Fly on the Wall WEDNESDAY??? - February 2015

Welcome to a Fly on the Wall group post. Today 14 bloggers are inviting you to catch a glimpse of what you’d see if you were a fly on the wall in our homes. Come on in and buzz around my house.

Buzz around, see what you think, then click on these links for a peek into some other homes:

Baking in a Tornado

                    

Spatulas on Parade

Follow me home

Stacy Sews and Schools

Battered Hope

Just A Little Nutty

The Momisodes

Someone Else’s Genius

Eileen’s Perpetually Busy

Juicebox Confession

Dinosaur Superhero Mommy

Menopausal Mother

Disneyland in Kentucky

Go Mama O

If you're new to the Fly on the Wall posts, they are usually about funny little snippets that happen during the past month. But then sometimes people might forget to write those funny little snippets down. Then those people are probably not going to remember what those funny little snippets are. And forget asking the other people in the house. They aren't going to help you some people remember because those funny little snippets were about THEM!!

Here are some of the things I remembered. Then I'll show you some of the stuff we have been up to over the past month or so. 

The Crazy People That Live Here

Me

The Hubby

Jacob - 21 yr old son

Joshua - 19 yr old son

Deanna - 18 yr old daughter

Cailey - 10 yr old daughter

Colin - 7 yr old son

TJ - Jacob's best friend

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So, our power went out last Saturday night for about 10 hours. It was SOOOO cold!! The wind was awful!!

It was SOOO dark!!!! 

Here's what happened:

Joshua - Hey, Cloud, hiding in the guise of darkness. Oh, never mind. You're a hoodie.

So, Deanna has a flashlight but instead of using it she stumbles around in the dark kicking things and making a ton of noise.

Me - You could actually use that flashlight, y'know. Or are you TRYING to wake everyone up??

I put Deanna, Cailey and Colin in my bed (king sized) to keep them all warm. Cailey and Colin have been very sick and Deanna was starting to show symptoms. DH and I camped out in the living room. Around 4am, it was just too cold for me and I decided to see if I could sneak into the bed with them.

Apparently Deanna thought I was a blanket thief. 

I also grabbed Cailey's face a time or three while trying to get comfy. 

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TJ comes in the next morning, after the power is back on. 

I am whispering to him and telling him what happened.

TJ - Why are we whispering.

Me - Oh! Deanna is taking pictures of the cats.

Made perfect sense to me.

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Remember how I said Cailey and Colin have been very sick?

Cailey didn't realize that if you pass gas while you have a stomach bug, something other than gas just might shoot out. 

Thankfully she was already on the toilet.

Cailey tied her blanket around her head. She had tissues stuffed in the top part like a squirrel storing nuts. 

Deanna describes it like a magician pulling scarfs from his sleeve. 

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Deanna is playing a game with Colin but she keeps dying.

Colin to Joshua - Why can't she be smarter??

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Look what The Hubby got me for Valentine's Day!!

Isn't she beautiful??? A 1956 Singer And she WORKS!!! Perfectly!! I just need to figure out how to really use her. ;)

Here's my other vintage machine, a 1964 Kenmore. Unfortunately this one doesn't work but The Hubby only paid $20 for it.

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We went on a little field trip with one of our homeschool groups. We visited a local supermarket.

This was the highlight of the trip.

The kids even got to pet the lobster! Well, Cailey did. Colin wanted no part of it!!! LOL

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Before the kids got sick we managed to go to Home Depot for one of the kids' workshops.

We didn't get to go the one at Lowe's. They were both too sick. :(

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On a warmer day, we did painting on buffalo hides (paper bags) while we learned about the Plains Tribes.

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We made pictures of longhouses while learning about Woodlands Tribes.

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I found this really cool kit on clearance at Target and just had to grab it. 

They had so much fun with it!

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This was our first snow for 2015. Not much but they still had fun.

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Our first Easter candy of the year. Bunny faces! :D

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Cailey and Colin attended their first Valetine's Day party complete with Valentine's cards to pass out. As homeschoolers, this is one of the things we haven't done. 

Cailey chose Frozen cards while Colin had be print out Dr Who cards. ;)

They had tons of fun with their friends! But I forgot to take pictures. :/ I was too busy blabbing. Bad mommy!!

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Well, that's it for this month!!!

Don't forget to check out all the awesome blog posts!!

DIY Reversible Japanese Knot Bag

A few weeks ago a friend commissioned me to make her a couple of bags. She is a wonderfully talented crocheter and needed some bags to carry her projects in. 

This is the first bag I made for her, a large messenger bag. 
I completely meant to do a tutorial for it but I jumped in and started cutting and sewing before I remembered to take pictures! ARGH!! There goes my brain, again. :/

With the Japanese Knot Bag, I wanted a practice run before I made the real thing. That is what this one is.


