Friday, August 20, 2010

Where I’ve been…

Sorry I’ve been gone without a word although  I doubt I was missed very much since I’m still a very small fish in a very large pond…

I was just going to take last week off. Bub’s first week of school and my vacation week. I was hoping to do some catching up around here and focus on getting back into the school routine.

BUT then on Friday last my AC went out. This is the hottest summer we’ve had in years and I have an 8 month old baby and my husband is only home 3 days a month… THIS IS SO NOT THE TIME  for my Ac to die !!! SO we have been living in the master suite with a window unit and just running out to the fridge and microwave waiting on my hubby to get home. He is back and we think we know what the problem is and are working on fixing it. I hope to be back in blog land on Tuesday when he heads back out on the road.

I am sooooo glad I re did the master suite and moved the boys in there. It has made this whole experience easier and of all the rooms in the house to be locked in at least it’s the one that looks like it belongs in a magazine! Not to brag or anything but it is sooo nice in there !!

All right well I’ve breathed in all the hot air I can stand for now so I’m heading back to the bedroom. See everyone Tuesday !!

Saturday, August 7, 2010

Sooo it’s Saturday…

Well today is going to be more focused on the family part of my blog than the crafty. I’m still working on finishing up my cleaning… I hope to be back to my projects on Monday.

 

We are teething here… Well Monkey is but we all feel his pain.  I have been using Hyland's Teething Tablets. They are fabulous !!

                                                           3__320x240_ttabs-new

We do the usual Motrin at night but the biggest life saver has been that I FINALLY found a teether that works. None of my children have ever used a teether. Each baby I spend about 20 bucks on various teethers (they always like them in the store they’re bored LOL ) plus they have the ones from the baby before them. The only thing they end up using is Mommy and Daddy’s fingers.  (They prefer mommy’s due to size)  OUCH ! And not very sanitary.

Well Nuby's Natural Touch line has made the PERFECT teether for all those parents with fingers only kids like mine.

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See the hand looking ones ?? They ROCK out loud. Monkey has been my worst fingers only baby. NOTHING but fingers and occasionally binky goes in his mouth. Well he LOVES this teether. It closely mimics real fingers in size and shape and is soft yet firm like a finger ! Each finger tip has a different design for a varied texture to teeth on. It also kinda works like those little “tooth and gum brushes” you can buy to slip on your finger tip. The texture is about the same and so after those pearly whites get here baby can chew away to keep them clean ! It is the perfect size and shape to get in there and do the job teething or other wise !! I found mine at Target and they are NOT with the toys. They hang with the pacifiers and come in a great plastic carrying case !

Well I’m gonna go clean some more and try to ignore all my crafts and projects screaming at me from my craft corner. I’ve also gotta do a TON of laundry and get together all Bub’s clothes to prepare for starting school on Monday. Where did the summer go ??

It’s gorgeously sunny here in Ga but HOT so I’ll be enjoying from the window as the pool is still not usable  UGH!!  Enjoy this Saturday everyone and I hope yours is as beautiful as mine.

Peace

Steph

I’ll be hopping around here today during my breaks !!

Friday, August 6, 2010

It’s Friday !!!

Ok I’m almost caught up on my cleaning and I should be back to my room redo and crafty projects soon. That’s good cause I’m having withdraw symptoms in the worst way…

Here are a few things I thought I’d share today just some totally random thoughts…

We had open house yesterday at BCPS. I am so excited about Bubs teacher this year ! I think it is going to be an ideal match for him.

Rew is angry that he doesn’t have a class but would refuse to go every day if he did. He just wanted a welcome goody bag at open house. That’s a 4 year old for you.

I have a new hair do and color and let me tell you I feel like a brand new woman. Actually I dyed my hair back closer to it’s more natural shade and added caramel highlights. Ok when I say “I”  I actually mean my sister did. I have a great little Sis who is a cosmetologist and she rocks !! Thanks Susan ! Hopefully I can change my profile pic soon that one is from when I was preggers, so very old.

I find it absolutely hilarious that my soon to be 8 year old is no longer eating chips due to the fact that “they build bad cholesterol that will clog my arteries like blocked up pipes and I will die a horrible heart attack” and that was a direct quote.  My other sis who is a dietician would be sooo proud !

I am going crazy trying to clean, organize, babysit, finish the bedroom re do, finish projects, Keep the dog from destroying everything I own and the cat from tormenting her , birthday shop, get Bub back to school including finding a Pokemon back pack which NO ONE is selling except Toys R US and then only online ),  keep the finances and pay all bills by myself and just find time to breathe. I am soooo looking forward to my “vacation” week next week. The Monster and The Diva will be home with their daddy next week since he is in for a break . (he drives a truck like my hubby)

Speaking of , I miss mine ( my hubby) … a LOT… like a TON !! I can’t wait til the 19th when he should be home. I have got to find him a local job this trucking thing really sucks. Big time.

