Did I make the cutest little clothespin dollies?

Why yes.  Yes, I did!!!  I was wanting to make something sweet for the Piggy for Christmas.  I had originally intended to make the little wooden peg gnomes, because she LOVES "Gnomeo and Juliet", but as fate would have it, I couldn't find the little peg dolls anywhere in town!  I have seriously been in every Jo-Ann Fabric, Hobby Lobby and Michael's in a 20-freakin'-mile radius of my house!  (Apparently I should have ordered them online!)  But I did find the little clothespins, so I started brainstorming a bit and here is what I came up with...

First of all, supplies.  I used wooden clothespins, soy-based paint (that was a neat find!), self-adhesive craft foam, poms-poms, cross-stitch thread, ruffled ribbon, and a hot glue gun.

 I attempted mermaids first, so I turned the clothespins to where the slit was at the sides and painted the lower portion for the tail.  (Sorry for the crappy pic, lighting wasn't the best.)

Then I added a little bikini top, the face and embellished the tail.

 

And yes, I even added little belly-buttons!  Next step was to add hair and construct tail fins.  I had my mom-in-law cut the fins out of sparkly, self-adhesive craft foam.  You need two for each tail, so you can stick them together.  Once they are stuck together and your dolls are dry enough, slide that foam into the slits at the bottom of the clothespin.  We cut the hair out of cross-stitch thread and used a dot of hot glue and pressed the hair into it.  Then embellished as desired.  This is final product!

They're SWEET!  Right?  I felt so inspired and confident after I finished these little cuties that I decided to whip out some ballerinas too!  Pretty much the same deal, except the slits faced forward.  I painted little toe shoes and used ruffles and pom-poms for the tutus.  I also painted the hair and added some pom-poms for buns and/or little hats! 

OK, the one with the orange poms makes me giggle!  I LOVE them!  I do think for the next batch, I will paint the bodice in a way that leaves an unpainted area for little arms.  But hey, for a first try, these turned out pretty damn good!  I can't wait to see my little Piggy's face on Christmas morning!  I am also looking forward to making the next batch with her.  She would have SO much fun with this.  And once we figure out the gnomes, I'll be sure to post about them as well!  

Here's hoping you all have a wonderful holiday season!   Keep warm and safe and love one another!!

PSA: The Great Slime Fiasco of 2011

For those of you that don't know, my daughter is THAT kid.  

I decided after this particular incident that I should post about it, because after all, one of you might have one of these kids as well!

OK, first off, what do you get when you mix this...

with this?

ONE BIG FREAKIN' NIGHTMARE!

"Look Mommy!  I have a hat made of slime!"  Oh joy!  In case you're wondering what slime is, it is a mixture made of water, borax and GLUE.  And does it easily come out of soft, fine, little girl hair?  NO.  No it does not.  I have to say, I felt so sorry for her.  My first reaction was, of course, to be angry, then all of a sudden this rush of giggling came over me and I howled like a damn hyena with tears streaming down my face.

This was not helpful.

It was also not helpful that her big brother was laughing himself into tears as well.  So I had to chase the child around the house (with slime drooping from her head) to try and explain that it wasn't HER I was laughing at but the SITUATION.  Needless to say, she did NOT think this shit was funny in the least.

First instinct, call mother-in-law.  She used to be a hairdresser, she HAD to know how to remove slime.  She suggested putting on tons of thick conditioner to hopefully help the goop slide out.  Made perfect sense so we tried it.

I was able to start slowing scratching some of the top layer off, but the stuff underneath was so stuck in the hair it was unbelievable and the conditioner wasn't even touching that.  At this point I was almost certain that a shaver and a buzz cut were in the child's future.  I called Big Daddy to get him surfing the web to see if he could find a solution.  He is the King of Google.  Seriously, that man can find anything, anytime on Google!  I hopped back in the shower with the girl to try to work some more of this stuff out.  Shortly, the Monkey Man came upstairs with news.  So what did Big Daddy discover on the internet?

