Sew Easy!

I started off Genny's nap time outside, where our shade is still set up and Glenn was sleeping peacefully on this nice day. I brought out some fabric to cut, enjoying the perfect temperature and the perfect breeze. Since making the two hats (er, two successful hats) I've wanted to make a hat for a few friends and family that have toddlers (yup, if you're reading this and you have a toddler, you may as well expect a sun hat coming soon) I needed to cut the pieces out of the fabrics I had chosen for each child, and thought it would be a nice task in the nice weather.

When I went inside with Glenn to start sewing the pieces together for the hats, I saw some fabric I had purchased for a different purpose at the same time I had purchased the fabric for the hats. Since that project was something that I though would be super easy, I decided to work on that instead of sewing the hats. It's a project that I've had marinating in my mind for a number of weeks now, formulating how I was going to go about making the items, and today I felt ready to put my ideas into motion.

When Genny was taking her Kindermusik class, there was a fun Jamaican song that we would dance to, using streamers to shake, twirl and dance with. Genny LOVED using the streamers. Along with the weekly classes, Kindermusik comes with a dual CD that has all of the songs we listened to in class. Genny and I have listened to it many times, and it surprised me that she remembered the specific activities we would do with the songs. For instance, there is a song about floating down the river, and in music class we would use a hula-hoop as a pretend inner tube, walking in a slow circle as if we were indeed floating down the river. Genny found a piece of plastic from her excersaucer that was shaped in a half-circle, and she would use this to 'float' down the river. So I got to thinking, what can I make to revisit music class here in our own home? Some of the items are easy to acquire: egg shakers, hula-hoop and keys with a bell on them. I figured that the streamers would be fairly easy to make, and I was right! They won't win any best in show awards at the local craft fair, but they seem to do their job (in the few minutes that I've played with them since making them about an hour ago) and we'll see just how much Genny likes them after she gets up from her nap.




Here are the instructions if you'd like to make some streamers for your little one:

What you'll need:
*1/4 yard of light breezy fabric or vinyl in a few colors. I bought three different colors with the lighter fabrics and two colors with the vinyl.
*an old pair of jeans that you don't mind cutting a leg off
*sewing machine or a sturdy needle that will penetrate jean fabric if you want to hand-sew them
*thread
*a good pair of scissors (it's best to buy a good pair of sewing scissors that you use ONLY for sewing projects)

1. Cut the fabric in half. (there will most likely be a fold from where the fabric employee folded it up for you, just go by this line, it doesn't have to be perfect)
This will be the length of your streamers

2. Cut about 4 streamers from each of the halves. Set them aside into two separate piles. When you are finished cutting all the fabrics, you will have them separated already.

3. Alternate each fabric. I wouldn't recommend mixing the light fabrics with the vinyl.

4. Using your sewing machine (or your needle and thread) sew the tops of one side of the streamers to secure them.

5. Cut the bottom off your pair of jeans. Make sure to cut off the hemmed sections on the very bottom of the jeans and also on the two seams, this will just make it harder to sew the jean if you keep these on.

6. Using your sewing machine or your needle and thread, secure the ends of the jean to each side of the already sewn ends of the streamers. You will probably need to push/pull this section through your sewing machine, especially for the vinyl streamers. Use a zig-zag stitch to ensure stability. I went over the section twice; sewing once and then backstiching all the way to the beginning.

If these instructions seem too complicated, or you don't understand them, feel free to e-mail me or leave a comment so I can clarify.

Happy sewing to everyone!!

Hand and Foot Prints

When we had Genny, my sister sent a hand and foot print kit. It was easy to use, and afterwords we had a keepsake that forever reminded us just how small she was. When I registered for Glenn's birth, I registered for another kit, thinking how wonderful it would be for each of them to have a keepsake from when they were newborns. I'm a lover of tradition, (when we first became pregnant with Genny I wanted to name her after Thomas if she were a boy, but he vetoed that idea) so anything I can do to start a tradition, or keep one going (yes Christine, I will someday make Nicholas his baby blanket, even if he's in JR High when I do!). This is my first tradition for my children.

