Two Birthday Parties . . . 13 Hours Apart; Part One

My two oldest are both June babies.  June parties are awesome, but having two in one month is challenging.

In April, my husband and I looked at our June schedules and planned when we could squeeze in D and J's birthday parties. (Because I am that mom that LOVES a party and my kids get one every year.) 

We only had one week that could work for their parties.  And as June drew closer, we realized that we had two days that they would work.

D turned 12, so we opted for a "late over" with the girls going home at ten.  J wanted a Capture the Flag party, we went with a lunch BBQ.  It ended up that the end of D's party and the start of J's were 13 hours apart.  Both kids invited over 30 people.  Gratefully only 20 showed up at each.

D wanted a Gnomeo and Juliet party.  We started the night with stations (after giving each girl either a red or a blue gnome hat, or uh, party hat):

• Make Your Own Pizza Bar
• Eat Your Pizza
• Make Friendship Bracelets (that are red and blue, to show the Montague's and Capulet's united)using embroidery floss
• And make your own Sculpey Gnome

I ended up cooking mini pizzas for 2 hours!

I used these mini pie tins from the dollar store. (I only bought 12 and re-used them.  Next time I will buy one for each person and write their name on the outside.  It got kinda crazy trying to figure out which pizza belonged to which tween.)

And five batches of pizza dough.  1.5 batches of sauce. (All worthy of their own post.)  I set all the ingredients on the kitchen table and the girls built their pizza as they saw fit.  My son had sausage and pineapple.  So not appetizing to me.

The bracelets turned out super cute in embroidery floss. (One week later and girls are still wearing theirs.)  Again, these type of Friendship Bracelets are quick and take friendship to make.

The gnomes were fun to make as well. (No pics.  I was too busy making pizza)  I covered my cookie sheet in foil and then wrote each girl's name under her gnome.  We added a jump ring to his head and after they were all cooked and hard we added a key chain fob.  I hope they will put them on their backpacks.  (A mom can dream can't she?)

After everyone had eaten, we finally started the movie.

(Sorry faces are blurred, that is on purpose)

The twenty girls settled down into my little front room and watched the movie. (I crashed upstairs for a much needed breather. Steve had to sneak away at this point too for a meeting.)  It was fun to hear them squeal and laugh and cheer.

After the show D opened presents and we had Ice Cream Cake (see above).  S makes one heck of a mean ice cream cake.  (Awesome enough that he really wants to start a cake delivery business.)  And then we bid the girls good night!

I was exhausted and crashed... See part two later on.

Houston, I Think I Have a Problem!

Last summer Dear S set up a table in our unfinished basement for me to sew in.  It never was perfectly organized but it worked . . . till winter came and it was too cold to spend time down there.  So my sewing machine moved upstairs with my notions and some fabric.  The bulk of my fabric stayed downstairs.  Then crazy things in life happened (nothing serious) and the basement became a holding cell for all the things we didn't have time to put away. (Great example: the closet under the basement stairs is where we store our holiday decorations.  But for 4 months all the Christmas decorations sat in the hallway.)

All that stuff was piled onto my sudo-organized fabric.

Fast forward to this summer.  Grandma and Grandpa are coming in 3 weeks.  This year they will stay in the basement "guest room".  (The first time said guest room, unfinished 2x4's and all, will be used.)  So I have a basement that needs serious work.  And I am doing it.

And through the course of doing the work, I realized that I have TONS of fabric!!  Obsessive amounts of fabric.  I have a problem!!!  A very serious problem.  (Dare I breath the possiblility that I am a *gasp* hoarder? Or compulsive shopper?)

So, here is my challenge to myself:

I will not buy more fabric until I use or give away the bulk of my stash.

A few minor adendums:

a)  If I have a specific need, ie Halloween, I can buy more.

b)  If I find cotton knit on the cheap, I am totally picking it up.  I can't find it anymore and I L-O-V-E that stuff.

c) Wish me luck. I usually buy a few yards every time I go shopping!

There you have it.  Yesterday as I was "cleaning" I found several yards of fantastic 1970's print.  They are screaming for a maxi-dress.  But they are so bright they might be offensive.  Do I dare?

I will post pics of my new sewing space once we get it all cleaned.  It won't be pretty.  Not like Robyn's.  But it will be a space that I can sew and hopefully teach D how to use her machine.

Worry-Free Jewelry*: Friendship Bracelet Grown-Up

Do you remember the Friendship Bracelet I showed you a while ago?

Well, look at how it grew up!

