~Sewing: Shirred Sundress~

This little dress took me 15 minutes, at most. I'm glad it only took 15 minutes, because I don't think I could have been patient with the "is it done now"s I was getting for too much longer. ;-)

I used pre-shirred fabric, and wide grosgrain ribbon for the ties.

My daughter thinks any dress is a princess dress, but this dress is doubly a princess dress with the Disney princesses along the bottom.

I have made shirred sundresses before (see here and here) but pre-shirred is definitely the way to go! So much less time-consuming!

~Sewing: Shorts~

I made two pairs of these little shorts last year, and really liked them.

Pattern: Simplicity 7189, view D (minus the lace), Size 3

So far this spring I have made two more pairs. One in denim (same as last year), and one in a denim-weight khaki.

I had to buy the pattern again, since I cut it out in size 2. But I got it when it was on sale (99 cents, I believe), and the fabric and thread came from my stash.

These have been washed and worn several times. I keep setting them aside to take a picture, and my daughter keeps wearing them before I have a chance to get a picture! LOL Just picture the above shorts in dark denim. ;-)

I'd like to make at least one more pair. They're nice for play, and super quick and easy to make.

~Christmas Napkins~

Something I rarely do is seasonal crafting or sewing. The reason is that I think of seasonal crafts, and come up with awesome ideas, but then I forget about the project until two days before the holiday. At that point, I have more pressing matters, so I say, "next year".

I recently acquired a piece of fabric which had six panels on it. Perfect for napkins! I cut them out on Sunday afternoon, and sewed them after church. It was a nice little project and I'm glad to have them done now and in a stack next to my linens. Waiting for Christmas. That's better than saying, "next year!"

Turning up the hem was so easy - the panels were edged with green fabric, so it created a line for turning.

Once when I was a teenager I sewed on Sunday afternoon, and then told one of the older ladies at church about my sewing project. She told me that for every stitch I sewed on Sunday I'd have to pick out with my nose in Heaven. Somehow I don't believe her. ;-) These napkins made for a relaxing project on Sunday, so I'm not going to worry about picking stitches out in Heaven. :D

~Sewing Up a Storm~

I've been busy sewing. It seems I've turned a corner and my time spent in making is usually at the sewing machine, not with knitting needles.

I made these three things in March. It was still cold, but I didn't want to sew something that would only get used for a month or two. So I turned to summer sewing.

A nighty made from a thrifted pillowcase:

A peasant dress:

And a twirly skirt:

The best part of all three of these projects is that I used fabric and supplies I already had on hand. I'm trying to sew through my fabric, but there are two problems: 1) I then have scraps and my scrap bin is full and 2) I just acquired a hefty stack of fabric so I now have way more projects in sight!

All three of these are for my daughter. She especially loves the skirt!

I have some more projects to share - stay tuned. :)

~Lemon Garlic Linguine~

Yesterday I purchased linguine on an impulse, and then when I got home I decided that we should have it for dinner. So I went on Pinterest and searched under "linguine" and settled on this recipe.

Only I changed it all up, so it is my recipe now. ;-) I added garlic, added more cream, and cooked my sauce. While I can pull up a chair and eat my fair share of cookie dough, I can't stomach the thought of adding raw egg to a dish on purpose (though the hot pasta probably heats it sufficiently). Cooking the sauce also thickens it slightly.

half pound of linguine
2 T. butter
1/2 cup half-and-half
1 egg yolk
zest of one lemon
juice of one half lemon
3 small garlic cloves, minced
salt
pepper
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese

Cook your pasta according to directions on the box.

While the pasta is cooking, make your sauce in a small sauce pan over very low heat. Melt your butter, add the half-and-half and then whisk in the egg yolk before the cream gets hot. Add lemon zest, juice, garlic, and salt and pepper to taste. Continue whisking until it has heated through and has thickened slightly.

Add to cooked, drained pasta, coating thoroughly. Stir in Parmesan (you can certainly use fresh, but I just used the pre-grated Parmesan.)

And then: enjoy. Kevin liked it, a lot. But he said that he did not get quite the spiritual experience that I had. All through dinner last night, I was thinking about making it for lunch today. And I did. Yuuuuum.

~A Little Surprise~

Life is never dull around here! I love finding little surprises like these shoes lined up across my bedroom floor!

~Saying "hello"!~

This is an interesting way to eat a bagel...

Life has been full, and busy lately! It's been almost a month since I posted to my blog! The two biggest things over the past month were a 3rd birthday celebration and a week-long visit in California.

I have had blog posts running about my mind, but haven't done anything about it! I'll have to remedy that! :)

~Fast Food Free February Recap~

So...the end of the month is here! At the beginning of February, I wrote about our decision to not eat fast food for the month of February.

We had only a few instances where we ate fast food:

:::Kevin was out around lunch time and picked up Taco Bell (for himself only)
:::We ate at Subway before going grocery shopping
:::We got milkshakes at Steak and Shake for a little treat
:::We had pizza for dinner a few nights ago, on a day where it had been impossible for me to get out and get groceries

Overall, I think we did great! Some might not classify Subway as "fast food", or say it is healthy, but after viewing Subway's ingredients in their "meat" I would rather stay away from them!

