Ready, Set, GALACTICA!!

On a completely separate mommy note, I am a sci-fi junkie. A nerd by her own right. Yes, I downloaded all the Buffy the Vampire episodes and burned them to VCD before DVDs were invented. Yes, I wasted an entire Sunday in the mid-90s and sat vigil by my VCR during the first Star Wars marathon on the Sci-Fi channel. That being said:
Starbuck is the 12th.
Those of you who know what I mean, I don't need to elaborate.

My Pettiskirt Princess

For their birthdays I want lily and molly to each be wearing a Pettiskirt.
There is a deluge of companies out there now that sell these but I'm not so deluded as to think I can do this with my current seamstress skills so I suppose I will have to break down and pay the $70 or so dollars these skirts go for. I thought it would be cute paired with mini cowboy boots.

I'm singing in the rain!

Now that spring is officially here I'm really digging the idea of walking down a cherry blossom lined path in a yellow trench coat while holding THIS umbrella: Totes
I've heard GAP is selling bright yellow trench coats but I fear it might be too late to buy one online. Perhaps I can snag one up in person at the sale racks.

Dear busty bust, please behave.

I have the strangest body. Well, perhaps the -est is a bit of an exaggeration but definitely strange. I am 5'2 and wear a size 2. Not strange you say, but wait. I also wear a 36.......D. Weird. Nothing I buy fits correctly. Bathing suits, forget it! If it fits below don't hold your breath on top. On second thought, I'll hold my breath, it might help.
Impatiently, I've bought a couple uber-cute spring camisoles only to find myself pulling at the tops every 5 seconds in fear of my nipples making a surprise appearance. To this end, I've decided to attempt to sew a couple camisoles with inspiration from my current favorite store- Anthropologie thus allowing me to customize the bust....for my very BUSTY bust. I bought this fabric from reprodepot:












And matched it with a dark brown taffeta fabric.

This was my Anthropologie inspiration:





















This was the pattern (New Look #6672) I improvised and worked off of. As you can see I shortened the dress into a blouse length, rouched the midriff, twisted the straps, added a trim, *enhanced* the bust line and voila (see below)













This is the result:



















Obviously, I had to heighten the bust line. I'd prefer a lower line. I think it looks more feminine but unless I want to be rutching at my neckline all night I have to make compromises. Whatcha think? Close enough? If I had to do it over I'd widen the midriff, use a lighter-weight fabric, and somehow (although I don't know how) feminize the bust. It looks a little too boxy for my taste. Ah what I would give for a ballerina neckline.

Now I have to get back in the house...it's 40 degrees and windy! Burrrrrrr.

For the sewing impaired, make this tutu THREAD-FREE fast!

I feel like such a slug. I haven't posted in two days and I don't even want to look at my stat counter. I'm so sorry readers. My only excuse is that I'm in the middle of a project which will *eventually* post to this site. So in time, everything will come to fruition. At any rate, I'll be posting two ideas to make up for my lethargy.
First, for all you sewing machine challenged, here's an idea for creating a tutu- THREAD FREE!
You're going to need 2-8 yards of tulle, found in your local fabric store. Two yards will suffice for a children's tutu.

First, you're going to need to cut the tulle into strips. I cut my stripes about 4 inches wide - the width of these stripes is going to determine the poofiness, so use my tutu to judge.

After you have your strips cut, you're going to want to fasten them to a ribbon or elastic (see pic below) If you use ribbon, make sure it matches the tulle - or at least compliments it.

Just know that in the drawing below, you are actually looking at what will become the inside of the tutu's waist. You want the clean part of the loop on the outside.

You may want to play around with other methods of fastening the strips to the ribbon. Thanks to ambrosialove for this idea.

I'm lazy....so sue me

I'm so lazy. I hate laundry. I hate vacuuming. I hate oversized weekly trips to the grocery store. Sam's club has found a way to aid in my apathy. Their new "click'n'pull" system allows you to shop for your groceries online and then pick them up at the store. No more ambling through isles, writing grocery lists, waiting in lines. All you do is order your items then go to the store to pick them up and pay for them. Best of all, they automatically save your list so you can just reorder it without sifting through their site every time. Added bonus, we've saved $200 a month by shopping in bulk AND only go once a month rather than every week.

Top 10 Fav Patterns

I've been perusing the internet for a couple good fabric patterns for some clothes I have planned. Here are my top 10 favs.

Amy Butler


















Jackie Shapiro














Don't know the artist but from Fabrics and Fabrics














Don't know the artist but from Sew Mama Sew














Alexander Henry
















Joel Dewberry

Peel'n'stick Chalkboard Art

Kiddie room decor should encourage children to be well, kids. So let them mark up the walls and don't worry about the mess.

Modern Dose makes chalkboard inspired decals that you simply peel and place. Budding artists can design and draw until their hearts are content, and then erase the shapes and start over.

