Laundry days

Sometimes doing laundry can be fun. When your kiddlets get old enough to start helping with chores, most things seem easier. T is at the age where she LOVES helping Mommy, and sometimes that help is not so much help. So I'm always excited to find an activity she can help with.
We discovered a new one today that also helps her learn.

Matching socks from the laundry while I fold her clothes.

This keeps her busy for about as long as it takes to fold one basket, and it's done infrequent enough that it is still as fun and exciting by the tenth time as it was the first time.

Simple, helpful, fun, and she is developing cognitive and memory skills.

Win-win-win.

Rolled Hemming

I usually shuddered at the thought of doing a rolled hem on a sheer fabric (which of couse tends to fray). I never seemed to be able to get each fold just right and my edges were always full of puckers and twists. Just the thought of it made me pause when choosing fabric, and yet the princessy feel of all those lovely lightweight and perfectly spring-breeze prints and solids, I just HAD to keep them in my sewing plans.

Fear not!

For doing rolled hems is almost child's play if you have a rolled hem foot for your machine!

As you can see in the picture below, the regular foot is on the machine, and the rolled hem foot is on the right, so you can see what it looks like on it's own. If you don't have one, they're an easy purchase, almost all machines come with one, but they are only about $6.00 at a fabric/craft store if you need a new one.

It can be tricky to get right if you don't know how to use it, and the following pictures have things wrong in them just so you can be aware of what to look out for.

Here you can see the fabric is not inside the roller on the presser foot, and is bunching towards the right side instead.

 This is what happens: The hem doesn't roll and even though it is folded over once, you're left with a raw edge that frays.

Below the fabric was pulling too far to the left of the presser foot, and so the fabric bunches and twists instead of rolling and lying flat.

Here is the correct way to use the rolled hem foot. First, you will start by hand rolling the hem, and putting all the fabric underneath the whole presser foot, just as normal. Stich about an inch or so, and then leaving your needle down, you can raise the foot and maneuver the fabric into the the rolling part and then lower it back down and continue stitching. You will want the fabric aligned correctly as in the picture below. Note that the right edge of the fabric is aligned with the left edge of the right side of the foot. And the raw edge of the fabric is aligned with the right side of the opening on the foot. You will want to maintain that all the way around your fabric edge and it will give you the perfect and flat rolled hem you desire.

 If you come across a seam, you can simply leave your needle down an inch or so before you get there, raise the foot, unhook the fabric, roll by hand, and sew as if you had a normal presser foot on the machine until you get to an inch beyond the seam, and then leaving your needle down, you can raise the foot, and get the fabric into your roller again to continue sewing with the rolled hem foot. It comes out with the beautiful edge in the picture below.

So don't be scared, get out there and work with sheers! Your edges will be as light and breezy as the fabrics you choose!

By the way, rolled hems can also be done with heavier fabrics, but you'll want to have a bigger rolled hem foot. If you look at the bottom, you'll be able to see how wide the gap in the foot is, which is how big your hem will be. Lighter fabrics use smaller hems, and heavier fabrics need wider hems. You can get varying sizes depending on what type of projects you'll be hemming.

Quick crafts

In times of need it is really nice to have ready to make crafts on hand. These can be found at a variety of places for fairly cheap, especially if it is a seasonal craft that is bought after the season! But these particular ones below were sent to us by a loving Grandma.

Since the new year started with me being ill, and Tot falling out of her crib for the first time, we needed a bit of a pick-me-up today. I started my declutter resolution (I actually have a calendar so if I can do the whole year it will be fabulous!) and decided to get these made instead of saving them around so they could be put away with the Christmas stuff.

Tot enjoys helping me with anything, and being put in charge of gluing made her day!

Now I could get all worried about how they're not straight or being put in the wrong place, but that would make it not so fun for her. We switched off placing and pressing and she did a great job with most of them. I confess I put the puppy one together though as it kept sliding and not sticking. But, she did the other two and the snowman one all by herself!

It was so much fun seeing how precise she is and how proud of her gluing skills!

Any fun quick crafts lately?

