been there done that

cookies i made last week sometime...i'll share the recipe soon i have a secret ingredient that makes these babies something to talk about...

okay...so yes it's been a while. hi there! i apologize for my lack of being here. i mentioned a few posts back that i would be going to girls camp. yup that was last week...four days...30girls ages of 12 to 18...up in the mountains at almost 10,000 ft...i came home exhausted...then i got home and hugged the kids and husband and went on a 6 and half mile gorgeous hike with the fam...half of it being walked in water (and with a 30 lb kid on my shoulders, she was not a huge fan of the running water) with waterfalls. nope no pictures...because i was too scared of taking the camera on a water hike...but i think next time (yes, there will most def be a next time) i'll take the camera in the car and then come back to the last part of the hike and take a picture of the last waterfall. seriously nature can just be so gorgeous...which has sparked a quilt idea in my head. i can't wait to start it.


yesterday my mom got here. yay! she's been here colombian-izing our home with smells of pan de vonos, and frijoles. sooo yummy...and the kids are having a blast with her. we're still going to the pool every day that is remotely sunny (it's been gorgeous here!), and that's keeping my house nice and clean. i think this is the goal for the summer. swimming for hours equals tired kids and a clean house. i totally win all around on that one.
which leads me to next happenings. oh sigh...here we go...are you ready for some more been there done that...unfortunate events from my series?
get this=
my computer crashed. oh yes it did. on sunday to which i just thought "of course"...i mean i've been in a weird "i've pissed off someone who gives me bad luck vs good luck...so of course this would happen RIGHT NOW." okay so computer off to the computer doctor most likely i'll need a new one. it's been a while so i guess it's about time. i swear i don't want to keep this "unfortunate events" thing going...but COME ON. enough already...i don't need any more bad luck. okay? okay.
that said. i'm off today to yes, go swimming...maybe sew a little, and enjoy more colomibian cooking. i am hell bent on keeping my promise that this summer is all about my husband and kids and sprinkled with crafting here and there. i hope you hang in there with me...here's to family, traditions, some creating and no more unfortunate luck.
we'll talk soon.

spruce up your towel

so it's no secret we've been spending oodles and oodles of time at the pool. i wish it was the beach, but that's too far away, so the pool it shall be.
i've been asked by mique of 30 days to do a tutorial for her "funner in the summer" series. and nothing speaks more to me than a big ol nice beach/pool towel.
i took one big hot pink towel from ikea and coordinated it with two light pink hand towels also from ikea and created a super cute want to show this off to everyone towel.

supplies needed:
* one beach size towel
* two small hand towels in coordinating color.
*heat 'n bond iron on adhesive
*bowls and cups of different sizes (edited to bowls and not bowels!)
*pen
first you are going to get your bowls and cup and trace enough circles to fit on your hand towels on the paper side of the heat n bond.
*cut our your circles leaving a little extra so it makes it easier to cut out your circles once ironed on.
*iron on your circles onto the hand towels.
*cut out circles.
*take off paper from circles, and place them on your towel how you would like for them to be placed.
*press circles with iron so they will adhere to the towel.
sew around you circles to fully secure your circles onto your towel.

tada! done and ready to hit any body of water! this little girl loooves hers! thanks mique for letting me be a part of your "funner in the summer" series!
we'll talk soon!
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weekend sewing: katie's new dress

so this weekend the husband was gone. i know rotten on father's day weekend. nothing bad happened thank heavens. we went to the pool twice, and cleaned hard core. the boys even mowed the lawn.
all.of.it.
we have a lot of lawn.
i was feeling pretty good about how clean the house finally got that i pulled out the ol sewing machine and started her up. she was getting kind of lonely thinking i was mad at her. but really i've just not been feeling myself. but i made up for it by making this cute little dress i've been meaning to make in the heather ross book: weekend sewing.
instead of fabric i used a t-shirt from walmart. i think it cost $4.50...and i got an 4xl. yup didn't know they made that size but they do.

i cut up the shirt. using the bottom half as the dress part and a little of the top part for the ties.

she likes it a lot. it's perfect for summer.
and when it got a little cool in the evening we paired it up with her hot pink sweater. i told her she looked like strawberry shortcake. she corrected me and said "no, i'm a sen-sen (princess)" and then she continued to twirl.
i'm in a dress making kind of mood. hmmm maybe i'll make another one. just because.
i really love summer. have i mentioned that lately? yeah? well here it is again.
i.love.summer.
i wish we had it all the time.

to the guy who won't look at the camera...

