A Trip to *Holland

Move in Progress....

2011-07-22T12:38:00.000-07:00

Recently, I made the decision to move this blog from Blogger to a self-hosted WordPress site. What in the world does that mean, and why should you care?

Well, really, you don't have to care. It just means I'm going to be using different software to publish this blog, and my blog URL (that's it's address) is going to change slightly. It also means that, during the process, things might be a little wonky on BOTH blogs, due to the risks of, well, the risks of me doing my own reprogramming. Hopefully, most of the bugs will get worked out quickly, but in the meantime, I hope you'll pardon the dust during my remodel!

Why am I making the switch? Mainly because I've really enjoyed using WordPress publishing tools when I write for sites like The CSI Project and Infarrantly Creative. I like the way WordPress handles their media uploads, among other things. Another reason for the switch was for the added customization that I can get when I publish with WordPress. I would like A Trip to *Holland to showcase the web publishing skills I've developed, so I want my own site to look as sharp as possible. WordPress simply offers more freedom to do that.

Hopefully, I'll be able to take all of you nice people who follow A Trip to *Holland along with me. Just in case, here is my new address:

www.atriptoholland.net

The Fun to Come....

2011-07-21T04:30:00.000-07:00

Things are in the works on this ole' blog of mine. I'm gearing up for a total blog redesign and the move to a self-hosted site. (In non-geeky language, that means it won't say "blogspot" after atriptoholland when you visit this website.)

Let me tell you what I've learned. Redesigning a blog and moving it is not easy. No siree. It should be handled by professionals.

Do you know how much professionals cost?

No? I didn't either, until I'd spent two days alternately sweating and crying and learning programming language and telling my children to, "Keep watching movies! Go ahead, watch as many movies as you want! Just don't bother mommy while she's trying build a website." After two days of that, I decided I should find out how much it would cost to hire a professional.

Too much! Too much for me, that is. After all, I'm blogging for free, here. And I'm supposed to be a do-it -herself, thrifty kind of blogger, aren't I? Hello, I spray painted a lamp!

And that didn't turn out too badly, did it? So, I took a deep breath, and I've been taking it one day and one code error and one style sheet at a time. And today I actually think I began to figure out what I'm doing. And instead of sitting at the computer all day, I cleaned house and took my children swimming. Maybe--just maybe--in a few days or months or years (this is me, remember?) this blog will have a whole new look.

Any maybe--just maybe--by the time I get to that point, I'll be a professional and someone can hire me to redesign their website. Because, from what I can tell, that job pays pretty well.

Wish me luck!

I Wasn't Born in the Jungle

2011-07-18T04:30:00.000-07:00

This is one of my two big brothers, Bill.

Bill was seven years old when I displaced him as the youngest member of our family. Despite our age difference, and the fact that he teased me mercilessly, I loved spending time with Bill. Still do.

Some of my earliest memories of my brother Bill took place on a family vacation, when I was just a little squirt of 2 or 3 years. My grandparents were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary, and took all their posterity on a cross-country road trip. While I remember very little of any of the sightseeing we did along the way, I do remember sleeping in a pop-up trailer, near my brother, Bill.

This seemingly insignificant detail was made memorable by Bill's whispered revelations of our family's past, before we fell asleep each night in that pop-up trailer. After all, he told me marvelous bits of family history previously unknown to me. Until Bill told me all about it, I had no idea that--prior to my birth--our family had lived in the jungle.

Yes, the jungle. Bill told me each night of that vacation, in great detail, about all of the adventures he and my other siblings had in the jungle. They'd lived in a large treehouse, had two large and very faithful dogs, along with an assortment of jungle animals that were easily tamed. (Monkeys, elephants, ostriches, zebras, etc.)

I think there was a good chance that Bill had seen Swiss Family Robinson not long before we left on vacation. But, while liberally peppering his stories with Swiss Family similarities (yes, pirates did attack), Bill threw in his own dashes of creativity. For instance, the tale of how our sister Lorene was nearly squeezed to death in her sleep by a boa constrictor. Or the story about how our older brother wrestled a panther that was about to eat one of our mother's freshly baked pineapple pies. He even explained matter of factly what, exactly, the family was doing there in the jungle: our father was teaching the jungle tribes geometry, and our mother took in sewing for sailors.

Each night, Bill would end his thrilling tales of life in the jungle with the same refrain: "And that's what happened when we lived in the jungle, before you were born."

I sincerely believed that our family had lived in the jungle. Life in the jungle seemed so much more exciting than it was in the small farming community where the family returned to shortly before my birth. I was desperately disappointed that I had been forced by birth order alone to miss out on all the fun of the jungle. I daydreamed about Bill's stories of jungle life so often that I'm not sure where Bill's end and my own begin. Finally, sometime after my eighth birthday, I asked my dad if he would ever go back to teach the jungle natives geometry again. Only then did I discover that my family's past wasn't quite so swashbuckling a picture as the one Bill had painted for me.

The story that I grew up thinking my family had left behind a jungle adventure shortly before my birth is now a chapter in our family lore. It's joined the ranks of other family favorites that are retold and enjoyed at family gatherings--with a fresh and growing audience of nieces and nephews to laugh and exclaim over each one. We love our family stories.

Perhaps that's why my children and their cousins are currently fascinated by these videos. Family legends retold by a new generation are hilariously reenacted by the adults of the family in the Kid History series. Over the top wacky, anyone who loves a good family story--especially as interpreted by the grandkids--will get a kick out of them. Enjoy our two current favorites:

Surprise Roadtrip

2011-07-16T04:32:00.000-07:00

I've mentioned before that I love to travel with my family. Roadtrips tend to be our most frequent form of travel. (You can read about a couple of them here and here.) Even as newlyweds, the Bionic Man and I used to jump in the car and see how far we could get before it was time to turn around and head back to school.

Since we've had children, the Bionic Man and I don't get into spontaneous roadtrips like we used to. Generally, we spend months preparing for our roadtrips: researching routes and destinations, planning stops and activities, putting together detailed itineraries, making reservations. Often, we depart for vacation with a thick binder that maps out all the details of our trip.

Our 2011 summer trips weren't going to be any different. We'd been planning a family trip to see our Connecticut friends and East coast sites for weeks. And Bionic Man had been prepping daily for a special backpacking adventure in Utah's Uintah mountain wilderness.

All that changed when we got the news that Bionic Man's grandmother had passed away. We made a last-minute decision to change all our vacation plans for the summer. Within 48 hours we were packed and on the road.

Whew! Can you believe that? That type of spontaneity is wildly uncharacteristic for us. I have to say that these three kids are largely responsible for getting us ready. They were such good helpers!

That picture was taken on the first day of the three-day journey out to Utah. See how happy everyone is? That's because riding in the car is relaxing, compared to the way we flew around getting ready to leave. (By the way, you can't see Hunter the Dog, but he came too. He's our best traveler, because he never ever asks how much longer 'til we get there.)

This is the third summer in a row that we've made a trip to Utah by car to visit our families. We just love our faithful Swagger Wagon. (The fact that we've done this before helped with the spontaneity issue.)

I took that picture somewhere in the middle of Kansas. No offense to my Kansas-dwelling friends, but your state is a bear to drive through. It was scorching hot, gusting wind, and humid (how is that possible, with wind?) the entire day. After we'd crossed the border into Colorado, I solemnly swore to the Bionic Man that if he ever drove me across Kansas again, it had better be in a moving truck headed WEST. Needless to say, we did not drive through Kansans on the way home.

So, we were super-duper excited to get the mountains in our sights as we approached Denver. Having not seen any REAL mountains for almost a year, my camera is full of pictures just like that one.

Here we are on Day 3 of the roadtrip. Everyone's enthusiasm for the adventure had diminished. We were all tired of driving. And Kansas. And granola bars. Seeing vistas like this one in the mountains outside of Denver helped a little.

We love the mountains. And we loved spending time with our families.

Stay tuned for more of our roadtrippin' adventures to come!

Birthday Breakfast

2011-07-15T07:53:00.000-07:00

Today is an important day at our house. We're celebrating Lily's birthday! (You can read more about Lily and her birthdays here, here, and here.) Lily's birthday celebration is traditionally planned by her siblings, Endeaver, Justone, and Superkid. This year, they wanted to have a special breakfast, and requested a very yummy treat.

I made these chocolate crepes for the first time last week, when we were visiting my sister. They were such a hit that we all wanted to have them again. What better day than today? (Recipes are after the pictures, below.)

I've learned that crepes are easier to make on an electric griddle, rather than a small frying pan.

You can make more of them at a time, and they are easier to flip. I get a nice circle by pouring the crepe batter onto my griddle with a 1/3 cup measure, and gently guiding the batter into a circle with the bottom of the measuring cup. The wonderful thing about crepes is they don't need to be perfect to be tasty.

Once the crepes are on our plate, we drizzle on some high-quality chocolate syrup (we used Sander's Swiss Dark Fudge)

add a few berries

and lots of heavy whipping cream.

Then we roll them up

and drizzle on more syrup and top that with more berries.

So good. But do you know what is even better than chocolate syrup on these luscious crepes?

Buttermilk syrup.

Trust me when I say that you have not truly lived if you haven't tasted buttermilk syrup. It is divine. It will change your life. (And your waistline, if tasted too frequently.) And it really is a cinch to make.

Try it on chocolate crepes with raspberries.

And cream. (Many thanks to my food stylist, Endeavor.)

Roll the berries and cream up in those crepes and drizzle buttermilk syrup all over them. Try to avoid pouring the buttermilk syrup straight into your mouth.

Top them with more raspberries.

Eat them and be transported directly to food heaven. They are that good.

Here are the recipes, just in case you'd like to make a visit to food heaven sometime soon. Enjoy!

In honor of Lily's birthday, here is one of our favorite family videos.

(Google readers can click here to view.)

I'm linking this post to the following:

Sugar Bee Crafts Take-a-Look Tuesday
Whipperberry's Friday Flair
Tatertots and Jello Weekend Wrap-up

Sundae Scoop at I {Heart} Naptime
Sunday Showcase at Under the Table and Dreaming

The Sandbox

2011-07-14T04:30:00.000-07:00

The final installation of the Bionic Man's work of playscape art was completed earlier this summer. The long-awaited sandbox is now part of the children's play area.

This is no ordinary sandbox. For starters, it is part of the Bionic Man's playscape design. Remember the playscape?

When Bionic Man designed this playscape, he did so with his own childhood in mind. What's more fun than sand? Sand and water. So, Bionic Man not only put sand in the box, he designed a pumping and drainage system to handle water. Lots of water.

Children of all ages love it.

I think the imaginative play that goes on in the sandbox is worth all the time Bionic Man spent designing it.

It's a little messy, but how many really, truly fun activities AREN'T a little messy?

Poppy and Grandma had a great time witnessing the grand opening of the sandbox when they visited.

Lazy Summer?

2011-07-13T13:17:00.000-07:00

I'm back! Back to blogging, that is. This summer has been full of surprises (mostly good) and opportunities. I'll have to tell you all about it over the next few days. Here's a picture preview:

I have a couple of good excuses for neglecting my blog. First of all, school's out. That means my kids are home during the day. Guess what? I love that. And I've tried to stay off the computer as much as possible during our few days of summer vacation.

Second excuse? My writing jobs. If I'm going to spend time on the computer this summer, I might as well get paid for it. So, the paid blogging gets priority. Sorry. By the way, did I tell you I have a new gig? This July, I started writing for Infarrantly Creative. I'm writing the weekly Five Ways column. (Check out my latest, here.) I'm still writing for The CSI Project, and my task list has grown there. Admittedly, free-lance writing was easier and more fun when my children were at school. Lately, it seems I'm putting in some late nights after they've gone to bed. Oh well, we only have one Summer of 2011 to enjoy together.

Bragging Rights

2011-06-24T02:30:00.000-07:00

Have you heard of the "Own Your Look" Prom Dress Contest sponsored by JoAnn Fabrics? The 2011 contest was open to teens who made their own formal attire. Requirements included an original dress design and coordinating accessory created with fabric and products from JoAnn Fabrics. This contest isn't something to sneeze at: the first place winner receives a $50,000 prize--something any college-bound teen can appreciate. You can view all the entries into the contest here.

I'm excited to announce that one of my sweet nieces, Rachelle, entered her Senior Prom dress into the competition. I couldn't be more impressed with the beautiful dress and matching headband that she made.

Isn't she a gorgeous girl? Check out the incredible details on this dress:

I have to compliment Rachelle on how well she fitted this dress. It fits and drapes just beautifully--no small feat for any seamstress, no matter how experienced. Congratulations, Rachelle, on a job well done! (You can view Rachelle's entry page in the contest here.)

I'm not going to say much about Rachelle's competition, because I think anyone who is brave enough to sew their own prom dress deserves admiration. I will say that my daughters and I spent an entire afternoon being shocked, awed, and stunned speechless by more than a few of the other dresses. (Where were the mothers of those girls?) Many of the dresses are truly lovely. But some, sadly enough, are just downright entertaining. I laughed so hard over some of the names of the dresses that I cried! (I think combining the words "eggplant" and "elegance" is a real stretch of the imagination.) Even if you aren't a seamstress, it is pure fun to browse the contest entries.

Rachelle and her big sister, Hannah, were my very first nieces. I was so excited when they were born! One of my favorite things when I was a teenager was stopping at their house to play with my nieces on the way home from high school. I remember them coming to watch me get ready for my formal dances, and being excited about my "princess" dresses. My nieces have grown into two very lovely young women, and I am so proud of them. Hannah is going into her second year of college as an elementary education major, and Rachelle is heading off to college in the fall. Both of them have set such fine examples for my own girls to follow, and their inner beauty truly shines.

Hannah and Rachelle's mother--my sister, Lynne'--has been sewing dresses for them since they were little girls. When they went to high school, she really stepped up her game to sew gorgeous, modest formals for them (far classier than anything they could have found at a dress shop). Clearly, Lynne' has taught Rachelle a thing or two. My girls love seeing the closet full of pretty dresses at their Aunt Lynne's house. I love that those pretty dresses don't sacrifice modesty for style--they are elegant and completely appropriate.

Enjoy viewing the contest, and wish Rachelle well. We hope you win big, Rachelle! You deserve it!

Girls' Bedroom Switcheroo

2011-06-05T14:23:00.000-07:00

Last week, my girls and I worked really hard to get their bedroom cleaned, organized, rearranged, and de-cluttered. It was a really, really big job.

Our girls share an abnormally large bedroom space, which is both a blessing and a curse. A blessing, because there is plenty of room for them to store their belongings and play. A curse, because there is plenty of room for them to store their belongings and play. Trust me, two walk-in closets is too many in any given bedroom. (If you think it is hard to keep one child's closet clean and organized, try keeping two enormous closets clean and organized.) Um....just realized I've written about this problem before--go here if you really want all the nitty-gritty details.

Probably due to the fact that this bedroom is more frequently in chaos than in pretty-for-pictures mode, I have few pictures of it. In fact, the only ones I found in my files were taken several years ago (Lily is in them!), but are a fairly accurate depiction of the typical disarray. Here you go:

Lately, we've had some conflict between the sisters over the care and keeping of said bedroom space. (Imagine that--sisters arguing?!?!?!) They have both demanded their own room. That's not in the cards for my girls, so I decided on an alternative plan: dividing the room in half. No, I didn't throw down a chalkline, but I did help the girls rearrange their belongings so that they would each have half the room with the accompanying closet. Maybe in the future, we can install some type of shelving/room divider.

Before I show you the pictures, I have to offer you a disclaimer: the pepto-bismol pink walls were already there when we bought the house. My girls loved those pink walls five years ago, but they are definitely over them....as am I. It's going to take a lot of work to strip that wallpaper border and cover the pink with pale blue, but that's what we're hoping to do in a few months.

Here's the "panoramic" tour....

.....beginning with the bedroom entrance. (I wasn't kidding about Pepto Bismol, was I?)

The wall of closets....

An explanation about those cords you see snaking into the closets. Both closets were built without any lighting--or easy access to electricity--whatsoever. We have been very creative with lamps and extension cords. Seriously, the Bionic Man and I are convinced that the former owners of this home suffered from some sort of light sensitivity (vampires, maybe?), since we have quadrupled the number of installed lights in this house.

