Monday is "Mom"-day

I have been thinking about having a "theme" day (or a couple of them) for a while now. Monday is typically my day for laundry. I start first thing in the morning (like 6:30 or so) and just plow through all the laundry in the house. (I usually finish around 2 or 3) I iron the clothes as they come out of the dryer so there's no ironing pile staring at me accusingly in the laundry room. I am lucky that we have a front loading washer so I can run a wash cycle in about 35 minutes- so it finishes at the same time as the drier. It is a long day, but after it's over I don't have to think about laundry for the rest of the week- which I like a lot! (although I do wash sheets on a separate day because I like to do the sanitary cycle which takes 3 hours)
Okay, so that got a little off topic. :)
So, where I was going with the whole laundry thing, is that Monday is usually my pick up the house/laundry/get on top of everything day where my main focus is solely on the "mom" parts of my life. Hence the Monday is "Mom"-day.

I thought I would kick off this first "Mom"day with a couple pics from my baby's b-day last week. Her older brother and sister wanted to hang up the streamers. I was hesitating. Why? I don't know. Tape on the wall, streamers shredded all over the house, just one more thing to manage. But I made myself get over it and just let them put it up for their sister. As you can see, she loved it. The two little ones spent almost an hour just running back and forth through the streamers. The next picture is the treat we had for the "party". It's a mini cupcake with chocolate pudding mixed with cool whip and toppings of the kids' choice on top. (their options were mini cookies, mini choc chips, mini marshmallows- sensing a theme? it was totally un-intended) I put them in these little glasses I bought at IKEA ($1.50 for 6) and the kids thought they were great. Simple and fun.

I'm going to try harder to just let go and do things that the kid's want to, even if there's a mess involved.

Handbag using Amy Butler's Blossom Pattern

So I saw this pattern over at Sew, Mama Sew! It was free, and a gorgeous bag and I thought, "I've made a ton of tote bags, I'm sure I can handle this!"

Ummm, yeah- not so much.

This baby was a bear for me- mostly because I started with two fatal flaws- the fabric I chose was too heavy and the interfacing I used was fusible- so it was too stiff. I wrestled with this bag (and I do mean that literally- my hands and arms are still sore). I broke 4 needles on my sewing machine. I even had to sew with pliers to get the dividers bar tacked into the bag. And then, just as it was coming together, just as I was about to conquer this challenge- I realized that the snaps wouldn't work as positioned. I'm not sure if I read the pattern wrong, or if they're off a little. So I improvised. Say hello to the giant button and elastic hair band! Gah! At that point I was in it too far to go back, and I couldn't scrap it- I had over $20 invested in all the interfacing, fabric and supplies (which is a steal, since if you paid full retail for all the required materials you'd be well over $40) that I couldn't just walk away from.

So, even after all that- I LOVE THIS BAG!!! {tear} It's beautiful. And I love the stiff, unyielding too thick fabric- your tangerine loveliness just makes me happy. And you gorgeous- not in the pattern- turquoise button- you are lovely and just the pop of color this mama loves! The dividers are awesome, it holds everything I want. The handles are sturdy and I can't wait to take this baby out on the town and show her off. Just don't look too closely if you spot her in public, she's shy. ;) Linking up to Tatertots and Jello weekend wrapup party and to Sew Much Ado's We Did It Wednesday!

Winter decorations

My winter decorations are few and far between. After these two things I am going to show you today, there's only a snowman family cookie jar left. (and since I had nothing to do with owning/making it, I'm not even going to show it to you) But, the two things I DO have, I really like. Maybe one day I'll be up to getting more done for this dreary month of January, but for right now, I'm simply too tired from Christmasing to wow up my house for winter.

These blocks are made from a 4X4 post. If you cut out 4" (approx) blocks, then cut those in half, you end up with 4X4X2 blocks that are square on the front. (instead of having rounded edges, which you get when you just cut a 2X4) The letters are chipboard that I painted a vanilla white. I used snowflake brads, buttons and brown ribbon to dress them up. I only painted the front of the blocks and after it dried and I sanded the edges, I stained the whole block a dark brown. I really love these blocks.

This block I really like, but I don't LOVE. It's just a length of 2X4, painted blue with scrapbook paper mod podged on. The letters were cut out using a cricut and I made the snowman up. He's the reason this block is still around since I ADORE him and his teeny little eyes!

So there you have it, in a really little nutshell. My Winter Decorations. :)

xoxo

Amy