center"><em>from l to r: oblivious cheesing for photo, you’re killing my dog, YOU’RE KILLING MY DOG, sad but i’ll smile, thinks max is just sleeping somewhere else not “going to sleep”. jeremy was all “WHY ARE YOU MAKING THEM POSE FOR A PHOTO???” but, well, because? </em> <p>i say "surprising" because it really caught me off guard. max was an awesome dog in many ways--incredible with the kids, very protective of the home, the kind of dog we could leave home while we went to the beach all day and she'd be waiting happily when we got home--no 'accidents', nothing chewed or destroyed. <p>when i tell you she was good with kids—i trained that dog to not touch ANYONE’S food. i have a huge pet peeve with dogs that grab food from a small child’s hands. like, HUGE pet peeve. like, it makes me skull crushing furious. <br>one day someone left a half finished waffle on the floor in the kitchen. i walked in just as max picked it up and headed out to snack. she stopped, baaaccccked slowly up, gently set the waffle back down on the floor, and slunk away. <em>nothing to see here, i was most definitely NOT taking this waffle.</em> <p>but...max had issues, too. she was very animal aggressive--if it was furry, she wanted to kill it. cat, dog, squirrel, mailman. you get the drift. and over the years there's been a few incidents, a few vet bills paid by us...pretty stressful.<br>a month ago guinevere opened the front door to take out the garbage just as the mailman came. no warning, no growl, no bark—max pushed past her and chased the mailman off the porch and bit his hand. badly. <br>fortunately for us he was completely awesome about it. what could have been absolutely terrible was only mildly terrible. what could have cost us thousands only cost us a 6-pack and some chocolate pretzels (is there a standard <em>“sorry my dog tried to eat you”</em> gift?) <p>max was getting old, and needed another surgery, and was losing her hearing and sight—but not her formidable strength. so a week later when i got up in the middle of the night and she barked at me because she didn’t recognize me…well, that was literally another nail in her coffin. <p>whether purposefully or not, she was becoming a danger to our family. <p>i thought i was sick of it. i <em>thought</em> i was counting down the days for max, so i could say goodbye to a pretty big stressor in our lives. i know—it sounds heartless and terrible, but when you have a dog that’s kind of a ticking timebomb and you live on a street with a great big field that half the neighborhood brings their dogs to so there’s constantly random dogs running up to your fence, etc….well, yeah.<br>my dog isn’t my “baby”, i’m not it’s “mommy”. i have 5 human children who call me mommy, this is a pet, and it’s lifespan is shorter than yours, so it dies and you get a new one. right? right. <br>i’m so tough. and logical. and tough.</p> <p>except, i’m not. when it came time...well, let's just say i didn't handle it so well. <p>not. at. all. <p>we made an appointment, and cancelled it. we debated for 3 more weeks, and then picked a day. we took max to the SPCA, and i thought i was holding it together. then they started asking me things like <em>how long have you had max? how old is max? please sign this paper that says we’re killing your dog thankyouverymuch.<br></em>and i was like WHO CARES WHY ARE YOU MAKING ME SAY THESE THINGS ARRRRGGGHHH. <p>then we brought her in, and the lady took her and asked if we wanted the leash and collar back, and…. that was it. <p>jeremy and i went outside to the bench, where i cried like a baby and he tried not to throw up. <p>we were basically a family of hawt crying messes, and i'll own up to being the worst. i spent 2 solid days saying things like <em>"look at the sun shining on the hill. max would have loved to lay up there on her hillllll..bfflghtlshhhh....whahhhhhh".</em> <p>you get the drift. <p>so instead of waiting a month or so before adding to our family like we initially planned, we made the executive decision to add promptly. <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-Hsj2lnG0tD4/U63UrfI21LI/AAAAAAAAMXk/lI4ZTbBWFZM/s1600-h/image%25255B7%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-TxidRVFVx-g/U63UsUdPrhI/AAAAAAAAMXs/Jm06gFthcRk/image_thumb%25255B9%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="483" height="492"></a> <p align="center"><em>find the puppy. <br></em></p> <p>we found macallister (mac) through a rescue, he came from a kill shelter down south. <p>we knew we wanted to do a rescue dog this time, and because supposedly *I* “picked” sonny, jeremy said this was his pick. //eyeroll// hehehe <p>we filled out a few applications online. i’ll be honest—some of these are kind of nuts. i perfectly understand the desire of these people to make sure the dogs are going to good, safe, loving homes. but one of them actually asked<em> “Do you have a plan in place to ensure proper care of your pet in case you are injured or are in some way unable to properly care for your pet?”</em> <p>and i was all…umm, i don’t even have a will for my <em>CHILDREN</em>. <p>how about this: we WILL neuter. we will NOT enter him in a dog fighting ring. we WILL get his shots. we WILL feed him and love him, and snuggle him and pet him until he can’t stand it anymore. we will NOT dock his ears or clip his tail. mmmkay?<br>when we finally stumbled across mac, and talked to cris it all fell into place. she loves her dogs, she wants them to go to good homes, but she’s not insane about it. she talked to our vet, she got a couple references, we went to visit them and introduce the kids and sonny to him, she came and checked out our house when she dropped him off. and we had a new puppy. </p> <p align="center"><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-Nw0X_UM1hmI/U63aKAgYqpI/AAAAAAAAMYQ/XBzgWfMcKEo/s1600-h/image%25255B15%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-JBo8xkimLV4/U63aLr2HhKI/AAAAAAAAMYY/LTqwFyjiPbY/image_thumb%25255B20%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="371" height="640"></a></p> <p align="center"><em>do you know how hard it is to take a good photo of a camouflaged dog?</em></p> <p>he's a plott hound mix, which we'd never heard of until we started looking at rescues. that’s what gives him his beautiful brindle coloring. it's been a week since he came home to us, and he's a solid 27 pounds of squishy love with giant paws and soft fur and that puppy head cock that’s all “Huh? I’m listening!” <p>we debated names for a while…macallister was our middle name if elliot had been a boy, and we both super love the name. but…mac? too close to max? orrrrrr a nice tribute to max, and a way of not cringing every time we accidentally call him max over the next few weeks? yup, dumb like a fox ;)<br>you’re all “MAAAAAXXxxshCK”. no harm, no foul. <p>he and sonny have bonded and it's nonstop playing-sleeping-eating in a cycle all day, erry day around here. <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-BpNqY8MyrRE/U63UtP4vMpI/AAAAAAAAMX0/q2bjbXoWvhI/s1600-h/image%25255B11%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-z4uQ9ogLkGg/U63Ut9__OEI/AAAAAAAAMX8/gqdljBawW5E/image_thumb%25255B14%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="491" height="484"></a> <p>now if he could just teach sonny to stop <em>pooping</em> in the house (stupid chihuahua), he'd be perfect. <p>that and maybe mac could stop peeing on my unfinished quilt. >:( grrrrrrr. <p>you know...my quilt that i've been working on for months and am not done quilting yet and thus can not WASH until i FINISH, so i'm now quilting this stinky wet KING SIZE quilt that he searches out and pees on at least once a day!??!?!?! i'm not really sure why he either <i>hates </i>or <i>loves </i>this thing so much. clearly it's one or the other, i'm just not sure which… Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15438982905074697491noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7748750662715489716.post-11163241717853306802014-06-13T07:00:00.000-04:002014-06-13T07:00:03.531-04:0030 days of sundresses!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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third time’s a charm, right? well in that case i’m honored to be participating for the third year in melly’s 30 Days of Sundresses Series!<br />
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<a href="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ui=2&ik=1115001139&view=fimg&th=14600f7617419854&attid=0.1&disp=inline&realattid=f_hv8c44ik1&safe=1&attbid=ANGjdJ_hfkm53zPoBi7Okk31CFSDRp9uK45OZoz4MMP_RuUK_dntNWlMvWKe2mUEu5XmXgGB_IY_Ao8ER52ocVU5aojlwVDEWmOmytDkaE4JKBKcInPwecFOZf7WVFg&ats=1401678428419&rm=14600f7617419854&zw&sz=w1477-h652" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Displaying sundressgraphic.jpg" border="0" height="320" src="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ui=2&ik=1115001139&view=fimg&th=14600f7617419854&attid=0.1&disp=inline&realattid=f_hv8c44ik1&safe=1&attbid=ANGjdJ_hfkm53zPoBi7Okk31CFSDRp9uK45OZoz4MMP_RuUK_dntNWlMvWKe2mUEu5XmXgGB_IY_Ao8ER52ocVU5aojlwVDEWmOmytDkaE4JKBKcInPwecFOZf7WVFg&ats=1401678428419&rm=14600f7617419854&zw&sz=w1477-h652" width="196" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://googiemomma.blogspot.com/2013/06/easy-as-vintage-pie.html">last year</a> and the <a href="http://googiemomma.blogspot.com/2012/07/maxi-dress-with-lettuce-edge-hem.html">year before</a> i did quick and easy sundresses for me—which is a rarity! i don’t often sew for myself, but i use melly’s series as a push to do some selfish sewing at least once a year ;) and this year is the same…but different.<br />
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a few months ago i had the chance to be on project run and play, and i came away from that experience determined to increase my skill set. rather than go for a quick and easy dress this year i decided to put on my big girl panties and make myself a Real Dress. with a zipper and everything. <br />
<em>i know! crazy!</em><br />
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and then, not only did i make one dress, but i made myself TWO! <em>double crazy!</em><br />
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<a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-w-EMe7EnbHo/U4vnptPdSHI/AAAAAAAAMVY/GCwqjAe3faU/s1600-h/Untitled-118%25255B6%25255D.jpg"><img alt="Untitled-118" border="0" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-ikgIia4aiVA/U4vnqDc_46I/AAAAAAAAMVg/66zF6RPPkMA/Untitled-118_thumb%25255B3%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" height="512" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin: 0px auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="Untitled-118" width="650" /></a><br />
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believe it or not, both of these dresses are made from <span style="font-size: small;">the same basic pattern</span>—a princess seamed pattern that i drafted for <a href="http://googiemomma.blogspot.com/2013/10/that-green-dress.html" target="_blank">a gown i sewed for our anniversary</a> back in october. i think princess seams are universally flattering—and if you’re a busty gal the best BEST BEST thing you can do for yourself is invest the time into perfecting a princess seamed bodice to fit you like a glove. <br />
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when i made the pattern back in october, i used <a href="http://www.phwoosh.blogspot.com/2011/02/princess-seam-bodice-generator.html" target="_blank">THIS</a> set of instructions as a starting point. you plug in your measurements, and follow the instructions carefully, and at the end you’ll have a basic princess seam bodice. i had to tweak it quite a bit, but it was a start. the entire gown was a leap of faith—which i discuss more in my blog post about it. dressing a not-standard-sized-or-shaped body can be the ultimate in frustration. but i made myself a gown that a) i absolutely loved and b) fit me perfectly and c) gave me the confidence to admit that i CAN sew for myself. if i can make a strapless fully lined and boned evening gown, i can certainly do a sundress, right? a Real Sundress? with a zipper and everything? yup.<br />
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<a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-oZvGEajQCzI/U4vnq_wxKCI/AAAAAAAAMVk/PVl4SfyCaxg/s1600-h/IMG_6737_25691%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img alt="IMG_6737_25691" border="0" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-k5qesCBVuSg/U4vnrc6YRWI/AAAAAAAAMVw/bHl6567V8po/IMG_6737_25691_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" height="635" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin: 0px auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="IMG_6737_25691" width="500" /></a><br />
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for the first dress—which actually started as a potentially wearable muslin—i had to take in my pattern a touch here and there. then i extended the a-line down through the skirt, just going as wide as my fabric allowed. this fabric is upholstery fabric—a remnant snagged from my husband’s upholstery shop. i throw pieces i like for clothing through the washer and dryer as a litmus test as to whether or not they’ll work. <br />
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<a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-hfPucF1A3dw/U4vnsGt91vI/AAAAAAAAMV4/0NTzE42aFNE/s1600-h/IMG_6757_25895%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img alt="IMG_6757_25895" border="0" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-RX8HhcQsmGA/U4vnsmkHAbI/AAAAAAAAMWA/LTt7KhRG43M/IMG_6757_25895_thumb%25255B6%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" height="668" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin: 0px auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="IMG_6757_25895" width="500" /></a><br />
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the dress got brown piping, simple straps and two patch pockets and boom—one dress done. <br />
i almost called it day with this one—but i was all hopped up on sweet success and marched on to my original plans.<br />
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<a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-INShwJUDGIM/U4vntDEAktI/AAAAAAAAMWI/VvXI2KaQo3c/s1600-h/IMG_6768_260011%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img alt="IMG_6768_260011" border="0" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-hc0MJWoLSnQ/U4vntossvaI/AAAAAAAAMWQ/PBnd9fxn_JA/IMG_6768_260011_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" height="700" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin: 0px auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="IMG_6768_260011" width="391" /></a><br />
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for dress two i focused on turning my previously strapless bodice into one with straps. then i gave it a straight skirt, and did some easy colorblocking—the bulk of the dress is in a navy bottomweight with a touch of spandex, then i cut the front center piece from a lighter turquoise. i think it gives the dress a flattering illusion type look (without being quite so sexy) and i couldn’t love it more. <br />
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<a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-YTdpxFVOTZ0/U4vnuCwKuCI/AAAAAAAAMWY/-5OIVnKuos0/s1600-h/IMG_6779_261014%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img alt="IMG_6779_261014" border="0" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-wGFGiUTtgsw/U4vnu1jY4KI/AAAAAAAAMWg/yugEdGsSPp0/IMG_6779_261014_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" height="600" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin: 0px auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="IMG_6779_261014" width="338" /></a><br />
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the back has a semi-exposed zipper in a bright yellow. because, why not?<br />
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<a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-8p_lSaOu55Y/U4vnvqFwrgI/AAAAAAAAMWo/onqHhg_Rdic/s1600-h/IMG_6771_260313%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img alt="IMG_6771_260313" border="0" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-a_7igRGWSoU/U4vnw2j4KcI/AAAAAAAAMWw/NuydyF6xLBg/IMG_6771_260313_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" height="671" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin: 0px auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="IMG_6771_260313" width="400" /></a><br />
<br />
i feel so comfortable and confident in both of these dresses i almost didn’t totally hate the photoshoot. <em>almost</em>. ok, i still hate having to pose and i feel like i turn into the World’s Most Awkward Woman when the camera turns on me, but rest assured i love my dresses. <br />
<br />
so this year, i don’t have a tutorial or pattern for you. but what i do have is some encouragement: <span style="font-size: medium;">get yourself a well fitting pattern.</span> it’s not that difficult. it may be easier for you—as it was for me—to draft from scratch. but once you have that basic bodice the sky is the limit. these dresses don’t look alike at all, but they started from the same pattern and took me about 2-2.5 hrs each to sew. <br />
<br />
stretchy knits have their place, but sometimes a gal just needs a well fitting dress. and it’s not impossible. at the very least it’s worth a couple hours and a couple yards of fabric to experiment! <br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><em><br /></em></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><em>melly, thanks again for having me! your series gave me the push to create two new garments for myself that may well be my two favorites in my closet! xoxo</em></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15438982905074697491noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7748750662715489716.post-80617801931178038692014-05-20T07:30:00.000-04:002015-11-30T10:37:14.415-05:00the one with no models: toddler underpants free pattern and tutorialsharing a post i did back in january for house of estrela's Refashion Month! enjoy!<br />
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it’s been my m.o. since i started sewing:<span style="font-size: medium;"> just the fun stuff</span>. fancy dresses and princess costumes and bowties. occasionally a bag or a stuffed animal. <br />
<br />
i’d gloss over those tutorials and patterns for things like <em>basic t-shirts</em> and <em>stretchy pants</em> and <em>jeans</em> and gasp! <em>underwear</em>! who? why? why spend my time on making something i can buy at walmart when i can spend it making fluffy fluffy skirts??? <br />
<br />
and then i had a moment of clarity, as i prepared to drop yet another $7 pack of 3 pairs of “princess undies” in my cart. i was annoyed—the two little girls basically share clothes, gigi being a peanut and elliot being our typical thick toddler googie—and with potty training in full swing we were going through panties faster than…than i don’t know what. but just way too fast. and $7 every few weeks starts to add up. <br />
<br />
meanwhile, back at the ranch…i had an ever increasing backlog of “upcyclable” items—shirts and dresses piling up in drawers and baskets that i figured i’d be able to reuse for a sewing project eventually. <br />
<em><br /></em>
<em>::record scrattttcccchh::</em> duh. <br />
<br />
i pulled that pack o’ panties outta my cart quick as a wink and set off home to make my own.<br />
shockingly, i learned<span style="font-size: medium;"> it wasn’t hard at all.</span> <em>(i can hear you experienced sewists rolling your eyes).</em> once i drafted myself a basic pattern and tweaked it a bit, i had four pairs cut and sewn assembly line style in about an hour. <br />
<br />
for <em>freeeeeeeee</em>.<br />
which is my favorite number.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzCAudk-nkZCgPWZS5ShZx1G5bjiMTcwaxMNzqsXpw9cnrtqFrz5zibKDl7X7NbWH3qdA16_WwiX5zPDQG9KOmTpZDSzZsJa6lSehfpHgTHT3kKNsjMWlYgwN3eDZHCzixHg9tGaQZTkE/s1600/IMG_5856_0715.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="442" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzCAudk-nkZCgPWZS5ShZx1G5bjiMTcwaxMNzqsXpw9cnrtqFrz5zibKDl7X7NbWH3qdA16_WwiX5zPDQG9KOmTpZDSzZsJa6lSehfpHgTHT3kKNsjMWlYgwN3eDZHCzixHg9tGaQZTkE/s640/IMG_5856_0715.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
also shockingly—those<span style="font-size: medium;"> homemade panties are dang cute</span>. and watching their little bums run around in my handmade underpants was rather satisfying, even if it doesn’t get quite the same amount of attention from others that a handmade dress would. (hopefully. truth be told, i have rather exhibitionist daughters. :/ )<br />
i also learned that <span style="font-size: medium;">sewing is sometimes useful</span> for more than just sparkly dresses. it can actually save my family money, instead of being an expensive hobby. lol. i kid. really i’ve always tried to spend very little on my sewing, so it is a cost saving measure for our family. but this opened my eyes to the fact that taking the time to make some of the, ahem, “boring” stuff can really make a dent in our bottom line. <br />
<br />
and i’m finally putting some of those knit t’s i’ve been hoarding to good use! <span style="font-size: medium;">upcycling/recycling either your own castoffs or thrifted/gifted items just makes good sense!</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">so, who’s ready to make their own panties? well too bad, you’re on your own for that. but if you’d like to make a pair that will fit a child between 2-5 depending on their size than i’ve got a free tutorial + pattern for you!</span><br />
<br />
your only supplies are:<br />
<strong><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></strong>
<strong><span style="font-size: small;">+ a pile of knits.</span></strong> somewhere in there try to have a thicker white cotton. i had a rib knit white tank, and this<br />
was perfect as a liner for the crotch. (i just said crotch. on the internet)<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><strong><br /></strong></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><strong>+ elastic</strong>.</span> i used both F.O.E. (fold over elastic) and regular 1/2” elastic that i have on a big spool. the F.O.E. does look nice and professional, but i found the regular stuff much easier to work with. <br />
<strong><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></strong>
<strong><span style="font-size: small;">+ scissors, thread, machine, pins.</span> </strong>what you don’t need is a serger. it’s nice if you have one, but you can do these perfectly well without one. <br />
<br />
