A Few Things

I am packing up my whole life this week to move to Japan, and needless to say, I am kind of stressed out. I have a lot of anxiety, which makes it hard for me to eat, sleep, relax, etc. I needed to remind myself of little things that make me happy, so here is my happy list. Yes, it is probably super random, but these things bring me great joy!

1.) Maybelline The Falsies Mascara. If you are a girl, you know that a good mascara makes all the difference. I have tried probably 15 brands of mascara, and this one is by far the best! I really love that $5 can buy bright eyes :)

2.) Poetry 180 is the Library of Congress' website featuring a poem a day for high schoolers. The poems on this site are really inspiring, and I especially love The Summer Day. It calms me down every time I read it.

3.) This lunchbag sewing project is so cute and fun!

4.) Sufjan Stevens is my love right now. His music makes me really giddy and also puts me to sleep at the same time. Come On, Feel the Illinoise! is my happy CD. It is bizarrely beautiful.

5.) Tangled! We saw this in the theater last week, and I loved it. It was really sweet, and the music was great. I have a thing for Zachary Levi, the guy from Chuck who voices the main male character, so I was super thrilled that he sings in it. The songs are really catchy.

6.) My kids and I have watched Dramatic Chipmunk and Dramatic Eagle probably 80 times. Gets funnier every time!


Aww..I feel so much happier now! Off to take a stress nap!

The Waldorf Doll

       
Finally finished--after over a year! Granted that was not a year of complete work. There was a lot of handsewing with this one, so I needed to set her down a few months at a time, before I got the gumption to keep going with her. I really hate satin stich--the stitch used for embroidered eyes. It takes me a very very long time to get up the courage to go for it, and then I always end up picking out the stitches at least 4 times before I'm happy with it.
Anyways, I think I am addicted. I have been wanting to make one of these forever (remember this post?). I used a kit from Joy's Waldorf Dolls, which has since moved on to selling other things, but there are a lot of kits and materials to buy online. Despite all the handsewing, the final product is just so cute! I gave this doll to Coco for an early birthday present, and I definitely like it more than she does. Maybe one day she will get attached to it and name it. For now, she just tucks it into a doll bed and makes it sleep all day. That's fine with me...I think I want to make one for myself now!

The Sadie Shirt

I did the Sadie Shirt sew-a-long this week with Craftiness Is Not Optional, one of my favorite crafty blogs. While the sleeve length reminds me of a Chinese grandpa's pajamas, this was a really fun project, and my family appreciated me sewing a little bit a day, rather than trying to finish a project late at night. The shirt is super lightweight, which is perfect for Coco, who generally hates things touching her skin. She will scream bloody murder if any blanket touches her feet at night. It has to be draped just so over her upper body.

Very weird kid with a very weird mullet, but I love her!
   

So random, it's trendy...

There is a big mustache trend going on right now, which I think is so random and funny. I am a huge Glee fan, and I really loved Kurt's mustache shirt a couple of weeks ago:

So, I copied that idea for a shirt for Cash:

Hmm...some toddler fingers have been smudging my camera lens...
Anyways, I used a dollar store t-shirt, freezer paper stenciling, and the template found here. Cash loved this shirt, which I didn't expect. (But I honestly think it's less about the mustaches and more that I actually made something that wasn't for Coco).
Here are some other mustache-y things I love:
Prudent Baby featured some mustache lollipops--

--and the mold is only a couple bucks at Bake It Pretty

Etsy has tons of mustache items (giant mustache pillow, anyone?), but vinylsoul's Mustache Mugs are my favorite:


Owls, cupcakes, mustaches...what will be next? Oh the cuteness!

Done! And Moving On...

So, I decided to not buy any fabric/craft supplies in the month of September, going along with the Stashbusting September challenge. And...I did it! Well, almost. I did buy a 5-yard knit fabric bolt from Wal-Mart for $5 on the 28th. It was so cheap, and...and..it was cheap! I have a pattern for a knit dress that needs to be used, and I can also make shirts for the kids, skirts, etc. So, I'll use that fabric up!

