America's High Five

Paul picked these T-shirts up awhile back.  They were in a $5 box from a downtown vendor so he grabbed two knowing I'd enjoy doing something with them.  Here's what I did:

Baby romper, pattern info here .

And a matching T for the mom, great tutorial here .  I even convinced our ward cub scout leader that we could not attend Cub Scout Day camp without refashioning our awkward T's......

If you look close enough you will see white exposed serged stitching.  I'm really good at getting a really bad tension on my serger so I thought I'd make it work for me and I do like the design result.

"High Five" for the great state of Michigan and "High Five" for refashioning!

                  

2010 Tie Dyes

Nothing screams summer fun like tie dyes!  So here we all are having fun at the old family farm.

I lost count of how many shirts were completed but it was enough to use up 12 pints of dye - it was a great activity for the older children and their visiting cousins.

For as fun and free as it is though, I take my tie dying very seriously, thinking about it in advance, ordering the supplies from dharma trading , and making sure there are no children under the age of 8 disturbing the process.

If only I wasn't already so behind on laundry!  next time I'll put that in as part of the planning process.        

Huron River Weed Walk by James

        

This weekend Mommy,William, and I took a guided tour on local plants and herbs. Our guide was Linda Diane Feldt . We learned what herbs were edible and their healing powers.

We sampled the following plants along the way:  Lambs Quarter, Wild Grape Vine, Clover, Pepper Grass, Bladderwort, Dames Rocket and Mulberries.  Below I am eating Bladderwort flowers.

Here is a picture of Catnip.  Catnip can be used to repel mosquitos if you break it up and put it in your hair or rub it on your skin.

We also learned that Burdock leaves can be used on burns.  Henry touched the hot iron yesterday and we went outside but couldn't find any in our yard.  Some people eat the Burdock roots.

Plantain you can use on sores and rashes.  You can chew on it if you have a sore throat.

We had a lot of fun and we learned too much to remember but are happy we took pictures and notes.  The best part was finding mulberries.

Civil War Days by William

This Spring we went on a fun field trip.   We went to Greenfield Village for the Civil War Days.  It seems like we had to walk 3 miles from our car to the entrance because all the close parking lots were full.  It was very hot and Peter really wanted to go on the locomotive but Daddy said it was too crowded to go on any rides.  We checked out the Union camp instead.  The actors told us how it would be to live there.  Even if it was hot you would have to wear a wool coat.  All the actors looked old fashioned and they enjoyed being there.  We went into a tent.  Here is the picture.

 
One of the actors said you would sleep in that tent on top of hay.  We saw lots of tents.  In one of the tents there was hot stove for cooking so we had to keep Henry away from it.  Daddy was thirsty and he asked an actor "hey do you have any Gatorade"?  the actor said "What's Gatorade, is it some kind of new alcohol"? We just walked on because we knew he was pretending.

The actors let me try on a uniform and it was so hot.  After we got home I ran to a history book and read about the Civil War.  It was interesting and also sad because because so many people died.

A Dress that was Given a Second Chance

These dresses were intended to be for Easter but the sewing wasn't happening then.  The inspiration for them came in a dream back in December and I remember waking up in the early morning sketching it out and taking notes.  The inspiration was not so much the design but the simplicity of the construction, if I could find dressy enough knit it could be pulled off.   Here's what I started with:

  
This is the twin set I picked up at Salvation Army the night I went into labor with George.  I remember not feeling very good (backache and mild contractions), the check out line extended back into the depths of the store and I would have discarded all my items and headed straight home if it were not for this sweater set.  They were just the right color and texture and I was sure I could squeeze two bodices out of them.  At $6 the set was a little pricey for Salvation Army but I knew it was just what I was looking for.

I used the same basic bodice pattern from their knit Christmas dresses only shortening the sleeves, lowering the neckline and replacing the peter pan collar with a standing collar.  The skirt came from a box of scraps my sister in law sent me, it is made from yards of leftover sateen twill only 15" wide.  So I pieced the twill together with a rolled hem exposed on the outside to make it look it was part of the design.

I got that far last week and just as I was about to piece the bodice to the skirt I discovered little slashes across Maryanna's bodice.  She likes to "help" me when I sew but what she had obviously done was of no help.  I threw both dresses in a big heap next to the garbage, ran upstairs passed the neglected laundry and messy kitchen (yes I ignored all my own sewing rules ) and buried my tears in a pillow.  It wasn't so much the loss of the dresses that got me down but the fact that my first real sewing project after having the baby was going to be flopped (I don't count the diapers because that was task sewing not fun sewing).  I honestly wondered if it was time to quit sewing until my children were grown.

