2007 October « The Texas Mama

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Random Craftiness #1

October 25, 2007 at 5:15 am | In Crafty, For Hali, accessories, paper crafts, sewing | No Comments

Felt cell phone cozy for my little sister. We have the same phones (magenta razrs) so I could measure it for a good fit. She isn’t big on pink or bright colors really, just earth tones, black and white for her.

I’ve actually made several of these little notebooks, but somehow only managed to take a picture of a couple. They are really handy and I always have the materials on hand, as do most crafters! I changed mine up a little from the tutorials I’ve found online like this one, but mainly because I’m lazy. No other good reason, really!

A quick bag I made for Hali to put her tools in:

Just some scrap red fabric, scrap white bias tape sewn together and some velcro to close it at the top. I didn’t even line it. I just wanted to get it done.

The tools had previously been in a plastic Walmart bag, which I hate. I am this close to making some fabric shopping bags of my own instead of using plastic ones. I don’t toss mine, though. They get recycled/reused. I even made a plastic bag holder for them that I need to post!

Bag For Me and Backpack For Hali

October 17, 2007 at 4:19 am | In For Hali, accessories, sewing, thrifty | No Comments

Clearly it needs a good ironing, but here is a bag I put together for myself. When I say put together, I mean it: the seam right down the middle is pretty obvious! I made a pair of pants that were too short for Jeremy (he’s 6′0, so this happens occasionally) into shorts, and took the cut off portion and made it into a bag, then sewed some of my absolute FAVORITE fabric that I found at Hancock’s on around the middle. I covered up my sloppy sewing with some orange grosgrain ribbon, added some loops at the top and connected a brown leather strap from another purse that I didn’t like it on. Talk about refashioning, eh?

For Hali, she needed a bag that she could carry her ballet and tap shoes in easily, so I made a simple little backpack. I’ve seen them everywhere, but didn’t have a pattern so I just kind of started sewing. I picked a kind of “mod” fabric out of my stash- a quarter yard, and used all of it.

A (blurry) close up of the back view:

This little backpack is ridiculously fast and easy to make. Hali wouldn’t even wait for me to get my camera out for a picture of it before filling it with the “stuff” that little girls find necessary. She is quite happy with it, as am I.

My Little Ballerina

October 9, 2007 at 3:58 am | In Uncategorized | No Comments

Friday was Hali’s first ever ballet/tap class***. I finally signed her up on Wednesday. So on Thursday we went to about 5 different stores looking for everything that she needed. I am not pleased with her leotard so I am going to buy her a couple more online. Apparently if you’re not into rhinestones and rainbow colored bias tape around neck and arm holes you are S.O.L. in the black leotard department of our town. What does that say about my little town in Texas?

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Going into the whole ballet class thing, I was very excited for her, because this is her first class of any sort. I was worried that she would worry and not want to listen to the teachers and just cling to me. But she didn’t! She marched right in there and yelled “Hi, everybody!” before I could so much as put her ballet shoes on her little feet (not so little anymore- I had to find a size 10 for her!). She did so well. I was really impressed with her.

I admit to being the annoying mom who stood there closest to the door the whole time so that I could see her every move and so she could see me when she actually thought to look for me. I didn’t want to miss a moment. That and I didn’t know if she would have a break down if she went to look for me and didn’t see me. Next week I may even sit down in a chair. Closest to the door, but still!

Three year old ballerinas are the cutest thing EVER! They all come running and squealing out to have their mama’s change them into their tap shoes and it just makes you smile.

Unfortunately the smiles ended that night, when Hali started getting sick. By Saturday she was definitely in Bad Cold Land. By Sunday so were Jeremy and I. No one has been able to leave Bad Cold Land. Not a pleasant place to stay, believe you me. I don’t know if there is a room in my house were wads of tissue can NOT be found. I think my husband helped CVS pay their electric bill this month. He bought Emergen-c, Robitussin, (he insists that it’s the GOOD stuff) and just about every cold medication you can find for poor Hali. He even got that nasal spray stuff that’s supposed to help you get over your cold faster. I. Do. Not. Do. Nasal. Sprays. Luckily I still had some Breath Right strips. Man I love those. They make a bigger difference than any medicine I’ve ever taken for a cold.

Oh, except for Throat Coat. It’s an herbal tea that was the ONLY thing that would soothe my throat a couple winters ago in Idaho. Our doctor, Dr. Brooks, who is awesome!!! recommended it to me (and he is LDS, fyi) and it is the best thing for a sore throat, period. We found them at Fred Myers there. I don’t remember where else you can find them, except online- even Amazon has them, I’ve found. Go ahead and stock up on it- you will thank me this winter.

So from one of THE best parenting memories so far, to nasty colds, it’s been an odd weekend for our little family. Hopefully we will get better in the next couple days, because I have lots of plans for us this month!

*** This was supposed to post October 8th. No idea what happened, but here it is- I had to post it once I noticed it never made it!