Crochet Converse

I have loved Converse Chuck Taylor All Stars all my life. I'm still wasting for a pair.
(I want them in red, and I'm a size women's 7.5 just for your information).

Anyway, I'm saving up for them, but until I get them, I spent the weekend crocheting these for myself.

 

I followed a pattern I found at Momma's Little Monkeys. As she says on the post, it is a pattern in progress, I made several row and width changes to fit my feet, but it was still so easy to follow!  They do look more professional with real shoe laces, but I didn't have any and was just too eager to wear them.

I just used red heart yarn I had leftover from other projects (absolutely loving that I had them in red).  And yes, they make great tile ice skates!

 

Happy Autumn!

Happy Autumn, everyone!

This is my  new tawny port tomato dining room (it is more orangey in real life).  I ADORE it!!

And those are the leaves my kids and I made to hang from the ceiling to start decorating for fall.  I hope to finish it all today - we'll see!

In the meantime - it's FALL!!!!

Cinderelly, Cinderelly....

We have a little friend turning 3 today who adores Cinderella.  After seeing these Princess aprons on Pinterest, I couldn't resist trying my hand at them for her!  (By the way, the blogger who originally made them has them for sale. I'm sure her's are much better quality than mine!)

No idea why this picture is so blurry!  And the apron is already in our little friend's possession.

 

Here's the back.  I tried to make it, if not reversible, at least as nice looking on the inside as the out!

Camping in style...

Last Friday, Curly Boy loaded up his camping vest (a gift from Grandma and Granddad) in preparation for camping with Granddad over our vacation.
Of course, because we were so excited about it, Curly Boy 2 decided he also needed a camping vest.

While I didn't have the budget for an official, I have made vests before.  I also had some D-hooks, a pair of khakis, a measuring tape and imagination!

After about 2 hours of work, this is the final result (and yes, I took this picture before I got all the loose thread pulled off the front, sorry!)

:
It's a more basic vest than Curly Boy's, but I think the elasti-loops to hold cars was a nice touch.  Makes it more personal to Curly Boy 2, who, of course, didn't want to wear it right away.  But I think he'll come around.

If Ariel had play clothes....

Curly Girl's friend had a birthday party Tuesday night.  We get together regularly with this family and one other for play date, and I've mentioned before the commiseration of SO MANY TOYS.

There are lots of fun little things to buy little girls - my little ponies that come with dvds, lalaloopsy dolls (which was the party theme), Barbie accessories, playhouse things.... These are all great gifts.  This little friend would've loved any single one of them.

But I wanted to be a bit more creative, so Curly Girl and I had a conversation about what her friend would like.  Curly Girl thought either slippers, or a princess dress.  The slippers would've probably been ok, but they are crochet, and this little friend is slightly picky about textures, so we moved on to the princess dress.

I'm a decent seamstress, but when it came to Curly Girl's Princess Ariel dress, I made my mom make it.

See - Puffy Sleeves

After convincing Curly Girl I couldn't replicate her princess dress, I used this idea I found on Pinterest of creating Princess-inspired play clothes.  (Seriously, go check out her super cute Cinderella and Snow White play clothes).
Knowing that this friend LOVED Ariel and the color pink (after we confirmed it with her mom), we created this outfit:

Pink shorts that I added ruffle to.
A pink tank top with silver dots that I put ruffled sleeves on.

Curly Girl will tell you it is ridiculous because the sleeves don't puff.  And I feel bad about that - but puffy sleeves are something I REALLY have to concentrate on, and after putting the sleeve on wrong the first time, and picking out a million tiny stitches, I went with a regular sleeve.
We threw in a tiara and a dollar store pink pearl necklace for good measure. 

I think it was a hit.  After opening all her presents at the party, the little friend had to go to the bathroom and change into her new outfit.  I'll call it good.

Little Tiny Food

I am the first to lament the amount of toys my children have.  My friends and I often commiserate at playdate that we enjoy giving our children things, but honestly, what do you give a child whose room is overflowing.

I know I JUST cleaned out their rooms, but I just couldn't help myself.  Yesterday afternoon, during quiet time, I made this:

I was really hating how much food packaging I was putting in the recycle bin.  All that cardboard - it MUST be good for something! 
And after cleaning up Curly Girl's kitchen stuff and realizing she had only yogurt and butter tubs as play food (besides a few felt things I made her at Easter and some plastic eggs), I decided I could keep some of that food packaging and repurpose it into something fun.