My Ugly Monster Doll thing for Rew was such a success that I now have 3 to make for other people. I am NOT including the inside pocket on those I am keeping them easy.

Now here are a few “bloggy” things I thought I’d pass on Keen Inspirations has a new feature going on its called News Flash Friday. It’s really cool newsletter type post where she passes on anything she ran across thru the week that caught her eye from projects to new blog hops to giveaways. And speaking of giveaways she has one of those going on right now too.  Its a $45 gift card to CSN stores !!  I know we would all like to win one of those !

And here are the hops and parties I’m participating in today… at some point… I have already linked up to some and as I get my “breaks” will sit down and finish linking up to and exploring others !! Happy Blog Hopping to all this fine Friday !!

Peace

Steph


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Monday, August 2, 2010

Bookshelf re-do

My boys needed a bookshelf to free up some space on their toy shelves. Now despite the fact that my hubs and I are both big readers and my boys love books there is only one bookshelf in our house. It is a cheapo inexpensive bonus item that came with a cheapo inexpensive computer desk from Walmart. I wanted all the boys furniture in their “new room” to match / blend so again PAINT !!!!  

ALL the paint in this project is left over from other projects and the shelf we’ve had for 5 years so total cost here $0. Gotta love FREE !!!

I have no before pics of the shelf.  I forgot to take them in my excitement to get going.  But here’s one of the side of the computer desk (still cheap and ugly… oh well that’s a project for another day)  so you can get the idea of what i was working with.

 

                                             desk

Yes that’s all you get to see. The rest is HORRIBLY messy and un-organized. It doesn’t even qualify as an organized mess. You can see it seeping into the picture in the upper right corner. paper work, envelopes, bills etc.  LOL !  But you get the ugly silver-grey metal tubing and ugly black MDF shelving and desk top. Same thing on the bookshelf.

I took it completely apart and started with the ends. I roughed them a bit with fine grit sand paper and primed with Krylon white spray primer.

                                                     BS1

Then 2 coats of Krylon Gloss White paint later they were done

                               BS2

Next I LIGHTLY sanded with a medium grit sand paper all the MDF shelves. They were under a leak and had very slight bubbling on them from water damage. After that I primed them as well with the Kilz primer i bought for my kitchen cabinets. When it was time for paint I gave each shelf a different color like the bed rails.

                                        BS3

LtR : Behr Sparkling Apple, Krylon True Blue, Dutchboy Bouncing ball.

Yes the blue shelf is sprayed the others are not :o) And once again just like the bed that orange took MULTIPLE coats. The others only took 2.

I also primed and painted all the brackets to coordinate.

                                       BS4

I let all of this dry and cure over several days. Since it’s going in a kids BOYS room I didn’t want to end up with dings and scuffs in the paint from turning them loose on it to soon. Boys are very hard on furniture. Mine especially. When it was finally all dry and ready to go I put it all together…

BS5 BS6

And there we have it! The boys get a cool new shelf that blends with their other furniture and matches their room colors ! I covered up  “made adorable” a complete eyesore. And I think it looks much better in a kids room in bright colors than in the industrial office supply look. I HATE that look. I have HATED this shelf since we got it. (still hate the matching desk. again, project for another day )  Not a bad little shelf sporting it’s new look though.

Peace

Steph

Make your own: Ugly Doll, Monster, Alien etc.

I have so many unfinished and half done projects around here it’s really not healthy. But I put a halt on all crafty and remodel projects to finish up my cleaning projects in the lower floor of my house. The part we live in the most and people see !  I had to make an exception today though.

My four year old has a blankey. His name is “Keys”. Short for blanKEY add an S. I have NO idea where the S came from.  He goes every where with us and as Rew’s best friend shares many adventures and  endures much abuse. He is 4 years old and LITERALLY falling apart. At the seams, not at the seams …EVERYWHERE !! I had to put yet another patch on him yesterday and so today Rew was extremely upset that “keys” needs to be safe but if he’s safe on the bed he can’t be with him. (we already leave “keys” at home when we go out now.)

Rew is also obsessed with these “Ugly Doll” things. I think they’re cute and the story of how they started is adorable and sweet BUT I don’t have 20- 50 dollars to spend on a stuffed piece of fabric. They are so simple it’s unreal what people are paying for them. Well I decided to try my hand at making Rew an Ugly Doll type monster. Now I brainstormed a step further. I need to rig a pocket of some sort, some where attatched to this monster to hold  “Keys”.   If you’re not getting all fancy like me with the pocket these things are E-A-S-Y !!