+ <strong><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://googiemomma.blogspot.com/2011/01/toddler-panties-free-tutorial-and.html">this pattern + this tutorial,</a></span></strong><span style="font-size: small;"><strong></strong></span> over on my blog!<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><strong><br /></strong></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><strong>boom</strong>. crazy cute panties in multiples.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIQvGXfScEaFa4YGr8eLJ_f7aJwut8NHSaJcmmJDTzeKvptLfJNqUD2iFbsVl_WKLUVF1qYnNQplgAzDXSxnyZuCjwfIavidei3Jr0cJLPXGk_pehaCnqKutsNdZaOAEobh3zAM16c_ow/s1600/IMG_5857_0716.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIQvGXfScEaFa4YGr8eLJ_f7aJwut8NHSaJcmmJDTzeKvptLfJNqUD2iFbsVl_WKLUVF1qYnNQplgAzDXSxnyZuCjwfIavidei3Jr0cJLPXGk_pehaCnqKutsNdZaOAEobh3zAM16c_ow/s640/IMG_5857_0716.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
with cute little bums.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggIMX1ncpSuNeqEfgwj87rsD47MREN0ioejS_3hmVVdAmw39-UC3_nrziRgbSWPQQzfW9Xc8euIIBUTRKZZQXC_HWwAdN9MMh-8ttIbfEqcgDtiolQZK9vSu3W8FMlkj-DRTli5BjjBx0/s1600/IMG_5858_0717.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="418" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggIMX1ncpSuNeqEfgwj87rsD47MREN0ioejS_3hmVVdAmw39-UC3_nrziRgbSWPQQzfW9Xc8euIIBUTRKZZQXC_HWwAdN9MMh-8ttIbfEqcgDtiolQZK9vSu3W8FMlkj-DRTli5BjjBx0/s640/IMG_5858_0717.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;">there you have it! go forth and sew more than just the pretties, and save dollah dollah bills ya’ll, and cover nekkid bottoms! </span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>(the world will thank you)</em></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><em><br /></em></span>
<a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-bwLex2vxmQw/UuQDPokSweI/AAAAAAAAL4o/0_jGaURw9tM/s1600-h/IMG_5859_07183.jpg"><img alt="IMG_5859_0718" border="0" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-no6VW_rf3Co/UuQDQNajMWI/AAAAAAAAL4s/gQCLRohCpKE/IMG_5859_0718_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" height="433" style="background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin: 0px auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="IMG_5859_0718" width="649" /></a><br />
<br />
how dare i try and take pictures without letting them be a part? :)Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15438982905074697491noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7748750662715489716.post-30239595036864637552014-05-19T08:00:00.000-04:002014-05-19T08:00:09.120-04:00can anyone lend me a baby?<p>in a few weeks, my oldest will turn 14. and my youngest will turn 3. <br>three.<br>i’ve come to terms with the 14…she’s growing, she’s a teenager. i have accepted that i am the mother of a teenager, and in a short while i will be the mother of many teenagers.</p> <p>what i’m having a bit more trouble coming to terms with is that i’m no longer the mother of babies. </p> <p align="center"><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-eciFHG1apv0/U3ab5MYbTmI/AAAAAAAAMTs/R7647-S68l8/s1600-h/100_1203%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="100_1203" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="100_1203" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-YWXotoCbt-A/U3ab6p77t_I/AAAAAAAAMT0/x8I0LEondMw/100_1203_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="650" height="366"></a><em>elliot, january 2012</em></p> <p>this is no secret, i’ve talked about my troubles leaving this phase of life before. but now…it’s here. for someone who’s gone through the last 14+ years feeling like there would be no end to the “baby phase”, this is rather…off-putting. </p> <p align="center"><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-aFPvl4jvvas/U3ab8NtUvCI/AAAAAAAAMT8/NR_6Ccg8iBo/s1600-h/IMG_1807_1605%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_1807_1605" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_1807_1605" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-i-ik-qHJix0/U3ab9kqGX8I/AAAAAAAAMUE/V8z6nmPktG4/IMG_1807_1605_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="400" height="599"></a><em>gigi, june 2010</em></p> <p>it’s a mental and emotional change—rewiring our parenting minds from things like sleep and potty training to, well…big kid stuff.<br>it’s a physical change—less stuff to lug, less people to carry, less physical effort in general involved.<br>and i’m finding that it’s also a literal change to our home. i’m giving away/throwing away/donating actual physical THINGS that say “there’s a baby in this house!”</p> <p align="center"><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-CVxEyjQ3NtA/U3ab_QAySaI/AAAAAAAAMUM/tJdXHFo2Puw/s1600-h/100_0322_1565%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="100_0322_1565" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="100_0322_1565" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-H0N-IbgEU2g/U3acA7hW7zI/AAAAAAAAMUQ/248JkfhUWrM/100_0322_1565_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="577" height="433"></a><em><font size="2">elliot</font></em></p> <p><font size="3"><em>hooded ducky towels that don’t even cover the wet bottoms anymore, let alone wrap an entire body.</em></font></p> <p><font size="3"><em>random tiny socks, smaller than my hand, lost and stuck in hidden corners</em></font></p> <p><font size="3"><em>the last nursing bra shoved in the back of my drawer</em></font></p> <p><font size="3"><em>one last partially used package of diapers</em></font></p> <p><font size="3"><em>sippy cups (with their stupid stupid perpetually lost valves)</em></font></p> <p><font size="3"><em>touch and feel books…i love those fuzzy lion manes and sticky frog feet more than my babies i think</em></font></p> <p>and every time i load the dishwasher and make the choice to throw away that one random baby spoon somebody found in the back of the drawer and used for cereal because all the other spoons were dirty…it hurts. </p> <p align="center"><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-JTPuYifu4HQ/U3acCNg3ueI/AAAAAAAAMUc/sJTowD3NXDg/s1600-h/IMG_2600%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_2600" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_2600" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-Q5yf9WX9uAA/U3acD9uSZGI/AAAAAAAAMUk/dHq0PdcT8uM/IMG_2600_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="400" height="599"></a><em>elliot, summer 2012</em></p> <p align="left">it’s not the <em>thing</em> that hurts—the actual item going into the trash.if anything there’s almost a sense of relief associated with that—getting rid of clutter is one of my favorite pasttimes. no…it’s the loss of the “there’s a baby in this house!”, and then all the other things that that means i’m losing…</p> <p><font size="3"><em>soft and slightly sour milk breath</em></font></p> <p><font size="3"><em>gummy smiles</em></font></p> <p><font size="3"><em>open mouth slobber kisses</em></font></p> <p><font size="3"><em>chest to chest naps</em></font></p> <p><font size="3"><em>milk drunk babies nursing the air</em></font></p> <p><em><font size="3">those first drunken wobbly steps</font></em></p> <p><em><font size="3">dimples on chubby knuckles, and wrists, and feet and…everywhere.</font></em></p> <p><em><font size="3">that squishy crinkly sound it makes when they walk with a diaper on</font></em></p> <p>our house has no more pairs of those Sweet Pea bag-style jammies…i always loved them for easy nighttime diaper changes. and painfully, our house has no more baby talk. elliot has been an amazing talker from the get-go, but in the past few weeks she’s just taken off. words are pronouced correctly—not in that garbled way that’s music to a momma’s ears.</p> <p align="center"><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-qFLTFsMjGBQ/U3acFja7MRI/AAAAAAAAMUs/Ar6hsFJ9_EU/s1600-h/cape%252520cod%2525202012-145%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="cape cod 2012-145" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="cape cod 2012-145" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-jkwgbtrI9Uk/U3acG9omyFI/AAAAAAAAMUw/eLYoQ7_eZ6s/cape%252520cod%2525202012-145_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="650" height="433"></a><em>elliot, october 2012</em></p><em></em> <p align="left"><br>words have become sentences and they in turn have become entire paragraphs and stories. she just said to me “<em>these are my favorite shoes. i love them. i can put them on. but i need you to buckle them.”</em></p> <p align="center"><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-2TsWz9Mqg20/U3acH98Cq3I/AAAAAAAAMU4/dnydjFxA-Zs/s1600-h/127%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="127" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="127" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-Bjp4AJr4L3Q/U3acIVjO97I/AAAAAAAAMVA/vNoZ0FvMvQM/127_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="400" height="599"></a><em>those first giant steps</em></p> <p>i know i could bookend this post with thoughts on all the fun yet to come. the new things we can do since we don’t have babies dragging us down anymore (ha!). but that’s not where i am this rainy morning. right now i just finished folding a load of towels, and obstinately put those last faded, torn hooded towels back in the clean basket. i’ll go kicking and screaming. </p> <p>the best i can right now is maybe think of some things i won’t miss. </p> <p>baby proofing (who am i kidding…i barely did any…)<br><br>passing clothes on, instead of packing them away for little siblings (ugh, that takes FOR-EH-VER)</p> <p>giant pieces of baby “equipment” in every corner of the house (jumper, exersaucer, swing, car seat, crib…it goes on and on…)</p> <p>annnd that’s about it.</p> <p>i suppose i could say things like <em>“oh i can sleep through the night”,</em> but that was never a huge deal to me. right now i’m wearing those rose-colored glasses which are the root cause of things like “second babies”. </p> <p>in a way i hope i never lose this longing for babies. i’m thinking maybe i’ll be the awesomest grandmother ever? i think so. i just have to bide my time in this space of babyless-ness. where i do things like sleep. and cruise. yeah, i think i’ll be okay. </p> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15438982905074697491noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7748750662715489716.post-89605814612585829912014-05-07T08:32:00.001-04:002014-05-07T08:32:08.070-04:00guest posting at everyday art!<p>today i’ve got the privilege of guest posting over at <font size="4"><a href="http://www.our-everyday-art.com/2014/05/snuggly-bunny-baby-blankie.html" target="_blank">everyday art for their little ones series</a></font>! why not <a href="http://www.our-everyday-art.com/2014/05/snuggly-bunny-baby-blankie.html" target="_blank">head over</a> and check out my little bunny blankie!</p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/--70Z2qruTKg/U2onwkjoONI/AAAAAAAAMTM/N6aMLba9GvE/s1600-h/IMG_6722_2555bunny%252520blanket%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_6722_2555bunny blanket" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_6722_2555bunny blanket" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-VfAXe1JWInM/U2onxN83QkI/AAAAAAAAMTU/efPRjNyCoPc/IMG_6722_2555bunny%252520blanket_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="650" height="621"></a></p> <p>and if you’re coming from there and looking for the blanket pattern and instructions, click <a href="http://googiemomma.blogspot.com/2014/04/fluffy-bunny-blanket-free-pattern.html" target="_blank">HERE</a>!</p> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15438982905074697491noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7748750662715489716.post-11287712485185529252014-04-28T09:40:00.001-04:002014-04-28T09:57:06.577-04:00WHY IS THERE SNOW IN THESE PICTURES?<p>short answer: because i’m a straight up lousy blogger. because i took the photos of this dress months (weeks?) ago and they’ve been lost in the long dark teatime of my hard drive. </p> <p>but i love this dress and it’s worth sharing, so here it is.</p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-jSLg_zEXi_o/U15aCpStLYI/AAAAAAAAMLw/Ux69Wrx4Ang/s1600-h/IMG_6435_1155dresses4.jpg"><img title="IMG_6435_1155dresses" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_6435_1155dresses" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-iMnRGI8Jxsc/U15aDZ-9VQI/AAAAAAAAML4/ZR6MpvzF_2A/IMG_6435_1155dresses_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800" width="500" height="749"></a></p> <p>this dress was inspired by the dress <a href="http://www.adventuresindressmaking.com/2013/11/7-days-of-holiday-party-dresses-simple.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+AdventuresinDressmaking+%28Adventures+in+Dressmaking%29#.U15TX_ldX0Q" target="_blank">simple simon and co. did for adventures in dressmaking’s</a> series back in november. </p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-o-lWSEAt_DI/U15aD2_vbuI/AAAAAAAAMMA/Fa684JYpt9U/s1600-h/IMG_6433_1152dresses%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_6433_1152dresses" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_6433_1152dresses" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-ryrzA5LL0jo/U15aEsesxyI/AAAAAAAAMMI/G4seoH42G-Y/IMG_6433_1152dresses_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="500" height="749"></a></p> <p>liZ made a vintage-y babydoll dress. she described it as “high waisted, tightly gathered, shorty short, ridiculously poofy”. yessssss. girlfriend is speaking my language, and i was forced to promptly copy her dress into a version for my littlest.</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-I1NheJWVd4E/U15aGD6gCdI/AAAAAAAAMMQ/yrsmQrLdkro/s1600-h/IMG_6425_1145dresses%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_6425_1145dresses" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_6425_1145dresses" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-viDftz8ffDo/U15aGo79Z-I/AAAAAAAAMMY/Bta7yfx06Uo/IMG_6425_1145dresses_thumb%25255B5%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="499" height="750"></a></p> <p>it’s a lovely symbiotic relationship: i love seeing ms. elliot here in the poofy fluffy stuff, and she loves wearing it. </p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-0elRuXjhtTs/U15aHJUoq7I/AAAAAAAAMMc/7rDrkiaMEB0/s1600-h/IMG_6402_1122%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_6402_1122" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_6402_1122" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-TEcuo9RkYlY/U15aHqo4NwI/AAAAAAAAMMo/mQLQV3WOFxA/IMG_6402_1122_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="400" height="599"></a></p> <p>as a matter of fact, that is ALL she wears. dresses, and pink, and fancy shoes. 100% of the time. even to bed—including the fancy shoes. she’s tried (unsuccessfully) to convince us her light up minnie mouse click-clack heels are “night night shoes”. just as we’ve tried (unsuccessfully) to convince her that she can not wear shoes to bed. le sigh.</p> <p>anyway, about the dress--the white velvet liZ used wasn’t gonna fly for my sloppy little munchkin, so it was a stiffer white bottomweight i ended up with, which really enhances the poofiness factor. ;)</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-o28y8S5nvPw/U15aIuS2HLI/AAAAAAAAMMw/ysjBlsX7q98/s1600-h/IMG_6417_1137dresses%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_6417_1137dresses" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_6417_1137dresses" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-8rscoAFF5Ag/U15aJP-WQAI/AAAAAAAAMM0/_J7hwOUzSHA/IMG_6417_1137dresses_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="700" height="532"></a></p> <p>i used a self-drafted baseball-t style pattern for the top—omitting the neckband and adding a facing, then added lots, and lots, and LOTS of skirt, pleated and gathered to fit. it has a self slip with black tulle, and a tiny black and white trim on the skirt and arm hems.</p> <p>some pretty black buttons in the back and a simple black ribbon around the waist. done. </p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-i4zpyl84sCg/U15aJqVzqsI/AAAAAAAAMNA/CBxrk77d0h0/s1600-h/IMG_6423_1143dresses%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_6423_1143dresses" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_6423_1143dresses" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-SPD3dzq0ymI/U15aKC3nFII/AAAAAAAAMNI/brZW6UiXxOo/IMG_6423_1143dresses_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="649" height="433"></a></p> <p>did i keep telling her to pick up things from the ground because i stinking love how it sticks out when she bends over?</p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-g_AdZO5tqaI/U15aK78iFpI/AAAAAAAAMNM/xiQ3kWoK99g/s1600-h/IMG_6424_1144dresses%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_6424_1144dresses" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_6424_1144dresses" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-aZaFne2EwIM/U15aLY1xazI/AAAAAAAAMNQ/UNRlGZvpFvY/IMG_6424_1144dresses_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="632" height="433"></a></p> <p>yes, i most certainly did.</p> <p>did i neglect to realize that when i asked her sister to put black stockings on her for these shots, she wasn’t wearing any panties yet?</p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-AzB_P3Kr3aE/U15aL0Pn2FI/AAAAAAAAMNY/nUv0LN4hIZs/s1600-h/IMG_6421_1141_edited-1%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_6421_1141_edited-1" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_6421_1141_edited-1" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-AC1zSwVV0g0/U15aMhMO0_I/AAAAAAAAMNk/GZcFXAXI3YM/IMG_6421_1141_edited-1_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="650" height="433"></a></p> <p>yes, i most certainly did. O.o</p> <p>enjoy your morning dose of googie badonkadonk. hehehe.</p> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15438982905074697491noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7748750662715489716.post-66733110769597651602014-04-21T21:57:00.000-04:002014-04-21T22:05:53.658-04:00pr+p: let me sum up.well, that was fast and furious. i was out after two weeks. and...i'm not sure how i feel about that. i was so, soooo tired that i almost was happy. <i>almost</i>.<br />
because it also hurts to be "out"...<br />
<br />
i had my outfit for week 3 about 80% finished, but nothing takes away your motivation quicker than being kicked off the island.<br />
so there it sits, draped across my dress form in it's unfinished state. maybe one day i'll get around to it.<br />
<br />
i did have fun. they were some of the most stressful weeks--sewing and thinking and tearing things out and resewing. the last few nights before the deadline of week 2 were straight up miserable. i lost the embroidery thread and buttons i had bought, and was tearing apart my sewing area and huffing and puffing, shooting angry eyes at my husband snuggled up in bed and snoring. not that ANY of it was his fault--actually, he was amazingly patient and supportive through the entire thing. but *I* wanted to be in bed and snoring.<br />
okay, maybe just in bed. ladies don't snore. i took it down to the wire--not done still on saturday, i pushed photos to sunday. and it absolutely POURED buckets. at first it was drizzly--so i thought i could do it. but by the time i found an umbrella to use in photos it was over. not a chance of photos happening in the torrential downpour we were having.<br />
so monday i took the kiddos to school late so i could squeeze in a quick photoshoot. and it was freezing. like couldn't stand up straight teeth won't stop chattering freezing. but i thought i had some good shots so i was hopeful...until i got home and realized something is wrong with my camera and they were all blurry. and here i thought that it was just my eyes...:( so after school back again--we flew to our spot (which i realize was a mistake, i should have just done the reshoot at home) and back home with 40 minutes to the deadline. and it showed in my photos for week 2. not the way i wanted to go out--because i was really, REALLY proud of what i had done for that week.<br />
eh, it is what it is, right?<br />
moving on..<br />
i challenged myself during pr+p--my m.o. is girl's dresses, all day erry day. that's what i like sewing, that's what i'm good at sewing...and, let's face it--they're much faster. but i knew to have a chance up against these <i>awesome </i>seamstresses i'd have to break out of my comfort zone.<br />
<br />
so i did--pants, shirt and a jacket for harrison scared...well, the pants off me. ava's sailor pants, blouse and jacket? i was riding such a roller coaster of emotions--literally from minute to minute.<br />
<i>the pants fit like a glove! i'm </i><b>amazing</b><i>!</i><br />
<i>i hemmed them </i><b>too. short</b><i>. someone shoot me and put me out of my misery.</i><br />
<i>look at that welt pocket! BOOYAH!</i><br />
<i>i sewed my zipper shut. </i><b>i quit. </b><br />
<br />
but i've come out of it with a desire and determination to expand my skillset--to try new things and learn new techniques. (first up: perfect bound buttonholes and master the zip fly) i've been pushed to put more effort and work into my finishing and small details--both things i tend to let slide normally.<br />
<i>who cares what the inside seams look like? look how cute she is!!!</i><br />
and i've also "met" some super cool gals--<a href="http://ifonlytheywouldnap.net/" target="_blank">jess</a>, <a href="http://www.callajaire.com/" target="_blank">ajaire</a>, <a href="http://www.petitapetitandfamily.com/" target="_blank">celina</a>, <a href="http://www.itsalwaysautumn.com/" target="_blank">autumn </a>and <a href="http://www.thecrazytailor.com/" target="_blank">sarah </a>are all pretty stinkin' awesome, and amazingly talented to boot.<br />
<br />
so in the end, i say THANKS to the <a href="http://www.simplesimonandco.com/" target="_blank">simple simon</a> gals for giving me this shot on pr+p. i wish i could have gone further, but it was still a blast while it lasted!<br />
and last, but most DEFINITELY NOT least--you guys. everyone one who voted for me, or didn't vote for me but came and left a nice comment, the sweet notes i've gotten from people and the comments that kept me motivated. thank you, from the bottom of my thread-covered heart. mwah! xoxo, SAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15438982905074697491noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7748750662715489716.post-347070440693965542014-04-03T09:57:00.002-04:002014-04-03T09:58:27.549-04:00PR+P: a final plea<span style="font-size: large;">guys! today is the last day to vote for this week's look in project run + play! and...well, it's not looking too good for yours truly. :(</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> if you can spare a second i'd love your vote!
