Yes, I know, it has been way too long since my last post.  I'm sorry about that.  My life took the wrong turn back there and it has taken this long to get things back to an even keel.  If it is OK with y'all, I'll just ignore that hiatus. 

Now for my post:

Here's the thing, I'm not exactly sure if I should be happy or not.  My oldest had a bag boy at the local grocer try and flirt with her ... and she didn't even notice!  Should I be happy that my almost 12 YO has not gotten boy crazy yet?  Or should I be concerned that she doesn't even have the rudimentary knowledge of dealing with the opposite sex?  Or should I be really really terrified that high schol boys are trying to pick up my baby????  I just don't know.

On the crafty side, I am making a concerted effort to use my Ralvery account.  It's about time, I've only let it lanquish there for two years.  What I've seen I like though.  I do like the project feature and I have already posted two new projects.

The first one is a mystery stocking from the Thrifty Knitters sock club.  DD1 wants it in green with red, DD2 in pink (big surprise there!) and hubby is getting this one.


The other project is a scarf designed by DD1.  She wants it super long ... like as long as the Dr. Who scarf   Oh, and she wants it by Christmas.  Yeah, don't see that happening ...

There is something magical about a twirly skirt on a little girl! Although this one is a bit too twirly ... when she really gets going it shows off her underwear. Luckily she loves the "tights under a skirt" look so I don't have to worry about little boys ... too much.

Here is what it looks like sitting stillI also got a picture of the third skirt I made. I think this is my favorite of all the ones I made her. She should be set now. At least for a little while.


And not to be left out ..

Darn! I forgot to post anything Friday. And then I forgot to publish this yesterday. Darn! Darn! Darn! I was so close too. Only one week more and I would have made it. Oh well, it did make me want to write in my blog again ... which is the real reason I took up the challenge.

I was busy though. I'm in the process of turning all of those leftover tie ends into headbands. It is really really easy to do since half the work has already been done.

Here are the steps I did:

1. Snip off the small point on the remaining end.

2. Cut off the other end just before it starts to flair out again. Cut the longer piece in half. You should now have 3 pieces:


3. Se aside the flared piece. I'm not sure how I'll be using that. Look at the remaining 2 pieces, one should have a seam or 2 in it. Remove the interfacing from this piece and sew into a tube. Turn right side out.

4. Thread some elastic through the tube. 1/2 - 3/4 works best but I used 1/4 on a couple of them and they worked just fine.

5. (This is the easy to do, but tricky to explain part) Push the Tube down so that you have an elastic tail poking out. Stuff this tail into interfaced portion and sew into place. It should look like this


Now, tuck in the cut ends of the tube and slide it up over the unfinished ends of the interfaced section. Sew into place.

6. Wrap the Headband around your head and mark the elastic for a good fit. Cut it a little long (1/4 inch is good). Repeat step 5, making sure the cut end of the interfaced tube lines up with your mark on the elastic.

Your done!

What in the world do you you do with all those ugly ties?

Well, you could make a skirt out of them, but I for one wouldn't want one. I imagine it would be way to hard to clean.

So what did I do? I made a purse!





The kind folks on freecycle helped out (a lot). But you know, even the butt-ugly ones look great on the purse!

I actually finished 3 skirts for Princess this weekend. But in typical lazy mode ... I didn't take pictures of them. But, that may be a good thing because now I have fodder for my Blog! I'm almost there, at the end of the challenge.

So without further ado, here is skirt #1.



Princess is sporting the latest in tween style. I didn't think that the shirt and skirt went all that well together ... but I'm just a mom, what do I know

Did you notice the matching headband? I'm quite proud of those and they took hardly any effort to make. I guess this is the part where I thank my mom for giving me the idea. Apparently as a "child of the sixties" she made a lot of these with ribbon and elastic. I made the green one with that idea ... substituting a fabric tube for the ribbon.


It came out nice but was missing something. So I looked online and figured out what it was ... and got this fantastic tutorial to show me exactly how to do it.

I cheated slightly and used the serger. Turning a tube is so much easier with on of those. Just serge a long chain. Wrap the fabric around it and serge the seam. Pull on the chain, and viola!

Quick ... go read this

You done?

So how many of y'all could use a little Raul in your life? I know I can! DH and I used to have a running joke that started in college. It involved the guy hiding in the closet.

He was a great catch-all for those questions boyfriends seem to come up with. You know the ones ... "What took you so long?" "I was doing the guy in the closet"
... "Why are you so tired?" "Talk the he guy in the closet"

Somehow, the guy in the closet disappeared once the kiddos came into the picture. I think he needs to come back, gain a name, and start giving me gifts!