~~~SEWING my way to POFQ ~ American Girl outfits & Custom Park Bags! ~~~

[NiniMorris]

I'm innocent! I've been doing yard work most of the day. I dug up one tree and disposed of it and then I moved one bush. 5 (possibly 6) more bushes to relocate. Amazing how much one's landscape changes after 10 years. Digging up well rooted bushes is not fun. Fortunately I only have to drag these a few feet to replant them.

Before I went outside I went up to the sewing room to start a new Olivia. I only got as far as pulling fabrics out and then decided since it was so nice outside I had better get a move on yardwork.

And then I saw my neighbor's have a landscape service pull up to remove all their debri and trim their bushes and mulch. And I saw another one on the way out of the neighborhood. I wish I had the money to hire a service. We are by no means poor, but I just don't understand where all these people get all this $$$ from.

Soccer and homework on the horizon for this evening so won't have much time to play here.

Oh, I have a dilemma. I really would love JUDY's input on this. DD has hair down to her behind. She has never let me trim more than an inch off. Suddenly she wants it cut to just past her shoulders Clearly I disagree with this. I told her she must wait a week and think about it. Then she remembered she is being Dorothy for the school play in May so can't have it that short. So I told her I would trim 4 inches off of it for now (I think I can handle that -- it will get rid of all the straggly ends so may look better) but what am I going to do come May??? My only thought was I might feel better if we donated to locks of love (I did that with my hair once) but I will still be so sad to see her long hair go. Wanted Judy's input to see how she would feel if Lisa wanted her hair cut.

Well, I'm not Judy, but my oldest daughter had hair that had never been cut until she was in high School. She had a few trims here and there, but other wise no cutting. When she decided she wanted it cut, she researched Locks for Love. She had it cut, donated her hair, and looked so much older! That was the hardest part for me to take! LOL!

She has donated her hair three or four times since then. Since her husband is a cancer survivor it is a cause she believes very strongly in.

Come to think of it...her hair is the longest it has been in a long time...I think she is about ready to donate again!


Nini

 

[mommy2mrb]

I know you've been good today ....but since this is your PTR have to give you a bad time...

bummer about the hives....do you have any anti-itch cream that might help!

I sure don't miss yard work....we had guys that came every week to mow and trim for me in CA was $20 a week and I took care of the beds if Jim was out of town.

boy cutting hair that is so long is a big decision....longest megan's was about about 6 inches below her shoulders, I like it more shoulder length though.

could you maybe clip it up to the length you are thinking and live with it for a couple of hours

 

[denvergirl]

So glad you are having such a great trip so far! I LOVE my afternoon rests I can't do a whole week with out them. I hope the weather is nice for you. RE: Desserts, I'd often get them to go and have them during my afternoon rest or late night snack. We actaully brought home 12 Mickey Rice Crispie treats last time with all of our left over snack credits!!! I felt a bit wasteful (as we were not on FD) but they made great "gifts" for DD's friends. Have a blast the Dis meets. . .what an extra fun thing to do!

Bummer on the PP people. . .I am a PP Queen. . .drives my family nuts but it's the only way I can ever prove I was on the trip.

I'm so glad you're still posting updates. . .you've become a regular part of my day I have found so many awesome TRs on your board. . .look forward to diving in to those, too!

 

[solana131]

If I have time tomorrow I will come visit you Then again, I've been known to invade ptr's so you had better watch out!!!! D would know nothing about this though so don't bother asking her.

Hmmmm, where's Cheryl lately. I know she's back. Is she doing a TR? We need her over here for entertainment purposes.

The more the merrier, come on over!

I'm kinda new at this, but is this what's called "threadjacking"? Oh well, D won't mind, she's a good sport

 

[DMGeurts]

Just stoppin' in to say hi before our Dismeet.

I'd love to reply to everyone - as there is so much going on, but I just don't have the time right now.

You all need to go check out Suzi's TR though - she has the sweetest little boy and a great TR going... so if you haven't gone over there, you should do that when you have time.

I'll be back in the morning with a mini update.