</span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15438982905074697491noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7748750662715489716.post-46228089796527248552014-04-01T07:59:00.000-04:002014-04-01T07:59:00.050-04:00PR + P week two: spring break<span style="font-size: x-large"><b>tale of the cod</b></span><br><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-ZN5tzE4Yx9A/Uzncsc3k66I/AAAAAAAAMEk/yVkTk5JfSCk/s1600-h/IMG_6627_1532cape%252520cod%252520outfits%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_6627_1532cape cod outfits" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_6627_1532cape cod outfits" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-GoZnVQiXCus/UznctPIuVFI/AAAAAAAAMEs/q_F40eI3QOo/IMG_6627_1532cape%252520cod%252520outfits_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="650" height="474"></a><br><br>CAPE COD, MASS was where i travelled for inspiration this week. and this challenge was almost<i> the one that broke the camel’s back. </i><br><br><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-sb2iNSenzQ8/Uzo4VWISs2I/AAAAAAAAME0/rSXmGYnP_s8/s1600-h/IMG_6670_1596cape%252520cod%252520outfits%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_6670_1596cape cod outfits" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_6670_1596cape cod outfits" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-GDaRjltxElw/Uzo4V9HTc_I/AAAAAAAAME8/zgIvMJTsJiw/IMG_6670_1596cape%252520cod%252520outfits_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="650" height="434"></a><br><br>i didn’t set out to make two complete looks. but when i was in the planning stages, i got hit by good old <span style="font-size: large">mommy guilt</span>: i rarely sew for my one and only boy, harrison. so let’s include him this week! shirt and pants for each…and maybe a jacket for harrison….well, and wouldn’t a jacket for ava be cool?<i> and there you have it.</i><br><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-81A2yTUbc5Y/Uzo4WXmsimI/AAAAAAAAMFE/Y-Me8h63sxg/s1600-h/IMG_6698_1624cape%252520cod%252520outfits%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_6698_1624cape cod outfits" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_6698_1624cape cod outfits" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-gU6IvOVDfak/Uzo4W5UZfEI/AAAAAAAAMFM/2v9nI3T48UY/IMG_6698_1624cape%252520cod%252520outfits_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="650" height="434"></a><br><br>next thing you know i'm sewing night and day and losing things and crying (yup) and ready to quit the whole contest.<br>little did i realize that harrison was perfectly content<b> not</b> being a part of this whole experience. so take a good look—this is the last time you’ll be seeing him on the blog, sewing-wise. and it took quite a bit of cajoling and bargaining to get him here. <br><br>so if last week’s challenge was about the fluff and the fun, this week was all about stretching myself. i took on some pretty major pieces, and went well outside my comfort zone. but to say i’m <i>happy </i>with the end results would be quite an understatement.<span style="font-size: large"> i’m in love with these looks. </span><br><br><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-HCNHgg7Tw3s/Uzo4Xau8eOI/AAAAAAAAMFU/VLDSLo4ZQNk/s1600-h/IMG_6639_1544cape%252520cod%252520outfits%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_6639_1544cape cod outfits" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: left; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_6639_1544cape cod outfits" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-lGTObbhSWo8/Uzo4X5-C84I/AAAAAAAAMFY/fNqZJg05W1E/IMG_6639_1544cape%252520cod%252520outfits_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="289" align="left" height="433"></a><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-DwB6OtoQ2h8/Uzo4YV5o83I/AAAAAAAAMFg/zyg79Q0l-WE/s1600-h/IMG_6640_1545cape%252520cod%252520outfits%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_6640_1545cape cod outfits" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_6640_1545cape cod outfits" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-9f6ZrDPs-lw/Uzo4ZDZYlFI/AAAAAAAAMFs/t6VIYsdNBJ0/IMG_6640_1545cape%252520cod%252520outfits_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="289" height="433"></a><br><br>now if only my two goofballs would cooperate. ;) these two…either the best of friends or the worst of enemies. there’s nothing in between with them. <br><br><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-ETA5ufLWvDU/Uzo4Z17zb5I/AAAAAAAAMFw/x1EciBgSXZY/s1600-h/IMG_6648_1553cape%252520cod%252520outfits%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_6648_1553cape cod outfits" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_6648_1553cape cod outfits" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-GFRPhHhjyzM/Uzo4aQ7GVfI/AAAAAAAAMF4/qKPuwXBZmCg/IMG_6648_1553cape%252520cod%252520outfits_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="650" height="434"></a><br><br>how about some more details on the clothes? ladies first…<br><br><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-AKIxFu0b2SY/Uzo4a8zXFcI/AAAAAAAAMF8/P1kLR-9Qo-M/s1600-h/IMG_6620_1525cape%252520cod%252520outfits%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_6620_1525cape cod outfits" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_6620_1525cape cod outfits" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-GR1E3SKQnjA/Uzo4bW8Y5OI/AAAAAAAAMGM/9TqbDpoMw-0/IMG_6620_1525cape%252520cod%252520outfits_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="650" height="434"></a><br><br><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-XL7crZ7oZ1E/Uzo4cgWqZmI/AAAAAAAAMGU/Q3lbyguwa_0/s1600-h/IMG_6625_1530cape%252520cod%252520outfits%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_6625_1530cape cod outfits" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_6625_1530cape cod outfits" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-f7TWq5s3T5o/Uzo4dUJiOUI/AAAAAAAAMGc/zrcZtY6os0U/IMG_6625_1530cape%252520cod%252520outfits_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="463" height="433"></a><br><br>her pants are a flowy linen-esqe navy material. i drafted the pattern and tweaked and tweaked and tweaked to get the fit JUST. RIGHT. and it was so worth it. they look awesome on her athletically thin frame. <br><br><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-99a11jzV1Gs/Uzo4d-3K0KI/AAAAAAAAMGk/jKPn8ERPftU/s1600-h/IMG_6637_1542cape%252520cod%252520outfits%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_6637_1542cape cod outfits" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_6637_1542cape cod outfits" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-S_yW-J6Dh-g/Uzo4eXJLwrI/AAAAAAAAMGs/JCi9cIDwQXQ/IMG_6637_1542cape%252520cod%252520outfits_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="400" height="599"></a><br><br><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-wS_IgR92ooU/Uzo4e02h0wI/AAAAAAAAMG0/5JTdZ2BkcmM/s1600-h/IMG_6676_1602cape%252520cod%252520outfits%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_6676_1602cape cod outfits" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_6676_1602cape cod outfits" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-EU9c3p2lQl0/Uzo4fQl2BfI/AAAAAAAAMG4/7mkAdgnk8IY/IMG_6676_1602cape%252520cod%252520outfits_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="550" height="824"></a><br><br>they’re paired with this white blouse, which isn’t just a tone-on-tone stripe. those stripes are alternating woven fabric and what i can only describe as elastic strips. i gave it a wide boatneck and less than 3/4 sleeves…2/3 sleeves, perhaps? the anchor was sewn with my free motion quilting foot, and i hand sewed the “chain” down. for drama i left the back open and finished it with 4 coral buttons.<br><br><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-1OhtftNo3To/Uzo4f7a4yjI/AAAAAAAAMHE/y0_3a7mgDVo/s1600-h/IMG_6662_1588cape%252520cod%252520outfits%25255B6%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_6662_1588cape cod outfits" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: left; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_6662_1588cape cod outfits" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-wwLIJTKOXko/Uzo4gYiEC6I/AAAAAAAAMHI/QpnMfpcXPRA/IMG_6662_1588cape%252520cod%252520outfits_thumb%25255B3%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="360" align="left" height="420"></a><br><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-pPNjQ_-R93E/Uzo4gw489HI/AAAAAAAAMHU/2jNsvUuhHCw/s1600-h/IMG_6613_1518cape%252520cod%252520outfits%25255B8%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_6613_1518cape cod outfits" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_6613_1518cape cod outfits" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-FnWmpqd-NNI/Uzo4hfg4pCI/AAAAAAAAMHc/v5wBZ_4QPGA/IMG_6613_1518cape%252520cod%252520outfits_thumb%25255B9%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="350" height="433"></a><br><br>that tiny, tiny trim was a bear—keeping it perfectly straight and not running over it with my stitches? not easy. this entire project had more hand sewing than i think i’ve ever done in my life. the other thing it had in spades?<br><br><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-bOdLsSb-6bY/Uzo4hzh16EI/AAAAAAAAMHk/EYCu6QPWCEU/s1600-h/IMG_6609_1514cape%252520cod%252520outfits%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_6609_1514cape cod outfits" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: left; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_6609_1514cape cod outfits" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-6FNSaHo7iJw/Uzo4ieQCGzI/AAAAAAAAMHs/gMXWrrW6wvQ/IMG_6609_1514cape%252520cod%252520outfits_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="206" align="left" height="375"></a><br><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-7nHAOo8c4o4/Uzo4jm4wUNI/AAAAAAAAMH0/O2VEIB9Q9DA/s1600-h/IMG_6610_1515cape%252520cod%252520outfits%25255B7%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_6610_1515cape cod outfits" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="IMG_6610_1515cape cod outfits" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-4Wr1AnGB-7k/Uzo4j8OIYQI/AAAAAAAAMH4/OidC5LNTgvk/IMG_6610_1515cape%252520cod%252520outfits_thumb%25255B7%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="503" height="375"></a><br><br><i>buttons and button holes</i>. eek! ava’s entire look had<span style="font-size: large"> 26 buttons,</span> each and every one hand sewn on (after <a href="http://instagram.com/p/mHEyWIFd7t/" target="_blank">an unfortunate machine-sewing experiment</a>). now her jacket—this was my piece de resistance. it’s got a nautical/military feel, with some feminine features to keep it pretty. <br><br><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-AORVdymIgO8/Uzo4keC0RtI/AAAAAAAAMIE/0DXm_sUIv4o/s1600-h/IMG_6630_1535cape%252520cod%252520outfits%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_6630_1535cape cod outfits" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_6630_1535cape cod outfits" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-WN-0IT0hNKA/Uzo4kyHDb_I/AAAAAAAAMIM/wVkuT9GWRBo/IMG_6630_1535cape%252520cod%252520outfits_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="600" height="518"></a><br><br><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-Fd4x5oxR0a8/Uzo4lajB2LI/AAAAAAAAMIU/jsqyroaeiCQ/s1600-h/IMG_6631_1536cape%252520cod%252520outfits%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_6631_1536cape cod outfits" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_6631_1536cape cod outfits" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-cSozrb2XhJA/Uzo4ly2dXhI/AAAAAAAAMIc/KfeGKPyCxNA/IMG_6631_1536cape%252520cod%252520outfits_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="350" height="524"></a><br><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-OhR8eQ8s3Pw/Uzo4moXkZTI/AAAAAAAAMIg/H8hKRpnbP8Y/s1600-h/IMG_6643_1548_edited-1cape%252520cod%252520outfits%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_6643_1548_edited-1cape cod outfits" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_6643_1548_edited-1cape cod outfits" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-i8Q3La6pkwU/Uzo4nAX1JNI/AAAAAAAAMIs/qVWyZzUJk3U/IMG_6643_1548_edited-1cape%252520cod%252520outfits_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="650" height="434"></a><br><br>and lots and lots of buttons. did i mention that? the buttons on both the jacket and pants are actually compasses, a nod to the nautical theme without being the typical anchor button. LOVE.<br><br><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-B9jKFyuSjcw/Uzo4noXkfdI/AAAAAAAAMI0/3yaAqMkJewY/s1600-h/IMG_6658_1584_edited-1%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_6658_1584_edited-1" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_6658_1584_edited-1" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-rZcG115iuzE/Uzo4oAW_VmI/AAAAAAAAMI4/cxCZQp8Y3Os/IMG_6658_1584_edited-1_thumb%25255B4%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="577" height="487"></a><br><br><span style="font-size: large">now for harrison</span>. i bought the bulk of what i used for his look in one thrift shopping trip: one pair men’s size 42x32 pants, one men’s large t-shirt, one men’s 2XL rain jacket, one XL fleece. i pulled a maternity shirt and some raw yardage from my stash. i added in green and white striped trim and some leather and wood toggles. <br>his jacket…ah the jacket. i worked so, sooo hard on this thing. i broke that original rain jacket up into parts and repurposed everything. <br><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-uhaEtNnPV9k/Uzo4ogDJjjI/AAAAAAAAMJE/hiqrnYWiYiQ/s1600-h/IMG_6632_1537cape%252520cod%252520outfits%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_6632_1537cape cod outfits" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_6632_1537cape cod outfits" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-sJUh9XyhpWk/Uzo4pH131VI/AAAAAAAAMJM/hhVqGddUQXE/IMG_6632_1537cape%252520cod%252520outfits_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="400" height="599"></a><br><br>the zipper went down the back to add a detail, the original pockets got reset--one horizontally, one vertically. i added a grey and navy trim to the outside, and finished the inside edges with the same green and white trim from the pants. the finishing touch was the leather and wood toggles on the front. <br><br><br><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-5YZ4i80tabI/Uzo4pgTEOcI/AAAAAAAAMJU/rgwswo2au6o/s1600-h/IMG_6606_1511cape%252520cod%252520outfits%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_6606_1511cape cod outfits" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_6606_1511cape cod outfits" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-FTH3DZAV7R4/Uzo4qAeFJEI/AAAAAAAAMJc/BH5DW3DX1mw/IMG_6606_1511cape%252520cod%252520outfits_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="650" height="323"></a><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-xu_fSH9MIe8/Uzo8c7LkjEI/AAAAAAAAMLY/7MHIzKFzFdo/s1600-h/IMG_6653_1558cape%252520cod%252520outfits%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_6653_1558cape cod outfits" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_6653_1558cape cod outfits" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-fw-IgNxTs6E/Uzo8df93x9I/AAAAAAAAMLg/J8L_ZUsKUlE/IMG_6653_1558cape%252520cod%252520outfits_thumb%25255B5%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="450" height="590"></a><br>i played a delicate balance with this look: in general, i hate making things that i feel like you can buy easily in any store. that’s why i typically lean towards dresses and outfits with a twist for my girls. but there’s only so much “different” you can force on a boy who’s 2 weeks from being 12. so i kept the jacket fun, and added in lots of little details, but kept the design on the tamer side. <br><br><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-zuwyp15_yG0/Uzo4qmTvoiI/AAAAAAAAMJk/tP_6ftqujMk/s1600-h/IMG_6636_1541cape%252520cod%252520outfits%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_6636_1541cape cod outfits" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_6636_1541cape cod outfits" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-Moa-aoBx_-g/Uzo4rBiqfJI/AAAAAAAAMJs/gIVUFKgScGo/IMG_6636_1541cape%252520cod%252520outfits_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="550" height="824"></a><br><br>same goes for his shirt—i cobbled together a baseball style tee by chopping up the men’s shirt <i>(the striped part)</i>, the maternity shirt<i> (the sleeves) </i>and some yardage<i> (the shoulder patch).</i> then i hand cut the freezer paper stencil for the word on the front. and it makes me laugh every time i look at it. <br><br><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-kIS8pu_yox0/Uzo4sVeMdiI/AAAAAAAAMJ0/jONOyO73ep8/s1600-h/IMG_6635_1540cape%252520cod%252520outfits%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_6635_1540cape cod outfits" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: left; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_6635_1540cape cod outfits" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-iUvff8XNL9w/Uzo4tBMW1AI/AAAAAAAAMJ4/lhdMCN3PYTg/IMG_6635_1540cape%252520cod%252520outfits_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="320" align="left" height="479"></a><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-L87NM-DmQSs/Uzo4tp_ShiI/AAAAAAAAMKA/LTlkq_109ug/s1600-h/IMG_6681_1607cape%252520cod%252520outfits%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_6681_1607cape cod outfits" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_6681_1607cape cod outfits" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-8Ke1BDD8htg/Uzo4txMuInI/AAAAAAAAMKE/EuL_VnkdsZc/IMG_6681_1607cape%252520cod%252520outfits_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="320" height="479"></a><br><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-uufyAhlxqso/Uzo4ujiSqqI/AAAAAAAAMKQ/A2VoEqmYNyw/s1600-h/IMG_6694_1620cape%252520cod%252520outfits%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_6694_1620cape cod outfits" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_6694_1620cape cod outfits" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-3oheQTnTMe8/Uzo4vOKkqyI/AAAAAAAAMKc/nkOZuKn-U_o/IMG_6694_1620cape%252520cod%252520outfits_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="550" height="367"></a><br><br>his pants. does anyone remember that scene in peewee’s big adventure (the second movie) where he’s saving all the animals from the fire in the pet shop and keeps seeing the snakes and doesn’t want to have to save them? and finally he can’t put it off any longer so he grabs them all because it’s literally do-or-die time? anyone? okay fine…just me then. the rest of you clearly need to brush up on your 80’s cult classics. <br><br><a href="http://www.threadbombing.com/details.php?image_id=4843"><img border="0" alt="Animated Gifs" src="http://www.threadbombing.com/data/media/2/PEE-WEE-SNAKES-GIF.gif"> </a><br><br>well, these pants were my snakes. and i finally had to just jump in and do it. again i cut these down to their bare bones. i cut out the front pockets, cut new front and back legs, cut a new waistband, removed and resewed belt loops, reinstalled the pockets and added trim down the sides, and rehemmed. <br><br><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-2aXOsI4uZsY/Uzo4vlvMeWI/AAAAAAAAMKk/yEI6AVfBfuI/s1600-h/IMG_6632_1537cape%252520cod%252520outfits%25255B10%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_6632_1537cape cod outfits" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_6632_1537cape cod outfits" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-7GA7B-yA5Ic/Uzo4wHpmN9I/AAAAAAAAMKs/w5CqN4Irjtc/IMG_6632_1537cape%252520cod%252520outfits_thumb%25255B6%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="400" height="596"></a><br><br>the only thing i left was the original back pockets—i cut the new back legs in such a way that they could work. and so again—i added some little details to make them original, but kept them tame enough that he wore them to school right after this photo shoot--win!<br><br>in the end i’ve created two looks that i love, and that my kids love, and that i think perfectly represent the cape cod style. i can’t wait for them to wear these outfits this year when we hit the cape!<br><br><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-NfNsoR82Te8/Uzo4wiKO0mI/AAAAAAAAMKw/1ivEVjNbqvQ/s1600-h/IMG_6651_1556cape%252520cod%252520outfits%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_6651_1556cape cod outfits" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_6651_1556cape cod outfits" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-GniGg-l7FnM/Uzo4xEiAirI/AAAAAAAAMK8/A4DY-IbTMYI/IMG_6651_1556cape%252520cod%252520outfits_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="650" height="434"></a><br><span style="font-size: small"><br></span><span style="font-size: small">thanks for taking the time to read through all my wordy explanations, and if you haven’t yet why not head over to<span style="font-size: medium"><strong> <a href="http://projectrunplay.com/" target="_blank">project run and play</a></strong></span> and vote for your favorite in this week’s challenge???</span><br><span style="font-size: small"><br></span><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-7DwSE4jvuUw/Uzo4xlyf6II/AAAAAAAAMLE/-XrYAS_0npI/s1600-h/IMG_6689_1615cape%252520cod%252520outfits%25255B7%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_6689_1615cape cod outfits" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_6689_1615cape cod outfits" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-4YiMp7V3ZRQ/Uzo4yPamDxI/AAAAAAAAMLI/EWIxAew99cc/IMG_6689_1615cape%252520cod%252520outfits_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="550" height="367"></a> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15438982905074697491noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7748750662715489716.post-42966410283206173022014-03-25T07:00:00.000-04:002014-03-25T07:00:00.152-04:00PR+P week one: put me in the zoo<p>you guys. this is it. today’s the day. i’ve been sewing and sewing and sweating and worrying and experimenting and DESTROYING MY ENTIRE HOUSE and it’s finally here. </p> <p><font size="3"><strong><a href="http://www.projectrunplay.com/2014/03/time-to-vote-put-me-in-zoo-challenge.html" target="_blank">project run + play</a></strong></font> starts today, and it was a toughie: put me in the zoo—<em>animal inspired, not costume</em>.