I haven't missed burgers, fries, or Taco Bell in the slightest!

~Amazing Race 20~

I'm excited that a new season of Amazing Race is here! I had to watch the first episode online because my DVR didn't pick it up. But now it is scheduled to record all the episodes so we're good.

This is one reality show that I really enjoy, for a number of reasons. One reason is that I feel it is the least unscripted of the reality shows out there. If they miss a shot they can't exactly ask the contestants to go back and redo what they've done. Commentary by the contestants is limited, so you're seeing straight action all the way through. Each episode is a nail-biter!

I haven't picked a favorite yet. Last season, I was anxious for several teams to be eliminated, and my least favorite ended up winning! So far I don't have a favorite or a team I'm rooting for elimination for! :)

Do you watch? and do you have a favorite yet?

~Yogurt~

I finally did it! I made my own yogurt. I knew it wasn't "hard" because my dad used to make it all the time. I've been wanting to make my own yogurt for quite a while now but I just never got around to actually doing it, until last Saturday.

I used the cooler method, in which a large pot of hot water is placed in the cooler, along with your jars of warm milk and yogurt mixture.

It turned out beautifully! On Saturday night I pulled it out of the cooler to put in the fridge, and started doing a little jig. Kevin said not to celebrate till I tasted it. ;-) So on Sunday morning, I did another little jig when I tasted it and it was awesome!

I made two quart jars, since that was what would fit into the cooler with the pan. This is the last of the second jar - time to make more yogurt!

~Happy Hearts~

I don't usually decorate for Valentine's Day but this year I threw a few heart things around the living room and called it good. ;-)



I made the paper heart chain, using an idea I saw on Pinterest.

I also put up the felt heart garland I made two years ago.

Valentine's Day has never been a hugely celebrated holiday for us. Last year Kevin was really sick so we did nothing. This year, what we did felt huge in comparison to last year. LOL Kevin grilled steaks and I made mashed potatoes and green beans almondine. We had a few little gifts to exchange with one another and we watched AFV together as a family. Just a quiet, fun evening together!

~Thumbprint Fun~

Yesterday I pulled out Ed Emberley's Great Thumbprint Drawing Book



and my daughter and I set to work having fun!



I got my book at a yard sale for $.20, and it is the older version of the book pictured above. I heartily recommend the library or a yard sale, but if you can't find it used, the picture above links Amazon, and is a referral link.

~Found~

I found this list in a library book. I always find it interesting to find lists, such as at the grocery store. The only thing you know about the person is what they wrote down.



At first I thought part of this list is a "ta-da" list (the top three items) and that the rest is a "to do" list, but then again it could all be a to do list. I wonder if she wrote this list again, after she lost it?

~Off the Needles~

One more project off the needles! My Pink Rivulet (Ravelry link) is finished! So excited! (Again...I have to weave in the yarn ends and block it...)


I finished the knitting about a week and a half ago. Once I get it blocked, it will be one more item off my UFO list!

I'm linking up to Susan's UFO Progress Report, if you'd like to see more click here.

~Fast Food Free February~

Try saying that 10 times fast!

On the 31st, I talked with Kevin and convinced him to do a no-fast food challenge for the month of February. He agreed, with one condition: Taco Bell for dinner. LOL

We don't typically swing through the drive through a lot, but our consumption rate has been creeping up. It is a convenient, though unhealthy, answer to the "what's for dinner?" dilemma on the way home from church or the cure to "I don't feel like cooking dinner tonight".

So far we're doing great. ;-) I was actually tempted today - my daughter and I were out grocery shopping during lunch, and a baked potato and chili from Wendy's would have been so easy and quick. And besides, Wendy's isn't fast food, right? Remember their slogan a while back? "We're waaay better than fast food." You can't compare yourself to something you are, right? Like I wouldn't say, "girls are better than girls" because that just doesn't make sense! LOL But I resisted, and we came home and ate leftovers.

Would anyone like to join with me for a Fast Food Free February? You can make your own rules up! For our family it means no Wendy's, Burger King, McDonald's, Little Caesars, Taco Bell, etc. If it's fast, it's out!

~Pink + Orange~

Last week I went out in search of a sweater with a pop of color. I am getting tired of the reds and blacks in my closet! And winter is not over yet, in fact we're just getting started, so I'll definitely get a lot of use out of a new sweater. I used some gift money from Christmas to get a T-shirt and sweater from Old Navy. The sweater was on clearance, and the T-shirt on sale, so I got both for a good price. I've never done this color combo before but I decided to give it a go:


I think I like it!

On my return home, I was listening to the radio and the temperature was 13 degrees with a windchill of negative 3. Spring flowers may be {quite} a ways off, but I can have a little cheer now, by way of my wardrobe! :)

~Empty Needles~

I am very happy to have these:


Empty needles!

From what? you may ask. My Twilight Lace Wrap (Ravelry link).


