Archive for June 2011

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Pinterest, dahling.

I sat down to write a post last night but I got sidetracked with Million Dollar Decorators, dahlings. 

Do you not love that show? Bravo has the whole reality TV thing down pat.

I'd like to rename Vance to Oscar just so I can call him "Oscie" for short just like Kathryn Ireland calls her son. 

(I wonder how Vance would react if I just start calling him that. Hmmm...I'll try it out today and maybe it'll stick.)

I think Jacqueline needs her own show. Quoting Martyn, "It's just TV gold watching Jacqueline rifle around in search of Kathryn's diamond earbobs to complete her Inspector Clouseau ensemble."

I can't get enough of it. I love it. 

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The love doesn't end there folks. Today I'm also going to talk about my love for Pinterest. 



Ever find something online, love it, then days later not be able to remember where you had found it?

That was me. I'd waste so much time going through all my "regular" sites trying to find what I was looking for. 

Pinterest solves this problem. It's genius. 

It's also great for giving you a sense of your own style by looking at everything as a whole.


Look at my board for Vaughn's Room. I had no idea where to start, but by pinning items as I've found them and looking at them all together it's kind of clear what I'm going for right? 

It's not just for designing. It's for anything and you can make different boards for each category that you'd like. It's just easier to check it out for yourself!


Follow me if you'd like, it's fun to see everyone's great ideas!



Sunday, June 26, 2011

Bubble Jet Set How To


Bubble Jet Set is a different way to do a fabric transfer. Old school yes, but it's the way I learned while in art school about 10 years ago and I'm a fan of keeping it real. (Also because I still have all the supplies from way back when. Cha-ching!)

I've made lots, but here's two examples:  


The top picture is a t-shirt and the bottom picture are tea towels.

See? The guy up top is right. Fun and cute. Here we go!

Basic Idea:
 Treated fabric is ironed onto freezer paper and can be printed onto using an ink jet printer. 

What you'll need: 
Bubble Jet Set 2000
Fabric
Gloves, bowl or pan
Iron
Freezer Paper
Ink Jet printer


First things first, get your fabric ready.

Fabric needs to be 100% cotton or 100% silk and cut to 8.5 x 11 inches, which is the size of a piece of standard printer paper. 


Bubble Jet Set 2000 can be bought online or even at some quilting and craft stores. It usually runs under $20.00 a bottle which is a lot cheaper than buying printable transfer paper. This bottle has lasted over 10 years and it's still 1/3 full. 

Wear gloves while working with this stuff! Pour it into a bowl or a flat pan and submerse the fabric, making sure it's totally covered in the solution. Soak for 5 minutes. 


After 5 minutes are up take it out and let it drip dry completely. The left over solution can be poured right back into the bottle.

(Side note: don't treat your fabric if you don't have time to print on it that day. the "magic" in the solution goes away over time and whatever you print onto it will not set. I've done that before and my picture washed right off. If that happens you can use the same piece of fabric and just re-soak it and start over.) 


While your fabric is drying get your freezer paper ready. Freezer paper can be bought at the grocery store right next to the foil, saran wrap, and wax paper. Just like your fabric, cut the paper to 8.5 x 11 inches. Take your time with this step! Since it's going to be fed through your printer it needs to be exact.


When your fabric is dry you're going to iron it onto the SMOOTH side of the freezer paper. Make sure the iron is super hot and that there's no steam. Really make sure the edges are adhered. Clip any stray strands of fabric or anything that will not feed through printer smoothly.


So now you just need something to print onto the paper. I designed the "3" for the t-shirt on Picnik and the "D" for the tea towels on Photoshop. Anything works here. Pictures, text, if you can print it out it will work. 

My only suggestion would be to set your printing settings on the highest quality possible. You want a lot of ink to saturate the fabric. Depending on what you're doing you may even want to up your contrast, make colors a bit darker, etc. Do a test print on paper and use that as a guide. If it's too light on paper it will be even lighter on the fabric.    

"3" design after being printed

"D" design ready to be printed

After it's printed let the fabric dry. The bottle says to wait 30 minutes. I usually wait a little longer - sometimes even over night. Just make sure the ink is totally dry. When it is, it's time to rinse.

Bubble Jet Set sells a special rinse but I've never used it. Using a mild dish soap and washing by hand in cold water or even using a mild detergent on a cold, delicate cycle of the washing machine has always worked fine for me.  

The back of the bottle gives exact directions for each step of the process. 

Once it's dried it's there for good and is ready for whatever you'd like to do with it!

******* 

For this t-shirt, made for my little girl's 3rd birthday, I ironed Wonder Under onto the back to adhere it onto the shirt. Knowing that she'd only wear this shirt one day I did not stitch it on. (It worked well - I was able to peel it off and re use the shirt!)

