Passing the time

At least once a month (but more often like a few times a month), Hubby has a meeting in the evening during the week.  I've usually used that night to take the kids to the library.  Last night was Meeting Night.  The thought of taking Lou to the library again made my head spin.  I'm still scarred from last time and I'm quite positive the Library Ladies are too.  What a disaster. :)

I decided then that Meeting Nights will become Work on a Crafty Project Night.  On my to-do list for last night was Pleated Headbands for my girls and a new ironing board cover for me.

While the kids were still awake, I tackled the clothes in their closet.  Ugh.  It's not a job for the faint of heart.  In my 7 yr olds mess, I found this shirt.

It had a smocked top and the rest of it was A-line "white" cotton.  There was a huge stain on the front of it so I never let her wear it, unless she snuck out the door without me noticing.  Apparently she never followed my instructions to toss it. :)

I had an ah-ha moment to put ruffles down the front and maybe get a little more life out of it.  If you know me well enough, you know I have a ton of ah-ha moments, but hardly ever follow thru with any of them.

Determined to accomplish something different I attacked the shirt.

Using the bottom line of the colorful zig zag on the top part of the shirt, I started adding a pink and white polka dot ruffle.  (needing to rip out the first attempt and start over.  Story of my life with projects like this.)

For the next ruffles, I dug thru my scrap bin and found other polka dots that were already cut 4" wide.  I sewed the strips together until it was longer than the width of the shirt I wanted to cover.  I then hemmed one edge and pinned it on, hand gathering it as I went.  I simply zig zagged it to the shirt, leaving a raw edge on top. (note the stain on the shirt in the picture.  hideous.)

  Yep, not very pretty, scientific or complex.  But since I have a history of not finishing projects like this, I didn't want to invest a lot of time or material into it.

Wonders never cease.  I actually finished it.  It's not perfect but it's done.  My 7 yr old hasn't seen it yet as I had run out of thread on my bobbin when I was about 6" from being completely done, so I finished it fully this morning. (I take that back, I still have strings to cut.)

When I held it up, it looked like it'll hang well when she wears it but I'm curious to see what it looks like when it's actually on her.

Now that I know I actually can do something like this, I just might try some skirts or something on the next Meeting Night. :)  Good one, right?!?

Laugh or cry?

A little background. When we have out of town guests, I like to try have my mainfloor in tip top shape when they walk in the door. It's fun for me to try see if I can do it because my house is rarely all clean at the same time. I clean daily but not for hours at a a time. I have my reasons for that but I won't get into it now.



My in-laws are coming to town today. I had my day all planned out; sew until noon, clean for a hour or so while the toddlers napped, sew again until my in-laws arrived.



It was 10 bells and I decided to give my MIL a call to see if they'd be here for dinner. "We just left Denver", she said. WHAT? Denver? Oh boy, they were only about 6 hours ahead of schedule. This'll be interesting.



Dashing downstairs, I grabbed my cleaning rag and started in on the mess, thankful Louise was asleep. In record time I had the floor washed, bathrooms cleaned and stairs vacuumed. Out the door we zoomed to the grocery store.



Returning home, I was feeling great. House clean, groceries bought. I was on a roll. Now all I had left was to feed the kids lunch, put them for naps, straighten up a tad and then I'd be able to sew until they arrived. Perfect.



As I sat down to eat my lunch, I heard my two year old say, "come here Lou, come and get it." and Lou giggle. I turned around to find an entire roll of toilet paper unrolled and what pieces Lou could get, she shredded into pulp after first smearing them in her boogers. Before I could blink, the 2 yr old passed the Tupperware cupboard opened it and swiped half of it onto the floor. Lou plowed thru it, scattering it in all directions.


Continuing their terrorizing onward, they overturned the baby toy bucket, yanked out a few diapers and tossed a couple books before I could stop them. As I reached down to scoop up Lou I realized "someone" had slipped her a piece of banana during lunch, which she promptly devoured, leaving her hands full of banana-ish. That banana-ish was now all over every surface she had just crawled across.

Laugh or cry? Cry or laugh? Not saying a word, I tossed my cleaning rag in the wash and decided I was done. Done cleaning. Done straightening. Done with it all.




Grandpa and Grandma will be welcomed by a tornado, one that was lovingly and happily created by their granddaughters. I refuse to stress about it. It's just a house. One that will get messy again anyway.