The tradition continues on

Do you have any of those special memories from grandma and grandpa's house that you just cherish?  I have lots.  I loved visiting my grandparents.

My mom's parents lived on a lake.  Grandpa had made a tire swing for us on one tree.  On another, he hung rope swing and built a ladder so we could swing over the lake and jump off.  My grandpa also made a floating dock that we could swim out to and play king of the mountain on.  Whenever I spent the night at their house, my grandma would make grilled cheese and tomato soup for dinner, and in the morning, we'd take the paddle boat around the lake, looking for secret hideouts, and wildlife.  I spent many hours sitting on the end of their dock fishing. Now, I love seeing my kids continue that on.

These are the great grand kids (my mom's grand kids). Now grandma has a whole new group to teach about the lake.  Love watching the traditions continue on...

On my dad's side, we grew up going to my grandparents' farm.  They had a large beef farm, and produced corn and hay.  I LOVED my trips to the farm.  I wandered around the pastures, the woods, and the barns for hours.  My uncle trapped Muskrats in the creek.  My cousin took me for rides on the four-wheeler.  We would climb to the top of the haystack and jump off.  We fed the cows and the kittens and ran around with the Springer Spaniels.  Grandpa always had friendly bulls.  I remember naming one of them after my first boyfriend, Brad.  He was gentle and kind and a red head, just like him. Silly, the things you can remember from childhood.  One of my favorite memories were the cowboy boot glasses that grandma kept in the freezer.  When I would visit, I would always be allowed to get one and fill it with soda from her fridge. I loved watching the cup turn frosty.  For some reason, everything tasted better from those cups.  I was at Salvation Army a couple weeks back and found glasses just like those.  And now, the tradition continues on...

Grandpa died my freshman year of high school, and grandma recently has been moved to a nursing home.  I don't get out to visit the farm as often as I like, but I enjoy taking the kids there whenever I can.  My uncle and his family run the farm now, but the tradition continues on...

My cousin Brian teaching the next generation how to treat the cows extra special.

Baling the hay - one of my favorite things was to sit on the wheel well and 'help' grandpa with the tractor.

A beautiful sunrise over the cornfield and woods.

My epiphany

I don't know if we can fit anymore into a night.  I honestly wonder how some people manage to go home after work, make a sandwich, and sit down in front of the TV for hours, then head to bed.  Seriously you did THREE things...sandwich...TV...bed.  I bet you didn't even take care of the plate, did you?  Which, I'm not belittling you about. At. All.  I'm proud of you!  I'm a little jealous, in fact.  I would love to learn how to turn my to-do list off and veg out, but my multi-tasking brain honestly would explode if I tried it.  And then I'd have this big mess to clean up and it just would keep me from enjoying any sort of relaxation.  I leave the house to relax.  In fact, I think I just had an epiphany! 

While my husband can easily tune out the to-do list and just relax with some popcorn in front of a movie, I sit there thinking: need to do a load of laundry, need to put the dishes away, need to make the kids lunch, need to scrub the tub, need to find a topic for the blog, need to vacuum, need to find a carpet cleaner, need to pay this bill, need to prep the taxes, need to GO TO BED.  I get so tired just sitting there during the movie, thinking and feeling guilty about all the things that need to get done at home, that I don't enjoy myself and normally by the halfway point, I'm so fed up with myself just sitting there that I get up and get to work on the chores. 

However, if I can leave the house, I also leave the to-do list.  I can clear my head.  I can spend two hours in the thrift store, perusing books, looking at baskets, scrounging through aisles of aisles of clothes looking for something incredibly unique or with up cycle potential.  My mind is still going, but now its excited, thinking about crafts, and creativity.  This is where I think back on that great posting from Little Miss Mama or Peas & Crayons, or that funny story from A Girl and her Glue Gun.  I remember that great little tip from Crap I've made, or how fabulous a basket would be for that organizational post from House of Grace.   This, my friends, is my relaxation technique: sifting through your old stuff passed off as tax deductions under the guise of a Mission thrift store.  Weird, I know.  I've been called that since elementary school.  I take it as a compliment now.



Why I love doing Emma's hair...

My daughter, Emma is finally coming into her own, wanting her hair done, wanting to wear nail polish.  Although I hoped for a tomboy, I have to admit, it really fun watching her be so girly.

I couldn't wait for her hair to get long enough to start doing braids, and pigtails.  I always wanted to do the baby ponytail on the top, but Emma was born bald. 

Here she is at 7 months - still bald.  Her and the baby doll are twins!

And at a year old, its barely a shadow on her head!

Finally at 2 years old, she has SOME hair.

At 2 and a half I gave her the coveted first haircut.

Then it kind of stopped growing.  This is her at 3...

and 3 and a half.  A week after these pictures were taken, it happened.  I didn't think it would.  I didn't expect it.  I never even thought about it before, frankly.  I thought she was in going to the bathroom like a good, little girl.  I checked on her twice.  Thought maybe it was taking a little longer than usual.  But then I realized it was too quiet.  When I opend the door.  I gasped, then I started crying.

She had taken scissors to the ENTIRE RIGHT SIDE OF HER HAIR.

I grabbed my phone (didn't have a camera at the time), and started taking pictures.  As distraught as I was, I knew I'd need to document this.

Look how long it had gotten on the left side!  and now GONE!!!!

It was Sunday night, with no salons open and me not having a clue where to start cutting it myself.  So I sent her to school with a side ponytail.

Three and a half years of hair growth GONE. (sniffle)

After two months, we were able to fake pigtails.  But you can still see huge chunks missing.

at her 4th birthday, she was sporty a stylish MULLET. 