For something extra, I added Swarovski crystals (they came with adhesive on the back) onto the middle of the flowers. Apologies for the pictures - they aren't the best.    


For the tea towels, I used decorative stitching to secure the fabric onto the towels. I packaged each one using Skip to my Lou's free BLOOM templates . A perfect teacher's gift!

 




It may seem like a lot of work, but it's not! The possibilities of what you can create are endless! Give it a try!

Oh, I hear you can make your own Bubble Jet Set solution. Just Google to find the recipe!

I'm linking to these parties today, check them out!









BecolorfulThe Girl Creative







Friday, June 24, 2011

Sad, Sad, Sad.


Our backyard has gotten sad. 

The deck needs to be stripped, sanded, and stained. 

My potted shrubs that once looked so cute are dying. 

Sad, sad, sad. 

Deck guy is coming today to check things out.

Dragging kids to flower shop to buy new flowers. 

*******
You know what else is sad?

Vaughn has a black eye. She fell over a stuffed chair into the corner of the coffee table. 

It's swollen and many shades of purple and red. 

Yesterday she was excited because it looked like purple eyeshadow. She spent a lot of time looking at herself in the mirror. 

Then before bed she was crying because she wanted the eyeshadow off. 

*******
I tweeted yesterday about a new drink that my mom introduced.

(Iced tea vodka ((Firefly)), party ice, water, and lemon wedge.)

We didn't know it at the time, but it's called a Southern Fly.

I keep calling it a Spanish Fly, which is something totally different. 

Silly. 

******* 
Happy Friday! I'm looking forward to a Spanish Fly!

Oops!

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Rockie Talkie


Vaughn keeps a rock in the playhouse right next to the steering wheel. 

It's her Rockie Talkie. 

I wonder what her handle is?

Big Lady?

I also wonder who she's talking to?

Ordering a pizza? Warning others about a speed trap?

Nah. Probably just standard Dora and The Pirates banter. You know, telling Isa to turn the wheel and to watch out for the Piggies. That's more her speed. 

Either way, I love this stage of the game. Her imagination is working overtime.  

******
We decided last week that it's time to ditch Vaughn's crib and turn it into a toddler bed. BUT, I've gotten cold feet about it. 

She doesn't crawl out and hasn't said anything about wanting out so is it silly that we're messing with a good thing? 

She turned 3 almost 2 months ago. Is it silly to unleash the fury and give her free reign of the house?

We're teetering. Thoughts?

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Summer to-do List


Ta da!

I finally put pen to paper and finished our 

Summer to-do List!

The kids are excited and so am I.

We better get busy because school for Vance starts early August. 

"So much time and so little to do. Wait a minute. Strike that. Reverse it."

That's Willy Wonka for ya. And that's how I'm feeling right now!

Anyone else make a list? I left room at the bottom for more.

Anything I should add?

Monday, June 20, 2011

Back to Attack

We're back. 

Regular posting will occur when I get a handle on our current laundry situation. 

Until then, enjoy this.

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Vance lost a tooth

Vance's first tooth pushed through in late November, around 6 months old.

If you look hard you can see a tiny toofer down there.


He discovered that his first tooth was loose on this past Friday night after Vaughn had accidentally hit him in the mouth.

Oops. 

And on Sunday it was gone. The baby is literally falling right out of him. All the hard work getting that tooth and then it took only seconds to rip out.

In case you're wondering he actually didn't lose his first tooth. It was his second tooth. Does that make sense? 

He wasn't ready for the Tooth Fairy to take his tooth away so he wrote her a note asking to leave it. 

(Vaughn was asleep when this happened. He wanted to show her.)


In the morning, he offered to buy Vaughn Rapunzel underwear with the money that the Tooth Fairy left him. (She's on a Tangled kick and has noticed that she doesn't have coordinating undies. She seems to be okay with this travesty and pretends that Belle is Rapunzel.)

Such a nice big brother. 

Have a great Tuesday!



Monday, June 13, 2011

mini Boden Dress Hack!

I've spent my fair share of money on mini Boden stuff.

I felt that I earned this one. 

Saw this dress, loved it, and figured I could recreate a version of it for a lot less than $54. 

Here goes: 




Buy a dress. I got mine at Target for $9.99. It shrunk a ton, so size up!

Draw your flower. I was in a hurry, so I only did one. 

Trace onto fabric. (The purple pen disappears.)  I used old shirts from around the house.

Cut flower and sew lines. They look like whiskers.

Trace all other pieces onto fabric.

Stitch lines onto center piece. (Hindsight: make them smaller)

Iron pieces onto Wonder Under.

Assemble and iron together.

Sew onto dress.

Iron and stitch leaves on. 

Viola!

 Not an exact match, just a quickie version. 

Again, the dress was $10 and it took me about an hour.

I might just make another one!







