Author: Patchwork Reality

Scrapped out

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 I went to this home based business party at a friend’s house about 2 years ago it was a party that offered the latest and greatest in digital scrapbooking.  I am a big fan of anything artsy and crafty and had so enjoyed scrapbooking with the unlimited possibilities that one could create on a 12 X 12 piece of paper that also included pictures of my loved ones and preserved a memory in a book that could be looked at repeatedly.  So I bought a “package”  which included a premier membership to all the digital paper, alphabets, brad, and other tags I could imagine along with an 8 X 8 book.  Great started package right?  Also being the great friend that I am and having gotten thoroughly caught up in the excitement….which never happens at these parties…there may also have been wine;)  I signed up to have my own house party.

At my party I served margaritas (is there a theme?) and other got excited about this great digital scrapbooking package.  Short story long I ended up with the premier package membership for 2 years and over $400 dollars in scrapbook credits.  Yowza!

Reality hit, I had to etch out time to make these projects, digital doesn’t necessarily mean easier!!  I made a 5 x 7 book for my mom that she loved and brought tears to her eyes.  Once again inspired the time flew by, without much scrapping.

Last month I realized that I had approximately 6 weeks before my over $400 dollars worth of credits expired!!! GASP!!

So instead of doing anything else after the little darlings went to bed I have been scrapbooking and making a few galley wrapped canvases. 

I made:

 2- 20 X 24 galley wrapped canvases of our family

4- 8 X 8 galley wrapped canvases; one head shot of each child with their name and age printed on the side.

1- 8 x 8 board book of Avalon’s first 10 months, this was a template or I would have done the whole first year….

1- 8 X 8 canvas that is a little owl in a tree art piece that says Santanna’s Room, this should go with her Target Love and Nature bedding…I hope

1- 12 X 12 2010 H**** family scrapbook…65 pages documenting our year…I am so excited!!

I am thrilled to have that done…whew.  I will post pictures of the canvases as they come in and we get them on the walls….it may be 3-4 weeks depending on the production time.

So now, I should have more time to blog:)

Stay tuned for some of my goodwill finds for spring.

A Heart-y Breakfast

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It is the day…the one some people can’t wait to spend with the person they love, others can’t stand to be  alone and all the latter people are celebrating and the day that some anticipate with anxiety and hope.  There are so many expectations what sould be given on this day that I think the sincerity of simple love can be lost to the material expectations…but this is no soap box…today. 

At our house there are no built up expectations or shiny bling, it is similar to most other days, with perhaps a little more focus on love and family.

So what better way to start the day than with homemade heart waffles, topped with fresh crushed sweet strawberries,  and whipped cream spiked with just a touch of almond extract… and nothing says momma and poppa love you more than spikes of bacon on the top, like sprinkles only much tastier.

My mom has had this waffle iron since I was a kid and it was so fun to use it this morning when heart shaped waffles actually made sense. I am sure she got it at Dayton’s back in the day but I see Target has a similar one.

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone!

Gearing the Kids Up For Spring

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I am gearing up for spring, it is a must, it is like getting closer to the light in the tunnel of dark winter gloomies.  I see swimsuits in the weekend ads, and it reminds me that warm weather is coming and our closets need to be prepared.  Keeping with my New Years Resolution, I think there is no time like the present to start gathering what the kids will need for spring, since knowing that is may be a bit of a challenge, I have noticed that boys clothes are harder to find, especially in Solomon’s size.  I know how hard boys can be on clothes so this is not that surprising. Below is the start to the list of what I think they will need:

Outerwear:

Raincoat

Rain boots

Mid weight jacket for chilly days

Tops:

2 or 3 hoodies

4-5 Long sleeve tops

6 -8 short sleeve tops…keeping in mind that spring is muddy and messy and we will be fully enjoying it!!

Bottoms:

3-4 Pants maybe a few more for Solomon since he does not wear dress/skirts;)

4-5 pair of shorts or capris for the girls

2-3 Skirts

3-4 Dresses

Footwear:

Rain boots…also listed above

Good pair of running shoes…these will be bought new

Good pair of Sandals…every year I buy each kid a pair of Keen H2 Newport Sandals they are hands down THE BEST!!!

Accessories/Misc:

Umbrella

Sunhat

Sunglasses

What did I miss?

Can everyone see in the back?

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The sisters at the hospital my husband works at were having their annual? semiannual sale, this past Monday, now normally I can pass these sales up, I do not need any more old heavy outdated furniture that I intend to flip in my spare time…who am I kidding?  Nor do I need any  vintage clothing, shoes or other randoms regardless of the phenomenal prices or intention I may have for any of the many relics that have been stored up for this sale.

However, hubby told me that there were overhead projectors at this sale!!!!!  Hold on, my inner child…the one who wants an oompa loompa NOW, was like yes please.  When hubby left his night shift he went down and purchased a cart, with  not one but 2 overhead  projectors and 4 boxes of the see though paper!!! 