I didn't end up getting the kit at my baby shower, and I figured that I'd just buy one with the gift card I got. The barganista in me started thinking about it, and knew there had to be a cheaper way to go about getting Glenn's hand and foot prints. I went to Michaels and searched around a bit before finding a tub of powder that makes clay when you add water. It was about $4 and had enough powder to do over 4 hand or foot prints at the size I wanted (about six inches in diameter). I messed up on the first set, but the second set were made last night and they seem to be drying well. I recommend having a little dish of water on the side to use on cracks and to help smooth out the finished product before you leave it out to dry.


The tub I bought at Michaels



Glenn's had and foot prints we made last night



Genny's hand and foot prints that still hang in the nursery

Friday Favorite- My Front Yard

Today's Friday Favorite is a place so close that I can walk out my front door and be there. My front yard wasn't always as kid-friendly as it is now, housing three trees, and a whole lot of weeds when we first moved in. I loved that we had a gate so the whole front yard was enclosed for the kids, but I had been wanting grass to play on. I knew that finances didn't allow for us to do much other than spread some seed, so I waited until we had some extra money to complete the front yard. A good bid from a landscaper, plus our tax return, as well as some of the money left over from the first-time home buyers credit, and we were ready to make the front have curb appeal instead of curb run away screaming.

When we set out to do the landscaping, we decided to add a river rock border to cut down on the grass we would need. Southern California doesn't get much rain, and there is a constant drought, causing home owners to be as frugal as possible when it comes to landscaping. The rock also looks nice, so that's a bonus as well. But when Thomas did the math for the river rock, he must have done something wrong, because just doing two sides of the yard, we spent twice our budget for all four sides. So that's how we decided to have mulch and plants on the other two sides. It's amazing how creative you get when the budget doesn't fit the idea.

I had a few guys come out and give us a bid on installing sprinklers, and goodness, they were asking a lot. But our neighbor, Kate was having landscapers come out as well (great minds think alike!) and one gave her a good price; and so she sent him over to me. His bid was about the same as the other guys I had come out, with the exception that he included the sod in his bid. In the end, we had him do the sprinklers, sod, some plants, and cement on the other side of the driveway. We ended up spending twice what we had allocated, but the end result is so nice that every time I'm outside with the kids, I think to myself, I'm so glad we did this. Now Genny and I have somewhere to play outside and we don't have to drive to get there like we did when we first moved in.

Next year we're doing the back yard, and after that it will be so nice to have the back yard to play in during the morning and the front yard in the afternoon. I say that because the back yard gets shade in the morning and the front yard gets shade in the afternoon. Until then, we have this great sun shade we bought last year at the end of the season. Today I broke it out, putting it together myself (thank you very much!). We had a great picnic lunch outside with Glenn on a blanket with his gym, and Genny sitting on a towel (wet swim diaper) and the tent zipped up so Gus-Gus didn't come in and sneak a taste. I have a feeling this will be a regular thing for us, I just have to make sure to put all the sides of the shade up at night so the sprinklers can cover the intended area in the morning.

Easy Peezy Dinner in a Squeezy

Tonight I'm making one of my easiest recipes for dinner. It is a dish that just kind of came to me one day, and keeping the ingredients in the house is a must for me now. It's versatile, so you can add anything you want to it, or just keep it simple and use it as a side dish. Here are the ingredients I used tonight:

Frozen cheese ravioli
Fresh broccoli
Four cheese rosa sauce (found in the pasta sauce isle)
Parmesan cheese (for a yummy crust!)

That's it!

Boil the ravioli until it floats, adding the broccoli when the first ravioli start floating to ensure that I don't put the broccoli in too soon or too late.
Then spray some PAM in a glass casserole dish, and strain the ravioli and broccoli.
Add the four cheese rosa sauce and mix with a serving spoon, topping with Parmesan cheese.
Put it in the oven at about 350 for 10-20 minutes depending on your oven and how much crust you want.

You can add so many things to this dish, I had purchased the broccoli for a different meal but decided to use it with this meal instead. In the past I've added mushrooms, chicken (marinated then grilled first), steak (also marinated then grilled first). But depending on what your favorite foods are, you can add eggplant, peppers, carne esada (using a spicier sauce), etc. The possibilities are endless!