to save his life.
i love you.
your kids love and adore you.
we are all so much more functional when you are around.
thanks for being the glue.
thanks for being their hero.
thanks for being my everything.
happy father's day.

things i'm crushing on

katie has just recently (finally) started to love her kitchen and all the things i've made for her to put in it.
click here to read more of what i'm crushing on... it may have to do something with the cute apron that matches her decor so well!

tie rattle snake buddy

hey yo yo! so apparently antibiotics are kicking in and i'm doing good. thanks for the well wishes! not a 100% yet but i can at least handle things again. i even got to knock out like a bazillion loads of laundry folding because my family can put laundry in the washer and dryer...but they can't figure out how to fold and put it back into the drawers. we'll be working on that for sure. i mean i want my boys' wife's to be happy with me. you know what i mean?


anywho, i've been asked by cindy of skip to my lou to make a craft for craft camp. and when i think of craft camp i think of fast, easy and with the kids. like as in lets get this done quickly before kids start losing interest, but lets make something that isn't going to be totally ugly.
so here you go:

lets face it, summer can be a loooong period of time if we don't keep the kids entertained. am i right? so here's a super easy craft you can do with any age of child.
supplies needed:
*old tie
*stuffing
*pencil with and eraser
*hot glue
*a little bit of red felt for tongue
*wiggle eyes, or white and black felt for eyes
*optional: for rattle: small plastic container from vending machine 1/2 way filled with dried peas.
*you are going to get stuffing and stuff it in the tail (the small end of the tie)
*with the eraser part of the pencil you are going to push it down. keep adding stuffing till your tail half is filled with stuffing.
*then you are going to do the same to the other side (the bigger side) of the tie. do so till you get to the opening of the tie.
*you will notice there's a "silk" lining inside the tie, but that it only goes a little ways down. open up that flap and add just enough stuffing that you will be able to have a fluffy head but not too much that you can't close it.
caution: do the hot glue gun part yourself. kids might get burned with the hot glue gun...heaven knows i do!!
*hot glue gun your opening and the sides so it seals it completely down.
optional: if you want the tail to actually rattle get yourself one of those little plastic containers that those vending machines have, you know the little fake ring holder things. and add some dried peas to it. insert it to the tail and then continue with instructions!
*now hot glue gun the tail shut.
next we are taking the twine and we are going to start wrapping it around the tail for the "rattle"
as you wrap hot glue gun it down with little dabs of glue.

finish it by cutting off excess twine.
add eyes and tongue with hot glue.
done! my boys (especially the 6 year old) loves their snakes. the 6 year old takes him everywhere we go. ;)
thanks cindy for letting me part of the skip to my lou roundup of crafts!
you can check out the other 30 ongoing crafts here!

we'll talk soon...we're off to the pool and then we're going to try to teach some boys how to fold laundry.
i may take up drinking.
i'm just sayin.
wish me luck.
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happiness is...

#3 noisemaker aka "outside-voice-only" child's feet yesterday morning.

• sleeping in till almost 9 and then having all your kids in bed with you watching sponge bob.
• having all your kids want to do a craft with you and have it turn out cute!
• daylight savings time so the family can play baseball with dad when he gets home from work.
• reading The Lightning Thief to the boys at night (i love it too!)
  

#3 and #4 noise maker enjoying each other's presence by the sprinklers

• going to the pool or playing in the sprinklers every day it's sunny and not too windy.
• having my kids getting along...85% of the time.
• having them cleaning the bathroom as a consequence of the 15% percent of the time they don't get along. (makes for a clean bathroom)
  

#2 #3 and #4 noisemakers with man's (and #4's) best friend

• eating otter pops for breakfast on your back porch. (don't worry mom they get cereal too)
  
• having my husband on the same continent and knowing he's not going anywhere anytime soon.
  
• having my peonies bloom without any assistance from me. because lets face it, if they needed assistance from me, the husband would have to install a drip line, of nutrients, and water that would run on a timer. he's the green thumb not me.
  

i've been trying to recoupe ever since my unfortunate events posts it seems.
shortly after i got home from that trip i've been battling some bad sinus thing. i didn't even sound sick i just felt (and feel) horrible and run down and my whole right side of my head felt like it wanted to explode and run away somewhere. literally my teeth felt like they were going to fall out. went to the doc they got me on three weeks of antibiotics, and some nasal stuff and blah de blah...anyways it's not getting any better...well it is, but it's not...now i just throw up in the mornings (NO I'M NOT PREGNANT!) and have major headaches, am dizzy and my ears feel like they have cotton in them and they hurt. but i can't stay sleeping all the time, thank heavens for tylenol sinus meds, so that i've been able to take the kids to the pool and we've been crafting kid crafts...but that's about it. i'm hoping this goes away soon because i'm suppose to go to girls camp next tuesday. i've lost count of how many times i've gone, and i've lost count of how many places i've been. but i love it. i just don't want to do it dizzy....and hurting.