Anyways, I am so happy I did that little challenge, because I used up a lot of fabric that I had just sitting around. I took pictures of almost nothing I made, since I was too busy sewing, but here is a list anyways. In September, I made:

-- a shirt dress for Cosette (using the Sienna dress pattern I used here)

-- a long-sleeve peasant dress for Coco

-- a zippered skirt for myself (using this easy tutorial with zippers, yay!)

-- matching mother/daughter yoga skirts (using this wonderful tute)

-- 2 gathered clutches (from Noodlehead)that I actually took pics of, because they came out cute and have functioning zippers!


-- and I made progress on the kiddos' Owie Dolls. I am using them as travel buddies for our big move to Japan and am making them sleeping bags, too. Eesh.

--Oh, and a cute crochet headband which I will never wear, so check the pattern out and tell me if you would wear it. It's in an butterscotch/cinnamon color like in the photo.

Sewing makes me so happy, and fabric makes me even happier! What does NOT make me happy right now is how long it has taken me to finish the several different dolls I am working on. I bought a Waldorf doll kit last September to make and give to my daughter for her 1st birthday. Well, she will be 2 in a month and that doll is not finished at all. Yikes! Let's see if I can finish it up soon, although I pretty much hate its guts right now.

Look, Mom, It Fits!

My mom and I were trying to figure out if that owl hat would fit a 6 week old baby, and it does. Yay! Here is little Ella rocking her hat:



She is such a cutie. I just love her little belly button!

Hoot!

Owls are all the rage right now, and they are so cute! My best friend from college just had her third baby, so I tormented myself with crocheting for the cutie:

*I say tormented, because it takes a lot of work for me to not have a death grip on my crochet hook. A too-tight grip equals an itchy, itchy hat!

Little did I know that baby girl's nursery is owl themed, so I was on the right track with this! Super awesome and cheap pattern here. What is great about this pattern is that it is a really great earflap beanie pattern, too, if you don't like the owl-ness.

She is also getting these girly booties:


I got this pattern off etsy here. Very cute pattern, but it uses too much fabric glue to be a favorite shoe.

Maybe it wasn't the pattern, though--it could have been my sewing. I have messed up everything I have tried to make lately (owl pillow for nephew's nursery--4 tries--taking a break!) so maybe that's a sign that I need to just buckle down with my hook and yarn and--argh--the hubby's sweater.

That said, I am doing the T-shirt diaries' Stashbusting September (see button) so that I can hopefully clear out some closet space. I have an unusual amount of craft felt in there!

       

Birthday Fabric

My sisters gave me fabric for my birthday! Yay! So I used it. Because it's cute.
I used it on my little Coco, of course! Sewing for little girls is not only easy and cheap but so fun. Just a little fabric goes a long way, and there are a bazillion sewing tutorials online for anything you could want to make. Cash is feeling neglected.

My sister Meg gave me some cute cherry fabric, destined to be a dress for Cosette. After she broke her collarbone, she needed something to wear that wouldn't require her to lift her arms over her head. So, this little tie-on sundress (tutorial here) was perfect:


My sister Larissa gave me some super cute Japanese fabric, which I love. I knew it would be cute as a little lined toddler backpack, and Cosette had been stealing her brother's Diego one. This backpack is little, but it looks even smaller over Cosette's collarbone brace:

Cosette likes to travel light like her mama and only fills it with a few goldfish crackers at a time! Observe the light-packing!


Poor Cash--every time I make something for Cosette, he asks if I can make him something, too. I am making him a pirate doll, but that might be a while!
     

The Prints I Love...

Clearing up some bookmarks! I am a big fan of Etsy and especially love to browse all of the cool prints, like in this, this, this, and especially this shop. Sadly, I can't buy any of those. But it's okay, because I found some very awesome free prints in the blog world. Behold, my favorites!

