Daily Activity Jar

Oh what to do? what to do?... That is always the question when kids are around. "Mom, I'm bored." "Mom, let's do a project." "Mom, what are we going to do today?" Well, not anymore! Create an Activity Jar!

So, most of the activities only take a few minutes, but at least it is time that you can spend with your kids, and it is exciting to pick a new daily activity. My daughter and I have really enjoyed doing daily activities, and it forces me to drop everything I am doing, and giggle with her for a little while. I used this site http://www.overthebigmoon.com/summer-activity-jar/ to start my list, but then I added quite a few things that would cater to our family. Dolly tea party. Paper boats (http://www.niftythriftythings.com/2011/08/paper-boat-place-cards.html). Silly dress up photo shoot. Wash the dogs. Write a letter to Daddy. Write a favorite things list for Daddy. Hopscotch. Etc....

Supplies: A jar, whatever you want to decorate the jar with, and little sheets of paper.

I printed out the list of activities and cut them up, because it was easier than writing them all down. Also, I used a plastic jar because I knew my three year old would be handling it. Whatever works for your family. Go Crazy with your ideas!!

                                                                Finished product!

Paleo Dirtcakes

As promised, I must include failures to my list of creations, as well as my successes. These Paleo cupcakes that I made for Easter were definitely a failure. I eat food that follows the Paleo Diet about 75% of the time, mainly because it makes me physically feel better, and being a Celiac (no gluten!), this diet, or way of life, caters to my family and I quite nicely.
    I was invited to a friend's house for Easter Sunday, and since she and her family were trying the Paleo Diet, I thought that it would be nice to bring cupcakes. Wrong! I chose coffee cupcakes with chocolate icing from a free book I got through Amazon Prime. (I am not going to name the book because I am sure some of the recipes are delicious.) The coffee cupcakes had cardamom, which has a spicy, cinnamony, earthy flavor that I love. I put it in my butternut squash soup. NOT good in cupcakes. They look tasty enough:

Because of the mixture of coffee and cardamom, and the lack of sweetness, the cupcakes tasted like dirt. I thought they were awful! But I was hopeful that the icing would improve the flavor. 

This icing used avocado (I am assuming instead of butter) for creaminess, honey, cocoa powder, and a few other things. Unfortunately, the grocery store only has slightly ripe avocados, so that was probably a bad idea from the start. 

Icing.

Frosted cupcakes. And yes, I call them dirtcakes. Coffee, cardamom, and the bitterness of cocoa powder just made these taste awful. I brought them to my friend's house anyways, along with a yummy sweet potato pie, and had everyone else try them too. We actually "tricked" the kids and told them we had cupcakes (which we did!). They all sat down and ate. I almost cried with laughter as they ate, but two out of four kids actually liked them and the other two made horrible faces. My friend's son said he enjoyed them, so I left the whole batch with her. I was just thankful that some got eaten. Expensive ingredients. Better luck with the Paleo Cupcakes next time. 

*On a side note, I have made paleo cookies, icecream, muffins, and pie that are yummy. So the diet is not all that bad. =)

Daddy's Old T-Shirt Dress

     I really wanted to blog about this earlier, but unfortunately I had to use my set aside "blog-time" to clean off my computer. Apparently you cannot upload new photos onto your hard drive when you only have .5GB left of memory! Who would've thought. Computer savvy, I am not.

     I came up with this idea after attempting to use an old T-shirt to make a peplum shirt for myself. I say "attempting" because although it looked cute, it was really uncomfortable and uneven. I must try again and post about that. But in the meantime, I shall post about my fabulously successful T-shirt dress for my daughter! I get so excited when things actually work on the first try.
      Things you'll need:

• the basic sewing supplies (cutter, mat, thread, machine, pins...)
• an old T-shirt (I used a men's medium for this size 4 kids dress)
• a kids dress to use as a guide
• bias tape, ribbon, or lace for the optional cap sleeves

 I used a shirt that I loved, but was all stained with paint. I figured I could mostly use unstained portions of the shirt, although there is still paint all over the dress. Next time, I'll use an unstained shirt. With this project, I used another dress as a guideline (or you could use a kids shirt as a guideline and just add length). If you don't have a dress to use as a guide, I made a few measurements, but these would only work for a size 4 dress.

 Using your chosen dress as a guide, cut the sleeveless shell of the top part of your dress. The bottom of this shell should hit mid-thigh on your little one because you are going to be adding a ruffle at the bottom. I used the existing neck whole and shoulder seems at the top.

 After cutting the shell, I folded it in half just to make sure that the sides, angles, and sleeve holes were all even.         *If you didn't have a dress (or shirt) to use as a guide, here are the measurements I took: from top to bottom it's 17 inches, 15 inches across at the bottom, 11 inches across at the bottom of the arm hole, 11 inches from the start of the arm hole down, and each shoulder is 3 inches across. I hope these extra directions make sense, or at least they give you a place to start.      

