Life in Motion

These kids just can't sit still. 

But why should they?

There's time enough to sit still when they get old, and a little lazy, like I feel right now.

Domestic Creativity

First some creativity.
We are finally decorating the children's bedrooms.  We couldn't find any good curtains, in the right size or color for the kids rooms.  I remembered the huge rainbow playsilk from Desertdyeworks that I had tucked away in my gift stash box.  Look - it works perfectly as a curtain!

This type of sheer curtain is very easy to make.  Find a drapey fabric that has finished edges all around.  Fold over the top edge, to form the tube that will slip over the curtain rod.  Then use buttons or some sort of decorative themed embellishment to secure the fold.  In this case, I used little flower embellishments and sewed them on at 8 inch intervals.  You could use buttons, bows, ribbon or any type of sewable, gluable, or fusible embellishment.   I did stitch these on, but you could also use some sort of glue or fusing adhesive to secure the foldover and embellishments.

This playsilk worked so beautifully that I ordered two more of them, in blue and green colortones, for my son's room.  I think we'll use a variety of buttons, his choice, to secure the fold on his curtains. 

You can do all sorts of variations on this theme, even stitching with a sewing machine for a much more durable curtain.  Experiment with longer pieces of cloth, let lots of it fold over and tie the excess with a gorgeous glitzy tassel.  I'm getting all sorts of ideas for my own bedroom now.

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Now for the less creative domain in my house- the kitchen!  I don't really mind cooking, but I hate the whole shebang that amounts to an organized family meal plan.  I dislike meal planning, making grocery lists, getting the timing straight.  There is a lot of organization that goes into the family meal planning and I dislike every bit of it.  Well, I discovered a service online that does all of the parts I hate, except the cleanup.  I now pay http://www.mealmixer.com $1 per week to create a menu based on our tastes, provide me with the exact recipes, and with a detailed grocery list organized by categories.

You have no idea how happy this makes me.  Now I sit down at the computer for about 15 minutes on Friday, get my meal plan set, print out my recipes and print out my grocery list.  I don't have to spend 2 hours pulling out cookbooks, cross referencing ingredients, or trying to make an organized list.   For one dollar a week, I've eliminated the most stressful annoying part of our family meal planning.  Now I can actually enjoy the cooking and the meal.  I spend less money on groceries too, because we buy the food we need once a week, rather than continually stopping by the store for one more thing.

the moral of the story?  - well for me, that was acknowledging that meal planning and organized grocery lists are sheer torture for me.  I'm glad the solution was so affordable.  Heck, I wouldn't plan anyone else's meals for $100, let alone $1. 

Jewelry, Cookies, and Crafts

Jewelry first

Two are already claimed.  The other two will go on Etsy soon.  I'm working on some other custom jewelry too that should be done in a few days.

Now to the cookies, kaleidoscope pinwheels from the Betty Crocker Cooky Book - basically butter cookies dyed with high fashion artificial colors and coated in sugary sprinkles.

and now the crafts.
After hours of tv, cookies, and computer games, my son announced that he must make a felt craft. I pulled out wool felt and two felt craft books to give him ideas.  He decided on the ipod case from Heartfelt.

front

back

He cut up the wool felt (recycled from outgrown pieces) and stitched them together.  I sewed on the button because the daredevil didn't want to poke his finger with a sharper needle.  He cut out the star, which we decided to glue onto the back.  He says I can use it until he gets his own personal mp3 player. 

Daughter decided to personalize her own clothing with some fabric markers (with my complete approval.)

 
She did a shirt for me too, but I think hers is better.

Kids do the best crafts when it's their own idea.