Spring break was only a month ago...

...but here are a few shots from our very short beach trip!  Jeremy lectured at a conference in Myrtle Beach on the last Sunday of spring break, so the kids and I tagged along.  The resort was really nice and I wish we could have spent more time there (hmmm....hopefully he'll get to go back next year, too).  We hit the beach a bit on Saturday, but it was COLD and WINDY.  Lucy and I only made it for about 20 minutes, then we headed up to the pool where the sand dunes shielded us from the blustery winds.  Somehow, in spite of the cold weather, the boys still ended up sopping wet in the water!

And now I am REALLY ready for our trip to "Aunt Deb's Ocean" in June.  I can't wait to spend a week sun bathing, napping, walking & relaxing.

And one random shot from last week...Lucy had "wacky Wednesday" at school in celebration of "W" week.  If you can't tell, that is a Christmas skirt she is sporting!

The end of an era!

Last week we finally bit the bullet and said goodbye to our minivan.  It was getting on in years (and miles) and we knew it was going to need some major work if we were going to continue driving it.  The problem was that, well, I was just DONE with driving a minivan.  It is just hard to throw a couple thousand bucks into something you just don't like anymore.  

We got the van when I was pregnant with Reid and, to me anyway, it has always been the most expensive piece of baby equipment that we own.  And, well, we are done with babies at this house.  Part of me (well, most of me, to be truthful) is jumping up and down with joy to be rid of the thing, but there is a very little nostalgic bit of me that is sad.  Short of our bike trailer (which can be converted to a stroller) and a very beat up umbrella stroller (which hasn't been out since last summer, at least), we have completely divested ourselves of our baby gear.

So, goodbye trusty old Nissan!  You served us well, surviving a rear end collision and a run in with a horse drawn sleigh.

Let me introduce you to Harry the Honda Pilot (Harry for Harry Potter because the initials are the same as Honda Pilot and well, this is for the kids and I and we all LOVE Harry Potter).  

So far, I am loving it.  My van was pretty basic, but this thing has all the bells and whistles, which I am thrilled with.  The best feature so far?  A built in hard disc drive, so it copies any CD's used onto the drive and you don't need to keep the CD with you after that.  Way cool!  Another bonus is that we gained an 8th seat and it is just as roomy as the van (almost better for seating, but we lost a little cargo space), but is smaller and fits in the garage better.

Anyway...that is the most exciting thing that has happened around here in the last week (unless you want to hear about the nasty stomach virus that Lucy & I picked up, which I am guaranteeing that you don't want to hear about).

Sink skirt tutorial!

So, here is my first (and probably only) attempt at a sewing tutorial.  I am doing this for two reasons:  the first is that tutorials are cool and the second is that I couldn't find exactly what I was looking for when I went to make mine, so maybe this will help someone else!

So, as a reminder, here is what the finished result looks like:

The supplies I used are as follows:  fabric, thread, steam-a-seam fusible web, and velcro (the kind where one side is sew on and the other side is sticky backed -- I got mine at Hobby Lobby) plus all your usual (but completely basic) sewing equipment.

Step 1:  Measure your sink height and width.  Mine was 35 3/4 inches tall (from the very top edge of the sink to the floor) and 46 1/4 inches wide.  My sink wasn't perfectly level, so the height I used is at the sinks highest point.

You will be cutting two rectangular pieces of fabric:  one for the header (on which the velcro will be attached) and one for the skirt.

For the header:

• Figure the width by taking the width and adding 1" for seam allowances (for me, that was 47 1/4")
• Figure the height figure how tall you want your header piece to be finished, then add 1/2" for seam allowance and double that number.  I want my finished piece to be 1 3/4" tall, so I cut mine to 4 1/2".

For the skirt:

• For the height, figure out how long you want your total length to be.  I wanted mine to be as close to the floor as possible, without touching, so I made it 35 1/2.  Take your desired finished length, subtract your finished header height (1 3/4" in my case) and add 1" for seam allowance.  My cut height was 34 3/4".
• For the width, I doubled the width and added a few inches.  This all depends on how full you want it.  I cut mine about 95" wide.  

Step 2:  Prepare the Header

• Start by folding and thoroughly pressing your piece of header fabric in half running the long way, turning each end under 1/2" as well. 

• Cut a piece of velcro to 1/4" less than the finished width of your header (47" for me).  Open the fabric and sew the velcro to the RIGHT side of the fabric 1/8" from the pressed FOLD mark.  I did it this way so that the stitching from the velcro won't show on the finished product.  I read a lot of tutorials where people hot glued the velcro down and I chose not to do this because I wanted something that would withstand repeated washing and also that will lay very flatly and cleanly against the sink.