</p> <p>and here’s what i ended up with:</p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-kgEDiqQzupI/UzD3DzqqY1I/AAAAAAAAL_Y/EzrMMd8MnN0/s1600-h/IMG_6575_1472flamingo-dressesflaming%25255B2%25255D%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_6575_1472flamingo-dressesflaming[2]" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_6575_1472flamingo-dressesflaming[2]" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-VGV7ratoP_s/UzD3ElbRFhI/AAAAAAAAL_g/FwsvwBdBN58/IMG_6575_1472flamingo-dressesflaming%25255B2%25255D_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="550" height="600"></a></p> <p><font size="3"><strong>flamingos. </strong></font>but it took me a<em> long</em> time to get there. i sketched and googled<em> (seriously—have you ever done a google image search for “animal inspired fashion”? cue scared face)</em> and as much as <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=armadillo+shoes&espv=210&es_sm=93&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=AOcwU_y5FqKT0QHWyoCIBg&ved=0CCgQsAQ&biw=1777&bih=903&dpr=0.9" target="_blank">the armadillo shoes</a> looked awesome, and the <a href="http://conceptrends.com/2008/05/23/beautiful-animal-inspired-hair-hats-fashion/" target="_blank">animal shaped hair</a> really got my wheels turning, it was the flamingo that really got to me. i considered a few other birds too (they’re about the only things i enjoy seeing at the zoo), but i knew the pink would be a hit with the girls.</p> <p>here’s the thing—at first i was completely determined that these dresses needed REAL feathers on them. i researched…well, i can’t even tell you how long i spent looking at various options. i even bought and tried a few. nope. in the end the look i had in mind would have cost a small fortune and been washable, uhh…<em>never</em>. not the best option for little girls.</p> <p>generally people think of flamingos (at least i did) as being that hot pinky/coraly/salmony color. and they are—but there’s a lot of that lighter color on them. so i ended up with 3 yards of this pale peachy pink knit, and 3 yards of the brighter taffeta-ish material. i say taffeta-ish because i bought them at a discount fabric store for $2/yard and what you save in price you lose in knowledge. </p> <p align="center"><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-UK90t3RL6ps/UzD3FYXc-mI/AAAAAAAAL_o/IMqgxZd_tIE/s1600-h/image%25255B4%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-oPITP2zi5RQ/UzD3GPG9mpI/AAAAAAAAL_w/koGit1zYHfU/image_thumb%25255B5%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="256" height="342"></a><em><a href="http://library.sandiegozoo.org/factsheets/caribbean_flamingo/flamingo.htm" target="_blank">via</a></em></p> <p>so then i started cutting. and cutting. in the end i cut about 350 “feathers” from the knit. yikes. i did it over the course of a few nights in front of some t.v.<br> <a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-MiGn0Q31zZk/UzD3GsJ8LGI/AAAAAAAAL_4/SYiFTAsQeJE/s1600-h/image%25255B8%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-kiBC_P8m1PI/UzD3HYmg55I/AAAAAAAAMAA/x3G9QggrlvA/image_thumb%25255B10%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="487" height="488"></a></p> <p><font size="3">so on to the nitty-gritty.</font> i hope you’re in this for the long haul because you’re about to get word and photo overload. everything i couldn’t squeeze into the three photos and couple of paragraphs on the pr+p site. </p> <p><strong><font size="3">elliot</font></strong><br>the self drafted top is made of the knit, completely lined with the taffeta. it has a full skirt in the taffeta, covered with a metric ton of knit feathers. i love that when she spins and moves the darker color peeks out—another little nod to the flamingo. it also has a self slip with a tulle layer for puffiness, and seriously is this weird? but i just love the way her dress <em>sounds</em>. it’s got that ruffley crinkley sound i can’t get enough of. i’m also in love with the back—it has a contrasting button placket with big pinkish rhinestone buttons running from top to bottom.</p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-Vr9dRUCE2QA/UzD3H5wELrI/AAAAAAAAMAE/9PXWP2mMM6c/s1600-h/IMG_6586_1486flamingo%252520dresses%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_6586_1486flamingo dresses" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: left; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; margin-right: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_6586_1486flamingo dresses" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-9XSqpvmAISE/UzD3Idqmh4I/AAAAAAAAMAQ/IStMywmthEY/IMG_6586_1486flamingo%252520dresses_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="289" align="left" height="433"></a></p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-N6IyMkiywI4/UzD3I_Ly08I/AAAAAAAAMAY/au30-la5Ew4/s1600-h/IMG_6516_1416%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_6516_1416" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_6516_1416" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-98Ryx5bfREs/UzD3JaknJcI/AAAAAAAAMAc/hbndjd3YNLE/IMG_6516_1416_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="289" height="433"></a></p> <p align="center"><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-prN9FJxEtuk/UzD3J_JrK2I/AAAAAAAAMAo/WhgEGYEmSZU/s1600-h/IMG_6534_1435%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_6534_1435" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_6534_1435" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-JQPjirY-2qU/UzD3KdhySmI/AAAAAAAAMAw/Rt1DMmGAJB4/IMG_6534_1435_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="650" height="433"></a><em>they were shaking their tail feathers ;)</em></p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-7n7JOoPT6HE/UzD3LBE3yhI/AAAAAAAAMA4/3FUzIWK9spw/s1600-h/IMG_6507_1407%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_6507_1407" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_6507_1407" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/--8_JJtpNXzg/UzD3LoPaC2I/AAAAAAAAMA8/azmDo0hh0PA/IMG_6507_1407_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="289" height="433"></a><font size="4"><strong>gigi<br></strong></font>gigi’s dress is made from the taffeta in a simple tank style with piping made from the lighter knit running down the front. the back is where i got spicey though—i was playing with the idea of the flamingo’s smoothly feathered body and fluffy backend feathers. so i did a peekaboo cutout and a cutaway skirt, both lined with more feathers. she’s got a separate slip for fluffiness, and then i added a little jacket with a big ruffle around the neck. everything on gigi was self-drafted also.</p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-GrZ_qFa5USE/UzD3MUG4MfI/AAAAAAAAMBI/_IlS4fS58mY/s1600-h/IMG_6597_1497%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_6597_1497" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: left; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_6597_1497" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-I9M91HeammE/UzD3MmT5K-I/AAAAAAAAMBQ/iDkTsBRQ9bc/IMG_6597_1497_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="289" align="left" height="433"></a><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-T5Tkzytp9s8/UzD3NRrxdZI/AAAAAAAAMBY/LP9FnGfFIHo/s1600-h/IMG_6496_1396%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_6496_1396" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_6496_1396" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-BsXZRfU-mm8/UzD3N4na3XI/AAAAAAAAMBg/P-jK2rqrjS4/IMG_6496_1396_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="289" height="433"></a><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-9ZXu93YYS0A/UzD3OBLJV1I/AAAAAAAAMBk/1yHBM6xquKM/s1600-h/IMG_6594_1494flamingo%252520dresses%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_6594_1494flamingo dresses" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_6594_1494flamingo dresses" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-O-nWAULEF8M/UzD3O5wJcAI/AAAAAAAAMBw/d7fSTi3TdmY/IMG_6594_1494flamingo%252520dresses_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="296" height="433"></a></p> <p align="center"><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-2Ayarc9E8bI/UzD3PWVtdgI/AAAAAAAAMB4/ArbGS5Vk3mo/s1600-h/IMG_6537_1438flamingo%252520dresses%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_6537_1438flamingo dresses" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_6537_1438flamingo dresses" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-m1t1ts4tRYc/UzD3Pw7vsSI/AAAAAAAAMB8/iw-Et79My08/IMG_6537_1438flamingo%252520dresses_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="340" height="433"></a><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-YdAX9tKKk64/UzD3QSqtHPI/AAAAAAAAMCI/zY7EDnoOhB0/s1600-h/IMG_6522_1422%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_6522_1422" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_6522_1422" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-bY5OmrEvNII/UzD3Q6RPucI/AAAAAAAAMCM/5X4EPaB_OFA/IMG_6522_1422_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="289" height="433"></a><em>mid-spin :)</em></p> <p>then to wrap it all up—<font size="3">i was determined to get my feathers in somehow</font>, and what better way then little fascinator/hat thingys? i made these from wool felt, stiffened with a water/glue mixture. then they’re covered with more felt to smooth the edges, and a layer of the dark pink tafffeta. i added puffy feathers, a knit flower and some tulle. they’re remarkably light, and with a haircomb glued to the underside they stay in perfectly. even through all the twirling ;)</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-6fEHKeVbbwk/UzD3RihgdeI/AAAAAAAAMCY/iANmKw7HL5I/s1600-h/IMG_6582_1478flamingo%252520dresses%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_6582_1478flamingo dresses" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_6582_1478flamingo dresses" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-xXC20mcByCI/UzD3Tm8MIzI/AAAAAAAAMCg/Wi21zZnAioY/IMG_6582_1478flamingo%252520dresses_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="649" height="433"></a></p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-wQ5w_eD3PMI/UzD3ULTNJjI/AAAAAAAAMCo/ltLV_KcFq5Y/s1600-h/IMG_6539_1439%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_6539_1439" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_6539_1439" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-2ChTVhw25M8/UzD3U0IMkTI/AAAAAAAAMCs/dasEl8uddMI/IMG_6539_1439_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="650" height="433"></a></p> <p>and in one of my<em> (many, many)</em> runs to joann’s i stumbled across these two little flamingo purses, on clearance. talk about random. they had a dolphin, a cheetah head, and two flamingos. SOLD.</p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-Y5noxA6KWmo/UzD3WA7MUiI/AAAAAAAAMC4/-neDtUpdObY/s1600-h/IMG_6541_1442flamingo%252520dresses%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_6541_1442flamingo dresses" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_6541_1442flamingo dresses" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-uqajJDI7PjY/UzD3Wk-JD6I/AAAAAAAAMDA/qEzxXKMJOrw/IMG_6541_1442flamingo%252520dresses_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="649" height="433"></a></p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-Lf0n-m5_iSg/UzD3XQ5CPRI/AAAAAAAAMDI/Fy4dxl6u5qU/s1600-h/IMG_6600_1500%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_6600_1500" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_6600_1500" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-XLVBPw61G3c/UzD3X2M8p5I/AAAAAAAAMDM/AXvsWon9vyc/IMG_6600_1500_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="650" height="433"></a></p> <p>altogether i couldn’t be happier with my look for week one! the only thing i would have changed is the hour we spent driving around looking for a spot to take pictures!!! it was supposed to be 60 degrees that day, and we got primped and ready only to get there and find it was windy and FREEZING! this spot was a little more sheltered and the wind had calmed down somewhat, but it took us an hour of driving to find it. i was running in to just any building/store/hotel/office complex we passed that looked like it potentially had good lighting and open space. (pretty sure the people in the local harley-davidson place thought i was crazy).</p> <p>so i’ll wrap this up with a link—head on over to <font size="4"><strong><a href="http://www.projectrunplay.com/2014/03/time-to-vote-put-me-in-zoo-challenge.html" target="_blank">project run and play</a></strong></font> and check out the other ladies entries! i know we’ve all worked so hard and sweated over these outfits, so i’d love you to check them out!</p> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15438982905074697491noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7748750662715489716.post-30122568409013786822014-03-06T10:11:00.001-05:002014-03-06T10:11:50.159-05:00the land of make-believe<p><font size="4">join me, won’t you?</font> we’re going to pretend the sun is shining, bees are buzzing, and it’s a balmy 77 degrees outside. you know what? make that 81. yeah, that should work. </p> <p>we’ll ignore the dirty snow mounds that will probably not be gone until june. we’ll ignore the hum of the oil heater as it burns away our <em>almost-$4-a-gallon</em> oil O.o and we’ll most certainly ignore the velour pants and oversized sweatshirts we’ve been living in for the last few months. </p> <p>let’s wear something a little more like this…</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-IcmTGSt2558/UxiQEEyy8ZI/AAAAAAAAL70/qM3iNS74diE/s1600-h/IMG_5427_0384dresses%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_5427_0384dresses" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_5427_0384dresses" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-3cK9EkI3b74/UxiQFC389JI/AAAAAAAAL74/lukBERSnp8s/IMG_5427_0384dresses_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="581" height="433"></a></p> <p>these dresses were photographed back in our <a href="http://googiemomma.blogspot.com/2013/09/fashion-show-at-lunch.html">giant photo shoot</a>, and the pics have just been waiting patiently on my computer for the blog post to accompany them. and i’m actually kind of glad that i’m such a lazy procrastinator, because now we get to have a little sunshine-y summer type post instead of the winter dress i was going to write about. yay for delaying things!</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-qMx5p3md7TQ/UxiQFv_AuCI/AAAAAAAAL8E/k0Hi0C2aVOY/s1600-h/IMG_5403_0360dresses%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_5403_0360dresses" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_5403_0360dresses" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-HAG4BZUieu0/UxiQGNfYJYI/AAAAAAAAL8I/tmEs2f-Xeho/IMG_5403_0360dresses_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="649" height="433"></a></p> <p>so these dresses were based around that bottom layer of fabric—the french city scene. if you know me at all then it should come as no surprise that it had me at hello, but it’s pretty busy and pretty pricey and i limited myself to just a little bit of it.</p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-rMYnHPT_aQI/UxiQG9lVX7I/AAAAAAAAL8M/bC1luHwsTWM/s1600-h/IMG_5421_0378dresses%25255B7%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_5421_0378dresses" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_5421_0378dresses" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-tykoO1Te9Do/UxiQHmXOAgI/AAAAAAAAL8Y/xIjgyvMzbvo/IMG_5421_0378dresses_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="649" height="433"></a></p> <p>by pairing it with the polka dot and the solid pinks i could make two SUPER FLUFFY and SUPER TWIRLY dresses that coordinate for my littlest girlies. <br>because we can all agree that it’s all about the fluff and the twirl, right?</p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-dPdGrwaoXBs/UxiQILq37hI/AAAAAAAAL8k/gbbUDLxp0B0/s1600-h/IMG_5410_0368dresses%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_5410_0368dresses" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_5410_0368dresses" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-6-GYAJwGB3c/UxiQIjXALoI/AAAAAAAAL8s/doMCQZvQ4hE/IMG_5410_0368dresses_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="649" height="433"></a></p> <p>the front bodice is simple—i sewed a little pleat in the center, then added that strap to the middle. it goes around the back and down the front, sewn in to the bodice and skirt seam on front and back. so the pleat is doing some of the work of shaping the bodice into a sweetheart, and the little strap is doing the rest. and of course i gave these dresses my beloved <a href="http://googiemomma.blogspot.com/2013/08/spaghetti-not-just-for-eating-sewing.html">spaghetti straps.</a></p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-1-56SL3I-dQ/UxiQJKyM8gI/AAAAAAAAL80/YekXU9VidYQ/s1600-h/IMG_5413_0370dresses%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_5413_0370dresses" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_5413_0370dresses" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-UAbGlHQfpdY/UxiQJibk_MI/AAAAAAAAL84/PSD6JuQUarc/IMG_5413_0370dresses_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="649" height="433"></a></p> <p>come to think of it, this dress is really just an amalgamation <em>(word of the day)</em> of things i love: <font size="3">fluffy, twirly dresses</font> on little girls, with <font size="3">sweetheart necklines</font> and <font size="3">spaghetti straps</font>, a nod to <font size="3">paris</font>, <font size="3">invisible zippers</font> and <font size="3">piped hems</font>. swoon. oh, and <em>not ironing</em>, as obvious from the above shot. </p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-v21mlJvFcXY/UxiQKRWALvI/AAAAAAAAL9E/-XZG0UKdeLs/s1600-h/IMG_5412_0369dresses%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_5412_0369dresses" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_5412_0369dresses" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-q-kzQEKY-Uk/UxiQK53lbuI/AAAAAAAAL9I/yYEFNJUryKU/IMG_5412_0369dresses_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="349" height="433"></a></p> <p>the dresses are completely lined with a separate, equally fluffy and full layer with a piped hem. and between the two layers and piping that’s enough to give the dresses their fluffy factor without any itchy tulle or slips. which makes them super easy to wear. </p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-oxXWBiPTAsg/UxiQLWhpvEI/AAAAAAAAL9U/IyE95wRRxzs/s1600-h/IMG_5415_0372dresses%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_5415_0372dresses" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_5415_0372dresses" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-Vq6Emk-7qyE/UxiQL64fRiI/AAAAAAAAL9Y/jO9Ycn3dPvM/IMG_5415_0372dresses_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="649" height="433"></a></p> <p>so that’s it. two little summer dresses to maybe get us through our dreary winter day. think of me as <font size="3">the punksatawny phil of the sewing world</font>—i definitely see my shadow, so 6 more weeks to spring dresses. <em>better get crackin’</em>.</p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-tKikrd5q1-I/UxiQMUZK-zI/AAAAAAAAL9k/eafu4jLz-_4/s1600-h/Untitled-1dresses%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="Untitled-1dresses" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="Untitled-1dresses" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-UKmXQyo9T-0/UxiQNPPI7UI/AAAAAAAAL9o/9ao3RDz3Djs/Untitled-1dresses_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="700" height="255"></a></p> <p>i can just see us now…the skies will be blue, and you guys’ll be there too. when we finally do what frozen things do in SUMMERRRRR!</p> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15438982905074697491noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7748750662715489716.post-4649224751038925222014-02-25T09:31:00.005-05:002014-02-25T09:31:58.585-05:00all the things. in one post.<br />
<strong><span style="font-size: medium;">o1)</span></strong> contests, i just don’t know how to quit you. picture me right now doing the beauty pageant hyperventilating hands-on-mouth <em>I CAN’T BELIEVE IT </em>squeal, because i’m in <span style="font-size: medium;"><strong>season 9 of <a href="http://www.projectrunplay.com/">project run and play</a>. </strong></span><br />
<a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-Hq_QQvxiLA8/UwylyVPA8AI/AAAAAAAAL68/Jfk6e8ubsNo/s1600-h/image%25255B5%25255D.png"><img alt="image" border="0" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-_Bg9ZulxlfQ/Uwyly_7EnnI/AAAAAAAAL7E/3a3UJ2DPugI/image_thumb%25255B6%25255D.png?imgmax=800" height="118" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin: 0px auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="491" /></a><br />
<br />
for those who don’t know (gasp! how?) it’s only my favorite online sewing competition EV-AH. for realsies. 6 “designers”, 4 weeks, fight to the finish. hopefully the cornucopia is full of japanese cutting shears and high end machines, because i require the best. :/ <br />
anyway, there’s a theme for each week, and my brain has been churning since i was asked to be a part of the contest a couple months ago. i’ve been counting down the days and now it’s really happening and i’m all pukey-excited. the actual competition doesn’t start until next month, but for me the sewing begins STAT. i haven’t really sewn in a couple of months now, and there’s a LOT of pent up sewing energy stored in me. <br />
i’m also going up against 4 awesome seamstresses. some i already ‘knew’, others i’m just discovering. and i’m feeling there’s a super big chance i’ll be the first one thrown off the island. or shot with an arrow, whatever competition metaphor floats your fancy. but i’m going to try my hardest to have a blast with this no matter what.<br />
<br />
let the games begin.<br />
<br />
(you thought i was gonna say <em>let the odds be ever in your favor</em>, right? heh.)<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><strong><br /></strong></span>
<span style="font-size: medium;"><strong>o2)</strong></span> we bought a dog. or, another dog i guess i should say. thing is: i am a hardcore believer in rescues. also, i am cheap as all get out and the thought of spending ooh-gobs of money on an animal makes me throw up in my mouth a little. oh, and i like big, BIG dogs.<br />
<br />