Endeavor's reading nook....(she has a tall bookshelf just inside that closet.)

(Here's the bookshelf in the closet....)

Endeavor's bed.....

The back wall of the room, with Superkid's cottage bookshelf....

.....and Superkid's amazing cottage bed on the wall opposite of Endeavor's bed....

Here are a couple of different views from inside the bedroom....

Are you dying to know about Superkid's bed? Our cottage bed was built by the ever-amazing Bionic Man for both girls, soon after we moved into our home. He found plans for the bed online, here, ordered them, and built it himself. We hired an artist to paint the murals--which was much less than we imagined it would be, and turned out much, much better than if we had DIY'ed it.

Originally, Superkid slept on a double bed that fit nicely on the lower level, and Endeavor slept in the second story bunk. But that all changed when we rearranged the room. Superkid now has the cottage bed, and Endeavor gets her own space that is (in her viewpoint) more age-appropriate.

Excuse the poor lighting, but here is what it looks like up inside the cottage.

And a look at underneath the cottage, where we created a little office/craft space for Superkid.

The curtain wasn't part of the original bed, but when I decided to give Superkid "office space", I felt like I needed something to quickly hide that space, if necessary. Bedsides, what child doesn't enjoy their own little spot to hide away? I had the fabric in my stash (vintage, from Grandma Kitchen's collection), and all it took was a couple of quick seams and an inexpensive tension rod to create that pretty little nook.

Here's a look at the side of the bed, with access to the bunk.

We love the details that the artist added. Stuffed animals get stored in that lowest cubby.

The "shingled" roof is actually made of strips of faux wood panelling. That Bionic Man is a genius.

Endeavor's space is a little more grown up. The little vignette she has created on her bedside table offers a glimpse at the direction the room is going to take when the walls are painted.

My girls are sooooo excited about their new bedroom arrangement. I'm excited that I don't have to cringe every time I walk past their room, and that I didn't have to referee any fights over who was responsible for making the mess while they cleaned their room on Saturday. Guess what? It's been a week since our big cleaning project, and the room remains immaculate. Score!

Now, I have to tackle sooooo many more spaces before my parents arrive for a visit, this week. The rest of my house looks like a bomb went off in it over the weekend. Wish me luck!

I'm linking this post to:

Tatertots and Jello Weekend Wrap-up Party

Sunday Scoop at I {Heart} Naptime

Sunday Showcase at Under the Table and Dreaming

Sugar Bee Crafts Take-a-Look-Tuesday
Whipperberry's Friday Flair
Organize and Decorate Everything

Something Special Saturday - Garage Sale Edition

2011-06-04T09:04:00.000-07:00

The kids and I hosted a garage sale this weekend. Friday was very slow, but the weather was delightful. Partly cloudy, not too hot. Today we've done pretty good business, but it is miserably hot and humid.

We set up our garage sale at the last minute, after we saw the large signs posted at our subdivision entrance announcing a neighborhood yard sale. Not sure why they don't give us any warning about these things....but it was a good excuse to quickly clear some things out of our house.

If I'd had a little more notice, I might have been able to use some of the handy tips I found for having really successful garage sales. Maybe you can use them sometime, instead.

The Yard Sale Queen offers a full page of tips for throwing a great yard sale. She's got some great ideas for advertising and signs.

The Nester offers additional tips for both yard sale buyers and sellers over at her Nesting Place. She recommends a good, cleansing yard sale for ridding the house of unwanted clutter.

Melissa at 320 Sycamore shares her yard sale wisdom (especially for buyers) in her Yard Sale 101 section.

Here's a peek at our garage sale.....

The kids get to keep the money from toys and things they decided to give up for the garage sale. We price marked most items with colored stickers--one color for each child--then took the stickers and kept them on a sheet of paper so that we'll know how to divvy up the money, later.

Endeavor has been running a successful fundraising effort on the side of our garage sale. Proceeds from lemonade, popsicles, baked goods, and hair accessories are going to support a good cause: serving dinner at Riley Hospital's Ronald McDonald House.

We used paper CD covers to package the cookies. They were perfect!

My children are feeling quite pleased by the fact that, not only did they make some money, but now there are a few less toys to pick up around the house. Way to go, kids!

Do you have any garage sale tips to share?

First Week of Summer

2011-06-01T09:01:00.000-07:00

It's the first week of summer, and Bionic Man has already had to go out of town twice. That does not bode well, me thinks.

The good news is, over the last three days, the children and I have been extremely productive. I'm totally taking advantage of their enthusiasm at being home for the summer, and working them like slaves in the salt mines. It's such a change from school routines that they haven't complained yet. Obviously, I have no time for blogging this week because I have to capitalize on enthusiasm like that while I can.

Here's what we've done so far:

mowed the entire lawn. Our yard is huge. I volunteered to take on all lawn mowing duties this summer, as a form of exercise. Pushing a huge mower all over a huge lawn in the blazing sun has to burn some calories, right? It also makes me feel mighty proud when I see the lawn all nicely groomed and looking good when I'm done.
Weeded most of the flower beds in the backyard. (WHAT was I thinking five years ago when I approved the creation of all of those beds?) It's definitely a chore I was glad to have the children helping with. They are getting pretty good at weeding.
Planted a salsa garden.
Planted hundreds of zinnia and sunflower seeds, in hopes that we'll have lots of flowers to cut later in the summer.
Planted 48 dwarf marigold plants around the edges of the salsa garden and zinnia beds.
Deep cleaned the girls' room. Three garbage bags full of.....stuff....were filled and taken to the trash, and I haven't even finished the closets.
Rearranged the girls' room. Endeavor and I figured out a way to divide the large room equally in half, and both girls are pleased with the new arrangement. I have a feeling it is going to be easier for them to keep it clean, because all possibility of arguing over what belongs to whom has been eliminated.
Started pulling stuff out to the garage for the neighborhood yard sale this weekend. (Which I just found out about yesterday, grrrrrr.) I'm a little overwhelmed.

Wish me luck! I've got a lot to do to get ready for the yard sale. How's your summer going, so far?

Something Special Saturday - 5/28/11

2011-05-27T22:42:00.000-07:00

YAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYY! SCHOOL IS OUT!

In two more months, I might not say that with quite so much enthusiasm, but it sure is how I feel today! As much as I appreciate the wonderful opportunities my children enjoy from our excellent local schools, I do a happy little dance at the thought of having them home to stay for a few months. I love the simpler days of summer and the way it seems to free up our schedule.

That being said....I like to have a little structure to our days. Flexible structure, but I like having a few ideas of what we're going to do each day. This year, I have visions of craft projects to go along with the books we'll be reading. I've been pinning lots of ideas on my Pinterest boards. I'll be honest, I've selected the crafts before the books. But hey---I'm an English major. I'm all about finding layers of meaning in literature, right? I bet I can find a layer or two in any book that goes along with the following fun art activities.

Painting with wax on rock from 5 Orange Potatoes.

Paint with marbles from The Mother Huddle.

Butterfly punch art from Whatever.

Also from Whatever, giant squids.

Rainbow shaving cream from Meet the Dubiens.

Kraft paper on a rainy day from Tokketok.

Outdoor color match from Frugal Family Fun Blog.

Hope you enjoy your three-day weekend!

A Pretty Apron

2011-05-19T02:27:00.000-07:00

This week I'm republishing a popular post from last spring in honor of The CSI Project's Refashions {Upcycled Clothing} Challenge.

Once upon a time, I dropped by Goodwill to check out the glass aisle. I was in the mood for making more apothecary jars--and possibly some cake stands, too--for my sewing room. On the way to the glass aisle, I passed the Wall of Dresses. I rarely ever give the Wall of Dresses anything more than a passing glance. Usually that passing glance lands upon someone's old bridesmaid dress, and I have a quiet giggle.

This time, however, was different. My passing glance paused upon these two dresses.

It was the fabric that did it. The fabric and that ruffle on the brown one.

Sadly, this pretty embroidered number wasn't reaching her full potential as a dress. I mean, look: she still had her price tag attached. She'd never been worn.

The price tag is marked $58.00. I paid $4.99. Score!

I started with the pretty pastel dress. First, I used my seam ripper to take the two halves of the dress apart and pull off the zipper. It was late at night....when my creativity was at it's height....can you tell from the pictures?

It was waaaaaay easier to take apart than it should have been. Just think what would have happened if I hadn't come along and purchased this dress--someone could have bought this dress, zipped herself into it, worn it to her cousin's wedding, and then could have had a very embarrassing experience when the seam split as she was dancing to "Achy Breaky Heart." Yep, I did everyone at that wedding a big favor, by turning this little number into an apron, didn't I?

Anyway, I felt a slight twinge of guilt as I deconstructed this never-before-worn dress, but it was very slight. I mean, seriously, it was $4.99 at Goodwill.

Once I was done with the seam ripper, I had two halves of a dress and a zipper, as well as the original price tag and little bag of straps I found as I was taking apart the dress. Did I mention how much I like the embroidery going on here?

Also, did I mention that this fabric is machine washable?

The bodice of this dress has boning in it. I decided to leave it in, just to give the apron some unexpected structure. I'm sure that if I had wanted to, I could have taken that out easily.

Once I'd deconstructed the dress, I picked one half to repurpose as an apron. I chose the front. I pinned the ripped seams back on their original folds, and stitched them down with my machine. Bonus that these seams were serged already.

Next, I made the strap for the neck of my apron and the two apron ties. I decided on a single, adjustable strap. (How adjustable it will be since my sewing machine doesn't do button holes remains to be seen.) I measured and cut out the fabric accordingly: one strip of 3-1/2" x 14" (on the fold) for the strap, 2 strips of 6-1/2" x 22" (on the fold) for the apron ties.

I ironed 1/4" folds on the end of each strip.

I folded and ironed each strip in half, with the ironed 1/4" folds showing.

Then I sewed a 1/2" seam down each strip.

It looked like this when I was done. See how the folded ends are exposed? Also see how old my sewing machine is? I bought it used not long after the Bionic Man and I were married. It must have been at least 25 years old when I acquired it. It still does the job!

I ironed the seams open.

I turned each strip inside out. I use a dowel to help me do this. The dowel pushes the fabric up through, much more easily than my hands will.

Once the strips were turned right side out, I ironed them flat

and sewed all the way around, very close the edge of each strip.

Then I sewed the strap and ties in place on the apron.

Every good apron needs a pocket and deserves a little embellishment. So, I cut out a rectangle of fabric for my pocket. I trimmed the pocket using one of the removable straps from the former dress and sewed it into place.

I added fabric yoyos to the pocket and to one of the upper corners of the apron. (Hmmm. As I'm looking at the pocket now, I have a feeling I forgot to make sure it wasn't cut on the bias. Probably why it is so wrinkly. Live, sew, and learn!) Yoyos are unbelievably easy embellishments. I learned to make mine using Heather Bailey's tutorial.

Voila! This Goodwill dress has a new life as a pretty apron.

I'm linking up to:

Sew Woodsy: What's Up Wednesday

Letters of Apology

2011-05-18T09:27:00.000-07:00

Here in our little bit of Holland, we have good days, and we have bad days. We have happy days, and we have sad days. We have delightful days, and days that are downright trying. In short, we're just like everyone else.

And, just like everyone else, I think my kids are pretty darn perfect. Except when they're not. Believe it or not, there are times when these children of mine get themselves into hot water.

Take the other day. We were on our way home from church. I wasn't feeling well. The Bionic Man was really tired. The two children in the backseat, on the other hand, were alive and well and telling the world just how good life was with some screechy singing. Intentionally screechy singing. The Bionic Man asked them nicely to please stop singing like that, because it was giving him a headache. The screeching stopped briefly, only to begin again. I reminded them of their father's request, and of our rule about not making sounds in the car that hurt people's ears. It wasn't long before the screeching started up again. The Bionic Man again told the children to tone it down. And--once again, after a brief respite--we soon heard screeching from the back seat.

I'm not going to name any names, from here on out, but here's what happened: The parent driving the car pulled over on the side of the road. The other parent thought, "Great idea! Let's make the kids walk home!" and awaited the other parent's command to do so with baited breath. Surprise! The parent driving exited the car, said, "I'll see you at home," and started walking. The parent left behind would have loved to join the pedestrian parent, had it not been for the fact that ~~she'd worn a particularly high heeled shoe that day~~ it was safer for the children not to be left alone in a running car on the side of the road. That parent drove the children home, sternly lecturing them on the life-lengthening benefits of honoring parents, following directions the first time, and being thoughtful. All children were dropped off at home, with strict instructions to the screechers to go upstairs to their bedrooms and write a thoughtful letter of apology. Then the parent at the wheel retraced the route home to pick up the parent who ~~was looking very handsome in his Sunday suit as he~~ walked.

Letters of apology were provided forthwith upon our arrival home. After both parents were able to get a long, uninterrupted Sunday nap, all was forgiven.

But not quite forgotten, thanks to these absolutely hilarious notes. I must share. Since I'm not naming any names, all I can tell you is that the screechy singers are both in elementary school. (Probably no need for that explanation after you see their spelling.)

Letter #1:

I am saree will you for give me. I'm saree I'm saree I'm saree I'm saree a 1000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 times! Will you frgiv me pllees! plleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees! pllees pllees will you forgive me! 1 more pllees!

Letter #2:

I am sorry that I kept on singing when you and mom both told me to stop. If I had stoped then nobody would be in trouble. Now that I think about it my singing must have been anoying. And because of how high pitch I was it must of gave you a headach. Is there anything I can do to make up for it?

True Confessions: My Sewing Room

2011-05-16T02:26:00.000-07:00

Remember when I told you I was redoing my sewing room?

{crickets chirping}

Really? You don't? That could possibly be because I made that declaration over a year ago. Oh dear.

I told you all of my good intentions for that room here. I even provided an oh-so-charming "inspiration board" for the so-called Aqua Poppy Sewing Room.

Then I set about giving the room a complete overhaul. I mean, really, it needed it. Remember? Piles of stuff everywhere?

{more crickets chirping, owl hooting}

Oh, you don't remember that? Well, let me provide you with a link to my before shots of the sewing room...

{typewriter bell dings, file drawers open and shut and open and shut some more}

Hmmm.....no link, here. Apparently, I never actually showed you the before pictures. Hoooo boy. I don't know if we should go there, but, if you say so....

Let's take a stroll down the memory lane walk of shame, shall we? I present to you, BEFORE:

{scary music}

{really scary music}

{really, really scary music}

{extremely scary music}

Wait! Hold it! Before you dial the Health Department, just look at the next pictures. There was progress, I promise!

See? Progress! I wasn't kidding. And really, I should have posted these progress pictures months ago. Because it really was positive change. I just got hung up on perfection--it wasn't done. Note that all picture frames and wall shelves are leaning against the wall or hidden behind chairs.

Can we talk? I have a huge hang up about hanging things up. On the walls. It seems like such a final decision that I avoid making it. I'm sure this crippling decor anxiety is the result of some traumatic event in my past, for which I need design therapy. At any rate, these hand-me-down shelves that I spray painted poppy red have been languishing behind that chair, gathering dust, for months now.

I wasn't kidding about the dust.

As it turned out my hang up hang up end up being something of a happy accident for this room. While going through the sewing room closet recently, I found something tucked away in a box that I'd forgotten. These pretty tab-topped curtains that used to hang in the girls' bedroom when we lived in our Connecticut Cottage.

I loved those curtains. I found them on Ebay for a song, still new in the package, from Pottery Barn. They were just right for our girls room then, with buttercream walls and a bright sunny window. I sighed when I pulled them out of storage, remembering that happy, girly space, and carried them over to the window to get a better look at them.

My bright, sunny window. In a room with buttercream walls. And--HEY! THESE CURTAINS MATCH MY CHAIR!

Suddenly, that formerly blue stripe in the plaid looked, well, aqua. And poppy red went out the window.

It probably didn't help poppy's case that I'd been following the progress of this bedroom over at Cassandra Design.

Pink and aqua....just like the curtains I'd forgotten that I already had. (How pretty is that room? Make sure you go see all of the pictures, it really is beautiful.)

It also did not help poppy's case that the two main red elements I'd put into the room were not my favorites: The bedspread and the shelves. There was nothing wrong with them, I just wasn't crazy about them. Furthermore, I'd just about come to the conclusion that in order to really make the Aqua Poppy work, the walls of the room were going to have to be some shade of aqua blue.

