Not Me Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

**Although I wrote this last week (3/29), I'm linking it to the new NMM (4/5) because...well, because its just a stunning example of something I would NEVER do...onward to the NOT ME's...

I didn't take my kids to school in my jammies. Without a bra on.

I would never do that. My bra size contains a letter than should never, ever go in public unsupported. And besides, I'm only 30 (twenty-ten)...I'm waaaay too young to be "that mom". You know the one.

And I didn't forget my house key when I took my kids to school. In my jammies. Without a bra on.

I didn't forget my house key, when it was raining, and BabyBear's speech therapist was going to be at the house in 15 minutes.

And I totally did not wander around the house in my jammies, without a bra on, in the rain, holding a 16 month old, looking for an unlocked window, cursing the fact that I never taught the dog to unlock a deadbolt while she whined at me from the other side of the door (the WRONG side of the door).

And to sum up, I did not find an unlocked window, drop BabyBear in first, and then unceremoniously dump/climb/wiggle my way through the window to land in a heap on the bedroom floor.

The dog will never tell. The baby will never tell. It never happened.

Not me.

Goodwill Hunting

Thrift shopping, take two.


Well, I hit a second thrift shop--and it was SOOOO much better than last time. Larger, everything laid out in rows, clearly marked items--many of them brand new--arranged by COLOR! And the prices were much closer to what I had in mind the first time around! All in all, it was a much, much better experience--except for the fact that Little Bear badly needed a nap and cut short my shopping by having a melt down!


I did come away with a small bag of goodies though. The one thing I grabbed that I'm going to work with first--this men's button down shirt.




I love the Hawaiian print. I had just read Lil Blue Boo's Vintage Travel Patches dress tutorial, and I think that's the frame of mind I was in!

I've been dying to try turning a men's shirt into a girl's dress. Its been all over the internet, but I'm pretty sure it originated here at Made by Dana.
Actually, I'm thinking of renaming my blog--"Made...More Complicated", since apparently I enjoy taking her cute refashioning ideas and waaaay over-complicating them.


Anyway, here's basically what I did:


Cut off the sleeves, the collar, and the inside of the pocket (I just sewed the opening shut, which I regret. The pocket ended up being in a cute spot, and I should have left it alone)




Then I cut off the sleeves, cut them open along the seam, and trimmed a bit off the side. I kept most of the width, because I had a plan in mind.



 I gathered the sleeves to the center, and then resewed them back on the body of the shirt/dress. I hemmed them, and ran one stitch around the edge with elastic thread in the bobbin.




Next I sewed elastic around the neckline, stretching it as I went, so it gathered the neck. (I cut the elastic to match about how big around I wanted the neck to be)





I took a piece I had cut from the side, made some bias tape, and sewed it around the neckline encasing the elastic (careful not to stretch the elastic)***





I loaded the elastic thread back in the bobbin, and did eleven even rows of stitching across the bodice front, with navy thread on the front (from about an inch under the collar to the bottom of the sleeves) (I also gave up on pictures at this point, because I wanted to get done!!)

I made simple tubes out of more scraps, pinned them to the sides for ties, and sewed up the sides, adding a tag. And finally, I hemmed it.

And here's what we ended up with:





Pretty cute, I think! (the dress isn't bad, either, hehehe)



Perfect for hanging out in the warm spring sun...






Examining newly painted toes (a red dress simply demands red toes)



***So here, at the very bottom, in small print, is where I make this admission: the was supposed to be for TinyTim. Yup, I fought this stupid shirt dress, adjusted, measured, cut, made the armholes too small. But the final nail in the coffin was when I sewed the bias tape around the neckline...and it didn't even come close to fitting over TinyTim's head. (like Sputnik). Aren't I fortunate to have daughters in such a range of sizes? A simple hem, and voila! Dress for BabyBear. And act like you meant to do it that way...yeah, yeah, that's the ticket..I MEANT to do it....

Linking to:

Nesting Matters...

Here it is--my one and only entry into Living With Lindsay's $5 Challenge I told you about here.
Except, its really a single entry but with THREE options for your decorating pleasure!