It was super easy.  Take a box.  Cut it down to size.  The easiest thing to do is use the bottom of the box and one side.  Cut out an extra side panel and the top of the box.  Use hot glue to attach.  A few of them I had to glue on the name because it wasn't near the bottom of the box.  The tallest box is the rice box, it is about 5 inches tall.    I need to do a little trimming on the edges, but I'm pretty happy with them.
I cut the sides off the flour and sugar bags, then glued them inside, this made them about half their size (after cutting off excess at the top as well.).

The best thing about this fun little tiny food is - they were FREE.  It was just recycling!  And when they get smashed.... well, I'm sure it won't be hard to replace.  We're still eating here after all.

My next project will be a puppet theater/pretend house front.  We have signs for the kids to play library, post office, vet, dr., grocery store, etc.... but our original house front collapsed when Curly Boy 2 tried to sit in it!  I'll have to pull down another big box from the attic for that project though.

I think I need a bigger basket (for shoes).....

I'm not a huge flip-flop fan.  I used to be.  But sometime around the time I had Curly Girl, I stopped being able to walk in them.  I always felt like I was curling my toes super tight to keep my sandals on.  It just wasn't comfortable.  It was much easier to go barefoot, or put on some real shoes.

But my sandals (which were flip-flop style, but more durable), finally gave out after five years.  And as with everyone, budget is tight, so I had to find something new to wear.

Enter - Pinterest (of course).

Following a pin to makeit-loveit, I created myself some fun new flip flops, that actually stay on my feet!  And it only cost $1.07 and an old t-shirt!!

The Supplies

My t-shirt yarn - made by following this tutorial on Twinkle Twinkle.

The end result! 

I absolutely love how soft and stretchy and squishy these flip-flops are.  I have two other styles on Pinterest I want to try.  And with a Dollar Tree nearby with a great color selection of flip flops, and a closet full of fabric and ribbon.... I just might need a bigger shoe basket in my closet!

Snuggle

I just could not bear to part with my children's baby blankets.  My momma's heart just cried at the fact that they were all in boxes in the attic.  My "you have to stop hoarding now!" side was bucking to get rid of those boxes.

The two sides ended up, after a long debate, at a rather lovely compromise.  The baby blankets are out of the attic, hacked to pieces, and yet, still wonderfully usable.

This is a vintage propeller quilt design.  Here it is lying on our full size bed.  It still needs backing and binding, and I want to hand quilt it, but I'm SO in love with it already.

At one point I mentioned to Mr. Curly that it was going to be a "sick blanket," meaning, it would only get used when you were sick.  Because, really, what is more comforting than a baby blanket?  Why a homemade quilt made entirely out of baby blankets of course!

But now that it is done, I just don't know.  It might end up on my bed for awhile.

I'm THAT mom

So, last week, I became THAT mom.
You know, the one with the closet full of "quiet time" activities for her kids.  The (seemingly) organized one?
Yep, THAT one.

It's something I've strived for before, but I think I've always made it too hard. 

Doing this 52 weeks to an organized home thing has really made purging fun - way more fun than actually cleaning.
So last week, I cleaned my craft/coat closet.

 My fabric stash: the two largest piles?  Felt or flannel.  Yep.

My tub of jeans, almost full.  I've made one jean quilt (it was a jean/t-shirt quilt combo), and I've been petitioned for another one that we won't worry about anyone ruining (the t-shirts were Mr. Curly's college football shirts).









This is my tub of clothes to up cycle.  Old dress pants of Mr. Curly to turn into pants for the boys.  Maternity shirts to make into skirts.  Old dress shirts and dresses to cut down.  It's ridiculous.



And here it is all cleaned up.  Before I started, you couldn't tell it was a table there, it was just a mountain, floor to almost hanging bar full of stuff.

 

The shelf side.  Fabric all organized, ribbon, markers, yarn, so easy to find!

 

And the kids section.  A tub of quiet time bags.  A basket of paper and rubber band activities.  A sonic drink container holding puff balls, beads, fuzzy sticks, foam, contact paper, mini erasers and paper clips - ART in other words! A McDonald's drink container holding paint brushes, markers, glue and crayons.  A bucket of stickers.  The paint is in an old formula tub, tucked behind the quiet bags to Curly Boy #2 can't get to them.