We were heading to a rodeo and the theme was Tough Enough To Wear Pink.  Well, my mom is a breast cancer survivor, so she brought over pink fabric for all of us to wear. 

 D used the friendship bracelet method on three strips of fabric to make her hat decoration. (Her strips were about 1.5 inches thick and 2 yards long.)

 

I turned mine into a scarf/necklace.  We used thicker strips of fabric, probably 5 inches each.

Then today I was at an event and I saw a bundle of string that was for balloons.  I thought, huh, that would make a totally cute necklace if it was twisted.

I took kite string.
And put the kiddos to work.

I used two yards lengths.  I separated my two oldest kids about two yards apart and sent little L wrapping the string around their hands.  See how their hands are held up?  We went 15 times, so that total there was 30 strings.  Then D and I started twisting.  I wanted it to be really tight.  Then I followed the steps just like in the post.  And WAh LA new necklace that looks amazing but it is worry-free*!

Dress it up and be oh so chic.

Here is the reason why the pics were taken inside:

I was getting blown away.   (I was holding my shirt down so I didn't look like I had wings.)

*OK, what is worry-free jewelry?  Have you ever had a kid break your string of beads?  Have you ever had a kid gnaw on your costume jewelry and you wonder what are they ingesting?  Have you ever broken your necklace yourself because you were being a mom?  Or being active?  Worry-Free Jewelry is an answer to those woes.  Easy to make, and easy to fix.  (And usually cheap). 

Friendship Bracelets

Both my girls are Girl Scouts. I am a troop leader for Daisy Girl Scouts for little L.  D's troop became a sister troop and throughout the year we've gotten together for little things. (D's  Cadet troop is all 6th graders and L's troop is full of kindergartners.)  Last week the Cadets came to our troop meeting and taught the girls about being friends.  Then they teamed up and made friendship bracelets.  I had never seen this technique before so I thought I would share so you can do it with your littles.

Note the one worn.  It was made with 4 strands.

The one in her hand was made with 9.

Here are some of my girls.  They were cold, but I had them hold up their wrists so we could see.

You will need yarn and two people, which is part of the charm.  It takes two people working together to create something fun. (Oh so many lessons and parallels we could make while creating these.)

4 strands of yarn will create a thin-ish bracelet.  9 strands creates a fun choker.  The 9 strand example started with a yard each.

(A note on colors: If you keep your colors together at the beginning, you will create the candy-stripe look.)

Stretch the yarn between the two of you.

Begin to twist.

Keep twisting.

And twisting.

Until it is super tight.

A good way to check if it is tight enough is to give some slack.  If your rope starts to twist, you're doing good.

Now, one person find the center and hold it tight with one hand and with the other give their end to their partner.

Let go of the center and the person holding both ends gets to shake, shake, shake till it all twists up.

If it isn't evenly twisted, the partner not holding it can smooth out those bumps along the way.

The end will have a loop in it.  Bring the two ends to the loop.  Pull half of your ends through the loop and then tie the ends together with the loop in between. 
And you will get:

This!

Go out there and teach team work and create some fun friendship bracelets. 

I think these would be fun to try with embroidery floss as well.  I wonder how they will turn out . . .
**If you look carefully you will see the smaller versions on each of the girls.

Beach Spray for Hair



Crescent City, CA 2008*


Don't you love the way your hair feels after a day at the beach?


The other day I followed a link to a slide show with summer hair.  I'm currently growing my hair out after 5 years of short.  So I am in need of hair ideas.  This article kept talking about beach spray.  And the last sentence, after suggesting several that you could buy for a pretty penny, said my favorite words: Or you could make your own.

I love those words!!!  I live for those words!

I googled how to make it.  I found several recipes and decided to give 'er a try.  I just warmed up water (important for the salt to dissolve) and added sea salt until it tasted like the ocean.  Then I added a few drops of Lavender oil so it smells good.  Poured the mix into a spray bottle and I was set. (remember to shake well if you add oil)

In my house we have three different types of hair.  I have medium length, fine, with natural curl.  Little L has fine hair with no curl (but two whirls at the back, I kept it boy short for years cause of those crazy whirls).  Miss D has hair to die for.  Thick, long with just a bit of wave.

Here are the results on our different hair types:

(Maybe taking my own pics is worse than having D take them)

Look at the casual curl

This has a great messy look

We had to twist it.  If you have no curl, twist it.

Since taking these pics I've had lots of fun using my beach spray.  Its great to spritz at the roots to get some curl for a messy up-do or side pony. (Mine is still so short I can't do much.)