Ah, the walls. Here's where things got dicey. You see, my sewing room used to be our nursery. Right before we brought our little Lily home from the hospital, those walls were painted that shade of buttercream by my mother-in-law and the Bionic Man. It's hard enough that my sewing room doesn't get to be Lily's room, anymore. Painting those walls seemed like it would be going just too far.

I wasn't kidding about design therapy, either, was I?

So somehow, inserting some soft pastels back into the room and taking out the bold red patterns just seemed like the right thing to do. After all, the red elements in the room had been inexpensive additions: I got the bedding at Target on Clearance for under $20, and the shelves were free. So, I reasoned, if I could find new bedding for under $20, I could afford to do a sewing room color switcharoo.

Off I went to Target. Where, wonder of wonders and miracle of miracles (name that musical), I found a clearance section of bedding. Like this comforter marked down to $12.

I still had a birthday gift card for Joann's, where I went next to pick up a few supplies to add to some I already had in the sewing room closet.

See all of those little fabric yo-yos I've been making, in coordinating colors? They're a big part of my plan to dress up that $12 bedding. Stay tuned.....hopefully I'll have another update in less than a year.

Something Special Saturday - 5/14/11

2011-05-14T04:00:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it is already Saturday.

Mind if I start today's version of SSS with a bit o' bragging? And shameless advertising?

I think I've mentioned that earlier this year, I was hired by The CSI Project to do some of their writing.

The best things about my job? I get to know who wins the weekly craft competitions before anyone else AND I get to discover all kinds of amazing home decor and craft blogs as I write up the different posts. How amazing is it that I'm getting paid to look at other people's blogs?!?!?! (Trust me, Bionic Man is still scratching his head over this turn of events.)

Anywho, even if you aren't into entering craft or DIY or home decor competitions, the weekly challenges hosted by The CSI Girls are a great way to get inspiration. For instance, this week's challenge: Spring Mantels and Vignettes. Let me tell you, as of the day this picture was taken, my own mantel isn't up for the challenge.

How sad is that? Let's call it a "during" picture. Lucky for me, I can view all the links to the competition and get some much needed inspiration. You can, too! Here's a link to this week's links. The links stay up on each challenge post.....so if you don't need any help with your mantel, you can go back in the archives for past challenges, like the Dollar Store Challenge or the Outdoor Decor Challenge. Great stuff, there!

Here are my three favorites from the early entries of the challenge....head back over to The CSI Project today to find out who the Guest Judge and CSI Girls picked.

Entry #4 - Centsational Girl's Spring Mantel

Entry #22 - Spring to Summer Mantel from That's My Letter

No Mantel? Then this one's for you: Entry #26 - Spring Vignette by Christina's Adventures.

Enjoy your weekend!

Mid-May Madness

2011-05-12T03:49:00.000-07:00

Hello, Friends!

While I am happy to report that May 2011 is not half so crazy as May 2010, it is holding it's own. Last year, our elementary school was closed after the last day of school, so we had all kinds of sentimental memorial stuff going on, plus 5th grade graduation and middle school orientation and a long list of assorted other events. But this year, we do have Endeavor's track meets and a few other upcoming end-of-school activities. Good times.

Check out Endeavor after her last track meet:

I'm pretty proud of Endeavor. For the life of me, I cannot remember how we convinced her to run cross-country and track this year. She wasn't too sure about it, to begin with. Practices are tough. But Endeavor stuck with it, and she's seen some major improvement in her running times. She's also found that she feels less stressed about school on the days that she runs. I'm just happy she's found something she enjoys doing for exercise that she'll be able to do anywhere, anytime.

And here we have Justone at the district art exhibition. His art teacher selected some of his work for display.

That awesome fish graphic was made by Justone. Good eye for design, eh?

I have a few projects I'm working on around our house, but they are slow going. Most of the indoor projects are on hold while the weather is good and I can work on outdoor projects. And my outdoor projects really aren't that exciting. Unless....

....you'd like a tutorial on planting geraniums in the cement planters on your porch.....

{Note the feathers. We have nests EVERYWHERE this year. Five in the playscape alone.}

....or you are really into patio cleaning. This isn't the before pic. Trust me, it was worse. This is the during.

We consider this little outdoor storage area to be one of our best home improvement projects ever. It's a convenient way to hide the stuff that would make our side yard look trashy, otherwise. During the winter, we store our trailer back here, too (one of the fence panels is removable).

Oh, did you say you wanted a tutorial on prepping your AC unit for summer? Because I could give you a tutorial on that....or not. Seriously, thanks to some tutelage from the Bionic Man, I did it myself this week, and I'm very proud. Why doesn't anyone have a blog link-up party for THAT?

I'm sure you can relate: you get one project out of the way, and there's another one breathing down your neck. This front flower bed is well established, and (other than needing a little mulch) looks great.

But on the other side of the porch....this bed awaits. It really needs a makeover.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do with this.

Happily, I have not yet killed the lovely hanging basket that my family gave me for Mother's Day.

Sadly, I do fear for it's life. Care and keeping of hanging baskets and potted plants is not something I am known for. But at least the children and the dog are thriving, right?

Another bed that needs work. The hosta bed.

Weeding, mulching, and a couple more plants are in order, here. And.....HUNTER! Have you been digging in the hosta bed? I'm going to pack this bed so full of vegetation that you won't have dirt to dig in!

Honestly, it's a good thing I take pictures for this blog or I'd miss more than half of what goes on around here.

What are you doing now that the weather is warming? Any outdoor projects at your house?

Dessert

2011-05-10T02:03:00.000-07:00

I have an anonymous quote on the front of my menu planning binder that reads, "Stressed is dessert spelled backwards. Coincidence? I think not!"

I'll give you a moment to ponder that one.

I grew up in a home where some form of dessert was served every night. Dessert ranged from applesauce sprinkled with crushed graham crackers, to canned fruit in a pretty dish, to delicious made from scratch cakes. Looking back, I'm impressed that my mom went to such effort.

I don't. We don't eat dessert every night at our house, but when we do, we definitely enjoy it. Here was a recent diet-day-off dessert that I invented.
(Mangoes were on sale at our local grocery store, can you tell?)

Mango Peach Crisp

Ingredients:

3 cups fresh or frozen peaches (thawed, if frozen)

1-2 cups fresh or frozen mango (thawed, if frozen)

2 tablespoons orange juice

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

2 cups crushed graham crackers (about 6 large crackers)

1/4 cup white or whole wheat flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup sliced almonds, lightly toasted

dash cinnamon

1/2 cup butter, melted

Whipped topping, cream, or vanilla ice cream (optional)

Directions:

Spray a deep baking pan with non-stick cooking spray. If necessary, cut fruit into chunks. Place fruit chunks into baking dish. Lightly toss with orange juice and almond extract.

In a mix bowl, stir crushed graham cracker crumbs, flour, brown sugar, almonds, and cinnamon together. Add melted butter, stirring until all crumbs are moistened. Pour crumb mixture over fruit, spreading evenly.

Cover pan with aluminum foil and bake at 375 degrees for 40-50 minutes. Remove foil for the last 15 minutes so that crumb topping will be slightly browned.

Serve warm with the topping of your choice. We drizzled heavy whipping cream over ours.

Your Attention, Please

2011-05-09T03:12:00.000-07:00

I have an important announcement to make. {trumpet fanfare}

(That's a vintage microphone. Nice touch, right?)

Ahem. As of today, I refuse to believe the claims of {fill in the blank with the name of whichever celebrity gave birth less than eight weeks ago and is currently on the cover of a magazine at the checkout stand}, who credits her amazing post-baby body to breastfeeding.

Unless she provides me with proof that she is able to breastfeed while doing squats, lunges, crunches, hamstring curls, and planks. If she is able to do a full cardio/strength routine each time she breastfeeds her baby, then yes, I think breastfeeding should get the credit.

That is all.

P.S. I think there are many wonderful benefits of breastfeeding to both mother and baby. I just don't think it is fair to make new mothers without personal trainers feel like there is something wrong with them because they look like they just had a baby. As if they need any more reasons to get teary eyed. Happy Mothers Day!

Something Special Saturday - 5/7/11

2011-05-07T05:09:00.000-07:00

Pretty things I've spotted during the last week.

1. An absolutely over the top Butterfly Garden 1st birthday party was featured at Birthday Girl. Ignore the fact that it really is over the top, and enjoy the prettiness. Can't remember how I stumbled across Birthday Girl's blog, but it is a delightful read when you are party planning.

2. Speaking of over-the-top parties, after I mentioned how much I liked Pippa's bridesmaid dress, one of my readers sent me a link to a sewing pattern for it. Thank you thank you thank you! I will lose 40 pounds and find an occasion to wear it, and then I will make good use of this pattern.

3. I've been finding a lot of great recipes to pin on my cooking board at Pinterest. I like the ones with pretty pictures best, can you tell? This recipe for peach cake makes me want to lick my computer screen. I could really give my tongue a workout with 50+ recipes for homemade popsicles--in fact, these recipes inspired me to pick up some popsicle molds from the dollar bin. And, you are going to swoon over the simplicity of raspberries stuffed with white and dark chocolate chips.

Enjoy your weekend!

Girls' Rights

2011-05-06T02:27:00.000-07:00

In March, I read a post by one of my favorite bloggers, Sarah from Clover Lane.

It was titled, "What About Our Girls? Growing Up Too Fast." It definitely made me think, as Sarah's posts so often do. First of all, it made me grateful for a tween daughter who isn't attached to a cell phone, doesn't worry about having a boyfriend, and who looks the way I think a twelve year old should. Second of all, it made me pause to wonder about how much of what Sarah talked about when discussing the pressures surrounding her eighth grade daughter applied to my own little sixth grader.

It wasn't long before I found out. One of Endeavor's teachers invited me to help chaperone a sixth grade field trip. Three teachers and four mothers (including me) took a group of about 100 sixth graders to an outdoor challenge course. Designed to promote team-building and facilitate communication, the course was led by a group of experienced trainers. They divided the kids into groups of 10-12, and then put them through a variety of exercises that were more mentally than physically challenging.

Spending time with the sixth graders and observing the groups try to work through the challenges was educational. Here's some of what I learned:

Kids--at least girls--are physically more developed than they were when I was in sixth grade. Many of the sixth grade girls looked more like the girls I went to high school with, than the girls I went to middle school with.
Many parents think it's fine to let their sixth grade daughters shop at Victoria's Secret. In fact, they are happy to let their daughters provide free advertising for the brand.
Sixth graders have horrible judgement skills. They have difficulty focusing. They tend to make the same mistakes over and over again. They follow the advice of their loudest peers, not their smartest or most emotionally mature peers. In short, they are typical children. Not young adults, children.
In our fairly affluent school boundaries, roughly 60 percent of sixth grade students go without breakfast in the morning. (This was revealed during one of the games.)
Any parent who thinks their sixth grader is capable of handling the ownership of an expensive electronic device, or of spending time with peers without adult supervision, or of safely navigating a trip to the mall or movies with friends, etc. IS CLUELESS!!! These parents need to observe their kids at a challenge course.

And my thoughts on what I learned:

There has to be some validity to the concerns about girls physically maturing too early in recent years. Personally, I'm going to spend some time learning about what some of the potential causes may be, and read up on what can be done. I'm alarmed when I see 12 year old girls who appear to be more curvy and womanly than I--a 35 year old woman who has born and breastfed four children. That's not right. If there is something our society is allowing (hormones in milk, fast-food diets, whatever) that can be blamed for this, we need to fix it. I think it is incredibly sad to have so many young girls endowed with bodies that are far ahead of their mental and emotional development. Those bodies put them in the unfortunate situation of having the rest of the world think they are women, when really, they are still young girls.
Before this field trip, I thought it was very odd, one day, when Endeavor came home from school and asked me where the store called "Pink" was. She said that a lot of girls at school wore clothes from a place called "Pink", and she wondered where they got them, because she'd never seen a store at the mall with that name. I should explain that I, myself, avoid the mall like the plague, and Endeavor only accompanies me to the mall about 25 percent of the times I go there. Which means the child goes inside our local mall about twice a year. It took me a minute to remember which store sold the "Pink" label. Victoria's Secret. I couldn't believe little sixth grade girls were shopping at Victoria's Secret.....enough that Endeavor would notice....until I went on the sixth grade field trip, and saw for myself how many girls had "Pink" plastered boldly across tight tee shirts and the curvy backsides of their yoga pants. It made me want to throw up. Why, why, WHY would any parent allow their sweet, young, daughter to provide free and provocative advertising for a women's lingerie brand?
I'll tell you why! Because those parents have fogotten or have not been taught themselves that those little girls are daughters of a Heavenly Father who loves them. He has given them incredible gifts, valuable far beyond what is visible by appearances alone. If but nurtured, those little girls can grow into women who have incredible minds and talents and a beauty of spirit that far surpasses any physical beauty they've also been blessed with.
And I'll tell you another reason why: being and adult--not to mention an adult who parents--is hard work! It's not fun nor is it easy to tell a child "no, you can't do what everyone else is doing" and bear the brunt of their short-term hostility towards you. Nor is is fun or easy to be the only parent who says "no" to things and gets questioned by other parents. Lazy parenting is to blame! Sarah said it so well back in March, "I see in my generation, a lack of maturity. I see so many mothers, grown gosh-darn grown women, wanting popularity for their daughters, more than they want to protect them....They allow the craziest things because I think, it somehow gives them a sense of being "in" themselves. They don't entertain the thought of what is best for their daughter, especially when it means taking a different path from the norm, not following the crowd. Reliving some imagined desired youth and stripping their own sweet child of hers."
Yes, sixth graders are children. Even eighth graders aren't adults yet. Why do we expect them to be otherwise? We wouldn't drop our six year old off at the mall and say, "I'll meet you back here in three hours. Call if you need anything." The reality is that few sixth graders possess much higher judgement skills than six year olds, yet I know parents who have no problem with dropping them off to fend for themselves at the mall. Why the rush to push children into taking on responsibilities that they aren't ready for? Again, I think lazy parenting is to blame. The quicker a child accepts "adult responsibilities", the quicker the adults in their lives can return to the selfish lifestyle they lived before they were parents.
Like I said a moment ago, I observed that sixth graders have horrible judgement skills. They have difficulty focusing. They tend to make the same mistakes over and over again. They follow the advice of their loudest peers, not their smartest or most emotionally mature peers. What does this mean? It means that no matter how grounded you feel your sixth grader is, chances are they aren't going to fare well in a group setting that is not adult supervised. When it comes to making decisions, they are going to be easily swayed by the group thinking of their peers. And that group thinking? Well, it's being led by the loudest members of the group, the seemingly most confident and admired of those peers. Guess what? Those kids aren't necessarily the brightest bulbs in the chandelier, at this point. Instead of "trusting" your child to do the right thing, remember the fact that they are a child, and don't knowingly put them in situations that require trust: i.e., group "dates" to the movies, hanging out with friends at a house where a parent isn't at home, etc. You're misguided trust is going to put your child in potentially dangerous situations, guaranteed.
So, over 60 percent of the kids in an affluent school are going without breakfast? Call me naive, but I was shocked. It was a wake up call to me that that statistic is a reflection on the number of kids getting themselves off to school in the morning. I recognize that families are faced with a variety of circumstances, and many have to make some difficult choices. However, I'm disappointed that our society as a whole views the abandonment of children as a necessary evil in the pursuit of more and better.
Back to the girls. Our culture has stripped these young women of the right to be children for as long as possible. You can blame it on bad parenting, the influence of the media, the breakdown of the family, or dozens of other things. The sad fact remains: rights are being lost. Shouldn't a twelve year old girl have the right to be viewed as the child with a bright future that she is, not as a sexually provocative vixen with a future in a dimly lit nightclub? Early feminists lamented the norms of society generations ago, in which there was more emphasis on preparing girls to marry well than to get an education. We shake our heads over the black and white pictures of 15 year old brides. Let's take a stand now for the rights of young women everywhere, the right to enjoy a long and innocent childhood, free from the eventual cares and concerns of adult life. I'm not saying keep them so sheltered they don't know how to deal with the nonsense that is out there--because it is out there, and they have to be given the strength, the savvy, and the skills to face it. I'm just saying, don't shove them into a Victoria's Secret with your credit card and tell them to get whatever they want. Don't expose them to TV and movies that promote sexuality as the most important trait a woman can possess. Be the grown up in their lives, not their best friend.