Finally, by Christmas, it has finally grown out enough to be cute and have fun with it again.

This was on New Year's Eve with Josh.  Finally!  Little girl hair can be pulled back into a braid!  I love that little girl, and I love doing her hair.  But I especially love how she has never thought about putting hair and scissors together again. 

Rag Quilts!

A couple blogs ago I showed you pictures of the rag quilts I made my new sisters. 

I love the way they turned out.  I was waiting until after Christmas to do the tutorial on them, but when I went to pull the step by step pics, I've lost some along the way! 

So I'm asking you, my dear blogging friends, to help me out!  Link up your favorite BESTEST rag quilt tutorials below!  I love seeing all the different colors, designs and special effects you add to yours!

In the meantime - here's a few tips (from the few pictures I managed to find!)

 I used masking tape to attach my cutting boards to the table.  Then I used a Tsquare and a rotary cutter to quickly cut the pieces.

I kept the fabric doubled and first cut my 10 inch sections, then took each section and cut them apart to create a 10 inch square.

This went so much faster than drawing out the lines and cutting with scissors!

(Skip a bunch of steps that I don't have pictures of and...)

TADA!!!!

The finished project!

Your turn!  Show me your tutorials and favorite rag quilts!  Have fun!  I'll pick my faves at the end of the week and give you a special "Honda, the step-dog, Award"!  (Oh, and if so inclined, please become a friend/follower!)

Powered by Linky Tools
Click here to enter your link and view this Linky Tools list...

Ugly dolls (Well, one today - one tomorrow!)

The worst part about getting everything bought/made/wrapped a month before Christmas is that you get the bug to have some last minute gifts.  I decided to make ugly dolls for the kids!

The hardest part of making an ugly doll is figuring out HOW UGLY to make it!

I started with a few sketches.  Then called in the reserves (the hubby) for back up.

He asked me what I was sketching on.   

Yup.  Kind of sums me up.   

Then we spent so much time discussing the sticky notes, I had to stop crafting for dinner.

Yum!  Back to task...

He narrowed it down to these four.

Then asked me where the monkey was.  

Duh.  How do you forget a monkey in an ugly doll sketch?! 

Unbelievable.  I must have been tired. 

So the monkey was thrown in and voted on in a last minute upset.  

I decided to do the teddy bear ugly doll first.

I folded my two colors in half and drew one half of the ugly doll on the seam. 

Then I cut the two layers out. 

Next, I cut out the accessories and laid them out how I wanted them to be sewn on.

On a side note...I LOVE adding the eyes.  Eyes gives everything a personality. 

This guy started taking on a Mr. Bill personality. 

Once you get all your extras sewn on, you can either put the right sides together and sew, then flip him right-side out or (be lazy like me) and just sew the two right sides together and let your seams show.  After all, its an ugly doll; its supposed to be ugly.

Of course-Ugly doll does not have a name yet, (that will be up to the kids), but he certainly wanted to make sure he met everyone that was home. 

I think he was a little worried about Honda.

Clearly the hubs was not impressed with being introduced to the ugly doll.

Well, that's about it for today.  Most of my weekend was spent traveling, sleeping, eating, and cleaning.

Stayed tuned for tomorrow's Ugly Monkey!

Two hour purse

I made this purse in two hours.  It was a very simple design.  Next time I make one I'll be sure to do a tutorial, I just needed to get it done and in the gift bag before Whitney's 21st birthday party!  If anybody wants one made, let me know!  The total cost was under $20 and you just pay for the material! It was fun to make so I'd love to make another one!

I had some scrap material so I made this change purse to go with it!

As always...Happy Crafting!

Dog Sweater Tutorial

So let me start out by saying...

I HAD NO IDEA WHAT I WAS DOING.

All I wanted to do was keep the step-dog warm while playing outside with the kids, so I set out to make him a sweater.  (I refuse to pay $30+ for a dog coat when I won't pay more than $15 for my own!)

Here's a tutorial - or at least the step by step of how I made his doggie sweater.

Step 1:  Measure the length and width of the dog.

Hold still Honda

Maybe if I...no...um how about....

sigh.  This isn't working.

Step 2: When all else fails... 

Put the sweater on the dog and eye-ball it.

Daddy had to tell Honda that no, the cat was NOT laughing at him and he did still look handsome.

I don't think Honda believed him.

Step 3: Lay out the shirt and cut the sleeves off
at your eye-balled markings.

Step 4: Cut the front of the shirt out at the eye-balled mark. 

I cut the sleeves open as well. 

 I figured they would need to be smaller,

to hug Honda's alpha-male arm muscles.

 Step 5: Call your model back and try it on again for good measure.

Action shot!

Step 6: Eye-ball it again where the sleeves need to be sewn closer together.

Step 7: Zig-zag or surge the whole darn thing where-ever you cut it.

I added "Princess Seams" to tighten it through the chest.

ha ha ha ha ha ha 

(Everyone together in a sing-song voice 'Honda's a princess.')

Okay - back to business... 

Step 8: I sewed the armhole, then hemmed up the remaining fabric from the original armhole.

I think he's looking a little more masculine.

Johnny thinks he's just cuddly now.

Or course now that was done, there was only one more step. 

Adding his initial...

I had some leftover denim from a dress I made,

so I cut the 'H' out and zig zag stitched it to the back of the sweater.

He looks pretty comfortable in that thing.

Feeling a little more alpha-male again Honda?  I promised you'd like it!

And that's the doggie sweater tutorial.  Whew.