Millinery Effects

As part of this week's Show&Tell theme at SugarSugar-& Little Pink Studio hats & millinery...
My little ladies were quite at home at our tearoom. They would dress daily and loved to hand out sachets to our guests. The tearoom is now a closed chapter in our lives, but the lovely hats, gloves & dresses are still part of their playtime.

My hats are put to work - velvet blossoms are on my inspiration board and a yellow rose hat box holds the hats that are destined to adorn my totes and projects.

Thanks for stopping by! Kelley

Spring Sewing

I've decided to close the post with the pix of my auto accident. Here's what I was doing the day it happened and where I'm trying to get back to: Nothing like a new season to inspire sewing. I've packed away the tweeds and dark, heavy fabrics and suddenly I'm all about sewing again! And, going back to Project Runway again, I decided to make this tote a bit over the top, with a huge rose and overscaled tied strap. Inspired by the couture look that Christian and Chris did. Not for everyday of course, but for a special occasion. In my mind it works. I stand by my work (lol!).

Liv poses in a today's creation - due to the cold weather, I decided a nice white turtle neck and a a new white cardigan with a skirt would be more practical. Cause we know how practical I am, lol! She's 4 and loves to twirl so her skirt had to be full. We're both pretty pleased with the results.

The Baking Ballerina

Liv dropped out of preschool. She assures me that this isn't a trend and that kindy won't be the same repeat performance of clinging and crying. I'm choosing to believe her. And really who would want to go play with their peers when they can stay home with their ultra-cool mom and do crafts, go thrifting & bake?

Here she is striking a pose in the dining room. On closer review, it doesn't appear to be an actual ballet position. She's up on the chair cause the puppy likes to grab ankles and knees and bite. This day was complete with ballet & tap lessons followed by sugar cookie baking. The apron is one I bought before my DDs were ever born way back in my ebay craze of the late 90s. I'm so glad I kept it. You can't tell by my pix, but it's a pale calico and matchs her lavendar leotard. The best feature - a tiny pocket near the waist - you know how little ladies love little pockets. She wore this outfit all day, and later added her pink glitter snowboots. Fashionista!

Dr. Seuss meets Project Runway

Tick-tock the morning clock.

No hat, nor sock. Over here? Under there? Under the bed? A look of dread.

Will she? Won't she?

Have a hat today I pray?

Yes! Yes she will! Have a hat today I say!

Make it new for you?

Yes! Yes, it's true!

I will make a new for you!

Have no fear nor dread!

Grab the glue, no time for thread!

Stand back! The scissors fly. Hot glue - don't ask why! Give it a try!

Too big? Too small? Too short? Too tall? More red you said?

Lose the bow! What do I know? More squish, less squash, It's prefect oh my gosh!

Happy, happy yes I see. You are happy! Yes indeed!

My own little Project Runway challenge this morning. Create a Dr. Seuss hat comparable to last year's carefully crafted paper hat that suddenly went missing. Time 30 minutes. Using only the materials readily available in the craft room - I used white pre-quilted batting and lots of ribbons. While getting 2 children ready for school.

I was channelling Jillian as I was self-inflicting myself with globs of hot glue and working up until the last second. In my mind Tim Gunn gave me a non-committal, "hmmmmm". Heidi Klum asked "Haven't we seen this look before from you?"

Okay, enough fun for one morning. Liv wants to play chess an

d I have a pile of laundry & some St Patty's day tags to finish! Ciao!

off my to-do list

Cookie anyone?

The Box

I can remember how much fun it was to decorate my Valentine's Day boxes. Kids these days (I sound as middle aged as I am, huh?) don't know how easy it all is for them. There are stickers... in just about any obscure hobby or interest now. I can remember a bit of ribbon and lots of glue and cut out hearts.

So, to keep up with the rest of the mom's, here's what I helped Cathrynn with last night. I love the cupid paper - a thrift store score - packs of pretty Valentine papers for .39 a pack. I may need to go purchase more, dont'cha think?

where oh where did my baby go?

A LONG day home with two sick kiddos, they aren't sick enough not to fight, kwim? I must reflect on my now seven year old. This darling princess baby is now running her sister over with her new 2 wheeler. In the middle of the family room. I'll spare you those photos...

"she wears a rose in her hair,

at the twighlight's dreamy close.

Her face is fair...under the rose"

-R.H. Stoddard

Happy Birthday to my sweetheart!