Now for me I can clearly remember teachers having these slides all written up on the days lesson/spelling list and carefully sliding another non-transparent paper down so as not to give away what was coming.  I also remember very rare moments when a student would be allowed to come up and do a math problem on the overhead!!

I now possess two!!  I have the power…of light..on my wall….what to do???

Make up a game!  So 5 of us…Avalon is a bit small but still had a great time, chose small objects, carefully numbered them, covered them with a cloth and then revealed them and had everyone else guess what they were.  The kids had a blast.

Do you have an overhead?  What else should we do with this…I do not want to squander the power.

One more ……

My son can sew….so?

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 Anyone who has the privilege of playing the role of parent has at some time, I am sure of this, wondered what the impact of a hobby,  friendship, activity, preference..insert any other I may have missed, will have on their child.  I think often this is related more to boys than girls.  A girl who likes to play rough with the boys is assertive, who like to use tools in the garage a future independent woman.  But, what about the boy who chooses books instead of football?  Or,  will play baby dolls and house with his sisters.  Is he gay? Soft? Weak?  There are seemingly such positive connotations to the “tomboy” and not so positive connotations tagged to the opposite.

I have known moms who state that their husbands would never allow their boys to play with dolls, or dress up.  I am thankful that  I have a husband who has always encouraged the excitement of youth and creativity alongside me,  and never let the opinions of what might be deemed a “norm” break the spirit of any of our children. He is also very eager to show the girls how to use any tool in the garage.  I know that to some it may seem silly that this topic even has to be discussed, I agree, but we cannot pretend that norms are not still ever present, especially as parents.  

There is no gender balance in our house, the girls outnumber 4 to 2, however  that is where is ends.  Our oldest daughter Raiven just last week had her first sleep over away from our house, her friend was a boy, I never thought twice about saying yes,  I will reassess when she hits double digits! After my initial answer, I then felt the norms of society creep into the peripherals of my thoughts and wondered if this was “okay”.  Luckily the mom of this boy was equally fantastic, she of course had invited R and we talked about what this means and if there was any harm in this sleepover.  Now as a grown tomboy I have never thought that friends should be of same gender and that some friendships can be truly platonic .  So R had a sleepover and had a fantastic time and has found a great friend, who can match her speed and enthusiasm. Who cares if he is a boy.

On the flipside,  last weekend I sat down with a pile of felted wool sweaters from Savers, and was planning what fantastic homemade projects I could make from them, when Solomon asked if he could make something. Included in the task was sewing. By hand.  With a needle and thread.  Solomon spent most of his Saturday between reading  the book of the day cutting, sewing and embroidering his very own felted wool glasses case.  I have no worry that this will make him anything more than a well rounded young man. 

Today is Sunday there are football play offs, Raiven has her Steelers shirt on and will be actively routing.  Solomon will be reading, he has no interest.

I could not be more proud!! 

Solomon's glasses case.

 

Unintentional Rule Breaker?

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I lieu of my resolution to upcycle/recycle clothing and ditch the consumption of new clothes from  retail stores, my shopping and treasure hunting need in full swing, I headed to Savers with my brother before he left for California and found some great items.  On the rack of treasures I found this dress:

I thought” how cute will this be for Miss A?”…check the tag and there it is, the Savers tag and the retail tag.  Oh the irony!  (But check out the sweet price!)

Well I snatched it up and than wondered, am I breaking my own rules?  Sure it was donated and technically I am reconsuming this dress , but it IS new.  So I let A try it on……done, it’s a keeper.  First addendum to the rules, no first hand new clothing;)

New Year’s Day Race

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What is the best way to start a new year? With a 5K of course. That is exactly what I did. It was a balmy -32 and probably about 20 less than that with the wind chill. The wind was fairly mild but present. I was a little late getting to the check in, the race started at 11 AM, giving the earth a few hours to warm up in the sun and some runners to shake of the ringing in of said new year before braving the tundra for 3.11.

One thing about running that I am still learning is how to be properly dressed for the weather. This is something I struggle with whether running or not, comfort V. performance V. fashion, I almost never get the trifecta correct. This morning was no exception, I had a base layer T-shirt s mid weight hooded north face layer and a wind/water resistant hooded Columbia jacket, one knit hat, a pair of yoga pants, which should be plenty because running really warms up your legs, and a knit pair of fingerless gloves. The gloves were a last minute decision because I needed to be able to start/stop my Garmin.

As I am pining on my number, there is a lady giving a speech in the back of the Running room, about not allowing bare skin to be exposed to these elements for more than 30 minutes!!! I look around and notice there are many runners wearing something similar to this. Doubt about my material preparation sets in.

The race starts, already I think my nose is frozen. I can barely feel my fingers, so I tuck them up inside my gloves, hoping my fingers huddled together will keep each other warm. Not happening. Doubt again about whether or not I am going to make it in this cold. I keep running watching the persons feet in front of me, if they can do it so can I!

See no fingers…they are huddled.

At the halfway turn around I am feeling good, it usually take me about the first mile to get into my rhythm be it a training run or a race. I finish the race and head into the Running room for post race snacks, feeling great and smiling at all the other racers who are also smiling, we have our noses and our fingers and conquered the tundra! We already know it is going to be a great year.