WHAT I USED 

1 yard main fabric
1 yard contrasting fabric
Paper bag to draw out the pattern


This Japanese Knot Bag is bigger than most of the ones you will see that are already out there.


STEP 1

This is where I free handed the pattern. I went through a couple before I got the one I thought would work the best.
The ONLY thing I would change would be the length of the handles. I think it would hang much better if at least the shorter handle was 2 inches shorter. 


STEP 2

Cut 2 pieces from both fabrics.


STEP 3

With right sides together, pin and sew just where the red lines are.

Do this to both sets of pieces.


Trim the seam allowance down OR cut the curves. 
I just trimmed it down to nearly nothing. It makes the curves look SO MUCH nicer.

STEP 4 

Turn the lining right side out and slip it down into the main piece. 

Now, pin and sew where the red line is.

Trim the seam allowance down OR cut the in the curves.

STEP 5

Turn the bag right side out, pushing the lining down inside.

Fold the edges in on themselves and press. 

Pin and sew the handle edges closed.

Go back and top stitch the handles and the "neck" of the bag. If you like you can zigzag around the bottom curves of the handles. I did. I think it will make it sturdier. 

ALL DONE!!!

Now you have a reversible Japanese Knot Bag!!!!!

Hopefully I will get the real bag done before this post goes live. It's been crazy around here, as normal. C&C have been sick since the middle of last week!! Now the rest of us are starting to get it. I don't think we have enough bathrooms to accommodate that!!!! 

USE YOUR WORDS - February 2015 - Friday the 13th

 

 

Today’s post is a writing challenge. This is how it works: participating bloggers picked 4 – 6 words or short phrases for someone else to craft into a post. All words must be used at least once and all the posts will be unique as each writer has received their own set of words. That’s the challenge, here’s a fun twist; no one who’s participating knows who got their words and in what direction the writer will take them. Until now.

At the end of this post you’ll find links to the other blogs featuring this challenge. Check them all out, see what words they got and how they used them.

I’m using: Mousepad ~ heart-shaped ~ beer ~ dating ~ touched ~ star gazing

They were submitted by: Confessions of a Part-Time Working Mom

This here's a story about Billy-Joe and Bobbie-Sue.

Nope. Wrong story.

Here's a little ditty about Jack and Diane.

Opps! Sorry! Wrong again!

THIS is the story of Jimmy and Sally. 

They had been dating for a couple of months when they decided to take a drive out to the country to do some star gazing and maybe drink a couple of beers. 

It wasn't long before they started to have a bit of car trouble. (Isn't that always the case?)

It was a dark and deserted road. (Naturally.)

It seemed as if they were the only people for miles and miles around. (They were wrong. Dead wrong.)

Jimmy and Sally tried their cell phones but unfortunately they were out of tower range. (Of course.)

Jimmy told Sally to stay in the car. He was going to walk to the little house they saw a few miles back and see if he could use the phone. (You know they shouldn't be splitting up, right??)

Sally tried to argue but in the end Jimmy trudged off into the dark. (Had to be that way.)

Jimmy had only been gone a few minutes when Sally heard an ear-piercing scream. (You had to see that coming.)

Sally jumped out of the car and starting running the direction Jimmy went. (Yep, they are always dumb in situations like this.)

She yelled Jimmy's name over and over again. No answer. (Well, duh!)

Sally had slowed down to a walk. She was walking close to the edge of the road when something touched her hand. (OOOH, wonder what that could be!)

Sally screamed and jumped! There on the side of the road was a heart-shaped mouse pad covered in blood. (Didn't see THAT one coming, did you??)

Sally walked closer to the edge of the road. 

What was that thing sticking out a bush?

It looks like a shoe! Jimmy's shoe!!!

That was the last thing Sally ever saw. She became the next victim of the Heart-Shaped Mouse Pad Killer!

Not bad for Friday the 13th. ;)

Links to the other “Use Your Words” posts:

 Baking In A Tornado

 Spatulas on Parade

 Stacy Sews and Schools

 The Bergham’s Life Chronicles

 The Momisodes

 Battered Hope

 Eileen’s Perpetually Busy

 Confessions of a part-time working mom

 Someone Else’s Genius

 Sparkly Poetic Weirdo

 Southern Belle Charm

 Juicebox Confession

Blog with Friends - Creative Cupids - King and Queen of Hearts Crowns

Welcome to this month's Blog with Friends post!! This month we are the Creative Cupids and will be bringing you tons of Valentine's Day fun!!