Cathrynn Rose is officially SEVEN. It just doesn't seem possible. But she assured me that when she blew out the candles, she became 7. Cool, huh? She may be a little Hannah Montana fanatic, notice the temporary tattoos leftover from last nights trip the movie theater to see the 3D concert, but, she couldn't wait to put on her matching American Girl robes this morning.


We're playing hookie from school. Hopefully, all the strep and flu bugs will be gone in time for the dance party this weekend. Until then I'll continue my regime of Lysol, Clorox Wipes, Zpacks, Amoxicillan, tissues, and cough meds...

Hoping you all are faring better this cold & flu season!

then & now

Olivia's been sick. It's January. I've been sick. It's been 7 degrees here on too many occasions lately. They're bored. I'm bored. And feeling like the world is passing me by as I lounge around in sweats, sipping TheraFlu. We're BORED.

One sure fire way to prevent the doldrums of winter- Dress up. Bring out the tiaras, feather boas, and assorted hats and purses... like this scrapbook page I did from another day just like this in January 2005.

And here's Liv in January 2008. She ran around in a leotard, tutu, faux leopard hat and broken umbrella for days. No need to explain bad luck to this 4 year old. She ain't buying it.

And I'm ready to get some serious scrapbooking under way. The room's almost clean. (At least by my, not so high, standards!) And the girls each did 3 pages last week. I may need to catch-up...Suddenly stuck in the house is sounding a bit better.

Sweet Dreams

Well, I didn't make the wine crate (I may have had some of the wine, of course!) And I didn't make the chenille and doilies, but I rescued them from the thrift store. And used them until they became humble cutters. The bit of lace at the bottom was made by my Gramm and reminds me of the afghans that she made us all.

I had some scrap wood in the basement, and some trim off of an old frame that I stuck in my craft room with some future purpose in mind. Viola! A bunch of junquey treasures, bits & pieces came together to make a charming cottage bed, don'tcha think?

Can't wait 'til C returns home from school!

If you see the tooth fairy...

Of course, you won't actually see her, whatever was I thinking?

I just wanted to remind her to come back and TAKE the tooth with her tonight. Just leaving $5.00 will not satisfy a six year old. It will cause drama and anguish.

In addition to an email, we will leave her a note this evening telling her that it is not a new tooth, even though Cathrynn has several loose ones, but the same one from last night, so she doesn't leave more money, which would not be fair.

Santa doesn't have these issues. She needs to get her act together. There is no excuse for such sloppy work.

And these are the days of MY life, here in la-la land...

I wish I could tell you that I've spent the last few lazy days reading quietly and sipping tea.
Instead I didn't even get to watch Jane on Sunday! I'm home with a sick kiddo. But what school-kid-age mom isn't in January? Liv picked up some dear old strep germs last week - either at preschool or Walmart. If it was Walmart, they were the super-duper fast acting variety that had her losing it by the time we hit the deli. Nothing clears a path to the restroom faster than a 4 year old shrieking "my head hurts and I have to PEE". Yeah, half way through my deli order.

So, I'm home with her. And an 8 pack of Poptarts. Yeah. I'm my worst enemy. I should have just thrown myself in front of the train and bought the big box of Lucky Charms too. So, my internal talks - or as my friends may call them - the voices in my head - are complete with Rain Man circles past and back to the pantry. So far, so good. I've stuck to the WW Core ALL freaking day, 'cept for the Starbucks treat. A necessity for sitting in the car with sicko kid while her sister danced for an hour and insisted that I not abandon her there. I got the skim milk and no whipped cream. Next time, I'll do the skinny latte. Maybe tomorrow. Yeah. No processed piece of white flour with cardboard consistency for me tonight and I'll reap the reward of an overpriced coffee. I can live with that.And I'm Cookie Mom. A title that only strikes fear if you know what that means in Girl Scout terms. Yeah, I'm in charge of the cookie sales for our fledgling little troop of Brownies. So, my life will soon be consumed with Thin Mints. And avoiding actually eating them this year. My own little daughter is plotting her door-to-door cookie sale. Truly, I'd rather do just about anything else - like I'd rather clean the toilets than do it. She's a type A - must be successful type so she sold 24 boxes in the first 1/2 hour and has been begging to beg the rest of the neighbors.

My gal friends, those ditzy, bitchy Orange County housewives are on at the moment. Perfect teeth and foreheads. I'm wondering if my obsessing about food will be replaced with fitness. Botox? A boob job, perhaps? You know, just to hike the ones I already have up to where they once resided.

I'll stop here. No need to go any further in this post than my sagging breasts.

'Night all!

