Twirly Girls

This is probably the ruffliest, twirliest dress I've ever made--or even seen! It's made from a thrifted pair of overalls and a thrifted bedsheet. This kind of project is where a ruffler foot comes in VERY handy! I think there are 14 yards of ruffles in this dress.

Look at her spin!

Audrey got a new, fun dress too. Her dress has a frog prince and princess on it.

She had to take her dress out for a spin, too.

She loves it!

Happy Birthday, Bug!

Today Miss Audrey turns three!

Happy Birthday, Bug!

We Love You!

Girly Girls

I'll admit it, my girls are "girly girls". They love dresses and being dressed up!

With that in mind, I made these two dresses and semi-matching hairflowers. They LOVED them! The dresses could also be jumpers with a t-shirt or turtneck worn underneath. Two more are waiting in Katie's closet!

WE FINALLY HAVE WATER!

Showers for everyone!

Did I mention that it's raining again?

Day 6 Without Running Water

We're half way through day six without running water.

I took four baskets of laundry to the laundromat today. Everyone there was from our tiny town.

The girls really want to go out to play. It's just so hot and I can't give them a bath in the evening.

Yesterday for lunch I made mini pizzas on English muffins: Split an English muffin, top with a little pizza sauce, pepperoni, and cheese. Nuke it for about 15 seconds. You'd thought they'd never eaten the way they gobbled it up. Then they wanted it again for dinner! So, we had it again. Our microwave is getting a workout.

When I went to the firestation to get "flushable water", I asked if they'd heard any word about when this would all be over. The nice guy who toted my water to the van said he'd heard 5-7 more days. The local newspaper says the line is fixed, but it will take 48 hours to see if there are any more breaks and if the fix really fixed it.

I'm thankful that we have electricity, for Wal-Mart's donation of drinking water, for the National Guard personnel and fire department volunteers who are manning the water station, and for my aunt and uncle who let us come over and take a shower every few days!

Win a DVD: Learn to Crochet!

Kathy is giving away an instructional DVD: Learn to Crochet! Go to her blog and leave a comment to be entered to win! Kathy's blogs (she has several) are some of my favorites to visit every day. Kathy and her daughters cook, entertain, quilt, crochet, garden, sew, can, and just about every other domestic pursuit. They're inspiring!

Water, Water EVERYWHERE...and Not a Drop to Drink!

One way to save on your water bill...is not to have any water! What I mean is, when your water is totally OUT--you can't use any!

We've had some baaaaaaaaaad storms here in the past few days. Flooding is everywhere. Counties all around us are in states of emergency. People are being evacuated by foot, boat, and helicopter. Businesses are closed. Roads and bridges are being washed away. Portions of the interstate and several highways are closed. All county roads are closed. The National Guard and Coast Guard have been called in to assist.

In the midst of all this, a neighboring town (from where our water comes) has had a water main break. This means we will not have water for THREE OR FOUR DAYS!!! Luckily for us, we heard about this early enough to store some water in buckets and every jug, bottle, and lidded container that we could find. I popped the girls in the bath, too. My brother and his family have been without water or electricty for some time now. They're using water from their pool to flush the toilets! Clever, eh?

So now we are just waiting to see what happens. I'm planning meals that won't require a lot of dishes to cook. (We're grilling dinner later today.) We're using paper plates and plastic utensils as to not have dishes to wash. Church has been cancelled. Looks like everything is closing up until things get back to "normal."

Back to my brother, Steve. Steve said my nephew, Tyler, asked why God made it rain so much. Steve told him it may be to show us how lucky we really are.

He is probably right.

Lazy Daisy Hair Clips

I love daisies! We had them at our wedding. I've made the girls dresses out of daisy fabric. I love they way they look bunched in a vase or in a little girl's hand.

When Katie found some daisy flowers at her favorite store (Hobby Lobby!), she begged to buy them. I agreed, just because I had a project in mind for them.

What was a bunch of daisies turned into a dozen or so daisy hair clips! I'm thinking the next batch will have bigger bling in the center. I made some with leaves and some without. The girls love them and they look really cute when they're worn in bunches or by themselves!

Adoration

Miss Maggie and her daddy.

Oh...It's a Pony-O!

Miss Katie sporting her new Pony-O that matches her dress for church.

The next item to go into my Etsy shoppe...the Pony-O!

Miss Audrey doesn't have enough hair for a Pony-O, but she loves the colors!

A Pony-O is a hair elastic that has ribbons fixed to it--like streamers. In fact, I've seen these called Pony Streamers or even Pony Screamers! Screamers sound a bit frightening to me, so I'll just stick with a Pony-O.

These were made to match local school colors.

The Pony-O is great for anyone who wears a ponytail. It adds a bit of umph and color to an otherwise, well, boring ponytail. The ribbons hang down about six inches on each side, but can be customized to any length you'd like. Just about any color is also available. These would be great for a cheerleading squad or a dance team! They can be also be customized to go with any school color imaginable.

The ribbons are hand-sewn to the elastic, and all ribbon ends are sealed to prevent fraying.

Leave a comment if you'd like more information before I get them listed in my shop!

Still Doin' the Pirate Imitation

Just a quick update for those of you who have prayed for me and have been so kind and asked for an update on the Bell's Palsy that's taken over my face--

It's still here.

No real changes. It's just more annoying now.

I'm still thanking God every day that I didn't have a stroke.