D~

 

[solana131]

Thanks for the plug D. I'm so honored

 

[mommy2mrb]

Just stoppin' in to say hi before our Dismeet.

I'd love to reply to everyone - as there is so much going on, but I just don't have the time right now.

You all need to go check out Suzi's TR though - she has the sweetest little boy and a great TR going... so if you haven't gone over there, you should do that when you have time.

I'll be back in the morning with a mini update.

D~

thanks for the ....what do you mean you don't have time so that's how it is

hmm, I don't see a plug for my TR but I will go check out Suzi's since I ALWAYS do what D~ says

have fun tonight my friend....can't wait to hear about all the magic and see your photos....yes you'd better share!!!

 

[mphalens]

Okay - as promised - here are LOTS of pictures If you've seen any of these, sorry for the repeat!

First up - the Star Wars pajamas I made for Finn from one of the new cottons at JoAnn's. I think I promised Michelle a pic of these.

Then here are the boys' Valentines shirts.
Finn's:

and Phalen's:

The Dr Seuss outfits for Finn:
Pants -

Lorax outfit -

Cat in the Hat outfit -

Outfits in Action -

Shirts I just did for a BG -

Kids Travel Art Portfolio I made last Saturday (in an hour) for a birthday gift:

And finally - look what I picked up tonight!!! So excited! Brand new, in box (box opened when the girl I bought it from bought it -she bought it from a lady who purchased it, decided she didn't want it and lost the receipt, so couldn't return it- she wanted to make sure it was legit) Brother SE400. I got it for $250!!!! Can we say Happy Dance???? Seriously, D~ probably heard my squeals of delight in WDW!!!! It even came with some stabilizer and embroidery thread that the original owner had bought and never opened. The girl I bought it from said she was told the lady was going to make blankets for her family?

So - what should my first project be?

Oh! And - when I called my mom to tell her she said my Dad might want me to do his shirts for him for his "Fest" this summer . . . that he'd rather pay me than someone else . . . which would help me pay for the machine
or buy me a bunch of new designs and/or thread!!!!

I feel like I know NOTHING about embroidery though . . . I haven't let myself learn anything because I didn't want to pine over something I couldn't afford. If I hadn't just gotten a BIG paycheck and we weren't about to get our taxes back, this never would have happened.

The best part? When I picked it up, the girl asked what I was going to do with it - I mentioned that I was part of the Big Give group and that we did customs, etc. for kids going to Disney on MAW trips. A little while later I got a text message from her saying she knew I was meant to get the machine when I first contacted her, but she didn't know why. . . but when I told her about the BG, she knew - she loves MAW and knew that the BG was the reason I was supposed to have this machine for this price.

OKAY D~ I hope by now you've had a Dole Whip and some other yummy yummies . . . wish I was there to enjoy them with you! Jealous of your DIS meets!!!

 

[mommy2mrb]

Okay - as promised - here are LOTS of pictures If you've seen any of these, sorry for the repeat!

First up - the Star Wars pajamas I made for Finn from one of the new cottons at JoAnn's. I think I promised Michelle a pic of these.

Then here are the boys' Valentines shirts.
Finn's:

and Phalen's:

The Dr Seuss outfits for Finn:
Pants -

Lorax outfit -

Cat in the Hat outfit -

Outfits in Action -

Shirts I just did for a BG -

Kids Travel Art Portfolio I made last Saturday (in an hour) for a birthday gift:

And finally - look what I picked up tonight!!! So excited! Brand new, in box (box opened when the girl I bought it from bought it -she bought it from a lady who purchased it, decided she didn't want it and lost the receipt, so couldn't return it- she wanted to make sure it was legit) Brother SE400. I got it for $250!!!! Can we say Happy Dance???? Seriously, D~ probably heard my squeals of delight in WDW!!!! It even came with some stabilizer and embroidery thread that the original owner had bought and never opened. The girl I bought it from said she was told the lady was going to make blankets for her family?

So - what should my first project be?