I found this inspiring print here:


Sunny Fiona Design has a few great printables, like this one:


Make it Perfect featured several different cool prints here:


I have been reading Pride and Prejudice lately, so I especially love this one ala Mr. Darcy:


Kind Over Matter is one of my all-time favorite blogs. There are a ton of cool printables there, but these are my favorites:
From The Postal Service's "Such Great Heights":


This one is really good to keep around if you are chasing kids all day:


Aren't those cool? Now all you need is a printer to have some instant and beautiful inspiration!

     

Flourless Black Bean Brownies

Do not be fooled by this recipe! These brownies are not only high in fiber and protein while being low in sugar--they are delicious! My first batch was tested on my Hypnobabies students, who gobbled them up. I wasn't sure if they were consumed because of pregnancy hunger or if they were actually yummy. So, I made another batch for the ultimate taste-testers: my toddlers! They loved them and keep asking for them. They are so super yummy. Try them!

Flourless Black Bean Brownies

1 can (15 oz) black beans, drained and rinsed
4 eggs
1/2 cup sugar (can substitue agave nectar)
3 Tbsp. oil
3 or 4 Tbsp. cocoa powder
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. baking powder
pinch of salt
2 Tbsp. peanut butter (optional, but I always go for this one!)

Blend everything up in a blender or food processor. Pour into a greased 8 by 8 pan and bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes (mine were done in my superhot oven at around 25 minutes. Test for doneness with a toothpick). Cut in pieces and enjoy!

Here are some Canellini (white bean) variations I'm excited to try:

Lemon Ginger: Use canellini beans instead of black beans. Add 1 tsp. lemon extract, 2 tsp. ground ginger and zest of one lemon to bean mixture. Top with sliced almonds.

Cranberry orange: Use canellini beans instead of black beans. Add 1 tsp. orange extract, 2 tsp. ground ginger and zest of one orange to bean mixture. Top with minced dried cranberries.

Cherry almond: Use canellini beans instead of black beans. Add 1 tsp. almond to bean mixture. Top with minced dried cherries and sliced almonds.

Pumpkin: Use canellini beans instead of black beans. Add 1 cup pumpkin puree, 1/4 tsp ground ginger, 2 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp cloves, 1/4 tsp nutmeg and 1/4 tsp salt to bean mixture. Top with chopped pecans.

Apple spice: Use canellini beans instead of black beans. Add 1 cup unsweetened applesauce, 1/4 tsp ground ginger, 2 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp cloves, 1/4 tsp nutmeg and 1/4 tsp salt to bean mixture. Top with chopped walnuts.

MADE stuff

There is a craft blog I really like called MADE, mainly because the seamstress of the blog is the sewing equivalent to my sister Molly's cooking. They are both very creative and have crazy camera smiles :)

Anyways, I wanted to try a few of her patterns, so here they are:

The Warhol Dress. This is a free pattern and comes together in about an hour:


I thickened the neckline a bit too much, but I think it's still kind of cute. Sorry for the blurriness, but I just love that chubby toddler belly poking out! And this dress is made from a $1 5XL t-shirt from Wal-Mart, that has a ton more material left to use.

The Rollie Pollie bean bag chair:


*Crazy kid stretched the neckline out trying to get naked! :)

This bean beag is actually stuffed with our stuffed animals, which was an idea from Molly. The pattern was $6 but very detailed. Put in my first zipper on this little baby!

I am so proud of myself, because I have not bought fabric in over 2 months! So I am finally tackling all of the projects and materials I have literally shoved in my closet. (Yes, I am a shover. Don't look under my couch!)




       

Listen

Yes, I have erased the watch and read part of this post, because what I originally suggested was not appropriate. The book, Beatrice and Virgil, was good for about a hundred pages or so and then turned really ugly at the end. And the movie, well, let's just say sometimes I like things that might be grossly offensive to other people. Sorry!

Listen:

I love the Noisettes, and I love how they covered the Killer's "When You Were Young". It is so beautiful (and much better than the orginal, in my opinion). I can listen to this song all day long! Isn't the lead singer so gorgeous, too? Just beautiful!