That's right, Baby!  MAYONNAISE!  Turns out vinegar can break up some the bonds of the glue, but I was too scared I'd get it in her eyes.  Mayo has vinegar and oil, double whammy!  And although it's gross, it's manageable.  So I slopped it on and started working it in.  I was able to start pulling big chunks out after a few minutes, then I started in with the fine tooth comb.  Slowly but surely, the slime started loosening up and I was able to comb the majority of it out.  Then I shampooed a couple of times and conditioned really well and this was the end result...

Slime FREE!!!!  I don't think I've ever loved a condiment so much in my entire life!  GO MAYO!  So remember, if you have one of THOSE kids and they get slime in their hair, it's all about the mayonnaise!

Cardholder for little hands

If you have small children, you understand how hard it is to play a card game with them because they can NEVER hold the cards right and then they get all mad, and well, you know the rest!  So thanks to a suggestion from a family friend, I now have a solution!

You will need two plastic lids (cottage cheese or small butter dish size), a pair of scissors, a stapler and some scotch tape.

First, cut the rim off the lids.  Then staple 3 or 4 staples in a row about 1/3 of the way up from the edge.  Take a couple of strips of scotch tape to cover the back of the staples so no little fingers get cut by the staple ends.  Then... Viola!

 

A perfect way for little hands to hold cards!  Happy gaming!

How to make a platypus

Or at least a fairly decent version of one!  So here's the story... we have a little friend who is about to celebrate his 6th birthday.  He LOVES Australia and REALLY loves platypuses (or is it platypi?)  He is having a big Australian Adventure party and we wanted to stick with the theme.  We shopped around for a nice platypus but had no luck.  Ty makes a platypus Beanie Baby, but it's pink and doesn't really look like a platypus.  So the kids and I put our heads together and brainstormed.  The Monkey Man suggested that since I make costumes and I, not too long ago, made them monsters, why couldn't I make a platypus?  So I dug through my Halloween stash of polar fleece and lo and behold tan and brown for the perfect platypus!  Now I will warn you ahead of time, this was not intended to be a serious replica of a platypus, I was wanting him to have to whimsy and silliness.  So without further ado,  here is how you make a platypus!

Step 1.  Make a pattern.  I used leftover posterboard from Halloween and made a ridiculous sketch of said platypus, minus the beak and flippers that would be fashioned later.  I sewed around the body, leaving the head open to add stuffing.

 Step 2.  Stuff him!  I used regular Poly-Fil for stuffing.  I had an old pair of chopsticks that I used to poke the stuffing into the necessary spaces.  There was a great deal of poking and patting and whacking.  The kids thought I was a little weird!

Step 3.  Once you're done stuffing him, stitch the hole in the head and cut out flippers and a beak.  I sewed two pieces of fleece for each flipper and the beak.  I doubled the fleece on the flippers just for thickness, I left the edges raw.  I did put a small amount of stuffing in the beak.

Step 4.  Attach beak and flippers.  I hand-sewed all of these.  I wanted to make sure they were super strong and secure.  Look!  He's beginning to look like a platypus!

Step 5.  Pick out and attach eyes.  The kids wanted button eyes.  They thought he would be much sillier if they were different colors.  So there you have it!  The finished product made us giggle!  Step 6.  Have children give the platypus a good squeeze so he'll be full of love for his little boy!


We wrapped him in a raffia bow and I penned a little poem for the occasion... (names changed to protect the innocent!)

There once was a boy named Bobby
Who loved animals and critters and such
He especially loved Australia
And its majestic PLATYPUS

We searched high and low for a creature
That was soft and fuzzy and plush
But much to our sadness and sorrow
There was no majestic PLATYPUS

So we came up with a plan and a pattern
And with fleece and thread and fuss
We worked very hard to make you
This majestic PLATYPUS

We hope that you'll love him and keep him
And he'll be a special friend to trust
Because after all there's no creature as loyal
As the great and majestic PLATYPUS!

I would like to wish a fine Happy Birthday to our wonderful, little friend and we hope that he enjoys this platypus and he has as much fun playing with him as we had making him!