 Next, cut the piece that will ultimately become the ruffle. Using the bottom of the shirt, with the hem included, cut a piece that's 6 inches by 20 inches (that is how wide the shirt was, if your shirt is wider or smaller, I am sure it will work just fine.)        

For the cap sleeves, cut a triangle that is 5x5x7 and then cut a curved edge. Cap sleeves are definitely optional, but I thought they were cute.

Using your bias tape, ribbon, or lace (I used bias tape) fold it over and pin it to the curved part of the cap sleeves. I then used a zig zag stitch to secure the tape, and to give it a little extra detail. You could also use none of these, and just fold the curved edges over and sew a small hem.

Once your sleeves are finished, pin them to the shoulders of the dress (above). Center the sleeves and make sure that they are even. (I have a tendency to just eyeball things and regret it later.) Sew down the sleeves, and again I used a zig zag stitch.

After the sleeves are attached, pin the remainder of  the arm holes down for a very small hem, and sew a zig zag stitch very close to the edge. I feel like a large hem with this type of fabric would be very bulky in the arm hole. 

Reverse sides together, sew the sides of your dress! (after pinning of course) At this point, I actually put the dress on my daughter to check the size. I honestly thought the arm holes were too large, so I sewed diagonally inward on both sides to make them a little smaller. 

With the right side out on the top of the dress, and the right side in on the "ruffle" of the dress, place the two together as shown in the photo above. Center the "ruffle" piece. 

It is hard to see in this picture because of the resolution, but when I make a ruffle I just fold fabric in little bits and pin (starting in the center). There is no real science to it, although I attempt to give the ruffles equal spacing. There are other ways to make a ruffle, like using a basting stitch, and pulling, but I like this method best. Sew the bottom, trim all the thread, turn your dress inside out and there you have it! Cute comfiness from one of Daddy's old shirts!

Crayons on the go!

    Often my projects...wait... all of my projects involve my three year old little girl, Lexi. Whether it's to clean her up, cover her up, or shush her up, there is usually Lexi reasoning behind it. Recently I saw a cute "crayon roll up," and thought to recreate it. For my first attempt, I actually made a larger roll up, but frankly I like the size of the smaller one because it's more purse friendly. 
    This project involves sewing, but if  you are not an avid sewer, it's still easy. Many people/books/blogs will tell you that you need a million different sewing supplies when starting a home projects, but there are really only two things you need: a rotary cutter and a self healing cutting mat. (Of course you need pins, a sewing machine, and thread, but really? That's a given.) Having those two items will make many projects much easier. Here's what else you need:

• a quilters ruler/regular ruler/yard stick
• two pieces of fabric: 5x14 inches (bottom) and 14x10 inches (crayon pockets)
• ribbon
• velcro (optional)
• crayons
• iron
• matching thread

When sewing ANYTHING, it is imperative that you wash the fabric first and then iron it. Wrinkles just will not do!

This is just a picture of the fabric I chose and the supplies.  Like stated above, a piece of 5 x 14 fabric and a piece of 14 x 10 fabric is needed. Use your rotary cutter and your self healing mat to cut them!

Yes, I talk about wrinkles and then my fabric is wrinkled! Shame on me. Fold your 5x14(pink) fabric in half right side in, matching up the two 5 inch sides, and sew the long sides closed (this will be the crayon roll up base). When sewing the seems, use 1/4 to 1/2 seem, just stay consistent throughout the project. Don't forget to backstitch when finishing each seem! With the 10x14 (black)fabric, fold it in half long ways, and sew the top together. This will be the fabric that hold the crayons in place. Of course (I'm blonde) the black fabric I took a picture of is the wrong piece. I was doing multiple projects and took a picture of the wrong black piece. Oops! 

Reverse both pieces of fabric to the the right side is now facing outwards. Iron both pieces again, and create a 1/2 hem on the edges shown (with the pink arrows). With the black piece, I actually pressed it so that the seem was in the center of the fabric, and I pressed the seem open. This way, this particular seem is not visible when the project is finished. 

Starting on the folded (not open) side of the pink fabric, use crayons to "measure" and pin the black fabric down to create your crayon pockets.

Before you sew, your pinning will look like this. My crayon pockets are NOT symmetrical, but all I cared about was whether a crayon would fit in each pocket. Sew straight lines where the pins are, using matching thread. Take the pins out as you sew. When you are done sewing the straight lines down for each pocket, sew across the bottom to close the pockets. We don't want any crayons falling out! *Because the top piece of fabric is black, and the bottom is pink, you can actually use pink thread for the bobbin, and black thread threaded through the machine. This will hide your seems a little better (black on top/pink on bottom). Although, I am the worst at changing out my thread as you will see in the next few pictures. I am super lazy.