Enjoy! Anyone seen or heard anything great lately?

Crochet Inspiration

Recently, I mentioned to my hubby that I really wanted a good crochet project. A hook and some yarn are a lot more naptime and movie-watching friendly than a loud sewing machine! So, the other day, Fox came home with a small skein of black wool yarn. So that I could start him a crocheted sweater. For his 6'5" frame. To be done in time for winter. Requiring probably 18 skeins. At 5 dollars each. He is still not getting why I have put off this project for so long! (Yes, for years he has been begging me to make him a sweater that would actually reach down past his wrists for the first time in his life. I have never crocheted any article of clothing.)

And I am still putting it off...for now...because these projects are much more appealing to me than a black sweater project in the middle of summer:

Crochet Hook Roll Tutorial






Bella Dia's Sweet Heart Pattern




Attic 24's Summer Garden Squares




Rose Hip's Flower-Square Pillow Pattern




You Go Girl's Edge-Crocheted Pillowcase Tutorial


Tasty Crochet: Crochet Food Patterns--I recently checked this book out from the library, and it has a ton of fun food patterns!


Aren't those fun? I have had those links bookmarked for so long! I am still going to attempt the sweater, since I love my husband, so we'll see how it goes!

For the Mamas!

Happy Mother's Day! I get to talk in church--aren't you jealous? My hubby has to talk, too, so that makes me feel better. But then he has to work right after, so no Mother's Day break for me! Oh well.
Anyways, we are big fans of Hilary Weeks's music in this house. She lived in Fox's mission area, and he became a huge fan and has several of her CDs, which I have come to love.

Here is a little ditty she did that is definitely good to play to anyone who has ever asked, "What does a stay-at-home mom do?"



This always make me smile!

And so does my Mama! I still can't believe she had 6 children under the age of 8 and no TV. She amazes me. I love you, Mom!

Pancakes!

I am so super happy right now, because I finally have a pancake griddle! I have made pancakes at least three times a week since Cash started finger foods about 2 1/2 years ago. We ate pancakes a ton in Japan, since there was only one kind of cereal on the market (Frosted Flakes at $4.50 a box. No thanks!).

Each time I made pancakes, it took me almost 2 hours, since I had to cook them one at a time on my cast-iron skillet. I did it and loved it, because I love making pancakes for my family. Well, my dear sweet Mother, who was in Utah this weekend, decided to get me an early birthday present of the griddle shown above, and I am so thrilled. Mom, I have already made 3 batches of pancakes in 3 days. I'm that excited! I can't believe I can make a whole batch in 15 minutes.

(Yes, wow--you'd think I would have just paid the $20 for a griddle years ago. But I have a really hard time buying something when I can get away with not having it. I also just bought an umbrella stroller for my daughter, and she is almost 18 months. I used the excuse that I didn't need a stroller, because I have two good arms to carry her..and now wrist pain, too. Ack--money issues here, people!)

Anyways, I wanted to share some of my favorite pancake recipes. I rotate between several recipes, but here are my top 3 right now:

Vegan Lemon Blueberry Cornmeal Pancakes (from the cookbook Veganomicon)
These are great! They have a good crunch and are good for a snack later in the day, too. I often leave the blueberries out and double up on the lemon zest. Yum!

Makes 8-10

3/4 c. flour
1/2 c. cornmeal
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. canola oil
1 1/4 cups plain soy milk
1/3 cup water
1 tsp. vanilla
2 Tbsp. pure maple syrup
2 tsp. grated lemon zest
1 cup blueberries

DIrections: Sift dry ingredients together. Mix wet ingredients separately. Add wet mixture to dry, mixing until just combined. Then, fold in blueberries. Cook in 1/4 cup scoops.

