Dog Tag

I've been busy finishing up some last minute gifts for my kids and thought I'd share this one.  My oldest used to have a little zipper pull for her coat but over the years it had gotten damaged and was unable to stay clamped onto the zipper tab.  I thought about trying to find a new one for her stocking this year and then thought, I have all of this felt, why not just make one?  And so I did.  And here it is...

 and the back...



Santa is done, I think

For the first time in years I have finished my Christmas shopping way ahead of schedule.  I'm a bit of a last minute person and I almost kind of like fighting through the traffic and crowds to get the last few items that I need   my kids want.  The house is decorated, the tree is going up today, and I still have Halloween treat bags and a preschool made turkey lurking around somewhere.  I should get it together.  It all seems to be happening so fast!  I can't believe that Christmas is only a few weeks away.

My husband is out at this very moment trying to get some kind of special outside lights to put up around the walkway.  We were out with him a bit this morning running around looking for them.  With 3 kids tagging along it took over an hour just to hit two stores.  Needless to say we were dropped off at home for lunch and he went at it alone.  I'm sure he's grumbling along, bah-humbugging everyone who crosses his path.  But  I know that it's all in the name of love for 3 little kids who will look at him as though he's a  hero!

Leapster Bag

I promised my 6 year old a bag to store her Leapster 2.  The only problem was I wasn't quite sure how I was going to go about making one.  Thank goodness I came across a blog called Make It And Love It.  Ever hear of it??  Of course you have (I hope)!  If not you must stop reading this and check it out right now.  Ashley has all kinds of sewing ideas and she truly amazes me with her creativity. 

A while back she posted a tutorial for making a travel bag for a portable dvd player which got me thinking.  I altered her version a bit to suit my own needs, but I give her full credit for helping me to create this :

I was even able to make the pocket inside to keep the leapster separate from the games.  The only thing I wish I would have done differently is to sew the velcro closures on before putting the bag together.  This small thing would have made my life a lot easier.

And I'm happy to report that the Leapster is still contained inside the bag... for now...

Finally Finished Re-Finishing!

Yes, I have finally finished my old Craigslist buffet find.  It only took 5 months so in my book, better late than never!  I am so happy with the result and love to marvel in my hard work about 100 times a day!  Take a look...

I wish that I had taken a "before" picture.  The legs were so badly damaged that there was no way of salvaging them and I had to bite the bullet and replace them altogether.  The original finish was this awful honey maple color so I re-stained using Minwax English Chestnut.  The color is so much warmer and more modern.  Overall I did learn a few lessons along the way.  (and just ignore the fake food and Thomas.  Something creeps in my pictures no matter how many times I clean up)

1.  Sanding by hand is hard!  However I probably lost about 5lbs. doing it so it's a plus in my book.
2.  After removing all of the hardware I should have put everything in separate bags with labels instead of just throwing it in the workbench drawer.  It wasn't fun trying to find everything again.  Not to mention one of the hinges only fit into one spot.  It was just a tad frustrating putting it all back together.
3.  Never ever try to apply polyurethane with a foam brush.  I swear I read you can do this somewhere.  NOT a good idea!
4.  Do not freak out after sanding the first coat of poly and find that there are now scratches everywhere on something you have worked so hard to stain.  They will be soothed by the 2nd coat of poly.

I actually had a lot of fun doing this and am looking for something else to do now.  Although it will have to sit in the garage until spring since it's now too cold here to paint or stain outside.  I'm sure my husband won't mind. :)

Favorite Things

This makes me laugh a little because it reminds me of Oprah.  I saw on the news that she just had her "Favorite Things" episode?  What a surprise to be in the audience that day!  I'm linking up to 320 Sycamore for her 2010 Favorite Things Party so here goes...


Nothing much more to say, except cream and sugar please.

My new fav catalog.  Classic looks and classic clothes, finally.  I've been waiting a looong time for this.

Thanks to my sister this is the best lip balm I've tried.  Not the least bit greasy or heavy feeling and works fantastically.

Look forward to reading this every month.

That's right.  I love to use them and love just as much to throw them away :)

Shutterfly Promo

When I bought my first digital camera my oldest daughter wasn't yet born.  I agonized over the decision because at the time it was a HUGE amount of money to plunk down on a camera and ended up picking out a canon.  I don't know why, I just like'em.  I had every intention of taking all of these great shots and then printing them out at home on our printer.  Oh how naive I was.  I was able to print my pictures out, most of the time.  The remaining times I was ready to throw the darn thing out the window.  They would either print with all of these wacky colors or hardly at all.  I had enough with wasting all my ink and photo paper so I decided to try an online photo site - Shutterfly.  I've used them ever since and couldn't be happier with the quality. 

While reading another blog, I came across a post about Shutterfly giving away 50 (free) holiday photo cards  to bloggers.  Here's the link Shutterfly Blog Form.  Hope it works!  I was just telling my husband this morning that I was going to try the photo card route this year instead of writing out actual cards.  Of course I'm going to write a little something on the back of them.  I get really annoyed getting generic cards in the mail with everything already printed on it.  At least take the time to actually sign the thing!  I know we're all busy and all but does anyone agree?

For the Love of Toys

When I visit friends and family's homes I love to see what kind of toys their children have and play with.  I'm always on the lookout for toys that stand the test of time and truly get used and loved for more than the day they are brought home because so often that is not the case.  One of my favorite blogs, Clover Lane , is hosting a link party of favorite family toys just in time for the Christmas shopping season so I thought I'd share some of ours:

My son is really into puzzles and for his age group (3 years) these are the best.  The pieces are large enough for him to easily grab and put together.  I'll admit that I like doing them too.

