Today I Upcycled a T-Shirt and a Sweater.

I love the idea of re-purposing.  I would really like to get better at "use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without."  I see all sorts of great ideas online of how to upcycle clothes so they get a second chance.  I love all the home decor posts, featuring items that are being re-used.  LOVE IT!

 (blurry, but still super cute.  especially since hugs are not always something britt enjoys giving or receiving from her big sister)

Today is my first time, that I can remember, taking two shirts that were headed for the second hand store (because they were stained) and turning them into something worth keeping. 

(elle in her sweet outfit.  remember seeing it on britt, way back when?  i do not save that many firsts anymore.)

Reason:  Elle got Britt's adorable hand-me-down Valentine's Day outfit.  But Britt and Ash had nothing.  I do not have the funds to run out and buy cute t-shirts right now, especially for a one day celebration. 

 (my 3 little sweeties.  most of the time!)

So - I dug around in a bag I have of mostly white clothes that I have been planning to try to bleach the stains out of before giving up on them.  I must admit, those clothes have been in that bag for a year.  The only two tops that worked were both too big for Britt and Ash, but better than too small, right?

(too excited!  would not make a "normal" face at all.  heehee!)

The tops were already clean.  I just ironed them, held them up to the outside light to see exactly where the stains where and then grabbed the felt and fabric glue.  For Britt's I glued the hearts first, then stitched.  I didn't glue Ash's because I wasn't sure if I wanted her felt heart to be permanent or not.  Plus, it's a chunky knit and the glue would have gone through, most likely.

(see?  so big, it's falling off her shoulders.  but stinkin' adorable regardless!)

I'm really pleased with how they turned out!
I love upcycling!


I've decided that these are not soooo valentine-y that they can only be worn one day.  I'm gonna put Britt's away for Spring or Summer (hopefully she grows a bit) and she can wear it more then.  Ash can keep wearing her sweater for the next 2 freezing cold months we have yet to get through.  Spring doesn't usually arrive on time around here. 

Today I Did Valentine-y Activities.

Yesterday one of my friends texted me, asking for a play date.  :)  This means we get our kids together to play while we gab our jaws off at each other.  It's fun.  Except the part where we have to keep our 2 year olds from maiming each other.  Hoping the social skills and getting along come soon...

We thought it would be fun to plan a couple Valentine themed activities for our girls (she has 2).   So, I made sugar cookies and she made frosting.  I supplied the sprinkles (because I hoard them).  And she also brought a bunch of pretty paper strips and showed us how to make a super cute, easy hearts garland.  I found a tutorial here, if you're interested. 

(britt)

 

(ash)

 

 

(elle.  haha!  she's got cookie stuck in her nose and teeth!)

 

 

(the girls helped me make this)

 

 

 

Have you done anything fun and valentine-y lately? 

 

 



 





Today I When to Photography Class.

Have you ever taken a class where you look around at all the other students and what they are doing and realize that you are probably the only one who doesn't have any talent in that area?

Gah.

I'm taking a photography class and I started after the first two classes, so not only am I the only one without, seemingly, raw talent.  I'm also extremely behind.

Our homework to take to tonight's class was all about aperture. 

This is one of the pics I took. 

 (elle's shoes)

I thought it was cute.  It was the only one I liked out of the 15+ that I took.  But that's the point of taking a class, right?  So you can get better?  And even if I don't have a photography talent, having more knowledge of how to use the camera I have is definitely a good thing.

It also helps that I'm going with a friend.  It's fun to sit in the back and whisper and giggle to each other.  Makes me feel about 15 years younger.

What classes are you taking?  Or have taken?  Were you the talented one?  Or the struggler, like me?

Today I Ate Pears with Cinnamon-Cashew Sauce.

Just wanted to quickly share the yummy, healthy snack I made for the girls and myself. 

We used pears, but any orchard fruit would probably be yummy with this dipping sauce. 

Cinnamon-Cashew Sauce

Soak 1/2 cup raw cashews in 1/2 cup warm water for 30-60 minutes.  Dump everything into a blender with 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon, 2 tsp honey, and couple pinches of coarse salt.  Blend until smooth.  You can put it into the fridge, in an airtight container for up to 7 days. 

I was very dubious about this tasting good, but it really is!

I'm looking for other scrumptious, healthy snack ideas.  So, fill me in if you've got some.  They can't be too weird or my kids won't eat them.  ;P


Adapted from a recipe found in Whole Living.

Today I Made a Snowman. Girl.