I hope this recipe becomes one of your favorites as it is mine.

Happy Tuesday to everyone!

Genny's hat

Success! I made a hat for Genny that is big enough (and she can grow into it) plus it actually looks good! I used the same pattern as with the fish hat I made for Glenn which you can find here: http://sewing.about.com/od/childrensclothingprojects/ss/flutedhat.htm But I enlarged it (fancy talk for traced about an inch out around it on another piece of paper), then I did the exact same thing as I did with Glenn's fish hat, except I made this one a smidgen prettier and added a chin strap. For the chin strap, I just cut out two pieces of the 'inside' fabric (even though it is reversible) and sewed them to the hat, adding sticky velcro so you can attach them to each other. We'll see how long the sticky velcro lasts, I have a feeling I will need to sew some velcro on at some point. I will also be adding a strap to the flowered side so it will truly be reversible. I may add a flower or decoration of some kind to the strap on each side so that when the hat is in use, the unused strap will lay across the brim of the head but still look nice since it will have the embellishment. We'll see how much I end up tweaking the hat, it may never be completely done if I know myself... :)

Fishy Hat

Well, it was a journey. I bought a sun hat for Genny at the Day of the Dead fair last fall and saw how easy it looked to make, and have been wanting to try to make one ever since. Genny has a large head for someone her age (thank you Spina Bifida) and so she grows out of hats quickly. Hats aren't cheap, and now she's into adult size hats, so they don't make cute ones for little girls in adult sizes. Since I happen to be crafty, I thought that if I could make a hat for her, then I could make several so that her pretty little head doesn't get sun burned.

I started my first prototype a few days ago, ending up with a bucket hat that a flapper would have loved in the 1920's. Then I tried again, tweaking my design and got the Mad Hatter's hat instead. I finally broke down and looked up patterns online and found a nice sun hat design for a toddler. I figured that it would probably be too small, but I have material for Glenn's hat anyway, so I made the first hat from the pattern in Glenn's fabric knowing that he will grow into it, but also knowing that Genny could use it first if it fits her.

Here is the website I found the hat on: http://sewing.about.com/od/childrensclothingprojects/ss/flutedhat.htm Now, I don't know what some of the instructions mean (cause I haven't taken any sewing classes and have not found that I need to figure it out yet) so here's what I did... I printed out and then cut out the pattern piece. Then I cut out 6 from each fabric. Then I sewed them all together, making in essence, two hats. I then created a nice sewn edge on the brim of each hat. Then I sewed the brims together, making the hat reversible. I didn't use bias tape (whatever that is) and I pretty much just ignored all the other instructions. But it turned out the way I wanted, so I'm happy.

Genny is now asleep, so I tried the hat on Gus. It didn't quite fit him. We'll see tomorrow if it fits Genny, I doubt it, but now that I have the pattern, I can enlarge it for her. I'll post pictures of that when it happens.

Happy Father's Day to the dads out there!!


Hat #1, the flapper hat. It's now destroyed.


Hat #2, the Mad Hatter hat, it's being saved for Genny to use for dress up.


Gus isn't a very good model


The other side next to Glenn

Friday Favorite- California Burrito

Today's Friday Favorite is a food item. California Burritos. Those of you not in California may wonder what a California Burrito is, so let me explain it to you.

A California Burrito consists of french fries, carne esada, sour cream, cheese, guacamole, and pico de gallo. I always ask for no pico, since I don't like tomatoes. The place I get mine from Eribertos, doesn't put cheese or guacamole on theirs, so I always ask for cheese on mine, forgoing the guac because it doesn't interest me as much as the three ingredients I do get. It's amazing how yummy this burrito is, I first tasted one in Twentynine Palms when I was stationed there. I don't remember who introduced it to me, but thank heaven they did! I'm a creature of habit, and will order the exact same thing every time I go somewhere, so every time we get greasy Mexican food, this is what I order.

If you don't live in California, you can try to make it at home. I haven't tried yet (because it's just too simple to go two blocks down the street and get a fully cooked one) but if you do, then let me know in the comments!