Tights transformed to Arm Warmers

What do you do with a pair of tights that are too short and have a hole in them? Of course silly, you turn them into arm warmers for your fashion forward first grader.

Directions:

Cut off the feet and the legs portion below the hole.

Hem the edges with a zig-zag stitch.

Sew in a couple of shirring stitches with elastic thread. To use elastic thread you wind the bobbin loosely by hand with the elastic thread and sew with the stitch setting on a 5. Use your normal thread on top.

I added a ribbon and heart decoration so it could be a special something to wear around Valentine's Day.

How to save a stained shirt

This is how I turned a stained shirt into a new "love it" shirt.

*Cut your ribbon twice the length of the shirt.

*Sew a basting stitch down the center.

*Pull one of the threads to make it ruffle and then run a straight stitch down the middle of the ribbon to hold the ruffles in place.

*Pin your ribbon on the shirt over the stain and cut it to length. I like to melt the ends of the ribbon a bit so it doesn't fray. Leave an extra half inch at the top and bottom so you can fold it under.

*Sew on the ribbon.

I couldn't stop there. I zig zag stitched another ribbon on the top and added a bow. This didn't cost a thing - I had left over ribbon from other projects and it took less than 30 minutes.

Could an adult get away with wearing a shirt like this? I always end out with a stains right below my chin. I have an eating problem.

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Kids Say Funny Things

Do you remember all the funny words your kids said when they were little? I don't remember much. I didn't document my girls' first words, when they took their first steps, etc in the traditional baby book. I don't know why... it just didn't occur to me at the time. I wish I had done a traditional baby book.

I did keep a notebook for each of them where I wrote little letters to them about how it felt to be their Mom, the good, bad, and the ugly. I'll give it to them when they have sweet babies of their own.

One thing I never want to forget is the funny little ways they said things.

Greta:

shurdle - shoulder

Burber King - Burger King

rememory - remember

rememorize - memorize

algerly - allergies

Gigi:

bresik - breakfast

Crapper Bell - Cracker Barrel

flamly - family

Owl Pillow

This owl pillow was a birthday gift for a very special friend of ours. It was a labor of love... my hubby kept interrupting me while I was sewing so I made a few mistakes that made it much more difficult to make than it needed to be. That's okay. She's worth it.

I loved the applique and now I want to make some more for shirts and jeans.

Saturday is a Fun Day

Our fantastic day began early with a little b-ball.

Gigi is going for the fast break!

Way to guard your opponent Greta.

We had a great time at the Freight House Farmer's Market. That soap that Greta is eyeballing has little plastic animals molded inside of it.

Can you believe that those giant cookies were the samples? YUM!

One of the vendors at the Farmer's Market clued us into a bald eagle that hung out in this tree by the river. It was so used to people that you could walk right up to the tree and get an up close look. They are amazing birds.

WE had a great time at Jordan's birthday party. I hope she liked the pillow we made for her.

Then it was off to church. The sermon was about using every precious second during the day in such a way that pleases God. The part that struck me was from Deuteronomy 8:6-9 and being deliberate about preparing the future. Do I share God's grace and love with my children like I should? I could do much better.

Then we had a delicious dinner at Biaggi's. I have a new favorite - the chicken chop salad. After that, we ended the evening with a trip to Maggie Moos. I love the Red Velvet Cake Fresh Escape. Gigi had cheesecake ice cream with brownies and cookie dough. She named it The Bakery. Greta had grape bubblegum ice cream with snow caps and white chocolate chips. Gene was well behaved and just watched us devour ours!

What a blessing this day has been.

This Uniform

This uniform means so much...

courage

dedication

love

protection

America

I am thrilled that Gene has such a great opportunity to go back to school but I will miss seeing him in uniform for the year.

Destination Destin

Coats and gloves on but still having fun

Makes me want a Starbucks

Looking at a seashell

Amazingly clear water

I love those three people.

With Gene home this Christmas we wanted to take a family vacation. In fact, we plan on traveling more this year... making more family memories that will last during the times we are apart.

After a relaxing Christmas at home we took a trip to Destin Florida. It is beautiful and normally warm. This year they had unusually cold weather but we still enjoyed the blue water and white sands... in our coats and gloves. It was 40 degrees cold and windy but it was 10 degrees cold and colder at home so our glass was half full. Did I mention that Gene and I had a stomach bug and our flight was messed up? Who cares... we were on vacation making memories.