Magnet Fun

I'm not sure if it's a 2 year old thing, or just a quirk that Tot has, but she LOVES stickers. However, she doesn't love sticking them somewhere and leaving them there. She wants to stick, peel, stick elsewhere, peel again, stick again, etc etc etc...
Magnets seem a great solution to this, but there's not always a convenient spot, nor is there a great variety to be had like there are stickers.
Hence the magnetic paper solution!

You can find magnetic paper from Avery products in most any office supply store, I got mine at OfficeMax, but Walmart may carry it too. Once you have the magnetic paper, you can print directly on it from your color printer and simply cut the shapes out and enjoy.
However, Tot got these wonderful Christmas stickers in her Santa goodie bag and I wanted her to be able to play with them, so I tried out our first magnet game by using the stickers on the magnetic paper and then cutting them out.

It worked GREAT! Plus, there's very little waste on the magnetic paper, so I only used a little over half a sheet for this one toy.

She LOVES IT. It is the best of both worlds, and even though the little pieces do stick to the large background piece (also stuck to magnetic paper) I got her a dollar store cookie sheet, because the magnet is sort of weak and sticks much better to the metal.

It is a big hit with her, and she spent about a half hour of quiet concetrated play time right away so that is a hit for me as well!

Next is to figure out convenient and efficient storage for them. I'm thinking maybe just putting them in envelopes for now. Any suggestions?

Now I'm going to do Paper Dolls on magnetic paper so that she can play with and dress them! I can create a dollhouse for the background they could move around in, too. (I can even make her a play family by printing out pictures of us!) This should be great for church if I can find something besides the cookie sheet, a flat metal piece that would be more conveient to carry in my bag.

Christmas cookies

Christmas means baking and baking means cookies!
I sometimes go all out, but knowing that the season is getting on, and not feeling very creative in the kitchen, I was happy to take some shortcuts this year. However, I still wanted some nice festive cookies for giving to neighbors and friends, and to fancy up the table after dinner.

So...here are a couple tips to keep it simple.

By using colored sugars, candies and dough, you can have a nice variety of festive cookies without as much effort as making and decorating with frosting.
I used red and green MnMs in my chocolate chip cookies.
I put green food coloring to color one batch of chocolate chip cookie dough, this made the cookies green (my grinch cookies) and they look and taste good.
Using red and green colored sugar to top the peanut butter cookies gives them a nice holiday touch.
Not wanting the trouble of cutting out shapes, I added bits of peppermint (broken up candy canes) to the sugar cookie dough and simply baked them round. They smell and taste deliciously pepperminty, and have a nice Christmas feel to them.
Add in some colored candies and a bow, and you're all set for the holiday gift giving with only half the work and stress!

Fun With Family and Frugal Gifting

I admit I don't like winter. A BIG part of that is the cold. I hate being cold, and I hate being wet. So, snowball fighting is pretty much never on the fun scale for my want to do activities. However, the whole idea of just chucking things at each other for fun seems good. So I was ecstatic to come across the idea of using something besides SNOW to have a snowball fight.

The BEST suggestion was: ROLLED UP SOCKS. (Plus they're white, so it's almost authentic)
They're soft so no owies that icey snow could inflict, they're light so even misfires won't do too much damage, and they're readily available, especially on laundry day (and they would be nice and warm straight from the dryer mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm). Other suggestions were newspaper, styrofoam, or tinfoil.

I'm really excited to try this out, and I'm sure my family will be amenable, so I'll either update or post again when it really happens.

Topic 2: Most people are trying to frugal up their Christmas this year, and I've found a few ideas that sounded like something really fun to recieve that I wanted to share with everyone searching for that great idea of their own.

In a card, include a sheet of origami paper and directions to make a simple project. The ideas for these can be printed out online through various sites that teach origami, or you can check out a library book and copy a page for your recipients to enjoy. You can make almost anything with origami, so it's simply a matter of finding a subject you like and sending it on!
How cute is this bear: from Origami-club.com which is simple enough for kids and beginners to fold!