Since I've already become THAT mom, there might be a post of quiet time activities I have planned for the summer coming up.  Maybe.  I'm not horribly original, but I am proud of myself for making it WAY more simple than I had in the past!

Stream of craftiness....

I wrote this great post about working on a novel during April..... and then I quit writing.

Seriously - writer's block on the novel, lack of spiritual inspiration for the Bible Blog I'm participating in, no stories to tell here....  I hate when that happens!

I have been crafty!  I'm working on Curly Girl's Easter skirt:


Sneak preview of all the colors she chose!



I made these nice little cardboard signs to go above our couch in the living room.  They are three verses that sum up what our "Godliness, Character, Contentment" philosophy of our family is.  Such an easy project - cardboard, poster board paint and a sharpie marker!


Walk Humbly with God (Micah 6:8), Love One Another (John 13:34), And Be Thankful (Colossians 3:15)

And I took this towering inferno of kitchen appliances, removed the wheels, thereby making it MUCH more steady, and lowering everything about 5 inches.  Great for me, Mr. Curly, not so much.

Hey! You can see me here!
That cute shirt came from a consignment shop and cost me a whopping $1! 
One of my  new favorites!

PLUS, I've made a little Easter vest for Curly Boy 2 (previously Curly Baby, that is it's own post), and started on felt food and felt superhero magnets for Easter basket gifts.  We've rearranged the living room, I'm working on desk organization, STILL trying to get Curly Boy to hold a pen and write something.....!

So I've been busy.  I hope to finish Easter crafts soon, complete the birthday crafts (again, a whole 'nuther post), and get back to work on my baby blanket quilt.  I'm thinking - hand quilting.  What do you think?

Trading Spaces: They Hated It

Despite the title, this is not about decorating (that post is tomorrow).  But I did a project with my kids last week that they were just disgusted with, and it made me think of all those great Trading Spaces shows where the people were WAY excited to begin, and at the end.... not so much.

The project: Paper mache' banks.

My kids have been BEGGING me for piggy banks.  Curly Girl has a little silver one, they both had (and destroyed) those Tootsie Roll banks, and they just can't believe I haven't bought them any  more banks to destroy by dumping their pennies out on the floor over and over and over.

When I took Curly Girl to the Art Center, she saw Paper Mache' art for the first time, and thought it would be fun to try.
It was "P" week for Curly Boy - so what better than to focus on paper! (We did several fun things with different types of paper, this one is the best story).

So I cut up 2 ginger ale 20 oz. bottles, mixed up some flour and water, tore up some newspaper.  And we got to work.

My kids were absolutely disgusted.  They thought the goop was slimy, the newspaper got too wet, the bottles felt weird.... every textile thing they could complain about, they did.  This from children who will gladly make mud pies for hours, splash in puddles, eat ranch dip with their hands..... It's ridiculous.




So I made two paper mache' banks. 

They painted them:

And here are the results - awaiting their pennies!

 

 

Potty Training?!

Curly Baby has decided he wants to potty train.

And while I love our prefolds and wool covers, they inhibit his independence when trying to get to a potty all by himself.

We can't to AIO (all-in-ones) because, well, because 1) I refuse to buy  new diapers for potty training, but more importantly is 2) Curly Baby's skin does not get along well with PUL.
And I don't want to spend money on pull-ups, since his desire to potty train hits a bump anytime he's in disposables.

But I do have lots of prefolds, lots and lots.  And a good friend let me have her leftover PUL when I helped her make training underpants for her girls and nieces and nephews.
With this, and some pinterest research, I came up with my own little diaper-trainer of sorts.  I'm calling it the Curly Special.

This is a prefold, cut into a contour shape.  I suppose it is rather like a fitted, because there isn't really a way to adjust it, and there is no elastic.  I added some velcro on either side, but you can just pull it up and down.  I put PUL down the soaker area.  As you can see, it does not go all the way up in the back, so that it doesn't touch his skin there.  And then I lined the edges with cut up wool covers that weren't our favorites.  This allows PUL to go all the way up the front and to the edges of the legs, but doesn't allow the PUL to touch his skin.  The wool "bias tape" basically acts as a wool cover would, keeping any moisture in the diaper, and not on the clothes.

And here it is in action.  He LOVES the owl print, asks for it, as well as the monkey one.  I'm hoping this love can translate into "you can wear it longer if you keep it clean!"

