Finish it up...Someday?

When I bought (yes, bought) the quilt for my bed, I figured making my own shams into the price. I immediately whipped out one of them....six? months ago...


Now they're finally a pair.


I love how they bring out the yellow in my roses. (...which recently migrated from the dining room, to replace the dragon and tiger horoscope scroll. I decided to class it up a little.)

J-A-M-E-S

I love it when my kids have a creative moment.



James made that himself.

My Rainbow

Sofia and I got creative with our hair dye.




She did mine. I did hers. You don't see her picture because she's picky about her photos. :)

When Cozys Attack

"I-am-a-robot-I-am-a-robot-I-am-a-robot..."




Yes, I know there should never be that many Coke boxes laying around.

Privacy, Sweet Privacy

When we moved here this past summer, there was a dense curtain of leaves providing all of the necessary privacy for the upstairs bathroom. Well, they fell, and certain people refused to shower in their own bathroom until I remedied the situation. (Resonable.)

They said, " Just put anything up - it doesn't have to match or look nice."
(Not happening.)

If I was going to do it, I wanted to do it right. I found myself a book with good instructions, bought some drapery liner, and dug a cute fabric out of my stash.


There was a lot of measuring and ironing, and a lot of this...


After ironing and catch-stitching all of my hems and machine-stitching the top together, the slow part began - slip-stitching the lining and the curtain together. So, so slow.


I think it's the nicest (quality) cafe curtain I've ever made.



Too bad I decided it needs to be shorter. Now I get to do that hand hemming all over again, so I can see my window sil.


...at least girls can shower upstairs again...

Decided

Whenever I cut up cucumbers, James asks for two "so he can relax".


The curtain fabric is decided, purchased, and has arrived. Little Florine (the small dandilions on the white background, from Lotta Jansdotter) is oranger than I expected...which is a good thing. Tony preferred it. Since I liked all of the options, it was easy for me to be persuaded.

I've already washed and ironed it...and there's plenty for a nice, wide hem at the bottom (Courtney :). Now I'm mulling about length and pocket style. It's a process.

Sarah: The yellow floral was Sandi Henderson's Secret Garden. Fresh cut flowers, Maize. A couple others from hers I've been resisting are Party Dress, in Toffee...


...and Paisley, in Garden.

BTW: I thought NO ONE was commenting on my blog....so happy when I found everyone's comments in my junk mail folder! :)


So cute, but I have no excuse.

State Swappin'

One of the nicest people I've never met (at least not in person) offered to swap state goodies with us!


Since it was near the holidays, we got Chanuka goodies too. Now Anthony can impress Lilly with his mad dreidel skills.


Cozy scored big time. She got a cowgirl hat to replace her long-lost fair hat. ...and a bag to keep her horsies in.



Thank you Courtney, Benja and Maya! :)

Fabric Input, Please

I've decided to sew a curtain for my dining room and I'm torn between two different colors and two different styles.

Yellow vs. Orange

Vintage vs. Modern

My house is pretty vintage...but I love modern things too.
Orange is the only color currently in the room....but my yellow kitchens shines right through the pass-thru window.


This first fabric is a contender because (aside from being lovely and available in voile) it has a nice orange and the same blue I'll be using to paint my sideboard.



Then we have SO vintage-looking, with a bright yellow and a more subdued one.



Modern print, but so tiny that is almost looks traditional from a distance. Subtly modern.



Bolder, larger version.



...and in a bright orange...



Well...whatcha think?

Sockie Tights

I saw some of these on Pinterest and thought they were just brilliant! Mommy socks into baby footless tights!



First you cut off the toes (The toe end will eventually become the waist.)



Then you slit up the bottoms of the feet, stopping about a third of the way into the heel.



Open up the bottoms of the socks and pin them to each other, right sides together, so that you have 2 legs and a hole for baby's waist (don't sew that shut :).



Sewn, check!




Fold that top part up and...voila, they actually look like tights!



Sadly, for toddlers, even tall socks don't give you much to work with for your waist elastic. Nothing left for a casing. So, I tried a technique I'm wanting to use on undies.

Zigzag the elastic onto the right edge of the waist.



Fold it over onto the wrong side and sew it down.


I think I did it backwards. It was a bit of a fail. ...and my hearts were upside down! Beware directional prints!

Cozy didn't care. She loved them. (I think that when she bends over to look at them, they look right-side-up to her!)




Next time I'll have to add a waistband (probably not so necessary for actual babies).



Hide all of that diaper bum!

...in case you care about my patio...

Here's where my patio made it to this weekend. That sunny weather sure helped. (Also, a circular saw makes everything fit.)


Now Tony is back to studying, and the weather is back to snowing. It doesn't look like the construction chaos is leaving anytime soon. No pain, no gain, right?


Eventually, this will be my super-shady flowerbed. I'm thinking astilbe, evergreen ferns, cyclamen, hostas, coral bells and bleeding hearts. Think I can squeeze all of that in? I'll just plant it all...and then see what survives. :)


...and the scraps that we've cut off....I think they might become fairy houses...if I ever find the time.

Patio Progress

Tony had been obsessing about finishing the basement (which we can't afford right now). I told him he ought to try obsessing about my pet project (which we could afford to do). Flagstone patio. (Leaves didn't seem like they'd be a good long-term solution for our lack of a patio.) I'm so happy he bought into it! ...because I don't think I could have done it.

Grading.

I certainly couldn't have laid the gravel base in one day.


Really, my role was more as a creative consultant (just like I like it). Anthony was the uncooperative lacky. ...and then there were numerous unhelpful helpers.


Installing the edging (to hold the stone dust in place). I hate stone dust. Why? If I tell you it's an ingredient in cement, does that tell you why? Give me sand any day.


...and now it's puzzle time!

Mushrooms

James likes to trick people into thinking he isn't very smart by:

Answering questions like "How old are you?" with "I'm James!" ...or by refusing to participate in things he is not interested in...like preschool.

Don't let him fool you. He's just busy thinking or doing something more interesting than listening to you.

I've been seeing his creative side more often lately (and not just with legos). He made me this seek-and-find game in one of his toy bins. I had to find a trophy....


...two green cars, a blue block, etc.



I've also caught him rearranging my stuff...artistically.



I took a cue from him and rearranged my thread.

Violin-ness

The kids had their Winter Concert in mid-December. Beginning Band, Advanced Band, Choir, Beginning Orchestra, and (my kids) Advanced Orchestra. It was a long concert and, of course, the group my kids were in played last. Thank goodness for embroidery projects.


Sofia and Anthony are really enjoying orchestra. Anthony is so enthusiastic about every new song. He comes home and looks up a version on Youtube, because he can't wait to share it with me. It think it's been harder on Sofia. She went from being the only kid who could play their instrument well (Elementary School) to *gasp* fourth chair (of the 1st violins). The pain and humiliation!

I think this one was Dramatic Essay. .

MY VIDEO FAILED...BIG TIME!

I thought they did a great. However, they didn't play their Harry Potter Medley! (I guess they did played it for the school audience during the day. Jerks. Grown ups like Harry Potter too ya' know.)

...and speaking of violin awesomeness, everyone in the world should check out the Vitamin String Quartet. Who knew Lady Gaga could sound so amazing? ...and it's about time the Super Mario Brothers were acknowledged as the cultural icons they are