In Need of Sew-tivation

You heard me correctly.  I need some 'sew-tivation'.  For those who are pun challenged, that would mean motivation to sew.  I'm not lacking inspiration.  My sewing to do list is a mile long.  My current challenge is how it is the end of summer vacation and I want to soak up as much summer time as possible.  My garden has done beautifully, and perhaps that can be my next blog.  I'm working on cleaning and painting a rental house and that is taking up so much of my mental capacity and draining me.  Tonight I sat down to write rather than sew.  I could have made the pajamas my boys deperately need.  It is late right now.  I will set my alarm and try to make a pj shirt for Finley in the morning before I have to head out to that nasty house the tenants trashed for me.

Homemade Lunchables

My attempt at homemade lunchables for the boys.

Whole wheat crackers,  Newman's organic cookies, cheese slices and Turkey pepperoni.   Complete with a juice box.

They approved!

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Super Mario Birthday Party for Oliver's 4th Birthday!

Planning a Super Mario Brothers themed birthday party in one day (the day before the party) was a lot harder than I expected! Yes...I should have made all the details a couple of weeks in advance. Cut me some slack. Oliver's birthday was December 28th. What was I doing 2 weeks prior? I was getting Christmas ready! When he said Mario party, I thought, 'no problem, I can get that theme at any of the party supply stores.' Wrong! You can only order online! So one day before the party (because before that we were doing Christmas out of town), I ran around to everywhere I could think of! This is what I came up with.

First, I ran to Toys R Us to get table decorations. I grabbed all the Super Mario Brothers figurines I could find. We got Toad Stool, Mario, Donkey Kong and Yoshi. Last year Oli had a Thomas the Train party (much easier to buy supplies and favors for) and we had an expensive cardboard table decoration. He kept it for almost a year. I figure these cute action figures would get more play and hold up much better.

I also got a 6 pack of small figurines and decorated Oli's cake with them. Yes...I made the cake!

The next stop was the party supply store. I grabbed a red and a green tablecloth. Originally I wanted a Mario table and a Luigi table, but the tables were bigger than I expected and I had to use both on the one table. I was worried that it would look to Christmasy, considering red and green 3 days after Christmas.

I also needed to get party favors for 17 kids. I almost flipped out when I finally did find something Mario related! But $3 for one thing of Mario candy X (times) 17 kids flipped me out even more! I grabbed red cellaphane bags for the favors and was on a mission to find gold chocolate coins to decorate cupcakes and to put in the treat bags. What I found was too big, so I had to figure something else out for affordable favors. I then remembered that we had recently gotten Mario fruit snacks. I ran to Walmart and grabbed 4 boxes of fruit snacks, some packages of Mario trading cards and some hershey kisses for the treat bags. I also got a pack of cardstock. Since I was making cupcakes and couldn't find the gold coins, I thought I could find some characters to print out online and tape to a toothpick to decorate the cupcakes.

When I got home and started putting the treat bags together, I noticed that the fruit snack boxes had several small characters pictured and framed in boxes. PERFECT! "Honey! Cut these out!" Eli was on the job! He cut those faces out and taped them to the toothpicks. We were ready to decorate those cupcakes!

The party went well! Oli and his friends had a blast! Next year...mental note...4 table cloths and get decorations 2 weeks prior! I had so much fun putting it together though and thinking outside of the mainstream party favor box! Why do we need party plates that have a character's face on them? Oli didn't even care that his plates were plain red! He loved his figurines and his cake! He loved his party and his friends and he loved all of his presents!

Happy Birthday my big boy!!!

Kitchen Wetbags and Unpaper Towel Sets

This year for Christmas I decided to go homemade. I also wanted to share my addiction to cloth...however, I can't give people cloth diapers considering most of the receivers have been potty trained for 60+ years. Yes...I said most. LOL...that was a joke. I decided on Unpaper Towel rolls and Kitchen wetbags. My husband even helped. He cut the fabric, I serged and sewed. He even became a snapping pro and put his manufacture engineering and project management skills to work. Although, I was the project manager on this project. Shh..don't tell him. This is the result...9 wetbags and 9 unpaper towel rolls...2 not pictured.

The Kitchen wetbag is lined with PUL (polyurethane laminated polyester). This is the fabric I use to make cloth diapers waterproof. The wetbag is open at the top so that damp kitchen towels and rags can be tossed in rather than risking mildew on your cloths in your laundry. Snap on straps allow the bag to hang over the handle of a stove or can also be hung from a door knob.

The Unpaper towels are a cotton woven print on one side for asthetics and a layer of cotton terry for duty. They are snapped together much like a paper towel roll and can be rolled around a paper towel dispenser and used just as you would paper towels...clean up or napkins. The object is to save on paper and on money. Just toss them in the kitchen wetbag when done and wash when full rather than tossing them in the trash.

Welcome to My Blog!

I lay awake many nights thinking up new ways to create something. Sometimes that creation is a shirt for me or my boys, a diaper, a purse or a painted room. Sometimes its a story, a song or just a random thought on how I can creatively better the life I lead. Laying awake at night has not helped me stay on top of my creations. Whether I use the idea or not, I want to share them with my friends and family. The blog is meant to help me break away from 'brain creation' and actually 'create physically'. It is also a way for me to fall back in love with an old friend, writing.