Flashback Skinny Tee

When I saw the Flashback Skinny Tee on Pinterest I pinned it, waited about 5 minutes, and then bought it. I almost didn’t because it only goes up to 5T, so it’s too small for the middles, and Thea has more clothes than she knows what to do with, but I couldn’t stop myself. It’s so damn cute. I love my T4T pattern, but I wanted something with non-raglan sleeves. That Rae is a genius, I tell you.

After I got all the sewing done for Lincoln I took a quick break to make up a tee for Thea. It was kind of a test, because I wasn’t sure what the fit would be like on her Buddha belly. I used a sort of teal-green knit and hot pink ribbing. Oh yes, it’s fabulous.

I thought it was a little plain, so I free-handed some stars on freezer paper, and then painted them on with screen printing paint. After it dried I heat-set it with an iron, but I’m worried how it will hold up in the wash. Totally cute regardless.

I love this pattern, it sewed up so quickly, and she has some helpful tips in there for sewing with knits, like taking the walking foot off when you sew on the collar. Smart.

There are two things that I recommend you do if you want to sew with knits but are scared:
1. Buy some spray starch and starch your pieces before you sew. It will make them sturdier (and easier to feed through your machine) and less scary.
2. Buy a walking foot. Just do it. My machine will mangle knits unless I use my walking foot. It saved my sanity and made me much more confident with knit fabric.

I stocked up on ribbing (so easy on the cuffs and neckband!) and have a few more shirts already planned. Yay!

Hama bead earbuds

I saw this adorable project and lo and behold: I had a huge tub of those beads sitting right next to me on my desk. The girls love making those peg-board projects where you iron the beads to fuse them together. You know what I’m talking about? I’ve seen them called Perler beads and Hama beads, maybe it’s a brand-name thing. I don’t know, but I can tell you that this was fate. I had to do this project.

I didn’t have any cuticle scissors, so I just started chopping away at those things with a box cutter. Okay, that sounds terrible. I was careful, I promise.

I thought the project would be easy, but it was a pain to cut those little suckers open, and shoving them onto the headphone wire was a nightmare. I used a very skinny paintbrush to help: I cut the bead, poked the paintbrush into the center to open it, and then slid it on to the headphones. At the end of the whole thing, though, I was a total pro at it.

Super fancy!

Valentine's Day

This Valentine’s day, instead of buying the kids those cheap little boxes full of ridiculously tiny paper Valentine’s cards, I decided to make them. I saw this (genius!) idea on Pinterest, and decided to copy it. Immediately.

I took the girls’ pictures outside, and I tried to position their little fists so that there would be room above and below, and the lollipops wouldn’t block their heads. I think Phoebe’s is too low, and their fists should’ve filled more of the image, but whatevs. It’s still going to be cute.

Also? Snapfish was having a deal for 99 cent prints, so I got both of the girls 30 prints each, and the total was less than 5 bucks (with shipping!). All I need now are the lollipops.

Full tutorial here, from 24-7-356. I *almost* made these foam mustaches and lips instead, but the picture idea seemed much easier. Maybe we’ll do the other idea next year.

Oh, Pinterest. What would I do without you?

Pinterest Review: YOU GUYS. I MADE SOAP.

There’s this pin that I pinned to Pinterest (for good measure: pin, pinny, pinnalator. there. I’m done.) and I kept thinking how fun it would be to make soap. Then I thought about it some more, and didn’t really do much with it.

Part of my aversion to soap making is that, Hello! You can buy soap at the store for, like, a dollar. So it’s not really saving me a whole lot of money, and if you’re buying all these fancy-pants oils and whatnot then it doesn’t really make sense. That crap can get reeeeeaaaaally expensive.

Then I read a post that basically said the same thing, but in the entry she said that she doesn’t do it to *save* money, she does it for the joy of having this made-by-her beauty in her home that she and her family can enjoy. Ok, that makes more sense to me. Still expensive, but if I really enjoy the process then maybe I can make something lovely and not mind investing the money into it.

I wanted to start with something pretty easy, and I was super scared of the whole lye thing. I didn’t want to burn off my eyeballs or anything. So I decided that making a simple recipe that I could use for laundry and dishes was the best plan.

I bought a can of vegetable shortening at the store for $3. I ordered the lye online (but have since found if for way cheaper here). I settled on tea tree oil as the scent, since it’s for laundry and dishes it didn’t have to be fancy. Then I bought a scale, a handmixer, and some dedicated soap-making supplies.

It was a little spendy for all the startup, but I can use the scale for other things, so I guess it’s not that big of a deal.

The actual soap making process was a snap. So easy. Really. I used the exact recipe and tutorial from this video, and it worked like a charm. I may have over-blended it sightly, since my trace was a little thicker than her video, but whatevs. I figured if I royally screwed it up I was just washing dishes and laundry, so what did it matter?

Well. I poured the soap into a plastic-lined cardboard box, and let it sit for two days. When I took it out and cut it up I was feeling very pleased with myself. I totally did it, you guys. For realsies, all by myself. The hardest part was leaving it alone to cure for 3+ weeks, but that part is finally over, and I think it was worth the wait.

Since the soap has cured I’ve been using it for dishes (I haven’t made laundry soap with it yet, but I’ll keep you posted when I do). You only get a crappy iPhone camera picture because I haven’t taken any real pictures, but it’s soap. There’s not that much to see. The real magic is lathering that stuff on a sponge and washing up some dishes knowing that I MADE THAT. I did that. It’s functional, it works well, it smells great, and it gives me no small amount of joy to see that bar get used up.

I can’t wait to do it again, and this time I think I’ll do something citrus-y like lemongrass or grapefruit. I’m so proud of myself, and it will actually be very cheap to do again since I have already bought everything. I’ll just need another tub of shortening ($3!) and it will yield a heck of a lot of soap.

I have my eye on a shampoo bar next, I think. I’ve been fascinated with shampoo bars ever since I bought one from Lush. I can’t wait to try it.

Pinterest Review: White Chicken Enchiladas

I hate to post two cooking reviews from Pinterest in a row, but I am so happy with how these turned out.  No pic this time, but you can get the recipe from Joyful Mama’s Kitchen.

My mom makes these same chicken enchiladas, and I’ve wanted her recipe for years.  They are incredible — she bakes several pans at the same time and they’re always gone in a day or two.  I’m happy to say that this recipe is just as good as hers.  One pan fed all of us, with a little leftover for my lunch the next day.

NOMS.