Oh! And - when I called my mom to tell her she said my Dad might want me to do his shirts for him for his "Fest" this summer . . . that he'd rather pay me than someone else . . . which would help me pay for the machine
or buy me a bunch of new designs and/or thread!!!!

I feel like I know NOTHING about embroidery though . . . I haven't let myself learn anything because I didn't want to pine over something I couldn't afford. If I hadn't just gotten a BIG paycheck and we weren't about to get our taxes back, this never would have happened.

The best part? When I picked it up, the girl asked what I was going to do with it - I mentioned that I was part of the Big Give group and that we did customs, etc. for kids going to Disney on MAW trips. A little while later I got a text message from her saying she knew I was meant to get the machine when I first contacted her, but she didn't know why. . . but when I told her about the BG, she knew - she loves MAW and knew that the BG was the reason I was supposed to have this machine for this price.

OKAY D~ I hope by now you've had a Dole Whip and some other yummy yummies . . . wish I was there to enjoy them with you! Jealous of your DIS meets!!!

love all the cute outfits!!! the boys look so cute in them!

congrats on the new toy! hope you enjoy making all the new things you can create!!!

 

[tinkbell13]

Just popping in before we head south in a bit.

Marianne - Congrats on the machine! I am sure you are going to love it. The outfits you posted are cute! I especially liked the outfits in action shots!

 

[VBAndrea]

Well, I'm not Judy, but my oldest daughter had hair that had never been cut until she was in high School. She had a few trims here and there, but other wise no cutting. When she decided she wanted it cut, she researched Locks for Love. She had it cut, donated her hair, and looked so much older! That was the hardest part for me to take! LOL!

She has donated her hair three or four times since then. Since her husband is a cancer survivor it is a cause she believes very strongly in.

Come to think of it...her hair is the longest it has been in a long time...I think she is about ready to donate again!


Nini

My problem is when I had my hair cut it was down close to my behind, but now mine won't get any longer than a few inches past my shoulders. Mine just doesn't seem to grow (so the gray roots clearly must come from hair dye wearing off b/c I swear my hair barely grows)!!!

I know you've been good today ....but since this is your PTR have to give you a bad time...

bummer about the hives....do you have any anti-itch cream that might help!

I sure don't miss yard work....we had guys that came every week to mow and trim for me in CA was $20 a week and I took care of the beds if Jim was out of town.

boy cutting hair that is so long is a big decision....longest megan's was about about 6 inches below her shoulders, I like it more shoulder length though.

could you maybe clip it up to the length you are thinking and live with it for a couple of hours

My hives were very mild and didn't itch (until later in the evening in a few spots -- but all is back to normal now and it's raining so no yard work today).


HAIR CUT REPORT
After Alexa's shower last night I cut about 5 inches off her hair -- it was a little more than I wanted but I couldn't find my good hair cutting pair of scissors and it cut uneven. I then got a sewing pair to fix it. She was thrilled, said it was perfect, exactly what she wanted. It's waist length now. And then when she went to bed she said she never, ever wanted her hair cut again in her life So she's currently happy and I'm happy she doesn't want it shorter

I forgot to take "before" pics but I'll try to get an after pic when she wakes up so I can post it here.

The more the merrier, come on over!

I'm kinda new at this, but is this what's called "threadjacking"? Oh well, D won't mind, she's a good sport

Yes, we are threadjacking D's ptr. But it's all good ... it keeps her ptr moving along and this way D can think she's really popular

Just stoppin' in to say hi before our Dismeet.

I'd love to reply to everyone - as there is so much going on, but I just don't have the time right now.

You all need to go check out Suzi's TR though - she has the sweetest little boy and a great TR going... so if you haven't gone over there, you should do that when you have time.

I'll be back in the morning with a mini update.

D~

You're just trying to get rid of us, aren't you?

Hmmm, it's morning.... rise and shine!!!

Thanks for the plug D. I'm so honored

I really think she's just trying to boot us off her ptr!

Okay - as promised - here are LOTS of pictures If you've seen any of these, sorry for the repeat!