Making The DIY Show Off
 I shared on Toot your Horn Tuesday:www.sillylittlesparrow.com

Friday, June 10, 2011

Lemon Suckers

I needed something to entertain the kids last night while I cleaned up from dinner. They had had enough of each other and going off to play would only cause more bickering. 

I saw the lemon and knew I had leftover candy canes from Christmas in the pantry. 

Bingo!

Growing up, one of my childhood friends mom was a chef. She used to make these for us. 


Really you want to use more "gourmet" (for lack of the correct word) candy canes. I'm not sure of the brand, but they're short, fat, and look more like sticks rather than canes. 

The old school ones that I used work okay. Both ends need to be snapped off to be able to suck through them.

Jab them into the middle of the lemon. 


And viola! Treat for the kids!


Worked like a (sticky) charm!

Have a great Friday! Our fingers and toes are crossed for rain!

Thursday, June 09, 2011

Ant Hotel




What do these pictures have in common?


I could watch both scenarios for hours. 

The top pictures are from our last trip to Vegas. The cranes were working together to set pieces of stone and workers then welding them together.

It was beautiful to watch.

Same thing with the ants. I was totally skeptical of inviting 30 29 ants into our house, but have enjoyed watching them work. 

(We had one casualty, which isn't too shabby considering they spent a couple of hours in the hot mailbox. Sorry ladies, didn't know you were in there!)

We all have ant fever now, even Vaughnie who now likes to draw them. 


Pretty good considering she just turned 3
After Vance had fallen asleep one night I moved them from his nightstand up onto his dresser. I don't know why, they just seemed a little too close. Vance noticed and woke me up in the middle of the night to ask me about it. From a deep sleep I told him I didn't want the ants to get out and climb up his nose. Made sense to him. 

They're still slowly chewing on the seal of the lid, so the tape is staying on. Why did we get the misfit ants? 

I think the word is out that we're hoteling bugs because right now a cicada just landed on the window closest to me and appears to be requesting a room with a view. Sorry buddy, no vacancies! 

Have a great Thursday! 

Tuesday, June 07, 2011

Cicadas, Ants, and Lizards! Oh My!

My hydrangeas are blooming. Beautiful blue, pink, and purple snowballs. However, I can't go outside to enjoy them because of the *@#%!*$ cicadas. 

I've banned myself from the backyard. I hope the kids aren't expecting to play out there today. Or tomorrow or the next day or even the next because from what I've Googled it looks like they're going to be around until the end of June. 

Yesterday I noticed that they were noisier and are hitting the back of the house more often, meaning the little effers are getting braver by feeling comfortable enough to move into our space. No telling where we'll find them today. 

*******

In other news, if you follow my tweets (if you don't you totally should - there's good stuff there) you'll know that the ants for Vance's ant farm arrived yesterday. Some trouble makers in the group are chewing off the rubber seal of the lid. If they're successful in doing so does that mean that they can get out? I'm not sure, but tape seemed to be the best answer. They're on supervision today and if they knock off the silly behavior I'll take the tape off. 

*******

I hid a small, plastic, very real looking lizard in one of Vance's drawers 3 days ago and he still hasn't said anything about it. Maybe he hasn't noticed it or maybe he's just cool with a realish looking reptile living amongst his undies.

******* 

We have cicadas in the backyard, ants in the house, and a fake lizard in Vance's drawer. 

That's all the nature I can handle right now.

*******
Happy Taco Tuesday!







Monday, June 06, 2011

First Day of Summer

Here we are at the first official day of summer.


I wanted to have my Summer Battle Plan in full effect, but I've floundered and that's okay. Kumon books will get ordered shortly, I'll come up with a schedule for off days and we'll work on our Summer Bucket List this week.


We have been to the pool 3 times already though. That's big for us.


While we're not the parents lounging and sipping cocktails yet, this season is already proving to be easier at the pool due to the kids being one year older. It's so nice that going to the pool isn't such a pain in the rear, as that's exactly what it was last year. And the year before.


Next order of business is going to be to force Vance to make friends with kids at the pool so he has playmates other than Justin and myself. It's looking like we'll be there more often this summer, so that should be easy. 


Third order of business at the pool is going to teach the wait staff how to make a proper Julie Babington. 


***************

Do you have cicadas? We're currently infested with them and I'll tell ya, it's no good at all. 

Have a great Monday!




Friday, June 03, 2011

Kindergarten: Been There, Done That.

First Day of Kindergarten:


Last Day of Kindergarten:



On the first day we had to literally (lovingly) push him onto the bus. 

Today, the last day, he wanted to walk out by himself and dodged my kiss before getting onto the bus. 



What a little stinker.

I thought we had a few more years before that started to happen.



He was given the Super Etiquette award yesterday at school.

(I didn't even know there was an award for that, but am loving the title. Not just an Etiquette award - the Super Etiquette award.)


Kindergarten, See Ya!

 

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