Yes, I Have Been MIA.

Okay so I bet you're wondering what happened to me and where I have been right. Well I have been a busy busy bee! I have been working on two other blogs as well as being a guest blogger on a third. I have been drafting all kinds of new clothing patterns and on top of all that I have just launched my new little girls clothing line.

Are you tired yet? I know I am.

So if you don't see me posting here, please check around... You never know where I'm going to pop up!

If you want to see my other blogs:

Future Homeowner Online is the blog I created for work. So far I haven't had too many reviews on it. So if you visit it, tell me what you think! BTW if you are in the Colorado Springs area, I post weekly grocery deals there.

KyLynn Designs is my new little girls clothing boutique. Custom clothes for your unique little princess. If you find something you love, drop me a line!

And my guest blogger spot appeared here. This blog is mostly geared toward Hawaii Moms. It's authored by my dear friend from high school Andrea.

I'm telling you I have been a busy busy...bee? beaver? duck? horse? Okay I'm strange and I need to have some coffee! :)

Another Great Recycling Project

Recycling, re-purposing. Whatever you call it, this project is super easy and quick.

Not to long ago I purchased a copy of Amanda Soule's "The Creative Family." In it, she describes the idea of re-purposing clothing. Her book details how to take an adult shirt and turn it into a pair of kidlet pants. This idea of clothing re-purposing intrigued me so I started to google it and I found a ton of information. But the best one was a tutorial on how to turn a man's t-shirt into yoga pants.

I filed this tutorial on my to do list and forgot about it for a while until I was in Goodwill the other day. It was military discount day, 15% off so I figured that if I could find a plain black shirt in decent condition, I would give it a go. I found a shirt and checked out for all of $.90, went home washed the shirt and started to cut it up. Really from start to finish this project took me about 45 minutes. The extra 15 minutes were for seam ripping and restitching when I sewed a seam on the wrong side.

This is a must try! It comes together quickly and easily. And once you're done no one is going to know that your new yoga pants used to be a man's t-shirt!

I would take a picture but I'm kinda wearing the pants now and I need to shave my legs. You're welcome for the visual. :)

Happy Earth Day, Plant a Garden!

So after my long and tired rant yesterday, I thought I would spread some good cheer today with a tutorial. Now I'm not always the best at explaining how to do things, that's why I hesitated at posting tutorials before. But this project is easy, so I figured that even a dunce like me could explain it.

To celebrate earth day, my daughter and I decided to make a seed starting tray out of a recycled egg carton. Are you ready?

Recycled Egg Carton Garden

Gather your materials:



A paper egg carton with the top removed (save the top, we'll use it later)
Seed packets, here we have Marigolds, Daises, Sunflowers and Rudibeckas
Soil that has been mixed with water until it's damp
A spoon to scoop the soil
A Travel sized (ours was 1 oz) pump bottle

Step 1:



Use the spoon (we switched to a plastic one) to scoop dirt into each egg cup.

Step 2:



Add your seeds to the egg cups. The size of the seeds determined how many we added. You don't want to crowd them after all. The Rudibecka seeds were small so we added 5-6 per egg cup. The sunflower seeds were large so we added 2 per cup.

Step 3:



Add a bit more dirt on top of the seeds to cover. I told Kylie just to sprinkle some additional dirt on top. She eventually decided to use the spoon because she felt that she wasn't getting enough dirt on top just by sprinkling.

Step 4:



Water your garden. This is where I had a flash on inspiration. I filled the travel sized pump bottle with water and let her pump out some water onto her newly planted seeds. Brilliant right! This way she doesn't over water the plants. Two squirts is all you need. Sometimes I really surprise myself at how smart I can be. :)

Step 5:



Your done! This is where the top of the egg carton comes in. Place it under your newly planted seedlings to prevent too much seepage from the paper container getting on your table tops. Place in a sunny spot and let the children watch in amazement as their seeds grow.

Speaking of growing seeds. Check this out!



I just started these seeds last Friday and look! I'm so impressed with myself because normally I have an extremely brown thumb. Can I tell you the only thing I could grow before was aloe. And that's only because it's a cactus and if I forget to water it for a week or two...or three. It's not such a big deal. I can't wait until after Mother's Day! That's when they say that it's safe to plant things in the ground out here.