So, go out there and make your own day at the beach!

*My poor sweet kids have never been to a warm beach.  They only know the Northern Pacific.  Those beaches are cold, but still so fun.  Someday they will go to a beach you can actually swim at.  I wonder what their reaction will be.

Profeanna had a good question but blogger isn't letting me post comments. (Soooo irritating) So I am adding it here in hopes that she'll come back. :)

That is a good question. Unfortunately I was using a salt grinder andn I didn't pay attention to how much I put in. When it tastes less like good salt and more like bad salt (or until you gag) that might be a good indicator. I'll try a new mixture and measure before I add. Then I'll get back to you!



I'm linking this up to:
http://www.skiptomylou.org/
http://sumossweetstuff.blogspot.com/

http://gigglesglitzandglam.blogspot.com/

http://sewchatty.blogspot.com/
http://www.tipjunkie.com/homemade-projects-add-yours-10/

The Rain Stopped For a Bit and The Crazies Went Crazy

This is just my kids jumpin on the ol' Trampoline.  My oldest is almost 12 and I know these moments are short lived.  So I went outside and took 150+ pics. (The nerdy part being that I was trying on the maxi-dress to fix the straps and ran out to capture the moment.  So, yeah, I'm a  nerd.  But I caught my kids liking each other.  Must seize that moment.)

 L stubbed her toe. :(

 J and L love each other occasionally.

 Medusa #1

 Medusa #2

Crazy Mom Time

What does a sane mother do when her daughter says as she is getting tucked in, "Mom, tomorrow is Pajama Day, do you think these (holds up a ratty pair of nasty) are OK?".

I'm just wondering cause I don't think I did the sane thing.

But first, a little back story.  D said this on a Monday night.  Saturday night we had returned from a WEEK of camping in Southern Utah (Moab to be exact).  Everything gets covered in red sand, even PJ's that never seem to leave the tent.  My traveling van looked like it had been packed by the Beverley Hillbillies.  We buckled the children in their seats and then packed things around them.  All of her cute PJ's were packed in the bowels of the van.  Even if they could be found, they were tinged with the red dirt of adventure.  Plus it was dark (and I am nervous in the dark--note that I did not say scared of the dark).

So, taking a page from Robyn's book of mothering, when your daughter has Pajama Day, you make her new Pajamas.

Yes, I stayed up late sewing the sweet girl PJ's.  I put them on her floor so she would be sure to see them.  And she went off to school in sweet, sweet new soft flannel PJ's.

Is that what sane mother's do?  I don't think so, but I never claimed to be sane.

Crafty Juices Were Flowin'

Yesterday was a rare day at my house.  Everyone was home and we had no where to go.  Bliss.

Add to that the creative energy that flowed through our house.

The two boys, Mr and J, worked on J's pinewood derby car.  Good masculine creativity.

The girls and I worked with one of my favorite mediums, fabric.

First we taught Little L how to make yo-yo's.  This kept her focused and it was so fun to watch her sew.  She made up stories about her yo-yo's.  They were all fairies and the little one needed constant babysitting.

Then we pulled out Princess D's new sewing machine and she made her first item, a pillowcase.  She loves sleeping on a Euro-Square pillow, so that's what we made her.  She was so proud and I let her do it all herself (which was kinda hard).  I did use the rotary cutter and cut it out--I'm not brave enough to trust her with that yet.

I had hoped to sew D's bed skirt too, but I had a nasty attack of carpal tunnel and I couldn't find my hemming foot.  So I was the only one who didn't make anything.

After I tucked the kids in bed I pulled out my glue gun and flowers and made some simple hair clips.  Nothing fancy.  Little L tucked Mr. into bed and came down and helped me.

This morning I found this:

My girls had created their own combinations.  They put mine to shame, but the Mama in me is proud.  Look at the use of texture and color?  They mixed in ways that fashion and trend wouldn't dare, but these girls could rock that look. (And who I am to force my girls to stay on trend and not branch out?)

I guess I better create more opportunities for my kids to be creative, cause the juices are flowin.

Leaves

I live in a relatively new city.  (I think Officially we're somewhere in the teens--we've lived here 11 years.)  There aren't a lot of trees.

So, every fall, my kids LOVE the leaves.  They become a novelty.

We spent a little over an hour at the park last weekend and my kids rolled and rolled in the leaves.

I was rewarded at the end with some great shots:

My three monkeys. They make everything great.