Spring is here

I have always loved to decorate but I also have a child who destroys everything, even if it's high up and you don't think she can reach it. This year we will be making an Easter tree with plastic eggs and stuffed bunnies, because that way, when the destroyer knocks it down and attacks it, everything should stay in one piece 

I used the template and idea from this adorable blog post on The Little fabric Blog

  

I tried these two different ways and the second way worked best. The first time I traced the bunnies on the fabric with the right sides facing down. I cut them out and then sewed them, but it was a huge pain because the sides didn't match.

The second time I folded my fabric right side up and traced the bunnies on the fabric. I then sewed them before cutting them out since I knew I would be cutting them with pinking shears afterwards to get that shabby chic look. It made it a lot easier but I did get two bunnies less because I had to leave enough room for cutting afterwards.

 

I stuffed them with filling and used a kabob stick to stuff the ears; I tied a bow around the neck and I was done. I am thinking I might hang them from the easter tree but I have to make sure it doesn't look a tree of "hanging" bunnies.

Burlap Pillows

A couple of weeks ago, my friend Daniela sent me a picture of Burlap pillows and told me she wanted to make them all and asked if anybody wanted to have a sew day. I did but it took a lot of planning for us to finally get together to sew them.

 

Today was the day, and I learned a lot about burlap, including the fact that it's a stupid name.

When you get the Burlap, you have to wash it a couple of times to get the smell. Then it will look like this: a big pile of wrinkled nastiness. After washing it twice with bleach it still smelled like a funky donkey. I ironed it with febreeze and it was ok, but burlap just smells weird.

 

Before we go any further, please feast your eyes on the awesomeness of this Atelier! I want it badly, including the little Bambie needle cushion.
Ok, back to the pillows.

We ironed and serged everything because Burlap likes to lose threads, but it also loses fuzz like crazy and you will have it everywhere, especially up your nose.

We tried to use the ruffle foot for the machine but burlap is just too stiff. Daniela ruffled it by hand after we had sewn it to the pillow

I cheated on my boyfriend Paleo today with these, because I wanted to and they were delicious and I don't regret it all.

 

This is how the first pillow turned out; I think it's cute and it looks like the picture 

This was the second pillow that we made. I think you can see that we didn't figure enough seam allowance because it is already pulling the sides in like crazy. After we were done it looked like a hot mess. However, after I left, Dani worked with it and it was better, but not yet perfect. 

We will have to work on that, but for the first time sewing with Burlap, I think they turned out kind of cute.

I think the pillows will look nice on my couch, but they are definitely just decoration because Burlap is stiff and not soft at all . . .  plus it smells. 

Hitting your prime

When I was a teenager I went through the awkward phase that every kid goes through, when your body is growing and you have zits everywhere and you wear too much makeup, in fact so much you have to blow dry your eyes because if you didn't you would have eyeliner up to your forehead..

I did the whole 90s thing, too . . . the bib overalls, crop tops, bell bottom slinky pants (some even in crushed velvet).  Maybe that was a German thing but we did dress kind of weird here.
When I was in my twenties, I hit a phase where I tried to look like the ugliest person to ever be born. When I look at pictures, I think that has to have to have been my goal because I look like bonafide shit.

 

Seriously, what the hell was I thinking. . . dying my hair red? I had every color red from Henna to Ronald Mcdonald and none of them looked good on me.

Then I turned 30, I lightened up a little in the hair. I started having highlights done and going blonder and blonder and that is when I finally was attractive. It took me till I was almost 40 to actually like the way I look and not hate the way I look in pictures.

 

I have broad shoulder so I always look like I am smuggling razorblades in my armpits, but I always stand up really straight because of it.

When I walk, my feet point a little outwards which makes me walk like a penguin. I walk on my tip toes a lot but I have the strongest calves you have ever seen, thanks to that awkward walk.

I have short stubby fingers that look like kids' hands, but they are the same hands as my great grandmother and they are really strong.

My eyes are hazel which is so plain but it's the same color as both my mom and my dad's eyes, which makes them cool to me.

I have a lot of hair everywhere; I have to shave my legs everyday which I don't and pluck some random hair off my face everyday, but I also have thick healthy hair on my head even though I color the living daylights out of it. My hair has really taken a beating this last year and it is still holding on.

