Give Me Liberty

The princess has a new pair of black leggings that say 'Give me liberty or give me death.' Very princess-y. The material is a husband old t-shirt. She likes them, even if the fit is a little off. Little material meant a slightly skewed cut. Leggings are really easy and she likes them. These will likely live in the pajama section of her drawer, but couldn't use a few patriotic quote pants?

(Cast off in 3 days, but then she won't glow in the dark anymore. Maybe we can find out what Gilligan ate in the one episode of Gilligan's Island still in my memory...)

I finally made it!

For the Princess: One of my old shirts was on its way out about the same time I discovered this idea from Sugar Tart Craft to use adult shirts to make shirts/dresses for children. Adding a link isn't working at the moment, but will, if I remember, try again. It was a new experience really working with knits, but the double needle really, really helped! Unfortunately I bent it yesterday working on another project.

However, she loves her dress. It's her 'flower dress' even with the not flower looking glob at the top. Better luck next time. The ruffle was made by sewing a tight zig zag stitch on the edge of the fabric while stretching it. I need to try again, but it kind of worked.





For the Little Man: He got a Sunday outfit. The pants and shirt both came from Daddy's closet. The pants pattern I made by tracing some currently fitting pants, because pants are actually super easy. The shirt was a free pattern from (I'll research this and put it in soon). It bothers me that little boy dress shirts are not onesies, so I made it myself. It is way better than trying to tuck in every minute at church. One less thing to distract during the meeting. It turned out well, but I have some changes for next time. Thankfully Daddy's shirt is big enough to make two. That way I don't have to make the buttons, also know as a placket.

Now on to the next project. I just have to pick which one...

Accessorize Mommy

The latest craze in my project frenzied brain: Nursing necklaces. The Little Man approves. These are a way for mom to accessorize without breaking the child or the jewelry. Lots of people sell them. Lots of people make them. Lots of people make tutorials for them. This is not a full tutorial. It is me sharing an added safety feature. Instead of adding free beads to a fabric tube, I strung them first. This way if the seam pops or baby's newly minted fangs rip the fabric, the bead won't pop down his throat. It must have been insiration, because this tired mommy brain is a bit preoccupied. This is still not a toy, but my little guy hangs on to it all the time. He munches occasionally too, but mostly hangs on. Keeps us connected.

Sunflower bouquet

Here's a bunch of cupcakes. I made them for the 2 year old birthday we just celebrated. They are decorated with whipped cream and chocolate sauce. The chocolate hardens in the refrigerator, which makes it like a candy center. The whipped cream is tinted with turmeric. It worked well, but took quite a bit of spice, enough that I could taste it. A leaf tip made the petals. And I found a really simple chocolate cake recipe (but I cut the sugar down by about 1/2 c...and left out the espresso powder. As a non-coffee drinker, I don't understand why all chocolate needs coffee flavor.) that stayed really moist for the next few days. Now you want to eat one. So do I.

An account of the creation of the world, and also of Adam and Eve

Here are Adam and Eve, our first parents.

Adam's face pieces

Specs on Adam:
He is zigzagged onto the backing completely. His face is velcro as are his various face pieces. His hair is from an old puppet I made for 7th grade English class. His coat is from a 'leather' shoe I wore at my sister's wedding. His robe is from some of my Dad's pants. He doesn't wear them anymore. His hands and feet are the lining of a tank top that wore out. His eyes are the shortened hem of my husband's gi. Not sure where the red mouth came from. The Princess likes to make him a Picasso face.

