Cushy for the Tushy

The boys and I went to our 11 year-old neighbor's baseball game last week. It was so hot, and the seats were so uncomfortable. My neighbor used a a blanket to cushion the bleachers a bit, but it kept sliding down and was fleece (so hot).

I decided to make her a stadium cushion for the games. And since she's been jealous that I keep making things with a bag of old clothes she gave me (like a cute little halter and t-shirt skirt), I decided to use an old pair of jeans that were in the bag.

First I cut the butt out, so the cushion could have cute little pockets to stash a cell phone and some cash for the snack bar. I had to add a little denim from the legs to the sides to make it a rectangle (she's little, but if you have a larger size, you can probably skip that part).

Next, I grabbed some old striped canvas I had left over from another project and cut to size. I left a little extra on top to make a nice seam (to take advantage of the jeans waistband). Put the right sides together and stitched around three sides (leave the top/waistband open).

Then I stuffed it with some left over quilt batting. Made a little handle with a piece of the leg material, pinned up the top (attaching the handle) and stitched closed.

My quilt batting was in a bunch of little pieces, so I machine stitched around each of the pockets to hold it all in place inside. I think it makes it look finished and I love the look of the back.

May the force be with you

A couple weeks ago all my dorky (yet amazing) neighbors got together a dusk for a screening of the original Star Wars (when Carrie Fisher looked awesome in the big brown buns and white dress - Leia is my hero).

My Star Wars obessed kids had a ball. They maybe caught about 30 minutes of movie, but had fun with the other neighborhood younglings. They practiced their lightsaber skills, ate popcorn and yummy cupcakes (my neighbor KF is an amazing cake decorator).

I also whipped up these totally cute Yoda coozies. One for each member of the family.

We all dorked out and watched on the big screen (made of a sheet on a metal pipe frame).

And I did up my hair just like my little Leia friend. I'm gonna have to make myself a white dress and cool funky belt by Halloween.

Fun was had by ALL.

Adventures in Kindergarten

Well, it's official, I have a kindergartener. Never thought that would happen.

So far, so good, but it's only day three. No tears (or homework yet). As a treat, I thought it would be fun to take the boys to McDonald's today before school. I promised Parker I'd take him since he saw that they had Star Wars toys. His AT-AT walker is currently in his backpack to show his whole class.

That brings me to the point of my post. I took the boys to the bathroom (always an adventure at Mickey D's) before heading to school. All three of us pile into the stinky family bathroom in the play area and what do you know? Parker isn't wearing underwear. What?

I've been trying to instill a little independence lately, so I've been making the boys get themselves dressed (I have to approve the outfits though. Matching is a neccessity). Apparently, today Parker decided to take off his underwear before pulling on his shorts.

Needless to say, we made a quick stop at home for undies on the way to school.

Here's a pic of last week's first day of school. I think he was done with pictures by then.

Easiest T-Shirt Skirt Ever

I've been reading a lot of DIY articles about creating a skirt out of and old t-shirt. When I thought I found the easiest one, here: http://www.littlebitfunky.com/2011/05/20-minute-crafter-how-to-make-t-shirt.html, I decided to give it a shot.

This tutorial is really great and I'm in love with the bicycle skirt she made (gotta find that shirt), but I made mine even easier.

I started with the hub's old t's. He wears a L. Since the gray one had some deoderant stains, I chopped it straight across, under the pits. This makes the skirt body.

Next, I chopped the sleeves and cut the waistband out of the chest section (about 5 inches wide). I'm just making a fold over waistband (hence the reason it's so easy), so I measured the two pieces around my waist and sewed them together end-to-end making a circle. You'll want both pieces to be the same size (I'll tell you why later).

The red t-shirt has seams on both sides, so it made lining up super easy. Take the seams of each of the circle waistband piece and pin to the side seams of the skirt body. Next, I found the center of the waistband front/back and the center of the skirt front/back and pinned together.

I didn't want to cut the skirt body, so to make it hang nicely, I put two little pleats in each of the 1/4 sections (between the pins). Pin each pleat to the waistband. Now the waistband and body should fit perfectly. If you're thinner, you can make three or more pleats.

Now, you can sew the waistband to the skirt body. Pull it on and fold over the waistband and you're done. The red one is a little shorter because it had a grease stain in the middle (thanks for fixing my car hun).

My neighbor stopped by yesterday and noted that we were wearing the same skirt. My reply, "Yeah, but mine was a shirt yesterday."

Now I have an eye on this old navy blue shirt. What can I ask him to do to get a stain and make that one mine too?

Copycat Headbands

I love accessories. They're a great way to make my stay-at-home-mom gear look a little more polished. Right now it's necklaces and headbands.

I picked up this little beauty at Target for $7.99. I love the colors, but it slides out pretty easily (I have soft hair and "no hook" as a college friend once informed me - you know that little bump at the back of your head that helps headbands stay on).

I was thinking the other day that maybe one of those stay-put headbands might help keep it in place. Anyway, I have some scrap fabric left over from this great little tutorial from Make it, Love it. http://www.makeit-loveit.com/2009/05/scrappy-camera-strap.html. My scraps were pretty similar colors to the original - I have a weakness for orange, but I figured I'd give it a shot.

My scrap was about 17 inches. I ironed in some seams and stitched it all around.

Then I did some accordian-like folds and pinned it in place.
I cut a piece of an old stay-put headband, the kind with the grips weaved in, about 6 inches long and popped that in the end.

After running several seams to hold the elastic in place, I checked the length and did the same on the other side.

Viola! New headband! Or two!

Change of Address Cards

It's amazing what you can do when your children are entertained. Since my neighbor is sick, we had her two kiddos for a playdate today. They had a great time and mommy got a lot of stuff done.

I pounded out 20 cards for my friend MG to pass out at their going away party tomorrow. And 9 cellphone shaped ones for her preteen daughter. I have to say they are AWESOME. So awesome, in fact that I decided to share.

For the ground ups, I made up a little poem (I had a little help from the sick neighboor - she rhymes better than me). And included a 3-D little cactus flower and house. Here it is.

We're moving to the desert where it's toast and hot.
Please keep in touch, 'cause we'll miss you a lot.

The kid one is shaped like a cell phone and includes some text-speak the teenagers use. Yes, I had to look it up because I'm not as up on the lingo as the kiddos and not a very good texter.

Check 'em out.

The Kool-Aid Mom

I sometimes like to think of myself as the Kool-Aid Mom. The house where the kids in the 'hood like to congregate. Or maybe it's the fact that the swingset is in my backyard and that my house is in the middle of the block. But anyway, I do love it when the kids hang out here.

I remember when I was a kid and was always at my BFF's house (she had Nintendo and all we had was Atari). I also remember my mom wishing we would be at our house. I think she just really wanted to know where we were, but maybe she wanted to be "Kool-Aid Mom" too.

I had all the kids over the other day to decorate cookies. Check out the sprinkles little J used on his cookies. It was more about eating than decorating.

My neighborhood rocks.