Happy New Year!

Reclothed Resolution..

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It has been awhile since I added to my blog. We had a full and happy couple of holiday weeks. I wanted to quickly get in a short post about my resolution this year.
My plan is to buy no new clothes for our family of 6!!! We will be buying and recomsuming clothing from second-hand stores, consignment stores, Ebay, and donation stores like Goodwill, Savers, and the Salvation Army. 
Disclaimer: this excludes underwear, socks (for obvious reasons, although I have seen them at SAvers….I just can’t!!), and possibly shoes especially for the kids.  I think little feet need to have the full support of new shoes while growing and developing walking, running and balance skills, not shoes that already have a wear path from someone else.  Also I am sure some of you shudder at the thought of used shoes, which lets my mind wander into thoughts of what my have been in a previous shoe.  Typically we also take the kids to a local shoe store that sizes them and checks the fit of the shoe on their feet, the way kids grow and as active as they, it gives us   parents peace of mind.  

This resolution is really exciting for me, I grew up going to auctions and basically treasure hunting with m y dad, I love finding what I consider a “treasure”!  My mom grew up in Santa Barbara and was/is a huge fan of second-hand stores and customizing clothing to make clothes, and accessories  personal.

For years I have sold our kids gently worn and sometimes worn to play condition clothes on Ebay for a small or surprisingly large return on investment, this has been a very fun and often lucrative hobby.  I have seen some of the wonderful items that other sellers have, and am sure I can find clothing for our kids here also.  However, my primary outlets will be the donations stores and local stores. 

What I hope to teach the kids, my husband and I gain from this is  that we can help the Earth by recomsuming great clothes that have been used and tossed aside, save money in the process and even great creative by making a pair of jeans with holes in the knees some great patched jeans. Or find an old wool sweater and make mitten or anew soccer bag.  Additionally, stores such as Saver, Goodwill and Salvation Armay all give to help others, for example, our local savers support the epilepsty foundation.

I originally thought that I would do a 365 of  our finds, but I think I might just do one post a week on how we are succeeding, struggling, and overcoming our reclothed resolution.  I will also include the total cost, and at some point perhaps continue the cycle and sell them on ebay when we are done with them if I deem them sellable, kids can really wear clothin out!

Happy 2011!!!

Snowed In Reindeer Craft

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In case you have not heard, those of us residing in Minnesnowta have been pretty much shut in by a recent blizzard.  Even better is that the forecast claimed that we may reach a high of around zero degrees today!!!  Oh the joy.  So here kids is 4 feet of snow but with the wind-chill dipping to an excruciating -30 your chances of playing in all that great powder are about as probable as today’s forecasted high.

This is where my job becomes, fun.  time to plan activities that everyone will enjoy so that the house is not completely torn apart at the end of the day. 

So here is what we made today, “snow-deer”  sometimes called reindeer, but let’s face it, if it was rain we would have been splashing in the puddles.

The bonus to this project is that we can save it to remember each child’s foot and hands from this year.

I had them all gather a shoe , trace it and cut it out. 

Then I helped them trace each hand and cut it out…these are the antlers.

Next I got out my jars of buttons that I bought at a local antique sale that happens annually in a small local town and they all chose buttons for eyes, nose and of course an earring or two. This also led to discussions of how old the buttons were, and we imagined what person or outfit might have gone with these buttons.  We found one dated from the 1800’s.

Then Jon and I had a turn making  one, his had some lines on it from another project which he turned into a proper tribal tattoo.  I love how all of them reflect each person’s true self in a small way.

We also made bread, meatballs, and those little pretzel chocolate melts with the M &M’s what a great day!

Beautifully FREE-Cycled Crate Boxes

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I have been a regular stalker of Anna White’s blog on how to make your own furniture and other wonderful items from wood, newly purchased or reclaimed.  I have to say as a mother of 4 there is no end to the amount of things that I am constantly trying to organize and manage.  This “box”  made from pallets gave me the nudge to get my saw and safety glasses and go out to the garage.  I have to say there is something that is really liberating about using a power saw, the dust the noise, and knowing that I am making something useful.

My neighbor happened to have a pile of these pallets stacked in his garage for use as starters to neighborhood bonfires so he was more than willing to give me a few for my project. 

I am by no means a girly-girl, I am a full grown tomboy, not afraid to use these power tools, however I have not had enough regular use to consider myself confident with all the tools in the garage, so this was an adrenaline rush to be wielding a power tool, and also a bit frightening knowing that I was only 95% sure what I was doing.  anyway, no bodily injuries and mostly square, thanks to a little help from my husband, we made these boxes and this nightstand/bookshelf, for Avalon’s room.

Total cost for the boxes was free!  The pallets were free from my neighbor, minus the beer or two we shared with him and the ends were from wood we had in the garage.  The ladder table which you can tell was made by a beginner;) was about $25.00.

Now I have to decide what to store in these lovely freecycled boxes.