A belated Happy Christmas to you all!

Kitty!

 DIY Kitten Pillow :)

I drew out a head and pinned it onto my fabric; I ended up using the suede skirt from this post. (Click. Last pictures there.) I really liked how it turned out with the suede being so soft. :)

I have a tendency to cut out a lot of my things on a bed... It's just a comfy place to sit. :) BUT I have cut into sheets before doing that. And I've cut into my own clothes when I have the fabric in my lap. Not the smartest thing ever.

I used Leftover brown felt for the forehead/stripe and whiskers/mouth...

And buttons for the eyes and nose! I also sewed some blue tshirt scraps behind the eyes as a little addition. :)

Got the idea from this other blog's post. (<Link) I think I like the softness/roundness of mine better, but I love the polka dots and textures in theirs.

I wonder if my artistic abilities would stretch far enough to make a dog... Or a monkey! That could be fun. :D

Finished Denim Quilt

      Here's the fabric I used for the back: a mixture of an old plaid skirt and some brown fleece.

     

     The backing is in 4 different stripes: every other fabric. I didn't have enough fleece to do all of it, or enough plaid, but they went together nicely, apart from being different materials. :)

Flower Hair Pins

     Again, I don't think Christa reads my blog, so this should be safe. CHRISTA, DON'T READ THIS POST. 

     Christmas Gift #2 is... Hair Flowers! I have a couple different ones here:

     Hobby Lobby. Sorry.

     Lace, with a button glued in the middle. The hot glue gun is my new favorite thing!

     Ric Rac flower- this one's my favorite.

      Burnt edge flower, button sewn in the middle. Probably the one I like least, but I'll let Christa decide if she likes it or not.

     And another burnt edge one- pearls sewn in the middle.

     That's all - Which one do you like best? Ever made hair flowers before?

Book of Notes - Christmas Gifts #1

     I don't think Sha'rel reads my blog, so this should be fairly safe. SHA'REL, DON'T READ THIS POST. There.

     So here we dive in- Christmas gifts! I have a couple finished ones that I might share over the course of December. :)

     Gift Number One: to Sha'rel, my friend of Whole-Life.

     Book of Notes.

     As of now I am using a hairtie to keep the thing shut, but it'll turn into a ribbon or so later on.

     Stuffed.

     I must have confused blogger; it uploaded half these horizontals as verticals. Here's a little peek of what's inside. :) Left page: memory. Right page: Valentine her siblings gave me.

     Left page: memory. Right page: Coloring page she gave me.

     Making this book for someone would be pretty hard to do most of the time; I didn't want to use any letters really, but I didn't have a billion pictures to fill the pages with... so I used a lot of different pictures we drew and little notes or stories we had written.  This page: Old pictures of us & our "old sayings".

     Throw in a little bit of random, some colorful markers, a couple of in-jokes, some new notes/letters from me, and there you go... A scrapbook/book of notes as a Christmas gift!

How To Be Awkward

HOW TO BE AS AWKWARD AS POSSIBLE

in 9 easy steps

1. Always button the top button.

2. Always give forced smiles.

3. Always wear jeans that are too short.

Tennis shoes or flats, either way you can achieve the awkwardness.

4. Always wear colors that really have good contrast.

5. Be creative! Mix prints! Mix plaids!

 6. Always wear hoodies with the misshapen zippers.

 7. If you have a shirt that is too short, just wear a really long shirt underneath.

 8. Wear denim on denim, preferably different shades.

 9. Last but never least, ALWAYS tuck in your shirt.

 

mend it

These were my favorite jeans, but they received holes in them when I dived on a skating rink toward my unconscious brother... But that's a different story.

I'd still like to wear them, at least at home, so...

I tried to "creatively" mend them... I like the outcome of one knee, but not the other one. ;)

 

I like this one, because it's small enough where it's not too noticeable in the first place that there even is a hole...

 

This one is just huge. I think I'll whip the sides together yet to make it smaller.

Other then that... I'm okay with the outcome. On a scale of 1-10, I'm a 7 on these.

And I guess if you're wondering how it was done: scrap of old shirt + scrap of other old shirt (the same one used for the lace&brown) Cut to fit, and then sewn to the inside seams.

--

In other news, Thanksgiving was good for the most part; I'm on my 6th day of a headache, but drinking some kind of tonic makes me absolutely miserable for 5 minutes, then feel better for (I'm hoping) at least a couple hours.

Yesterday I mostly was thinking, "I'm thankful for ibuprofen. I'm thankful for ibuprofen. This ibuprofen isn't working, but I'm thankful for it. And the fact that I am *usually* healthy."

Vying for the world record of the longest cold here, though. ;)

August

       Sorry for all the close ups. :p Didn't realize the camera wasn't back far enough. I have the flu, so I look crummy, but I sat down and started playing around with the first little tune that came to mind.
       This is how I "compose", and if I like it, I make it better and more steady. Hopefully. It's a way to remember the parts I like. And delete ALL THE REPETITIVENESS. Or at least most of it.
       Enjoy, if you can. Just leave the tab open and look at something else while you listen. ;) When I concentrate I forget to close my mouth all the way. :p

denim blocks

Here is a denim quilt I made one day.