Specs on Eve:
Eve's skin is the same tank top lining. Her hair is an old t-shirt I bought for my mission. Her arms are stiffened with pop-sickle sticks, so they can be inserted into the sleeves of the dress. Her 'legs' are also free to fit in the bottom of the dress. The buckle on the dress shown above is from the Mister's watch band. She can be dressed and her hair braided. Or tied in knots or crocheted. That might be a little advanced just yet, but it's something to work toward. So far Eve's dresses are from a pink jacket that never fit right, but I planned to remodel one day. I guess that day is now, just a different remodel that I anticipated. The green dress (seen in the previous post) is mimicking a bride's maid dress for my college roommate. Since I was a bride's maid for several of my favorite people, and made two of the dresses, I had a little left over. On the line-up for other dresses are material from my Prom dress (aka mine and Mister's first date), material from my Homecoming dress (aka mine and Hubby's other major dance date), and some from the alterations on my wedding dress (aka Eternal Date). Nostalgia and toys all in one.

Wanna play?



The rest of the book:
First 
Second & Third
Fourth
Adam

Adam was first formed, then Eve.

I like this one. Here's your preview. But Eve is in the making. Her dresses are in the making too. More soon. Enjoy!

The rest of the book:
First 
Second & Third
Fourth
Adam

Adam Fell

Adam may have fallen a long way to be represented in such a state, but I'm excited about this one. It's not complete - he'll have hair and hands and feet, and other face options -  but it's face pieces that attach using velcro. More to come.


The rest of the book:
First 
Second & Third
Fourth

Snipped off her nose!

The constant repetition of 'Sing a Song of Sixpence' has died down somewhat, but we still play with bread and honey often and have now, mostly, completed the maid in the garden. No, it does not actually involve snipping, or 'sniffing' as is done in our house, but it involves hanging laundry on the line and matching colors. Next time, I would change the orientation a bit, by moving up the clothes pins to not cover so much sock underneath, and make it a bit bigger, but someday you'll see why it needed to be small. Maybe the Princess will have learned how to work clothespins by then. This is a great way to use up old socks. Very, very slowly.

Enjoy!

More about this project
Here

Page, the Fourth

And the world was formed and the dry land appeared. Granted, this is more of a representation of the land masses now, as opposed to Pangaea. That would make a less interesting puzzle. The pieces snap on. And the back was a shirt I wore in high school. Yep.

What I've learned:

• Stiff fabric is the the way to go. The book will have to endure the terror of a toddler, or several, so it needs to withstand the ages. 
• Stretchy fabric is no good for snaps or velcro. Or really for anything, unless it has a specific stretchy need.
• The backing on each page is a stiff fabric too.
• The shape of the page doesn't fit in her favorite backpack very well. 
• I'm not sure how to represent the firmament or light, so this may not actually be scriptural at all.  

Previous Creation pages
First 
Second & Third 

Other quiet book stuff
Bread and honey
Hanging out the clothes

Page, the Second and Third

The Creation quiet book continues. Here is pages 2-3. The stars live in the moon, and match to the colors on the opposite page. Each color is a different feel of fabric. They are velcro, so they stick really nicely to the pews at church. And sweaters or nylons.

I've wondered if it's worth it to make patterns for all of this, if anyone would like to copy. Any takers?

Eating bread and honey

The Little Miss has really started loving her nursery rhymes. Really. So the current project, okay, one of the current projects is a quiet book page based on 'Sing a Song of Sixpence.' I started with the bread and honey, not forgetting the 'ife. That's honey, not peanut butter. And it really does stick. College education at its finest.

Can you guess how it works?

(It's quiet now...)

My crafty self has decided to make the Little Princess a quiet book, church style. I've been contemplating the creation and other Bible stories, to include at least one Adam and Eve page. In a nerdy moment of inspiration, or possibly indigestion, I thought about basing it off an anatomy lesson. I'm not thinking Anat/Phys 301, but Adam has a heart, lungs, and a brain. When bouncing the idea off my mister, he said I should include the ribs cage, but make sure one is removable. Smart.

Hopefully more to come, assuming it actually happens.

Going bananas

I love them. Bananas that is. Not enough to marry them though. Just enough to feed them to myself and the Princess all the time. Thankfully her digestive system has accepted the offering fairly well.

