a kid craft, a solution, and a granola bar.

A kid craft

The homeade Advent calendar! 



easy countdown to christmas calendar.
open the little envelopes (made of scrapbook paper folded up)
and inside is a note telling you what suprise you get today. so far very succesful. :)
but we havent gotten to the card that says make someone dance like a chicken...



                                                                      A Solution


                                 

                                                sooo happy i thought of this. macy and her sister share  a room
                                                 and a playroom and all their toys and clothes.
                                           but of course they each have their "special toys"
                                        that they freak when the other one touches.
                                            so we made boxes and they put their special stuff in them.
                                        and they arent allowed to touch the others box. done!



and i found a granola bar stuck in this tap shoe.

the tiny house movement.

my dream home :)  tiny houses designed by "tumbleweed tiny houses"

tank top purse from craftnest

                     A craft i found online i really want to try



Before you pack away your summer clothes for the winter, you might want to set one of your tank tops aside to make one of these easy totes. The best kind of tank tops to use for this project are ones that have front and back necklines that are the same height—or very close. Otherwise, your tote bag will be lopsided. The brown tote is reversible, so the pockets can be on the inside or outside. I made that tote small because the straps were thin and wouldn’t hold a lot of weight. The magenta tank top had a gathered neckline in front and back, so a gathered bottom was ideal. A pink store-bought flower pin finished it off.

Tank top tote with six pockets

Supplies and tools

• tank top
• straight pins
• water-erasable fabric marker
• sewing machine and thread
• fabric scissors
• seam ripper
• sewing gauge or ruler

1. First remove the tags with a seam ripper or scissors.

2. Turn the tank top inside out.

3. If your tank top has a bra liner, cut the elastic off the bottom of it.

4. Fold so that the straps lie on top of each other.

5. Fold the bottom of the tank over itself. This will become the pockets.

6. Pin in place, making sure the seams line up. Mark where you want the seams in between each pocket with pins or an erasable fabric marker.

7. Using a stitch that stretches with knit fabric, such as the triple straight stitch, sew the seams that divide each pocket. Make sure the bra liner is lying flat before sewing. Back-stitch to lock the seams.

8. Sew the bottom together about 1/4 inch from the edge. Back-stitch to lock the seam.

9. Turn the tote bag inside out so the pockets will be on the inside—or leave it as is.

Gathered tank top tote

Supplies and tools

• tank top
• straight pins
• water-erasable fabric marker
• sewing machine and thread
• fabric scissors
• seam ripper
• sewing gauge or ruler
• flower pin

1. First remove the tags with a seam ripper or scissors.

3. Fold so that the straps lie on top of each other. Measure and mark where you want the seam to be. I placed mine five inches from the bottom of the tank top.

4. Baste two rows (about 1/4 inch apart) along the line you marked. Do not back-stitch. Then pull the bobbin threads tight as you slide the fabric inward to gather it. Then use a straight stitch with a shorter stitch length and sew between the two basted seams. Back-stitch to lock the seam. Pull out the basted seams.

5. Cut off the excess fabric about 1/2 inch past the seam.


all credit for this craft goes  to craftynest.com

My pet owl

When the Harry Potter books first came out conservative parents everywhere freaked.

It was believed the harry potter could influence our preciousis little ones to do various unsavory things:

              * cast spells on each other (should be noted it wouldnt work)

              * have a keen desire to go to boarding school

              * revenge their dead parents

              * battle their local dragons

              * fly broom sticks (again it should be noted this wouldnt work)

And suddenly our worst nightmares have become true.

For harry potter has influenced us in ways unimaginable.

In black market owl exchanges.

 yes. 

Apparently people in india have taken to buying owls off the black market to give to their kids

as presents. no word yet on how that kid actually enjoys them after they notice they wont deliver messages

or bring them birthday cakes. but here is an article anyway

http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20439059,00.html

either way. for christmas im asking josh for an owl



what it would be like with my owl



                            

Sushi

Im slowly getting better at making sushi, tonight i made it to tempura frying my sushi

(this is legit. i didnt make this up)

and its super good.

Think sushi is to expensive and difficult to make?

think again matey!

one box of sushi rice does cost about 10 dollars. however. it has made us about... 6 or 7 meals.

which is alot for ten dollars. other ingrediants are- cream cheese, nori, avocado, shrimp, or crab.

some or more expensive than others but you use so little of each and it still makes so much.

One day i might put a tuturial. But today im just showing off. so "tada!" me.

Apples

Super easy craft for fall!

Put red (or green or yellow) paint in a shallow paper bowl

cut and apple in half then dip the exposed middle of the apple in the paint

scrape off excess and slap on paper.

add stems for extra flare



libby and i's final product



The mystery is gone.

Girls understand that much product/vitamins/exercise/prayer is needed to look this good. Or at least, I understand it.

 In our small apartment josh has one small, non-walkin closet for his clothes, while i have a large room that could double as another room- dedicated to my clothes and a "linen" closet dedicated to baskets and boxs full or half used beauty products.

I have tried them all and i have found what works for me. But as i moved in my stuff to our new shared home i realized how much i didnt want josh knowing i need all this stuff to look non beastly. and to make things worse the bottle actually describes the horrible uglyness i have and what it can do to help.

aka-



for- dry skin. literally says the word "pimples"




for- "frizzy. dry. unmanageable hair. thanks garnier.

 

All im sayin is.