Banana Pancakes
So yummy! Make sure the bananas are pretty ripe to get a good flavor.
Makes about 6

1 cup flour
1 Tbsp. sugar
2 tsp. baking powder 1/4 tsp. salt
1 egg, beaten
1 cup milk
2 Tbsp. oil
2 bananas--1 mashed, 1 sliced into thin rounds

Combine sugar, baking powder, flour and salt. In a separate bowl, mix egg, milk, oil, and bananas. Stir flour into wet mixture. Batter will be lumpy. Heat lightly oiled griddle and scoop 1/4 cup of batter for each pancake.

Whole Wheat Buttermilk Pancakes (adapted from Mom's famous buttermilk pancakes)
This recipe is just like my mom's famous buttermilk pancakes but with whole wheat flour and one less egg to make it fluffy. We love these pancakes and freeze them in batches to toast for later!

2 eggs
2 cups buttermilk
1 Tbsp. oil
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 tsp. sugar (optional--we use 2 Tbsp. brown sugar)
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda

Combine eggs, buttermilk, and oil in a bowl and whisk until frothy. Put dry ingredients in sifter (or mix with fork) and add to wet ingredients. Combine with a few strokes. Batter will be lumpy. Place batter onto very hot, well-greased griddle. Flip pancakes when bubbles start to appear on the surface.


If you have any good pancake recipes, I would love to know, so I can keep using my awesome griddle! No pumpkin pancake recipes, though. I have made way too many of those this year, so we're taking a little break from them.

P.S. I just saw the Oatmeal Pancakes recipe on my sidebar from Smitten Kitchen, so I will have to give those a try!

My Favorite Quote from Conference

LDS General Conference was a couple of weekends ago. With my kids running around, I don't always get to pay attention to the speakers. So, I usually go online and read a talk each night until I have caught up with the most recent session. (And...sshh!...it is kind of a nice break from my slow plodding through the Old Testament!).

From this session, Julie Beck's talk, "And upon the Handmaids in Those Days Will I Pour Out My Spirit", really stuck out to me.
This quote, in particular:

"A good woman knows that she does not have enough time, energy, or opportunity to take care of all of the people or do all of the worthy things her heart yearns to do. Life is not calm for most women, and each day seems to require the accomplishment of a million things, most of which are important. A good woman must constantly resist alluring and deceptive messages from many sources telling her that she is entitled to more time away from her responsibilities and that she deserves a life of greater ease and independence. But with personal revelation, she can prioritize correctly and navigate this life confidently.

Revelation can come hour by hour and moment by moment as we do the right things. When women nurture as Christ nurtured, a power and peace can descend to guide when help is needed. For instance, mothers can feel help from the Spirit even when tired, noisy children are clamoring for attention, but they can be distanced from the Spirit if they lose their temper with children. Being in the right places allows us to receive guidance. It requires a conscious effort to diminish distractions, but having the Spirit of revelation makes it possible to prevail over opposition and persist in faith through difficult days and essential routine tasks. Personal revelation gives us the understanding of what to do every day to increase faith and personal righteousness, strengthen families and homes, and seek those who need our help. Because personal revelation is a constantly renewable source of strength, it is possible to feel bathed in help even during turbulent times."

&hearts I really loved this whole session, but this talk is exactly what I needed to hear. &hearts

 
 

 



 

Owie Dolls

A while ago, I saw these Owie Dolls on Ikat Bag (my favorite sewing blog. This woman is super talented and sews mainly fun stuff for her kids) and quickly became obsessed with how cute they were. Handmade cloth dolls! Using special cloth that would allow doll bandages to attach with velcro without snagging the fabric! Eye patches! Reversible hospital gown/ play clothes! I was so excited when a pattern came out. I snatched it up right away and quickly went to work on making these dolls for the Disney Give a Day program. After a couple of months of working on these guys, they are finally done and on their way to Karing for Utah Kids, a local nonprofit for needy kids.

It was such a fun project. I love softies! Here are the sick kiddos:


And all healed and ready to play!

