Personalized Mermaid Birthday Party

For Laurel's 5th party she was very into mermaids. I hate the traditional Disney Mermaid decorations, so I decided to make a Mermaid Laurel party. It started with a trip to Hobby Lobby to buy enough scrapbook paper to make the invitations. I bought flesh colored, hair colored, and a series of solid blue-greens for the fish body and coordinating patterns for the waves. I sketched the basic pattern out and then started cutting a pasting until I liked the way it looked.

Once it dried I scanned the original into the computer so that I could make the invitations. I just used MS Word for these, putting 4 on the front side. I made these into postcards, so for the back I made a paper crab and inserted some text with all the party info.

For the party itself I printed out the mermaid onto stock paper and cut the shape out and glued it to a skewer. Then I did the same with the some other aquatic creatures and stuck them all into the cake. I also printed out a rectangle shape with the mermaid saying "Thank You for coming to Laurel's party!" and used them to close the cellophane treat bags.

Lastly I framed the original Mermaid Laurel and gave it to Laurel as a present...all in all the memories last forever, and the cost was less than $10, including all the printing, the cake ingredients AND the goody bags. Seriously...you can't beat that.

Midnight Crabs

That title could mean so many things...what it meant for me was a sleepless night. So, rather than lay about, I woke up and made a paper crab. Sure...cause when you can't sleep you make paper crabs, right? (Oh...that gives me an idea for a string of paper crabs...) Digression (sorry it's now past midnight), I spent the evening making the invitation for Laurel's mermaid party. It took so much longer than I expected...which I should have expected because EVERYTHING takes longer than I expect. One of these days I'll just realize that and stop underestimating my time allotment. But, today is not that day. After finishing the front side of the mermaid invitation, Laurel and I went to bed. (the men had long since gone to sleep) So I crawled into bed, exhausted from the day...and...nothing. Just couldn't sleep. Every sound, every tick, rustle, shuffle, etc was like a marching band in my head. Ugh. I can't stand lying in bed not being able to sleep. So, I got up and decided since I wouldn't have time tomorrow, I should go ahead and make the crab for the back of the invitation. So I pulled out my scissors and started cutting. Thankfully the crab didn't take that long. And since I haven't pulled all the graphics together for the final print...the crab is all I'm showing right now. I had fun with this. My soon-to-be five year old had no expectations other than mermaids...and so she's thrilled with anything I produce. I love that kid...so for her (and because I can't sleep) I will make midnight crabs.

Great...now I'm hungry.

Spoonflower

That's right...SPOONFLOWER. More specifically, www.spoonflower.com. You can pretend to be Amy Butler for a day. You can import, edit and order your own fabric design. It's pricey, which is why (at least for now) I'm just playing with the design function...not so much the ordering. But look...they took a little design I did for Laurel, and with a mirrored effect gave it a whole new look! The potential of such a thing! I like the printed dolls on the homepage...just imagine how many dolls you could print out in one yard...suddenly the $18-$32 a yard doesn't seem so high. Especially if you plan well and designed 5 or more kids dolls on the one yard. Right? Right?!?!

Before

After


I love how the mirror effect gave the picture a new life, and it's own pattern that was both geometric and organic at the same time! Oh the potential for wasted time is mind boggling...so that is my warning to you. Have fun...at your own risk.

The Clock is Ticking...

I have 9 weeks left in my job. That seems insane to me. I have worked for someone for 18 years, with little or no breaks in between. And now, here I am, with an end date scheduled...but no job to go to afterwards. It's liberating, and exciting...and a little scary. I absolutely can't wait to spend more time with my kids. I CANNOT WAIT! (and I know they can't either...my son tells me every morning "no go to work mom") I also can't wait to be able to work on the house more. After the marathon of demolition we did back in the spring, it's been sitting there ever since. We have changed the plans, we have gone through multiple contractors that we could have sworn would be "the one." And we're still in the same place...no contractor and no work done.

But, depsite not having posted in a while, I have done a little bit of sewing. Mostly just for summer clothes for the kids. I did a few more jean-to-skirt modifications, and I really do love them. They are cute and rugged, and it's a perfect use for those little bits of your favorite fabrics. Though, I can't get my girl to wear ANYTHING except the outfit that her Aunt Sue bought her. Think I'm exagerrating? She wears it for two days, I wash it, then she wears it for another two days. I don't think it's worth forcing her to wear something else, if she loves it, what do I care? She looks cute, she doesn't stink, what's the harm?

And despite being super busy lately with work, school and life in general...we were lucky enough to be able to take two mini vacations in a row. The first to spend Fourth of July with Jon's parents. The second was a beach camping-trip with my side of the family. I have some beach pictures below...what a needed break. It was great for the kids to just get to play and hang out with their cousins.



For the last two weeks I've been revelling in the change of summer produce in our CSA box...kale has been mostly replaced with corn, tomatoes and now OKRA. For people who know me, you'd think it was strange for me to be excited by okra, after all I am not Southern by birth. BUT, being of cajun blood, gumbo is injected into my very soul. I don't get to make it often (it's not Jon's favorite)...but with all of the okra and tomatoes I have...I just couldn't resist. So I have done something the last two weeks that would make most cajuns say I was crazy...I made vegan gumbo. Is there even such a thing? Who would have known it could be so good without some kind of chicken, seafood or sausage? This last go around I got a little braver with my roux, which I normally take off the fire before it gets as dark as it could. This time I held firm...and I waited and waited...and man was the pay off good. This is by far the richest gumbo I have ever made...and there is no meat! Crazy.