First up - the Star Wars pajamas I made for Finn from one of the new cottons at JoAnn's. I think I promised Michelle a pic of these.

Then here are the boys' Valentines shirts.
Finn's:

and Phalen's:

The Dr Seuss outfits for Finn:
Pants -

Lorax outfit -

Cat in the Hat outfit -

Outfits in Action -

Shirts I just did for a BG -

Kids Travel Art Portfolio I made last Saturday (in an hour) for a birthday gift:

And finally - look what I picked up tonight!!! So excited! Brand new, in box (box opened when the girl I bought it from bought it -she bought it from a lady who purchased it, decided she didn't want it and lost the receipt, so couldn't return it- she wanted to make sure it was legit) Brother SE400. I got it for $250!!!! Can we say Happy Dance???? Seriously, D~ probably heard my squeals of delight in WDW!!!! It even came with some stabilizer and embroidery thread that the original owner had bought and never opened. The girl I bought it from said she was told the lady was going to make blankets for her family?

So - what should my first project be?

Oh! And - when I called my mom to tell her she said my Dad might want me to do his shirts for him for his "Fest" this summer . . . that he'd rather pay me than someone else . . . which would help me pay for the machine
or buy me a bunch of new designs and/or thread!!!!

I feel like I know NOTHING about embroidery though . . . I haven't let myself learn anything because I didn't want to pine over something I couldn't afford. If I hadn't just gotten a BIG paycheck and we weren't about to get our taxes back, this never would have happened.

The best part? When I picked it up, the girl asked what I was going to do with it - I mentioned that I was part of the Big Give group and that we did customs, etc. for kids going to Disney on MAW trips. A little while later I got a text message from her saying she knew I was meant to get the machine when I first contacted her, but she didn't know why. . . but when I told her about the BG, she knew - she loves MAW and knew that the BG was the reason I was supposed to have this machine for this price.

OKAY D~ I hope by now you've had a Dole Whip and some other yummy yummies . . . wish I was there to enjoy them with you! Jealous of your DIS meets!!!

Don't apologize for repeats -- especially on d's ptr -- you can never have too many repeats here!

I'm glad you posted a couple of the Suess outfits on Finn is so cute! He seems so tiny! Isn't your dh pretty tall? Maybe it's just not having the scale of seeing Finn in person, but he seems so small. If you ever get tired of him I'll gladly borrow him I love his hair too! My ds was always big, not chubby/heavy set big once he started walking, but he was tall -- I never felt like I had a little boy for very long.

My first item I made was a t-shirt with a flannel heart that dd could sleep in since I practiced on an old t. She loved it but complained how tight it was! I'm really excited for you. I wish I could come give you a demo. I was really intimidated at first with my machine, but it's so user friendly. I got the hang of it right away.

 

[VBAndrea]

MARIANNE

I forgot to ask, did you use a tute for your pads/roll ups? I've made art totes and pencil roll ups for gifts but I like the one with the pad in it as well.

 

[DMGeurts]

Good morning everyone!

Well, despite my better judgement - I've decided to let the girls sleep in. Today is our only DHS day. This might just seal our fate that we won't ride TSM - but, the girls are exhausted - so am I - and we still have 7 park days left. The sad part is that we've been taking breaks almost every day - so we haven't been pushing ourselves that much.

I am a bit nervous because I firmly believe that we need to get to the parks early to get anything done... but I am going to let them sleep a little bit longer, then we will eat a quick breakfast out of our food that I packed - hopefully to tide us over until our lunch ADR.

Yesterday was a fun day - we got to ride all of our favorites at Epcot - except for MS... so that is at the top of the girls' list on our next Epcot day.

We also got to ride Maelstrom... we determined that is was a neat ride to do once, but not something we would stand in line for again.

We didn't spend nearly as much time in WS as we would have liked - we barely got to explore at all.

So, that will also be a priority on our next Epcot day.

We had dinner last night at Cape May Buffet... We decided that even though we enjoyed it a lot - the best part was the clam chowder - and we all shoudl have had crab leg cracking lessons before we went... that was a comical mess.