Spring, Come Quickly

After playing outside with my kids today, I came inside frustrated that, after two days of warmth (okay, 50 degrees but we got to play outside for a few hours!!), we got hailed on in the middle of a sunny day. This happens alot in Utah. Anyways, trying to stay positive, I noticed outside the roiling storm clouds on the horizon against a bright blue sky, sunshine, and pellets of hail. It was a really neat effect. I thought of how my mom often says "How can you see a sunset and not believe in the gospel?"

And I found this wonderful quote:

"Can any man who has walked beneath the stars at night, can anyone who has seen the touch of spring upon the land doubt the hand of divinity in creation? So observing the beauties of the earth, one is want to speak as did the Psalmist: 'The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth His handiwork.' All of the beauty of the earth bears the fingerprint of the Master Creator."

-Gordon B. Hinckley


I tried to find a good image of springtime online and just pulled up one I took in Japan at the height of cherry blossom season:



This picture makes me so happy. For two weeks, during cherry blossom season, everyone flocks to parks to relax under the blossoming trees and celebrate nature. You bring a lunch or buy a candied apple nearby and just enjoy springtime. America needs to adopt this.

So, Spring--please come quickly and stop teasing me. I can only try to stay positive for so long! I need some sunshine!

Table Love!

We got this new table at Ikea, and I love it! Both sides can fold down, so you can stow it away, but ours usually looks like this:

I am just so thrilled that there is that fold-out leaf, because that means I can keep my sewing machine out all the time! My sewing machine is an old, heavy metal one. I hated lugging it out of the closet and then having to put it away whenever we ate. Sometimes it would sit on our table for days in the middle of unfinished projects, and we would have to eat on the couch--no fun. Now, I can keep it out and just prop the other leaf up when we need to eat. It makes me so happy, because sewing is not an ordeal anymore. I have gotten so much done, and I just love being able to sit down and sew a little bit throughout the day. It is the next best thing to having my own actual sewing/cutting table. Hooray! Oh, the six super deep storage drawers are really nice, too! We've got the "notions" side and the "playdough and accessories" side for quick fun!

P.S. Here is a recent sewing project: a reversible cape (pattern is here) for Cash with Superwhy and of course, Batman. Very fun and easy!

Cloth Diapers

...or crap wrappers... oh how I love you! One day my little brother was visiting and came up with his own brand of cloth diaper:

The Turd Turban: Treat your bottom like a Sultan

(makes me laugh everyday!)

I wish someone would have told me about modern cloth diapering when I had my first baby. It seemed like I pushed the stroller over to our neighborhood grocery store a few times a week for yet another package of diapers so scented that my baby would get rashes up his legs.

I wish someone would have let me in on the cloth diapering secret that your baby will never have blow-outs, since diaper covers have gussets and elastic waists, as I threw another cute (stained!) baby outfit in the trash.
(Then again, I am kind of glad I never cloth diapered my son, as he produced what my hubby called "Satan's buttercream frosting" several times a day. Soo glad that's over!)

Ah, life lessons!
The basics:
Cons: A few extra loads of laundry a week, some dye/scent free detergent purchasing, potential "zoo-butt" (cloth diapers aren't scented like regular diapers), and a bit more diaper changing, as it's not cool to keep your baby in the same cloth for 6 hours. Also, cloth diaper booty (big ol' bottom which sometimes requires a size up in pants).

Pros: Cheaper (you can save hundreds of dollars a year), no blowouts, proven quicker potty training, less diaper rash, more environmentally friendly (yes, trash is more polluting than water waste), you can use the same diapers for your other kids...and, get this---the same diapers for your baby and toddler!

Observe:

 
Here are Cash (age 2) and Cosette (age 7 months) wearing the same diaper, a Coolababy One-Size Diaper. The "Cool" thing about these is that they fit from baby to 35 pounds and you can stuff it with more cloth to make it more absorbent. We like ours, although I am a little sad about the fact that they are made in China.