First Dollar

It seems kind of silly, but what the hell? I made my first official dollar this past weekend with my photography business!!! It felt great and I'm gonna frame the damn thing! My aunt suggested that I should get one of those shrines that you find in Thai restaurants to promote my prosperity! If you know where I can find one please let me know! But for now, I just feel lucky that I'm moving forward with my business and it's something I LOVE! I always swore to myself that when the time came to re-enter the workforce that it would be on my terms, doing something that I enjoy. So SCORE!

Almost there!

We've got a name! We've got a website (not that it's up and running at this time), and we had our first "official" photo shoot today! I had the great honor of photographing my friend's brand, new, week-old baby boy! He was tiny and lovely and I couldn't have asked for a sweeter subject! And everything went well! I'm going to spend the next 6 months working my ass off, honing my skills. Goal is to be up and running by the first of the year! It feels so great to be making progress!

Crazy thing? I think I finally know what I'm gonna be when I grow up!

A Table Fit for a Princess!

This past week, my little girlie turned 4! We spent the entire week celebrating her birthday, it was great! We went out for burgers, played Putt-Putt, had milkshakes and of course threw an AWESOME pirate party complete with bouncy castle, cake pops and sprinklers under the trampoline! Amidst all of this craziness though, I had a very, important task. She needed a new table and chairs for her room. She is to an age where dress up and tea parties are just a way of life! When my neighbor moved, she left me a set of 4 little chairs, but no table. I was on the search, but no luck! All I could find was cheesy plastic tables or $80-100 solid wood tables! I just wanted a small, functional table that could be refinished, nothing fancy and nothing expensive. I posted on Craigslist and Freecycle with no luck. As a last ditch effort, I posted on my homeschool list and lo and behold, I got an email! I should have known from the beginning to post there! Homeschoolers are generous beyond belief and when they are done with something they want it gone, PRONTO! So I was off to Pflugerville to pick up a little table! It was a very LOUD table, but it was a really sweet shape and my brain was going a mile a minute as to what I was going to do with it.

Here's what I started with...

I sanded the crap out of the table and all 4 chairs! Boy that was fun! ;-p

Primer was applied to all pieces. I had to use an oil based primer because I couldn't determine whether the previous paint on the chairs or the table was latex or enamal AND the table has a metal edging piece. And just as an FYI, primer STINKS (literally).

Then it was time to paint! I chose a light lavender for the top, darker purple for the legs and a nice aqua blue for the chairs. In case you're wondering, the color scheme came from her new quilt set! She has decided to leave the pink in the past and progress to purple! Sadly, I neglected to photograph this particular step! It was cute, but I needed to tie the blue chairs in with the purple table, so it was off to Hobby Lobby to find some do-able stencils. I'm not great with stencils so I needed to keep it SIMPLE. I found the perfect set with flowers and butterflies (which coincidentally are found on the new quilt!) So after a couple of test runs on paper, I took it to the table and chairs. Here is the finished product! It's only a smidge different from the original!

Close-up!

So for a little over $40 and few days of hard work, my little Piggy has an original table fit for the princess that she is! And in case you were wondering, she LOVES it!

The Piggy---Queen of Free Form Jazz!

My baby girl was singing in the car the other day and Big Daddy was impressed with it. So, like he does with many of the Monkey Man creations, he got her to record it this morning. They sat together and tweaked through GarageBand and ended up with this huge statement of bitchin' free form jazz! So without further ado, please click the link and enjoy...

ALIEN BUTT!

Making Monsters!

Last month we were out and about, perusing the goods at some local toy stores, when the kids came across UglyDolls. From what the nice lady at the store told me, these are the latest rage for the kiddies and I have to admit, my kids were pretty taken with them. But, being the thrifty person that I am I could not see spending $29.99 for some polar fleece and polyfil! I promised the kids that after Halloween we could dig through my fabric stash and they could pick out some polar fleece and I would MAKE them custom monsters. I had the Monkey Man draw a very basic pattern for his monster. I just needed to know the specs, arms or wings, fangs or a tongue, how many eyes, what type of ears, etc... I also quizzed the Piggy on what she wanted. It was cool to see how different their monsters were! So, here is step by step instructions on making your own monster!