As you can tell, this is something that I feel very strongly about. I'd like to echo Sarah's stance, that "I think all of us mothers of daughters who care about preserving our daughter's innocence need to be angry. We need to speak up, and sure lead by example, but not always quietly....Maybe if more mothers feel like they aren't alone, if more mothers think "I'm not the only one" we can bolster each other up." Hear, hear!

Now, let me just tell you about something else I learned on the sixth grade field trip. I learned that my own sixth grader, Endeavor, is everything I hoped she would be, and more. She's a sweet, innocent girl. Probably a little less innocent about some things than I would like, judging by the peers who surround her during the school day, but she's holding her own. She's lovely, her pretty face not masked by makeup and her clothing colorful and age appropriate. She's chosen friends who are smart, nice, good girls who seem like they are trying just as hard as Endeavor is to make good choices. She's forging her own way, making style choices more modest than most of her peers, and learning to appreciate the fact that she's a little different from them in this.

It makes me so grateful for a mother who worked hard to give me a lengthy childhood, teaching me the parenting skills I would need someday by example. I'm also excited for Endeavor--newly 12-- that she gets to move on from our church's program for children into it's program for Young Women. She's going to have great leaders and a terrific program that will help her learn to set goals and become, in time, the woman she's meant to be. She's going to have resources to help her navigate the stormy years to come, like a standards book, For the Strength of Youth, that is going to help her set boundaries and see some of our society's foolish norms for the traps really are.

I just wish I could be as excited about the future for some of her peers. It is evident that they don't have those same resources. That they don't have mothers fighting for their right to be children. So, I have to say that I am also grateful for women, like Sarah, who let their voices be heard when it comes to preserving the rights of girls, and who encourage the rest of us to do the same.

Family Favorite Meal

2011-05-04T08:04:00.000-07:00

I mentioned a couple of days ago that I'm playing in another round of the Game On Challenge this month. As part of the challenge, we get to select one day off of the diet. Sometimes is frightens me how much planning I put into my day off. I tend to cook like a fiend on that day, because I can take tastes! For my day off last week, I made one of my family's favorite meals that is decidedly not diet friendly, but it is easy.

We call this pasta dish Hay and Straw.

My friend Nicole introduced our family to Hay and Straw. She came to take care of my children for a week during one of Lily's long hospitalizations. My children loved this dish, and begged for it for months afterward. At the time, it was so unusual for all of them to like any one food at the same time, that I was happy to oblige. It continues to be a family favorite.

Hay and Straw

1 package (16 oz.) pasta, uncooked (farfalle, penne, linguine, and spagetti all work well)

water to cook pasta

2 cups fully cooked ham, cubed or julienned

2 cups cooked green peas

1 tablespoon butter

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

dash pepper

2/3 cup heavy whipping cream

1-1/2 cups shredded Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, saute ham in butter for 3-5 minutes or until ham is very lightly browned, adding garlic powder and pepper. Add peas; heat through.

Drain pasta, and return to cooking pot. Immediately toss with ham and pea mixture. Pour cream over pasta and add Parmesan cheese. Stir to coat, until cheese is melted. Serve immediately, topped with more Parmesan, if desired.

Serves 8. Cost per serving is approximately $1.25. This is a terrific way to use up holiday leftovers. I've also been able to successfully cook this on a campstove.

What's one of your family's favorite easy, inexpensive meals?

I'm linking this post to:

What's On Your Plate? at Good (Cheap) Eats

April Recap

2011-05-03T08:18:00.000-07:00

This is by no means an exhaustive recap of the month of April. Just a look at some of the fun we've had. And, um, that doesn't mean the things that weren't photographed weren't fun, right? Right.

My sister came to visit for Easter weekend. Looking for someplace fun to take her that wasn't too far away, we took a chance and went to an Earth Day festival downtown. A good time was had by all. Probably because just about every booth at the festival was handing out freebies. What's more green then FREE?

Bionic Man and Justone were fascinated by the hybrid vehicles. Unfortunately, those weren't free.

Face painting, on the other hand, was free.

Superkid begs for intricate face painting, like this, every time we visit our local zoo. I have never said yes. At the zoo, something like this costs $12-18. At the Earth Day Festival, it was free. Sort of. I did spend approximately 90 minutes of my life waiting in line with Superkid for this. And she posed herself.

Bionic Man thought that since we spent so much time waiting to get Superkid's face painted, she should keep it on for a few days. I reminded him that Easter Sunday was the day after the festival. "Perfect!" he exclaimed. "She looks like Spring!" Fortunately, Superkid decided a few minutes before church that she'd forgo the facepaint. Good thing she directed several photoshoots before that.

The highlight of the Earth Day festival? We stopped to eat our lunch at the outdoor concert venue. The local band that was playing wasn't getting a very enthusiastic response from the crowd.....until a very young hip-hop aficianado got up and started dancing in front of the stage.

Um, yep, that's me you can hear laughing loudly in the background. Hence the reason for the camera shaking. I'm not a fan of hip hop, but I am a fan of freestyle dance moves by seven year olds.

The little guy dancing started to draw quite a crowd, which definitely made things more fun for the band. A couple songs later, the lead singer jumped off the stage to capitalize on the attention. Despite the lead singer's best efforts, the little guy just kept stealing the show.

Good times!

The day after the Earth Day festival was Easter.....and Endeavor's birthday! She turned twelve. Twelve!

Since it was such a big day for Endeavor, we let her choose the menu for Easter dinner, and invite the guests. Mashed potatoes are Endeavor's ultimate favorite food. So, instead of the traditional Easter ham, Endeavor chose a mashed potato bar. We came up with a wide variety of toppings and let everyone go to town.

Unfortunately, due to hostessing duties, I missed many photo ops. I did, however, get pics of the birthday pies--another request from the birthday girl. See the E for Endeavor?

We had (clockwise from the left) key lime, chocolate mousse, strawberry (purchased at the church bakesale that weekend) and blueberry peach.

A few days after Easter, Justone competed in his last Pinewood Derby as a cub scout.

As you can tell, the Bionic Man was really into it. I think he was more upset by the fact that this was Justone's last Pinewood Derby than Justone was. I'm wondering if I should get him his own track for Father's Day....mmm, maybe not.

Justone's design prowess has come a long way since the dinosaur car he made for his first derby. (He glued screws all down the front of the car, representing the spikes of a stegosaurus, for that one.) Look at this year's slick racer, detailed by Justone (it's the car on the far left).

Not to leave anyone out of the April recap, Hunter the Dog continues to be the most patient family pet on the face of the Earth. Are you getting the impression that Hunter spends a lot of time in costume?

Still can't believe how fast the month of April flew by. Is everyone ready for the end-of-school madness that is the month of May?

Monday

2011-05-02T07:50:00.000-07:00

Hello, Friends!

I have been curiously absent from the blog lately, have you noticed? My reasons are really not earth shattering, but I do have reasons:

I started attending early-morning fitness boot camp. It starts at 5:15 A.M., M/W/F, and I have to leave my house by 5:05 sharp if I want to arrive early enough to keep from getting singled out by one of the instructors to do push-ups in front of everyone. I am absolutely not the kind of gal who feels the need to put on make-up or even run a brush through my hair anytime before 8 A.M., especially if I'm going to be sweating. (There is a lot of sweating going on at boot camp.) However, I really don't like to sweat when wearing glasses, and my eyes just can't handle waking up and immediately getting contact lenses jabbed into them. So, my alarm is getting set for 4:35 A.M. three days a week. It's killing me, I tell you.
So, since I'm getting up super early, I'm trying to make a dedicated effort to go to bed as soon as I get my kids in bed. Some nights that works better than others. But it's killing my blogging time! You know that quiet two hours between kids' bedtime and grown up bedtime? That's perfect for writing. That time is gone to me, now. With the wind.
My sewing machine is giving me palpitations. Seriously, I have nearly said several naughty words about it in the last week. My curtain project has been totally derailed. It caused me to have such a tearful, dramatic outburst on Saturday that my husband was almost moved to hand over the checkbook so I could go get a new machine one. I was sorely tempted to sob a couple more times to seal the deal, but in the back of my mind I had a sneaking suspicion that PMS might be more to blame than the actual machine.....so I agreed to call a repair shop, first. After all, it is a vintage machine, and that's so on trend. I've never been so on trend before in my life.
I've been on two field trips in the last two weeks, track meets began, it's teacher appreciation week, and we had the Pinewood Derby. Need I say more?

Oh, also....I started another round of the Game On Challenge. Considering how many push-ups and squats I've been doing for the last few weeks, I should be seeing some serious results, this time around. Shouldn't I? If I don't, that vintage sewing machine might get thrown out a second-story window. I'm just saying.

Dress Envy

2011-04-29T14:24:00.000-07:00

MayI just say....did you see this dress?

Um, hands down one of the most beautiful dresses I've seen. Ever. Did you see all those buttons?

It's right up there with my all time favorite. Sigh.

Kate was lovely, as well, but I have to admit, if I was 5'10 and narrow of hip and shoulder, I would wear Pippa's. Nicely done, ladies!

Endeavor and I, fans of all things romantic and British (we watch Pride and Prejudice regularly) woke up at 4 A.M. to watch the proceedings. I had to go to fitness boot camp an hour into the broadcast. That was harsh. I gave Endeavor strict instructions to keep me informed--she did this admirably, describing all the hats I missed. I left boot camp early (oh yes I did) because watching a royal wedding with my firstborn is simply way more fun than doing 100 push ups (which I did, before leaving bootcamp). I arrived back home just in time to see Kate appearing at the Abbey. Endeavor and I squealed like the girls we are and jumped up and down.

Weren't the hats fascinating?

Endeavor said she got tired of me saying, "Oh, maybe this wedding will bring back hats!" I want a hat. Maybe like this one, along with the dress that goes with it.

Or this one...

Thank you, My Fair Lady, for making me the woman I am today. But I need a hat.

Seriously, why don't we wear hats in America, anymore? What is WRONG with us?!?!?!

I just had a deep thought: it appears to me that, in America, we try to make a splash with our purses. In Britain, they make a splash with hats. The purse carries money. That hat sits on the head, which carries the brain. Coincidence? I think not!

I shall leave you to ponder the depth and meaning of this post. Endeavor and I need to watch Mr. Darcy stammer his love to Elizabeth. And squeal and jump some more.

Talley-ho!

P.S. Did anyone else see Mr. Bean at the wedding? Because I know I did. It was a disturbing sight.

{Almost Easy} Birthday Cake

2011-04-18T07:39:00.000-07:00

We celebrated my belated birthday this weekend. The Bionic Man and our children were off the hook for cake making, because I needed a good excuse to try out a cake recipe I found. The original recipe and accompanying gorgeous photographs can be found here. The original recipe, however, seemed a little tricky to me, so I modified it and came up with a somewhat simpler version of my own.

Pretty, hmmm? And, admittedly, very tasty, too! This is how I made it:

The cake layers and frosting were made of some basic ingredients

and a very few not-so-basic ingredients.

Lemon Blueberry Cake Ingredients:
1 (18 1/4 oz) package yellow cake mix
1 (4 oz) package instant vanilla or lemon pudding mix
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup cooking oil (I prefer canola)
1/2 tsp pure lemon extract
4 large eggs
12 oz. fresh blueberries (about 1-1/2 cups)

Directions:
Place all of the ingredients--except blueberries--into a large mixing bowl.

Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 1 minute. Stop and scrape down the sides of the bowl. On medium speed, continue to blend for 2-3 more minutes, until the cake batter is smooth.

Pour 1/3 of the batter into a greased 8 or 9 inch round cake pan.

Add blueberries to the remaining batter.

Gently fold into batter, being careful not to squash the berries.

(Note: next time I make this, I'm going to try placing the berries on top of the batter, once it is in the cake pans. All my berries sunk to the bottom of the pan while the cake was baking, when I did it this way. It tasted fine, but it didn't look as pretty. Let me know if you have any great tips for keeping the berries spread out, or if you try it and my "next time" method works!)

Divide the remaining batter among two 8 or 9 inch round cake pans. Bake the three cakes at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes (time varies depending on your oven). Once baked, remove from oven and allow to cool. Remove from pans.

Now it is time to make the frosting. I'm normally not a fan of frosting, but--let me tell you--this is the yummiest frosting I have ever encountered. Definitely a lick-the-bowl-clean kind of frosting. The tangy lemon flavor really balances the sweetness of the frosting.

Zesty Lemon Frosting
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
zest of one lemon
juice of one lemon
1/2 teaspoon pure lemon extract
1 package (2 lbs.) powdered sugar
milk or heavy whipping cream (I used milk, but I imagine cream makes this even more heavenly, if possible)
yellow gel food coloring (optional)

Directions:
Soften butter and add the zest of one lemon.

Using the whisk attachment on your electric mixer, cream the butter and lemon zest for 2-3 minutes. Add lemon juice and lemon extract, blend well. Add about 1/3 of the sugar and mix well. Add remaining sugar, along with milk or cream to thin consistency of the frosting as necessary. Beat well on med-high speed for 3-4 minutes until very fluffy. If using color gel, add a drop or two, then beat until blended.

I added a little gel coloring to mine, which gave it this pale, sunshiny yellow color that I love.

Once the frosting was made and my cakes were cool, I placed one blueberry layer onto my cake stand. I put a small amount of frosting into a pastry bag, and snipped the pointed end off with my scissors, so there would be a fairly wide hole at the end.

Then, I piped this frosting around the top edge of my first layer.

This made a little frosting "dam" so that the filling wouldn't leak out of the sides of the cake. Isn't that a neat trick?

I then spread a generous amount of lemon curd onto the top of the cake--the filling. I chose a lemon curd that didn't have a lot of extra, filler ingredients, including artificial color. If you like, there are other brands that have more of a brighter yellow shade. And yes, my cake did get a little dark--but it tasted fine.

I repeated that step with the next layer of cake, which was the lemon-only layer, without blueberries. I placed the last blueberry layer on top, so that I had a stack of three {blurry} layers.

The last step was generously frosting the top and sides of the cake. It was too messy to take pictures! I garnished the top of the cake with more lemon zest. Ta da!

If you'll notice, the day grew later and later as I worked on this cake. It was too dark for pretty pictures by the time I finished.

So, naturally, I had to take it outside the next morning for a little photoshoot in the sunshine. (Naturally? What is natural about that? I'm sure my neighbors think I'm C-R-A-Z-Y! I can just hear it, "Look Herb, she's out on the deck again, taking pictures of food! Do you think we should call someone?")

As a sidenote....food bloggers. How do they do it? My kitchen was in total disarray by the time I'd finished. And I made this cake from a box. Obviously, despite the use of a cake mix, the cake was yummy. We ate a lot of it.

While this was a delicious cake, the frosting was hands-down the best part. If I were to do it over again, I'd use yellow sprinkles instead of lemon zest. Or leave it plain. The zest--while pretty--was just a little too much.

Back to the frosting. I think I need to try some variations on this frosting, like orange (orange zest and juice) and lime (lime zest and juice). It would be a delicious--and pretty-way to jazz up vanilla cupcakes.

I'm linking this post to the following parties:

Tatertots and Jello Weekend Wrap-Up

I {heart} Naptime Sundae Scoop

Under the Table and Dreaming Sunday Showcase

Sugar Bee Crafts Take-a-Look Tuesday

What's on Your Plate? at Good (Cheap) Eats

Whipperberry's Friday Flair

The Lettered Cottage Tutorial Tuesday

Home May'd Party at Southern Hospitality

Spring Decor: Burlap and Birdies Wreath

2011-04-16T21:02:00.000-07:00

I made a spring wreath today for my front door. Want to see?

It was pretty easy, once I worked out a few details. These were the basic supplies:

1 large styrofoam wreath form

Burlap

Fabric Quarters

I started by cutting out strips of burlap, roughly 1-1/2 inches wide. There was no need to be precise, so I just eyeballed it as I cut.

Then, I wrapped my burlap strips tightly around the wreath form. Since I had been warned that hot glue would melt the styrofoam, I just used small pins to pin my burlap on, at the beginning and end of each strip.