Favorite new ways to eat them, an even old ways to eat them:

• Banana/watermelon crush - Frozen or unfrozen. Yum.
• Banana 'pancakes' - little rounds sauteed in coconut oil. It helps if it's not a mush banana, but it's super yummy even as a mushy mess
• Frozen Banana yogurt - freeze bananas, blend with plain yogurt. Acts like soft serve ice cream, tastes like heaven, or how I would imagine heaven could taste.

Next stop: Cook up a few 'pancakes.' drop them in the freezer, and then blend with yogurt. Homemade yogurt. I'm excited.

Any favorite recipes you want to share, for bananas, or for baby?

Baby Tip #647

To ease teething pain, make a momsicle. Freeze breast milk or formula in whatever convenient container is available and let baby teeth on it. Since baby's mouth is small, it's better to use small containers. Or, break of bits and give them as ice chips.

(This is not my original idea, though I am rather proud of my name for it.)

A formal petition

It's time to take a public stand. There is no backing down, no compromise. The offense is too great! We demand fair and equal treatment for all!

Recently, I encountered a vast lack of sensitivity and understanding from the owners and operators of public and private facilities. How is a mother supposed to go and do if she is barred from entering?

In what way? you ask.

By plastering signage at every entrance prohibiting food and drink. What am I, as a nursing mother, save my child's food and drink? Does this preclude me and those like me from attending or visiting as others do?

Add your voice to the cause.

Now that you mention it, the Little Princess has found some rather creative places to need a bite, to include:

• Home, in every room in the house, save the master bath and the closet
• The birthing center where she was born
• A bench at the Botanical Gardens
• The shower
• The stationary car. Several parking lots have become quite fine eateries, and also several rest areas.
• The moving car...with someone else driving, of course.
• Several thousand feet up in an airplane
• Every other moment at church
• Our church Easter activity 
• Her doctor's office
• My doctor's office
• A stall in the grocery store bathroom, as well as one at the Renaissance Fair
• The dentist's chair
• A bookstore
• During bookclub
• The home of friends and family
• A restaurant booth
• Daddy's desk at work  

Quite the list.

Made in the USA

Growing up living so close to my grandparents, on both sides, (which I humbly recommend for all children...and the parents) taught me a lot about obtaining material stuff. I inherited the 'do it yourself' gene, which permeates my every, every day. One example: Grandpa and Grandma made toys for all the grandchildren for several years. One year it was marionettes, another year it was Jacob's ladders, and another year was a stuffed ball. My brother had one of these. As I scrounged around for gift ideas for our little lady, I realized that diaper cream and clothes the next size bigger didn't make for much excitement at Christmas, even though she wasn't even 3 months old. So I decided to make a ball too. I played on the Notre Dame theme in honor of her father, who is a devout fan, even without being a devout Catholic. I even added a handle just for little hands. It's a little lumpy, but she likes it!

How? Cut 12 pentagons out of fabric. Sew the sides of sets of 5 together to form 2 rings. Add another pentagon to the 5 sided edge of each ring, then sew all but 2 edges of the rings together, wrong side out. Turn it right side out, decorate, if desired, and stuff. Then sew it closed...however you can manage. Then play! 

Laundry list

As mentioned previously, somewhere, be it in a post or elsewhere, having a child has opened my eyes to several facts of life. I now know why some moms are late, never have time, have a messy house, car, boat, or RV, and why dinner must be prepared in under 7 minutes. I also know why mothers either must have several closets full of clothing or must never go anywhere. It all comes down to the baby. As I left the house one morning this weekend, I noticed my favorite jacket had the flaky remains of a recent baby eruption on the shoulder. It was washed earlier that week and I tried to keep it as tidy as possible, especially since anything baby leaves behind shows up so well on black. On closer examination, I noticed that underneath the remnants, the color was turning purple. It has bleached my jacket!

In November, my cousin was holding the Little Miss for a few minutes and got to experience the after dinner regurgitation herself. Thankfully, she "still thinks that spit-up was a sign of love. ;D" My baby must love me lots.

Just goes to show that I probably need to do laundry better...or never go anywhere.