Weekly Unplugged Project - Garden

This week's Unplugged Project theme was "garden".

As usual, Nathan and I had very different interpretations of the theme.

Being nearly six years old, Nathan took the theme very literally.

He wanted to plant a full vegetable garden. (At the end of June. In the 100* heat!)

I wanted to do something much less labor intensive, like a bouquet of tissue paper flowers or a collage of garden images cut from magazines.

We were able to compromise and spend some time out in our yard. (Most of my time was spent on the lawn tractor, but I didn't think you'd want photos of that. :p)

Nathan was thrilled to find this caterpillar. After touching it, we put it down on the ground and waited for it to stretch out and get moving. Nathan decided to pass some time on his tricycle and, unfortunately, Mr. Caterpillar met Mr. Tricycle in a rather squishy way. So sorry Mr. Caterpillar.


Yes, that is a tree leaning at about a 45* angle. It's Nathan's "Climbing Tree" and he was going to impress me with his climbing skills.


Like a little monkey. Way up in the leafy branches.


One of the cats getting in on the act. Enjoying a cool shady spot under the Climbing Tree.

Next week's Unplugged Project theme: sky

Thrifting, again

So, last week I gave in to my need for thrifting.

And I had to go again this week.

At least when Nathan's with me, I know the thrifting will be limited, which is good and bad.

Good because I don't waste a lot of time in the thrift store and I don't buy too much.

Bad because I don't waste a lot of time in the thrift store and I don't buy too much!

This week's treasures included a three books for Nathan (not pictured); a framed print for Nathan's bathroom; two packages of white chenille stems; half a pack of doll pins; a vintage pattern; The Soapmaker book; and some fabric.

The fabric is Mary Engelbreit from 2002 and there are 5 yards of it. As usual, I'm not sure what I'll do with it. If anyone is interested in swapping some other fabric for some of this ME stuff, let me know.

Grand total for this week's thrifting: $3.00

Getting motivated

Lately, I've been helping a friend with some sewing projects. She decided she wanted to learn to sew and has jumped right in. I don't consider myself a good teacher, but she's doing really well. Go check out her projects on her new blog Trying Sew Hard.

And, as good deeds sometimes do, helping her has helped me. I've found some motivation to be more productive at my sewing machine.

A dishtowel tote.

Another pair of sleep shorts for Nathan.

Yes, that's Spongebob fabric. He picked it out himself. He wants to wear this pair out in public.

Just in time....a Tote Bag Swap

Tracey at Itching 2 B Stitching is hosting a Tote Bag Swap. It sounds like a lot of fun, but if you want to join in, you'll have to hurry. Swap sign ups end Friday, June 27th Sunday, June 29th.

And if you post about the swap on your blog, you'll be entered for a chance to win a yard of this gorgeous fabric.

Fresh Squeezed by Sandy Gervais

A Camel Camel

Okay, maybe he's not exactly camel colored, but Beige Camel doesn't have the same ring to it. (He does look like a camel though, doesn't he?)

Made from a thrifted, felted Merino wool sweater, with thrifted tapestry wool for his hair and tail

Weekly Unplugged Project - "Old"

This week's Unplugged Project theme was "old".

We made Old Fashioned Lemonade.

A simple syrup heating up.

The cutest lemon juicer around.

Putting those little muscles to work.

Practicing his pouring technique.

Sampling the finished product.


Going beyond Lemonade to Lemonade Pops.

It was a great project for us to do together. Nathan loves to help in the kitchen, but isn't ready to handle a big, sharp knife. And the juicer was a little touch to operate too. It took all our strength to get the lemons juiced, even after microwaving and rolling them. But a tall glass of cool lemonade was a fitting reward.

Fresh Lemonade Base
2 ½ cups water
1 ¼ cup sugar
½ teaspoon finely shredded lemon peel
1 1/4 cups lemon juice

In a saucepan, heat and stir water and sugar over medium heat till sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat; cool 20 minutes. Add peel and juice to sugar mixture. Pour into a jar, cover, and refrigerate for up to 3 days.
For each glass of lemonade, combine equal parts base and water in an ice-filled glass; stir.
Makes about 4 cups base.

Next week's Unplugged Project theme: Garden.

Hot. Hot. Hot

I don't know what the high temperature was here today.

I do know that at 6:00 pm it is still 107*!

And this......

this is the temperature in my kitchen.

With the A/C going.

I am so not cooking dinner!

I finally gave in.

I've been in a strict "No Thrifting" mode for a while now. In fact, I can't remember the last time I went into a thrift or stopped at a yard sale. It's been months. The last time I blogged about any thrifty finds was....*gasp*....in January. I don't know how I've lasted this long.

I don't thrift as much during the summer anyway, because it's just a lesson in frustration to go to a thrift with Nathan in tow. He's in the door for about 5 seconds and starts telling me it's time to go. Not asking me. Telling me.

But yesterday I couldn't ignore the thrifting itch.