When I was done wrapping the strips of burlap around the form, my wreath looked like this:

Next, I made a pattern for my birds. I wanted to have a fairly stiff pattern for easy tracing, so I just did a little recycler's trick and opened up an empty box from my pantry.

I drew the little birdy shape that I wanted on the other side of the cracker box, and cut it out. (Sorry, I free-handed this shape, so I can't tell you where to find one like it online. I can tell you if you do a search on "bird crafts" you will find some printable patterns.)

At this point, I used my pattern to cut out a bunch of fabric birds, which I fully intended to sew together and stuff. Um, that was a lot harder than I thought it would be. My first attempt was so pathetic that I went back to the drawing board, and found an easier way to make the 3-dimmensional birds I was trying for. The second attempt was much, much better. Here is what I did:

I cut out several cardboard birds and flipped them over, so the colorful side of the cardboard was facing up.

Then, I squiggled a little hot glue across the birds, and spread some batting on top.

The birdies looked like this, when I turned them over.

I put each bird on a scrap of fabric, and trimmed the fabric so it was a similar shape, but still had plenty of fabric around the edges.

Then, using my glue gun, I pulled the fabric around onto the back of the cardboard, and glued it down.

I basically upholstered those cardboard birds. Crazy, huh? Here's what they looked like, all glued up:

(Note: before I glued the entire bird, I made sure there was enough stuffing inside, so that it would be generously puffed. If necessary, I pushed additional stuffing in with a pencil, before I glued the last bit.)

The final touch on each bird was gluing on a small burlap wing.

Next, I hot glued the birds onto the burlap wreath.

Along with this little nest, which I found on the ground near my mailbox, last fall. It's the real deal!

I didn't want the nest to be empty, so I scrunched up some fabric scraps to make little "eggs" inside of it.

I used some burlap ribbon to tie my wreath onto the wreath hanger on my door.

At that point, I was pretty pleased with what I'd made...but it did seem like something was missing.

So I added a few small buttons with my trusty glue gun.

Buttons seemed to do the trick.

For this project, I specifically looked for fabrics that would be bright and cheerful for Spring, but would not be pastel. There isn't anything pastel in my house, but there is lots of red. I like the bright pops of color against the earthy burlap.

What do you think? Do the birds make it feel springy, even without the traditional spring pastels?

I'm linking this post to the following parties:

Tatertots and Jello Weekend Wrap-Up

Funky Junk's Saturday Nite Special

I {heart} Naptime Sundae Scoop

Under the Table and Dreaming Sunday Showcase

Sugar Bee Crafts Take-a-Look Tuesday

The CSI Project Wreath Challenge

Whipperberry's Friday Flair

Strut Your Stuff at Somewhat Simple

And I'm entering this contest:

Something Special Saturday - 4/16/11

2011-04-16T19:37:00.000-07:00

It's Saturday. Again. Seriously, wasn't it just Saturday, like 2 days ago?

There just weren't enough days in my week, this time. That's the only explanation. Can I get a refund for that?

Alright, friends, I am going to freely admit that this is kind of a slacker SSS. I spent the morning writing for The CSI Project, the afternoon trying to be crafty AND supervise bedroom cleaning simultaneously (bad, bad idea), and the evening trying to re-celebrate my birthday (also bad idea: we didn't know it was prom night--all the restaurants were packed). So, instead of linking you to all the things I had fun seeing this week, I'm going to show you my Pinterest pages, where I keep those fun things. If you want more, go get a Pinterest account. (I have a tutorial for you, here.) Mmmmkay?

Celebrating:

Cooking:

Designing:

Organizing:

Travelling (the map pins):

See anything up there that intrigues you? Let me know in the comments, and I'll tell you more about it in the near future.

Want to see more? Join Pinterest. You can find a tutorial all about it here.

Already a Pinterest member? You can see more of my pins at Pinterest, my username is ruth_h.

Have a happy Saturday!

Of Omens and Amens

2011-04-14T07:47:00.000-07:00

I woke up bright and early on Tuesday, April 12, 2011, to the beginnings of a glorious day. The sun was rising in a cloudless sky, the birds were singing, the trees were blooming, and my husband and children were smiling.

It was my birthday, and I had big plans. I was going to sing, and dance, and make little crafts, spread a little mulch, and bake this beautiful cake. (I recently discovered the recipe for it, here.)

In short, the day of my--I'm proud to say it--35th birthday was going to be mah-velous, darlings, simply mah-velous!

I got the first wave of people out the door for the day, and as I was dutifully working on prepping for the second wave, the Bionic Man called to find out where I wanted to go out for dinner that evening. He suggested my favorite Italian place. It just didn't sound right. He mentioned my favorite Chinese place. Hmm....that just wasn't appealing. Mexican? Oh no, that definitely wasn't right, either. In fact, the very thought of a burrito made my stomach churn. I told the Bionic Man I'd have to get back to him about dinner, and went off to finish packing lunches for Justone and Superkid. On the way to the kitchen, I suddenly realized that all that talk of restaurants had made me positively nauseous. I confronted the jar of peanut butter that was open, waiting for me to finish making Superkid's sandwich, and felt quite faint.

"Um, I'm not feeling very well, right now," I said slowly to Justone. "Maybe you should help me make the sandwiches while I...." I never finished that sentence, because I was already running to the bathroom to throw up.

The first thing I got for my birthday, this year? Stomach flu. Or food poisoning. I'm not sure which, but I can definitely rule out pregnancy. Either way, it was NOT mah-velous.

Needless to say, instead of having this for my birthday dinner,

I had these.

Cheers.

Soooo not what I was going for, that day. All birthday plans were suspended.

Is it some kind of bad omen that my 35th birthday tried to kill me? I have to wonder.

Twenty-four hours later, I had decided that I may actually live. I wasn't completely dehydrated, and things were staying in me for a little bit longer than they had the day before, but that wasn't saying much. I bravely ventured more than 20 feet from my bathroom, so that I could get to the corner store for additional supplies.

That's right, I pulled out the big guns. Andes mints.

What? You haven't heard of the restorative properties of Andes mints?

{shaking head} Oh my, my, it is a good thing we are having this conversation.

Let's talk about Andes mints.

Years ago, my dear friend Bethany helped me discover the healing powers of Andes mints. You see, when we both lived in Connecticut, Bethany and I seemed to always have babies within six months of one another. Without any planning or communication whatsoever, this happened three times in a row. It made the sharing of maternity clothes extremely convenient. When I was pregnant, constipation was not a problem for me. Oh no, the opposite was true. All that iron in the prenatal vitamins gave me diarrhea. During one pregnancy, as I was bemoaning the state of my bowels to Bethany, she said, "Haven't you tried that old German remedy, yet?"

"WHAT old German remedy?" I asked, somewhat suspiciously. Bethany had lived in the same German city we had lived in, although not at the same time. She should know about old German remedies.

"Chocolate!" Bethany informed me cheerfully. "Chocolate can cure diarrhea!"

"You can't be serious," I responded skeptically.

"Really," she told me. "Chocolate is constipating, so you eat some really good chocolate, and it gets rid of your diarrhea. One of my German friends fed me chocolate when I was sick, once, and I got better, just like that! Even if it doesn't help, it tastes good," Bethany reassured me.

I was desperate enough to try it. I remember standing in the grocery store candy aisle, pregnant and nauseous, trying to figure out which chocolate seemed the least likely to make me vomit. For some strange reason, the Andes mints seemed like the only thing I could stomach. I took them home and gingerly tried a couple. And a couple more. And a couple more....and then....

....and then I realized it had been more than two hours since I'd had to run to the bathroom. I was cured!

Can we have an AMEN for the Andes mints?

Since then, Andes mints have been my go-to cure for diarrhea that lasts more than 24 hours. I'm a believer that stomach flu symptoms should run their course (no pun intended), because there is obviously something in your system that needs to get out. But, if diarrhea hangs on beyond a day or two, it is time for the Andes. Something about the chocolate, or the mint, or the combination thereof does the trick. Or, it could quite possibly be the placebo effect. I can't rule that out. But hey--as far as quack cures go, what could be more enjoyable than minty chocolate?

So glad I could share all of the useful wisdom I've gathered in thirty-five years of living with you today.

Now, thanks to Bethany and my Andes mints, I'm off to gather the supplies I need for some big-time Spring projects. Sewing and crafts GALORE for the next few days! Stay tuned for a belated birthday giveaway, too.

Something Special Saturday - 4/9/11

2011-04-09T04:03:00.000-07:00

I don't know if it is because I just came back from vacation, or what, but I have to confess something. I've become obsessed with maps. Specifically, maps used for decoration.

I've been finding super fun ways to decorate with maps, lately, and I'm just about ready to roll up my sleeves and put together a map room. (We're all about going places, in this family.) I've never really done anything to decorate our basement rec room, maybe that's because it needs to become the map room. Check out what I've found, so far:

Vintage World Canvas from Etsy shop LilyGene's

World Map Giant Pillow from Etsy shop MyBeardedPidgeon

Customizable Your Home is Where the Heart Is print from Etsy shop LilyGene's

Fascinating Cork Board Map from blog DesignDump

DIY Map Picture frame from Maybe Matilda

DIY (seriously?) Canvas Map Art from Save it For a Rainy Day

I think I could have way too much fun with this idea.

Hope you get to enjoy your weekend! The kids and I have a big yard clean-up project planned.

Budget Travel: Details on the Trip to Florida, Part 2

2011-04-08T13:37:00.000-07:00

Like I said yesterday, if you aren't interested in thrifty vacations, feel free to skip this one! This is my second post about

A Trip to Holland's Trip to Florida on a Budget

Yesterday, I told you how lots of planning and some creative thinking help us to keep our travel costs down. Today, I'm going to tell you about how we find ways to save on expenses that occur during the vacation, like travel, activities, and souvenirs.

It's important to consider the daily expense of food when you plan a vacation. For any trip we take, one of the ways we cut down on food expenses is to bring a lot of food with us. It is simply less expensive to buy food at the bargain prices you are used to finding at your favorite close-to-home store. It's also a time-saver to bring things along. We usually bring a large bin of non-perishable items with us, as well as a cooler of perishable foods. Even if the hotel room doesn't come equipped with a kitchenette, we find that keeping a cooler of food in our room filled with ice from the machine down the hall works well.

A vacation should be a vacation for everyone in the family, so I like to take a break from cooking when we are away from home. To eat out every meal would be an unnecessary drain on our trip budget, so we've found other ways to keep the cost and the prep time down. Buying convenience foods at local grocery stores (precut and washed veggies and fruits, for instance, or frozen entrees) during the vacation is a lower-cost, healthier alternative to eating out every meal. I purchase lots of easy-to-serve foods and snacks before we leave on vacation, to bring along with us: mini bagels, cheese sticks, dried fruit, nuts--these become nutritious meals on the go. Even when we're camping, I find ways to get out of big-time cooking duties, like cooking soup from a mix, or bringing along the fixin's for taco salad.

Living on sandwiches for a week isn't fun for anyone, so we try to budget for a few restaurant and/or fast food meals during the trip. Restaurant meals are a terrific way to sample local fare and specialties: we've enjoyed lobster in Maine, blueberry pancakes in New Hampshire, pulled pork in Arkansas, and German food in Milwaukee. There's a place for fast food, too, which can come in handy on long driving days.

many schools and organizations do fundraisers with gift cards for national chain restaurants. Sometimes the gift cards are even discounted. Stock up and save later when you dine out on vacation.
Restaurant.com sells discounted gift cards for restaurants nationwide (usually local restaurants). Typically, you can purchase a $25 certificate for $10, on this site--sometimes less, if they are running a promotion. Check their listings for restaurants at your vacation location, then check out those restaurants on Tripadvisor.com. One caution about this money-saver: the certificates sold are more like coupons that gift cards, so pay attention to the restrictions listed on them.
Order creatively. Remember, when you are on vacation, it is unlikely that you'll actually save your leftovers. Kids meals are usually less than $5, but consider ordering one appetizer and one entree to to split between two adults--trust me, there will be plenty of food! Drinks always add up, so order water or bring in your own soda. (Corny, I know, but doable.)
Avoid eating at the cafes in museums and amusement parks. These places typically charge premium prices for low-quality food. If you can bring in a small cooler or take a lunch break back in the parking lot at your car, do it. You'll save money and avoid gross food.

The boiled shrimp we ordered at Destin's beachside Back Porch Restaurant.

Our family loves fresh seafood, so we knew that we wanted to eat at least one really good seafood restaurant while we were in Destin. We checked online restaurant reviews and locations in advance, until we found one that was going to give us good food in a fun location. My theory is: if I'm going to splurge on a dining experience, it had better be worthwhile! Planning in advance where we would go spared us the time-waster and potential gamble of driving around looking for a place that "looks good". The Back Porch Restaurant did not disappoint, and we loved the gorgeous view of the ocean we had as we dined on the deck..

Souvenirs are another luxury item that can add up, too, if you let them. Our children get a pre-paid debit card with an amount from their savings that they choose to spend before our vacations. (We can do this for free through our bank.) They understand that the money is theirs to spend for souvenirs. Frequently, this results in the children being very selective in their spending, knowing that they are spending their own money. It takes the emotion out and puts the logic into their vacation spending (and ours). I can't tell you how much whining and begging this eliminates. Instead of begging us for cheap China-made kitsch when we pass through a gift shop, our children ask us if we think the items that catch their eye are "worth it." It's a fantastic switch: instead of being the bad guys who tell our kids "no" over and over again, The Bionic Man and I get to serve as friendly advisors to our little shoppers.

I know moms who plan in advance and purchase things like t-shirts with the destination logo on them online at discount prices before leaving on vacation. This is a terrific money-saver for anyone going on, say, a Disney vacation. Rather than pay the premium prices inside the park, get your kids their Disney-fied wardrobe selections in advance. You save money while they get to sport the gear like so many others they see in the parks. One mom I know found thrifted Disney princess dresses before their trip, and brought along her own supplies for a "princess makeover" that she did for her girls in their hotel room, rather than pay $80-300 for the professional Disney version.

Mandy, the blogger at Sugar Bee Crafts, made outfits for her kids to wear during their Disney vacation for a fraction of the cost she would have spent to buy the Disney brand items. Read about them here and here.

On the flip side, we've learned that there are a few things that it's just not worth it to try to haul around on a vacation. Case in point: plastic beach toys, like buckets and shovels. They are bulky, hard to pack, and when you try to bring them home, they get sand all over everything. We've learned that it's okay to spend $5-10 on plastic beach toys at a local Wal-Mart once we arrive at our destination. We feel zero guilt about leaving them behind or passing them to another family we meet at the beach on our last day.

One of the most important things I have learned about vacationing on a budget is that you just can't put a price on the value of spending time together as a family, away from the typical distractions of daily life. While we do have lots of fun doing things like hiking up mountains, touring museums, and looking for dolphins, some of our best memories have been made on the way to those places. Our kids still laugh and tell stories about what happened at the rest stop in upstate New York, or the funny thing Daddy said when we were driving through Missouri. Those things just can't be planned.

And when it comes to planning, our kids are at a point in their lives where the most important thing to them about our vacations is that we have planned to spend time together. Doing that does not require all-inclusive resorts or cruise ships. One of my favorite memories from our recent Florida vacation wasn't something I planned. One morning, Endeavor, Justone, and I got up early and went jogging on the beach together, barefoot. We ran down the boardwalk together, then ran down this end of the beach

and all the way back to this end of the beach.

It was so fun to run, with the waves chasing us, as the sun grew brighter in the morning sky. Endeavor and Justone are still talking about it. It was free, it didn't require any planning, and only made me a little sore. But it left us with memories we'll treasure for a long time. And that, my friends, is priceless.

Check out my friend Kim's website full of resources for low-cost travel. Budget Travel Tricks.

Budget Travel: Details on the Trip to Florida, Part 1

2011-04-07T19:07:00.000-07:00

So, as you know, we enjoyed a lovely spring break roadtrip to Florida, last week. It's always hard to rejoin real life after a great vacation, but I'm almost there. (And no, for anyone who needs an update, I haven't found my wedding/anniversary/this-is-the-ring-that-says-I'm-married band yet. And, as long as I'm following up on things, Hunter the Dog did see the vet, and he is now recovering nicely.)

