Valentine Topiaries (or blue lollipops)

I made cute little valentine's day topiaries! Blue to match my livingroom of course. lol. Although my husband says they look like decorations for a baby shower, and/or lollipops. So they're valentine's lollipops. I care not. I like them anyways.

I put them in mugs because I dont have little flowerpots, but hopefully I can remedy that soon. This is not an original idea. I don't remember who or where, but it's probable it's through Daily DIY on One Pretty Thing that I found it.... I don't remember whose! It was green hearts, for st. patty's day, and i LOVED it. Paper from stash, styrofoam balls from stash (wut?!), chopsticks painted white from kitchen drawer (lolz) and of course dressmakers pins from stash.

Either side of the TV was honestly the best place I could find for them. LOL. sad. I need to put some shelves up in my livingroom or something, other than my three tiny trinket shelves.

(I know this looks super messy but it's the messiest place in the livingroom and isn't worth fixing because it will be messy again in 3.5 seconds!)

Bonus: random shots of DD chatting on the phone with her grandma, and my new hair colour, which is black-brown and was supposed to be chocolatey brown just to richen up my tone a little. I was initially sure it was fade to the intended colour, and then horrified that it didn't, and now it's growing on me. (photo complete with no makeup tiredfaced mommyperson) The hair straightener and I aren't on great terms so it's only as straight as nature gave me, which is actually pretty straight. (to my complete consternation, as my inner self wants long curlish wavy mary-kate-and-ashley locks, but in brown)

BigBatch Applie Pie Muffins

My mom shared this recipe with me, and I'm sharing it b/c I was asked for it by a few people so I figured I'd write it all out once and just link it! It's moist b/c of the apple, yummy because of the apple and raisin, and healthy b/c there's fruit and bran in there! Not to mention it's convenient - the mix keeps for up to a month in your fridge. Just don't stir it anymore once you've put it in there.

Note: use the absolute biggest bowl you can find for the last step, as that's the bowl you'll add all the other steps to. My most gigantic bowl was only just barely big enough.

5 cups Raisin Bran cereal
2 cups quick oats
2 cups boiling water
1 cup cooking oil

4 large eggs
4 cups buttermilk (substitute: 4 cups milk with a few squirts of lemon)
1 can apple pie filling (I was impatient and didn't have filling on hand, so I used a big jar of applesauce and that works alright. it's worth using the pie filling for the chunks of apple though!)

6 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups white sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tbsp baking soda
1 tbsp cinnamon (i'm a sucker for cinnamon and doubled this)
2 tsp ground nutmeg
1 1/2 tsp salt

Measure first 4 ingredients into large heatproof bowl. Stir and let stand 5 minutes (or just continue the recipe to the same effect)

In another large bowl, beat eggs and buttermilk. Add the pie filling and stir, then add mixture to cereal mixture and stir again.

Measure remaining 7 ingredients into extra-large bowl and stir. Make a well in the center and add the cereal/apple mixture. Stir until just moistened. Cover and chill. You can now store this mix in the fridge for up to 1 month, making muffins as the mood strikes (or as the platter empties)

To bake:
preheat oven to 375. Grease muffin tins well (my mom assures me that paper is a very bad choice for these and this is the only way to go) and fill greased muffin tins 3/4 full. Bake 25 to 30 minutes until a toothpick can come out clean. Let stand in pan for 5 minutes before removing. Enjoy!

Office Redo~

Okay, so, my plans for my office just petered down a bit, when my husband informed me to chill because there is no vapor barrier so in the summer he's going to have to take down all the drywall, vapor barrier everything, and put the drywall back up. Soooo... no painting. I may pick some colours and imagine them. But painting would be a waste of moolahs. Poo.
However, I got my bookshelf yesterday, so now I'm going to spend the next two hours tearing my room apart to get ready for the bookshelf. the dilemma is, I have to get rid of some crappy little organizers to prep for the bookshelf going out. However, I have to also make sure there's enough space for my husband to put the bookshelf together in here without getting frustrated. So, time to get creative?! Wish me luck!