And just for those who wonder, since he isn't yet 2, this is completely child-led.  In fact, I fought it for 2 months before bringing the trainer potty down from the attic.  This boy is ready to go!

I'm nothing if consistent.

Yes, yes I know the phrase is generally "I'm nothing, if NOT _____ (fill in the blank)."  But that isn't true with me.

If I do something consistently, I must be doing it wrong. 

Take, for intanst, the dragon tails I created for the Zoo trip we took for Curly Boy's and Baby's birthdays.  I got the idea here (Running with Scissors).  I made 4, they were awesome.  But not one turned out like the one before it!
Same with the dragon wings I found here (Dabbled).

I never make a recipe the same way twice.  Tuesday night I made shepherd's pie.  Last time it had beef, peas, brown gravy and mashed potatoes. Tuesday it had beef, which cooked in beef consomme, then drained, added peas and corn and used the remaining consomme to mash the potatoes.  I even topped it with cheese.  After all, wouldn't Mr. Curly get bored if I made everything the same way?


It really has become a running joke in the house about my inconsistency.  I'm so glad Mr. Curly has grace to not complain when his "favorite" meal is never the same.... or when I stomp my feet at the sewing machine because some stitch just won't work.

Da Bears

Curly Boy was insistent that he have a Chicago Bears shirt for Easter.  Mr. Curly just happened to have a Bears blue polo that he was no longer wearing (it had a previous church's logo on it), so it was recycled into a new little Easter polo.  Curly Baby also has a new Easter polo, this one made from an old green polo of Mr. Curly's.

I cut the shirt pieces from the bottom of the shirts, so I didn't have to do any hemming.  I also re-used the collars and sleeves.  I won't point out the mistakes I made.

I then took an old pair of dress pants that Mr. Curly no longer wears and created two little pairs of pants using a pattern I found at Dana-Made-It.  Curly Boy's have a smaller waist, but longer legs than Curly Baby's. 

And yes, in the first picture, the pants on the left do seem to have legs of two different lengths.  And they are - just not as much as the picture makes it look like.  Honestly, once they're on, you can't even tell.

One day you're in, the next day you're out.....

I've mentioned in passing before that Mr. Curly feels like I give myself Project Runway challenges way too often.

And sometimes, yeah, I stress out instead of just spending the money on a pattern, or the new shirt, or whatever.
But sometimes, sometimes that challenge comes from my four year old Curly Girl who desperately wants a fuzzy soft pink tutu for her Easter dress and we can't find a good pattern anywhere.

Armed with 1/2 yard of hot pink knit, 1/2 yard of pale pink tulle, hot pink thread, some elastic and the instructions "soft pink tuttu easter dress", I created this:

I used one of Curly Girl's t-shirts as a pattern for the top and merely cut out two t-shirt shaped (sleeves and everything) pieces of knit, then sewed them together!  The underskirt is three tiers of knit, as 1/2 a yard wasn't actually enough to create a full dress (surprise surprise).

The tulle overskirt is actually a separate piece.  I sewed a strip of knit over the top of the tulle to create a casing for the elastic. For the first time ever, it gathered perfectly!  It also has a light pink thread going through it about half way down to gather it in - otherwise the fullness of the tulle looked really odd with the underskirt.

Using the "Instant Gratification Top" from Sewinginnomansland.com I created a flowered-y type neckline.  And then used her pattern for a retro-turban to create a matching headband out of some knit scraps.

It's a little funky, but I'm completely in love with knit.  I didn't have to do one single hem!  And Curly Girl loves it and can't wait for Easter morning.  So..... the winner of the competition - Curly-T!

Oh to be June Cleaver....

As my profile says - I strive to be that 1950's housewife.  I adore June Cleaver - her house is clean, she makes full course meals everyday, her boys come to her for advice, her boys's friends are respectful, and her husband adores her and listens to her.

So, when Mr. Curly shared this article here about aprons and the housewife, I just knew I had to pass it on.

I have several patterns all ready to make myself some June Cleaver dresses.  I might not take it that far, as I really adore my jeans with heels and a classic button-up, but I'm definitely going for the aprons now. Maybe on those afternoons when I should be cleaning and yet feel like watching TV instead, an apron will help me get my work done with still time to spare.

Flowers popping, bunnies hopping....

Easter must be coming!

