Happy Birthday, Joe!

Could it really have been a year since we celebrated Joe-Bear's first birthday?  Geez.  After a string of little girl birthday parties, it's was fun switch gears and make something for a boy.  This year, I made Joe a set of number/color bean bags.  (Lots of tutorials on these, here is a good one.)  I made some for my kids, too.  Who doesn't love a toy you are actually supposed to throw?  When I finished, I realized that I needed to make something fun to store them in.  This way maybe Shelley wouldn't kill me for giving her son 10 small things to throw (and lose) around the house.

I settled on a zippered monster bag.  I made the zipper his mouth and gave him some felt and embroidery floss details.  Rory immediately asked me to make one for her and Jack, and I got another request from a friend for her nephew.  I think I may end up making more of these for The Pretty Bean. They're fun.  The final design is still evolving.  So far, I've added a carrying strap and a lining on the inside that I think I like.  A little more tweaking and I might be satisfied.

Stroller Makeover, non-extreme version

I don't really use strollers that much.  For us, babywearing has been a lot more convenient.  Still, we keep an umbrella stroller in the trunk for just-in-case moments.  And it's nice at the library.  And at consignment sales.  Anything over about 25 minutes and my kids are done with the stroller, but it's good to have every now and then.

That being said, the poor stroller gets awfully neglected.  I pulled it out the other day and inspected it...and was honestly a teensy bit grossed out.  Mystery stains.  Brown splotches on the seatbelt straps.  Um...ick.

I broke out my trusty seam ripper and a screwdriver and took the old seat off.  I soaked the edge binding and straps in a highly concentrated OxyClean bath and used the old seat cover as a template for a new version.  I had visions of super-cool fabric but settled for what I already had on hand because, well, I'm cheap.  (Oh, Mr. Yellow Corduroy, how I love thee!)  I took a lot of pictures so that could refer back to them for reconstruction, but didn't really look at them.  Winging it was easy enough.  I used the old seam binding for the edges and reattached the now clean seatbelt straps.  Whew.  So much better.  

Yes, the 4-yr-old in the background proudly dressed herself.

Now, back to the trunk it goes.  Surely, there's a library trip in our future.  

Five Stars and a napkin, please.

My brother and his family were in town this weekend and we stayed up well past all of our collective bedtimes visiting Saturday night, which made Sunday morning come awfully early.  We're having a delightfully lazy day around here today, which means that we had to get a little creative around lunchtime.  Food creativity can be a gamble for sure, and I got lucky today.

I've not been so excited about a sandwich in a long time.  I made myself a Leftover Meatloaf and Mashed Potato Sandwich (of Awesomeness).  During the assembly I had an idea that this might be picture-worthy, so I grabbed the camera, just in case.

I was not disappointed.  Bread.  Cold meatloaf.  Warm mashed potatoes.  A1 Sauce.  Mmmmmmmm.

I doubt I'm the first to invent the concept. I've just never thought to make this sandwich before.  Andrew isn't sure about this one.  He's not a fan of cold leftovers.  He also isn't quite on board with my theory that A1 and/or ranch dressing enhance just about anything.  That's okay.  More MeatloafPotatoHappiness for me!

Pre-Lunch Finger Painting

Today when Rory asked me one of her favorite questions ("Mom, what can we do?") I had an answer that she approved of.  Finger paints.  My recipe is from the same book as the homemade play dough.  The same book that my mom used to make finger paints when I asked the same whiny question.  Thank you, Feed Me, I'm Yours!

I realized that Rory was the same age as Jack when I first introduced her the finger painting.  The book says something about the paints never holding a kid's attention as long as you'd like, but still worth making every now and then.  Yeah, that's about right.  Rory made three pieces of fridge art and Jack made (and ate) one.  There were globs of goo on the tablecloth, both had slight food coloring stained fingers and I have entirely too much left over.  But the kids both really liked it for a little while, so I'm sure I'll make them again sometime.  Just not tomorrow.

Rory with her first finger paints in 2008.

Variations on a (Bag) Theme

After getting a few positive comments on my ruffle bag this past week, I decided to dive in and make more.  And when I go to make one of something, I end up with three.  Different versions.  So here we go- introducing three new items in The Pretty Bean shop: the Lindsay bag, the Shannon bag and the Shiloh bag:

I'm not sure I'm entirely capable of stopping the ruffle-bag process.  Good for the shop and the ruffly goodness of it all, but bad for the whole getting-a-good-night-sleep business.  I'll figure that out someday.

Special thanks to super-trooper Shiloh for being a model for her namesake in 100+ degree heat!  (Shannon and Lindsay, we'll have to figure out how to get shots of you, too.)

Magic Eraser, here I come...

This is why I can't check email or list things on Etsy while the kids are awake.  They were playing so well together, so quietly.  Quietly creating little masterpieces on Every. Surface. In. My. House.  Well, at least everything in the living room and kitchen.  And entryway.  And bathroom.  Although not pictured, Rory helped as much as Jack.  She just didn't use her body as a canvas.  Mostly.

At least it's washable marker.

I think.

Happy Birthday, Braelee!

It's birthday season, isn't it?

Rory went to Braelee's very Dora the Explorer birthday party this last weekend.  She had a great time bouncing in the bounce house and eating the (really, really yummy) frosting off of her piece of cake.  For the birthday girl, I made a (wait for it....)  Black Apple Doll!  Nope, not tired of them yet!

Braelee's doll has a ruffly dress made from an old bridesmaid dress and a little charm for a necklace.  Oh, and vintage floral "tights."


My brother-in-law didn't get a handmade gift for his birthday, but he did score some cheap creative wrapping paper.  An old Denton Record-Chronicle page and a bow from fused plastic. There was last-minute resourcefulness involved.  Instead of calling it "the scrap of wrapping paper that I had didn't quite fit the box and this was the only thing besides Christmas paper that I could find" we called it "green" wrapping.  See?  We're not (only) cheap, we're trendy!