Perhaps because it's hard to leave a good vacation behind, I'm reliving it this week on the ole' blog. Cheap therapy is one of the reasons I blog, remember? I'll warn you that this is a wordy one, so if you're not interested in the money-saving details of our recent trip, feel free to move on! Monday you got the vacation recovery post, Wednesday you got the oh-man-that-was-fun post, and today you're getting.....

A Trip to Holland's Trip to Florida on a Budget

First, I have some 'splainin to do. (Say that like Ricki Ricardo from I Love Lucy.)

The Bionic Man and I really, really like to travel. We've made it a priority to try to see as many different places as we can, since we've been married. And, we've made it a priority to take our children along with us to most of those places. It does cost money to travel. While we aren't financial brainiacs, we have made travel a priority in our budget.

How do we do that?

Well, mostly we do without some things and do some things ourselves, when it comes to general household expenses, which helps us have that money available for fun things, like travelling. In other words, we don't have cable television, we don't drive new cars, the kids don't have cell phones, the Bionic Man does most of our car repairs himself, I sew and thrift some of our clothing, and I make a lot of our food from scratch. When the Bionic Man's salary was a leaner, we had to reeeeeaaaallly stretch those travel dollars. Nowadays, we don't have to stretch quite so far, but we choose to stick to budget travel options so that we can do more vacations more frequently.

I guess that's my disclaimer--I realize that everyone has different financial priorities. You have to do what works for you. Here are some of the things that work for us:

Plan, plan, and plan some more. Around here, we're planners--we like to make big plans for all kinds of things. This can really come in handy when it comes to saving money on vacation. "But wait!" I can hear you saying. "What about all those last-minute travel deals I hear about? Isn't that the way to save? Isn't it better to be spontaneous?" I won't deny that those deals aren't out there, and that we haven't taken advantage of them. However, if you have a place in mind that you want to visit, just starting to research information on the places to see and things to do there will help you be ready to take advantage of the occasional last-minute-deal that pops up. The reality is, the further in advance you plan a trip, the more likely you are going to be to get the reservations you want at the prices you want.

How else can planning save you money? Planning eliminates a lot of surprises. Knowing that it frequently rains at your vacation destination, for instance, may cause you to pack rain gear that you'd otherwise have to buy at a premium at your vacation destination. Learning not only what the available activities are in your vacation location but also what the actual costs of those activities are will help you stick to your travel budget. It's no fun to come home from a vacation burdened by debt.

Formerly, I would look up info on the places we wanted to go, and jot down notes and numbers on sticky notes and random papers. I might throw them all in a folder, or I might just lose them. My ultra-organized Bionic Man has recently converted me to spreadsheets, so now I fill out one of these babies as I research potential vacations. This is the one for our recent trip to Florida. I have another one I'm filling out for a trip we'd like to go on to Prince Edward Island, some day.

You can't see it on there, but that list even included restaurants we planned to visit, with ballpark menu prices. We didn't do all the things on my spreadsheet, but that list was a handy reference tool as we decided what we'd like to do. When you can look at the costs of all potential activities in advance, it is much easier to make judgements on what you are willing to spend money on. Once you are on vacation, you are far more likely to make spending decisions based on emotions, not logic, unless you've planned ahead.

Think outside the suitcase--er, box. Low-cost travel requires some creative thinking. You might figure out ways to save on meals by bringing food with you. You might think of ideas for finding the best deals on souvenirs. For us, we tend to focus on creative ways to save on lodging, as that tends to be one of the costliest aspects of travel. I've discovered that by doing a little research, we don't have to be stuck in flea-bag motels.

Camping - if you are willing to sacrifice indoor plumbing and a soft bed, camping can be a great option. I know it is not for everyone, but it can be a surprisingly fun way to enjoy a destination vacation. State parks are usually a waaaaay better option that commercial campgrounds (with a few exceptions). The state parks we've camped at have great locations, terrific scenery, and very clean facilities. The price of $15-30 per night at a state park, compared to the cost of a hotel, is an obvious money saver. At that price, you can even afford restaurant meals, if cooking outdoors isn't your thing.

Our campsite was just a short walk from the beach, down this beautiful boardwalk.

RV Rental - for some locations, it just makes sense to rent an RV. While I was originally willing to camp in a tent on this trip, the convenience of an RV was undeniable. We faced two dilemmas that would make tent camping difficult: we failed to make campground reservations early, so spots were limited and we had to change sites everynight AND the spring weather in Florida can be unpredictable. Rather than spend $250+ per night on a small beachside condo rental in Destin, we spent a little over $100 per night to rent the RV. Since we rented close to our camping location and had another vehicle available, our mileage and gas costs were very low. The kitchenette in the RV made it possible for us to have quick meals without spending money on dining out. We had both heating and air conditioning in our RV, making it easy to deal with the unpredictable weather.

This was our second experience with renting from Cruise America, and we've been really happy with their service. They frequently have promotional deals, and I understand that the further in advance you reserve your trip, the more money you can save. Click here to see what our RV was like.

Hotels - sometimes we do stay in hotels. Years ago, when my husband started travelling for work, he signed up for the Marriott Rewards program. He gets points for Marriott stays and purchases he makes on the Marriott credit card that he uses for reimbursable business travel. We use those points for our vacation travel. Even lower-budget Marriott hotels do not disappoint. When a Marriott isn't available at our destination, I rely on the website Trip Advisor. Trip Advisor provides hotel (and restaurant and cruise and activity) reviews based on customer reviews. Reading the Trip Advisor reviews, sometimes I discover that a "budget" motel has a higher customer satisfaction ranking than swankier ones in the same location, so I feel confident in booking a stay there. When we travelled in Europe, we often opted out of hotel stays and did something other tourists did not do: stayed at farms and homes that rented rooms (like a bed & breakfast). We loved the homey atmosphere and personalized service.

So, with all this planning, are our vacations run like a precision military operation? Hardly. I doesn't matter how much planning you do--going someplace new requires flexibility. Our little spreadsheets of information and plans make us feel like we have more flexibility. If we need to make a change of plans, we can easily check for alternative options within our price range.

All the planning that we do often spares us in advance from having a less-than-ideal vacation. Sometimes, as we start researching a "dream" vacation, we discover along the way that it might not be the right vacation at the right time. For instance, when Endeavor, Justone, and Superkid were teeny-tiny, we got a hankering to go to Disney World. In trying to find the lowest possible cost for such a trip, we discovered that particular dream vacation would probably be more dreamy if we waited until our children were older. We opted for a much more relaxed, low-pressure vacation spot that year, and never regretted it. It's perfectly okay to make plans and put them on hold. (I have to admit, spreadsheets are great that way. Thank you, Bionic Man!)

Rocky Bayou State Park, our first stop in Florida.

Still interested? Stay tuned for tomorrow's post, when I share how we save on food, souvenirs, and other travel expenses.

My friend, Kim, has a great website full of resources for low-cost travel.

Check out her Budget Travel Tricks.

The Cure for the Common Cold

2011-04-06T21:49:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned the other day, I discovered the cure for the common cold on a beach in Destin, Florida, last week. We spent most of our spring break there, and it was sooooo nice to get away from the Midwestern chill for a few days.

Here are some of the pics from our trip. I didn't take along my shiny, new camera for this trip, because I was a little nervous about sand and water. Instead, Bionic Man brought along his trusty (NOT! SO NOT!) waterproof camera. You know how I feel about that camera. I let Bionic Man take most of the pictures, this time, because of my grudge with his camera. So, enjoy these pics in all of their blue-date-in-the-corner glory. And remember, Bionic Man mostly takes pictures of feats of engineering and nature, so any humans included are lucky to be there.

Speaking of feats of engineering, our first stop was at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

Not only did we get to see a lot of rockets, we all got to enjoy quite a few hands-on activities, including simulators like the astronauts train with. This is the home of Space Camp, after all.

(Note the tiny group of humans standing next to this feat of engineering, below. That would be me and my children. We're almost covered by the big blue date, but we're there!)

The next day, we picked up our rented RV (more about that later) and spent our first day in Florida at Rocky Bayou State Park, in Niceville, Florida.

Rocky Bayou isn't on the beach. It's on the Bayou. The, uh, um, the rocky Bayou.

We enjoyed exploring the nature trails there, and learning more about the flora and fauna in Florida. They have some pretty cool things that we don't see in Indiana, like this deer moss. Freaky, eh?

The next day, we drove a few minutes south into Destin, Florida. There, we made camp at Henderson State Beach.

And what a beach it was.....

The big advantage of camping in Florida is this: instead of having a few feet of beach that you share with hundreds of other people from your high rise resort, you share a mile of beach with the residents of 50 or so campsites. In our case, the other residents were all retirees. We frequently had this stretch of beach all to ourselves. It was heavenly.

It was at the beach when the waterproof camera started being--well, a little quirky. Quirkier than usual. Aren't these pictures strange?

When we came home and downloaded the pictures, we discovered our video footage was even stranger. For some reason, it looks like my Grandpa Bradford's home movies. You know, the ones on a reel? It's actually pretty trendy and cool, considering how much we're all into vintage right now. Check it out:

Seriously, guys, can someone just TELL ME THE TEMPERATURE OF THE WATER?!?!?

Our last full day in Florida, we went down to Destin's Harbor Walk

and took a boat from there out to snorkle and sea kayak at this jetty.

Thanks to the wonkiness of the waterproof camera, we didn't get any good underwater pictures. But it was fun to see the blue crabs, jellyfish, and colorful fish swimming around in the rocks. It was actually warmer in the water than out of it, that day.

We spent two days driving back, because the Bionic Man and I cannot handle long drives. (We're all about seeing the sights.) Since those days coincided with General Conference, we stopped at several LDS church buildings along our route so that we could watch the conference sessions via satellite broadcasts. It was fun, not only to participate in the conference that way, but to meet people at the different buildings. They were always very welcoming and friendly.

Saturday evening, as I checked the meetinghouse locator on LDS.org and planned our route for the following day, I started to cry. There was the map of our route, with hundreds of little red dots marking LDS churches along the way. The realization that all over the map, there were families like ours trying to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ was just overwhelming. I absolutely know that my church doesn't have a corner on the market when it comes to good Christians. I have met so many wonderful, good people who aren't members of my church. But, I love that I can walk into any of the buildings represented by those little red dots, and know exactly what to expect: the same doctrines, the same teachings, the same feeling of peace, the same welcoming smiles and warm handshakes. It doesn't matter where I go in the world, I know I'll always be able to find people who share my beliefs and values, and that is extremely comforting.

A couple of the meetinghouses that we stopped at were right next to temples, so we enjoyed seeing those. It was fun to take pictures of our family at temples we'd never been to, before. Temples are a big deal to us, because they remind our family that we get to be together forever.

Whew! Long post. I bet you feel kinda like you got invited over for dinner and then I made you watch all the slides from my last vacation. Sorry!

Lost and Found

2011-04-04T10:00:00.000-07:00

Lost: simple, thick wedding/anniversary band. Given to me on our 10th wedding anniversary by the Bionic Man. It is tungsten, which means it is shiny, almost black, and extremely cool. Tungsten is the strongest metal known to man, which means it doesn't scratch. Perfect anniversary gift. Discovered it was missing at a rest stop in Franklin, Tennessee. Don't remember taking it off. (I never take it off!) I'm distraught. Praying I will find it in my luggage.

Found: the sweater I didn't think I had packed. In the luggage. There is hope for the ring, isn't there?

Lost: the horrible chest cold I had when we left on our spring break vacation. It is almost completely gone, poof!

Found: the cure for the common cold! The medicinal properties of lying on a beach have not been sufficiently studied. I tell you, all it took was a day lying in the warm sun on a Florida beach for me to feel like a new woman. Stuffy nose and cough, gone. {snaps fingers} Like that! Next time I get sick, I'm ditching the Mucinex and going to the beach, instead.

Lost: the pure-as-the-driven-snow white skin I've been sporting since, oh, about October of 2010.

Found: actual skin pigment. Saying I have a tan is stretching the truth, but I am sporting a lovely, warm shade of pale beige, now.

Lost: the belief that we can take a vacation without the family dog and everything will be just fine. Everything was not fine, as you will read below, and due to my extreme guilt, Hunter the Dog will be coming on all future family vacations.

Found: a nasty pile of dog diarrhea this morning as I entered the girls' room, barefoot. Not a great way to start the morning. In poor Hunter the Dog's defense, he tried to tell me he wasn't feeling well. Apparently, being boarded away from the family for a week stresses Hunter the Dog. We are going to the vet in a few minutes. We may have to explore his abandonment issues in therapy. I'm almost feeling like the worst dog-mother in the world, but not quite, because I single-handedly cleaned up the dog diarrhea, and still felt sorry for Hunter. That has to give me some points, right?

Lost: so much stress and anxiety about all the big decisions and potential changes we have coming down the pipe around here.

Found: a renewed confirmation that stuff is just stuff. Our little family is a family no matter where we are or where we are going or where we have been or what we are taking along with us. I loved just being with my family, watching my children have fun with each other, and all those incredibly side-splitting moments when we were "stuck" in a car together. It made me so happy to roast marshmallows with the Bionic Man over the campfire after the children went to bed. Memories can be kept, stuff can't be.

Lost: Spring Break 2011. It's officially over.

Found: my sanity.

Sliding Home

2011-03-31T02:30:00.000-07:00

I may have mentioned before that Bionic Man is extremely creative. He comes up with some pretty wild ideas, some of which I won't mention. (Like how he'd love to install clear tubes along the ceiling and fill them with water and tropical fish. If only I would let him....) Most of those wild ideas turn into amazing finished products, once Bionic Man gets to turn his ideas into reality, like our gazebo playscape.

Even before we were married, Bionic Man shared his dream with me of having a slide inside our future home. We're not talking a Little Tykes mini slide, we're talking a slide. And you know what? I kinda dug that idea. Unfortunately, we just haven't ever lived in a home where a slide was architecturally feasible. It seemed like something we'd have to design ourselves.

Recently, a friend showed me pictures of a home in Japan, with a slide as the central design feature. I loved it!

Curated

Trust me, you'll want to see the other pictures of this home.

Those pictures got me wondering about other homes with slides, so I went looking and found these:

homedit

High Gloss Blue

Jeff McGinnis

Still, those homes made the idea of an indoor slide seem, well, only attainable to the very wealthy. Seriously, the only people putting glass railings on their stairwells are people who can afford housekeepers. And nannies. And window washers.

Then, I stumbled upon an indoor slide for the real world--or at least the world that I live in. Blogger Erin from Decor Allure and her husband actually worked a slide into the design when they finished their basement. Suddenly, an indoor slide seems more within our reach. here to tell you, it was the slide that caught my eye, but the whole basement is just fantastic.

Take a look at the view from the top of the stairs:

That ladder on the landing leads to the top of the slide.

And the slide comes out in the new rec room.

Talk about fun! As you can imagine, there is a long line for the slide when Erin's family hosts a party. But I'm sure the swing gets plenty of use, too.

Does Erin have the greatest home on the block, or what? Don't just take my word for it, go visit Erin and look at some of the other pictures of her new basement. She and her husband, veteran DIYers, did a beautiful job on finishing the rest of the recreation room, as well as bedrooms and a bathroom down there. I covet the bookshelves right along with the slide.

Do you have any wild ideas you've been dreaming of for your own home?

Pinteresting Tutorial

2011-03-29T02:33:00.000-07:00

What? What's that you say? I misspelled the word interesting?

Au contraire, my friends. I have discovered the website Pinterest.

Well, to be fair, I didn't exactly discover it. Kami from No Biggie told her readers about it, here. I was curious, and went exploring. What I found is just too fun not to share!

About Pinterest

What it is: I like to think of it as the virtual equivalent to my habit of ripping pages out of magazines and filing them. Pinterest is an online tool that lets you store images on your own virtual "bulletin board." Here's what the folks at Pinterest have to say about it:

Think of Pinterest as a virtual pinboard — a place where you can create collections of things you love and "follow" collections created by people with great taste.

People use Pinterest to collect and share all sorts of things -- wedding inspiration, favorite T-shirts, DJ equipment. You name it, people are pinning it.

