thrifted and refashioned

We are still living out of the suitcases that were packed for summer.  The big switch did not happen this fall because most of it is packed far away in our storage unit.  Instead, I've been sewing and filling the need for warmer clothes at yard sales and thrift stores.

I hit a great Value Village in Spokane, WA where I picked up this pink skirt for $3 and coordinating T for $2.  The T was actually just a basic long sleeve T (size 12) so there was definite need for re-sizing and refashioning.

Refashioning is both fun and quick. First you need a pattern for a T-shirt that fits well, that can be copied off ready to wear or a purchased pattern. In this case I used the same pattern used for their fall turtle necks. The rest is just a matter of making something new out of something old. It isn't always easy to get a little girl to wear brown so it helped to add a bit of a ruffle and shiny buttons. This is basically just a fake placket top stitched on top of a ruffle.  The sleeves were cropped at the elbow with an addition of a split cuff.

Unfortunately she got into some markers just 10 minutes into the first wear, but that's what happens with kids clothes. A toothbrush and a few minutes of scrubbing with zout should fix that - and if it doesn't, at least it was only $2 and offered a bit of creative entertainment.  

deconstructed maternity skirt

This skirt used to be  jeans.  I picked them up at a yard sale for $2 from a Japanese woman who said they were too big for her because she wore them during her pregnancy (these were never maternity jeans, just a standard US size).  At 14 weeks I couldn't pull them up beyond my hips.  I liked the jeans but to be honest skirts are just more comfortable during any stage of pregnancy, so the deconstruction began with an addition of a panel.  

Clara (almost 3) was at my side as I stretched the cotton Lycra panel across my round belly.  She said, "oh mommy you're getting so fat", then continued "are you going to blow up like a balloon just like Aunt Marge (from Harry Potter II)"? I answered, "no I'm just growing a baby" and she replied "oh, that is going to be a fat baby".  So then I added a bit more ease into the panel because there's still 4 months to go and I'm sure to keep growing.  

Flan Uruguayo

Eva made a flan for us during our visit to Spokane.  It was so good I requested she make it again - not only to eat it but also to learn the process.

My first introduction to flan was disappointing, a fellow student brought a watery lumpy box mix version to our cultural food day in Spanish class.  But now it is the new family favorite.

6 eggs
1 qt. half & half
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup sugar + 12 TBS.

Heat 12 TBS of sugar in a frying pan over high heat and add a little water if needed. The sugar will caramelize but watch it closely and turn off the heat as soon as the color starts turning because my first batch burned and over powered the flan with bitterness. Pour this into the bottom of a flan dish, Eva did hers in a beautiful bunt pan. Place the flan dish in a bigger dish.

Mix the eggs, half & half, sugar and vanilla. I often reduce the sugar in recipes - this I did with 3/4 cup sugar. Run this mixture through a sieve to eliminate clumps of eggs then pour on top of the caramelized mixture.

Place the big dish holding the flan dish into the oven then pour boiling water around the bottom and fill to the same level as the flan (careful not to spill any water into the flan). Bake in the oven at 350 for 30 - 40 minutes or until firm. Let cool a bit then cover and put in the fridge. When ready to serve, carefully flip onto a serving plate.

Zoo Babies

We don't live too far from the zoo so our visits are weekly.  Most of the time it is just before the gates close and we have the place to ourselves.  Because of this, my kids feel like they know the animals personally (they also refuse to enter if they count more than 5 school buses).  

James has been following Christine the elephant closely ever since he read in the Hogel newsletter about her IVF treatment.  That was almost 2 years ago (gestation period for an elephant is 22 months) and we kept watching to see if she was getting bigger.  We even asked a caretaker whether it was a success - the poor employee had no idea what we were talking about.  To our delight this summer we read a posted announcement celebrating the arrival of a new baby elephant.  To our greater delight baby "Zuri" was released to the viewing area just last week.  Typically we spend no more than 5 min on any given animal but this last visit we were entertained by baby Zuri for almost 20 minutes.  Henry clapped his hands and squealed, Maryanna tried climbing over the fence, and Peter announced he no longer wanted a goat for our future farm, instead he insisted "a baby elephant would be more fun".

Zuri wasn't the only addition to the zoo this summer.  We have already been following and watching the baby giraffe, meerkats, snow leopard, and tigers.  Some of them barely look like babies anymore but it sure has been fun.  William noted that there was similar behavior between babies humans and other animals.  I agreed as I watched the elephant try to climb on its red ball, roll off clumsily then run to the safety of its mother's leg.
  

Dinner Help

This is kind of reminds me of an Amelia Bedelia story.  I asked my dinner helper to prepare the potatoes by pricking them each with a fork.  This is what I found waiting to be placed in the oven.  I chuckled as I pulled the forks out and my dinner helper explained how he thought they were intended as handles.   

This is Me Journal

My oldest had his own scrapbook, my second had half a scrapbook, my third has a purchased yet empty scrapbook.  I have resorted to photo boxes in hopes of putting something together for each of them before they leave the nest.

In the meantime though I picked up a bunch of these journals my friend Carrie created.  I originally planned to only do this with the girls because the boys keep their own personal journals but when they saw Maryanna working on hers they insisted they all needed one.  So the plan is to give each of them one for their birthday to complete over the course of a year.

A few of my sisters also ordered a bunch but they plan of giving them to each of their children for Christmas and will begin them the first of the year. 

Maryanna got hers as a belated birthday present and had so much fun with the first entry that she has requested to work on it everyday - I think I'll keep it out of reach though and pull it out only on special days or just regular days when we need something special to do.  This should be fun for all of us, especially in 20 some years when we are looking back through them.       

Fair Wear

Monday was homeschool day at the State Fair - the whole family got in for $1!  Too bad we spent well over that amount at the concessions.  You'd think after seeing Food Inc. last Saturday night I'd refrain from such garbage but after petting all the well groomed cows and pigs the corn dogs didn't seem so bad.  Still I should have been wise like the other homeschoolers who packed bags of trail mix and raw veggies.

These skirts were perfect for the fair, they were fun, fluffy and in constant motion with the live music.  I made them a few weeks ago and they were so simple I made 6 more, one for a friend and 5 for my nieces (from ages 2-15, this is a fun look for all ages).  I didn't use a pattern and I think anyone could make these just as long as you have the right fabric and a few measurements.

For the first one I used an old orange dress with small polka dots for the underskirt then brown English netting for the over skirt. Cotton Lycra was used as the wide waist band with a casing for the satin ribbon. The other skirt I experimented with tulle over a cotton print and a rib knit as the waistband. By the end of the day the tulle was tearing and the rib knit had lost its ability to keep the skirt up. I kept having to retie the ribbon in order to make up for the stretched out knit. I suppose I could add some elastic into the casing but only if I take apart the waistband and replace the tulle with English netting. Or I could just keep it as a play skirt and not worry about the flaws - it was worth the experiment and now I know what not to do next time.

But if I do get around to making another I'll post the instructions.