An old fashioned favorite.  This also includes markers, paints, and anything else they can make a big mess with.  It never seems to lose it's appeal.

Hidden picture books are a big hit with my oldest.

Of course we can't leave out Thomas and his friends.  All of the kids like these sets, even my 18 month old.  I love that the wood can take any beating that my son has given them thus far and that nothing really requires batteries.  (or at least nothing we have does.  I know that some of the newer buildings and trains do)

 

And then we have these guys and girls.  We are slowly being consumed by Barbie clothes and dolls, but again, I like that they are battery-free and require an imagination.

 

 

These are also somewhat of an odd hit and to think that a couple of years ago I was going to give them to the Salvation Army.  So glad I kept them!

 

 

 

My older two also like the Leapster 2 game system, the Loving Family Dollhouse, and having me read any book they can get their hands on.  I cannot wait for Christmas this year!  It's becoming more and more fun the older they get.

Craiglist how I love (and hate) thee

I hate furniture stores. I love to look, but seriously, those prices? They are ridiculous with capital letters. We still have a lot of furnishing to do in our home but with a 3 year old boy in the house nothing stays nice for very long. I just can't spend 2,000 bucks on a piece of furniture that's going to looked trashed in 6 months. That's why I love Craigslist. I bought this small buffet for 40 bucks knowing full well that I was going to refinish it. It's solid wood opposed to the cheap junk they sell in the stores and just the right size for the space. When we brought it home my husband noticed that two of the legs were so badly damaged that they had to be removed. A gallon jug of putty wouldn't have fixed them.

So here's where my hatred of Craigslist comes in. Had I known that the legs were damaged I would have offered less money for the piece. Ok, okay, I maybe should have looked it over a little more but the lady was standing right there. I assumed that she would tell me any major problems. It was never mentioned in the correspondence we had either. Not really a big issue because we just went to Lowe's and picked out some new ones. Better ones.

So #1 Sellers : Be honest about the condition of your items!! Perhaps she was taking on the 'don't ask don't tell' policy :)

#2: If you really want to sell something from your home, get rid of all crap around it first. Just sayin...

I put the final coat of poly on a few minutes ago. All that's left is to spray paint the hardware and then move it on in. All in all it was a pretty painless process. Did I mention it's been in the garage since May? And it may or may not be November now. Oops. I get reminded all the time. And my reminder to the hubs is you can work on basically anything you want uninterrupted for long periods of time. I cannot. My kids must have put an invisible bell around my neck because the minute I stepped outside to work on it one of them would follow me within 2 minutes.

It was an awful honey color but now much better. Here's a small peak...

Moving On

So Halloween is over. Next is Thanksgiving. Then Christmas. I can't believe it. This year has been moving so fast and so slow all at the same time. I've heard that once you have a child in school the years just fly by and I'm afraid to admit that I'm finding that to be true. I'll try to slow down and enjoy it even more now. (Of course I say that now and then next year at this time I'll be saying it again!) But for now we've done this (twice):



Eaten plenty of this:



And have decorated and carved a few of these:



Quite honestly I'm getting a tad tired of looking at those orange guys and so tonight after the kiddos go to bed I may partake in a pumpkin massacre. My husband I love roasted pumpkin seeds...

Glasses Case

My oldest wears glasses. She has since she was 3 years old. I still have trouble accepting it and I still get a little sad that she has to deal with all that goes with them. (I do realize also how ridiculous this is because there are parents out there that can only wish for a stupid "problem" of their child wearing glasses.) However I do find solace in the fact that one day she may choose to get contacts if she would like.


Last year we switched to bunk beds and she got the top one. I would take her glasses off before she went to sleep and then would check on her an hour or so later only to find the glasses back on her face and books scattered all around her. I hated that she was sleeping with them on because she was afraid to take them back off and climb down the ladder to put them on the shelf or to leave them lying on the mattress. So I came up with this:


The attach-it-to-the-bed-glasses-case:





This was actually my first sewing project. I know that it's so hard to tell -the way I sewed the double fold bias tape is spot on! Yes, I'm joking here people. This was extremely frustrating for me to do but I needed to hold all the layers together and this was the way to do it. The inside is lined with some kind of quilting material to add more protection. The back has a velcro strap that can hook onto the side of her bed:





This was definitely a learning experience the whole way through and I made several other mistakes that I will just keep to myself for now but it serves it's purpose. No more late night trips down and up the ladder or sleeping with glasses on.


You'll see this material later on... I made a bag for her that I am in the process of finishing up. It's intended to hold a Leapster but I have a feeling it will be used for anything but :)

I love preschool!

Today my son had his Halloween party and parade at preschool and the whole time I watched these little three year olds all I could think was how awesome this age is! I truly love their innocence, their wide-eyed wonder, and how cuddly they are and I'm really going to miss it once it's gone. Oh sure, I do have one more child to go through this with, but this is my only son. This one I only get to experience once and it's going waaaay too fast!

He's the little batman. I made the cape and the mask and he couldn't have been prouder or happier to wear them. This of course made me all the more proud and happy to have made it for him.





I laughed to myself at how impulsive they were to just blurt out a "Hi Mommy!" or a "Hi Daddy" during the middle of a song. To wander out of the parade line for a hug. To just do their own thing regardless of what was going on around them.

Tomorrow night is our neighborhood trick or treat and batgirl is still without a full costume. Guess I should get a jump on that!

Put the kids to work