Please continue to pray for me!

Basic Photo Composition: The Rule of Thirds

Basic photo composition is very easy to learn and can take an average photo and turn it into something that's much more interesting!

The Rule of Thirds says you should take your photo frame and make mental lines disecting your frame into thirds, both horizontally and vertically:

Where the lines intersect (and you see the stars) is where you would put your subject.

If your subject is horizontal (like a landscape), your horizon line would be on one of the horizontal lines, and NOT right in the center. It just makes for a more interesting photo:

The horizon line (the base of the church) is roughly on the bottom third line. The steeple is roughly on the right vertical line.

If your subject is vertical (like a person standing, for example), it should go on one of the vertical lines:

The bride is also positioned where a horizontal and vertical line intersect.

The subject in the photo below is actually the bee. The bee is roughly where a vertical and horizontal line would intersect, making the photo less static.

The Rule of Thirds also applies to portraits. In a head and shoulders portrait, the eyes should be in on the top third line:

If all of this is clear as mud to you, leave me a comment in the photo section, along with a way to contact you, and I'll address the questions in a later post.

Now go out and take some great photos!

Ahoy, Matey!

I'm really NOT doing a pirate imitaiton here.

I have Bell's Palsy.

It started on Sunday night with an earache, and ended up Tuesday morning in an ambulance thinking I was having a stroke.

The left side of my face is pretty much paralyzed. I can't close my eye all the way, hence the eyepatch to keep it from drying out by keeping it closed. My mouth only works on one side too. You don't think about things like eating or drinking neatly until you can't do it anymore.

The good news is that it should get better. 75% of people fully recover. In the meantime, I'm taking steroids and taking it easy.

The girls think it's Mom looks pretty funny! Please say a prayer for me.

Call 9-1-1!

Katie split the back of her ear open by falling on the windowsill. (No, the windowsill was NOT hurt. Thanks for asking, Doc!) This meant a trip to the ER. I figured she'd need stitches.

Did you know they rarely use stitches anymore? Nope! Now they use GLUE! I love this! No needles to numb it, and no real pain afterwards.

She couldn't get her ear wet for a few days so this is how she was getting a bath. I think she looks like one of the Jamaican jellyfish in that animanted movie where Will Smith is the voice of the lead fish. He works at a whalewash (carwash) and is chased by sharks who are the "mob." What WAS the name of that movie???

She won't let me take a picture of her ear.

Over the River and Through the Woods

Not long ago Katie and I went to visit my grandma in the assisted living facility where she now lives. She always remembers me, even if she doesn't call me by name. She still remembers that Katie is my daughter, but never remembers her name. That's ok, though.

We had a good visit. I took my camera and snapped several photos. I also let Kate take some photos with my digital point-and-shoot! (She's just like me and LOVES taking photos!)

One of the workers offered to take a photo of the three of us together. Katie didn't want her photo taken and was not cooperative. Imagine that. This is the best one we got.

Botany 101, Continued

We planted two little tomato plants last week. We're considering this part of Botany 101. I don't know how many tomatoes we'll actually get from just two plants, but I'm sure the girls will love picking them, and then eating them.

I've also tried to pretty up a corner of the back yard. Wind funnels back there and trash (from who knows where--ok, the elderly lady who lives next door keeps dumping stuff there) accumulates. We raked it all up, dug up all kinds of gunk, raked some more, and planted sunflowers and wildflowers. Lining it with bricks has greatly decreased the debris that accumulates. In fact, we've had no more to gather up!

The "trash" has yielded one plus though: The stuff had mulched into a very rich, dark soil. We could probably grow just about anything there! I'll post an update when it doesn't look like it's all weeds.

Here are the sprouts of flowers we planted at the back of the house. Lining the area with bricks helps keep little feet off the plants!

They Grow So Fast

When I made this nightgown for Katie for Christmas just over a year ago, the hem hit the ground. In fact, she kept tripping over it so I put it up for awhile.

Fast forward to...now! It still fits her fine, but it's MUCH shorter! She's growing like a weed!

Miss Audrey is Always Busy, Busy, Busy!

Miss Audrey is always busy!

First, she had to sweep the porch....

Then she had to sweep the yard!

After all that sweeping, it was time to start mowing.

She should sleep well tonight!

My Latest Project

This is my latest project: Monogrammed Badge Reels!

This is one of the first successful projects I've made with my embroidery machine. The shiny reels are covered with vinyl for medical employees who may need to clean them off. I've been experimenting with fonts and threads to get a good combination.

I hope to have these in my Etsy Shop soon! If you'd like one made for you, leave me a comment and I'll get back with you soon!

What DOESN'T Work for Me Wednesday

There's a new twist on Works for Me Wednesday this week. This week it's what DOESN'T work for me. Before I get started, head on over to http://www.rocksinmydryer.net/ for more of what NOT to do!

In no particular order, this is what doesn't work for me:

Flylady. There, I said it. I can't believe I said it. I know it CAN work. I know it SHOULD work. It just doesn't seem to work for me. I can't stick with it for any amount of time. If it started the day with something other than cleaning the bathroom, I might be able to make a go of it.

Low rise pants. I can't figure out why anyone would want to wear pants that have the potential of showing crack. It's an even worse idea for babies and children.

The current fashion of tops that look like maternity tops. They just make me look about 7 months pregnant.

Junk toys for children. I probably don't have to elaborate on this one.