well here i am with my tail between my legs. i bought a dog, from a pet store, who is AKC registered and i can trace his lineage back 4 generations. and i paid ooh-gobs of money. and he’s 2.5 lbs.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-fe2cYFLUEHk/UwylzpgVdkI/AAAAAAAAL7M/96W8RQSaTF0/s1600-h/image8.png"><img alt="image" border="0" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-xOpgc3Rro_0/Uwyl0Qxc4EI/AAAAAAAAL7U/yyMaO3CzAkA/image_thumb11.png?imgmax=800" height="471" style="background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin: 0px auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="505" /></a><br />
<br />
but that face. THAT FACE. he’s a chihuahua (in case that’s not glaringly obvious) and his name is Santino Burrito. and if you could trill your ‘r’ that’d be great. <br />
he’s technically for gigi, the child who would gladly give up 3 of her 4 limbs to own a cat. but the googiedaddy is prejudiced against things that poop in the house, and i’m prejudiced against things that make me not able to breath. so we found the most catlike dog we could. <br />
<strong><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></strong>
<strong><span style="font-size: medium;">o3)</span></strong> i’m seriously lost when it comes to things like SEO and pageviews and stuff. but once in a while i poke around in google analytics for giggles. here is a list of search terms people use that lead them to googiemomma.blogspot.com.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-4x1qLlNuc5A/Uwyl0wXyhoI/AAAAAAAAL7Y/1hbWZlTsVuM/s1600-h/image4.png"><img alt="image" border="0" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-Mmvs5B7iXUU/Uwyl1YsR_VI/AAAAAAAAL7k/WjXFj1J_hcY/image_thumb6.png?imgmax=800" height="194" style="background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin: 0px auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="386" /></a><br />
<br />
refashioning, sewing, crocheting…all your basics WAIT WHAT? <br />
<br />
boobs. on a shelf. <br />
<br />
well. i…why? nevermind. i don’t want to know.<br />
<strong><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></strong>
<strong><span style="font-size: medium;">o4)</span></strong> <b>the sickies</b>: ava had a foot checkup. insert thumbs up here. doc says all good, no need for casting for a while. picture me doing the dance of joy. yes, like balki.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://gifsoup.com/view/139684/dance-of-joy.html" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://stream1.gifsoup.com/view/139684/dance-of-joy-o.gif" /></a><br />
<a href="http://gifsoup.com/" target="_blank" title="GIFSoup">GIFSoup</a>
<br />
<i>i'm so old.</i><br />
<br />
gigi had a blood test which placed her platelets at 770,000. a mere TWO TIMES NORMAL. umm, ok. doc says all good—means her bone marrow has been working like gang busters to catch up, and the immune system has probably stopped killing off platelets so now it’s overcompensating. like peddling a bike really hard up a hill, then you hit the top and start going down but you’re still peddling really hard for a minute until you realize WHOA i made it! <br />
so…a more cautious dance of joy, because she’s still having mild spells of petechiae and occasional bruises that make us go on high alert. nothing warranting a run to the ER, but concerning…<br />
<strong><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></strong>
<strong><span style="font-size: medium;">o5)</span></strong> i’m working now. well, i mean like outside of the home. and, not just for the family business. okay—i’m working more. ha. i got a little gig waiting tables at lunch at the local pizza place we frequent. i actually really enjoy it, and i’m making decent money (FABRIC FUNDZZZ.) for doing about 9 hours a week. only problem is i’m finding sewing time a bit harder to come by. and blogging time. oh yeah and cleaning the house time. yesss…that’s why it’s not clean. ;) <br />
but i’ve still got a back log of things i never blogged, and with point #1 on the horizon you can be sure i’m finding sewing/blogging time in the next few weeks! even if i have to cut out something major. like sleep. nah, i need my sleep. sorry kids—it’s pb & j breakfast, lunch and dinner for the next few weeks.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15438982905074697491noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7748750662715489716.post-24744190827006939402014-02-05T22:42:00.001-05:002014-02-06T08:15:40.254-05:00making crochet cool, one hat at a time. {free pattern}<p><font size="4">i’ll make this easy for you.</font> when i’m gone and dead, and you’re all gathered together trying to think of the absolute, 100%, unequivocal winner of<em> </em>the title of<em> <font size="4"><strong>The Coolest Thing Shannon Ever Made</strong></font></em> to engrave in tribute on my headstone…this is it. winner winner chicken dinner.</p> <p>let me be clear:<font size="4"> i’m not overstating this</font>. and once you’ve seen it you’re bound to agree. ready?</p> <p>waaiiiittt</p> <blockquote> <p>for</p></blockquote> <blockquote> <p> it……..</p></blockquote> <p> </p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-JpgjyGA3AoM/UvMEgLRhiOI/AAAAAAAAL5E/nTXCkqDyMlk/s1600-h/IMG_4796wonder-woman-hat3.jpg"><img title="IMG_4796wonder woman hat" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_4796wonder woman hat" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-We7d26KCLYM/UvMEgjeoqAI/AAAAAAAAL5M/_oOR3QXY7Yc/IMG_4796wonder-woman-hat_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="545" height="433"></a></p> <p>SHUT. UP. is that a crochet baby hat that looks like a shtinkin’ <strong><em><font size="4">WONDER WOMAN WIG????<br></font></em></strong>why yes. <em>yes it is.</em></p> <p><strong><font size="4">ARE WE EXCITED ABOUT THIS???</font></strong></p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-DUFlV9wx8Mk/UvMEhIu9akI/AAAAAAAAL5U/xHan1K2d5n8/s1600-h/IMG_4803wonder-woman-hat3.jpg"><img title="IMG_4803wonder woman hat" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_4803wonder woman hat" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-YSqTf9ytXJE/UvMEhokkzlI/AAAAAAAAL5c/-k25mUT3Qu4/IMG_4803wonder-woman-hat_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="649" height="433"></a></p> <p>and i’ve even created this mind blowing photo for your pinning pleasure. ready?<a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-Nk8ZgEUB3lw/UvMEiZbhwLI/AAAAAAAAL5k/9e01EyuKevE/s1600-h/Untitled-1wonder-woman-hat4.jpg"><img title="Untitled-1wonder woman hat" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Untitled-1wonder woman hat" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-atb2zYElHU0/UvMEjKUlBTI/AAAAAAAAL5s/zmeVRhK1bVg/Untitled-1wonder-woman-hat_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800" width="600" height="600"></a></p> <p><strong><font size="3">BOOM.</font></strong></p> <p><strong><font size="3">i just won 1,000,000 internetz. </font></strong></p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-YMi6AetZrCo/UvMEjqn_09I/AAAAAAAAL50/YUxTZkNzONQ/s1600-h/IMG_4789wonder-woman-hat3.jpg"><img title="IMG_4789wonder woman hat" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_4789wonder woman hat" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-FJ-0Qg2LN6w/UvMEkDavUEI/AAAAAAAAL54/jMnSvgB-EyI/IMG_4789wonder-woman-hat_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="649" height="433"></a><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-c3xLIggCYJI/UvMEkm7U_GI/AAAAAAAAL6E/75-PAKVa3HI/s1600-h/IMG_4802wonder-woman-hat3.jpg"><img title="IMG_4802wonder woman hat" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_4802wonder woman hat" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-a_TV2EAq_YM/UvMElNsCO7I/AAAAAAAAL6I/Q65xJsit-Rs/IMG_4802wonder-woman-hat_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="649" height="433"></a></p> <p>okay here’s the breakdown:</p> <p>+ this is super easy—like beginner crochet. it’s a basic crochet cap. the spiral “curls”, the “crown” and star are separate pieces, sewn on to the cap. </p> <p>+ i made this for a little baby. littler than elliot, and that’s why little ms. peyton here is my model. (the same baby who received the <a href="http://googiemomma.blogspot.com/2013/06/star-warsits-nothing-but-star-wars.html" target="_blank">star wars quilt</a> and <a href="http://googiemomma.blogspot.com/2013/06/daddys-little-princess.html" target="_blank">onesie</a>)</p> <p>+ did i also make a pair of crochet GOLDEN BRACELETS with a red rattle/star on them? which i forgot to photograph? YUP.</p> <p>+ i based the idea for this off this crochet princess hat, which is a free ravelry pattern. hmmm…what other wigs can we crochet???</p> <p>+ the hat isn’t heavy—peyton had no problem keeping it on her head. and actually quite loved it. in fact, she was having so much fun wearing it most of my photos look like this….</p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-NXXX_R0CcjY/UvMElg2wNQI/AAAAAAAAL6U/G2PBTpjbmaI/s1600-h/IMG_4793wonder-woman-hat4.jpg"><img title="IMG_4793wonder woman hat" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: left; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_4793wonder woman hat" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-aqTWl9jA-CM/UvMEmByxqWI/AAAAAAAAL6Y/wvinL9h5VB4/IMG_4793wonder-woman-hat_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800" width="300" align="left" height="200"></a><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-wofrICYMMUw/UvMEmUqLZBI/AAAAAAAAL6k/4Z8JXHHrRLI/s1600-h/IMG_4801wonder-woman-hat4.jpg"><img title="IMG_4801wonder woman hat" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_4801wonder woman hat" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/--8bE46jvhf8/UvMEm3EEroI/AAAAAAAAL6o/mdaQjfF_2KE/IMG_4801wonder-woman-hat_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800" width="300" height="200"></a></p> <p>+ i’m sharing this pattern with you for free. FREEEEEE??? yes, free, with these small caveats: please link back to me and my blog if you make/share/blog this. and if you want to sell thousands in Ye Olde Etsy Shoppe, go forth and prosper. but PLEASE LINK BACK TO ME AND GIVE ME CREDIT FOR THE PATTERN. (and if you wanna cut me a commission i wouldn’t hate that if ya know what i’m sayin’)mmmkaythanksiloveyou.</p> <p>Wonder Woman Crochet Hat</p> <p>There are 4 major components to this hat (hat, curls, crown, star), which are crocheted individually and then sewn together at the end. I knot everything because I wanted this hat to be durable and potentially washable. I’ve had too many things slip apart eventually and then I get HULK SMASH ALL THE THINGS ANGRY.</p> <p>These instructions are based on a 3-6 month old sized hat, but it can be easily sized up by making your beanie portion larger and a few more curls.</p> <p><font size="4"><strong>HAT</strong></font><br>YARN: Black sport or worsted weight.<br>HOOK: H<br>+ + + + + + +<br>CH 3<br>Slip stitch into 1st CH to join, CH 1 (making a loop, or you can also start with a magic circle if you know how)<br>Round 1: CH 1, 9 HDC in ring, join with SL ST (9)<br>2: CH 1, 2HDC in each HDC around, join with SL ST (18)<br>3: CH 1, HDC in next HDC, 2 HDC in remainder of HDC, join with SL ST (27)<br>4: CH 1, *HDC in next 2 HDC, 2 HDC in next HDC, repeat from * all the way around. join with SL ST (36)<br>5: CH 1, *HDC in next 3 HDC, 2 HDC in next HDC, repeat from * all the way around. join with sl st (45)<br>6: CH 1, *HDC in next 4 HDC, 2 HDC in next HDC, repeat from * all the way around. join with sl st (54)<br>7-18: CH 1, HDC in each HDC, join with SL ST (54)<br>Fasten off, weave in ends.</p> <p>this will make a size 6-12 month hat. if you’d like to size up or down, <a href="http://www.craftsy.com/pattern/crocheting/accessory/half-double-crochet-beanie/15341">here</a> is a good free pattern showing various sizes, or if you’re on ravelry you can see a few <a href="http://rav.to/1fJrPGx">HERE</a><font size="4"><strong></strong></font></p> <p><font size="4"><strong>CURLS</strong></font><br>YARN: same as hat<br>HOOK: G<br>NOTE: the curls are all made the same basic way: a long chain, then 2 or 3 treble/triple crochets in each chain. each is tied to the hat with a small piece of black yarn in roughly the center of the curl. i varied the lengths of the curls by chaining a different amount at the start, and did a 2-2-3 combo of TC back across. there’s not really a reason, just that the more stitches you put in each chain stitch the tighter the curl becomes. i thought 2 was a little loose and 3 was a little tight, so i did a combo, but you can do whatever works for you. (this is straight up mindless crocheting, perfect for TV watching ;) <br><em>note: if you’re making a larger size hat you’re probably going to need more curls to adequately cover the hat. just make a few extra. <br></em>+ + + + + + +<br>CH whatever length you need.<br>going back along the CH, do (2 TC, 2 TC, 3TC) repeat until you have 2 chains left<br>1 SC and a SL ST to finish off.<br>knot ends</p> <p>repeat over and over until you have a sufficient amount of curls to cover the hat. some longer for the back (chain 45-55ish) and some shorter for the front (chain 25-30ish)<br><strong><font size="4"><br>CROWN</font></strong><br>YARN: Gold/yellow sport weight <br>HOOK: F<br>+ + + + + + + <br>CH 8<br>ROW 1: SC in 2nd CH, SC, CH 2 (7)<br>ROWS 2-9: SC, CH 2 and turn (7)<br>ROW 2: SC across, ch 2 and turn (31)<br>ROW 3 + 4: repeat ROW 2 (31)<br>ROW 5: SC 7 times, ch 2 and turn<br>ROW 6-8: repeat ROW 5<br>ROW 9: 3 SC in last ST, ch 2 and turn<br>ROW 10: 9 SC, CH 2 and turn<br>ROW 11: 8 SC, 3 SC in last st, ch 2 and turn<br>ROW 12: 11 SC, ch 2 and turn<br>ROW 13: 10 SC, 3 SC in last st, CHAIN 3 and turn<br>ROW 14: 13 SC (extra chain at the tip), chain 2 and turn<br>ROW 15: 9 SC, SC2TG 2 times (single crochet 2 together)<br>ROW 16: 11 SC<br>ROW 17: 7 SC, SC2TG 2 times<br>ROW 18: 9 SC<br>ROW 19: 5 SC, SC2TG 2 times<br>ROW 20: 7 SC<br>ROW 21-28: repeat ROW 20<br>finish by slip stitching across top of crown</p> <p><font size="4"><strong>STAR</strong></font><br>Yarn: small piece of red<br>Hook: F<br>+ + + + + + +<br>chain 3<br>slip st into 1st chain and chain 1 (making a loop, you can also start with a magic circle if you know how)<br>15 SC into center <br>slip st into 1st SC to join and CH 4<br>*SC into 2nd chain from Hook, HDC (half double crochet) into next CH st, TC (treble crochet) into next CH st and slip stitch in 3rd chain of your round to join.<br>Repeat from * four more times to make 5 points of your star, join and tie off at the end.</p> <p><strong><font size="4">PUT IT ALL TOGETHER</font></strong><br>sew the star to the center of the crown, then sew the crown to the front of the hat, lining up the straight edge of the crown with the straight edge of the hat. <br>holding your curls roughly in the center, tie them in various places around the hat with a small section of black yarn. it helps if you put the hat on something to see where the curls will naturally fall (a doll, a convenient child, your knee…). this will also give you a sense of how many curls you need and how long they should be. make sure and do one or two shorter ones in the front, and layer them down the back for that fluffy, just-fresh-from-the-superhero-salon look. </p> <p>place on your favorite toddler/baby and enjoy.</p> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15438982905074697491noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7748750662715489716.post-61039935096846920082014-01-26T07:08:00.000-05:002014-01-26T07:08:00.677-05:00guest posting!maybe you wanna go check out my guest post at <a href="http://houseofestrela.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">HOUSE OF ESTRELA</a>? she’s hosting January Refashion Month, and i’m whipping up some awesome undies.<br />
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<img alt="IMG_5856_0715_thumb1" height="441" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-r-ruZ6oP8xs/UuQCiEaTZWI/AAAAAAAAL3g/jrpl4ptPTFA/IMG_5856_0715_thumb1_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="640" />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15438982905074697491noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7748750662715489716.post-83058165698586663292014-01-21T09:38:00.001-05:002014-01-21T09:38:38.952-05:00i love to wear my bicycle.<p>today’s post is a quick and dirty one. found some pics i never posted of a skirt i made myself a while ago. </p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-WpGQd5I3ZkM/Ut6GR6ISv4I/AAAAAAAALwQ/chEICGZWHXo/s1600-h/IMG_5891_0929%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_5891_0929" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_5891_0929" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-utidHAQ_l1Q/Ut6GS8fRmBI/AAAAAAAALwU/pMUP3uiAoTQ/IMG_5891_0929_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="289" height="433"></a></p> <p>spring. remember spring? with it’s skirts and bare legs and….not snow?</p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-hCPYPtWwmAc/Ut6GT5Haa2I/AAAAAAAALwY/m7PXV7RXhbM/s1600-h/IMG_5893_0931%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_5893_0931" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_5893_0931" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-yDfpebxg3iw/Ut6GVTvCj4I/AAAAAAAALwk/SDCM4U5Xkd8/IMG_5893_0931_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="649" height="433"></a></p> <p>anyway…i had a 1/2 yard of this bicycle print i loved. and so i cut it in half and sewed it end to end and added a stretch yoga pant type foldover knit waistband to it. i’m fairly certain that’s the technical term, right?</p> <p>and then i got fancy, so besides my SYPTFKW i decided to add some pockets. in red. because i like a little pop. i’m crazy like that.</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-b_xRpJFc7CE/Ut6GXKJUCTI/AAAAAAAALwo/7Of5tJGv33k/s1600-h/IMG_5894_0932%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_5894_0932" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_5894_0932" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-t_DlBoOQvtI/Ut6GYWhe1sI/AAAAAAAALww/l2Q4c7jp8bY/IMG_5894_0932_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="649" height="433"></a><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-W0xy1cEJQMk/Ut6GZPeoglI/AAAAAAAALw8/kgUtdyvaOpw/s1600-h/IMG_5897_0935%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_5897_0935" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_5897_0935" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-cQhQ_kP1k4o/Ut6GaEyy5AI/AAAAAAAALxE/H1mvctVZ3NI/IMG_5897_0935_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="649" height="433"></a></p> <p>and then to top it all off i got a little…errr.. pinteresty shall we say? and paired it with things i pulled from my closet. obviously by holding my hand over my eyes and grabbing. it’s fashion roulette, ya’ll. very invigorating. </p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-YOedVwGPXUA/Ut6GasPHo4I/AAAAAAAALxQ/LbSXXHtOLFI/s1600-h/IMG_5899_0937%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_5899_0937" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_5899_0937" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-4SLdOcWdZQM/Ut6GbX1Y-OI/AAAAAAAALxU/l5tWPG18HWI/IMG_5899_0937_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="649" height="433"></a></p> <p>and there you have it. quick skirt, probably took me 45 mins total, and it’s awesome for pairing with a tee and flats and running to the food store. in spring. sigh. </p> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15438982905074697491noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7748750662715489716.post-55213940669707264012014-01-13T12:53:00.001-05:002014-01-13T12:53:53.959-05:00course correction.<p>i don’t set resolutions based on new year’s. i feel like i’m a person in a constant state of flux—the best time to begin something new or make a change is immediately after thinking it over and making the decision in your head. <strong>DO IT. right now. <br></strong>i guess on it’s face that can translate out as slightly ADD tendencies: i think of something, i mull it over, i start. sometimes that process takes minutes, sometimes days. <br>but i’m easily bored and—these days—extremely forgetful, so if i don’t get going immediately chances are it won’t happen.</p> <p>what was i talking about?</p> <p>oh. so i had a big thought, and i’m acting on it. thing is,<font size="3"> i haven’t been feeling like the greatest momma lately</font>. life, tired, stressed, sicknesses, sewing, cooking, cleaning, blogging, working…blah blah blah. bottom line it: too much, and my babies were getting the short end of the stick. </p> <p>they were getting meals, and baths, and clean laundry. they weren’t getting tickles, and songs, and silly faces. they didn’t have mommy just sitting on the couch sans phone/project taking up the place in my lap where they should be. there was a lack of tower building, game playing, picture drawing. too much time in front of the tv. too much. </p> <p>every evening i crawled into my bed—i need “me” time, even if that trite phrase isn’t how i put it in my head. i didn’t want to be mommy anymore—no more questions, no more Solomon like decision making, no more barking out orders. my kids were left to their own devices so i could clear my head with some crocheting and telephonernetting.</p> <p>there’s nothing wrong with that—every mommy needs her time and space. it makes for a better mommy. but i was becoming a selfish mommy. i did the things i HAD to do. the things that keep our family alive and relatively functional, meanwhile retreating further and further away from being a Momma who’s <font size="3"><em>there</em></font> and <em><font size="3">present</font></em> and <font size="3"><em>engaged</em></font>. i realized i was not even LOOKING at my children. conversations were happening while my eyes and 50% of my attention was focused elsewhere. that is huge, because looking someone in the eye is a mark of respect as far as i’m concerned. and as much as they need to respect me as a parent, i need to respect them as people. i was failing miserably. </p> <p>i was mothering just enough to begin to hate mothering. i’m doing all the grunt work, without taking the time to enjoy all the rewarding stuff. it was twisted up in my brain—do the hard stuff and my reward was alone time, instead of my reward being pleasant times with my children.