I'm a vegetable murderer

Aren't these lovely squash? The only problem is that they're not squash, they're cucumbers from my garden.

They're HUGE and lacking that certain greenness that cucumbers are supposed to have. At the beginning of spring, I planted 2 cucumber plants, 3 tomato plants, 2 strawberry plants, 5 lettuce plants, and a handful of red onions. Fastforward many, many hot Tennessee days later, and all of the plants except for the tomato and cucumber plants have died. Actually, one strawberry plant is hanging on for dear life and has produced 5 strawberries the size of dimes - does that count?

I had some hope for my lettuce plants, but when we went on vacation to Pittsburgh for a week in June, this is what I came home to:

My heads of lettuce had bolted. I had never heard that term before, but from Googling "my lettuce plant looks like a mutant," I discovered that "bolting" basically means my lettuce plants thought they were going to die so they decided to flower, which makes them grow upward and flower. Unfortunately this means the leaves become bitter and inedible. Which meant I got to add to my compost pile.

I had some hope for my cucumbers, so when they were growing in humongous proportions, I looked past the fact that they were yellow instead of the typical green cucumber-y color. After realizing that they had yet to green up, I picked one and cut it open to see how it tasted.

Yuck-o.

It was bitter and had this gross white inner rind. After visiting my friend Google again, I found out that cucumbers weren't supposed to get this big (oops) and that the yellow color probably meant that they had some crazy plant virus or that the weather was too hot. Sigh.

So now I have a big pile of these cucumbers the size of my calf that taste like a shoe. Anybody want one?

The (not so) Reversible Tunic (Dress)

Have I mentioned how much of a Pinterest junkie I am? Oh, it was that obvious huh? Yeah, well I'm definitely addicted. I have found so much inspiration and so many great projects just by browsing through all of the amazing eye candy every day. When I need inspiration for a project, I just go to Pinterest. It's like scrolling through Google images but with no weird pictures of cats in sweaters and stuff. Ok, there are a few of those too, but it's mostly awesome artsy pictures.

How many of you have seen this awesome Reversible Tunic by Kelly from Sewing in No Man's Land floating around in Pinterestland (and all over the blogosphere for that matter)?

I was practically drooling when I saw this tunic appear on my Pinterest screen, and I was pretty sure I could make one for myself.

Wait...did I just decide to make something for myself? I should have just stopped there. Embellishing an existing piece of clothing I can do, but I decided to go ahead and make myself something from scratch. Can anyone tell me how I got it in my head that I could venture away from children's clothing and actually make myself something? The minute I began the project, it was almost as if everything I knew about sewing completely left my head and I became a madwoman with a needle stabbing wildly at a pile of fabric.

Firstoff, I chose a very busy pattern that, while cute on Haley, looked more like hospital scrubs on me. Next, I made the mistake of not using one of my own shirts as a guide when cutting the fabric - this is something I do EVERY TIME when making clothes for both of the kids. I don't know what I was thinking. I ended up with a mumu/hospital scrub shirt that was wayyyy too narrow at the top. Luckily, since I have a daughter, I was able to alter it to make a cute tunic dress for Haley.

I didn't want to make it reversible like in the tutorial so I only used one fabric. I also made the tunic long enough to hit right above my daughter's knees so it became a dress. Because I decided not to make the dress reversible, I had to make the slit in the front differently. I used THIS method that I used when making the button closure in The Haley Dress.

Rather than making a casing for the elastic, I did things the lazy way and cut a piece of 1/2 inch wide elastic 1 inch smaller than my daughter's waist. Then using a zig-zag stitch, I stitched the elastic around the inside of the dress while stretching the elastic as I sewed.

The tutorial was actually really easy had I actually made it right the first time, and I have tenative plans to try again at making myself a tunic. But maybe I should just stick to what I know. I'm kind of glad things worked out the way they did though, I think the dress looks really adorable on Haley.

See how excited she was to model her new dress for me?

The thing I love about this tunic is that it's flowy and breatheable - which is perfect for wiggly little girls who love to jump and spin like my little ball of energy.

Here's where you can find Kelly's tutorial for the Reversible Tunic. Or in my case the Not-So-Reversible-Tunic-Dress :)

Happy sewing!

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Monogrammed Baby Snuggle Squares

**In case you missed it, I posted over at Nature's Heirloom on July 21st.
Here's the project I shared!**

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When my daughter was a few months old, a family member sent her 2 silky lovies as a gift. We gave them to her at naps and bedtime, and 2 years later she won't go to sleep without at least one of her favorite blankies. When my son was born, I knew I wanted him to have a couple of his own too.

These snuggle squares are made of flannel on one side and soft satin material on the other, so they're the perfect little lovies for cuddling and comforting little ones. Best of all, they're super easy to make.

Supplies for 1 Snuggle Square:

• 1/2 yard flannel
• 1/2 yard coordinating satin fabric
• Sewable interfacing
• Scissors
• Disappearing ink marker
• Printer and paper
• Sewing machine and coordinating thread
• Rotary cutter and mat

Step 1: Cut out your fabrics.

