Sewing with Em

I often search the web for one thing and find another entirely wonderful surprise!

Such was the case this week when I found Little Birds' page on Flickr. This woman has such a creative mind! I have not personally corresponded with her, but I have complimented her on many of her adorable creations.

Anyway, she has made this mini-forest of trees out of different scraps of fabric. My son saw them on the screen and proclaimed them to be very beautiful! What a perfect project for a Mother/Son Friday afternoon!

I went through my fabrics and found this sweet cream and green flannel that I bought a Christmas holiday or two ago and thought it would be an excellent start of our own forest. Step one was to cut it out.

Then Em helped me to position and add the beads. I sewed up the side of the tree and then lined up the base. Once the shell was sewn, Em helped me to stuff it. We added a mini note inside to commemorate the making of our first tree together.

Once the stuffing was in and balanced so that it would stay upright, I stitched the back closed and we drank grape juice and ate strawberries to celebrate. From beginning to end, this took us about 2 hours to finish... a perfect project to do while Ro was sleeping.

The tree is now sitting in the center of the dining room table waiting patiently for another tree to be made. I think I'll make a few more in different sizes and colors to compliment this tree... maybe one for each member of the family.
Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle (a bit of a rambling blog)

My journey of going from ~to~

I just finished wrapping up some books for PaperBackSwap, tossed a few bags of clothes in the car to donate to my local charity and put a bag of items outside for someone to come pick up from Freecycle. I am hooked on lightening/sharing my load and have never been happier!

Once upon a time, I was a big buyer/hoarder/keeper. I would not call myself a pack rat because I gave things away often... but only to replace them with other things. My closets, drawers and countertops were always organized but full to the brim. If someone needed a kitchen gadget, a how-to book, a sewing pattern, a music CD, a DVD, craft supplies, a certain color shirt, etc. etc., they could always borrow it from me! When I was pregnant with my first son, it got worse, to the point that I would call it an obsession. My sons' baby clothes drawers and toy chests were full months before I had him or even the furniture to put the clothes and toys in. I had bought clothes, books and toys all the way up to age 2!

After Em was born and then further when I became a stay-at-home-mom/woman/wife, budgeting became an absolute necessity. I started really looking at the what and why of buying things. When I was pregnant with my second son, construction began on my home, causing me to move many things and store them while work was being done. This made me start to look at what I already had and question if I really needed it.

I started donating to my local charities and public library and eBaying other items that I no longer felt the urge to keep. Some of it was easy, some of it was really really hard... but it has all been worth it. There is more breathing room, playing room and living room in my home now. The items I've kept are items I need, use and cherish.

I'm not perfect in this system, there are some things I cannot bear to part with even if they are rarely if ever used. My cookbook collection has gone from 250+ books to about 125 or so... but I do use them! My kitchen gadget collection is smaller, as is the wardrobe in my closet, but I know where it all is and can find things in a pinch. When Ro was born, the fourteen large Tupperware containers full of rarely-used baby clothes and toys from Em came in handy... but as he outgrew things, I did not keep them. Most of the toys went to a daycare center and most of clothes went to many friends and charities. I've kept a few precious items for each of them and gotten rid of the rest!

If I need something, I buy what I need... I am not a squirrel who has to make due with what he's got for the entire winter... if I need more, I'll get more. But, I don't always need more!

This system has also worked with my older son, now three. Before, when he had so many many many toys, he did not really cherish them. A few months ago, we had an afternoon of toy purging. Any toy that was too loud was donated (without batteries to prevent ear damage!), and other toys he was no longer interested in were also donated or kept for when Ro is older and can play with them. A personal decision on quality of toys and their ability to teach things (skill builders, language, dexterity) helped weed out the selection as well. Each munchkin has a smaller toy selection, but each toy is played with... and cleanup has become much easier! Some people cannot believe I've taken toys away from my boys... usually the same people who cannot believe I've taken the TV away... but only my and my husbands' opinions matter and we believe we are doing what is best for our children.