Everyone has a different system, but I use the old-fashioned prefold ones (like Grandma used) just folded in thirds and laid in a Thirsties or Bummis SuperBrite cover (the only ones with good gussets or leg elastics). At night, I put two prefolds in one cover, and that lasts over twelve hours. When I change diapers, I put the used ones in a garbage pail with a tight lid lined with a waterproof liner (called a wet bag or pail liner). #2s of course get tossed down the toilet, and the dipes rinsed out if needed and then in the pail, too. You can also just use flushable liners. I wash every 2 or 3 days with a cycle of rinse first, warm wash with good detergent, final rinse and then dry on low heat. We have no stains, and I have used the same diapers on Cosette for over 9 months!

That is all I am going to say about cloth diapers. We use them. We love them. We can't imagine ever going back to disposables for any of our kids. There is almost too much information about them out there, so here are some good links:

The Basics of Cloth Diapering: The Facts, What You Need, How to Use the Different Types of Diapers

The Diaper Jungle: Everything cloth diapers, patterns to make your own, reviews, and getting started

 Little Lions: Good prefolds for a great price
 
 Cheeky Diapers: Diaper Patterns Galore!

Diaper Swappers: the ultimate cloth diaper forum. There are over 40,000 moms on here making, buying, selling, and trading cloth diapers, clothes, craft supplies, etc. I buy all my covers here (and also all my fabric!) for very cheap. The site is confusing at first, though.

Jillian's Drawers has a Changing Diapers, Changing Minds program that allows you to try several different types of diapers for 3 weeks for just $10. I did this and really loved trying out the different dipes!

The Cloth Diaper Foundation provides free cloth diapers for needy families. We got a big box from them when Coco was born, and it was amazing!

 

Too much information, right? I'm done now. Let me know if you want even more info. :)

 

Coco's T-shirt Tunic

Time to start trying out some of those cool T-shirt projects! Using the Sienna Dress Pattern, I made Coco this tunic out of some shirts in my giveaway bag. It is supposed to be a dress, but she has huge cloth diaper booty and long legs! Now I know to size up! The pattern was really easy and fun. It only took an hour, so that is my kind of project!




P.S. For the fam, she is eating a mojo and I used Kelsy's old shirts!

New Ideas for Old Shirts

While going through my bookmarked links, I realized I had a ton of links for recycled t-shirt projects. So here are those links, all in one place. Hooray! I love that there are so many re-fashioning ideas out there!

The Flirty Skirt, made from a man's XL t-shirt:

The Sienna Dress, for girls 6m-6 years, made from 2 or 3 old t-shirts. I actually just bought this pattern, since 100% of the sale went to Haiti. I have the dress cut but am just gearing myself to sew the tricky, stretchy knit:

Learn how to make yarn from your old t-shirts here.

Ruffled Scarf Tutorial (made from an old shirt):

Make a toddler dress and headband from one shirt:


If you have two t-shirts that are similar, you can make a rosette tee:


or a beautiful ruffle shirt:


These are just my favorites out of tons of ideas I've seen. I love all of the recycling, repurposing projects out there. I am kind of sad when I think about all of the cool t-shirts I have gotten rid of!

Kokeshi Dolls

For Christmas, Fox wrapped my present (which was this awesome book) in a yard of this fabric:

I think I am going to request fabric-wrapping from now on. So fun! The fabric above is Kokeshi doll fabric. Given my love of kokeshi dolls, it's so perfect that I don't want to cut it up. I don't know what to do with it! Any ideas?
Kokeshi dolls are traditional Japanese wooden dolls that evolved from this traditional style (Dento):

into today's "creative" style (Sousaku):

They are hugely popular with tourists. And myself. We made so many trips to so many temples while living in Japan. On every street heading up to a temple, there are several tourist shops just filled with Kokeshi. In fact, eBay is filled with Kokeshi. The same ones they sell in Japan for the same price (hint: future birthday presents!). I have a couple cute ones. However, I am on the search for an elusive pale-wood Kokeshi monk doll that I have only seen in a tiny shop located here. I can't even find a picture of it.
What I did find a picture of is this fabulous Kokeshi nativity set, which is on my wish-list:


Something about big heads on little bodies is just so cute!