Mid week it was time for a big basement clean up.  When I looked over at the dresses heaped in a pile headed for the trash I had a vision of what the skirts would be.  All tucked, bunched and stitched at each gore there would be enough distraction from the little slashes across Maryanna's front and back bodice.  So I gently zig-zagged over the slashes and Maryanna suggested we put a sash around the waist to cover it even more (the original design had the bow tied up to the side at the collar).  So that's what we did and here is a close up of the damage, there are five of these scars in total.

 
The dresses are paired with their fun and fluffy slips from last year and over all I'm pleased with how they look from far away.  But since they were headed for the trash anyways I'm not as concerned about them ruining them.  Clara's already has a nice oil stain on the bodice after getting into the baby massage oil and Maryanna's sleeves are stretched and distorted after pulling her head through one of the sleeves instead of the neckline.

It was a nice lesson in not giving up and also a reminder of what really is important.... what makes my girls special is not their clothes but their irresistible (and sometimes mischievous) smiles.

Summer Potions

I call these potions because I can't find anyone besides myself who thinks they taste good.  Even after explaining their health benefits no one is convinced they are worth drinking.  Lucky for me I like both the taste and the way they make me feel. 

Chilled San Pellegrino with Whey and Fresh Squeezed Lemon

I was served this at a local Weston Price meeting and after taking one sip I smiled and asked for the recipe.  The ladies kind of laughed at me and just said "it is what it is" San Pelligrino, whey, and fresh squeezed lemon juice.  

Whey is the clear liquid that separates from our cultured kefir and is full of probiotics, protein, minerals and has been thought to help regulate blood sugar, and aid digestion.  Mixed with sparkling mineral water and lemon it is both refreshing and filling on those evenings when it is just too hot to stuff the belly.

Lavender Peppermint Herbal Tea

This is tastes great both warm and chilled.  Warm before bed helps induce sleep and chilled with honey makes an energizing post workout beverage.  

I added 1 tsp of each herb to a qt size mason jar then poured hot (almost boiling) water on top.  Covering this tightly will help release the oils but unlike my pregnancy potion this one should not steep for more than 10 minutes because the mint will not taste good if after 10 minutes.  Don't forget to strain it.

Beet Kvass

    

This one always scares my family, it basically is just fermented beet juice.  And to be honest I don't really know what the health benefits are but I'm sure if you googled it all sorts of great stuff would surface.  I just like love this beverage because beets are yummy and it is so easy to make.

I got the recipe from my favorite cookbook Nourishing Traditions . Basically you peel and chop 3 beets and stick them in a 2 qt mason jar.  Add 1/4 cup whey (again I get my from strained kefir), 1 T salt (I use half that amount) then fill to the top with filtered water.  Close it up and after about 2 days on the counter it should be ready.

Just a couple warnings though, beets tend to discolor urine and if you are not careful you may end up with a very staining joker like mustache.

Let me know if you try any of these and please share your own potions because I'm sure I'd love to try them.

 

Chalkboard Banner

This chalkboard banner was made to hang above our kitchen sink.  It is large enough (36"x45") for all to read from the kitchen table and the message changes each week.

My sister Mary and I came up with the idea and she is now selling some in her etsy shop - check them out .

Our family usually writes out scriptures, one that relates to what was taught at Family Home Evening and all are encouraged to memorize it.  We practice it at mealtimes and those who do memorize it are rewarded with a scripture sticker .

This week's lesson was from Thomas S. Monson's recent message in the Ensign titled "Canaries with Gray on their Wings" so that is where the above quote is from.

Despite my sloppy handwriting I'm glad to have that chalkboard banner hanging in encouragement, whatever the message or scripture may be, because it is in the kitchen around 5:30 pm that I need it the most!

Diaper Rainbow

The little boys needed some new diapers so I gave my precious sewing time to complete the above rainbow.  I admit I would have enjoyed sewing spring/summer girl clothes more but diapers were high priority and by sewing them myself I think I saved more than a couple hundred dollars.

A few hundred dollars?...... Yes, cloth diapers are kind of a big investment but after committing to them for almost 4 years I believe the investment has paid off.

I already listed my reasons why back in 2007 but I will list them again.

-gentle for babies sensitive skin
-potty train earlier (I am convinced of this!)
-better for the earth (though technically debatable at least I feel better about decreasing our waste)
-softer landing for when they fall on their bums (only kidding)

Switching to cloth diapers can be a bit overwhelming because their are so many options now.  I started with a combination of bumgenius AIO (all in one) and Fuzzi Bunz pocket diapers and now prefer to use a combination of prefolds (the old fashion rectangles) and pocket diapers.

I used Very Baby's one size pocket diaper pattern and only had to tweak it a little bit before going forward with mass production.  The rest of the materials were ordered from Wazoodle fabrics and I could not have gotten the job done without  good amount of time at my snap press .

Here are a few closer shots.  I'd be happy to advise anyone interested in switching over or sewing their own.