For my part, I will be showing you how to make these King and Queen of Hearts Crowns. Just because I used a sewing machine doesn't mean YOU have to. You can use a glue gun or fabric glue to achieve something similar. 

WHAT I USED

Sheets of felt in Valentine's Day colors
Iron on interfacing
Iron on stars
Plastic gems
Flower trim


STEP 1

Cut one piece of felt in half.

STEP 2

Sew the ends together.
Fold in half and sew a long seam.
Turn right side out.


STEP 3

Take a sheet of felt and cut the interfacing to fit. Iron on the interfacing.


STEP 4

Fold the piece in half and cut out 1 large heart.
Repeat until you have 2 large hearts with interfacing and 2 large hearts without interfacing.

Then cut 2 smaller hearts with interfacing and 2 smaller hearts without interfacing. 

In a different color, cut 4 hearts without interfacing. These will need to fit on top of 2 large hearts and 2 smaller hearts. 


STEP 5

Now, take your hearts and put 1 interfaced heart with one heart without interfacing, matching up the sizes.

Sew together with a close zigzag stitch.


STEP 6

Place the other color hears on top and zigzag stitch in to place.


STEP 7

Measure the long thin piece to fit your child's head.
Cut and sew the ends together.


STEP 8

Add embellishments to the hearts. 


STEP 9 

Glue the hearts to the band and add embellishments.

With the pink crown, I cut 1 large heart with interfacing and 1 without. Then I cut 2 smaller hearts with interfacing and 2 without. 

ALL DONE!!

Now! On to all the FABULOUS posts for this month's Blog with Friends!!!



Karen at Baking in a Tornado has a recipe for these SOOOO CUTE, SOOOO YUMMY, Hugs and Kisses Cookies. 






















Robin at Someone Else's Genius will show you how to make this GOOOOORGEOUS  Love Cage Captured Chaninmaille Bracelet 






Robin over at The Momisodes has a Love Poem for you. You definitely don't want to miss THAT!!!




Lydia from Cluttered Genius is going to show you how to Repurpose Wedding Petals. SOOOO pretty!!!!




Christy at Uplifting Families has some Sweet & Salty Valentine's Day Popcorn. YUM!!!

An InLinkz Link-up

                  HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!

Secret Subject Swap - February 2015

Welcome to a Secret Subject Swap. This week, 15 brave bloggers picked a secret subject for someone else and were assigned a secret subject to interpret in their own style. Today we are all simultaneously divulging our topics and submitting our posts.

Here are links to all the sites now featuring Secret Subject Swap posts. Sit back, grab a cup, and check them all out. See you there:

 Baking In A Tornado

 Stacy Sews and Schools

 The Bergham’s Life Chronicles

 Spatulas on Parade

 Dinosaur Superhero Mommy

 The Momisodes

 Climaxed

 Confessions of a Part-Time Working Mom

 Southern Belle Charm

 The Lieber Family

 Someone Else’s Genius

 Evil Joy Speaks

 Disneyland in Kentucky

 Sparkly Poetic Weirdo

 Juicebox Confession


Your “Secret Subject” is:
Uh oh. You accidentally broke Cupid's leg, and he's unable to complete his duties. Thankfully, the Cupid you hurt is the one tasked with celebrity relationships, not with relationships in general. It is up to you to complete his quota for the two weeks he will need to heal. You're tasked with creating three new celebrity relationships and ending three current celebrity relationships. The created relationships can be rekindled romances. Who are you making fall in love and who is falling out of love?

It was submitted by: The Bergham Chronicles 

Oh, my! I've really done it this time. 

I didn't mean to hit Cupid with my van! I was backing out and he was in my blind spot! 

Now I have to take over for 2 weeks!!!
THE PRESSURE!!!! NOOOOO!!!!!!!

And I HAVE to break up 3 couples. OUCH!!!!!! 

The putting couples together part should be fairly easy. 

Well, I had better get on with it then.... 

SIGH...

So for my first couple I am going to have to break Anderson Cooper and his partner up. SORRY! It just has to be done!! Everyone knows he should totally be dating Tim Gunn!! Yes, there's a bit of an age difference there but who cares???? Anderson Cooper's mom is Gloria Vanderbilt! OF COURSE he should be dating Tim Gunn!!! 

Couple number 2...... Ok, so Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson should definitely be a thing. I'm all for Hermione and Ron in the HP world but in the real world they would just be SOOOOOO stinkin' cute together!!!! 

Number 3..... Maggie Smith and Patrick Stewart. Y'all know that would be awesome!!!! It might just be too awesome for the world to handle!!! 

Break Ups

That's tough.... 

How about no more Kim and Kanye. BLECK!! Just so sick of hearing about them. Blah, blah, blah!!!!