Whirlwind

It has been a crazy couple of weeks to say the least. I was able to get some extra hours at work. Jeff was able to help some friends move back to Colorado and they graciously paid him for his time. Easter was Sunday so I, in true Kristi fashion waited until the last minute to start making presents. In a matter of days I managed to make felt pencil rolls, easter dresses, felt eggs, treasure boxes and Cletus and Bob. The fabric dollhouses? Yeah that didn't happen as planned. I was not paying attention and thought I would be high speed and didn't read the directions. Then I got frustrated because I was an idiot and pushed that project to the side for a while. A while might be Christmas. Who knows.

The finances are looking up for the moment. I filed our taxes on Wednesday. Yes I know, procrastination queen. But it looks like we'll be getting a good chunk of money back. So that takes a huge weight off of our shoulders for now. We should be good until June. I'm most definately happy about that. But in the midst of our financial crisis, a business was born. Friends started ordering the dresses that I make for my girls. I'm coming up with a website soon, so be on the lookout for that! I have two styles that I'm currently making and I'm in the process of drafting two more patterns/styles. I'm excited. It's slow going right now. Perfecting patterns is a pain but so well worth it in the end.

So big things are happening. And right now, everything is going well. Gotta love when that happens!

Da Bunny Da Bunny Oh I Love Da Bunny

Yeah okay, sorry. We watch far too much Veggie Tales around here. But I do love this little bunny that I made.

Isn't he cute? His name is Cletus. I'm sure his name will change though once he is gifted to one of the lucky little girls in my house for Easter. I still have to make his brother Bob for the other little girl in my house.

But I really do think they will like him. He is based on a pattern from Lion Brand Yarn. You need to sign up for an account to access the pattern. But the accounts are free and you gain access to all kinds of free patterns. This particular pattern is called "Best Bunny". Isn't he cute?

I did make a couple alterations to the pattern however. The head and body are one piece. The pattern suggested to make the head first and then the body. The thought of sewing the body to the head just didn't thrill me so I made it all one piece by following the body pattern in reverse. Also the hands were supposed to be 6 count single crochet all the way around. I did the initial 6 count single crochet and increased it to 8 on the second row and continued that all the way up. I think they look better that way. Also I shortened the ears a bit. By then I was tired of crocheting and did 23 instead of 26 rows. I also didn't crochet a tail like the pattern suggested. I did a pom pom tail. But I think he is adorable. If you understand what I just said...more power to you. :)

He didn't take me that long to make. Maybe 1.5 - 2 hours give or take. He will make a sweet addition to any Easter basket! I hope if you are handy with an H hook, you give him a try.

How Much Do You Really Have to Spend to Have a Great Birthday?

My littlest turned two today. Oh how does time fly. But even before Jeff was laided off, I wanted to see if I could take the handmade challenge and go totally mommy made for her birthday. Her birthday budget just like Kylies was $40.00 and I was WELL under budget going all handmade and I ended up making her a TON of things. Just take a look.



One of the dress sets purchased at a store would have cost me $20.00 just by itself. But I was able to make all this for under $20.00! Yep you heard me under $20.00. It just took a lot of time and patience and research and she had a very blessed birthday if I do say so myself. :)

Her sister even got in on the act and made her a coloring book.



Unfortunately, Jeff is not crafty. But he enjoyed watching me make the presents. Oh and making fun of me everytime I screamed when I pricked my finger. He throughly enjoyed that.

Doesn't the birthday girl look happy? And thats the most important thing right?



Happy Birthday My Love! I hope that you felt spoiled and adored on your 2nd birthday!

Hat! Hat!

Okay so Kaitlynn is obsessed with hats. She runs around stealing everyone's hats and putting them on her head screaming "Hat! Hat!" and patting the top of her head.

Thanks to my friend Megan, I got some really yummy yarn. She was getting rid of her yarn stash and I was fortunate enough to get it all.

So I have been making hats.

I made one for me and I made some for the girls. They are more so spring hats but they turned out so cute I just had to share!

Matchy Matchy

Okay so I don't know if "matchy" is a word but, Kylie really wanted to buy her doll a dress today. But for the same price as it would cost to buy one doll dress, I could make her and her doll 2 sets of matching dresses. So I gave her the choice and she chose to have me make the dresses. Didn't they turn out great? Its a modified version of a pillowcase dress and I have to say that I like this version so much better than the regular pillowcase dress with the ribbon. The ones that you make with the ribbon are pretty and everything but you have to stress about making sure the ribbon is even on both sides, if they stretch while you are putting it on, you have to start again...its just drama. This version is so much easier and I think it looks so cute!

For Kylie's dress and her dolls dress (plus scrunchies for both) it just took one yard of fabric, a little bit of elastic, one package of bias tape and one package of ric-rac. It was pretty easy and I really like the results and from the look on Kylie's face, so does she! One down, one more to go! Tomorrow, I'm putting together her pink camouflage dress...oy! I have created a monster. :)

She wants to wear this tomorrow...as long as she has a jacket on I'm fine with it.

