Sorry I’ve been absent!

So let me apologize for the MAJOR lax in posts but with the house being on the market and me basically having to follow a 2 year old around with dust pan and broom it just hasn’t been practical. However, since the last post there have been huge changes in this house:
1. Stink is POTTY TRAINED. yeah. You heard me, POTTY TRAINED! I promise I only cried for the entire 4 DAYS it took. Yeah, you heard me 4 D.A.Y.S! WTF???? I am so screwed on the next kid. She doesn’t even use pull ups. Way screwed!

2. We sold the house! So, now we are going to go get our new house. Which means…… Yay home projects! I’m thinking CURTAINS 🙂

3. last, I’ve continued with bi-weekly bootcamps. I love it. If you are looking for something new & different then you should try it. Even Stink loves it!

In The Days After

Last Wednesday my home state was hit by massive tornados. I sat in front of my tv with my husband and child and watched the devistation unfold. I watched as the cities of my family were ravaged by mother natures fury and prayed that God spared them. I was lucky. All of my family members made it out with minimal damage. My home barely scathed, but others weren’t as lucky. Many perished, hundreds lost everything, and thousands were injured. Please pray for the families who were effected by the Tornadoes. Here are a few pics of the aftermath in Tuscaloosa (one of the most devestatingly hit areas.)

For info on how you can help:

http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2011/04/alabama_tornadoes_how_you_can.html

http://magiccitypost.com/2011/04/27/tornadoes-kill-dozens-across-alabama-now-is-the-time-to-help/

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Toomers-for-Tuscaloosa/127019264041188

Wordless Wednesday

Easy Toddler Blanket Tutorial

The Newest Addition to the bunch….

As I stated in the previous post one of the things I bought in addition to the relay stuff was material to make Stink a new blanket. You may recall that I recently tried to make her one and she sorta took to it. She liked it and thus added it to her collection of “Kikis.’ Not quite what I was hoping for. I had HOPED that it would replace the disgusting (although frequently washed) kikis. Alas, she marches to the beat of her own drum….. You would think that I would have learned my lesson, but apparently I did not. I thought for sure when I saw the material I used she would drop the three current Kikis and latch on to the new one. Nope. She just added it to the group…. At least I can tell you how I made it and who knows maybe your kiddo will love it SO much that they do away with their yucky one!

Materials:

1 yard of Sherpa/faux animal skin print fabric

1 4 3/4 yds package of corresponding blanket binding

Walking foot

Sewing Maching and sewing supplies

Step 1: Pin your blanket binding to the fabric (I left mine as it came from the store. No need to mess with perfection when they cut it for you!)  One side at a time. Begin with the short ends.* When pinning the binding to the fabric make sure you pull the binding taut. I found this led to less puckering.

Step 2:  Sew the first end. Repeat with the opposite end.

Step 3: Sew the binding to the sides. Place the binding over the sewn on binding at the ends. I folded the end of my binding under and even with the end to creat a clean edge (on both ends.) Repeat this with the other side.

Step 4:  optional I wanted the ends to look a little more finished so I sewed a square on each corner like this:

Square Corner

THen before they wake up from their nap go throw it on them and take a picture because it maybe the only one you get where they are sleeping under it as they refuse to give up the gross one for the pretty new one….

See like this:

 

 

A Busy Easter Weekend

Sorry for the lapse in posts. It was a crazy busy week last week and this weekend was just as busy! It started Friday with getting the house ready just in case someone wanted to come look at it (who does that on Easter?- Whatev, hubby insisted.) Then once I got the house together it was time to head to the in-laws for Easter Weekend. My mother in law and I had all kinds of things planned. We HAD to make the banner for our Relay for Life team so that was first on the list. For some reason she was thinking we could use these two napkins she had to make the banner????? Yeah…. not so much. So we headed to Hobby Lobby and picked up some Canvas and Iron on Letters. We decided to work on the banner Saturday. We decided that our banner would have not just the team name but iron on appliques of all of the cancer color ribbons. So I traced all a ribbon in each color (using disappearing ink or tailors chalk- depending on the color) and we cut them out. We also cut out double sided adhesive. We had an embroidered purple ribbon from the quilt my mother in law made so we made that the focal point of our banner. We then decided that the banner needed some more pizzazz and headed back to Hobby Lobby for some blanket binding to put around the edge of the banner and a car that we could applique since our team name is The Pit Crew. Anyways, during that trip I picked up other craft stuffs that I wound up doing as well. Once we got home I sewed the blanket binding around the edge. I did my best to mitre the corners but honestly it wasn’t great…. Oh well, no one will see it on a galloping horse! No, there are no horses involved, it’s just a saying. Anyways, once the binding was on we appliqued all the lettering, ribbons, and the car. Here is the final product:

Relay for Life Banner!