I ran across this blogger today while I was reading Amanda Blake Soule's blog. www.theorganicsister.com
If you've ever felt or known there is a better way to raise your kids, but didn't know how to get there...take a look. I think what she's doing is pretty awesome, and while I will likely "public school" my kids...this sure does give me things to think about. And for those of you who already do homeschool, or are thinking about it...take a look at this site. It's more of a life philosphy than anything...but I dig her philosphy.

5, 4, 3, 2...done.

Ever sew a marathon? Whew...I AM TIRED. I can honestly say I had no idea what I was going to sew for five teachers when I started sifting through the piles of fabric scraps. At this point I have nothing more than 1/4 yard of any of my good fabrics. So, I starting picking prints that I like, and sorting colors...until finally I decided to make a pot holder out of a small scrap of Tina Givens fabric.

(PRESENT 1) It felt like it needed a tree, so I went with it. With that done, I needed to move on to the next present...so I started with some Amy Butler scraps (and I mean scraps) and started quilting until I had a big rectangle...then came the pocket, and the sash...and an apron was born (PRESENT 2).


I actually really liked this one, I made the sash long enough to wrap around the back and tie in the front. (Similar to Amy Butler's half apron design) I actually wanted to keep this one, the bright and cheery colors, and the little leaf...it just seems like a happy apron.

The next apron came from the one piece of fabric big enough to actually make something without having to quilt. I've always liked this print, though I've only use it once to line a bag. And I like the way light blue and bright red compliment eachother. Truthfully, red is not my favorite color, but muted with the blue I like it. (PRESENT 3)

This is where I stopped for the night. I shouldn't have, since I knew Monday night was the only time I could get it done before Wednesday, since I have school Tuesday nights. But, sometimes you just can't do anymore...so I stopped. This left presents 4 and 5 still unknown. (I love a good mystery)
I figured I'd go the apron route with these two as well...or maybe one more apron, and one more potholder. Is a potholder a lame gift? It might be...but I actually really love my mini-quilt pot holders. I really see them as mini-quilts, and they make me smile when I use them. (But maybe others just see a potholder...hmmm...never thought of that) Too late to second guess now...
So total change...I decided to make bags for the last two gifts. I was looking around at some of my favorite blogs and I came upon a bag that looked like these. But, you had to pay for the pattern. Since I hate patterns, this was fine, I just looked at it and figured out what she did. I sew like I cook; I read for inspiration, then wing it from there. Not bad, eh?


I actually LOVE the fabric for the second bag, and had been hoarding it for myself for a year...now it's gone. It was hard to give this bag away, I really wanted to keep it. The fabric for both of these bags cost me a total of $2. Yep...that's what I said. They were scraps left over from a decorator who cuts out the pillows and drapes and leaves gobs of wasted fabric. Her sale scraps are awesome. She decorated Neo's house (apparently he's a rapper...I should have googled it because I don't even know if that's how you spell it).
I am done...I have no more fabric (that isn't a tiny scrap...or really ugly fabric that I only use for prototypes). Wow. But five free teacher presents...I can't complain. (Hopefully they can't either...but I guess I'll never really know whether potholder=lame) I hope not!

Herriot Grace

I HAVE to sew this week...I have 5 teacher gifts, and one birthday gift. No time, and yet it must be...

In the meantime, look at this picture.

Did you look at it long enough? It is so beautiful. It has so many elements that I love, old wood (table), hand crafted wood pedestal, hand decorated cake (beautifully decorated I might add).

This is from Herriot Grace, and I think I'm in love.

I had found them before through Heidi Swanson's "favorite things" posts. Last week she revisited them with some Quinoa Cloud Cookies, and so I flipped over to the site to see that they are completely out of stock...of everything. Can you imagine? That must feel good (though good mixed with the stress of restocking 100% handmade items). Check them out. I think I'll try a variation on the cookie. We do ducky cookies in our house typically, and while I generally use oat flour in my mix (mild and sweet) I will definitely try Heidi's suggestion of toasting the flours first. As a cajun I understand well about browning flours, as it's the base of just about all our dishes...Gumbo in particular. But I've never browned a dessert flour before. I'm anxious to try it...maybe I'll never use untoasted flour again!

No Time

While I don't have time to do much sewing, crafting, baking or breathing right now...I read about them instead on other peoples blogs. I have to say, I was slow to see the point of blogs (though I do enjoy keeping one myself...obviously), but now I actually prefer the format to almost any other. I like to hear (read) the voice of someone elses life, especially someone I admire (for some reason or other). I actually get a snap shot of another family's reality. That's pretty cool. So I figured since nothing to show for myself these days, I'd showcase the cool ladies who seem to find time to do cool things all the time. The new blog I read (which I check every day) was sent to me by my SIL who has almost the same interests as me, which is pretty awesome. And she was right, it is one of the coolest sites:
I am going to make this coffee table one day...and I'm painting it the same color.
www.knock-offwood.com/

I love the style and tone of this blog. She's also got some all natural beauty product recipes, which I love. And some real recipes that I love more. Whoopie Pies...I live in the south and I've never made one. Guess I should try...
www.angrychicken.typepad.com

Amanda Blake Soule...seems to live the perfect life. And that's why I read her blog. The first one I ever read was a birthday party they were getting ready for...the baby of the family. And all the other kids were busy hand making their gifts. Need I say more?
www.soulemama.com

And I almost forgot! The very first blog I ever found...before I even knew what a blog was...or that I was reading one. I have been following Heidi Swanson for years...(not like a stalker)...I love her approach to cooking. I love her recipes and her photographs. I have had her cookbook on my library list for 6 months...6 MONTHS. And it still hasn't come yet. (But at least I get my weekly dose) In fact I printed out this recipe and will make it tonight since I have a fridge full of greens from this weeks CSA box.
http://www.101cookbooks.com/index.html