</p> <p>and it shows in them, too. picking at each other, fighting…a general feeling of annoyance in our home. it was me thinking about all that—how we got to this place where there was shouting and fighting so much when they used to get along and cooperate so well—that brought me to my senses. the fact is they’re confused. with so much time spent parenting themselves and each other the lines between sibling relationships were become blurred and lost. everyone has their place in the home, and i was neglecting mine, leaving a large hole that my children kept tripping in. </p> <p>i’m not perfect. obviously. but i’ve been thinking—hard—about what is happening in my life and my home and my family right now. i feel like there is a giant clock ticking over my shoulder. i suppose it’s along the lines of a woman’s biological clock—once the children have come it starts counting down the hours and days you have to perfect this parenting gig. </p> <p><font size="3">tick tick tick you have a 13 year old daughter</font>. have you taught her the important things about womanhood that she needs to know? are you giving her a good self-image? is she learning the life skills she’ll need to thrive? does she have a relationship with her father that’s strong enough to keep her from seeking out the creepy boys and men that prey on girls with daddy issues?</p> <p><font size="3">tick tock tick tock you have an 11 year old son.</font> have you built up your relationship with him to a good enough place that you’re ready to face the coming trials of tween/teen-agehood? is he learning the skills and lessons to become a good man, husband, father someday? is he learning from you the right way to treat women, to eat dinner (not like a cow), to hold the door open for people?</p> <p><font size="3">tick tick tick you have a 9 year old daughter.</font> she is the middle child and feels her divided place strongly. sometimes she’s grouped with the older siblings, sometimes with the younger. she needs more attention, more understanding, more patience. are you doing that? or are you pushing her away because she’s clingy and you’re crushing candy? how much will you regret that decision when she’s 15 and doesn’t want to talk to you anymore? </p> <p><font size="3">tick tock tick tock you have a five year old daughter.</font> she’s spunky and friendly and if there’s anyone who will run off with a stranger to help them find their puppy it’s HER. have you taught her enough? she’s going to kindergarten in 8 months and wants to learn so badly. you promised to do “home preschool” with her and the supplies have sat unused for months. why?</p> <p><font size="3">tick tick tick you have a 2 year old daughter.</font> this morning you sang twinkle twinkle with her in bed and couldn’t remember the last time you did that. or read a book together. she sang her ABC’s to you and you knew you weren’t the one responsible for teaching her that. she’s asking where “ava-mommy” is. did you color together today?</p> <p>my clock is ticking—loudly and harshly. fortunately it’s also an alarm clock. i’ve pushed snooze one too many times and it’s time for me to wake up. i get one shot at this parenting thing, and i’m not going to do it perfectly, but i can certainly do better than i am now. </p> <p>so i’ve been absent from here. no blogging, no blog reading, <strike>no</strike> <em>less</em> hours spent wasted on googling such vital things as “subway tile with gray grout images”. i’ve put down my phone and done less instagraming, less texting, less stupid stupid game playing. i’m trying to find a new balance—one that let’s me do the grunt work, enjoy the rewarding children time, and still have the husband and wife time and the just shannon time. dude. that’s not an easy task. </p> <p>so please excuse the dust while my life is under renovation. </p> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15438982905074697491noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7748750662715489716.post-71666782466729613852013-12-09T07:00:00.000-05:002014-01-22T00:15:35.769-05:00I'm proud of my mom, but I still miss the churros.<div class="blogher_content"><script src="http://ads.blogherads.com/86/8685/campaigns/14/1435/1435261/x90.js" type="text/javascript"></script><p>A few weeks ago I had to take my baby brother for a checkup. The fool had broken his nose playing football, and since mom and dad were working it fell to big sister to accompany him to the ENT. <br> <br> I call him my <em>baby brother</em> because, well,<span style="font-size: small;"> he is.</span> There is just a touch less than 16 years between us, and I spent most of my teenage years getting some subtle and not-so-subtle judgments from people who assumed I was a teenage mother. Whatever. The truth is that—for all intents and purposes—<strong>I am his 2nd momma. </strong><br> <span style="font-size: medium;"><em><br></em></span> <span style="font-size: medium;"><em>Kind of. </em></span><br> <span style="font-size: medium;"><em><br></em></span> I yell at him for driving too fast, counsel his choice of girls, tell him he’s being an idiot for continuing to play football after he broke his nose (twice). But we’re still brother and sister. Which means when we go to the ENT and the doctor comes in wearing one of those cartoon doctor head things that are like a headband with a big mirror and light on them, we look at each other and giggle. And when he examines Casey and says that he has <em>“a significant deformity,”</em> well then we flat out crack up. Loudly and inappropriately.<br> <br> For what it’s worth—like many families—we’re too loud. We talk too loud, laugh too loud, make jokes and poke fun. Loudly. What can I say? We’re a rather odd mix of German, Italian and Jewish. Like I said, <strong>loud</strong>. Oy. <br> <br> <a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-QI_kPkTFElc/Up1yTV_oTHI/AAAAAAAALuk/wpEYp6jlF8s/s1600-h/cape%252520cod%2525202012-056%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; display: block; float: none; margin: 0px auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; border: 0px;" title="cape cod 2012-056" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-viW_ItAg5t4/Up1yT0Enn7I/AAAAAAAALuo/D217dkHYoqw/cape%252520cod%2525202012-056_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" alt="cape cod 2012-056" width="650" height="433" border="0"></a></p><div align="center"><em>our attempt at a “then me/now me” photo.</em></div><p><br> Two brothers, one sister-in-law and my parents—who have been together for over 40 years, married for 38. <em>::coughcough no nieces or nephews coughcough:: </em><br> <br> So no matter how we may annoy each other or fight, the truth is we love each other. I’m proud of my brothers—who they are, the men they are. I’m not ashamed to be associated with them…<em>errr, most of the time</em>. Of course, I’ve always been “daddy’s girl”. I’m the oldest and only girl. <br>But, I’m the <strong>only girl.</strong> I’m my mom’s only daughter. And, uh, she’s my only mom. ;) The mother/daughter relationship…literally thousands of books have been written on that subject. And you’ll never cover it all. It’s complex and tricky, and <em>OH MAN I HAVE FOUR DAUGHTERS WHAT HAVE I DONE??? </em><br> I’ve become a woman, a wife, a mother myself—and I know she’s proud of me. But becoming a woman, a wife, a mother has given me a new perspective. And guess what? <span style="font-size: small;">I’m just as proud of her.</span> <br> <br> My mom started working when she was 16. She was a waitress—and a good one. As kids we would go eat dinner at Chi-Chi’s on Wednesday nights when she waited tables. Jesse and I fought over who would get to use the push vac to clean up the crumbs under her empty tables <em>(he usually won. humph).</em><br> <br> It’s hard and very unglamorous work. My mom worked as a waitress for decades, because her family needed it. After she had my youngest brother she decided to branch out. She trained as a Bradley teacher—it’s a natural childbirth method for the unfamiliar. Think Lamaze minus the<em> “hee-hee-hoo”.</em> She had a love for the medical field and, for a while, teaching groups of expectant parents in our living room was enough for her. <br> <br> <a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-1i0E7SQMC3o/Up1yUQaXsWI/AAAAAAAALuw/YB6d2dKmJL8/s1600-h/cape%252520cod%2525202012-099%25255B8%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; display: block; float: none; margin: 0px auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; border: 0px;" title="cape cod 2012-099" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-frUjXfKmLtU/Up1yUwSWcXI/AAAAAAAALu4/ts8Vh_8SNTQ/cape%252520cod%2525202012-099_thumb%25255B5%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" alt="cape cod 2012-099" width="650" height="433" border="0"></a><br> <em><span style="font-size: x-small;"> mom-mom and Ava</span></em><br> <em><span style="font-size: small;">For a while. </span></em><br> I remember exactly what year it was. She signed up for school and it started just after I gave birth to Ava in 2004. I was married and out of the house, my brothers were older and not so dependent. <span style="font-size: small;">And she decided to become a nurse. </span><br> <span style="font-size: small;"><br></span> My mom enrolled in college at the age of…..<strong>no</strong>. I won’t go there. Let’s just say<strong> “the age of Old Enough To Be A Grandmother.”</strong> She studied and did homework. She attended class after class and did clinical and followed and learned and after a while…she graduated. I don’t want to minimize how hard it was. Because it certainly wasn’t easy. She wanted to give up. She cried. She got angry. <br><span style="font-size: small;"><br></span><br> <span style="font-size: small;">But she did it.</span><br> <br> My mom became a nurse. No-- <span style="font-size: small;"><strong>My Mom became a Nurse</strong></span> at a time when many woman are taking up quilting. <span style="font-size: small;"><strong>My Mom became a Nurse</strong></span> at a time when many woman are eyeing up the bedrooms of soon-to-be-gone children as potential craft rooms. <span style="font-size: small;"><strong>My Mom became a Nurse</strong></span> and didn’t care that she wasn’t the age of your typical college student. <br> <br> My Mom had bigger fish to fry. She did something she had wanted to do for years, and when she graduated I was there with flowers and my kiddos, cheering on <strong>My Mom who became a Nurse</strong>. She worked as a waitress for almost 30 years. But now she’s doing something she loves, and she does it well. <br> <br> And it’s cool, because guess who still remembers how to make fried ice cream for family dinners? <em>#winning</em></p><p> </p>Whether you’re seeking further success in your current role or a new opportunity, Kaplan University can help you prepare for the exciting possibilities ahead.*
As an accredited university built on more than 75 years of experience,† Kaplan University offers a wide range of career-focused programs designed to develop the skills and knowledge leading employers seek. Our focus: to offer you the most direct educational path to achieve your goals.
Are you ready for a change? Learn more at kaplanuniversity.edu.
* Kaplan University cannot guarantee employment or career advancement.
† Kaplan University is regionally accredited. Please visit http://www.kaplanuniversity.edu/about/accreditation-licensing.aspx# for additional information about institutional and programmatic accreditation.<script src="http://ads.blogherads.com/86/8685/campaigns/14/1435/1435261/x92.js" type="text/javascript"></script></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15438982905074697491noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7748750662715489716.post-58368440083453563372013-12-08T00:13:00.001-05:002013-12-08T00:13:59.377-05:00more words i don’t know how to say.<p>well. it’s been quite a couple of weeks. it’s been quiet here on the blog, and for good reason. i talked about the stomach bug that went through—3 of the 5 succumbed in the end. that was tag-teamed with the googiedaddy coming down with a massive flu and possible infection on top of it. dude, he was <strong><em>so </em></strong>sick. dude, i just said dude.</p> <p><font size="3">it was not a pleasant week.</font> i lost track of how many times i changed sheets, how many loads of laundry i did, how many cups of tea and ginger ale i poured. </p> <p>and then you think<em> I AM SO OVER THIS</em> and your dad texts you and says <em>mom is really sick not sure if should go to hospital</em>. so i drove over to find my poor momma curled in a ball on the bathroom floor with waves of pain. dad and i got her in bed, and after conferencing for a few minutes decided it was off to the hospital. </p> <p>eventually i instagrammed a pic of my #DAREcember challenge from the room we were in…when we thought it was just a nasty stomach bug and she’d be home after some fluids. HA.</p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-x-t75nog1yE/UqQACfhLljI/AAAAAAAALvM/aIpkyNY_4QQ/s1600-h/image%25255B3%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-0gzEoI4R7b8/UqQADFgxf_I/AAAAAAAALvU/xM3eeLqfcoE/image_thumb%25255B4%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="487" height="487"></a></p> <p>that was last sunday, she just got out of the hospital <em>yesterday</em>. it wasn’t a nasty stomach bug. actually they’re not really definitive on what it was, all the tests came back negative and ruled out e-coli and other bacterial nasties. but she was—and is—really sick. </p> <p>so then you’re basically like I HAVE HAD IT UP TO HERE AND SO HELP ME I WILL CRY IF YOU LOOK AT ME CROSS-EYED. you know, your basic <font size="4">threat level orange</font> or whatever. <br>and you know, in the best foreshadowing fashion, that this is where it <em>really</em> gets fun.</p> <p>wednesday morning i jumped into the shower and called for gigi to come in with me. she’d been congested and i wanted her to try and clear out in a steamy shower. as soon as she took off her clothes and jumped in with me i noticed three dark bruises—two on her arms, one on her right hipbone. </p> <p>here’s the thing:<font size="3"> i can’t tell you <em>why</em> i knew they weren’t right</font>. i have five children. i’ve probably seen 6.4 billion bruises in my mothering career so far. these were…off. they weren’t very large, but they were dark purple and in very odd places.</p> <p>she doesn’t attend preschool and is rarely not with me, but i still looked in her eyes and asked if anyone hit her. she said no. </p> <p>so we got out of the shower and i lotioned her up, taking that time to give her a good lookover. i noticed that she had little red dots on her neck, as if she had scratched it and broken tiny blood vessels. she also had a severely chapped lip—her bottom lip looked like she had chewed the snot out of it and was scabby and bloody. she had woken up with that a few days prior. </p> <p>fortunately i have that honorary doctorate from google, which comes in super handy at times like this. i was simultaneously googling <em>“dark bruises + chapped lips”</em> while texting jeremy <em>“please tell me i’m crazy right now, mmkay?”</em> <br>he’s a good guy, so he complied.<br><em>”you’re crazy, calm down, she’s fine. she’s klutzy.”<br></em>but he wasn’t quite fast enough because i’d already found my answer: ITP. <strong><a href="http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/idiopathic-thrombocytopenic-purpura/DS00844">Immune or Idiopathic Thrombocytopenia Purpura</a></strong>. <br>winner winner chicken dinner. </p> <p><a href="http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/idiopathic-thrombocytopenic-purpura/DS00844">ITP</a> is basically your immune system going haywire. it begins attacking your platelets—the cells in your blood that are “sticky”—the ones responsible for clotting. when your immune system attacks your platelets they die off faster than new ones can be made in your bone marrow and your numbers plummet. normal platelet count is 150,000-350,000.<br>symptoms: bruises, bleeding of the mucosal membranes (i.e. lips), petechiae (the little red dots all over her skin). </p> <p>it was too close. the symptoms fit too well. i was most definitely edging toward threat level red.</p> <p>jeremy texted me back. <em>i read about that thing. i think you should call the doctor. <br></em>so i did. <br>we were there by 11:40. the PA we saw<em> (who i will never, ever see again)</em> initially downplayed. <br><em>well kids get bruises.</em> <br>eyeroll from me. okay thanks i guess i’m an idiot. listen to me:<u> these are different</u>. <br>then i showed her the neck dots. that got a response. <br>we headed off for bloodwork—which means wrapping my legs and arms around my baby while she screams and begs for this NOT to happen. ever done it? it’s not pleasant. </p> <p>you know that feeling when <strong>you just KNOW</strong>? every fiber of your being just knows? i spent thursday alternately eating all my fingernails off and trying not to cry or puke and calling the doctor’s office to pressure them a little more. they finally called back at 11:30.<br>everything came back normal. RBC, WBC, all perfectly normal. oh—but her platelets clumped so we didn’t get a count on them. so we’ll put in an order for more labs.</p> <p>ARE YOU KIDDING ME? the one number we needed was the one number we didn’t have. and now i have to go through the holding my baby down process again. </p> <p>by thursday night she had a lot more bruises.</p> <p>friday morning. i said to jeremy <em>“do you think they check all the labs that come in and see if anything is really bad and they call them right away?”<br></em>our phone rang at 8:50.</p> <p>gigi’s platelet levels were 23,000.</p> <p>the PA was completely nonchalant about it. <em>i’m going to have you make an appointment with a hematologist for followup.</em> </p> <p>i was like uhhh…wait. <font size="3">what?</font> because i don’t know about you but i’ve googled this and i’m thinking 23,000 is a little more serious than “call a hemotologist for an appointment”. so she said<em> if i wanted</em> she could call too. <br>then i punched her in the neck. <br>okay no i didn’t but i said <em>thanks but no thanks i’ll make my own phone calls</em>. </p> <p>we called a few different resources and hospitals. the PA called back. <br><em>uhhh…i spoke with the hematology department at CHOP and they’re working on an appointment for gisele but if they can’t get you in today you’ll probably have to take her to the ER.</em></p> <p>NO KIDDING.</p> <p>we packed for an overnight stay. we dressed. we were waiting for a last call back from a hospital in NJ. a nurse from the ped’s office called again: <em>umm, **** (the PA) heard back from CHOP and they said you need to take Gisele to the ER right now. are you going?</em></p> <p>saying that i was angry is a little bit of an understatement. </p> <p>we got in the car and drove to the ER. we’re fortunate to be a 1/2 hour drive from some of the best hospitals in the U.S., but that doesn’t help at all when you’re taking one of your babies there. </p> <p>gigi was cool with the hospital idea. we told her that her blood was sick, and she needed to go to the big hospital so they could help her. yes, she’s going to have to have more bloodwork. we explained an IV as best we could. she was less cool with that.</p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-MB_OYgguz4w/UqQADuG6T1I/AAAAAAAALvY/grCnelwMANY/s1600-h/image%25255B7%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-bWYlrNjO2oY/UqQAEBd7o-I/AAAAAAAALvk/WqKUf1OHO3Y/image_thumb%25255B9%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="489" height="486"></a></p> <p>and from that point it basically went as expected: our nurse was awesome. like really, really awesome. she placed an IV, then took more blood for labs. we waited.<br>her platelets were up to 43,000.<br>the hematologist came down and talked with us. at that point it was basically confirmed for us: <font size="3"><strong>gisele has ITP</strong></font>. <br>her platelets had gone up and that was a good sign, but it didn’t change things too much. her risk of bleeding remained basically the same. what’s the treatment? well there’s a few different things they can try. but <font size="3">the bottom line is her body has to do this on it’s own.</font> the treatments are just temporary stopgap measures, and with a level of 43,000 we can wait and watch and see if her body can figure it out on it’s own. there are children walking around with much lower numbers.<br>meanwhile: no wrestling, no jumping off things. if she bangs her head, <em>immediately back to the ER</em>. if she has a nosebleed or bleeding from anywhere that’s excessive or we can’t control after 1/2 hr, <em>back to the ER</em>. car accident or any major trauma, <em>back to the ER.</em> </p> <p><font size="3">ITP in children has a very good chance of spontaneous remission</font>—it will go away and that’s it. it can take up to 9 months, it can happen in a couple of weeks. there is a chance it could become chronic. but we’ll cross that bridge if we come to it. </p> <p>gigi goes in monday morning to the hematology clinic. she’ll have bloodwork again to check her levels. driving 95 with her…ugh. i asked jeremy if it was insane to make her wear a helmet in the car? honestly, it’s not—the hematologist offered to send us home with one if it made us more comfortable. </p> <p>so this is our new normal. i’m going to be 34 this month, and i didn’t really have any grey hairs. but everyone knows—these little rugrats will give ‘em to ya. a 5 year old with a platelet count of 43,000 who is trying to ride her new scooter through the house? i could feel them sprouting in my head. </p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-eTJmzbLKpfc/UqQAEyDBMZI/AAAAAAAALvs/sjb44kZqwmA/s1600-h/image%25255B11%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-yYOFQOd5aLs/UqQAFcvsbSI/AAAAAAAALv0/9t6zW1ZUhIE/image_thumb%25255B14%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="489" height="485"></a><br>in truth though, this, right now—knowing what we’re dealing with--is 1000x better than the not knowing of wednesday and thursday. it’s another thing to roll in to our life and keep on going. </p> <p>as soon as we can remember how to say it.</p> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15438982905074697491noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7748750662715489716.post-13180488321661600372013-11-26T07:00:00.000-05:002013-11-26T08:43:04.042-05:00perfectly imperfect: simple sewing book review (+ giveaway!)in typical social media tangled web fashion, i can’t even remember how i first came across <a href="http://www.the-red-kitchen.com/">katie of <span style="font-size: small;">the red kitchen</span></a><span style="font-size: small;">.</span> i know it was on <a href="http://instagram.com/theredkitchenkatie">instagram</a>, where i followed the writing and development of her book like i was watching updates on the development of a baby. and i think, for her, it was. <br />