Christmas House

Well I just had to share my newest creation! My Gramma used to make these for Christmas but unfortunately, she has arthritic hands and doesn't crochet much anymore. So I thought to myself..."I can do that. It's not that hard!" Yeah, next time I think that someone slap me. LOL!

I made several panels before I finally got it down. I had to go out and buy a new needle and a new hole puncher. I made templates but ended up not using them. My hands cramped up because if you have ever tried to crochet on a card, in a straight line, it's hard. I now really appreciate everything it took my Gramma to make these. I'll probably make it again, now that I have got the hang of it. But dang, this took A LOT of time and hand-stretches.

Building Sentences and Learning to Read

So I have been trying to work with Kylie and her reading skills. Lately we have been playing a game either in the car or with our fridge magnets where I sound out a word and she spells it. Its been working pretty well I have to say but I found this online the other day as I was surfing around blogland.

You really have to take a look at that website. Its fabulous!

Anywho, so I decided that I could make one. Unfortunately, I don't have magnets or a magnet board. I also don't have a laminator but I do have felt so this is what I made.



The words go along with a beginning reader story she has called "We Jump". I added some words because the book is pretty simple but she is very excited now that she has it.

Today is the official start of Christmas break so, its definitely a tool that we are going to use for the next two weeks! I'll update on her progress as we go along.

Snowy Day Craft Project.

So yesterday I spent most of the day behind my sewing machine. My girls were driving me nuts and Jeff was well... being Jeff. So I decided to be creative and ignore the rest. So this is what I made.




Booties for Kaitlynn



A Leapster holder for Kylie and a holder for her games



All very girlie and pink.

The little bag, I made from a pattern that I created. I saw a bag that was similar online and as I stared at it I thought, "hey I can make that!" I also saw some nesting boxes on that site that I think I'm going to try to make as well.

I downloaded the pattern for the booties off of a website I found. I'll have to post the link later. I'm on Jeffs computer right now...

I also made Kaitlynn princess jammies. It looks like those magistrate dresses. Unfortunately right now shes sleeping in it so I can't take a picture of it. It's so cute and I'll post the link for that later as well.

Happy Crafting!

McCrafty Strikes again!

I made another dress. This is Kaitlynn's Christmas dress! I am so proud of myself. This one came out much better than Kylie's only because the first time I make something it usually doesn't come out all that great. You learn from your mistakes right? I am so loving this one. This cranberry red color is one of my favorites and it seems so festive, don't you think?

This time, I got to make the dress pretty much in piece. Kylie was in the corner and Kaitlynn was napping. Lets just say, it was one of those days for Kylie. I think she may have waxy build up again because she just can't seem to do as shes told. Which started this morning. But oh well, at least her confinement to the corner meant that I could make the dress and really concentrate on it and not hear every 5 minutes, "Mommy, what are you doing?" "Mommy are you making something?" "Mommy can I stand here and watch you?" "But I just want to be with you!!!" "Mommy can I have some eggnog?" "Mommy I need a snack" yep, I could go on and on but I shall spare you. Just imagine someone saying one of these things or several at a time to you every 5 minutes. And she wonders why I lose patience with her.

Catharsis

Crafting is so cathartic for me. Especially when it comes to sewing and crocheting. They are both so exact. They both require my complete focus and concentration. They both allow me to have a creative outlet that I so desperately need when times are rough. And both hobbies are fairly cheap. Great when you are on a tight budget (This entire dress cost me well under $5.00). Plus they both offer a sense of accomplishment. When I am feeling like I keep treading water and I'm not going anywhere crafting helps me feel like I'm actually productive. That I'm actually finishing something and it looks great.

This is my very first pillow case dress. I made it for Kylie's birthday. She wanted a special dress to wear for her birthday and not having much money, I decided to make her one. I found some great instructions online and a very nice person forwarded me the pattern for the arm holes and I plodded ahead. I think it turned out pretty well. I am very proud of myself. Kylie picked out the fabric and I created it. I can't stop looking at the dress and let me tell you when I put it on her, she just glowed. I'm also in the process of creating them sister Christmas dresses with the same pattern. I have a great plain red fabric for the top and the bottom is going to be this blue background bell pattern with the word "joy" all over it. Its going to be great! I can't wait to finish them.

Don't worry I did get them turtle necks to go under their dresses. Its winter for crying out loud you know! ;)