And besides, the theme for this weeks Unplugged Project is "old". What better place for materials and inspiration than a thrift shop?



So, I bribed persuaded Nathan and off we went.

Nathan's treasures: wood labyrinth game (This qualifies as "old" because I had one when I was a kid.) and two books. He's watched Emeril on Food Network and thinks he's funny.


My treasures: a piece of vintage fabric, a vintage(?) sheet or curtain, a piece of pretty pink floral fabric, several yards of pink netting and a Christmas table runner (from Target, I think). I have no idea what I'll do with the pink netting, but I couldn't leave it there, could I?

I also did some digging through the bins of "stuff". It was mostly a lot of junk. I picked up a very ugly tin to dig under it, when the weight of it caught my attention. Hmmm....probably full of more ugly tins. But then, I gave it a little shake. What a lovely tinkling sound it made!

It was full of buttons!

Lots of loose buttons.

And carded buttons! I don't know how old these are, but some are definitely vintage. The brownish cards towards the bottom have a sticker from a shop called The Bee Hive, with a price of five cents on them. Yep, five cents for a dozen buttons. There are two sets of blue buttons with flowers on them and two sets of pink buttons with a stork on them.

I had to do some rearranging and move my buttons from two small jars into one large jar. It's nearly full, so I might have to do something drastic, like sort them and separate by color groups.

What? Doesn't everyone do this????

Summer PJs

It's definitely summer here. Tomorrow's high is forecast to be 103*.

Yet my darling child continues to wear his soft, snuggly, velour and flannel winter pajamas.

And did I mention that he's a heavy, sweaty sleeper? Well, he is.

Knowing that he loves to wear the things I make for him, I had to take matters into my own hands.

I bought 3 tee shirts at Walmart for $3.00 each and dug through my stash......

Summer PJs #1 - Two pieces of fabric leftover from the quilt I made for Nathan, made into a very unique pair of PJ shorts.


Summer PJs #2 - Blue plaid fabric, sent by the Yard Sale Princess many months ago.


Summer PJs #3 - Dino skeleton fabric that Cindy sent to Nathan last week.

All of the elastic I used also came from Cindy.

Thanks ladies for your contributions to Nathan's summer sleep wardrobe!

Unplugged Project - Plastic

This week's Unplug Your Kids theme was plastic.

I tried to think out of the box. I really wanted to be creative.

Maybe it's too hot to be that creative.

So, we settled on two classics:

Nathan has recently moved on from Duplos to "big boy" Legos. We spent a considerable amount of time this week being Brickheads.


Today, we went through the craft crates to find plastic things. Nathan settled on plastic beads. (I know these have a name, but can't remember it.)


Finished creations: flower, heart, house and necklace. (A warm iron can be used to slightly melt the beads together into the finished shape, but Nathan likes to dump the beads back in the bucket and use them again.)

Next theme: old. I'm sure we can come up with some fun things for that!

Nathan Blogs....

Dear Daddy,

Happy Father's Day!

I love you 5000000 much!!!!

With love from,

nAthaN

Surprise package

A knock at the door....

The pitter patter of feet (not so little anymore)....

Nathan clutching a package, beaming.....

"Mommy, it's got my name on it! I wonder who it's from."

From his Fairy Godmother, of course.

Cindy sent a great package for Nathan and me. (Well, my name was on it too!)

A wind up penguin.

A set of metal cookie cutters, made in Germany. Numbers and math symbols, great for reinforcing Nathan's early math skills. It's kind of warm for baking cookings, so I'm thinking playdough or jello could be fun.

And some cute dino-skeleton fabric. (Nathan can't decide what I should make with it.)

Oh, and a box of Gummy Alligators, which seem to have disappeared already.

Thanks for the thoughtful gifts Cindy!

Sticky - Weekly Unplugged Project

I found a great blog over the weekend. If you've got kids or work with kids or act like a kid, go check out Unplug Your Kids. I love the Weekly Unplugged Projects. I think we'll be doing these throughout the summer.

This week's theme is sticky, which gives a lot of room for interpretation.

Nathan's interpretation of sticky.....Flubber!



















It was very fun and sticky!

We used this recipe. It came out a bit firmer than I expected.

Our friends Jill and Nature Girl sent Nathan some Flubber in a swap a while ago. Here's a recipe similar to the one they used. The consistency of theirs was more like Slime, which Nathan loved. Supposedly, the Flubber lasts for up to two weeks, but ours has lasted for months!

Nest Monday's Unplugged theme is plastic. Should be interesting.

Since my last post....

I thought I'd do some relaxing and recovery after the whirlwind of Kindergarten graduation, tote bags and Luau parties.

So, the day after school got out, we were on a very early flight, headed for Georgia.

We had some family time.

Some time with friends.

Plenty of Chik-fil-A.

And fun in the hotel pool. (A salt water pool. Very refreshing.)


Have I mentioned that Nathan LOVES being in the pool? Just look at that grin.