i'm a flats kinda girl, through and through...

but if i ever had to run through the city after Crocodile Dundee, this is something I'd like to break a heel in.

i like it.

that was a good movie.

joyce kilmer memorial forest. north carolina.

doesn't get any better than this.

amber alexander.

I need another room for the whimsical animal prints of AmberAlexander I'm loving. Wouldn't these look fabulous hanging in a row with big antique frames on a white wall; white curtains with old lace on the bottom; black and white check comforter on the bed with bright patterned pillows; and an old distressed turquoise or yellow dresser in the corner.

Mmmm.

bad. words.

Andy/5 years old: Mom, can you tell me all the bad words?

Mom/wore Debbie Gibson's perfume and twisty beads: No.

Andy/thinks he's on earth by accident, and therefore all humans owe him some serious explanations: Why not?

Mom/running out of serious enough explanations: I don't want you to say them.

Andy/smarter than humans: But mom, I'm not going to say them. I just need to know them so I can tell everyone else what not to say to me.

Mom/smarter than Andy: Okay. The bad words are: me, want, hate, and gimme.

Andy/maybe smarter than Mom: Oh. Thanks mom. pause. You're lying.


***


Andy/he lost a library book: Mom!!! Can you help me find this thing!!! Bloody h.e.double hockey sticks.

Mom/mad at Ron Weasley: What?! Don't say that, Andy.

Andy/thinks his brain is a seperate entity he can't control: Why not?

Mom/trying to keep it simple: Because it's a bad word.

Andy/going to bed early tonight: Oh. Okay. Cally!!! Can you help me find this thing!!! Bloody h.e.double hockey sticks.

***

Me want some serious explanations.

recycled ruffle tee shirt tutorial.

So, against my better judgement and per some email requests, I used naptime to put together pictures of how to do the ruffled recycled tee shirts. I say against my better judgement because I was going to make cookies at naptime. But I didn't. And now I want some.

All these measurements are relative; depending on what size of tee shirt you start out with and how small you want it to end up. I wouldn't try to turn an extra large into a small, for example.

Okay, here it is...

Make sure you do a continuous stitch...meaning, don't put your needle down under the armpit and pivot your shirt to go down the side. Just a continuous stitch, or else it will pucker when you turn it inside out. Is that confusing?

Now wash and dry your shirt and the ruffles will get all ruffly. Walla. This is exactly what I do for the little dresses, too. Just on a smaller scale.

And I'd like to give a special shout-out to Jakey, photographer extrordinaire, for bringing out my inner model. He does fantastic work.

Happy weekend!

tee shirt dress.

I've been trying, and failing, to recycle our old tee-shirts into something usable. Well, I saw a rather expensive shirt at Ann Taylor which was basically a jersey knit with raw edges and a ruffle. The lightbulb went on and I went to work.

Pretty much, I cut off the hem of the neck, the sleeves, and the bottom of the tee shirt. Then I turn it inside out and take the sleeves in a bit so the shirt fits around the chest. Then sew around the edge of the neck and sleeves with elastic thread in my bobbin. For the cool ruffle, I cut a strip of the fabric from the scraps and gather it up with a basting stitch and sew it onto the front of the tee shirt. Walla.

Kacie's skirt is just the bottom of Dani's old shirt. I cut it off at the waist and put an elastic at the top.

My quest for quick and easy summer clothes is almost complete. Now I just need to figure out shorts. And big clothes; for big people.

So much to do. So much LOST to think about. I mean, really.

kay's apron.

So her clothes will stay clean while she makes us DingDong Cake and Truffles.