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so when she sent out the call for some bloggers who would be willing to review her book after it’s birth (!) i volunteered right away. i had watched this thing from it’s infancy, i kind of feel like a grandmom. or at least a really cool but distant aunt.<br />
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<a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-dOTPsJvpehY/UpPKmX4bDSI/AAAAAAAALpY/7B3w10RB2OI/s1600-h/IMG_6250_1010simple%252520sewing%252520book%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img alt="IMG_6250_1010simple sewing book" border="0" height="433" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-yER1HS2tH5A/UpPKntNNWxI/AAAAAAAALpg/ipFr31Itr0w/IMG_6250_1010simple%252520sewing%252520book_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin: 0px auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="IMG_6250_1010simple sewing book" width="649" /></a><br />
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meet katie’s adorable bouncing baby book: <span style="font-size: medium;"><strong>SIMPLE SEWING: 30 Fast and Easy Projects for Beginners. </strong></span><br />
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here’s the thing: i can’t even begin to count the amount of times people have said to me <em>“i wish i could sew”</em> or <em>“you need to teach me to sew”</em>. the truth is <span style="font-size: small;">sewing isn’t rocket science</span>. and if you have the ability to read and the desire to learn then this book is exactly what you need—a primer for learning the basics. learning your way around fabric and notions and a machine and pumping out a couple decent projects to build your confidence and get you excited.<br />
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let’s dive in, shall we?<br />
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<a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-L47d9YCgzfk/UpPKoGwzReI/AAAAAAAALpk/EiWI2OQ3Cqo/s1600-h/IMG_6258_1018simple%252520sewing%252520book%25255B10%25255D.jpg"><img alt="IMG_6258_1018simple sewing book" border="0" height="400" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-AznEU1WFSHA/UpPKojocwfI/AAAAAAAALpw/vtx4tblVys8/IMG_6258_1018simple%252520sewing%252520book_thumb%25255B4%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="IMG_6258_1018simple sewing book" width="600" /></a><br />
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the beginning of the book gives you <span style="font-size: medium;">an illustrated overview of the tools</span>—both big and small—you’ll need, why you’ll need them, what kind to look for, and how to use them. everything from needles to irons.<br />
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<a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-rnN3Z4dYpI4/UpPKpEcJZ1I/AAAAAAAALp4/MGU_xLrquMA/s1600-h/IMG_6259_1019simple%252520sewing%252520book%25255B15%25255D.jpg"><img alt="IMG_6259_1019simple sewing book" border="0" height="400" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-PJQvWunbxnY/UpPKppF_ckI/AAAAAAAALqA/1rlLsxIdKWc/IMG_6259_1019simple%252520sewing%252520book_thumb%25255B6%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin: 0px auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="IMG_6259_1019simple sewing book" width="600" /></a><br />
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next up is a detailed <span style="font-size: medium;">explanation of the techniques</span> you’re going to need for all the book’s projects: how to pin, how to stitch…all the basics.<br />
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<a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-8VXpNj4sRr8/UpPKqI-pdZI/AAAAAAAALqI/9BTKnU6GrdM/s1600-h/IMG_6253_1013simple%252520sewing%252520book%25255B8%25255D.jpg"><img alt="IMG_6253_1013simple sewing book" border="0" height="433" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-ktD4dT27WAw/UpPKqmh7ZkI/AAAAAAAALqM/m8hbQR5dLbg/IMG_6253_1013simple%252520sewing%252520book_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin: 0px auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="IMG_6253_1013simple sewing book" width="649" /></a><br />
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then the book is broken up into (very logical) <span style="font-size: medium;">groupings of projects</span>, which makes it easy to find the one you’re looking for. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-8MBJMCpJtC0/UpPKrFzVCbI/AAAAAAAALqU/eiyqqRwnxec/s1600-h/IMG_6254_1014simple%252520sewing%252520book%25255B12%25255D.jpg"><img alt="IMG_6254_1014simple sewing book" border="0" height="433" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-PC28BnaQPwA/UpPKrSiOMWI/AAAAAAAALqc/2eQTFGS-uo0/IMG_6254_1014simple%252520sewing%252520book_thumb%25255B3%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin: 0px auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="IMG_6254_1014simple sewing book" width="649" /></a><br />
<br />
and here’s where the book really shines—not only are there <span style="font-size: medium;">gorgeous full-color and full-page illustrations throughout</span>…<br />
<br />
<a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-Q09z4vQp2uQ/UpPKr9O4jxI/AAAAAAAALqk/QtP-uokHpcc/s1600-h/IMG_6255_1015simple%252520sewing%252520book%25255B8%25255D.jpg"><img alt="IMG_6255_1015simple sewing book" border="0" height="433" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-6mdUz2xTQAE/UpPKsRNtc5I/AAAAAAAALqw/sfASO1gjtfE/IMG_6255_1015simple%252520sewing%252520book_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin: 0px auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="IMG_6255_1015simple sewing book" width="649" /></a><br />
<br />
each step of each project has a corresponding photo showing you exactly what to do. if you’re a visual learner this is priceless. even as an experienced sewer there are times i simply do not understand a written instruction in a pattern. it is quite true: <span style="font-size: medium;">a picture is worth a thousand words. </span><br />
<br />
and at the back of the book you’ll find<span style="font-size: medium;"> all the patterns</span> for your projects, which can be traced or copied. or cut right out if you’re a rebel. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-6lXNVyMfSLo/UpPKsr8F7TI/AAAAAAAALq0/CixsyEE6mdQ/s1600-h/IMG_6257_1017simple%252520sewing%252520book%25255B8%25255D.jpg"><img alt="IMG_6257_1017simple sewing book" border="0" height="433" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-E8E6GVPTJYM/UpPKtNGevFI/AAAAAAAALrA/ADPSxup3u6E/IMG_6257_1017simple%252520sewing%252520book_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin: 0px auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="IMG_6257_1017simple sewing book" width="649" /></a><br />
<br />
so what did i do with my book? <br />
<br />
my girls are some of the people who have asked me countless times <em>“will you teach me to sew?”</em> they want to Make Things. i even bought them their own machine. but i know my limits and a big one is that<strong> i am just NOT a teacher</strong>. i don’t have the patience, the organizational skills…i want to jump in and fix the mistakes myself, make it perfect, make it <strike>right</strike> <em>the way i would do it.</em> <br />
this is tough to admit--but i even seriously entertained the thought of putting the girls in a sewing class at joann’s. how dumb is that? i feel strongly that they should learn to sew, but i convinced myself i lacked the ability to be their teacher. <br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;">this book serves as the perfect buffer.</span> i realize now it was just what i needed. even the best of teachers uses a textbook as the basis for what they’re teaching. <br />
<strong>this is our sewing class book. </strong><br />
<br />
i set ava loose on it first, and she picked the toy camera project. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-H_afWs9obQg/UpPKvKBYkmI/AAAAAAAALrE/P35PIjz_DOQ/s1600-h/IMG_6261_1021simple%252520sewing%252520book%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img alt="IMG_6261_1021simple sewing book" border="0" height="433" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-jI6NkxMgr0I/UpPKvsZBccI/AAAAAAAALrI/u9ylDHoLPKg/IMG_6261_1021simple%252520sewing%252520book_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin: 0px auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="IMG_6261_1021simple sewing book" width="649" /></a><br />
<br />
i let her pick fabrics, and helped her cut her pieces. i gave her some little tips, showed her how to organize everything and how to follow the step-by-step directions. i was there to guide and lend a helping hand, but she did it. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-sJoYuaOHNqk/UpPKv5B9iMI/AAAAAAAALrU/GWGj4qb1g60/s1600-h/IMG_6262_1022simple%252520sewing%252520book%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img alt="IMG_6262_1022simple sewing book" border="0" height="433" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-wToasNvZ-Ek/UpPKxbj5d6I/AAAAAAAALrc/FIimlpSmJMo/IMG_6262_1022simple%252520sewing%252520book_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin: 0px auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="IMG_6262_1022simple sewing book" width="649" /></a><br />
<br />
at first she waited for my guidance between steps, but by the end she was off and running on her own. i’ve given her basic sewing machine instruction, so with the illustrated instructions in the book she could easily proceed without my help.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-P-4Vt2oMpBY/UpPKx15fUFI/AAAAAAAALro/XnZOuaDWVyM/s1600-h/IMG_6263_1023simple%252520sewing%252520book%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img alt="IMG_6263_1023simple sewing book" border="0" height="433" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-GZEpKzNYTA4/UpPKyefn-KI/AAAAAAAALrs/oZ5Gd0FWoF8/IMG_6263_1023simple%252520sewing%252520book_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin: 0px auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="IMG_6263_1023simple sewing book" width="649" /></a><br />
<br />
and in the end she had a toy camera.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-rBXrP7gnppo/UpPKy6erJYI/AAAAAAAALr0/KUlfYr6Dgps/s1600-h/IMG_6265_1025simple%252520sewing%252520book%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img alt="IMG_6265_1025simple sewing book" border="0" height="433" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-JOf6qGtlSa8/UpPKzbP85xI/AAAAAAAALsA/v7tQGQKXZvY/IMG_6265_1025simple%252520sewing%252520book_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin: 0px auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="IMG_6265_1025simple sewing book" width="649" /></a><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: medium;">an actual for real project that she made herself.</span> are the stitches wonky? the circles less circle-y and more octagon-y? <em>yup</em>.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-IrZMOroDLt8/UpPKz3HdYGI/AAAAAAAALsE/iffJ4PNTmlw/s1600-h/IMG_6266_1026simple%252520sewing%252520book%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img alt="IMG_6266_1026simple sewing book" border="0" height="433" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-xUckuWTAcpY/UpPK0U6sx0I/AAAAAAAALsM/A9xKstkwSuQ/IMG_6266_1026simple%252520sewing%252520book_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin: 0px auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="IMG_6266_1026simple sewing book" width="649" /></a><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><strong><br /></strong></span>
<span style="font-size: medium;"><strong>and that’s what makes it perfect.</strong></span><br />
but we didn’t stop there. that’s the fun of a house full of kiddos. when word spreads that there’s “projects” happening…<br />
<br />
<a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-7v1GT77FW2s/UpPK0lcGBrI/AAAAAAAALsY/9JMmRtOgtCI/s1600-h/IMG_6248_1008simple%252520sewing%252520book%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img alt="IMG_6248_1008simple sewing book" border="0" height="433" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-Aa2Keugl7zE/UpPK1Jl2dMI/AAAAAAAALsc/oMvofTTG9NE/IMG_6248_1008simple%252520sewing%252520book_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin: 0px auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="IMG_6248_1008simple sewing book" width="649" /></a><br />
<br />
gigi wanted in. and the book was awesome yet again: she picked a project and fabric and we got to work. i was a little more involved this time, but we learned how to follow directions, how to measure and cut and pin…<br />
<br />
<a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-goqyWXxD6-Q/UpPK1gwa4VI/AAAAAAAALsk/gaXSHZ28EyM/s1600-h/IMG_6268_1028simple%252520sewing%252520book%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img alt="IMG_6268_1028simple sewing book" border="0" height="433" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-cTJlleDg2Qs/UpPK2v4En5I/AAAAAAAALss/_iYT5wEHZXA/IMG_6268_1028simple%252520sewing%252520book_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin: 0px auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="IMG_6268_1028simple sewing book" width="649" /></a><br />
<br />
she sat on my lap for the sewing—official Pin Puller and Presser Foot Lifter. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-sLDms6VQWXs/UpPK243J8eI/AAAAAAAALs0/11os3PGIt24/s1600-h/IMG_6271_1031simple%252520sewing%252520book%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img alt="IMG_6271_1031simple sewing book" border="0" height="433" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-I1nAFLxvFlA/UpPK3d8dkqI/AAAAAAAALs8/aiY-vwIRnow/IMG_6271_1031simple%252520sewing%252520book_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin: 0px auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="IMG_6271_1031simple sewing book" width="474" /></a><br />
<br />
then we pushed out corners and filled our warmers with rice…<br />
<br />
<a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-HB5imgaPe9U/UpPK35pDC6I/AAAAAAAALtI/6mI2-piA-IQ/s1600-h/IMG_6281_1041simple%252520sewing%252520book%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img alt="IMG_6281_1041simple sewing book" border="0" height="433" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-344lT7knp0w/UpPK4cdLGEI/AAAAAAAALtQ/KqMEgDQ55zY/IMG_6281_1041simple%252520sewing%252520book_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin: 0px auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="IMG_6281_1041simple sewing book" width="649" /></a><br />
<br />
and <em>voila</em>.<span style="font-size: small;"><em> </em><strong>two hand warmers</strong></span>. also perfectly imperfect.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-KxGIfW__7VA/UpPK5GcV9oI/AAAAAAAALtY/T9ny0dqGhWQ/s1600-h/IMG_6285_1045simple%252520sewing%252520book%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img alt="IMG_6285_1045simple sewing book" border="0" height="433" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-PeXtZzbPpXE/UpPK5bYXbGI/AAAAAAAALtc/79Sc-XoGyHI/IMG_6285_1045simple%252520sewing%252520book_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin: 0px auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="IMG_6285_1045simple sewing book" width="649" /></a><br />
<br />
she was nervous about how hot they were (not very)<br />
<br />
<a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-Hbs_KriyeRE/UpPK5-8Md6I/AAAAAAAALtk/y5EmTiodRM0/s1600-h/IMG_6287_1047simple%252520sewing%252520book%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img alt="IMG_6287_1047simple sewing book" border="0" height="433" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-00BZuFJZsh4/UpPK6fcOy8I/AAAAAAAALts/ls_a7S71VrE/IMG_6287_1047simple%252520sewing%252520book_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin: 0px auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="IMG_6287_1047simple sewing book" width="649" /></a><br />
<br />
so she donned some protective…socks.<br />
and there you have it.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-2mTs9_2tBu4/UpPK6jZt8cI/AAAAAAAALt4/od2SKmSqVz4/s1600-h/IMG_6282_1042simple%252520sewing%252520book%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img alt="IMG_6282_1042simple sewing book" border="0" height="467" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-A4iduddhuQU/UpPK7AwLkeI/AAAAAAAALt8/vRAQ6CTzdCw/IMG_6282_1042simple%252520sewing%252520book_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin: 0px auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="IMG_6282_1042simple sewing book" width="700" /></a><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;">these two little projects represent together about an hour and a half of my time and a monetary investment of $0.<br /> but more importantly—they represent the first time we have <em>successfully</em> done sewing projects from start to finish together. they show me that i <em>can</em> teach my girls to sew, and watch it happen without frustration on any of our parts. i didn’t realize what i was missing all along was direction for <strong>me</strong>, not <strong>them</strong>.</span> <em> (yes yes, there’s a “priceless” joke in here somewhere. i’ll spare you.)</em><br />
<br />
so, now that i’ve touched your hearts so deeply you can’t wait to have such memory-making moments with your own offspring (or you want to learn yourself)…<br />
<br />
<a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-ii2yLr2bxt0/UpPMETSE0aI/AAAAAAAALuM/5uTynQvYcO8/s1600-h/image%25255B5%25255D.png"><img alt="image" border="0" height="397" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-JLX3UPdniz0/UpPMFP7DofI/AAAAAAAALuQ/tDnAKtEsBrI/image_thumb%25255B7%25255D.png?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin: 0px auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="352" /></a><br />
<br />
you can purchase a copy of katie’s SIMPLE SEWING book from any of these retailers:<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Simple-Sewing-Fast-Projects-Beginners/dp/1462112889/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1367898927&sr=8-1&keywords=simple+sewing+katie+lewis"><br />Amazon</a><br />
<a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/simple-sewing-katie-lewis/1115203855?ean=9781462112883">Barnes & Noble</a><br />
<a href="http://booksandthings.com/simple-sewing-30-fast-and-easy-projects-for-beginners.html#.Uo4pdsRwp8E">Books & Things</a><br />
<br />
you can also check out some other projects from/reviews of katie's book by visiting <a href="http://www.the-red-kitchen.com/" target="_blank">her website.</a><br />
and be sure and swing by today's other reviewer--the incredible <a href="http://www.deliacreates.com/" target="_blank">delia creates</a>--and see what she did!<br />
<br />
AND you also have a chance to win a copy of SIMPLE SEWING here by entering below! <br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;">before i go i just want to say again that this book is seriously awesome—i honestly mean it. if you want to teach someone—whether an adult or a child to sew, or you want to teach yourself you sew, this book is a must-have place to start. thanks, katie, for letting me be a part of your virtual <strike>baby shower</strike> book tour!</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;">*please note this contest is open to US shipping addresses only. </span><br />
<br />
<a class="rafl" href="http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/f3f32432/" id="rc-f3f32432" rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway</a><script src="//d12vno17mo87cx.cloudfront.net/embed/rafl/cptr.js"></script>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15438982905074697491noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7748750662715489716.post-8995035465089249452013-11-25T07:54:00.000-05:002013-11-25T07:54:00.022-05:00party time. excellent.<p>as i lay in my cell phone-lit room last night pondering various metaphors to begin this post, i struck upon one that seems fairly obvious. but it fits, so here goes. <br><font size="3"><font size="4">it’s like a storm</font>.</font> you see the big black thunderheads off in the distance, but first you’re optimistic—cocky even.<em> pshaw. that’s gonna pass us right by. good westerly wind will blow it right on past.</em></p> <p>but it doesn’t work that way—<font size="3">the clouds continue to build and drift menacingly closer</font> and before you know it drops of rain are hitting your shoulders and you’re still thinking <em>it’s okay. really. we’re going to be okay because this will be quick and you know what? in a way it’s</em> almost good<em>. we can use the rain.</em></p> <p>it doesn’t much matter what kind of face you put on it though. in the end it’s going to happen just like you knew it would from the first sign of inclement weather. so when it’s like<strong> threat level magenta</strong> or something and panic mode hits and you’re running for shelter (and now i’m mixing metaphors but it’s okay because IT’S THAT BAD) the last thing you can think is<em> we’ll all be alright in the end. we can make it through because we have plenty of canned food and a good clean up team. </em></p> <p>here it comes people. and i hope you’re ready.</p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-09vzo0nbVgA/UpKf2X24SOI/AAAAAAAALpA/xAWBOpuaBxc/s1600-h/image%25255B3%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-ji-gapRCgMc/UpKf3I35-FI/AAAAAAAALpI/7srVAM4uDhE/image_thumb%25255B5%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="567" height="419"></a></p> <p>it’s like a tornado. no. it’s like <font size="3">wildfire combined with a tornado</font>. not good enough. make that<font size="4"><strong> a wildfire enhanced sharknado</strong></font>, because when you have five kids and the first one cries <em>“my belly hurts”</em> you kinda feel like the lady spying the thunderheads. </p> <p>then that one starts hurling and you’re all <em>hey. we can do this</em>. you’re still not so sleep-deprived that you can’t joke with your significant other in the middle of the night.<em> babe, if you’re gonna spew, spew in this.</em> ::gigglesnort:: <br>you’re awesome, you got this, changing sheets and doing laundry and running baths at 3 am is kind of exhilirating in a <em>deep-in-the-trenches-of-parenthood-these-are-the-moments-that-make-up-our-lives</em> sort of way.</p> <p>but by the end of it you’re creeping cautiously from your shelter, blinking in the sunlight and whispering <em>it’s alright. we have plenty of canned food and a good cleanup team. </em></p> <p>we were hit hard two years ago, and <a href="http://googiemomma.blogspot.com/2012/01/im-just-singer-in-rock-n-roll-band.html">i waxed poetically about it then</a>. but last year we were spared and i should have known—the odds were certainly NOT in our favor for this year.