No Christmas cards this year?

I feel so hmmmm...interesting today. With the rapid descent into the holidays, my family and I are in the midst of the busiest time of our year. Nov-Dec is really quite hectic for us.

It starts with the birthday of my SIL mid-Nov, followed by our dog's b-day (not a huge deal, but fun none the less), followed by Thanksgiving (which we celebrate at my parent's home), followed by my brother's b-day...And that's just the second half of Nov.

Dec brings several gigs for DH and I (both musicians), including my holiday orchestra concert and his 2 middle school band concerts. We also have to help our SIL move this month, go to a wedding, and celebrate my dad's b-day. Don't forget that we still have to shop for some gifts!

(Did I mention, we also have to squeeze in time to paint the room SIL is moving from and rearrange it for DS?)

Finally, we get to Christmas! I leave the Christmas prep to my mother, since we celebrate at their house...but that still leaves me with a very excited 3-year-old (who finally understands about presents and Santa) to deal with. Whew...I hope I haven't lost you yet, because we're not done yet! Then, after Christmas we get a minor lull for a couple days while we try to figure out what to do with all DS's new toys, and then we're off again for my DH's New Year's Eve gig, where I finally get a break with nothing to do, but read, knit, crochet, and listen to DS breathe while he sleeps. (Sigh of slight relief) But, the holidays are not over for us yet, because we have DH's b-day to celebrate, while squeezing in a dentist appt and eye doctor appts all in the first week of Jan.

So, I hope I will be forgiven if I don't send x-mas cards this year. I just don't think I'll have time to do it.

Yeah, I suck at blogging, so far...

Ok, I haven't been the most avid of bloggers since I started this, but I am becoming quite an avid crafter! Most of this creativity has been spurred by my recent shop opening on etsy (http://flutistyva.etsy.com/). I started the shop quite some time ago but just started posting items about a month ago.

I've sewn diapers, flute and piccolo covers, and knit and crocheted a couple hats! I even sold my first item a few weeks ago, a set of coasters. So this has thoroughly spurred my creativity and now, the only thing I can seem to think about is crafting. What can I make? What would sell?

I've also been checking out some message boards, and came across basket coiling. "Hmmmm, what's that?" my crafty-brain wondered. So I googled it and found out some information. Then my crafty-brain kicked into hyperdrive, and said, "You must try this!" But what to use for the core....Hey, what about plastic bags. I have a million-zillion of them cluttering up my mudroom! What a cool way to get rid of them!

So I used plastic bags for the core, and pulled some yarn from my stash to start my coil! Yay, so easy, and totally fun....

Flash forward to 4 days later....

Man, this is tedious. What the hell was I thinking! Anyway, I am definitely NOT coiling with yarn again. But I do think I can adapt the technique to strips of cloth and make a larger basket quicker. I can now feed my basket addiction without having to buy baskets! YAYAYAYAY!!!

Anyways...here's my one and only coiled yarn basket. Just big enough to use as a cell phone holder.

Rose Red and Other Garden Things

My garden is so beautiful this time of year! I'm so excited! My rose is doing splendid. It has even more blooms than last year! We discovered the poor thing in our backyard when we bought the house. It was just a pathetic couple of vines tied to the skeleton frame of a carport in the middle of the yard. It was very odd. The rose produced one bloom that year where it was located. But it just was not happy in such a shady untended spot. And we were removing the skeleton, which left the rose, a climber, without support. So DH and I transplanted it to a nice sunny spot on the side of the house, which the rose apparently loves! It outgrew the first small trellis we had gotten for it, so this year we gifted it with a nice large metal one that is much better supported. It's just so beautiful, and it makes me happy to see it every time I walk by!

I'm really excited about our strawberries too. This is the first year we planted them, and already they have berries growing! I just can't wait to taste them.My rosemary is just exploding! I planted it last year, and thankfully it wintered well. It's the first one I've manage to keep alive more than 6 months. And my second planting of parsley is doing fantastic! The first planting was dug up by our crazy squirrels. UGH!! So I had to make pot nets to keep them out while the seeds sprouted. They've grown so much now, that I had to take the net off to keep them from growing through and getting stuck!

A Frog for Little P

So, I was being a bit lazy today, and just browsing sewing ideas online. Little P came over, as he often does, and climbed into my lap. The very next click I made brought me to this super cute frog pattern on The Purl Bee. (http://www.purlbee.com/purl-frog/) Little P got all excited and started shouting "Frog! Frog! Frog!" at the computer screen. I think he may have even tried to kiss it. Don't ask me why? Anyway...I asked him if he wanted a frog, and he nodded yes. So I printed out the pattern, dug out some fabric, and 30 minutes later, he had a frog. I used green fleece for the body, filled him with dried black beans (what I had on hand), and stitched 2 pink buttons on for eyes. Oh, and I altered the pattern slightly to include stitching (done before the beans were added) on his little feet and hands to look like webbing.

