Pier Day with Immy

Sew Organized

I need a big binder to keep our life organized, the kind you can slip school and activity papers into without having to recopy everything down. So I got a normal one of the three ring sort, and I was very organized; but things would fall out when I went places. So I moved up to the zippered binder, and life was all good. Then I tried to go out again and realized that after carrying a purse and baby, or more often pushing the stroller, I had no hands left to carry a binder everywhere. I tried to make it work for a while, looking like a juggling bear the whole time, but after dropping the enormous binder on the babies head for the third time I realized it was just not gonna work.  

Down-sizing was not an option; I needed a binder with handles! For some reason though moving up to handles comes with a big price tag. I guess there are just a select few of us who actually need this level of organization. Since I'm a very cheap frugal, and I didn't want to shell out the big bucks, I decided to try my sewing machine at making some handles.

Here's what I had to start with.

Finished project!

 Luckily it worked perfect! I made the handles out of ribbon, cording, and rings. Sewed them all up and then stitched them to the binder with a denim needle. It turned out so cute! I decided to remove the logo from the front too, and make it look more purse-like.

 I can now slip the handles over my arm, or the stroller handle, and be off to every appointment/activity knowing I have everything I need. Hopefully this should keep me organized for a while; because the next step is wheeling around a filing cabinet.

November 2011

Egyptian Tomb

New Room

School Festival of the Ancients

PT

Immy

Lulu

JP

Baby pumpkin carving

After the kids are in bed

Happy Thanksgiving!

Annual family photo time

Not everyone is excited

We three by the sea

Me and PT

Black Cats, ghosts, and Mummies oh my!

I did a little Halloween sewing this year. 

Immy's costume was just assembled, and PT's costume was purchased (they looked so cute!), so I had a little more time to focus on the homemade ones.

We started at the Goodwill to pick up some cheap pieces to chop-up, and I found this little dress for Lulu.

I cut out all the shear pink fabric from the top piece. Then I chopped off the outer layer of the skirt; short in the front, and longer like a little bustle in the back.

I used the cut off skirt to make the sleeves, and I used the bottom part of an old T-shirt to make a little white pointy hat. She was so cute and looked just like a Victorian ghost! (There are no good pictures of her wearing the dress, because I am still pathetic with my new camera. Sorry.)

For JP I dug into my old pile of white T's again. I made his hat just like Lulu's and then used the rest to cut lots, and LOTS of 2" strips.

 I found the perfect Egyptian collar on an old costume at the Goodwill, so I bought that and fixed it to tie around his neck. The costume also came with ugly shoulder "adornment" which was perfect to cut off and turn into Egyptian cuffs! 

 

I hot glued all the strips to the hat and a cotton body suit we picked up at the Goodwill. (ok, it's technically not sewing, but I was still up until 1am two nights in a row.)

It turned out really amazing, and he was so excited! 

It was a great Halloween, and again, no good pics. We were just too busy having fun. ;)

Little Ghosts with Lulu

Lulu is really into ghosts right now since she wanted to be one for Halloween, so while Immy and JP were at school Lulu and I made up these little ghosts to decorate the house for our Halloween party.

 We used a bunch of coffee filters. Then turned them upside down, stuffed them with paper, and tied them off with some quilting thread. 

 Lulu helped draw faces on each one.

 We used a large craft needle to run thread through the top of the ghosts.

 

 The craft needle was perfect for little fingers, and Lulu was able to thread it all by her self!

 They were so cute! We hung them from the chandelier and in the front windows for our party!

Halloween 2011!

We love Halloween! A little mystery, a little scary, and a lot of fun. 

It's also marks the yearly "Night we met" anniversary for me and Dh (11years!), so that adds to the fun. This year we celebrated like, well like parents, and had a party for the kids.

It started out with a little party and some friends.

Sir Pumpkin PT

 Then the Trick-or-Treating prep was finished.

Black Cat Immy and Little Ghost Lulu

Monstrous Mummy JP

 We all went out Trick-or-Treating in the best neighborhood in town, ours! There were literally hundreds of Trick-or-Treaters in our neighborhood. They cleaned us out of the candy!

 Well, most of it, and our goblins tried to eat the rest.

 Mmmm, candy. The sugar high lasted well past 10pm.

But it's only once a year, so it's ok. ;)