</p> <p><font size="3">one down, four to go. <br></font>errr….i’m sorry. update. make that <font size="4">two down, three to go</font>. wildfire sharknado, people. <br>i find myself pondering such brain benders as <font size="3">how old should a child be to have to dump and rinse their own puke bucket without you being a Bad Mommy?</font> because i gotta tell ya, about 5 is my limit. <em>::heave, heave::</em></p> <p>and not to be completely disgusting…okay, yes sorry i’m about keeping it real. so to be completely disgusting and because my husband and i came of age in the 90’s we think we’re terribly funny when we say, <em>dude. she didn’t throw up. she blew chunks</em>. because yeah, that’s exactly what elliot did. and once you know the difference you <strong>KNOW</strong> the difference. </p> <p>and elliot—who shall henceforth be known as Patient Zero, lay there listening she looked up at me with ruddy cheeks and glassy eyes and said…</p> <p><em>chunks. </em></p> <p>yes, elliot. chunks.</p> <p><em>mommy. chunk is not yummy. chunks is stinky.</em></p> <p>you’re absolutely right elliot. now can someone pass me the can opener.</p> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15438982905074697491noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7748750662715489716.post-55413027291136116322013-11-15T08:19:00.001-05:002013-11-15T08:25:28.830-05:00practically impractical: pattern anthology winter wonderland collection<p>so a couple of months ago i got an email, basically saying <em>hey wanna be a part of the </em><a href="http://patternanthology.com/" target="_blank"><em>PATTERN ANTHOLOGY WINTER WONDERLAND COLLECTION BLOG TOUR</em></a>? to which i promptly said YES. der. srsly. i’m no dummy.</p> <p>and then they sent <strong><em>photos</em></strong> of the patterns and asked which we’d like to do and i was all<em> that one, and that one, and that one and</em> <strong>ALL OF THEM.</strong></p> <p>no, really. i wanted to make all of them. but i decided to be a good girl. a Practical Momma who would a)evaluate what my girls actually needed, and b) sew from my stash instead of buying more fabric. so it was a pair of <a href="http://patternanthology.com/products/tree-climber-trousers/" target="_blank">Tree Climber Trousers</a> for Elliot,who desperately needs more pants, refashioned from a pair of my stretch jeans with a busted zipper, and an <a href="http://patternanthology.com/products/amaryllis-dress/" target="_blank">Amaryllis dress</a> for Gigi, who—shockingly—needs more dresses. </p> <p>this was absolutely my intention. <font size="3">even as i drove to the fabric store</font>…<em>just to look,</em> it was still my intention. but when $2/yard lovely drapey navy cottons, and the PERFECT wintery lining—also $2/yard!—just JUMP right out at you…well. what’s a girl to do?</p> <p>what’s a girl to do? i’ll tell you what a girl’s to do: she starts with the practical. the necessary. the <em>reasonable</em>.</p> <p>the upcycled <a href="http://patternanthology.com/products/tree-climber-trousers/" target="_blank">Tree Climber Trousers</a>, and the sturdy navy <a href="http://patternanthology.com/products/amaryllis-dress/" target="_blank">Amaryllis Dress</a>.</p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-3AHgbJAEL84/UoYfAJn3hNI/AAAAAAAALh8/ArCBEFQ3dAY/s1600-h/IMG_6069_0871winter-wonderland7.jpg"><img title="IMG_6069_0871winter wonderland" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_6069_0871winter wonderland" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-aDvvcTnwVyU/UoYfAqFwDHI/AAAAAAAALiE/eWnf4ovU1nc/IMG_6069_0871winter-wonderland_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="649" height="433"></a></p> <p>cute, right? and then i packed up my sewing machine <em>thankyouandgoodnight.</em></p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-MntN9dJtufw/UoYfBYrY49I/AAAAAAAALiM/1-NeqC9t1-w/s1600-h/IMG_6075_0878winter-wonderland3.jpg"><img title="IMG_6075_0878winter wonderland" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_6075_0878winter wonderland" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-ORavfSLMO1U/UoYfB6LkdxI/AAAAAAAALiQ/OO1cc4HK6sY/IMG_6075_0878winter-wonderland_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="649" height="433"></a></p> <p><font size="4">yeah, that was a good one</font>. i mean, you’ve <em>seen</em> <a href="http://patternanthology.com/products/winter-wonderland-collection/" target="_blank">the winter wonderland collection</a>, haven’t you?</p> <p>behold: the golden mocha brown taffeta matching <a href="http://patternanthology.com/products/amaryllis-dress/" target="_blank">AMARYLLIS DRESSES</a> and matching fuzzy <a href="http://patternanthology.com/products/juliet-capelet/" target="_blank">JULIET CAPELETS.</a> </p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-HbpNrE3zlMM/UoYfCSQoBPI/AAAAAAAALic/0mLTjoEn5Mw/s1600-h/IMG_6013_0825winter%252520wonderlandwinter%252520wonderland%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_6013_0825winter wonderlandwinter wonderland" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_6013_0825winter wonderlandwinter wonderland" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-I0XxJNy3Ev0/UoYfC8Zx3eI/AAAAAAAALig/3ogOfWtIYsw/IMG_6013_0825winter%252520wonderlandwinter%252520wonderland_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="649" height="433"></a><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-tAQRlt9pdxI/UoYfDTGxaOI/AAAAAAAALis/0YV0W_F8mOU/s1600-h/how-about-now3.jpg"><img title="how about now" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="how about now" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-pfqnKM5fOdo/UoYfEAECW8I/AAAAAAAALi0/y8KFhAC1pKA/how-about-now_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="597" height="433"></a></p> <p><em><font size="4"><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-PsSGeAYkzLA/UoYfEuBo9wI/AAAAAAAALi8/7jGjHhmRbV4/s1600-h/IMG_6015_0827%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_6015_0827" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_6015_0827" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-m_9rOnB5Nuc/UoYfFQDq5rI/AAAAAAAALjE/MDXoGTr6gAo/IMG_6015_0827_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="650" height="433"></a></font></em><em><font size="4">reasonable and practical can go lay an egg. </font></em></p> <p>let’s talk about these, shall we?</p> <p>elliot and gigi both have an <a href="http://patternanthology.com/products/amaryllis-dress/" target="_blank">amaryllis dress</a>, which—get this—is <strong>reversible</strong>! one side is done in the navy cotton, one side in this taffeta i had in the stash (actually an upholstery remnant my baby daddy brought home for me. he’s good like that. i put them through the washer and dryer before using. that’s my litmus test on whether it will work as kid’s clothes). <br>this pattern is from melissa of <a href="http://www.blankslatepatterns.com/" target="_blank">BLANK SLATE PATTERNS</a>, and it’s AWESOME. seriously. it is based it off a vintage pattern, the fit is adorable, the design is adorable, really i can’t say enough about this dress. </p> <p>and i 150% wish i had better photos of just the dress—but it was so cold there was no cape removal, and so overcast that my inside shots are a blur. but trust me—these dresses are crazy cute.</p> <p>the dress is made to be one piece that goes over the head. the front goes around to the back and snaps, and the back comes around the front and ties in a bow. </p> <p>one side practical, one side party so you’re ready for anything. it’s like the mullet of dresses. </p> <p>except, <em>no</em>.</p> <p>moving on: the capelets. THE CAPELETS. i think even edna mode would change her mind if she saw these. </p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-CaMDyA7SrCc/UoYfGObY2fI/AAAAAAAALjI/vpNwvfFN6TA/s1600-h/IMG_6022_0834winter-wonderland_edite.jpg"><img title="IMG_6022_0834winter wonderland_edited-1" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_6022_0834winter wonderland_edited-1" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-GkTHuUTbn2A/UoYfGoAY8HI/AAAAAAAALjU/aEn0XikIY_Q/IMG_6022_0834winter-wonderland_edite%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="649" height="433"></a></p> <p>the <a href="http://patternanthology.com/products/juliet-capelet/" target="_blank">JULIET CAPELET</a> (ha! prize for best name to kate) is from <a href="http://seekatesew.bigcartel.com/" target="_blank">SEE KATE SEW patterns</a>. its a super quick sew with two hood options—rounded or pixie. </p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-fKjkO7qqAcs/UoYfHFRmMKI/AAAAAAAALjY/fh3aXsD8RCs/s1600-h/IMG_6016_0828winter-wonderland11.jpg"><img title="IMG_6016_0828winter wonderland" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_6016_0828winter wonderland" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-MlIbHb3Tv44/UoYfHhBO69I/AAAAAAAALjk/-rZXCRljauw/IMG_6016_0828winter-wonderland_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="649" height="433"></a></p> <p><font size="3">obviously i did one of each ;)</font> i also cut elliot’s size 3 to the length of the size 5, and gigi’s size 5 got an extra inch of length. and e’s got a yarn poof on the hood, because OH MY WORD THE CUTE. </p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-Fr54XBuoySU/UoYfIVGFB4I/AAAAAAAALjs/AUUkCdaih78/s1600-h/IMG_6027_0838winter-wonderland3.jpg"><img title="IMG_6027_0838winter wonderland" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_6027_0838winter wonderland" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-fJ18uvlbZvw/UoYfI0EizzI/AAAAAAAALj0/PIrLtAm1T9M/IMG_6027_0838winter-wonderland_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="649" height="433"></a></p> <p>they’re made from this fuzzy fluffy stuff from joann’s, which you must cut with <font size="3">scissors in one hand and a vacuum in the other</font>. particularly if you’re cutting on your dining room table like i was.<em> fuzzy food is never fun</em>. </p> <p>it’s lined with this winter wonderland/ski resort themed lining fabric i got for $2/yard!!! woohoo! i know nothing about it, save that it looks vintage and i love it. and based on some of the other fabrics in the shop, there’s probably a better than good chance that it is real vintage. ha.</p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-iTrQNlnTbyY/UoYfJYFQH-I/AAAAAAAALj4/w_TA2bly-54/s1600-h/IMG_6024_0836winter-wonderland3.jpg"><img title="IMG_6024_0836winter wonderland" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_6024_0836winter wonderland" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-nQq6NwnkDsg/UoYfJwc0wCI/AAAAAAAALkE/k6lUjvDciDI/IMG_6024_0836winter-wonderland_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="649" height="433"></a></p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-EXNlW0WBQHM/UoYfK6Ka5VI/AAAAAAAALkM/aLs5gxtIWj4/s1600-h/IMG_6096winter%252520wonderland%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_6096winter wonderland" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_6096winter wonderland" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-KP8urDNDR_4/UoYfLZw9VxI/AAAAAAAALkU/-2ygHwgGtr4/IMG_6096winter%252520wonderland_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="649" height="433"></a></p> <p>this lining fabric is what dictated the color scheme for the entire outfit. i love it <u>that much</u>. </p> <p><font size="3">so i put them in their matching twirly dresses and fluffy capes and they look like the most adorable little squishy elf pixie fuzzy wuzzy things i ate them both for breakfast the end. </font></p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-G1ojUArzs-4/UoYfL2MUAXI/AAAAAAAALkY/G57va_g2PrI/s1600-h/IMG_6099winter%252520wonderland%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_6099winter wonderland" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_6099winter wonderland" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-6bUjYJVxXlk/UoYfMeug9LI/AAAAAAAALkg/yg_W_QYOC_0/IMG_6099winter%252520wonderland_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="649" height="433"></a></p> <p>okay, i didn’t eat them really. but when i got them all dressed there may have been teenage fangirl level squealing accompanied by excited clapping of hands. <em>::cough cough jeremy cough cough::</em></p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-mGUMfZ9UQxI/UoYfMnhb2kI/AAAAAAAALks/My2PzlVEFTk/s1600-h/IMG_6032_0843winter-wonderland3.jpg"><img title="IMG_6032_0843winter wonderland" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_6032_0843winter wonderland" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-nKCAXgyDpUQ/UoYfNV-0LbI/AAAAAAAALkw/SRku-L9vfuA/IMG_6032_0843winter-wonderland_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="638" height="433"></a></p> <p>obviously not from gigi, who was clearly less than thrilled about being outside for photos. elliot, on the other hand, was pleased as punch and super cooperative.<em> (note to self: bribery with donuts works wonders on e)</em></p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-uMUbMq42XPA/UoYfNwm2H7I/AAAAAAAALk8/gYy0p0CF-jw/s1600-h/IMG_6019_0831winter-wonderland3.jpg"><img title="IMG_6019_0831winter wonderland" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_6019_0831winter wonderland" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-dD0Y0R1S9Bk/UoYfOVnB2qI/AAAAAAAALlA/3FmGLr8SGPQ/IMG_6019_0831winter-wonderland_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="649" height="433"></a></p> <p>together this capelet and dress set make one ridiculously adorable outfit, no? but i have an entire second set of outfits to discuss…</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-64nXtGTVw54/UoYfOynpVnI/AAAAAAAALlI/e8wqxM159eI/s1600-h/IMG_6053_0858winter-wonderland4.jpg"><img title="IMG_6053_0858winter wonderland" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_6053_0858winter wonderland" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-E813oqzfGXY/UoYfPbs6RvI/AAAAAAAALlU/a0QYaDgECps/IMG_6053_0858winter-wonderland_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="400" height="599"></a></p> <p>and this time gigi was much more cooperative—due partly to being dressed a little warmer, and partly (<em>mainly</em>) due to the fact that we told her <font size="3">she looked like a little french girl</font>. she practiced saying <em>“bonjour. je m’appelle gigi”</em> the entire way across the street.</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-cJP_ph1zwF8/UoYfP-L501I/AAAAAAAALlc/_AVARpqkCyc/s1600-h/IMG_6054_0859winter-wonderland3.jpg"><img title="IMG_6054_0859winter wonderland" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_6054_0859winter wonderland" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-tRE1YhIXq4Y/UoYfQYTL4rI/AAAAAAAALlg/tXtsd3I7V4c/IMG_6054_0859winter-wonderland_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="289" height="433"></a></p> <p>so yes, <font size="3">this is the same <a href="http://patternanthology.com/products/amaryllis-dress/" target="_blank">AMARYLLIS DRESS</a> as in the above photos</font>, simply flipped around so the navy cotton side is showing. cool, right? it looks adorable as a little jumper for the cooler weather, and with a matching beret your little gal will be <em>tres magnifique. vraiment. ;)</em></p> <p>and for ms. e we have a lovely pair of <a href="http://patternanthology.com/products/tree-climber-trousers/" target="_blank">TREE CLIMBER TROUSERS</a>.</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-s45xYRn2Hdc/UoYfQ1759UI/AAAAAAAALls/ukVa2MY_xK4/s1600-h/IMG_6057_0861winter-wonderland3.jpg"><img title="IMG_6057_0861winter wonderland" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_6057_0861winter wonderland" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-71fgpR5WnEc/UoYfRpEc89I/AAAAAAAALl0/j3dPJES5IJg/IMG_6057_0861winter-wonderland_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="649" height="433"></a></p> <p>these bad boys are the brain child of andrea, who designs and curates <a href="http://gotopatterns.com/" target="_blank">GoTo PATTERNS</a>, and also looks a scarily large amount like my own mother. so i can never be mean to her.</p> <p>elliot is in desperate need of pants, and these fit the bill perfectly—and not just because they cost all of $0.the fit is great—and that’s even with my alterations to the pattern.<br><br>some were NBD. exhibit A: the lines of decorative stitching i added to the back pockets…</p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-VtHZsKP7W-k/UoYfSOrRnOI/AAAAAAAALl8/jid6O9JG46o/s1600-h/IMG_6062_08653.jpg"><img title="IMG_6062_0865" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_6062_0865" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-NnKMXj196Lc/UoYfSYsOs-I/AAAAAAAALmA/h62KimnvKhA/IMG_6062_0865_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="650" height="433"></a></p> <p>and the front pockets, which i also cut into a more curved shape than what the pattern has.</p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-zjVD5u8In6I/UoYfS5yOb6I/AAAAAAAALmM/suIJQ0IOu-A/s1600-h/IMG_6066_0869winter-wonderland3.jpg"><img title="IMG_6066_0869winter wonderland" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_6066_0869winter wonderland" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-tj5K0UH20bw/UoYfTcA4ttI/AAAAAAAALmQ/ZhGW7DRCeho/IMG_6066_0869winter-wonderland_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="649" height="433"></a></p> <p>but i reused the waistband and button from my pants—never even took the button off, just lined it up and stitched it on. and i eliminated the reinforced knee pads, just cutting the front legs in one piece rather than the three of the pattern. </p> <p>and i love them. wanna hear something crazy? besides stretch pants and jammie pants, which don’t really count as sewing pants IMO, as best as i can recall this is the 2nd pair of pants i’ve ever made. <a href="http://googiemomma.blogspot.com/2010/02/sunday-best.html" target="_blank">harrison’s suit pants</a> being the first. </p> <p>crazy, i know.</p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-FlilH98pDkQ/UoYfT7dQNUI/AAAAAAAALmc/Fcm42DVugFs/s1600-h/IMG_6067_0870winter-wonderland3.jpg"><img title="IMG_6067_0870winter wonderland" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_6067_0870winter wonderland" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-iUpBc0bGlkg/UoYfUiPv2XI/AAAAAAAALmk/x5dNGh1E6pQ/IMG_6067_0870winter-wonderland_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="649" height="433"></a></p> <p>now let’s talk about the nuts in the photos. together these two are quite the pair.</p> <p>a new development: elliot is turning into gigi’s mini-me. whatever gigi does, elliots watches…</p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-dCG39tODFPM/UoYfVKTLruI/AAAAAAAALms/RIQ8_EC7Hi8/s1600-h/IMG_6069_0871winter-wonderland11.jpg"><img title="IMG_6069_0871winter wonderland" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_6069_0871winter wonderland" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-Hs1GqilNhMA/UoYfVm9B3gI/AAAAAAAALm0/aVmVbK3x5k0/IMG_6069_0871winter-wonderland_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="649" height="433"></a></p> <p>and copies…</p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-An0fzRONyxg/UoYfWNNq4_I/AAAAAAAALm8/3_SdROoABco/s1600-h/IMG_6072_0875winter-wonderland3.jpg"><img title="IMG_6072_0875winter wonderland" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_6072_0875winter wonderland" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-pgEEsGK7cqQ/UoYfWoIOG7I/AAAAAAAALnA/_tkDzFtRztQ/IMG_6072_0875winter-wonderland_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="649" height="433"></a></p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-7lZpVq3oj4o/UoYfXPE0oLI/AAAAAAAALnM/bVnNZILReNA/s1600-h/IMG_6073_0876winter-wonderland3.jpg"><img title="IMG_6073_0876winter wonderland" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_6073_0876winter wonderland" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-lU_Qeon9IEY/UoYfX85irQI/AAAAAAAALnQ/7ppdmqWqA3M/IMG_6073_0876winter-wonderland_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="649" height="433"></a></p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-w3V6F7r7lvs/UoYfYZvzKQI/AAAAAAAALnc/PyWdzUiji14/s1600-h/IMG_6076_0879winter-wonderland7.jpg"><img title="IMG_6076_0879winter wonderland" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_6076_0879winter wonderland" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-PSU4OjMcp9Q/UoYfY6OiXJI/AAAAAAAALng/KhvEZmSZIRk/IMG_6076_0879winter-wonderland_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="649" height="433"></a></p> <p>oh man are we in for some serious trouble.</p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-AwraFr9fSR4/UoYfZ_6rGWI/AAAAAAAALns/lh95UDdU14w/s1600-h/ww-gi7.gif"><img title="ww-gi" style="display: inline" alt="ww-gi" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-W3E9XB8CpMQ/UoYfayyvFsI/AAAAAAAALn0/Ex4x331N2w4/ww-gi_thumb3.gif?imgmax=800" width="494" height="336"></a></p> <p>and there you have it, folks! there are even <strong><em>more</em></strong> patterns in the <a href="http://patternanthology.com/products/winter-wonderland-collection/" target="_blank">PATTERN ANTHOLOGY WINTER WONDERLAND COLLECTION</a>, which you can buy complete here:</p> <p><a href="http://patternanthology.com/products/winter-wonderland-collection/"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-p3bWSH8_FKc/UoYfbasfsfI/AAAAAAAALn8/O2nkPE22yVA/image4.png?imgmax=800" width="448" height="530"></a></p> <p>or you can buy just the <a href="http://patternanthology.com/products/winter-boys-collection/" target="_blank">BOY’S collection</a> and <a href="http://patternanthology.com/products/wonderland-girls-collection/" target="_blank">GIRL’S collections</a> separately!</p> <p>enjoy!</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-EddEwfzeC-g/UoYfcMrIZnI/AAAAAAAALoA/87WJGBWtTwk/s1600-h/IMG_6093_0897winter-wonderland3.jpg"><img title="IMG_6093_0897winter wonderland" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_6093_0897winter wonderland" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-4AofG1OJ31U/UoYfceudMaI/AAAAAAAALoI/8lO1juNw8fo/IMG_6093_0897winter-wonderland_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="554" height="433"></a></p> <p><em>disclaimer: none of the links in this post are affiliate links, i just put them there because i love you and the pattern designers. i wasn’t compensated in any way for this post, but i did receive copies of the patterns for review purposes. all opinions are my own, cause i have enough of my own and i don’t need anyone else’s. pffft.</em></p> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15438982905074697491noreply@blogger.com8