We're OFF!

Here we go on our annual pilgrimage to Colorado!  See you in August and wish me luck as I try to wrangle my three little angels through the friendly skies.

My Children are Pigs

Everyday! Every single day I sweep up something that looks like this...

from my kitchen floor. That's right, enough food flung on the floor to feed a homeless man for a week.  Trust, me this is an average sized pile. I have swept some that were much bigger. What is up with my children?  Are they all this way or are mine especially disgusting? Admittedly, I used to sweep after every meal and/or snack.  That was way too much work.  So now I save it all until the end of the day, but still that's a lot of nastiness.  I was thinking of pouring milk on top of this mess and handing them all a spoon.  As I sweep the words of my elementary principal are almost always ringing in my ears, "There are children starving in Africa!"  Yup, and my wasteful little Americans drop at least $2 worth of groceries from their plates during each meal.

Pillowcase Dress

A few months ago my grandma sent us a package and one of the gifts was wrapped up in this old pillowcase. I loved the vintage look of the fabric and the lace along the bottom.  Today I made a dress for Harley from Grandma's pillowcase. Hopefully, she didn't want it back.

My sewing machine was not working so I decided to sew it by hand.  If my machine had been working it probably would have taken less than 30 minutes, by hand it was more like 3 hours. 

If you want instructions about how I made this dress read more below!

Happy 4th!

We had a jam-packed 4th of July weekend.  It all started Friday night when the family camped out on the trampoline.  I only lasted until midnight.  Scott came in about 5AM, Nash about 5:30, and Atley 6:15.  Atley was convinced he was the only one who actually slept outside so he has been puffed up like a peacock all weekend over his bravery.  Saturday we had our church breakfast and program at a local park.  Harley was introduced to donuts and will most likely never be the same.

Sunday we decorated the boys bikes for the neighborhood parade which began bright and early Monday morning.  The parade was followed by a neighborhood barbecue and games including a moon bounce.

Then we had a birthday party in the park and even more yummy barbecue.  The rest of the afternoon was spent swimming at our house with some great friends.  Of course more food was involved, including another one of Harley's favorites--watermelon.

 Then all of us walked to the fireworks, which started late due to technical difficulties. Apparently someone must have forgotten the matches.  We spent a long time waiting but it was worth the wait. Everyone was exhausted and of course I completely snapped...

more pictures. 

We got home around midnight but still had our own fireworks to light.

It was a 4th we will never forget and possibly never recover from!

Ruffle Dress

I have been longing for some ruffle fabric for ages but it is super expensive. If you haven't heard of this stuff here is your introduction.  It is a stretchy fabric that comes pre-ruffled.  It really is fabulous and when we were in New York I found some in the Fashion District for only $3 per yard.  It is usually at least $15 per yard. As you can imagine, I was ecstatic. Unfortunately, I am kicking myself now for not buying more than 3 yards.  I whipped up a dress which also doubles as a long skirt. The process was very experimental so I didn't take pictures. It ended up being really simple. Trust me, I don't do anything too complicated.

Step 1:  Wrap the fabric around you to figure out how much fabric you will need. It took about a yard of fabric for the dress above. Allow a couple of inches for a seam allowance and cut your desired length.

Step 2:  Fold the fabric in half, right sides together, and sew together creating a long tube

Step 3:  Leaving the fabric inside out, fold the top of your fabric tube over about an inch and sew to create a casing for your elastic. Remember to leave an opening to thread your elastic.

Step 4:  Your elastic should be about half of whatever you measure around. In other words, half the length of the fabric you cut.  Using a safety pin thread the elastic through the casing. Use a zigzag stitch to sew the elastic together and then close your casing.

 Step 5: Cut a long strip to tie around your middle or just wear it as a skirt.  No hemming necessary!