Okay, so why all the rambling on? I don't know. I just thought I would share how it works for me, and hopefully, some of what I have gone through will help someone else to finally tackle their clutter.

For persnickety English users

persnickety: The original Scottish dialect form was “pernickety,” but Americans changed it to “persnickety” a century ago. “Pernickety” is generally unknown in the U.S. though it’s still in wide use across the Atlantic.

While using StumbleUpon this morning, I found an awesome website for people who obsess over the proper useage of common (and some uncommon) words, sayings, and phrases... I am in love!

The web version of Paul Brians' book, Common Errors in English is wonderful!! You can look up interesting little tidbits on word use and misuse for countless everyday phrases such as a historic/an historic event (a personal pet peeve), when to use assure/ensure/insure, and how to know when you are through (another pet peeve).

I know there are many sites out there dedicated to the use and misuse of our language, this one is just new and I thought I'd share it with you all.

Do you have any pet peeves in English useage? Are they with written or spoken English? Do you correct the offending user?

1 skein = 1 scarf

While I was out buying yarn for my stepmom's scarf, I found the most adorable kids yarn... and bought all the skeins in the store! It's called Sassy Stripes by Moda Dea in Crayon, how appropriate! I knew I had wanted to make scarves with matching hats for several munchkins, so I thought I would experiment and see what I could come up with.

Here is the first scarf. I used a smaller than recommended, size F (3.75mm) hook, and half-double crocheted the whole thing... it came out nice and tight. Since it is for a toddler, the scarf only measures 3 1/2 inches wide by 4 feet long, but I tried it on, and I could actually wear it as a cute wee neck warmer!

My son, the recipient of this particular scarf has been watching me crochet for the last few days and kept asking me when it would be done. Today, after taking care of the ends, I happily handed it to him to try on. In the 100 degree Los Angeles heat, he sweetly posed for this picture.

Next I'll be making a matching cap to go with it... now I just have to pick a pattern!

I'm still working on the uber-long scarf for my 6'6" friend as well. That's going to be a while. After that, I want to make some fingerless mittens (a.k.a. wrist warmers) for myself.

What do you think? What are you working on right now?

Scarf with warming pockets

I have made myself a rather large list of craft projects to complete for the holidays and have made two gifts so far...

This scarf was inspired by a pattern I have for a sewn scarf. The original called for fleece fabric for the actual scarf and flannel fabric for the lining of the two pockets on each side. I decided to crochet the whole thing for my step-mom who is always chilly and stuffs her hands underneath her to keep warm.

I single crocheted this with two full skeins of Lions Brand Wool-Ease Dark Rose Heather yarn. Before sewing the pockets, it measured 6"x60" and would wrap around the neck nicely. My step-mom is tiny, 5' tall, so for someone taller, I would add at least another 10 inches to the length. Since I knew she would wear it the way I am in this next picture, I sewed the pockets for her full hand length of 6 inches, reducing the overall length to 48". The seams are double sewn so that she could put little objects in the pockets and nothing will slip out.

The next project I am working on is a hat/scarf set for a toddler and also a scarf for a 6 foot 6 inch man... talk about size differences!

Please let me know what you think!

I've lost it!

No no... it's not that bad! But it's true! Rob and I have been painting our house for, it seems like FOREVER! We are busy and crazy perfectionistic painters... so it takes us a while to paint... when everything is "done" done, I'll post before and afters of it all, but I just wanted to put this one up from yesterday.

This weekends' paint task was the final two coats on the ceiling in the living room and hallway. We've already done all the primering after all the construction and floor installation and are in the home stretch. (Dining room and office are done!!) Once the paint on the ceiling has had two weeks to cure, I can tape off the wall-ceiling corner to get a nice fine line for the walls. If I don't let it cure, the paint might come off with the tape and I don't want to deal with that... perfectionist crap is fun isn't it!

Anyway, since I'm going to have to continue to put up with half old paint job/half new primered walls, I decided to give myself something to look at!