thanks for all the link ups. i'll be checking them out as i get ready to leave and when i come back i'll do a rap up of a few faves as well as a few faves from the flicker group! hello look at you guys go!
keep it up guys! i'll be doing the measurements for the little star with a game plan for the quilt next week as well.
take care.
we'll talk soon!

link me up baby

well two weeks into summer and i'm here to let you know i'm surviving.
actually it's been a lot easier to get up and get out of the house this summer more so than other summers.
i think it's because my kids are getting older.
but with it being easier to get up and go places, it means it's harder to blog.
story time, going to the pool, seeing how many times during the week i can make fudge, playing baseball in the back yard, adding landscape to the back yard... and oh yeah going to the doctor for split eyebrows, heads, and sinus infections (that last one was me!)... yeah and the doctor thing was ALL this last weekend alone. ah!
so with all things going on, i've done minimal sewing, and it seems even more minimal blogging.
um sorry? but not really? i'm really enjoying hanging with the kids and with no real agenda.

i did before all things fell apart this weekend make a few more stars. but smaller. cute huh? i have a plan i swear. and i'll take you along for the ride. i'll give you the measurements later on for the smaller star but for now lets have you link up your projects you've been working on.
go ahead and start linking! i'll be over here maybe sewing my stars...

things i'm crushing on

this summer i'll be highlighting my wonderful sponsors, and i'll direct you to some of the things i've noticed, bookmarked and bought from these lovely stores.

check out the lovelies i'm highlighting this week

tutorial: how to make a star for a quilt

because i keep getting people excitedly showing me their first quilts due to my how to make a pinwheel tutorial and then my nine patch tutorial, i've decided that there are a lot of us out there that learn the same way. through step by step pictures.
and while quilting in general looks like a scary thing...it's not really. now, i don't think of myself as an awesome quilter...nope, i pretty much still think of myself as an average quilter still needing to learn a lot. but at least this way i can help out those of you that have been putting quilting on the side burner because you don't really have anyone to teach you.
well here you go.
another basic block, one of my favorites.
the quilt star.
what you will need for this block (which will measure 10 1/2" by 10 1/2" finished 10 by 10)
*1 main square measured at 5 1/2 by 5 1/2 inches
*4 white squares measured at 3 by 3 inches
*8 color squares (for this project i used the same color and fabric as my main square but you could do whatever color of fabric you like) measured at 3 by 3 inches
*4 white rectangles measured at 3 by 5 1/2 inches
*** use a 1/4 inch seam allowance for this project.
first thing we are going to do is draw a line down the the middle of your square from one point to the other point on the wrong side of your fabric.
do this for all your colored squares.
next we are getting the white rectangles and placing colored squares right sides together (with your drawn line facing you.) on one side of each of your white triangles
sew on your drawn line
and then continue onto the next block and the next block and so forth. leaving them "chained" together by the thread. this saves time and saves thread in your bobbin!
once all your squares are sewn on your rectangles, you can then cut the thread in between them.
next cut your excess off the square you just sewed on. just like the picture above.
open up and press with an iron
press your seams towards the colored block. (so they won't show through in the white of your quilt) now the first half of your rectangle is done.
next you need to gather up the last four colored blocks and do exactly the same as you did on the first side. (make sure you're sewing makes a point in the middle of your rectangle)
and once again cut off the excess of the square and press your seams to the color part of your block.
now you have your four points of the star.
next we are going to take the four white squares and two of your finished rectangles.
right sides together place on your rectangle the square. sew your first side, then repeat this for the other side.
open and press your seams with an iron (towards the colored part of your block )
you've just finished your top and bottom of your star block.
can you see it coming along?
get your middle square now.
place right sides together and and sew your left and right side rectangles (the ones withOUT the white squares attached.) to the main square.
press seams, now onto the top and bottom
right sides together sew your top and bottom on to the main square and rectangles.
uh, you just made it my friend. how do you feel?
yield one 10 1/2 by 10 1/2 inch block.
now keep making them till you have enough for a quilt top! how ever big you want it.

you betcha i'm working on making this into a quilt, with a little twist...we'll see how it turns out and how fast i get it done. we're in for some yucky weather...so i may just get some sewing done. we shall see!
come back monday for a link me up party #2. i want to see what you've been working on!
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