Afterwards, we rode the friendship boat to DHS, then hopped a bus (which took a full 20 min + to arrive) back to POFQ.

We walked with Corri to our Dismeet... Where we got to meet Connie (Oopsi Diasy), and we had to say good-bye to Liddy... It was so great meeting both of them. Liddy and her family have to drive home today - so let's think happy travel thoughts for them. I will be telling you all a lot more detail about things in my TR.

Loree... Have a safe trip today! Looking forward to meeting up with you on Monday.

Marianne - I hope you are having fun with your new toy!

Everyone else... Have a great day!!!

D~

 

[cogero]

Posting this on D~s oh I mean Andrea's report. The front and back will be on my PTR in a little bit.

The finished Nerd outfit.

 

[VBAndrea]

Posting this on D~s oh I mean Andrea's report. The front and back will be on my PTR in a little bit.

The finished Nerd outfit.

Superb! I'm headed over to your ptr now (avoiding having to clean -- you know, the dog is sleeping on my lap and I can't get up excuse -- but seriously, he is sleeping on my lap as I type).

 

[mommy2mrb]

D~ hope you get to spend more time in WS that's our favorite part of epcot!

I can just see crab legs flying through the air happy you had a great DIS Meet, it fun to meet up and put faces with names

good idea to let the girls sleep, better that having little crabby girls all day, just get a FP for TSM and ride it later....DHS isn't a full day park for us since we don't do the "thrill" rides there, have fun and enjoy!



Andrea, wow I didn't realize Alexa's hair was that long....sure it still looks pretty!

Chiara, the nerd outfit is A - D - O - R - A - B - L - E

Megan decided she was the Pluto Nerd when I so nicely ask you to make us our shirts for our 2012 thanksgiving trip....she has the vinylmation of it!

have a great day ladies!!

 

[mphalens]

HAIR CUT REPORT
After Alexa's shower last night I cut about 5 inches off her hair -- it was a little more than I wanted but I couldn't find my good hair cutting pair of scissors and it cut uneven. I then got a sewing pair to fix it. She was thrilled, said it was perfect, exactly what she wanted. It's waist length now. And then when she went to bed she said she never, ever wanted her hair cut again in her life So she's currently happy and I'm happy she doesn't want it shorter

I forgot to take "before" pics but I'll try to get an after pic when she wakes up so I can post it here.

Don't apologize for repeats -- especially on d's ptr -- you can never have too many repeats here!

I'm glad you posted a couple of the Suess outfits on Finn is so cute! He seems so tiny! Isn't your dh pretty tall? Maybe it's just not having the scale of seeing Finn in person, but he seems so small. If you ever get tired of him I'll gladly borrow him I love his hair too! My ds was always big, not chubby/heavy set big once he started walking, but he was tall -- I never felt like I had a little boy for very long.

My first item I made was a t-shirt with a flannel heart that dd could sleep in since I practiced on an old t. She loved it but complained how tight it was! I'm really excited for you. I wish I could come give you a demo. I was really intimidated at first with my machine, but it's so user friendly. I got the hang of it right away.

Wow! I didn't realize her hair was that long either! I bet it looks great!!! And what is it about haircutting scissors that they're the first to disappear??? Mine always seem to be misplaced!

Finn is TOTALLY a "pocket-sized peanut" . . . He'll be 4 at the end of June but is still in 2T sized pants and a size 8 shoe. He weighs in at 28lbs and is 35 3/4" tall. Everyone always thinks he's a toddler until he opens his mouth

I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around "practice items" since I always try to make everything on the first go-round and when I can't it bums me out considerably! Would I be crazy to try this whole felt craze thing so that if it gets messed up at least it was on felt and not a shirt? and if it DOESN'T get messed up I can then sew the felt to the item??? I wish these kids would find someplace else to go LOL so I could spend the day talking to myself and figuring out this new machine!!!!

MARIANNE

I forgot to ask, did you use a tute for your pads/roll ups? I've made art totes and pencil roll ups for gifts but I like the one with the pad in it as well.