Too cute tute

Everybody check out this tutorial from maya-made for making adorable elf slippers out of felted sweaters. TOO CUTE FOR WORDS.
I'm going to have to do this after my current project. The current project is my office. I want to a) decorate it and b) make it DD-friendly so i can go in there when she's awake. Thus far my work has involved :

ONE shelf being gloriously modpodged in b/w papers
TWO large gashes in my thumb from taking down a painted-on shelf (thankyou, original homeowners.)
THREE colours to decorate the office (black, pink, green - tentative)
FOUR big holes in the wall from removing the shelf (ehehe... hello, putty! let's hide that...)

I'd get it all down sooner but I have to work when DD is asleep. I also do not want to wake her with banging. I also need DH to go to Canadian Tire today and get a bookshelf on sale for me ($37, normally $50! nice tall one, too) and it has to be TODAY because after that it's not on sale anymore. And then I got the Giant Tiger flyer yesterday and they have canvas tote boxes with chalkboard fronts for just under $5 ea, decent sized too! So I must run and buy a bunch of those to put on my bookshelf. mwahaha. Organization, here we come! (RE-organization. It was done nicely, but DD could and did reach and demolish a lot of it. So the lower stuff now goes on the higher areas of said bookshelf.)

sick to my stomach

I feel just sick to my stomach. I was so excited about doing a swap on craftster... then first I finished late because of the holidays. Then I wrote the address wrong and got it back, and my DH got the package so he just gave the stuffed hippo i'd crocheted to DD cos she wanted it. She got Oreo on it, so i washed it. No problem. But then when I went to mail it again today I noticed a stain from the oreo. (he was in natural cotton)
So whatever, I had some dye to dye some light grey jeans darker so I figured i'd throw him in - hippos are grey anyways. I have never done it before but followed the directions for in the laundry. The jeans and a white shirt turned out nicely. Harry the Hippo?
grotesque.
I might take a picture and post it. It's the saddest thing you'll ever seen. The stitches are warped... his neck and limbs somehow wound up sick long... his ear is dangling on... various problems. Hot water + agitator + crocheted cotton = big mistake.
I could cry. He looks like sad, sad roadkill.
T____T

now i never want to swap again. I'm such a failure. I like etsy better, I completely finish the item before I list it, so there's no problems like this.

edit: added photos of Harry's remains

wordle - DD's Words @ 18 mos

PAT ME ON THE BACK

I know I sure did.

ohoho. I love this. super pleased with myself.

if it just fits DD I will squeal and take a million pictures. Shirt definitely will, skirt... well, I've managed to make heavier weight fabric skirts messed up before.

I love that hairpiece. Fabric covered button. Plus a ribbon but you can't really see it. It's a crazzy vague picture I took in the dark because it is past my bedtime. But I'm so happy about this I wanted to share.

I FINISHED A PROJECT. I'm back, ladies! whoop, whoop.

If it fits her I'll post a better picture tomorrow. If it doesn't I'll sell as a set because I can't bear to break up the family. and then i'll make another one cos I have a bunch of that fabric left yet because I loved it lots. hurrhurr. (cute smiling flowers! you'll see it better tomorrow)

oooh yes!! YES YES YES.

Today is a good day in the getting-back-into-it area of things.

Firstly, I got my package from sewzanne's today. A whole bunch of FOE. Super lovely. Super value for my dollar, too. I don't know what the price of the FOE stuff @ fabricland was, but it looked flimsy and ratty and old and they didn't have a lot of colour choices (at mine, anyways.) Sewzannes has a MILLION (slight exaggeration) of colours, and it's good quality stuff. Definitely recommend!

Secondly, I don't actually know if I'll be making this (it won't flatter me) but I think this is an adorable idea, turning an old abandoned Tshirt into this fluttery little cardi. From Craftstylish.