1. Wash your fabrics before use to make sure they don't shrink later.

2. Cut out a 19"x19" square from both your flannel and your satin material using your rotary cutter and mat.

Step 2: Make your monogram.

1. From your leftover flannel, cut out a piece of fabric 1 inch larger than you want your letter to be. Iron a slightly smaller piece of sewable interfacing to the back (the wrong side) of the fabric according to the interfacing directions. Remove paper backing.

2. In Microsoft Word, type up and print out your monogram letter, then carefully cut out with scissors. My letter was roughly 3"x3". Place it on the back of your fabric, making sure the letter is facing backwards when you trace.

3. Trace around your letter using a disappearing ink marker.

4. Cut out your letter.

Step 3: Attach your monogram.

1. With your iron on a low setting, iron your monogram onto a corner of your satin fabric on the top (or right side) of the fabric. If you're having a hard time ironing your monogram on, try placing a cloth on top of the fabric and ironing on a higher heat setting.

2. Set your sewing machine to a zig-zag stitch. Stitch around the entire perimeter of your letter, making sure to backstitch some at the beginning and end to secure.

3. This is how your finished monogram should look.


Step 4: Join your two fabrics.

1. With the right sides together, place your satin fabric on top of your flannel and match up the edges.

2. Pin and stitch around the perimeter of your fabric about 1/4 inch from the edge, leaving a space about 4 inches long unsewn for turning. (Make sure you use lots of pins when you pin the fabric because the satin is slippery and you don't want it to slide around as you sew.)

3. Clip your corners close to the stitching (but not too close!) Turn your blanket inside out and press with a hot iron on the flannel side. Make sure you press the edges of your opening inside so it matches up with the rest of your blanket.

4. Top stitch around the perimeter of your blanket 1/4 inch from the edge.

Done!

Let the snuggling begin!

I hope your little ones enjoy their snuggle squares as much as mine do.

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Reasons why my husband should never go on long business trips.

My husband has been on a business trip for the past 5 days. This means that I got a taste of single parenthood for 5 days. And I am not a fan.

For the past 5 days, I had to manage working full time, caring for the needs of 2 small children, and somehow still taking care of myself. Let's just say it's a good thing I froze some meals beforehand because otherwise I would be eating bowls of Cocoa Puffs for dinner every night. Hats off to you single moms and military wives out there, I already thought you were awesome for doing it on your own, but now you're all officially superhumans in my book.

So, how did these past 5 days go?

• On the second night my husband was gone, my daughter ate 1-3 rhinestones. I'm not sure exactly how many she ate. All I know is that there were at least 3 sticky spots left on one of her toys where rhinestones should be.
• My dinner Wednesday night was 1/2 of a roasted acorn squash. Because there's NO way I'm going to attempt to make an actual meal while I have a 2-year-old clinging to my leg repeating, "hold me? hold me? hold me?"
• I finally shaved my legs on Wednesday because they were really beginning to itch.
• My daughter ate a green crayon. Yeah, we're at THAT stage where my kid eats stuff. Note to her future teachers: hide the glue.
• Oh, she also managed to color on the TV screen some before eating said green crayon. (Don't worry honey, I used the screen cleaning spray and told Haley that her college fund could easily be converted into our Medeterranian Cruise Fund if she touched any of the technology again.)
• Tuesday night both Connor and Haley thought it would be fun to alternate who was awake every hour from 1:30am-5:30am. I think I had 6 cups of coffee the next morning.
• One night, I took both kids to the local fabric store to pick up materials for a project. Haley managed to stay pretty well-behaved. Connor on the other hand cried every time a stranger even looked at him. At least we know he won't be accepting candy from strange people anytime soon. On the other hand, this might also be a sign that he'll be living at home until he's 35.

Patrick came home last night, and I have never been so glad to see him. I'm sure my kids probably feel the same.

I Love Shoes Shirt {a Silhouette project}

My daughter is obsessed with shoes. I'm pretty sure she has more than I do, and for a 2-year-old, that's saying a lot. One of her favorite words is "shopping," and if we make our way to the shoe section, you can be sure she'll find the most glittery, pink pair of shoes she can find.

I think we have a future shoe addict on our hands and with the way she has her daddy tied around her little finger, this could mean major trouble for our budget.

When I won my amazing Silhouette from Grosgrain back in May, I couldn't wait to try it out. This baby has made my life SO much easier, I don't know how I ever lived without it! For my first Silhouette project, I decided it was time to take my daughter's shoe obsession public. I got my inspiration from a friend of mine who bought her daughter an adorable shirt from Target that said "I {heart} shoes" on it with flats embellished with a flower. I decided to do something similar to that.

This shirt is a relatively quick project and requires very little sewing.

Supplies:

• T-shirt
• Silhouette smooth iron on transfer material
• 2 colors of fabric scraps
• 2 small buttons
• Needle and thread
• Sewable interfacing
• Sewing machine and thread
• Silhouette
• Iron

Step 1: Create your image and wording in Silhouette Studio and cut out.