 I think it turned out pretty great. I have to give my mother in law credit for the end result as it was her vision. I just helped to execute it.

 We also made Rice Krispy Eggs with M&M’s in the middle:

Make just like regular rice krispies and shape them into eggs!

 And of course Stink dyed Easter Eggs for the first time!

 

Stink LOVED dying the eggs! We all had colored hands afterwards though......

Busy Busy Busy

Wow it’s been a crazy busy week. Monday involved two house showings, unfortunately no offers, tuesday, met with the financial manager peeps. Wednesday, spent the day with my good friend and her kids. Stink and her BFF Samster played while Livy-love crawled all over the place! I can’t believe she is almost walking and can say a few words! She is such a big girl already! Stink had a BLAST with Samster. She just adores him. While there I walked Carrie through a romper like this one

(this is the one I made for Stink. Pattern is from Sew Sweet Patterns off Etsy.)

However, it didn’t turn out so well as my retarded self pinned the romper bottoms on sideways 😦 so we wound up making it a skirt instead. Then I helped her fix the yoke on what is going to be an adorable shirt/pants outfit for Livy-love!
It felt GREAT to be able to teach her some tips and tricks, even if it didn’t turn out perfect. We’ve decided to make this a weekly thing!
At some point this week I plan on attempting a pleated skirt for Stink, but we’ll have to see. I still have to finish up a Newsboy Hat for Michelle and this weekend is Easter o LOTS of family time!

Stink and her main Squeeze Samster

Livy-love and Samster

Stink decided Livy-love needed a necklace

Who wouldn’t want to smooch all over that pretty face!!!!

Such a Hard Life

She has it so hard……

How to Burn More Calories on Your Run | Active.com

Just read this. Definitely going to try this!

How to Burn More Calories on Your Run | Active.com.

Friday’s Five

Sometimes in life we get caught up in ourselves, our success and failures, our dreams and nightmares, our carefree and stressful moments. These are the times, yes good times too, that we might need motivation to keep going. Here are five motivational quotes that I love:

1. “A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.” – Albert Einstein
How many times have you been scared to try something new? I know I have but in the end it generally turns out great! That being said you don’t have to jump in feet first but at least stick your toe in the water and give it a try!

2. “Kites rise highest against the wind – not with it.” – Sir Winston Churchill
How many of us have quite because something got hard? Pushing through tough times is what makes you stronger. Then when imes get tough again, and they will, you’ll be even better at pushing through it.

3. “Excellence is not a skill. It is an attitude.” – Ralph Marston
Plain and simple- positive attitudes equal positive moments that lead to excellence.

4. “Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.” – Leo Tolstoy
No one is perfect. Self reflection and improvement is a necessary part of daily life.

5. “A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.” – Lao-Tsu
Last but not least my most favorite quote of all time. You will get NO WHERE standing still. If you want to succeed and change then you must move forward!

What are some of your favorite quotes?

Sometimes I Find a GREAT Bargain!

Like when the other day I found this fabric in the remnants bin on clearance. There was 7/8ths of a yard (which I found odd for it to be a remnant but what do I know…..) Anyways, it was almost an entire yard or really cute fabric for $3! So, of course I snatched it up thinking I can totally make Stink a shirt or dress out of it.  Today I made her a drawstring top (aka a pillow case dress shortened to a shirt length)

All you do is cut out two main pieces with arm holes. Sew casings at the top of each main piece. Sew your side seams together. Sew your arm hole seams. Last, sew a hem. So easy.  I used the Chloe pattern found at Sew Sweet Patterns. The only problem that I have with this pattern is that for some reason the front pattern piece doesn’t print out the very bottom part. However, for even a beginner sewer it is easy to figure out what it should be. I made it shirt length for my Stink because I happen to think it’s cute that way 🙂 This dress/shirt literally takes 30 minutes to do. It is very simple and I have received umpteen million compliments on the previous ones that I have done for Stink (as in many friends are now requesting I make some for their girls!) Anyways here is my final product! Can’t wait to show Stink!

Don't you just love these "bursting" polk-a-dots!