Lastly, I'm doing a project tonight... making vegbee's peasant top from the tutorial, and then i'll be winging a denim skirt to match, with a ruffle of the fabric from the top. OUTFIIIIIT!!! yay. I might even do a fabric covered button on a hairclip or something. yaaay~!

cute dress idea from DIYStyle

http://www.diystyle.net/projects/fashion/bra-party-dress/

I kind of think this idea is cute. Basically, it's sewing a bottom onto a bra to create a dress. Now, personally, at my cup size and overall size, that's more flesh than i'm willing to show. But I do think the idea is really cute for people who are a little more in-shape (and to whom the phrase 'my cup runneth over' does not have dual meaning)

Plus there are some really cute bras out there that cover more flesh than your average bikini top.

I think personally I'd take the idea and run with it in the sense of, using my bra as a base and basically completely using the pattern except sewing a bodice over top of the bra. I know that seems like there's no point to using the bra at all then, but the thing is, the bra would go perfectly with the dress then, plus I have two new bras that I bought without trying on that fit kind of wonky but would work perfectly to use for something like this.

Regardless, the DIYStyle girls have some really cute ideas, definitely worth checking out.

Getting Over the Post-Holiday Blahs

Okay, so I've had a major case of the post-holiday blahs. I think the biggest thing was, I was really thrown off my routine for two weeks. I wasn't really doing anything creative, or doing any blogging, or anything of that nature. And it's amazing (read: ridiculous, frustrating, etc) how much weight you can put on during first the holidays and then the, in my case, extra two weeks of post-holiday blahs. I need to get my Wii Fit game asap man! lol. I'm also starting, not a diet, but eating healthier. But I'm kickstarting it with two weeks of Slimfast, so that I may be grateful to eat the healthy food instead of sucking nutriets through a straw. I think eating healthy is easier if you torture yourself for a bit first to make it feel like an upgrade ;D
I started a nice project today, a little something to kickstart me... adding a crochet trim to the bottom of a too-short cami. Let me state, I am not normally a huge fan of adding crochet bits to shirts to upsize them, because often it's more function than fashion and you can really tell that's what is going on. But I want to do something frilly and fun, a real nice trim. Worst case scenario, I don't wear it, which is pretty much where it sits right now (it's a nasty feeling polyester thing. not the smartest cami. but a good practise run)
I also drafted a raglan Tshirt pattern today, I'll make one in the next few days and share the results, and then if anyone wants I'd be more than happy to share the pattern. I can't scan it in or anything, so it'd really be a photo of the pattern with directions on how to draw it out yourself. And a nice hint for post-holiday stuff.... I use wrapping paper to draft patterns on!

Oh, wow. Inspirational.

I would like this man to become my husband's new best friend so they can spend all thier spare time together making this for my daughter. By 'this' I mean, the absolutely gorgeous and crazy playhouse he made for his little girls. Over the top! I love it. The only thing I'd do differently myself, is I would skip the TV part. But the magic mirror? The bookshelves? Everything else? Yes, yes, yes. LOVE IT.

Gorgeous. My husband will start work on a playhouse that will not compare to this, for practical reasons (we live somewhere where it is below zero more than half the time) because it wouldn't have the chance to get half the use. (unless he wants to throw in heating and shovel the walk... you never know. lol)

Check it out on instructables! http://www.instructables.com/id/The_Princess_Playhouse/ I love what he calls it too, Princess Playhouse. <3>

If oldschool is more your style, check out this picture of my daddy and my aunties and uncles (a bit of a his, hers, thiers, and ours family, but yes, those are all my aunties and uncles, with my Opa and Oma)

Guess who never had a playhouse like this? Yup, my aunties and uncles. lol. There were enough of them that i'm sure they were never bored, though. Guess if i know all thier names. Guess! (no. No I do not.) Im pretty sure my dad is the boy in the front with the white sweater. How much do you love that the girls wore little gloves and flowers in thier hair for this picture? Adorable.

Still Alive

Don't worry, I'm still kickin it. It's just been crazy with holidays, and now my brother and his fiance are visiting for a week and we're throwing an engagement party! Busy busy! Bear with me, lovies!
Hope your holidays were just as hectic and half as exhausting as mine!
xoxo!
Lor