I used Silhouette Studio to create and flip my "i love" wording in BLANK FONT so it's backwards (when you iron it on, it'll read correctly.) Next, I modified the "Shoes with Flowers" design that I purchased from the online Silhouette store by removing the flowers on the shoes and creating a more rounded toe area  since I wanted to create my own embellishment later.

Following Silhouette's instructions, cut out your image and wording, then remove any negative space you don't want ironed on your shirt. Use tweezers to remove those little extra bits that are hard to get.

Step 2: Iron on your image.

Position your image and wording with the shiny side up on top of your shirt.

Follow the heat transfer instructions to attach your image to your shirt.

Step 3: Create your flower embellishments.

To create your flower embellishments, you can either cut out some circles by hand, or let your Silhouette do it for you (which is what I did.) You'll need 2 colors of fabric scraps big enough to cut out 2 1-inch circles from.

Iron some sewable interfacing to the back of your fabrics according to the interfacing instructions and remove the paper backing. If you're using a Silhouette, position your fabric scraps on the sticky carrier mat, interfacing side down, and use your Silhouette Studio to draw and cut out 4 1-inch circles: 2 from each fabric. If you're cutting by hand, trace and cut out 2 1-inch circles from each fabric.

Using pinking shears, cut around the edges of 2 of your circles to make decorative edges.

Step 4: Iron and sew on your embellishments.

I didn't take a picture of this step because it's pretty self-explanatory, but stack one of the circles you trimmed with your pinking shears on top of one of the other circles (as shown above) and place on top of one of your shoe images. Place a towel on top and iron on according to the interfacing instructions. Sew around the perimeter of your circles to secure to the shirt, and hand sew a button on top.


Repeat this process to embellish your second shoe (see below.)

Now Haley can wear her obsession proudly.

And we can be reminded of where all of our money is going.

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"I'm with the muggle" HP shirt tutorial

Have you seen the newest Harry Potter movie? I'm sure all of you probably have, most of my cash goes to my kids so movies are hard to come by these days unless they come from Redbox. I will unfortunately have to wait until the movie comes out on DVD to watch it (or maybe go the old fashioned route and read the book - I've read all but the last one!) I do, however, have a friend who is a giant Harry Potter fan and who has gone to every midnight showing of the Harry Potter series so far.

I think the midnight showings would be fun to go to just to people watch. You know the people who go that late/early are undying Harry Potter fans. For some reason, I imagine a theater full of costumed people yelling spells at each other from across the theater, popcorn flying everywhere. I kinda wish I had gone to the midnight showing just to people watch.

Being the last movie in the HP series, I just had to make my friend a Harry Potter shirt, so we decided to go the freezer paper route and whip one up. I wanted to do a play on the "I'm with stupid" shirt but with a Harry Potter theme, so I made a "I'm with the muggle" shirt.

Here's a quick refresher on how to make a shirt using freezer paper stenciling (which is one of the easiest ways to make a great looking shirt with minimal work - woo hoo!)

Supplies:

• T-shirt
• Fabric paint
• Freezer paper (found at the grocery store or Wal-Mart in the same aisle as the foil, baggies, etc.)
• Paint brush
• Iron
• X-Acto knife and mat

Step 1: Trace and cut out your letters.

First, go HERE to download the free Harry P. font. If you're using a craft cutter, type up your wording with an arrow underneath in the size you would like, then cut out your wording on the sticky carrier mat using freezer paper.

If you don't have a craft cutter, simply type up your wording (and add an arrow underneath) in a word document in the size you would like, then print out and place under your freezer paper. Trace the wording, then use an X-Acto knife to carefully cut out each letter on a cutting surface.

Make sure to remove the little paper bits you won't need, but hold onto the inside scraps in the e and letter g's (use tweezers if needed.) Using a hot iron on the "cotton" setting with no steam, Iron your freezer paper wording to the front of your shirt with the shiny side down.

 

Step 2: Apply your paint.

We had to represent for Gryffindor, so we mixed up some red and blue fabric paint to make maroon.

Before painting, make sure you insert some cardboard inside of your shirt so the paint won't leak through to the other side. Carefully paint your fabric paint onto your shirt, painting from the outside in so you don't jam paint outside of the stencil area.

Let dry for the amount of time stated on the bottle. You can heat set it with an iron if you want, I never do but better safe than sorry!

 Step 3: Peel off freezer paper and wear.

After you let your shirt dry for the allotted time, carefully peel off your freezer paper and wear! You can wash and wear as usual.

I totally screwed up and touched the wet paint and got a dot of fabric paint on my shirt....which is why I added a lightning bolt and the HP over the smudge. I kinda like it though.

PS, Rachel over at Maybe Matilda made a great Harry Potter-themed shirt too (check hers out HERE.) Nerds unite!

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Sarcasm.

Because only bubble letters can truly relay sarcasm.