Max Bunny

Little P just loves Max & Ruby. For those who aren't parents of an under 5 year old, Max & Ruby is a cute show about bunnies on Noggin and Nick Jr. Little P gets very excited when he hears the theme music, and starts shouting "Max!" as he dances around the room. So for this past Christmas, I wanted to give him a Max bunny to play with. I did some research, and discovered that there were not very many choices out there, and the Max bunnies that were available were all just out of our price range. So I put my crafting/sewing skills to use. And I made a Max for Little P. The body's a bit out of proportion, but to a 2 year old, he's perfect. I printed a picture of Max's face, and then traced the shape on some white cotton t-shirt fabric. I cut two out and stitched them together. Then I stuffed his head with pillow fluff, and then embroidered his features on. For his body, I sewed together leftover stripe fabric (from my bedroom curtain project), blue fabric that I recycled from an old t-shirt, and some more of the white fabric that I used for his head. I cobbled all the pieces together on my sewing machine, and then stuffed them. Then I hand stitched the head to the body and voila! I had a Max!

For Christmas, I put Max in the top of Little P's stocking, hanging out like he needed hugged. Little P woke up and ran out first thing in the morning, but didn't notice the stocking right away. He ran around for a bit. Then, he passed the stocking and did a double take. It was so cute! He looked at it like he couldn't believe his eyes, and quietly said "Max? Max?" So we lifted Max out, and began emptying his stocking. And since, Max has spent a life of leisure sleeping in Little P's bed. Occasionally, Max gets to enjoy a ride in the dump truck or on the tricycle. Even a doctor checkup once. But all the trouble it took to make him was worth it when I saw the look in Little P's eyes on Christmas morning.

Soap Savings

In case you don't know, I love, love, LOVE, foaming soap. The soap companies came up with this scheme which lets them sell less soap for more money. If you read the label on foaming soaps, the first ingredient is almost always water! "What?!" You heard me, water. So they are charging you for watered down soap. These companies are counting on our ignorance and our laziness. Read your labels!

But, we can get the best of them! You can make your own foaming soap! Really! I use a concentration of 4 parts water to 1 part soap. I measure out the soap, then add hot water and stir until blended. Then I pour it right into my foaming soap dispenser! I save money by using regular soap and watering it down. So my soap lasts much much longer! And the best part is that you can do it to just about any soap! I purchased several inexpensive foaming hand soaps at Walmart. I use two for my hand soaps (bathroom and kitchen), and I cleaned one out to use for my shampoo. I also use one for my 2 year old's baby wash. And I have one for my dish soap. It's great! I now can make my bottle of shampoo, which used to last about a month, last for around 5 months! Talk about savings! More money in my pocket and less waste in the landfill. Awesome!

Rock Collector

I'll tell you what...I just love my little boy!! What a sweetheart he is! He's a little past 2 1/2 now, and just as cute as can be. Little P has two big brown eyes and eyelashes so thick and long they make every woman jealous. Sometimes I can't even look at him when he's in trouble, because he bats those eyes and flashes a smile that makes me want to just laugh and hug him to pieces.

Beyond this, though, he is very much a little boy. Rough and tumble all day long. He loves just about anything with wheels, from trucks to trains to tractors to cars. If it rolls, it makes him happy. And along with this wheel fascination, he also loves rocks. He collects them everywhere. Parking lots, side walks, our gravel path (much to his father's chagrin). This fascination also slows down our walks tremendously. He seems to think he should bring home every rock he sees. In fact, we'd be overflowing with rocks if we didn't throw some aside when he isn't paying attention. As it is, he already has a plastic peanut butter jar 2/3 full of them. Luckily, he hasn't caught onto the fact that if he puts them in the jar, they aren't coming out. "Put your rocks in the jar sweetheart." "Ok, Mama." Later: "Open Mama, Rocks." "Oh, I'm sorry sweetie, the lid is stuck." Oh, the little white lies necessary to keep rocks from spreading throughout the house...

Super Tote and Bottle Carrier

First off...I LOVE purses, tote bags, etc, etc. What girl doesn't? Unfortunately, it is not in my budget to continually purchase these items. Recently, I decided I really needed a purse that was more organizational. I was tired of having to dig for my keys beneath a crumpled (clean) diaper, a wipes case, my wallet, and whatever else ended up in the black hole of my purse. The only problem was, that the current organizing purses I own are either too small/too big, or the straps are too short. With a 2 1/2 year old, I really need to have my hands free, and require an over the shoulder bag. I don't necessarily need a full blown diaper bag either. So I did some research and found a design that fit my needs. The BHG six pocket bag (http://www.bhg.com/crafts/sewing/accessories/six-pocket-bag/ ) was almost perfect. I altered the design slightly to include inside pockets, and lengthened the straps for over the shoulder wear. And voila!

So, I couldn't just leave it at that could I? Of course not! I had to make a matching bottle carrier for my water bottle!

I also fully intend to make matching zip pouches, and possibly a matching wallet. But, don't hold your breath!