Just One Mom Trying

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Homemade Strawberry Shortcake Costume

I love the vintage Strawberry Shortcake with her cute dress and pinafore. Unfortunately the vintage Strawberry Shortcake costumes aren't sold anywhere. I thought it would be fun to have MJ dress up as Strawberry Shortcake and to have Peanut dress up like Custard, her cat. MJ wanted my husband to be Pie Man. If I had more time I would have made a Pie Man apron and hat but I didn't get that far.

I took on this costume project and this is what I came up with. (This was the best picture I could get.)

I sew stuff but not clothes- there's too many directions and curved seams. ;) But, I decided to do it anyway. I made it a size too big because I wasn't sure if she was going really wear it. She wanted to be the Little Mermaid for a little while but I convinced her that if she wore the Strawberry Shortcake costume she could chew some strawberry gum. That did the trick. She was so happy to wear it AND she SMELLED like strawberries. Her white and green striped tights are in the mail. Supposedly they're a popular item EVERYWHERE! Who knew? I think I'm also going to cut the yarn hair a little bit shorter. It looks a little like Raggedy Ann.

All in all it was a success. I have a couple more days to make last minute adjustments.

Monday, October 24, 2011

Sew Much To Do

Emily 7:24 AM 2 Comments

I finally got out my sewing machine and sewed this weekend! I finished this textured blanket. It's not very cute but it's fun.

I was tired of using plastic bags to hold toys for several reasons:

1) Plastic bags should be kept away from children

2) The bags wear out

3) Children can't close them easily

4) They don't hold a lot of toys

My solution: make drawstring fabric bags! I ended up making 3 bags since they are so easy to make. I made one for MJ's tea set, one for play food, and one for little cars. I tried to use fabric that symbolized what was in the bag. It makes it a whole lot easier to sort and find toys for little ones. You will notice that this fabric bag with teacups holds MJ's tea set.

Project #3: Fabric book. I made this book for a friend's baby shower. I LOVE fabric books. They last a lot longer than board books. They are harmless and baby can turn the pages easily.

Peanut wished this one were for her.

I am also sewing a costume for MJ. I usually don't sew clothes because it requires more than just straight seams (notice my 3 previous projects above) and it takes time! I like easy, quick projects. I need to have the costume done by Wednesday so I hope to post it sometime this week.

# baby # books

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Delightful Dining: Halloween Week

Emily 11:43 AM 0 Comments

It has been a while since I did a post for family dinners.

This week make your family dinners fun and interesting with these ideas:

DELIGHTFUL DINING: Halloween Week

Come to dinner dressed up in your Halloween costume.
Make a dish or dessert that includes pumpkin as a main ingredient (pumpkin stew, pumpkin bread, pumpkin cookies, etc.)
Serve gruesome dishes. (Brains and blood = spaghetti, mummies = hot dogs wrapped in crescent rolls, make homemade pizzas and create monster faces with toppings, etc.)
Have dinner in the dark. Cover the table in a white table cloth and turn on a black light, or eat by candle light.
Have a murder mystery dinner. Invite some other families over for some extra fun. HERE's a great site for CLEAN games on sale now!

TABLE TOPICS:

What do you want to dress up as for Halloween?
If your whole family had to dress up together for Halloween, what would you dress up as? (Scooby Doo and his friends? The Simpsons? A bunch of cowboys and cowgirls?)
What is your favorite part about the fall?

FLAVORFUL FAVORITES: Mac & Cheese

This is a homemade recipe for mac & cheese that tastes good and that your kids will eat! I love it too. It's made with real ingredients and the "cheese sauce" is creamy! (I used ditalini pasta noodles so both my toddler and 1-year old could eat it without problems)

6 oz. pasta noodles (about 1/3 of 16 oz. box)

1 egg

1/2 c. evaporated milk

cheese, shredded (to liking)

salt

Cook your pasta, drain it, and return it to cooking pot. In a separate bowl whisk together egg, milk and a couple pinches of salt. Pour mixture over noodles. Stir in shredded cheese. Add more salt to taste if needed. If you'd like it extra creamy, add more milk. If you add too much cheese it will dry out quicker. You can't really ruin this recipe. It's very adjustable to your liking.

# delightful dining # family dinners

Friday, October 14, 2011

Dating at Home: Halloween Comedy

Emily 9:42 AM 0 Comments

Halloween is approaching faster than I think it is. All my crafts and plans to make my home look super cute aren't looking like they're going to make it this year. (I should just start planning for Easter at this point.) But, I'm not letting the month go by without doing something festive. Tonight we're watching one of my favorite old comedies, Arsenic and Old Lace. This is my VHS. Yes, I still have a VCR too... I hope it works.

If you haven't seen this movie, rent it! It is also available on Netflix on DVD and streaming. Here's what it's about:

Two gentle and loving sisters poison lonely old men without any family as a charity act. They give them a proper ceremony and bury them in the cellar of their home. Mortimer Brewster, their nephew, discovers their terrible habit when he stumbles across a dead body in the window seat. Mortimer tries to keep his sanity as he sorts out his relationships with his aunt, his new wife, his brother Teddy (who believes he's reallyTeddy Roosevelt), and his long lost brother who stumbles into the house with a dead body of his own.

Oh! And the best part? Mortimer Brewster is played by Cary Grant. Who doesn't love Cary Grant?

What are your favorite "old" movies?

# dating at home # Halloween