They are removable and reusable making them ideal for renters and parents who don't want to commit to one theme for a child's bedroom or want to use chalkboard paint.

Thanks to Design Mom for this idea.

Simple frills for girly little girls

Here's another *free* project for all the girly little girls who still love simple frills over Bratz and Hannah Montana. Printable *vintage* paper dolls. check these out: Vintage Paper Dolls

Custom Board Books all about....Your loved One

I've noticed that within the past year the online market has been saturated with photobook companies, some better than others. Sifting through these sites I was disappointed to find that none of them had custom boardbook options. (Great for reading AND chewing) After a little researching, I came across two companies that will do this service for a reasonable price- My Custom Story and Lifetimez.com I've looked over these two companies and weighed their positives and negatives. In the end, it's a toss-up. Neither one has their own software for you to personalize your book- a benefit as you'd find with the larger hardback photobook companies. At this time, they both seem pretty small scale but I'm going to go out on a limb and predict that in a couple years, the options for custom boardbook companies will expand and in turn broaden options, pricing and sizes. I'm hoping that happens because I love the idea of custom boardbooks and be interested in taking advantage of a decent one.

I'll start with Lifetimez. Prices start at $34.95. This company has more size options (up to 8x8), better pre-designed layouts, and higher page limits (up to 40 front and back, 20 pages). However, its biggest downfall (in my creative opinon) is that you must use one of their pre-designed layouts. ALSO, it requires that you "subscribe" to their service. Although they say that starts at 8 cents a day, I could not find any details of the "actual" costs, so that's another negative. But they do have a 10-day free trial option that does not info. See examples below require your credit card:

































The other option, My Custom Story, offers books with prices starting at $27.95. I'm not thrilled about their pre-designed storylines. The photos on their site are not professional and the layouts they use look like they've been made with Microsoft Word. In addition, their page limits top at 6 (12 pages front and back). And they only print one size 4x5. Their one redeeming quality- they allow you to customize your own pages. So if say, you had some upscale editing software like Photoshop or Illustrator you could create your own interesting layouts albeit with the above restrictions.

One more thing, there is an excellent site out there: Good Stock Press & Bindery. The top image is from their site. They will take your photos and turn them into a professionally designed, digitally printed, charming story, bound into a book the old fashioned way - by a skilled pair of hands. Of course, the caveat is their price. For a 7x7 pre-designed board book with complimentary matching spine, their prices start at $375! Wow, what a difference, huh. Not something I can take advantage of but worth mentioning none-the-less. See image to the left.

Finally....some unique nursery art

No, I didn't forget to write a post today. I've just discovered that it's much better for me to write at night rather than during the day. Ironically, my mommy blog was keeping me from actually *being* a mommy so from now on I'll post late after the little ones are asleep for my coterie to read the next day.

I hope my loyal devotees appreciate this next post. I came across these a couple months ago when perusing (as I do) on etsy. Then today, stumped for an original blog idea, remembered these strange portraits and spent the last two hours sifting through endless etsy listings to finally find them with a simple google search. At any rate, here they are:

I think these would make great nursery art- a step above wooden letters that spell out your child's name hung on pink ribbons. The artist Lisa Golightly will incorporate your little one into one of her paintings.

Once an order is placed and your images are received, your piece can be created. Each painting is done by hand on a high quality canvas that is 1-1/2" deep, so it needs no framing. Because
every piece is made per order each has unique qualities that make it one of a kind-not the least of which is your child's face. Using your image(s) the face is printed using archival quality ink and transferred to the canvas. You should receive your art in approximately 4-6 weeks from time of order.

The REAL shire!!

This is soo amazing! I found this on sk*rt- my new favorite place to surf the web. If you've ever watched "The Lord of the Rings" and wished you too could live in the shire then check this out!

Simon, Jasmine, Cosmo and Elfie a Welsh family found a unique solution to the high-cost of housing while also indulging their desire to live closer to nature and built a small eco-home into a hillside. It took them a few months, a few thousand dollars, and a tolerance of mud and slugs.

Built by Dale, his father in law, visiting friends and "help from passers by" (good morning to you, oh and by the way, do you want to pick up a hammer and help me bang in this beam? weird.), none of whom were trained architects.

Said Dale, "This kind of building is accessible to anyone. My main relevant skills were being able bodied, having self belief and perseverence and a mate or two to give a lift now and again." (Umm, I have my doubts)

Some of the eco features include:
a skylight to let in natural light
solar panels to fuel lights and electronics like a cd player and computer
a refrigerator cooled by air coming underground through the foundation
water supplied by gravity from a nearby spring
collection of roof water for use in the garden
a compost toilet

At any rate, I think it's amazing! Check them out and find out how to make a hobbit home of your own (i'm a bit skeptical) on their website here.