simple Analogy

"Tie Dye" Paper Towels

Tie dye is so in this season.  I watched Bev's daughter on Friday and she joined the boys and I in making these dyed paper towels for Friday art class.  No rubber bands necessary!

I put food coloring into cups and added a little water.  Then we folded the paper towels all crazy and dipped each corner into a different color.  When all the corners were dipped, we opened the towel and laid it on some plastic bags to dry. 

What do you do with these?  We cut pieces and layered them on a cards.  You can use them in an art journal or to wrap small gifts.  Use your imagination!  Just make sure to cover your table/clothes and if you don't want your hands to be colorful until after a few washes, wear rubber/latex gloves.

BTW - This is NOT the craft along project for May.  I'll post that on May first!

Initial Impression

I did up some shirts for Emily and her sister.  Plain t-shirts are just another excuse for me to do some more reverse applique!

Toe to Toe

I went toe to toe with the girls this weekend.  While my guys were tentless (the friend who invited them to stay with him in his tent didn't show up) and fighting rain at their campout this weekend, Mom, Tracy, Magdis, and I took time out to pamper our feet with home pedicures.  What a difference a little pampering can do!  It was such a great weekend.  Good food, great dessert, and fun company!  Thanks for keeping me company this weekend, girls!

Little Bo Peep

***Those visiting from the Bloggers Quilt Festival, my favorite quilt is here.  I guess I didn't follow the directions and put in the exact url for that post, just my general one.  As I've been looking at some of the other links, I see I am not alone.  I'm blaming it on being so excited about this that I hurried through the directions, not really reading them entirely!  I can just hear my fifth grade teacher in the background, "FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS!!!!!"  I guess I didn't learn.  I'll remember for next time.***

My niece is turning 4.  She hates to wear anything but skirts/dresses that "poof".  Her closet would have been my dream closet when I was little.  To add to her collection, I made her the "Little Bo Peep skirt in Seams To Me by Anna Maria Horner using some of my favorite Good Folks fabrics.

  I'm getting the hang of ruffles.  They don't intimidate me as much any more.

This pattern was very straightforward.  I did have to read the instructions and the special section on doing french seams.  Never done those before, but once I figured out what I was doing, they were simple.  They also make the skirt look very professional - no serged edges.

I would so like to wear one of these skirts.  If only I were 4 again!

My Favorite Quilt

My quilt for the Bloggers Quilt Festival.  I just realized, I never took a picture of the completed quilt, but this will give you an idea of what the finished top looked like.

This quilt was made using Amy Karol's pattern in Simple Contemporary Quilts.  I cut it down to make a baby quilt.  It was so fun, and I learned several new techniques:

applique, free motion stitching, and hand stitching for embellishment

 

 

free motion quilting

 

hand stitched binding

 

Looking back at this again makes me want to do another one!

Jammin' With Beethoven's Wig

Our family has enjoyed Beethoven's Wigfor several years. These CD's are a great way to introduce children to classical music.  Richard Perlmutter, the mastermind behind Beethoven's Wig and lead vocalist, takes classical pieces and writes imaginative lyrics to them, often including the name of the composer and/or the title of the song, leaving you with an unforgettable way to remember the song. 

Saturday my mom treated us to Beethoven's Wig- the concert.  To our surprise, Richard himself and the original singers performed accompanied by the Sam Houston State Orchestra.  We thought the CD's were good, but seeing it in person was awesome.  The orchestra was wonderfully talented.  The performers were so engaging.  It was very interactive and the kids in the audience were absolutely captivated, as were Mom, Joel, and I.  It's been a long time since we've been to a concert so entertaining and fun.

Landon's and my favorite:  Beep, Beep, Beep (Moonlight Sonata, Beethoven)

Noah's favorite song:  Midnight Snack (Habanera from Carmen, Bizet) 

What a Relief

• The boy's campout was canceled for the weekend because of rain.  Good thing, too!
• Because the campout was rescheduled, we have an extra week to work on their grand prix cars!  Woo hoo - cause we haven't even started!
• My car didn't overheat on the way to Tracy's birthday breakfast!  Joel fixed it!
• I made it home in the POURING rain after the breakfast.  I hate driving in rain like that!
• I got some time to sew a skirt for my niece's birthday!  So cute!  I'll show you when the sun returns to this part of the country.
• I got to take a nice nap while it rained.
• We think we figured out what has been making Noah afraid at night.  Nothing that a shut door so he doesn't have to look down a dark hall at night, and a flip of his blinds so that he doesn't have to see the neighbor's palm trees bending in the wind won't fix. 
• There was just enough chicken and rice in the kitchen to make dinner on Saturday night.  I don't know what happened this week!  Either we were really hungry early on or I just didn't buy enough to handle the full week.
• Started reading this and this for the I don't know how many-th time.  I can't put them down either, Michelle!

Hope your weekend is going well, too!

Pomegranates and a Handful of Stones

Our neighbor's pomegranate tree is in bloom.  This is a tree of contention with me.  It hangs over our fence all year around.  When the pomegranates are ripe, the neighbors do not pick them.  They let them rot, which brings tons of scavenger bugs that eat the rotting pomegranates.  What a waste!  Yesterday when I saw there was a beauty of a bloom right within my grasp, I cut a stem.  That'll be one less rotten, buggy pomegranate that falls over our fence this year. 

I decided to make a new banner with it.  Landon has five smooth little stones that my mom brought back from her trip to Israel years ago.  She picked them out of the same little stream where David picked up his before he rocked Goliath.  Isn't that cool!  These stones are so pretty, and they look great with the flower.  I played around on picnik trying different effects with the photo.  Perfect! 

Sometimes

Sometimes when you go out to photograph one thing, you find another.  When I went out to take pictures of some flowers that I thought I had killed, but miraculously are blooming again, I found this little guy.  He is so small, which is the way I was feeling today.  As I took pictures of him, I realized that if this grasshopper waits for a few days his little world will be overwhelmed with beauty as that flower unfolds.  Kind of put it in perspective for me.  Thanks little guy.

New Week

Easter left me worn out, but after a good night's rest, I'm ready to tackle this week.  I have plans to cut into these lovelies and get crafty!