All in all, I have to say I am as happy with myself as I have ever been and I hope that it just keeps getting better and better. Maybe someday I will even love myself -- wouldn't that be a kick in the pants?

Where lipgloss goes to die

So I emptied out my purse today and I realized something about myself, I have serious issues with lipgloss.
This was all in my purse along with my abreva. You never know when you might have a herpes outbreak on your face.
There are a total of 11 lipgloss/lipstick/chapsticks in my purse, and I usually just put it on once then forget about it during the day.

 I just bought this doozy here and I really wanted to love it, but it makes me look like I have third degree burns on my lips and it doesn't stay on at all. It's supposed to be a lipstain and lipbalm but it doesn't look nice. The color is "instinct" by Revlon Just Bitten. 

The rest of the stuff is boring: hair ties, glasses and a tape measure because I always need one; deodorant and a nail polish that doesn't even belong to me.

This is my wallet that I always carry with me rather than that big ole flap wallet with all the insurance cards, baby pictures and receipts to stuff I don't even remember buying. My friend made this about 2 years ago and I love it.  But I hate sushi, go figure.
Because I am doing the 40 bags challenge, I am going to throw away almost all the crap in my purse and go down to maybe 3 lip items.
That just means I will buy new ones that probably look exactly the same.

40 bags Basement part 1

I was busy yesterday with crafting and the weather here is so beautiful that I had to go outside a lot so I didn't do much cleaning but one little sore spot in my basement did get taken care of and I am very happy with it. I didn't have to do much in this in one room but put the shelf in there that I took out of the kids bedroom but not having everything on the floor made a big difference and yes I do have a ton of booze.

 

 

 Tomorrow I won't wimp out and pick a bigger project, I promise.

The Room of Doom

I have been dreading doing the "Sandwich Kid" room because it is the worst room in the house and I knew it would take me the longest. It took me all day, and it was 9:00pm when I was finally done.  I didn't even do her closet yet because it was too late.

This is basically what her room looks like all the time because, unfortunately, she is a hoarder.  She also likes to hide things like 7 Tupperware dishes full of school food; I threw them out because I was not about to touch the stuff that was in it.
I threw away about 4 bags full of stuff, including erasers, pencils, pens, trash, stuffed animals and papers for a class she isn't in anymore, puzzle pieces, barbie shoes and the list goes on.
It's unbelievable how bad it was! I go through her room every couple of months so I don't know how this happened.

I made her help me and while she didn't do much except play and fight me on what could go in the trash, we talked about a bunch of different stuff like how much she dislikes Justin Bieber now (I'm glad I didn't buy her tickets to see him) because he does drugs and he is in jail. She also told me about school and how it's going and just plain small talk, but we laughed a lot and listened to mix cds that I made her 2 years ago.  now tonight I will finish her closet and then move on.

I'm just glad that I got that out of the way.

Starting 40 bags challenge again

I have been wanting to do this "40 bags in 40 days" challenge for the last 3 years, and every time I start, something happens and I quit. Well this year shall be different, I promise! I started in the upstairs bathroom that is also my closet, so I had a lot to sort out and give away, throw away.

Yes, these are before pictures but it doesn't mean that my bathroom usually looks like this. I didn't take a picture till after I had pulled a bunch of stuff out and thrown it on the floor.
I got rid of a lot of clothes that I have held onto forever, even though I was never going to wear them again. I definitely filled at least two bags full of clothes and about 4 little trash bags full of odds and ends.

Even though it doesn't look like it, I did get rid of about 5 bottles of perfume (which is ridiculous)!  I should be ashamed for having so much crap.

 

See me trying to hide my picture taking?

It took me about 4 hours because I washed all my makeup brushes,  refolded all my clothes, and posted a bunch of stuff to give away on Whatsapp while I was cleaning it out, so I was taking pictures and sending messages a lot of the time. But I did get rid of it so it was worth it.
I feel so much better in there now, and I found stuff that I had been missing for a while, including earrings.
Tomorrow I am starting somewhere else in the house, but I don't quite know where yet because that's how I roll.