I miss the mystery. And i dont like to have to have an obvious drawer dedicated to tampons.

my idea.

secret stash behind a picture. or a tunnel to an underground storage area. but that would be hard to draw.

the end.

A Time article

I get time magazine (though from where i dont know, i never signed up for it)

and this was the cover story.

very interesting... though if its true.. good grief. Lots of pressure on a pregnant mom.

But it would be nice to be that in control of your childs future health too.

here ya go.

Fetal Origins: How the First Nine Months Shape the Rest of Your Life

                              http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,2020815,00.html



Nifty giftys. Their nifty!

I want to try this for christmas.

The debate on skinny jeans

Recently kids brands like GAP (above) and Old Navy have been making "skinny jeans"

for kids sizes as well, which has caused much debate the skinny jean for kids if a harmless trend

passed down from adult fashion or if its something more sinister... dun dun dun....

Team flare jean debate-

*Skinny jeans in kids can cause body image issues.

*Doesnt appreciate the term "super skinny" being put in the jean tags as their kids might feel the need to live up to the name on their jeans tag

*The jeans can cause "Meralgia Paresthetica" or "numb thighs" from being too dang tight

*Shows our culture is moving towards "sexifying" our children. and whats next!? plunging neckline dresses!?

Team skinny jean-

*Body images issues in kids come from the people they idiolize. worry more about why ariel has a body shaped like a toothpick with a grape stuck to each end rather than if your kid will want to look good in skinny jeans.

*They are comfy and easy to play in. like leggings. and most are made out of

a different material than jean.

* And..they are cute.

so which team are you on?

and yes this is shiloh jolie-pitt.



Our future cubs

In my opinion there is a serious gap in the market for original kids clothes.

Do you know how hard i would have to look to find my 2 year old a

 leather jacket and not a fleece one that says "mommys little puker"? very hard.

so while at baby gap with josh (trying not to spend money

while still having fun shopping) i made my future childs everyday outfit.

tada!!!



striped hat
striped sweater
fuzzy pants (awesome!)
and serious boots.





However this is my dream child.
check out that bandana!



My Day

I do like the colors of the pills.

However it hurts to breathe.

Learning Fabric

I decided to resew covers for our couch pillows. Our current ones are salmon, yikes. i have no idea why i picked it. So i bravely walked the aisles of a family owned fabric store with my eyes closed trying to envision which fabric would match my living room (or decidedly unmatch, but not clash. There is a difference.) eventually i picked out the blue at the very bottom picture, the right side. I like it, but i realized literally our whole house is various shades or blue,brown, or orange. oh well.

Another realization is i don't understand fabrics.

Sewing is really quite a bit like cooking, you have to know your ingredients, how they are going to mesh together and what the end result will be and preferably you need to know these things before the final product. Or else you will have to do it over again.

So i want to learn, don't really know how. But i learned to cook by practicing so why not?

I shall practice.

Me Cat

trying to hide

hanging out

Smelly Good.

Tired of burning candles day and night to have something yummy to smell i decided to make something that would smell yummy without the need for fire.

So i made these.

Orange Hangers

 To make orange hangers you need-

    Oranges

      Whole cloves

     and

      Ribbon (I used a whole role)

Step one-
Shove as many cloves as your feel

into your oranges. (cloves not only have their own nice

spicy fragrance but the juices of the orange can come out through the cloves)

 

Step two-

Wrap ribbon any way you like, leaving extra ribbon to hang.

and voila!

hang and you have a smellygood.

                                                                                                              

The first time i used coupons.

 Yesterday i used coupons for the first time. If you use coupons go to couponmom.com cause, this mom will hook you up. I learned that coupons will not only save you money, but you can get middle aged men to sarcastically hit on you with just the flashing of a coupon.

Here is what i mean.

  The guy behind me in line was a middle aged man. I had in my grocery pile, dr pepper, cat food (buy one get one free of whiskas!) cheese, so on so forth, and i pulled out my newly clipped coupons and gave them to the lady and the guy behind me tells the check out lady "wow cat food and coupons?! if she  wasnt already married i would hit on her!".

now you tell me if thats sarcasm.

What i look like to men since i got married.

On the bright side i saved $3.23 off of twenty dollars. and got free peanut m&ms.

Modern Art. Modern Technology.

                          These are the things i found during the weekend.

                                           Meet Clocky!-

These super nifty clocks let you hit snooze once, then... they will roll off your dresser and hide! When your

snooze time is up, your going to wake up looking for it to shut off the stupid beeping.

very affective. and pretty cute.

Spidey art-

This modern art was done with packing tape. My favorite kind of art. Huge. Visual. Climby. Textury. Imaginative. Makes you think of spiders.

You get pizza by being direct.

Two days ago i texted josh. "please dont eat the frozen food. please eat the perishables in the fridge so they dont go to waste." i came home. opened the freezer. what was missing? the frozen pizza i planned on eating myself. dang it. but i cant say anything. beause then he will know i wanted the pizza for myself.  yesterday we got another pizza and put it in the freezer. today i come home from work and head to the freezer. whats missing?! the friggin pizza!!!!!!! so thats it. no more conspiracys. no more manipulating. i came out with it. ALL PIZZA IS AMYS!

the first fall fun.

I LOVE FALL.

favorite season.

first fall activity.. carving a pumpkin! i thought it would be

a great activity to do together with my nanny child but this picture is of the one time she participated

as the inside of the pumpkin was "yucky and scary". i recall being less girly as a child than this... but whatever.

it turned out quite nice.

"lilly" in the end.

"lillys" donation to us.