Roll up your fabric and measure a piece of ribbon that will fit around it (leaving a little extra). Tuck one end of your ribbon in the open end of the pink fabric and pin it. Fold the other end of the ribbon over so that you don't have a frayed edge, and pin. Then figure out the best placement for the velcro (as seen) and pin. Sew down the velcro and sew closed the open end of the pink fabric (securing the ribbon). *If you do not want to use velcro, just use two pieces of ribbon, and you can tie closed your crayon roll rather than velcro-ing it. 

Trim all thread and your finished product should look something like this! (We can hope.)

All rolled up and ready to go! Take it to a restaurant, Grandma's house, 

*I am a big proponent of trial and error. I am constantly recutting and resewing pieces and trying new things. It's probably not a time saver, but I am horrible at using patterns. If any of these directions don't make sense, post a question and I'll explain a little better. Still getting a handle on this blogging thing!

Clean the Clutter

   Yesterday I was looking around my house rather irritated by all the clutter (I am always irritated by clutter), and I noticed how many glorious creations I have on the wall from my daughter. On the frig, on the cabinets, in the hall, by the door, in her room...and it goes on. Now don't get me wrong, I love displaying all her doodles, finger prints, and sticker collages, but enough is enough. They needed a dedicated place. So I created this board. Its super easy, and now her wonderful expressions can be displayed, then taken down, and then replaced with new ones. But only on the board! Many variations of this board can be created: change the size, the background, colors, etc, but I decided to make it simple as to not take away from the pictures being displayed. Yes, you can buy this board in the store, but why pay $15 when you can make it for $2 (or free if you already have the stuff like me)! 
    
Here's what you need:

• foam board, cardboard, or even plywood size of your choosing-just something sturdy for the board base
• tape and/or stapler
• ribbon
• yard stick or quilter's rule works nicely
• pencil
  
  
  
  Once your supplies are collected, its easy as pie! (Really though, no pie is easy to make. I resent the person who came up with that one.)
  At this point, there is a variation as well. I made my board VERY simple, but to make your board more colorful and inviting, I recommend using a piece of fabric over the front size of the board and stapling it to the back. You could even sandwich some quilt batting in there to give it padding. In this case, I did not want to use a detailed fabric to take away from the pictures, and I hoard fabric for future use. Putting fabric over the board would waist some of my precious fabric that I could use on an even cuter project! 
   Make little marks on the top and bottom depending on how far you want your ribbons apart. I made mine 3 inches apart.
  
  
  
   Then, draw diagonal lines leaning to the right using your ruler, skipping every other pencil mark. Use the remaining pencil marks to draw diagonal lines to the left.
  
  
   The diagonals will create a diamond pattern that looks like this. If you would like your diamonds smaller, than just use smaller measurements in between marks.
  
  
  
  I can be super lazy, so when I measured my my ribbon, I just held it up against the diagonal lines and cut. Of course you can measure your diagonals, and then cut the ribbon, but just be sure to allow extra ribbon for each end so that you can wrap it around the back. Use all one color ribbon, or go crazy use all different ones! It doesn't matter. 
  
  
  
  Follow the diagonals and tape your ribbons to the back. Make sure to pull the ribbon tight so that it will hold pictures. Secure all the ribbon going one direction, and then move on to the next direction. I had the intention of stapling, but I ended up using tape because the staples poked through the front a little. I used A LOT of tape for good measure, because I am really not sure how the board is going to hold up against a 3 year old hanging pictures. 
  
  
  
  Front of the board.
  
  And Voila! A place for all the pictures, and no more clutter!
  
  
  I am hope that this board holds up. I just nailed it to the wall at my daughter's level so that she can add and subtract whenever she pleases. Let me know if you make a board and how it turns out!
  
  

    

In the beginning...

     Hi! My name is Jaime and I'm a Marine Corps wife with a three year old and two dogs. Like any Marine Corps family, we move a lot (like 7 times in the past ten years a lot!). Therefore, I have kind of found it a little hard to hold down a job. One thing has always stayed constant though: I love crafting! That is something that has stayed consistent through my whole life, and I am always trying new random creations.

     I remember, as an eight year old, rather than having a lemonade stand, my friend and I tried to sell ribbon jewelry by the side of the road. In middle school, I made bracelets out of toothbrushes, tried to sew my own bathing suit, and dripped wax on everything. By the time high school rolled around, I was sewing my own skirts and dresses, rarely using patterns, widening my jeans with fabric, and creating “sleep over bags” with my now sister in law, Cara. Even in college, I was even the “art chair” for my sorority for a semester, but was quickly canned when I misspelled something on a banner. We definitely lost that fraternity competition because of me (fail!). Many projects have completely bombed, but I always have fun!

If it has to do with crafting, I have either tried it, have the products to try it, or I am willing to try it. Let no craft stone go unturned! Or something like that....

    In my blog, I would like to share my triumphs and failures in crafting with the rest of the world. We aren't all master crafters, and at the end of the day, it can be really fun to laugh at that lopsided bag you tried to sew, or the homemade soap that smells horrendous. My blog may include recipes or daily rants as well, but definitely check it out and we can laugh (at me) together!