My American Girls

The hype. I'm the guilty party. Ever since another lifetime ago when I had a stepdaughter and an American Girl Doll, I've been dreaming of my own girl's having theirs. A mom at dance was perusing the catalog and it was the perfect gift for Grammy & Pappy to get my girls for Christmas this year.

Cathrynn decided on a look-a-like doll and Liv circled just about every doll on every page. She still loves her babies, so I thought Itty Bitty would be perfect for her. Until Christmas morning when she opened her package, looked at Cathrynn's doll with the comb-able hair, and broken-heartedly announced, "but I wanted the one that looked like ME too!" I don't know which was worse, her face or my mom's. I won't be trusted with something like this ever again, that's for sure. She wants to know how soon hers will grow up and have long hair. I can assure she'll have a long haired doll coming on April 24th for her 5th birthday!I am disappointed that the American Girl Dolls & Accessories are made in China. And that most of the furniture is pastel plastic! The same stuff I've been ridding my house of since they've outgrown that stage. A short trip to the craft room resulted in this crib. Not bad, huh? Fabric and ribbon scraps, hot glue and an old wine crate. We love it!

this & that

Just a bunch of random stuff today...

Yesterday I took the girls to a near by park.
Blog-worthy because:

• It's January and it should be about 20-30 degrees here, not almost 70! Wahooo!
  

• I took this picture of the girls from above them up the steep hill. I usually plant my fat arse on the park bench and enjoy watching them play, and never venture up the hills unless I have a pretty picnic packed. But, with this healthy approach - I never sat down the entire 45 minutes we were there! EXERCISE. I'm doing it. I attended a WW meeting on Saturday and am easing into the Core Foods Plan. Feeling good about it, and sleeping so much better now that I'm wiped out by 11pm, not getting my second wind.
• The girls are dressed in baggy play clothes after Cathrynn tripped over Olivia in the school yard when I picked C up and ended up caked with mud, head to toe, and quite traumatized. My gal couldn't just let the mud dry and go with it. She was upset and embarrassed. So, we headed home for some new clothes first.
• Yesterday, Olivia mentioned that when she grows up she thinks she'll be skinny. Or like me. She hasn't decided yet. Hmmm...how's that for a moment of clarity, huh?
  

And a quiet conversation with Olivia last night, pillow talk as her sister slept across the room...
"when will we have bunk beds?"

I'm mildly surprised, because even though their beds can be made into bunk beds, the thought never crossed my mind, so I say, "I don't know, I'll have to think about that" with my standard fail-safe answer for just about everything.

Then she demands: "when Cathrynn goes to college, guess who will have the bottom bunk!"

I'm a bit caught on the thought of Cathrynn, my 1st grader heading off to college, so she plows ahead with the answer: "YOU, Mommy! It will be your turn to have the bottom bunk!

I couldn't help but smile at the thought.

My most favorite Christmas Dress

In a moment of ebay craziness, I paid $22 a yard for this Christmas fabric. Yep, I won't pay more than $3-4 a yard at Joanns w/a coupon, but this was just a gotta-have-it moment. I was afraid to cut it! The finished product made me & Liv happy. The buttonholes were done last minute - I almost safety pinned it together! And not as neat as I'd have liked, but it looked adorable. Some day, Liv will say - "hey, is that fringe from an old bedspread?"

Guilty as charged.

And if I have time, she might get a pillow from the same fabrics!

The Last Thread

I ran out of black and white thread last night. Five Steelers totes in one week was obviously my limit. Let's say that's what lead to my emotional breaking point yesterday, yeah let's - and not the other stuff - hormones, beckoning holiday stress complete with money woes, that my son is going to be 21 in a few short days...

After a tearful day (sorry guys!) the final straw was the last black thread running out when I was this close to finishing bag six of the black&gold at midnight.

In defeat, I decided to do a tote that I really, really love for someone that I really, really love.

A long time ago, my wise friend Lorna made the astute observation that I was not going to do well in a sales venture. She pointed out that I was not motivated by money. Yep, she was right. I have never done anything in my life solely for the sake of making more money. Yes, I've worked two jobs to support Vince, but I never married for money, never took a job that would have required me to sell stuff to people who didn't really need it just to make the deal. Is that a bad thing? It feels like it when you start adding up the holiday expenses and wonder why you didn't go back to work and send your kiddos to daycare so you could buy them really great presents. Or that trip to Disney that everyone in 1st grade seems to be taking this month. Did I mention that I loathe Disney? Yep, I still do.