What you can do with it: Sometimes I find things online--via blogs, Etsy, or other websites, that really intrigue me. Maybe it's an article of clothing I think I could sew myself. It could be a DIY project that would work great in my home. Often, I find recipes that I want to try out. But the problem is, how do I store it, keep track of it, remember where it came from, and quickly retrieve it--after I've found it? Pinterest solves that dilemma. I can quickly "pin" things I like, and send them directly to be stored on one of my Pinterest boards. The folks at Pinterest take care of making sure that there is an accompanying image, a link back, and that proper credit is given. Fantastic!

Getting Started

Okay, since I'm just getting started with Pinterest, this is by no means an exhaustive tutorial. But here are the basics.

Go to Pinterest.com and click on "Request an Invite." If an invitation doesn't arrive in your inbox within a few hours, email me (triptoholland {at} gmail {dot} com). Send me the email address you'd like to use, and I will send you an invitation. (I understand there are a few bugs with the invites, right now, since this is a fairly new site.)

Once you have a Pinterest account, you'll be able to create a profile, categorize a list of boards, and begin "pinning". I found that Pinterest walked me through creating my profile and board categories. It was a cinch. Here's what my Pinterest page looks like:

I'll use my screen to show you how to start pinning from your Pinterest page.

Pinterest is really user friendly. When you begin pinning, Pinterest will walk you through the steps of getting a tool for your browser for easy pinning.

This is what the Pinterest tool looks like when you are browsing the web.

Nothing to it!

Once you've started, you can refer to your categorized bulletin boards when you are looking for some inspiration. Here's what is on my Crafting board, right now:

You can click on an individual picture to get more information about it--a description you wrote, where you found it, where you can read more about it, etc.

It's genius!

From what I can tell, there is a social networking aspect to Pinterest, too. For now, I'm really just interested in using it for online organization of things that inspire me. But I'm guessing you could have a lot of fun swapping ideas back and forth with friends this way.

If you are anything like me, you are going to find Pinterest really handy for keeping track of the things that you saw once online, loved, and never could find again. Enjoy!

Something Special Saturday - 3/26/11

2011-03-26T02:37:00.000-07:00

It's that time again!

This week, the official week of our semi-annual Great Sort (read about it here), I have clothing on my brain. Specifically, spring/summer dressy outfits for my girls, since I need to get going on some dresses or skirts if I am going to have them ready for Easter.

I've been looking at the Matilda Jane website and thinking about how to replicate this or this dress for Superkid, and this skirt for Endeavor. Totally doable.

Have you been to Hawthorne Threads, yet? I {heart} this site. To be honest, I've never actually placed an order, but my goodness I have a lot of fun looking and getting inspired. One of my favorite things about the Hawthorne Threads site is their color grid. You can click on any color in the grid, and a slew of beautiful fabrics featuring that color will appear on the screen. Click on any fabric, and there is a group of coordinating fabrics shown below it, as well as similar patterns in alternate colors. My sister and I had waaaaaay too much fun playing with the color grid last summer, when I visited at her house.

Here's proof that I've been playing with the color grid again while I've been thinking about sewing for my girls. How do you like these combos?

Enjoy your weekend!

The Great Sort

2011-03-24T02:30:00.000-07:00

There is a semi-annual ritual at our house each spring and each fall which I refer to as The Great Sort.

Sounds exciting, doesn't it? A little like Hogwarts? Unfortunately, there are no banquets or sorting hats involved, which might be nice. The assistance of a sorting hat would be appreciated, and goodness knows I'm pro-banquet. Note that I didn't say that, unlike Hogwarts, no witches or warlocks are involved in The Great Sort, because (also, unfortunately) I'm usually a witch by the time The Great Sort is over. Frankly, there is really nothing great about the semi-annual Great Sort.

Ahem. {Composing self.}

The Great Sort is the week when I go through all of the children's clothing in our house, putting away the clothes from one season and pulling out the ones for the new season. Warm weather to cold, cold weather back to warm. Twice a year. The Great Sort of Spring 2011 is currently in progress. There are bins and piles of clothing all over the floor of my daughters' bedroom, right now, and a few in my own.

Can we talk? Can we really talk? Because I need to talk about The Great Sort. I'm hoping it will be therapeutic.

Now, this may be the most boring blog post I've ever composed, fair warning. If you want to read something that will really get you thinking, I recommend you click over and read this at Clover Lane, and come back another day. No worries! I won't be offended!

Okey Dokey. For those of you still here.....the Great Sort originated when my children were small and the weather would make a change for the better.....or for the worse. I'd wash up all their clothes, and then I'd open the box of clothing that was saved for the next season. Even when Endeavor was small, I had a few things saved, waiting for her to grow into them, that I'd found on deep discount or had been handed down from a friend in a larger size. I'd figure out what we had that would work for the coming season, make lists of what we needed to buy, put away the articles of clothing that were still good to save for future needs, and then make a pile of a few things to send to Goodwill or turn into rags, depending on their condition.

It was a manageable operation when Endeavor and Justone were small. Then we added Superkid to our family, and the operation grew. Now, I had a little girl to pass the outgrown big girl clothes to. About that time, we became the recipients of some lovely hand-me-downs from several friends who didn't have younger daughters to pass things onto. It wasn't long before the process of storing and bringing out and trying on clothing became a much more involved process.

I think what really makes it complicated is all the laundry involved. Finding and washing all the things that need to be put away, keeping those separate from all the things we're getting out....oh, it gives me a headache just thinking about it! Even with my large capacity washer and dryer, it is quite a chore. Especially when I have three little people pulling things out of the carefully ordered piles. And then there are the lists. I have to make lists of what we have and what we need, and knowing what we need involves children trying on clothes and voicing their opinions. Granted, I have no doubt that I'm saving money by going out to shop armed with a detailed list of what everyone needs. But the process to get there can be downright exhausting.

In Paris, New York, and Milan, they have Spring and Fall fashion weeks. At our house, we have The Great sort. During The Great Sort, we don't have paparazzi and our outfits are age appropriate and modest, so it's not a completely accurate comparison. But sometimes my models do have attitudes, and I definitely feel like the sheer amount of clothing strewn across the floor could rival that in any swanky designer's studio.

Me: (looking in Endeavor's closet for things that don't fit) Endeavor, what about this shirt? Surely it doesn't fit anymore. And you never wear it.

Endeavor: (holding up the shirt, which is definitely too short) This is my most favorite shirt! I love this shirt, even though I never wear it anymore!

Superkid: (eying the shirt with a gleam in her eye) It's my favorite shirt, too, Endeavor. I've been waiting and waiting for you to grow out of it.

Endeavor: Mom! That's not fair! She can't just expect to automatically have all my clothes!

Me: Um, Endeavor, that's usually what happens around here. You just said yourself that you don't wear that shirt anymore. What exactly are you planning on doing with it?

Endeavor: I don't know! Something! Like, maybe I'll cut out the letters on the shirt and frame them or something. (Looking at shirt with adoration.) These letters are awesome.

Superkid: No! You can't cut that! It fits me! It's my shirt, now! Mom, Endeavor said she was going to cut up my shirt! Make her stop!

Who needs television with that kind of drama? Like I said, The Great Sort makes for a long week, twice a year. But, there has got to be a better way, right? And I would love to discover what it is! So, feel free to share your tips with me. Have you found an effective way to store and sort off-season clothing? What's your system?

Dining Decadence on a Dime

2011-03-23T14:48:00.000-07:00

In looking through some of my older posts, I found this one. Since it is about one of my family's favorite meals--one that everyone loves, miraculously--I thought I'd recycle the original post with some simplified instructions. Enjoy!

People don't think of seafood as a cheap meal, unless they are thinking fish sticks. When you prepare your seafood at home, however, you can get far more bang for your buck than if you ordered it at a restaurant! This particular menu can be prepared with frozen seafood with excellent results. At my favorite local grocery store (Aldi), frozen shrimp and frozen salmon fillets periodically go on sale for $2-3/lb. I can buy it, put it in my freezer, and pull it out later to use in this special meal.

To make this recipe, you will need:

8 salmon fillets

6 oz. cooked, peeled, and deveined shrimp (variation: 3 oz. shrimp, 3 oz. crab--you can use canned!)

2 tablespoons mayonaise

2 teaspoons artisan/gourmet *mustard

4-5 oz. brie cheese

1/2 - 3/4 cup plain bread crumbs

1 bunch scallions

3 tablespoons butter, divided

salt and pepper (I prefer fresh ground sea salt and peppercorns)

dillweed (fresh or dry)

Hollandaise Sauce (recipe below)

A good knife

*I used some Walla Wall Sweet Onion Mustard my husband brought home from a business trip,

but I'm sure Grey Poupon would work, too!

1. If you are using frozen salmon and shrimp (like I did), make sure that yours are completely thawed. You want to use fillets that are at least 1-1/2 inches thick.

2. Put the 6 oz. of shrimp and/or crab into your food processor or use your knife to cut it into fine pieces.

3. Once the shrimp finely chopped, throw it into a mixing bowl and add the mustard and mayo, salt and pepper to taste, and 1/2 teaspoon dillweed.

4. Cut the brie cheese into small pieces and add to the shrimp mixture. If you don't use brie, you could try substituting another soft cheese. Try cream cheese or swiss cheese and let me know how it works for you!

5. Lightly sautee the scallions in 1 Tablespoon of the butter. Once they have softened slightly, add the breadcrumbs to the frying pan and toss them around a little until they are just lightly toasted. This will happen very quickly--don't walk away from those breadcrumbs or they will burn!

6. Remove the breadcrumbs from the stove to cool for a minute while you cut the salmon fillets. Use a good knife to slice the salmon on three sides, so that you can open it like a book. I believe this is called butterflying by people who know how to cook, but since I really don't know how to cook, I won't call it that. You can be preheating the oven to 375 degrees while you are working on this step.

7. Add half the breadcrumb/scallion mixture to the shrimp/brie mixture and mix it well. If the stuffing seems too dry, feel free to add a little more mayo.

8. Line a large baking dish with foil and spray it with non-stick cooking spray. Open each fillet and place a generous scoop of stuffing inside. Close them up and place the fillets in the baking dish. (It is okay if the stuffing looks like it is going to pop out of the fillets.)

9. Top the fillets with the remaining breadcrumb/scallion mixture. Take the remaining butter, cut it into small pieces, and put a small piece of butter onto each fillet.

10. Place the stuffed salmon, uncovered, into a 375 degree oven. Cook the salmon until it will flake with a fork, about 15-20 minutes. (This is longer than you would normally cook salmon, because of the stuffing.) Check the salmon at about 10 minutes, because you never ever want to overcook fish!

11. Garnish each fillet with hollandaise sauce and a sprinkle of dillweed.

Hollandaise sauce is so yummy and I have found a no-fail method to make it. You have to try this sauce on asparagus, sometime. It is carnal food bliss.

To make hollandaise sauce, you will need:

1/2 cup butter

3 egg yolks

1 tablespoon water

1 tablespoon lemon juice

dash of white pepper

A blender

1. Approximately 5 minutes before the salmon is finished, place the butter in a microwave-safe dish and melt it in the microwave.

2. Put egg yolks, water, lemon juice, and pepper in the blender. Blend on high.

3. While the blender is on, carefully pour in the melted butter. Continue to blend for about a minute.

That's it! You have a perfect hollandaise sauce. Drizzle it over your stuffed salmon and relish the savory tang it adds. If you need to keep it warm, pour it into a small glass bowl, put some hot water into another, larger, glass bowl, and float the bowl of hollandaise sauce in the hot water. That worked for me.

I like to serve green beans sauteed with roasted red peppers alongside this seafood dish.

I have three picky eaters, one of whom claims she doesn't like shrimp and another who claims she doesn't like cheese. The first time I served this, they both chowed it down and unabashedly asked for seconds. It's delicious!

Weathered Wood & Wire Picture Holder

2011-03-23T00:24:00.000-07:00

I've been in a bit of a funk lately, have you noticed? I'm suffering from a severe case of writer's block, crafter's block, DIYer's block, and housekeeper's block. It's been terrible. You are welcome to bring casseroles.

Anywho, I was wracking my poor brain for inspiration and thought to look back in my blogging files for unpublished stuff.....and, looky here! I found somethin'.

Here is what it took to make this fun little number:

paint (I used Rust-oleum Satin Aqua spray paint)
18 gauge aluminum or copper wire--the kind used for hanging picture frames
sturdy wooden shape--a block, scrap 2x4, pedestal candle stick, etc.--that is flat on at least one side. (I used a short piece of unfinished oak railing, leftover from another project)
sandpaper and glue
I started out by covering my decorative wooden piece with a couple coats of aqua spray paint.

Originally, I intended to decoupage on this after the paint was dry. But, once I saw how the grain of the oak still stood out on the piece, I decided to roll with that, forget the decoupage, and rough up the wood a little. You could do this with sandpaper, but since my very first power tool purchase was this sander, I use it at every possible opportunity!

Roughing proceeded.

Next, I pulled out the wire, and began bending one end into a simple design, like this.

I bent it a little more,

then added a couple of small twists an inch or so below for some added interest.

There is no exact science to this. Just bend and fiddle with the wire until you get the look you want.

Once I had the wire bent into a pleasing shape, I decided how far I wanted it to stick up out of my newly aqua decorative wooden piece, and snipped the wire with pliers.

I used the smallest drill bit we have and drilled down about 1-1/2 inches into the piece of wood. (In my excitement over using yet another fun power tool, I forgot to take a picture of this step.)

Then, I dabbed a bit of wood glue onto the straight end of my shaped wire, and pushed the wire down into the hole I had drilled.

There you have it! A quick little project that is perfect for last-minute gift giving. Pop a photo, card, or recipe into the bent wire, and you are good to go.

Recycling

2011-03-17T19:31:00.000-07:00

This was a fun project from last spring. Thanks to a women's sewing organization in Turkey who has posted a link to this project on their website, this little project has garnered international fame. (Well, at least I like to think so.) If you missed it last year or you aren't Turkish, here's a little

Fashion Friendly Recycling!

I created this outfit using materials I had on hand. Here's the before:

Before you see the after, a disclaimer: sorry about the big, blue dates on most of these pictures. I was between cameras, borrowing my husband's scuba camera. I kid you not.

And now we see the after:

Big change, eh? That's what recycling is all about.

This outfit began with the pillowcase top.

This was the only part of the outfit that didn't make use of existing clothing. It did make use of some fabric I already had on hand. I love the bright colors in this fabric, and I like that the brown keeps them all grounded. This fabric was deeply discounted, so I bought a lot of it. Good stuff.

In fact, it's hard to find a fabric that won't coordinated with it. I chose this cute, pink damask.

Love the way these two fabrics coordinate! And that pink is just the way pink should be.

Pillowcase tops are so simple to make and have endless variations.

I have no pattern for my pillowcase tops. When I made my first one, I pretty much cut a hole in the top of an old pillowcase, wiggled into it to see if it fit, and based all my measurements on that using the fabric that I had chosen. Ha ha! I definitely have some mad sewing skilz. Here's a great pillowcase dress tutorial, I just add my own variations like the contrasting fabric band around the bottom. Also, I'm too lazy to trim the armholes with bias tape. A pillowcase top is just a shortened pillowcase dress.

Once I'd made the pillowcase top, I started thinking--a dangerous thing. I thought, "This top really needs a matching pair of long shorts."

So, I grabbed a pair of Endeavor's jeans that had a hole in the knee, and went at them with the scissors. I cut the legs off, just above where the hole was. I measured the circumference of the leg opening, and cut two pieces of my fabric to that width. The two pieces were each about 5 inches high. I folded them in half width-wise, and sewed them onto the raw edges of those jeans, like this:

This created a perfect "cuff", or trim. I'm so glad I bought lots of this fabric. I love it!

But the jean shorts still needed a little somethin'- somethin'. I cut out one of the flowers from my scraps (no pinking shears this time, I used regular scissors), and whip-stitched it onto the jeans. (I used a little stitch-witchery tape to hold it in place while I was stitching.) Love the frayed effect--a happy accident!

Still, the outfit was missing something. That knowledge (and my husband's allergies) kept me up one night. Finally, I leaped from my bed with a stroke of inspiration: this outfit needs a cardigan! I dug through Endeavor's drawers until I found an old shirt with a stain on it. Again, I attacked it with the scissors, cutting off a good six inches above the hem, cutting off half the sleeves, and cutting the bodice in half. Then I made my own "bias tape".