Sooooo...when I thought "Spring Decor" I immediately jumped to nests and eggs. I love the imagery of the nest and eggs as it relates to mothering/motherhood. (and I am the 'googiemomma' in case you haven't noticed)

In fact, I did a baby shower for a good friend a couple years ago centered around that theme. Aaaannnd...didn't take any pictures. :'( sniff, sniff...I handmade 150+ truffles which I coated in blue chocolate and sprinkled with cocoa, then nestled into little handmade nests wrapped with tulle tied with a bow and a tag that said "Welcome to the Nest {insert baby name}". Way cute. Way alot of work. Way worth it! Reeeeaaallly wish I had pics.

Shortly after that googiedaddy bought me this ring I found online while searching for shower ideas:



It had three little eggies, like my three little googies. And I wore it constantly.


Except, then there were four little googies! So googiedaddy, in all his sweetness, bought me this for our last anniversary:



He had it customized with four little googies/eggies. And I LOVE it. LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT! (I know he got it on Etsy, I'm not sure where, but here are some gorgeous ones)

And now I've changed my blog header to a nest, totally coincidentally.


Okay, well that was TOTALLY off the point (sheepish grin)


So I headed to off to the Dollar Tree with a vague idea in mind~~and this is what my $5 net me:



 Unfortunately for you, I was feeling a bit...arty that day. So you must deal with my STUPENDOUSLY AMAZING ARTSY FARTSY photographs of what amounts to a $1 store craft. hahaha.


Step 1:Gather your styrofoam balls. Line up in the sunlight. Shoot 100 pictures of them.



Go outside* and, using an exacto knife, carve the top 2/3 into a soft triangle.(I used the medium sized ones in the package) Take more artsy photos:
    *trust me, outside is the best place for this--it gets messy.




Get some sandpaper, and gently smooth the triangle into a rounded egg shape. Take moooore photos:




 Will the fake egg please stand up, please stand up, please stand up?


Now take the light blue tissue paper sheet and tear it into pieces, and start plastering them on the egg with ModPodge or white glue, whatever you have.
Hot tips: I gave the whole egg a good coat of MP first to seal some of the holes. And stick a toothpick in it for easier handling!


(Pay no mind to the manicure fail in the photo)

Stick all the eggs in styrofoam to dry, and take more artsy photos.



I call it "Oeufs dans le soleil"


I did three coats of the tissue paper, letting them dry between. After they dried, I watered down a bit of gold paint and used my thumb to flick dots all over the top, desperately trying to restrain my inner Jackson Pollack. We're going for subtlety here, people.


The frame was ugly. Period. Soooo, a good coat of the same gold paint will help that! And I simply painted the cardboard backer a cream color.




While all that is drying, start nest building.


I took thin sticks/twigs (I think that's allowed per the contest rules. Everyone has access to sticks for free, right?) and broke them into about 3-4 inch pieces. Hot glue on a piece of paper them in a vaguely pentagonal-shape. Then keep building from there--layers of moss, a couple sticks, more moss. Keep it loose and random. Burn yourself frequently. (Do birds have this much trouble?) When it's looking nesty and cute, STOP. Don't overdo it or you won't have room for your eggs. Hot glue them in, and there you go:



 Reassemble your frame, trim the paper under your nest so you can't see it, and hot glue the nest on top of the glass.



So, this part technically only used four of my allowed $5. I had picked up the little blue bird picture at the $1 Store, thinking it could make a cute little grouping. And I tried, I did. All different spots in the house...but it just didn't work for me.

Option #1


So, back at the $1 Store again, where I found this little birdy statue. Cute, right? Every nest needs a momma bird. Now we're getting somewhere:

Option #2






But I have one more trick up my sleeve! Get one more $1 Store frame, paint to match:



Cover the mat in a cute paper from your stash, or paint it, or just leave it! Print out "N is for" from the computer (check out dafont.com for great downloadable free fonts. I used "Outlaw" and "Little Lord Fontleroy")




And frame it up!
Option #3




There you have it!! If you've made it through this entire book blog post, for your efforts you've received: $4 spent, and three ways to spend your last $1! Or, buy yourself a pack of gum and forget the additional item. In which case you have a $4 craft.
But that's not the name of the contest, now is it???

***I'm linking this as my $5 Craft Challenge entry. Head that-a way to see more entries, and maybe...maybe...vote for me???***

Also linking to...