After finishing projects for his brothers, I needed to give G equal time. I let him look through some of my patterns and he chose the jacket and T from Ottobre 1/06
I don't have the T started yet. As in, not even traced. But I did finish the jacket. Hooray! It was only a bit of an ordeal. E and baby M managed to loose my buttonhole foot. But I got creative and did snaps on the pocket instead of buttons. I haven't lined anything in a long time, so that was a nice mental challenge to do again.
I asked G if he wanted the "OttoJeans" print on the back or something else. He was adamant about it being "OttoJeans" so there ya go. He did figure out that my machine does letters, so he had to have his name on the jacket somewhere. Not just his initials on the front patch. So I did his name on the inside lining.
He's happy, I'm happy. Happy! Happy!
Tuesday, April 05, 2011
Sewing for G
Posted by RasJane at 1:37 PM 2 comments
Monday, March 28, 2011
Ostara
We had a great Ostara this year. It was our first time celebrating with others and it was a nice change. I have been taking classes through Lyceum of Trees which have been wonderful. The group hosts regular Sabbats and Esbats that are open and often kid-friendly. We were a little late getting to the party as G also had a birthday party to attend for one of his friends. So, we missed the egg dying with natural dyes (boo) but everyone was so sweet and reset an egg hunt for my kids. Here they are hunting for eggs.
I love this last one. E figured out pretty quick that the eggs had CANDY inside. Forget this gathering for fun stuff. He had to stop right then, empty his pockets and start eating immediately. And since big M couldn't eat the candy and G just wasn't as interested as his younger, sugar addicted brother, E made a right haul. Below is the haul. Yeah, we had to drag him away. Guess what his favorite holiday is now?
Our friend Gina and her kids loaned us some books, so we read the story of the Rabbit in the moon. After eating some candy, we enjoyed the potluck. Mmmm, yummy food!
Then, with a slight break in the rain, the Lyceum elders conducted the Ostara ritual. We held our eggs and thought of something good we wanted to bring into our lives. Ostara is about the coming spring full of growth, potential, things taking root. This is literal as we watch plants start growing again, but also figurative as we begin thinking of new projects and areas of our lives we want to improve. So we held our wishes in our eggs and promised to take them into ourselves as we ate the eggs. I'm bad at describing it, but it was beautiful, I promise. :-)
At home, we talked some about the newness that Spring provides. I love Spring. I love watching the flowers start to bloom. I adore trees in bloom! We have sung "Popcorn Popping" about a million times. More or less. And I am thinking about the garden. I planted some kale, spinach and kolrabi. I am waiting for the new moon when I will plant the rest of my seeds. I'm running a little late, but better late than never I guess. Those seeds will hang out in the greenhouse until the temperatures rise a bit and the rain stops pelting so hard on a near daily basis.
Anyway, Yay! for spring. May all the good you are hoping for take healthy root in your life, and may the warming sun give you strength in your endeavors.
Posted by RasJane at 1:59 PM 3 comments
Labels: adventures, holidays
Sewing for royalty
These are 3 of the crowns I made for E's preschool. I keep forgetting to take pictures of the ones I made for my OWN children. I also made a cape for E and will make one for little M too. I totally love sewing like this. Quick and easy. Instant results--well, almost instant. But much faster than entire outfits, that's for sure.
These are Ottobre again. Issue 4/04. I cut down the size on the crowns just a little. Since I was making them for preschool heads, I just removed one side of the tab. I also used velcro on the capes. I never use anything that ties around the neck. The pattern may actually call for velcro, I don't know as I didn't actually read it LOL.
Posted by RasJane at 1:17 PM 4 comments
Labels: sewing
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Amazing!
This is the next day. After making dinner, breakfast and lunch and a trip to the grocery store. So I'd say we're doing pretty well. I can look around and see a million more things I need to do, but really the counters were the main problem and they were the worst they'd been since we moved in.
Another reward that the boys had a blast with was the coin jar. I've been tossing coins in a can and bowl on the counter for ages and never gotten around to taking them in to do anything with them. So this morning we took them to the grocery store and dumped them all in the coinstar machine. $93.52!!! Holy crap, that's a lot of spare change. So now we get to shop around at Amazon and see what strikes our (my) fancy.
I have to say it is very disheartening that despite my week of cleaning and organizing and purging, my house is still a mess. I'm more of an instant gratification type. This is slow work. And every time I get something done, littles are dumping something out. But such is the life of a mom of younglings. I'm trying to appreciate their incredible curiosity. Although, included in my plans for when I have older children, is the plan to do some decorating when I can reasonably expect things like curtains to stay on the wall and small furniture to not be used as forts and projectiles. Any guesses how long that will take? Anyone want to come help me decorate then? Because I'm clueless!
Posted by RasJane at 1:22 PM 2 comments
Friday, March 04, 2011
Sewing Projects
Posted by RasJane at 1:09 PM 4 comments
Labels: sewing
Friday, January 28, 2011
A little creative variety
The crayons have been popular lately and the kids really want to color together. Well, make that Baby M really wants to color with her brothers. And on the wall. Time for a 2 birds with one stone solution. I grabbed a roll of paper and taped it to the wall under the window in the dining room. Just cheap IKEA paper. This is my thoughtful young artist making sure his castle has everything it needs. It took him all of 1 minute to adapt to the idea of sharing art space with his sister. He is such an awesome and patient big brother! He amazes me everyday.
Getting ready for Valentines Day! I made this felt heart banner this week. Every other heart has a candy heart-type saying on it written out in fabric paint. If anyone is interested in a how-to, let me know.
Posted by RasJane at 11:35 AM 5 comments
Friday, January 21, 2011
Cheesecake Ice Cream
I've had a request for this recipe, so I thought I'd share it here. It definitely doesn't belong in my allergy-free blog!
This makes enough to fit nicely in my Cuisinart 1.5 qt freezer.
Cheesecake Ice Cream
8 oz cream cheese
2/3 cup sugar (I use superfine for ice cream, but any sweetener you want would be great. Some people may want more.)
dash salt
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup heavy cream
In a mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese until it is smooth and creamy. Beat in the sugar, salt and vanilla. Add the buttermilk and beat until smooth. Add the cream and mix well. Chill in the refrigerator for an hour or two then freeze according to your ice cream freezer's directions. If you NEED an ice cream fix fast you can certainly just skip the refrigeration step.
You can serve it as it or top it with any toppings you want. I've thought of making some fruit sorbet and serving it layered with sorbet. Sorta like cherry cheesecake only in a sundae! Chocolate sauce is always a winner too.
Posted by RasJane at 5:56 PM 0 comments