Miley Cyrus and Patrick Schwarzenegger??? Just no!! No, No, NO!!!!!!

For the last break up, I'm going with Posh and Becks just because that is too much perfection for one relationship, people. My goodness. 

I am so glad that I don't have this job! YILES!!!!! I couldn't take it!!! All those love lives! No thanks!!!!! 

DIY Doll Carrier

I had SO MUCH fun with this project!! My cousin is about to have her 2nd child in a couple of months and she commissioned me to sew a doll carrier for her son! He'll be able to carry his own "baby" around just like his mom and dad!!

I wish I had a model for this but it's just too small for my youngest kiddos. :( But I might have to make a couple of bigger ones. ;) 


WHAT I USED 

Less than 1/2 yard of 2 coordinating fabrics
2 coordinating buttons
Paper bag to draw out my pattern
Pinking shears used on the pocket and straps


STEP 1

The first thing I did was grab Cailey's Build-a-Bear bunny to help me measure out the pattern. 


STEP 2

I folded the pattern in half and evened it up where needed. 


STEP 3

Cut out 1 pattern piece for both coordinating fabrics.


STEP 4

Next, cut out the straps. 
Mine are 6" wide by 18" long. The length will vary on how big/small your child is. 
Measure from the center of their chest, diagonal across the back to the side. Then add 4".
The additional length will be for seam allowances and so there will be room to move the button as your child grows.


STEP 5

Cut out your pocket (if you want). Fold the edges over and press.
Sew a line across the top.
Pin in place on the front of piece of the carrier and sew in place.


STEP 6

Pin both of your pieces with right sides together.
You will sew them together EXCEPT between the pins and the across the very bottom.

We will be adding side straps where the pins are to hold the doll in place. We will also be adding the straps to the very bottom.

After you have it all sewn, turn right side out and press. 


STEP 7

Time for the button holes!!!
With my old machine, button holes were a pain in the rump!! Thankfully they are a breeze with my new machine. They come out right every single time! SHEW!!!!


STEP 8

Now for the straps!
Fold your pieces in half and press. 
Sew a seam down the raw edges.
Turn right side out.
Fold in half again and press.
Top stitch down both sides.

Fold the bottom over, press and sew across. 


STEP 9

Add your buttons to the ends of the straps!


STEP 10 

Insert the straps into the bottom of the carrier and pin in place.

Insert side straps into the sides of the back of the carrier and pin in place.

Top stitch the bottom half only!!!! 

Insert the side straps into the sides of the front of the carrier.

Top stitch the rest. Be careful to keep the rest of the carrier out of the way of the needle! It's not as hard as it may first look. ;)

                                      ALL DONE!!!!!!

Cailey's bunny looks so cute!! I am definitely going to have to make her one. She's never been big into dolls but she LOOOOOOOVES stuffed animals!!! They have always been her favorites! 


Let me know if you have any questions! 


HAVE FUN SEWING!!!

Valentine's Day Fun Learning Resources

WOW! Valentine's Day is coming up VERY soon!!! Seems like just yesterday it was Christmas!! Are the days going by faster????

I have put together a great list of Valentine's Day printables and activities! I can't wait to try them out!!

Here is a great list of books at Amazon. Some of our favorites are Splat, There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Rose, and I Love You, Stinkyface.


PRINTABLES

Love Quotes Copywork

The History of St. Valentine's Day 

There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Rose 

Q-Tip Painting Pages 

Math Games (Toddler to 4th Grade) 

Montessori Inspired Printables 


Do a Dot Printables 

Color by Number Pages 

Love Tot Pack 

Learning Pack (Pre-K to 1st) 

History of St. Valentine's Day (Pre-K to 5th) 

I <3 Trucks Pack 





ACTIVITIES

 9 Heart Experiments 

Montessori Activities 

30 Crafts and Activities 

Toothpick Structures 

Heart Art  

Montessori Inspired Activities 

Valentine's Slime 

Valentine's Playdough 

Science Experiments 

Love Potions (Science Experiments) 

Facts, History and Symbols 

Crafts 

Heart Bird Feeder 

History of Valentine's Day 





FOOD STUFF

Cupid Floats (We are SOOO doing these!!!)

Rice Krispie Treats 

21 Healthy Valentine's Day Treats 

Robot Treat 


Learn about the Heart

Montessori Heart Actvities 

Info and Activities 

Activities, Printable and Videos 

Circulatory System Lessons (Printables and Activities)

Circulatory System Notebooking Pages 

Worksheets 

Cardiovascular System Actvities 

Infographic 

Heart Activity 

How the Heart Works Activities 

Heart and Circulatory Activities 

Videos 

Videos 



 
         HAVE FUN LEARNING!!!