Or if you want to be more challenging:  a rose from Origami.com



Speaking of libraries...need a gift for someone who has it all? Why not broaden their horizons with some suggestions of books to read from their local library? It would be more meaningful if you have read and enjoyed the book, but would hold interest for the recipient as well. If you're unsure what their local library carries, you can usually find the catalog online, or through Worldcat.org  If it's a younger person you're sending the gift to, include an application for their own library card (usually found on the library website)

Let's face it, everyone likes getting letters instead of bills and junk. Give yourself the gift of return for only the cost of a stamp. Include in your letter/card and self addressed stamped envelope in order to encourage their reply. All they'll have to do then is respond and drop it in a mailbox, eliminating several things that could delay or stop a return letter, like finding addresses, envelopes or postage. You could even include some stationary with prewritten questions if the person REALLY needed a nudge. Who knows, a friendship going stale could be just waiting to blossom!

Fun for little hands

Christmas is so fun for little ones. What could be MORE stimulating to them than all the bright lights, colorful decor, and oh so playable knick knacks that come out. They really don't understand why all these fun things are not to be touched! I wanted to involve Tot as much as possible so in order to keep me sane and her happy we are having a toddler christmas this year. That means, only knick knacks that can be placed up high are gotten out (many left in storage) and no ornaments on the tree, just lights and garland.
It also means lots of play with soft dolls, christmas coloring books, christmas plastic toys (old stocking stuffers and fun games with christmas theme that are stored away until the season starts). AND it means that she gets to play with her own nativity. She spent hours playing with the magnetic one that her Great Grandma got her already

But she mostly liked turning the figures on their sides and then saying: "He's falling! He's falling!" This decidedly irreverant behavior towards the Savior's birth was grating on my nerves after the 20th time she dragged me over to see all the nativity turned on it's side. So my solution was to buy her a set of figures that she could move around and play with. Perhaps the "falling" would run it's course and she would actually listen to the story.

I found an old wooden hand carved set that used to be sold in the Lillian Vernon catalog at a second hand store and purchased it. We got all the nativity pieces, and some wooden blocks were thrown in as well.
She LOVES them, and has been moving them all around and playing with them. This time if they fall over she gets upset and cries instead of laughing and showing me. She is so happy to have one of her own that she can handle. She still isn't that interested in the story, but that will come with time and repetition. The important thing is that she is associating fun and Christmas and gets to have lots of fun with her nativity while Mommy's stays safe.

Owapalooza 3: When Etsy Sucks You In

Ok, I'm a bit of a sucker for a cute owl.
I found these babies on Etsy and had to get them.

How cute is this little jewled owl?! Which actually isn't THAT little, measuring about 2" X 2"

And WHOOOO doesn't need an owl to tell them the time?

OK, so I'm a Harry Potter nerd too, but I had to have my own Golden Snitch when the price was a mere $3.44! It also opens up to show the time.

Yes, my first Etsy purchase was a very pleasant experience! :)

What have you gotten from Etsy?

Quick tip of the day

It happens to all of us when sewing, little tail end threads are snipped and somehow miss that garbage can and end up on the floor. Most can be vacuumed up with no problems, but some are just long enough to tangle around the beater bar and create a snag that then tangles with other things...more thread, hair, miscellaneous fluff and junk that creeps along our floors and hides in our corners. Before you know it, your beater bar is full of yuckiness and inefficiency. Ugh.

Don't pick all this out manually, just grab your seam ripper and zip it through all that mess. Then it can be pulled out with no fuss, and your vacuum will be zooming along again happily grabbing the gunk from your flooring.

Quick Tips

Tip of the day:

If you are quickly finishing up a dress for your child to wear to church the next day, DO NOT BASTE something in as a shortcut! I know that you have several dresses held together with basting stitches that seem to be cemented together and will not come undone until the apocalypse hits, HOWEVER, the MINUTE that she goes into nursery, those stitches are coming out! And suddenly the cute dress she had on that garnered so many oohs and ahhs in your arrival to Sacrament Meeting turns instantly into some horrificly shaped pieces of cloth that will not stay put completely together no matter what you try, even staples! Just take the time to stitch everything including a backstitch (and you will inevitably have to rip out your most solid seams and start everything over, because it always happens when it's the worst possible time and situation, but that's the way it is, so deal) and make sure that sucker is staying together for the duration. Hand sewn stitches will require double and triple knots at the ends, and why not double the number of them just to be on the safe side? Do it. Just do it. You will be glad later as your little one is running around and rolling on the floor, and doing toddler things safely clothed.