Yes! Hang on - here's the link (I also have it pinned on my Things I've Made board)
http://sycamorestirrings.blogspot.com/2010/06/coloring-travel-pack.html

Good morning everyone!

Well, despite my better judgement - I've decided to let the girls sleep in. Today is our only DHS day. This might just seal our fate that we won't ride TSM - but, the girls are exhausted - so am I - and we still have 7 park days left. The sad part is that we've been taking breaks almost every day - so we haven't been pushing ourselves that much.

I am a bit nervous because I firmly believe that we need to get to the parks early to get anything done... but I am going to let them sleep a little bit longer, then we will eat a quick breakfast out of our food that I packed - hopefully to tide us over until our lunch ADR.

Yesterday was a fun day - we got to ride all of our favorites at Epcot - except for MS... so that is at the top of the girls' list on our next Epcot day.

We also got to ride Maelstrom... we determined that is was a neat ride to do once, but not something we would stand in line for again.

We didn't spend nearly as much time in WS as we would have liked - we barely got to explore at all.

So, that will also be a priority on our next Epcot day.

We had dinner last night at Cape May Buffet... We decided that even though we enjoyed it a lot - the best part was the clam chowder - and we all shoudl have had crab leg cracking lessons before we went... that was a comical mess.

Afterwards, we rode the friendship boat to DHS, then hopped a bus (which took a full 20 min + to arrive) back to POFQ.

We walked with Corri to our Dismeet... Where we got to meet Connie (Oopsi Diasy), and we had to say good-bye to Liddy... It was so great meeting both of them. Liddy and her family have to drive home today - so let's think happy travel thoughts for them. I will be telling you all a lot more detail about things in my TR.

Loree... Have a safe trip today! Looking forward to meeting up with you on Monday.

Marianne - I hope you are having fun with your new toy!

Everyone else... Have a great day!!!

D~

Does this mean you haven't had a grand marnier slushy yet?
Although, I agree, if the girls needed to sleep in, you're probably better off letting them than dealing with two grumpy girls all day!

Posting this on D~s oh I mean Andrea's report. The front and back will be on my PTR in a little bit.

The finished Nerd outfit.

OMG! I am LOVING this!!!!

 

[VBAndrea]

Marianne, thanks for the tut -- I pinned it and will likely use it for gifts int he future. Would be a cute BG item to make as well.

This is a pic of Alexa's hair before the cut (she's not naked in the photo -- it just looks that way -- you can see a strap on her left shoulder):

I'll try to get an "after" pic tonight. You can see she has very thin hair.

So how is it that Finn is peanut sized? My dh was always small and it wasn't until HS that he had his growth spurts -- he went from near midget to 6 ft tall. Our son was tall as a toddler through 2nd grade, now he's 10y/o and just average height. DD was tall younger and is now avg as well. It's actually good that she's not too tall b/c she's pretty thin and would look like I starved her if she grew in height (and she's the one that eats all the crappy food and craves chocolate like I do).

BTW Marianne, how is the gym membership going? I haven't gained anymore weight but I look huge and flabby and really need to start working out. I used to work out in our bedroom and that tv was relocated to DS's room since we had to switch him to a flat screen. I can't justify buying a new tv right now and don't want to work out in the FROG Good excuses right???

 

[VBAndrea]

Double post

 

[NiniMorris]

So how is it that Finn is peanut sized? My dh was always small and it wasn't until HS that he had his growth spurts -- he went from near midget to 6 ft tall. Our son was tall as a toddler through 2nd grade, now he's 10y/o and just average height. DD was tall younger and is now avg as well. It's actually good that she's not too tall b/c she's pretty thin and would look like I starved her if she grew in height (and she's the one that eats all the crappy food and craves chocolate like I do).

My second child weighed in a 10 pounds 9 oz and was 24 1/2 inches long when he was born....he is now 6 ft 7 inches...and weighs probably not much more than when he was born! He is skinnnnnnnny! And eats like a pig. I keep telling him family genetics will catch up with him sooner or later... he will be 30 in a couple of months!

(just had to add that...no particular reason! LOL)

Nini