I didn't use rotary cutters. I used a scissors.

I will finish the backing in the next couple months.
That's about all.
Oh yes. Notice the lovely painting hanging on the wall. I don't know who did it.

if our family was in a movie

WARNING: STEREOTYPED.

And I mean all of these stereotypes in the nicest way possible.

Dad

The older, wise one who always has advice or a story/example to share.

Mom

The one who cares about everyone and want the best for everyone. Or at least her family. ;)

Jessica

The productive one who always has her hands literally full. Or the healthy one.

Seth

The one who cracks jokes all the time.

David

The one who always brings up the controversy. ;)

Michael

The one who always helps.

Rebecca

?

Joseph

The cool nerd.

Levi

The one who always breaks things or hurts himself.

Daniel

The slightly chubby kid who everyone loves and pats on the head.

Only he's a little too old for that now.

Nathanael

The one who is always talking.

:)

cookies and carts

Today was an adventure because I ate chocolate chip cookies and drank milk with Nathanael.

And we took a ride on the golf cart.

(I love yellow autumn leaves.)

He's a pretty sweet kid. :)

more reasons today was an adventure:

a letter from Emily
a hug from Elizabeth

an excited piano student
honey crisp apples
books from the library

dishes

      I stand by the sink, sweater sleeves rolled up. Yesterday's hair falls around my shoulders as I scrub the grease off a glass pan.

      Nathanael sits across from me and forks another piece of caramel covered bread into his mouth. A steady stream of water slips down the left drain.

      "Women are like pans." Nathanael sips his milk, white dripping down the side of the orange cup.

      "Oh?" I raise an eyebrow and lean the pan against other drying dishes. "And how is that?"

      "You washed it in one sink and then the other sink again. And girls wash their hair twice." Nathanael kicks a foot against his chair.

      I pull the drain and watch the water as the inches drop. "Hm," I said.

This is The Life
Don’t rush it
Don’t stretch it
Don’t push it
Don’t strain it
Don't bend it
Don't break it

Life’s the best I can make it

September 2011

five minute frappuccino!

(So I didn't end up making the Pumpkin Spice Latte, but I plan to do that tonight.)

This morning though, I made a Frappuccino!

Here's "my recipe", I changed it from the original diet one.

Five Minute Frappuccino

3 Tblsp Instant Coffee (decaf or regular)

2 Tblsp French Vanilla Powdered Creamer (just vanilla works too)
3/4 cup Milk

10 Ice Cubes
Optional: 1 Tblsp of Cappuccino mix
Optional: Sugar, or some sweetener. (I haven't tried yet with sugar.)

Blend it all together.

Scoop whipped cream on top.

Swirl chocolate over it.

And you're done! Without the whipped cream it's NOT very sweet, I guess since originally it was supposed to be diet.

Recipe makes a LARGE glass full. Probably around 3 cups worth, I'm not totally sure. All I know is that it filled the largest glass we have to the brim. :)

remake: lace and brown

I started out with a shirt like this ^

And a shirt like this. ^

I took out the lining inside the lace shirt, cut off the sleeves, and sewed it to the brown shirt. It didn't look totally finished, so I found some ribbon and added that as trim along the edge...

Sadly, I guess I stretched the brown too much, because the ribbon is "wrinkled" now as you can probably see. But ironing might help that.

 

 You can give me your honest opinion. Is this weird? or Does it work?

:)

(Today was an adventure because:

I had chocolate chip cookies and milk.
I ate peanut butter pie.
I made fried green tomatoes. (they were... not very good.)

And if I have time I'm going to make a Pumpkin Spice Latte tonight! We'll see.) :-D

birds flying south

This morning I glanced out the window as hundreds and hundreds of birds circled and dove through the sky and flew through our valley.

:)

(Click on the pictures to make them larger and get the full effect.)

today was an adventure because...

I had my first Pumpkin Spice Latte.

I bought Jessica coffee for her birthday.

We walked to a cool mall place with swords & knives & statues & jewelery & stuff & I tried on a big purple hat.

I am thankful for Jessica. :)

make today an adventure

Quality is good. I think we should strive for quality; to do the best that we can to glorify God.

However, I'm not perfect. The sewing and writing I do are far from being "perfect". But I enjoy sewing and writing.
Also, lots of things from life make me happy; things I'm excited or thankful for. And I'm no photographer, but I might post some pictures from my snapshot camera that won't be perfect either.

So please don't expect perfection. ;)

But Life is an adventure, right? Even if it's not perfect. So here's a collaboration of my blogs. Things I write, things I think, things I love, things I make, and little things that qualify as adventures in my mind, even if they're not so exciting for other people. ;)

green boot socks

BEFORE:

AFTER:

I'm still not totally sure what I think of the whole legwarmer deal though. Done appropriately I think it's cool, if you wear boots over them. By themselves I think they look a little ridiculous. ;)