• I used sheets of steam-a-seam, as that is what I had on hand, however you can buy it in a "tape" form.  I wanted mine 1 1/2" wide.  I wanted it to reinforce all the fabric behind the velcro, but I also didn't want it to interfere with the seam where the skirt piece attached.  Put the sticky side of the steam-a-seam down on the WRONG side of the fabric behind where the velcro was (the velcro made it somewhat bumpy, so I wanted to be able to smooth out the steam-a-seam on that side before ironing).  You'll want to get the steam-a-seam as close to the ironed crease as possible.  Once the steam-a-seam is attached via the sticky side, fold the piece in half  and iron to set the steam-a-seam.

• I ran a short seam up both of the shorts ends of the header piece, but that isn't entirely necessary.  I finished the two raw edges by using a fairly tight overcast stitch over both of them together.

• Fold the header piece in half twice.  Mark the middle and quarter points (three evenly divided points) along the overcast edge with a pin.
• Your header piece is done and it is time to move on....

Step 3:  Prepare the Skirt Piece (Sorry, but I forgot to take pictures of this part of the project, but it is the easy part, I promise!)

• Tightly overcast all edges of the skirt piece. 
• Fold the two short ends in 1/2", press and then hem.
• Fold one of the long edges up 1/2", press and then hem.  This is the bottom edge that will meet the floor.
• On the unhemmed (long) edge, run a set of loose (very long stitch length) stitches 1/4" from the edge.  I like to use a contrasting thread, as it makes it easier to keep track of these stitches (and easier to pick the right threads out later).  Leave a long tail of thread on each end.  Some people like to do two sets of threads...I find this works just as well for me.  
• Fold the skirt piece in half twice, marking the middle and quarter points with a pin at the top unhemmed edge.

Step 4:  Gather and Attach the Skirt

• Start pulling on one of the threads until the fabric starts gathering.  Continue pulling & gathering  until the piece is roughly the same width as the header piece.  Pin the two pieces together at the three pinned markings with the overcast edges lined up; the front side of the two pieces (the front side of the header is the side without the velcro) should be together.  
• Continue to gather and adjust the skirt fabric until it is spaced evenly, pinning the gather in place frequently.
• Stitch the two pieces together 1/2" from the overcast edges.  
• If you are Type A, like me, go ahead and pick out all that contrasting thread.  
• Voila, you are finished sewing!

I cleaned the edge of my sink thoroughly and then wiped it down with rubbing alcohol and allowed it to dry completely before attaching my velcro to it.  I did make a mistake and didn't pull it tight enough, so it is bubbling a little.  Sometime, when I have time, I am going to pull it off again and put new on.  Anyway....word of caution:  pull the velcro slightly taught while I applying it to the sink!

I was initially a little worried that the skirt would be too heavy, but it has been up a month and is just fine.  I am super glad that I got a relatively busy fabric, as that helps it not show dirt or water spots.

I hope someone finds this helpful...if not, at least I will not have to re-think the process when I am ready to switch out my fabric!

A sink skirt!

This process has taken forever it seems, but I finally finished off the laundry room two weekends ago with a cornice box for the window and, mostly exciting, a sink skirt for the (very ugly, but totally useful) utility sink.  The fabric sat on my floor for a good week or two before I managed to sew anything.  And then the photos sat on my camera for a few days.  And then I processed them on Monday.  And now I am finally getting around to posting them.  Just a lot of little things got in the way over the last couple of weeks!

Anyway, here is a shot of the room, which I am loving:

(I love that washboard, by the way, that I picked up at a yard sale in Ohio.  It was made by the Columbus Washboard Company in Columbus, OH.  I thought it was a nice reminder of one of the places we've been.)


And here is a better shot of just the sink skirt:

I just adore this fabric, which I bought at JoAnn's (something I rarely do -- I usually prefer to order my fabrics online from fabric stores, as I think JoAnn's quality is sometimes lacking).  The color doesn't present well on my computer screen, but the yellow is a mustardy color, which I am loving.  I think I will have to pull that color into the rest of the first floor to tie things together.  And not to pat myself on the back, but my sewing skills are getting quite good.  This skirt looks SHARP in person.  I hope that puts a smile on my Grandma M.'s face way up there (or over or around or wherever the hereafter happens to be).