Step One: Make a pattern out of cardboard. I will be the first to tell you that neither of our monsters were symmetrical in any way. That's just not how I work! Also, make the pattern about an inch bigger all the way around to take seam allowances into account.

Step Two: Lay the pattern on two layers of fabric and cut it out.

Step Three: Use other polar fleece or felt and cut out the eyes, nose, fangs, etc... handstitch those onto the monster. I handstitched the pupils onto the eyes first then handstitched the eyes onto the monster. I used a triple folded length of yarn for the mouth and handstitched it onto the monster.

Step Four: Sew the monster inside out. Make sure you leave a decent sized spot unsewn so you can stuff it.

Step Five: Turn the monster right side out and stuff the little bugger! I used regular polyfil and I stuffed it until it was pretty taut. I used a wooden dowel to smush the polyfil into the arms and ears.

Step Six: Talk your wonderful mother-in-law into slip-stitching the hole! :-D

Step Seven: Present finished monster to a very eager child and get that warm, fuzzy feeling in your heart!

Now I wouldn't have paid $29.99 for these silly things, but I had a WONDERFUL time designing them with the kids and it probably cost me less than $5 in materials for both of them! So it was a total win/win situation and the kids ADORE them! Now go wild and make your own monster creations!

Another project done!

After a friend's bridal shower I was given about 6 pots of little succulent plants. They were super cute, but I had no idea what to do with them and they were drying up and not thriving in the little pots. So I had this great idea to buy a strawberry pot and plant them in there! It turned out SO cute! I had been looking for something interesting to put out front and this was the perfect size and I love it! If you care to re-create something similar, I used various types of sedum and an orange bulbine at the top!

An EGG-cellent day to dye!

One of my favorite things about Easter is egg-dying. How can you not enjoy turning eggs into miniature pieces of art? I wish we could dye 6 dozen eggs every year, but alas, hard-boiled eggs do NOT top my list of culinary delights (although, I do make mean-ass deviled eggs!). So every year, I agree to one dozen eggs... enough to have fun with, but few enough to actually eat!

So last night, I whipped out the cups and the dyes and the vinegar and LOTS of newspaper. I made the kids put on their trashed out "art shirts", gave them each a wire dipper and let 'em have at it! Of course Mama had to partake just a bit! Too bad I was the first to drop an egg and crush it! Doh!

Here's the Piggy with her first egg! She had to hold it and look at it and smell it, all in an attempt to divine what color the egg wanted to be. Turns out it was yellow!

Waiting patiently...

And the "Mad Scientist" lurking in his lab, monitoring all of his precious eggs!

The end result... our very Bohemian eggs!

Proud artists admiring their fine work! An egg-cellent job even if I do say so myself!

The Love Monster

One of my best girlfriends is getting married in May, so several of us threw her a bridal shower. The Monkey Man felt compelled to make her a card and well, doesn't this just say it all?

Beginnings of a rockstar...

Music isn't just something to listen to in my home, it's a way of life. Everything has a soundtrack around here! If we are in the car... music is playing, if we're cleaning house... music is playing, if we're sitting out back relaxing... music is playing. So it seems only natural that the Monkey Man would be drawn to this. You have some kids that are all about team sports, then you have my son, who could care less about soccer but will sit and discuss the tasty guitar licks that Tony Iommi is throwing out on "War Pigs"! It makes a mama proud!

Big Daddy and the Monkey Man have a special connection with music, a place where they can truly relate to one another and it's AWESOME! Big Daddy plays drums in a local band and happens to be pretty versed in the Garage Band program. So, father and son haul up in front of the computer with headphones on, and record the Monkey Man's greatest hits! They were at it again last night, and admittedly, I could have done without the content, what is it with 7 y.o. boys and death and destruction?!? But who am I to stomp on his creativity? I mean he focused long enough to write the lyrics for a 2 min. 40 sec. song! That's impressive no matter how you look at it! So, while I sewed little summer dresses, I listened to an outpouring of creative juices that evolved into a song reminiscent of Nine Inch Nails and Deep Purple. He called it "The Evil" and he is VERY proud! So is his mama.