Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Some sewing projects---dragon Cape and repurposed pants

     I have always admired my Mom, Grandmothers and friend, Reva for sewing so well, and being able to sew without a pattern.  I have finally attempted 2 projects without patterns, with decent results!!!!
     I made  costume for Vladdie for Halloween.  It was based off of a costume I saw on someone's blog, but modified to my meager talent level.  It fits my criteria for costumes... must be able to fit over a winter coat!  It is a sweet little dragon cape.  I will probably make some dragon mittens to go with it.  It is much cuter than the pics look.  It is very hard to get kids to pose in ways that show off what they are wearing, or at least it is for my kids!




The next project was a repurposing project.  I wanted to make the kids some pants out of old fabric.  I wasn't sure of the pattern I made for Vlad, so I used an old sweatshirt that had bleach stains.  The sleeves were just long enough to make the pants.  It only required sewing the crotch seam and the waist band because I left the sleeve seams in place and I used the cuffs for the hem.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Merry Mabon!

It's Mabon! This is a pagan festival celebrating the harvest/ autumnal equinox.  Darkness now overtakes light and as we appreciate a bountiful harvest, we know that things are beginning to grow colder and die.  Now is a good time to "count your blessings" and find balance in your life.  Enjoy the last gifts from your garden.  Send someone a note just to let them know they are appreciated.  Start a new stress-relieving habit (meditation, getting up 10 minutes earlier, eliminating some junk from your diet). 
     Here are a few things I am thankful for:
1.  A truly wonderful, huge family filled with talented, loving people.
2. That I am able to be at home during the week, making things run more smoothly in our house.
3.A house filled with laughter and love, with a yard filled with plants, trees and so many critters.
4. That Grandma was with us to the end, teaching us some very important lessons and not in an institution, alone and scared like so many people have to be.
5. That my husband treats me kindly and lovingly, even when things aren't so great for him in other areas of his life (like work).  I am so grateful to have a partner.

   I used to do a quick 5 minute meditation/ creative visualization every morning.  After the boys were born, that didn't go too well any more!  I think I will try to work it back into my day some place else, as it was a great stress reliever.
     This is a great time to reread the myth of Demeter and Persephone. http://ancienthistory.about.com/cs/grecoromanmyth1/a/mythslegends_2.htm
Also, I think it is a good time to reflect on the saying "you reap what you sow".  Are there things in your life making you unhappy?  What part do you play in "sowing" its seeds? 


Friday, September 11, 2009

A fine day

     Today was heavenly!  We went to Asia plaza for a little grocery shopping and whatnot.  I found vegetarian fish sauce (I know, how is it fish sauce without fish, use your imagination) which I haven't found in awhile, plus some wooden flip-flops and a cool glow-in-the-dark crab bracelet.  Pink pocky and chocoboy for the kids, sugar rush!  There is a waterfall outside the plaza so my fountain-loving Wolfie was in heaven.  He did raise a fuss in the market when he got to the meat/fish section, yelling, "I don't like this smell!  Why does it have to smell like this!"  over and over, with feeling.  Vladdie ate some chocoboy, little mushrooms with cookie stems and chocolate caps.  Then he became choco boy!  He covered himself in it, ala Robyn style (when she was little, she is much neater now!)

     We then headed out to Rosby's berry farm and picked red raspberries, a couple of quarts.  The weather was gorgeous!  The kid played with some other kids and gorged themselves on berries.  Wolfie really liked using the map to find the field where we were directed to do our picking.  he also put himself in charge of making sure no bees stung Vladdie.
   Once we got home, Mom came over and we put the first coat of latex paint up in the dining room.  I love it!  The tinted primer was so ugly, I was very nervous.  I have never picked a color and had to repaint it because it was wrong.  I really thought this might happen.  We can't get the last coat up until tomorrow, then it is trim time.  We have to prime the trim, because I fear it is also oil paint.  That will make it take longer, but oh well.
     The day ended with a nice walk up to Joann fabric, which was fruitless except I got huge red rick-rack, how the heck do you spell that any way?  I made tie backs for my new vintage curtains, so sweet!  Matt finshed his latest sculpture, named Grunt.  He is part of his robot sanitation crew.  He is very cute and dirty.

     Now, a little Bertie and Jeeves with Matt!  Snuggle time, British humor, excellent!

Friday, September 4, 2009

New crazy sewing project

I bought a different cat food and it came in a plastic bag that was so amazingly durable it was a shame to throw away.  I cut it open and ran it through the clothes washer.  Then I made it into a waterproof tote bag
Voila!

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Health care

I don't even have the strength to write about healthcare reform.  At this point, let us just say I am a medical socialist.  There is socialized medicine for anyone that can't afford health care, or qualify for medicare via age or permanent disability.  I just want my piece of that pie too.  That said, check this out

     This is an entire cereal bowl full of pills. Amazing. These are all of Grandma's pills that were left over after she passed away. You can't flush them and no local pharmacies offer to destroy them. So I had to gather them and mix them in a bag of used cat litter, which I was glad to finally have a use for, seeing as I have really good connections in the poopy cat litter industry. Anyways, she wasn't taking all of these at the time of her passing, don't worry. Just over the past year or so, she had to try different things to see what would work and so they add up. Financially as well, as this has to be at lest a grand's worth of pills. Who needs health care reform? Ummmm????? 

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

New sewing machine!

I have a new machine!  Matt treated me to the today version of my 20 year old machne, it is a beautiful kenmore.  I swear it is cheaper than my last one, wish I still had the receipt to see if I'm right, but how could that be?!  I almost have my napkins done
There will be about 17 when all said and done, perfect for the family par-tays.  Meanwhile, Matt is making some lovely shelves for the living room.
I hope to find some little legs for them  I will wait to paint them, probably, until I paint the dining room.  I think that room will be color-matched to the sky in Esphyr Slobodkina's book, Caps for Sale.
 Tonight, the boys went fishing in the bathtub with a net and a couple of packs of rubber fishing worms I got on clearance at Walmart.  We pretended the single tailed ones were tadpoles and the bifurcated tailed ones were polliwogs.  Fun!  I have had a thing for rubber worms my whole life.
    Well, the not-sleeping-marathon continue for vlad.  So, I shall try to catch some zzzzzz's now.