The cornice box took FOREVER, but only because Jeremy would just not do it the way I asked.  Well, in the end he did what I asked, but first he had to try his own version (which just didn't work).  I am wishing we had made it a bit taller, as the ceiling is so high in the room that I think it needs the extra length.  We are NOT redoing it, though.  I might make some for the office as well, and if we do, you can bet they will be bit more substantial.

I took a ton of pictures of the sewing part of my sink skirt, in the hopes that I would get a tutorial up.  Maybe it will happen next week...

Snow!

Yes, it has been a while.  We're busy.  Jeremy is working 6 days a week most weeks (7, when are lucky enough to hit a drill weekend).  In the past month I've made a trip to Ohio (and got to meet my new sweet little nephew) as well as taking a weekend away for a church women's retreat.  Plus, the spring Box Tops submission deadline was last week and prepping all $1,400 (yay!) worth of Box Tops was a major ordeal. 

Anyhoo, mid-February brought us the rare treat of a winter snow storm!  And by storm, I mean we got enough snow to cover the ground for about three hours and then it melted.  The kids were in heaven.  The only thing that could have made it better is if it had fallen on a school day so that we could have gotten a bonus day off.  

I wonder how many years it will be until we see this much snow on the ground again?

Odds & Ends

So, I'm not sure how it has been two weeks since I posted.  In that time, however, I have gotten the laundry room cabinets finished (yay) and made a trip to Ohio.  

First things....here is a shot of the cabinets before & after:

I am soooooooo happy with how this turned out.  I still need to decorate and make curtains, though.  As I pretty much loathe shopping, I have no clue when the curtains will be finished.  If I can't pretty quickly find what I'm looking for online, I tend to give up.  And I haven't been able to find fabric that I like yet (and I am tired of looking).

I also swore up and down that I was done with house projects for a while.  However, this morning as I was cleaning the basement bathroom, I was hit was a sudden urge to demolition the entire room.  I want to beadboard the ceiling down there (which I haven't sprung on Jeremy yet).  I really should wait until next fall, as I have a lot of gardening/yard stuff that needs done now that it is warming up (FYI to y'all Ohio folks -- the daffodils are blooming here and the trees are starting to bud out, too).  We'll see...once I'm bitten with the urge, we usually have to go with it.

As a total side note, Lucy did the sweetest (and very responsible) thing today.  When I picked her up from preschool today, she announced that she brought her donut home from the party because she wasn't sure I wanted her to eat anything yugery (translation:  sugary) this morning.  Wow!  But the sweet part is that she came and found me after we got home and gave me her donut, because she knew I would like it.  I told her we could share it, which she was quite pleased with.  What a sweet thing she is (sometimes)!

Happy Valentine's Day, y'all!

Vanity!

One of Lucy's best friends is a sweet little girl with a head full of very very curly (and gorgeous) blond hair.  This little girl, of course, does not like the constant commenting on her hair.  And, of course, Lucy has become decidedly jealous of it.  She has repeatedly made comments about wishing she had hair like K.'s and that she doesn't like her own hair.  

Enter mommy guilt:  I have clearly done something wrong if Lucy is THAT concerned with how her hair looks verses her how her friends hair looks.  

Anyway....she has been begging me to curl it.  Finally the other night, at the recommendation of a friend, I twisted her hair up into a bunch of mini buns.  This was the result in the morning:

It actually looked better than the picture indicates.  And she seemed to love the results.  There are two problems, though.  One is that it took forever for me to do this -- we just can't make this a part of our nightly routine.  The other is that I want her to be happy with the head of hair she was given.  And, really, a third problem is that I don't want to tell her how to do her hair.  If she wants to curl her hair, then that should be her choice.  And if she wants to color it (some very far off day down the road), then she should be able to do that to.  It ticks me off when someone (anyone) tries to tell me that I should or should not be doing something with my appearance.  Darn it, it is my body, so butt out!

And then all this comes back to what I started with.  The little girl with curly hair doesn't appreciate the constant commenting, but it also effects the other kids.  The other kids hear, in the silence, you aren't pretty and aren't good enough to merit notice.  Just something to think about.  I know people are well intentioned, but commenting on little girls appearances constantly leaves them thinking about their appearances constantly.  (And I am sometimes guilty of this, too, for the record.)

So, I sit here trying to figure out how to balance teaching Lucy that she is beautiful the way she is, but that it is also okay to take pride in her appearance (which means she can wear her clothes and hair in a way that make her happy and comfortable).  I've yet to come up with a good solution.