Here goes…

Step 1. You need to start with a piece of fabric of any kind twice the size you want your doll to be. You can use anything. An old tshirt, sweatshirt, a towel, a blanket. I bought an unbelievably soft micro plush blanket in Rew’s fave color orange !! This came out of the room redo budget. And I have plans for the left over blanket. (throw pillows anyone ??)  But the blanket was only $7 at Walmart. It was cheaper than fleece fabric (at $7.48 a yard) and softer.

Step 2.  Next you need a piece of paper big enough to accommodate the size of your doll. Start by sketching out the basic shape you want your monsters body to be. We are making a pattern here people so it needs to be actual size. Be sure and leave room at the edges for adding ears, horns, arms, legs etc.  Once you’ve decided exactly what shape you want all these to have add them to your pattern drawing. It should be all one piece. You'll see in a second…  It does NOT have to be perfect. that’s the appeal of these little guys. They’re wacky looking.  Mine has 2 big ears , one arm down and one up waving, and legs with feet toes pointing in per my 4 year olds requests. He also is not perfectly symmetrical and I made his face a little off center.

Step 3.Take your fabric fold it in half (or big enough to lay your pattern on. My blanket was so big I only had to make a small fold in one corner !)  Make sure you fold the side you want showing on the inside. You want the inside of your fabric on the outside right now so your seams are hidden nicely by turning it right side out later… Lay out your pattern and pin in place….  Like so…

                                       ud

Step 4. Now you just need to sew around the edges. If you have a sewing machine this is fairly quick… I do not so I stitched this  by hand and I went around twice. (it’s going to belong to a 4 year old boy. It MUST be sturdy) It took forever !!!! Don’t forget to leave an opening to turn it right side out and stuff it.

Step 5. Now CAREFULLY cut around the outside edge of your     seam (s)  to remove all excess fabric. Working with the micro plush was messy since once you cut it it starts to shed. UGGHH !!  you can also remove your pattern.

Step 6. We now turn the shape right side out and if your monster is very small you can use the eraser end of a pencil to push all the arms legs etc. all the way out. My monster is BIG !

                                                    ud1

Step 7. You’re almost done ! Now you get to stuff it… If you’ve been at the crafting longer than me and have a better stock or just sew projects a lot ( I do NOT as evidenced by my lack of sewing machine) you may have fiber fill around. As you may have guessed I didn’t.  SO thrifty me GUTTED a giant (useless) Easter bunny. My children get several stuffed animals a piece every Easter from paternal grands. I find them a useless and annoying waste of space. (the stuffed animals I mean ) I have boys so after 2 days so do they. Needless to say this bunny donated to my cause nicely.

Step 8. After stuffing to desired firmness stitch up the gap you left open to stuff.

Step 9. Last one !  Now the fun part ! Give your guy or gal a face and add decorations ! I cut out white felt circles and stitched around the outer edge in black thread then  sewed a big black dot in the center for a pupil. My son favored the original Ugly Doll looking eye balls. Anything works here though buttons are a cool idea !! So are wiggly eyes ! You can stitch a mouth with embroidery floss but not having any I did this in black felt. I cut teeth from white felt and sewed it all together and then stitched it on. We also put a big green and orange button in his hand that says Friends Forever ! Rew is flirting with the idea of adding little tiny button “polka dots” all over. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for a NO.

                                               treako

 

So now YOU’RE done…

I’m crazy I added a few extra steps in there on mine. 1. I sewed a pocket.   2. I did not leave a hole for turning and stuffing. I cut a slit in his back. I turned and stuffed and sewed one edge of the pocket to the slit and then the other side as well then punched the pocket in and made a pocket space inside the monsters stomach (but the stuffing cannot escape !)  3. Then I sewed on a flap to cover the entrance to the pocket and applied velcro dots to keep it closed.   4. Then I added buttons on top for decor. We put “Keys” inside his new safe hide out and left the tags hanging out the flap cause Rew likes to rub them as he falls asleep. He likes the silky feeling.       

1. ud2 2.ud3

3.ud44. ud5

 

NOW I’m done too ! Like I said if your not adding the pocket this is one of the easiest sewing projects EVER !!!   Andrew loves his “Treako” ! And loves that “keys” is safe and staying clean. Washing him puts so much wear on him. 

Happy Ugly Doll , Monster, Alien etc. making !

Peace

Steph

 

linking up to these GREAT parties…

All Thingz Related The DIY Show Off
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