We have a tree in our yard that buds year round.  It blooms in spring, is gorgeous all summer, and then in the fall and winter, if it stays above 32 for more than 2 days, it starts to bud out.  Evie calls these buds "bunny ears" - this picture here shows why.  It's budding again!

And Tuesday night there were TWO bunnies in our yard when we got home! (And two stray cats under our old parklane, but that isn't so exciting)

AND in the crafty-closet there are old dress clothes being picked and apart and re-purposed.  Easter must be coming!
Curly Girl has requested a soft, fuzzy pink tutu for Easter.  Remember the year when all the celebs were wearing floor length silk skirts with sweaters to their awards ceremonies?  Well, that was the year I wore a floor length pink silk skirt with a soft pink sweater to my senior winter semi-formal.  The sweater is long gone, but I've held onto the skirt.  This year the skirt is going to become a soft pink tutu for Curly Girl, and possibly an infinity dress for me. 

Curly Boy has requested a Chicago Bears shirt for Easter.  Since Mr. Curly has an old Chicago Bears blue polo he's not wearing anymore (it has a past church logo on it), I am cutting that down to fit Curly Boy.  I'll probably add some orange trim, or maybe use orange thread to make it "Bears" enough for him.

Curly Baby.... I'm not sure yet what I'm doing for him.  I really want him to match Curly Boy, but I'm not sure the polo has enough material for that.  I do have a green polo of Mr. Curly's I could cut down, or I could make a vest/pants combo out of an old pair of Mr. Curly's dress slacks.
I do know that both boys will have matching pants as I've been saving these gray slacks of Mr. Curly's specifically for Easter season!

Mr. Curly has yet to trust me to make him anything, but maybe I could manage a tie....  A grown up tie?  Me oh my - easter must be coming!

Finished the pinterest project

I've wanted to make a closet into a mini-room since Mr. Curly and I got married (probably before then, but that was long enough ago, and I started a new life that day, so I don't really remember).

Anyway, in our second house, I wanted our coat closet to be a piano room (notice I say WANTED, Mr. Curly nixed the idea).  In our 3rd house (an apartment we rented for barely 9 months), my coat closet WAS our laundry room.  In our 4th house, the coat closet was also a pantry.

But now, now I, me, myself, got to choose what to do with our coat closet.

Our living room has this strange little growth off the front of it, that usually looks like this (this picture was taken AFTER I started cleaning out the closet, so it is a little messier than usual).  If you can tell, there is a mini-table covered in stuff on the right, and a sewing table covered in stuff behind the piano.


This dresser held all my crafting supplies and was piled up to the coat-bar in the closet before I cleaned it off to move it.

And this is usually what my sewing machine table looked like.  Because really, it was in a corner and doesn't get much use.

But then Mr. Curly moved my dresser and built me some shelves.

Which I promptly filled up with all my stuff.  The good news is - this has completely opened my eyes to how much stuff I really have.  So our easter outfits are going to be completely out of repurposed clothes (of which I have 2 tubs, one you can see here), and I have a better idea of what material I do have for the random projects that suddenly come to mind. 

This picture was taken yesterday, 2 weeks after completing the transformation, so of course, it is messy again.  Mr. Curly likes this, because there isn't sewing stuff all over the place, the kids like it because they can easily find all their games (under the table) along with their art and school supplies.
I do need something for trash though, because the plastic bag on the hanger just isn't going to work.

Yes, it definitely needs more work.  Part of that will be as I start to use all the supplies I didn't realize I had.  Part of that will be as I continue to get tired of seeing piles everywhere and keep throwing things away.

But for now, I finally have my dream of a mini-room, AND I checked off an idea I found on pinterest.  Yay me!



This truck definitely needs some work....

Curly Baby is getting all homemade gifts this year, with the exception of his new CARS jammies to match Curly Boy's. 
One of this gifts, will be this crocheted truck I made.  I had no pattern, just a picture, and an idea to make it look like Mr. Curly's 1950 Ford F-1.

 For the life of me I couldn't figure out how to make the hood stand out right.

 So instead of a truck, it kind of looks like some sort of delivery van or something.

But I am proud of the blue dot taillights.

Oh pinterest....

Yep, I've joined the millions of tired mommies browsing through projects and ideas they'll never have time or money for.
I've joined Pinterest.

For a great Good/Evil Pinterest read, visit the Very Worst Missionary.  I'm keeping this in mind as I do my daily browsing.

To see the sort of things that catch my interest, visit my boards.  If you dare.