I put "bias tape" in quotes because it's apparently not the real deal if it isn't cut on the bias. Huh. (This is nothing more than a 2" wide strip of fabric, folded and pressed so raw edges reach the center, then folded over the raw edges of the shirt and sewn.) For anyone who is wondering, this outfit has held up under multiple washes, and we have not experienced strange stretching or shrinking due to the unbiased bias tape.

This cardigan just had to have a ruffle. I gathered my ruffle and sewed it onto the bottom edge, like this.

I loved the look so far, but still....something was missing. Then I thought of all those cute little fabric flowers and yoyos I've been seeing attached to sweaters, purses, headbands......that was what I needed. I googled "fabric flowers" and found this easy to follow tutorial for yoyos. So easy! I whipped these three up in less than 30 minutes and hand-stitched them onto the cardigan.

I could only find two buttons in my sorry little collection that I liked, so I added that little pom-pom to the center of the largest one. How fun is that? Once the yoyos were on, I felt like the outfit was finally complete!

It was the perfect spring outfit to surprise Endeavor with on her birthday, last year.

I'll be linking up to the following events:

Sugar & Dots What I Whipped Up Wednesday

Take a Look Tuesday @ Sugar Bee Crafts

A Round Tuit

Sew Cute Tuesday @ Creative Itch

Game On! Update

2011-03-17T14:47:00.000-07:00

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Boy, I'm not sure why this week has been so busy. Looking back, I don't feel like I've accomplished anything very spectacular. Wait--I did do something out of the ordinary. I went shopping, for me, for clothing, at retail stores. Not thrift, not outlet--actual retail. I actually went to the mall. You know times are really tough when I head to the mall. Have I told you that I really don't like to shop? Yes, the Bionic Man is truly blessed.

And I went and got my hair done. I like doing that. I never do it as frequently as I should, but I do like getting my hair done. I went someplace new and I think that I've finally found a hairstylist that I like, after 5-1/2 years of living here. Personally, I find that a new 'do is extremely therapeutic.

And now, for a Game On! update. (Which is pretty late....considering the challenge ended a month ago. How lame am I?) Over the course of the four week challenge, I lost a total of 10 pounds! Yay me!

And then I fell off the wagon.....because none of my teammates wanted to keep playing. (Yeah, yeah, blame the team....) I've kept most of the 10 pounds off, but even though I'm not necessarily eating a bunch of crazy stuff, it is just hard for me to keep up the healthy habits without a team to answer to. Apparently, I am extremely motivated by guilt.

I'd love to get some teams together and keep on playing.....so if anyone out there is even remotely interested, let me know. Leave a comment or email me. You can read more about Game On! here and here.

In the meantime, while I may have fallen off the diet wagon, I have managed to step up my exercise. Noting that 10 pounds lost didn't seem to change the way my arms and shoulders looked, I needed to step up my workouts. I had a conquer-my-fears moment and signed up to work one-on-one with a trainer for a few weeks. Yesterday was my first session, and I loved it! My trainer is super nice, and I totally appreciated the fact that she didn't sigh and look immediately discouraged when we met. I also appreciated the fact that she didn't let me wimp out. I'm excited to see if what kind of difference a few sessions makes in improving the workouts I do on my own.

Totally boring post, I know. I don't even have before and after shots of the hair or the missing 10 pounds for you, today. Lame, lame.

Something Special Saturday - 3/12/11

2011-03-12T02:15:00.000-08:00

Once again, I'm going to point you in the direction of a few special things that caught my eye this week. Follow the links to see for yourself!

It seems like I just decorated my house for winter, but now it is time to start thinking about spring--what's up with the seasons changing so quickly? I had so much fun making winter accessories for my front room, that I'm going to have to do the same for spring. Luckily, I won't be short on inspiration, since discovering Just Another Hang-up. Suzanne has tutorials for pillows that put mine to shame. I will be copying. Check out some of her creations here, here, and here. Sewing not your thing? Suzanne has an Etsy shop.

Speaking of pillows and Etsy.....look at these colorful pillows. Meg of whatever... will be stocking them in her Etsy shop, soon. I'm sure I've said it here before, but Meg's blog introduced me to blogs. I found it when we were looking for our dog...a search on "labradoodle family dog image" sent me to Meg. I covet her kitchen with the ginormous island and chandeliers, I admire her brave use of color and vintage finds, I {heart} her sewing room, and I can vouch for the deliciousness of her recipes. So, a shout-out to Meg, her labradoodle, her house, and those cute pillows will all the pom-pom fringe she makes.

I know it's March, but do you think it is too late to add this snowflake pillow to my collection? I just found it, this week. Maybe that's a project I can save until next year....

Enough with the pillows! I had a goal to finish painting this winter, and I haven't reached it. I gotta have some help with the next stage of the Great Gacky Sage Cover-up, and Bionic Man has just been too busy. And don't even get me started on the subject of our Pepto Bismol Pink Girls' Room. {soft sobbing with head banging against desk} While I might have found the remedy to Gacky Sage, I'm still working on a plan for the girls' room. Blogging to the rescue! Just discovered a new blog, Favorite Paint Colors. It's full of pictures from actual homes and they accompanying paint colors in those homes. Hooray! A great place to start when it comes to finding the perfect colors.

Time to get to work! I have a busy Saturday ahead of me.

Tip for Entertaining Children

2011-03-10T07:46:00.000-08:00

Last week, when we still had snow on the ground, my friend's little boy spent the day at my house. He was getting a little bored just before my kids came home from school. Luckily, I remembered an old trick my mom used to use during the long winters of my childhood.

Snow in the Sink

You'll need:

snow

a sink and/or bucket

assorted toys and utensils

To Enjoy It:

1. Go outside with a bucket.

2. Scoop clean snow into the bucket.

3. Carry snow inside.

4. Dump it into the sink.

5. Keep scooping and dumping until the sink is full.

6. Turn children loose in snow with assorted toys and utensils.

I can guarantee you hours of fun, especially if you put gloves on the children, and replace the snow with a bucketful or two as it melts. (My sinkful lasted 4-5 hours, I topped it off twice.)

Not only did the little friend I was babysitting enjoy it, my own children and their friends had a blast playing with snow in the sink when they came home from school, that day. Apparently, it's been a while since I brought snow indoors.

They were undeterred by the dirty dishes on the other side of the sink.

Even in the dead of winter, when your children have had all the sledding and snowballs they can handle, the novelty of playing inside the house with snow will keep them busy for quite a while. Hours after I'd carried the snow in and dumped it in the sink, my three children could barely be torn away from the activity long enough to eat dinner.

The were sinking the Titanic, or something. By then, the sink contained a large chunk of snow floating in water. Otherwise known as an iceberg.

Three cheers for cheap entertainment!

Evidence that I Gave Birth to Martha Stewart's Child

2011-03-08T02:15:00.000-08:00

I think I could win a tabloid headline title competition with this one, don't you?

Those of you who know our family well know that Endeavor did not get her domestic abilities from me. My limited domestic abilities have come to me slowly, over time. Endeavor was born with them.

During Endeavor's infancy, I noticed that she had a strange fascination with paper. She would seek out paper, no matter where I hid it, and shred it into tiny little pieces. Or crinkle it into small, tight balls. Or draw on it--because Endeavor always knew where the pens were, too.

It was only later that I realized that Endeavor was actually a talented papercrafter, her artistic expression limited in infancy only by the development of her small motor skills.

Then, there were the groceries. When Endeavor was a baby, we lived in Germany. We walked to the grocery store, vegetable market, and bakery on almost a daily basis. Endeavor rode in her stroller, and often tried to add items to our shopping basket. She could communicate more effectively with the baker than I could, before she was a year old--pointing out items in the display case with alarming good taste. She could bargain with the green grocer and get better prices on fresh vegetables than anyone in the neighborhood. Once, as I put groceries away after one of our shopping trips, I found her in the hallway, cracking open eggs to make sure they were fresh.

As a toddler, all it took to provide entertainment for Endeavor was some paper, glue, and a garbage can. She could make surprisingly fantastic collages out of glue and garbage with zero supervision. Endeavor made her first pair of toilet paper binoculars at age two, unassisted, string included.

When Endeavor went to preschool, her artistic expression really took flight. At preschool, she had access to way more art supplies than we had at home, and she was allowed to use scissors. I was a little shocked by what Endeavor could do with scissors. Shocked and awed. At parent teacher conference, her preschool teachers confessed to me that they secretly referred to her as, "Our little Martha."

At the age of four, Endeavor actually met Martha. Turning on the TV one morning, I started flipping the channels towards Sesame Street. Endeavor, standing next to me, cried, "Stop, Mommy, stop! I have to see this!" On the screen was Martha Stewart, knitting something. Off the screen was my four year old daughter, staring in fascinated adoration. "Look, Mommy," Endeavor said reverently, "that lady makes things."

Over the next few weeks, Endeavor begged me for more chances to see the lady she called "The Makin' Lady." Together, we watched Martha make felted acorns, customize a dog collar, hand-dye tights, and make her own valentines. I was intimidated and slightly bored. Eliza was inspired. In a weaker moment, I promised Endeavor that we could make Valentines just like The Makin' Lady had. I told her we'd do it the very next day.

I will spare you the tutorial on those valentines. All I remember is that they involved the shavings of old crayons, wax paper, a hot iron, a big mess, and most of a day. I also remember Endeavor waiting for me when I stepped out of the shower that morning, holding a pink shirt out to me she'd pulled from the back of my closet. "Here Mommy," she said seriously. "Wear this. Maybe if you try to look like The Makin' Lady, you will be able to make things, too."

Over the years, I have gradually come to the point where I can occasionally impress Endeavor with the things I've learned to make. Endeavor is still unquestionably the reigning queen of papercrafts at our house. But learning to sew has given me me some points, too. Occasionally, Endeavor will look at something I've made with shining eyes and tell me, "Oh, Mom, Martha Stewart would be so proud."

I can't get too cocky, though. Endeavor is taking Family and Consumer Sciences, this year, making her a force to be reckoned with in the kitchen. So far, her teacher has taught them to make vegetable dip and smoothies. The teacher offered her class extra credit if they would prepare a meal for their family--points would be added based on the number of items in the meal that the student prepared without assistance.

Here is the breakfast Endeavor prepared without any assistance--other than asking me how to turn on the stove (she thought the dial was stuck).

Muffins were made from scratch--using a recipe Endeavor found by herself.

Look at those carefully cut orange wedges! I am verklempt.

The Makin' Lady would be so proud!

Something Special Saturday on a Monday - 3/7/11

2011-03-07T02:11:00.000-08:00

I've had a goal to post these little featurettes on a more regular basis. But I have to say, this last week ran me over like a truck. Thank goodness for Blogger's schedule post option (lets me write in advance and publish later), or you wouldn't have heard a word out of me last week. So, let's pretend today is Saturday, okay?

You know how I'm currently suffering from a slight slipcover obsession? They've been on my brain. Now that slipcovered chair #1 is sitting in all her finished, completed glory in my front room, receiving compliments from any who see her, I'm getting the itch to sew a few more. In fact, I'm thinking of branching out from cheap canvas dropcloths, to an actual fabric. Linen, actually. (Note: I have no idea how much linen costs, yet, so this could all change.) Look at these extremely nifty slipcover/upholstery pictures I found while getting a post ready for the CSI Project:

You like? There is a whole slide show of these over at Country Living. (Check out that burlap footstool with the little ruffle! I could eat it, it looks so appealing.)

Anyone else in the mood for slipcovers? This theme for this week's challenge over at CSI Project is slipcovers & upholstery, so there ought to be a lot of inspiration!

On a completely unrelated subject, our family recently made a discovery that has revolutionized our Sunday afternoons. The Bionic Man and I have been able to take uninterrupted Sunday afternoon naps for three weeks in a row, thanks to The Friend online magazine. For my readers who aren't Mormons, The Friend is a magazine The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints publishes for children. The online version of the magazine has slideshows, video, read-along stories, games, coloring pages, and all kinds of other activities that are Christian-based and totally appropriate for Sundays. If you haven't already discovered this terrific resource, go check it out!

Finally, just to go along with the rest of this random, no actual theme Something Special Day post, here is a recipe I want to try: Garlic Stuffed Turkey Meatballs with Creamy Dill Dressing. It was on Whipperberry, which is a site full of pretty and delicious things.

Have a great week!

Update: Just discovered that my little embroidered canvas pillow was featured this morning on one of the sites I just mentioned, Whipperberry. {Holding apothecary jar and weeping} "It is an honor and a privilege to be recognized for my craft. I'd like to thank all the canvas dropcloths that brought me to this moment. This one is for vintage sewing machines everywhere!" Check it out, here.

I Shopped the House

2011-03-04T02:35:00.000-08:00

Who coined that phrase? I use it all the time now, and the Bionic Man looks at me like I am cuh-ray-zay. Crazy like a fox! I’m not spending any money when I shop the house.

This little winter vignette was totally free. It took the place of our Thanksgiving Tree. (Which, incidentally, looked so good there, we left it up well past Thanksgiving. Gratitude is always in style, right?)

The wall under the clock was looking very bare after I took down the Thanksgiving Tree. I toyed with several ideas: put the Thankskiving tree back up (too messy….it was already in the recycling bin), make some kind of fancy chalkboard (too trendy, every other blogger has one, and I already have a huge writing surface in my kitchen), or put up a cute little crown molding shelf (too expensive, we already spent our money on tile this month). Since none of those ideas fit the bill, I went shopping around my house….

…….and found this little red shelf languishing in a corner of my sewing room, waiting to be hung on the wall. (FYI….the sewing room is done enough that I can sew in it, but not done enough to photograph. Sorry!) I love the way that red shelf pops!

The other objects are pretty much leftovers from Christmas, that could transition in to winter. I love how together, everything tied into a winter/valentine theme for February.

Over on the mantle, I brought out my apothecary jars. I saved all of the fillers from last year—including the marshmallows, believe it or not. I sealed the marshmallows in a Ziploc bag last year, and they were actually still squishy when I pulled them out this year. Recycling those marshmallows is a terrific way to keep hands out of the apothecary jar; the kids won’t touch ‘em once they’ve heard how old they are!

The other objects on the shelves and mantle were just things I had saved from other years or brought in from other parts of the house. The white plate, for instance, is usually in my bedroom, but I thought it complemented all the snowflakes, with its scalloped edge.

How have you found ways to recycle your décor items and save money on seasonal décor?

Click here to find links to the other winter décor projects I posted this week.

Ribbon Trimmed Canvas Curtains

2011-03-03T02:43:00.000-08:00

Earlier this week, I showed you how I made several things to insert bright colors and a fun pattern into my otherwise neutral décor.

Remember how that valance was originally a tablecloth? It was a pretty big tablecloth, but after two pillows and a long valance, I was starting to run low on snowflake fabric.

Originally, I planned to make another snowflake valance to top the window in my dining room (the other end of our large great room). I played around with a couple of ideas, but finally came up with something completely different.

The curtains on this window are—don’t be too shocked—dropcloths. Just call me the dropcloth curtain queen, because that’s a pageant I could win. When I first hung them this fall, I hadn’t decided how long I wanted them to be, so I just folded the extra fabric over the top (instead of cutting it off) to give me the freedom to experiment. You can see the extra fabric in this picture:

Once I determined the length I wanted and cut off the extra fabric, I was left with two panels of canvas that were already hemmed on three sides—much like the fabric I used for the snowflake valances. I cut them 18 inches above the longest hemline. To make the rod pocket, I simply folded over the raw edge 2 inches, and sewed it down with a straight seam.

Since the adjoining wall in this room also has dropcloth curtains, I needed to break up the sea of canvas. I found a roll of red grosgrain ribbon in my sewing drawer, and stuck that onto the valances with hemming tape.

A couple of notes: I could have used hemming tape instead of sewing a seam for the rod pockets (for a no-sew option), but it is my preference to actually sew that part of the curtain. Also, this window is topped with only one of the valance panels, because I need more ribbon to finish the second. I’ll do that eventually, and then there will be a little more gather and poof. But for now, this is fine.

I really love that bright stripe of red on the plain-jane curtains. It was a cheap and easy way for me to carry the red from my winter décor into this space.

Click here to view my other winter projects.