We live in Iceburg.  The snow has been on the ground for years, like Narnia during the rule of the White Witch.  Well, it feels like it.  And yet, this is our first snowman of the year.  A little slow, I know.  :)

(their funny, little poses crack me up)

Ash and Britt were surprisingly successful in the making of our snowman...er, girl.  I asked Ash if it was a boy or a girl and she said girl.  Works out well since all of our winter accessories are pretty gender specific.

(pom-pom tasting)

Elle was not very impressed.  Her snow boots are stupid.  I'm pretty certain her feet weren't all the way down in them, even though they are two sizes two big.  The fun ended when she decided to fall face forward onto the concrete during the two seconds that I looked away from her.  **face palm**

She got a cute, heart shaped scrape on her nose from it. 

Today I Thought About My Dream (One of Them).

Do you have a dream?  Or several dreams?  Obviously I am the momma of a Rapunzel-obsessed preschooler because just typing out those questions hits the play button in my head and now "I've got a dream, I've got a dream, I just want to see the floating lanterns gleam!  And with every passing hour, I'm so glad I left my tower.  Like all you lovely folks, I've got a dream!" bouncing around in my brain.

 (source)

Hehe. 

Anyways, I have several dreams.  But I'm talking about one in particular.  I dream of living in a tiny house.  Yep.  You read that right.  A couple weeks ago I read, "You Can Buy Happiness (and It's Cheap): How One Woman Radically Simplified Her Life and How You Can Too" by Tammy Strobel.  I highly recommend it.  I was immediately enlightened and realized that she was telling me about something I'd wanted for years without even knowing it. 

In her book, Tammy talks about how she pared down her possessions to only the necessities.  It was a long process, and then she and her husband built and moved into their own tiny house on wheels.  They also got rid of both of their cars, joined a car sharing service, but mostly ride their bikes.  **swoon**

Can you imagine not having car payments?  Or a huge house to clean?  Or millions of items to organize and store?  Or a ginormous mortgage?  I'm in love with the idea of minimalist living.  I'm in love with the idea of living in a tiny house.  I'm in love with the idea of not having to waste hours everyday cleaning and organizing things that ultimately don't make me or my family any happier (or feeling guilty because I didn't clean or organize said items). 

I actually got rid of over 10 garbage bags full of things, before the kids and I got sick.  And I can't even tell.  My house is not any easier to keep up.  So - I have a lot more to do.  But it feels good.  I feel great when donating items.  I feel awesome selling my stuff too, because I'm making some pocket money and still helping others out with my killer deals.  ;)

 (source)

And someday, we're going to live in a tiny house (not on wheels) with a 5 foot tall, finished crawl space for food storage and seasonal items.  We'll have enough land for a garden, a couple fruit trees, and space for the girls to run and play their imaginative games.  I'll never talk Tony into giving up our car but maybe I can talk him into remaining a one vehicle family. 

That is my dream.

Today I Celebrated My Baby's Birthday.

Elle is a year!  We had a fun snowman-themed party for her with some friends.  Let the photo dump commence!  :D

(this was taken on elle's actual birthday.  we always do a candle in a muffin for breakfast and sing happy birthday, then open presents.)

(at her party. yes, i dressed her as a snowman.  her sash kept covering her button.)

(the decorations that i made.  "snow" out of pom-poms strung on thick thread and a banner out fabric and bias tape.  quick and easy.)

(we decorated little snowmen with toilet paper and winter accessories.  i had thought the older kids would like to decorate the younger kids, but the older ones wanted to be the snowmen!)

(elle was super excited about the toilet paper.  i usually take it away from her.)

(ash, the snowman)

(elle wasn't a big fan of her top hat headband.)

(i like big bows and i cannot lie.)

(we also made snowmen out of marshmallows, pretzel sticks, frosting, toothpicks, chocolate chips and orange tictacs.  the ones made with three marshmallows didn't stay standing for very long.)

(the food.  i really wanted the bagels to look like this but we ran out of time.  that snowman cake looked better in my head...)

(ash enjoying her snacks.)

(i think this was elle's first time eating pretzels.)

(she was so excited about everyone singing to her.  britt blew her candle out for her.)

(opening presents.)

(one of her presents was a hooded towel.  she loves it.)

 (i had a lot of fun putting the favors together.  i drew faces on the candy bar, lollipop, and gum.   tony made the labels for the play-doh, bubbles and tictacs.  and i glued shapes on the juice boxes to make faces.)

(seriously?  where did the time go??  it didn't feel long enough to be a year.)