An early morning pep talk from Dana and Liv's joy at her new tote were nice reminders of what's important. Not shipping the girls to daycare today, hanging out with them & still in my jammies at 1pm - yep, those things matter. I'm not a money making machine any more. I'm not gone 50 hours a week at work. Even my totes... well, I make them to make me happy - I put more time and materials into them they're currently selling for, thus worth, gotcha Frank - I realize that, thanks for the daily reminders.

Here's Liv modeling her new dance bag, complete with bed head, pink jammies, rose colored glasses and Cinderella's glass slippers. Now that's priceless.

M-I-C-K-E-Y mouse!

Did ya know it's his birthday tomorrow? Well, if you have a child in preschool you might. Liv's teachers celebrated yesterday - and the kids were encouraged to wear Mickey attire. Perfect opportunity to tell you that I loathe the Disney store?




And pretty much all mass produced stuff? (unless, I can get it at a thrift store and it's not some walking billboard advertisement!)

So, to avoid a trip to the mall and since I was already at Joanns (busted again!) I gave Liv the job of helping find some Mickey fabric. Luckily, it's almost Christmas 'cause this is the only fabric they had in stock. I had a sketchy idea based on the oodles of OOAK boutique outfits on ebay.


I used a pair of capris that were going into storage for the winter and a cheap white tea from J's and started embellishing. These outfits sell for $50+ on ebay, but my cost was less than $10 - how cool AND I'll be cutting those buttons off when she's done with it. Since the material is Christmas, she might even get another use.

The Great Pumpkin

Until I get the film developed, here's one I snapped with my cellphone with Liv, too. Her stuffing was a bit squished by then, but that's what happens when you insist on wearing your costume ALL day. She was just a banana short of being Carmen Miranda, dont'cha think??? That's what happens when I get a hold of a hot glue gun - watch out!

I'm coming down from a T-O-T hangover. What an event here in suburbia - Liv's preschool even rented a bouncy thing, had a pinata, parade... Truly, this was up there with Christmas in the amount of planning and activities. Add chocolate and sugar and it's not pretty!

I've been snuggling under a blanket on the sofa all morning. I never, ever do that. Wish I could do it all day, lol!

By the way - this is my 99th post. Hmmmmmm... shall the 100th post bring something fun? Maybe a give-away? Maybe. I promise it won't be a box of all the cheapo TOT leftover candy. You'll have to come out of the closet and leave a comment though. Stay tuned.

Bewitched

I never thought Cathrynn would be anything but a princess or fairy for trick-or-treat. Wrong, she wanted to be a witch this year! But, she is bewitching as a good witch. I had my doubts but some great clearance fabric made a magical cape and I got a bit carried away with blinging the hat. When she came home from school and saw the finished product (yeah, yeah on the 30th cause that's how I operate, as my 8th grade teacher once dubbed me - the procrastinator), she was awe struck.

Innocence Lost

I accidentally deleted this... forgive the repetition!

Last year, my dear daughter, Cathrynn came home from kindergarten rather upset after she'd sang a bit from Both Sides Now, and when the teacher recognized it & sang along. My girl was devastated to realize that it wasn't original to our family. I imagine her teacher, Mrs. C., stifling a smile & laughter as my dear sweet girl sang her own rendition of her MOM's song. In the face of such betrayal, I made sure she knew I was also not the lyricist for all her other favorites - The Sun'll Come up Tomorrow, The Rainbow Connection, Hush Little Baby, the Happy Birthday song...

That's what happens, you send your five year old to grade school, and they learn about life beyond the happy, safe, innocent world I've created for them. They learn that a much more talented lady came up with Both Sides Now when I was still in grade school. That there are soldiers fighting a war. That not everyone wants to be their friend. That other kids are watching High School Musical while they've been happy to watch Noggin. That people do say stupid because it really isn't a bad word (although it will always be in our home).

Why so melancholy this morning?

I was having bloggers block and getting my inspiration from some of my favorite blogs instead. Charlotte Lyons wrote one of my most favorite craft books. I like to say she wrote the book on crafting! She recently reflected on a trip to Starbucks. And summed up my feelings about life in general.

Somehow, I've advanced in life to a really good place, except when standing around chatting with the other preschool moms. Most of these women are closer in age and life experience to my son, Vince. I am a lifetime a way. I am staring menopause in the face. I am mature.

Would I change places? NO! Not for one split second would I go back to my 20s. Yikes. I like my 40s. I just don't like when I hear a song and realize how far away I am. My 25 year high school reunion next year? That must be someone else. The math is wrong. I am young at heart. Wise. Mature. Cynical.