Technically speaking this project is not finished yet because I still need to weave in the tails and block it. But the knitting is finished!

I do not have blocking wires for lace so I am going to do what another knitter on Ravelry talked about and use the plastic wire from a weed wacker. The only problem is that it is dead winter so I might not be able to find it in the store. We'll see!

So, so, so excited to finally have this done! I started it in May, 2008!

I'm linking up to Susan's UFO Progress Report, if you'd like to see more click here.

~Organizing~

Well, I haven't really made any resolutions this year, but a few friends and I are going through this calendar and keeping each other accountable. At first, I thought it was an awesome idea, and then I printed out the calendar and started looking through it.

It isn't my style.

But then I started considering what, exactly, constitutes "my style" of organizing. Hmmm. Rip a whole room apart from top to bottom. Put it back together over a week. And then be so exhausted that I don't do any organizing for quite a while.

So I decided to give it a go.

The first week went great. This week, ah, this week! I started in with great gusto on my bedroom. The first two tasks for this week are to clean out your nightstand drawer and clean under your bed.

Before I knew it, every stitch of bedding was off the bed, anything washable was thrown out of the room and...you guessed it...I was exhausted! But my room is CLEAN now!

I'm trying to slow myself down and do my organizing little by little so that I'll get more done in the long run. Before Christmas, I sold some things on Craigslist and took a carload of things to a local thrift store. I have a bin in my basement for donations, and it's almost full already! Finding things to get rid of is an adrenaline rush for me, so I'm pretty happy to have a bin full already! :D

~Nifty Gifties~

Some little things I got for Christmas that I'm really enjoying:

Sweater tights. It's like sweaters for your legs. LOL I wore them in 20-degree weather and I stayed nice and warm. Well, that's not exactly true. My nose and hands felt like they were going to freeze and fall off but that's because I wasn't wearing a scarf or gloves.

Smashbox lip gloss. So pretty and feels so nice.

Organic Honey Lip Balm from Whole Foods. My new favorite lip balm and we don't even have a Whole Foods within driving distance. This could be a problem when I run out!

OPI lotion. Apparently this wonderful stuff is not available to the general public, so if you know someone in cosmetology school see if they can get you some. :)

Chocolate. A whole drawerful of chocolate that even Brenda Leigh Johnson would be happy with. It was fun having a stash but *ahem* it didn't last as long as it should have. I'm not too disciplined when it comes to things like this.

~Boxes~

Kevin calls me an "anti-hoarder". Especially after we watch shows like "Hoarding: Buried Alive".

So yesterday when we were talking, somehow my storing-boxes-that-stuff-comes-in habit came up. I store them (the empty boxes) in our attic stairway, in case we need to return the item. Thinking back I have to say that I can't remember actually needing a box, ever. I admitted that I needed to go through them and put some in recycling. Then I said, "I should mark the date on them so I only keep them a year". And then it totally hit me and I cracked up laughing - this whole practice of keeping boxes is something that old folks would do, not someone in their mere 30's.

Kevin just thinks it is funny that I will hang on to empty boxes, yet toss out (or donate, or sell) perfectly good items, just because I'm not using them at the moment.

I'm currently in a clean out, organizing mood, and I'll address those boxes that are piling up in the attic stairwell. Soon. But only the ones that are older than a year. ;-)

~Naps~

I still need naps. Not me sleeping. My daughter sleeping. Only my daughter doesn't seem to think so! Yesterday afternoon she did get a nap (from about 2:30 to 4:30) and afterwards she was so happy. We went to the post office, and on the way there, she was saying cute things like:

"Mom? Target is a place for little girls to play."

But then, in spite of my attempts at running off her energy, and even though she got to bed on time, she didn't go to sleep till nearly 10. Yikes.

I'm just not ready to give up naps, but I need to figure out how to get her to sleep in the early afternoon so it doesn't wreck havoc with her night-time sleep.

Any ideas for an almost-3-year-old?

~Children's Books~

I wanted to highlight two books that I got for my daughter recently. They are older books which have been republished. The drawings are black and white and the wording is simple and fun - short enough for a toddler to listen to but still enjoyable for an older child to read too.

If Everybody Did - imagining the consequences of what would happen if everyone picked buds or went without hats or "mashed hash".


They Didn't Use Their Heads - what happens when you don't use your head - what you should do instead. For instance, "Ruthie liked to run, but she didn't use her head...so it wasn't any fun." (She ran into a tree!) And then the advice: "Your eyes go with your feet."


The first book is more silly than the second - mostly exaggerating to make a point.

I got these books before Thanksgiving, and my brother was here over Thanksgiving. He saw these books and got excited about them because these were books we had when he was little. As a result, he read them several times to my daughter. :) Since I had read them many times to my siblings, I knew I wanted them for my daughter.

Clicking the pictures above will take you to Amazon through my affiliate link.

~Pages, Amazon, and Swagbucks~

Whenever I visit a new blog, I look to see if they have an "About Me" page. It dawned on me that perhaps I should create such a page for my blog! So I did. :D For those reading my blog via feed readers, you'll have to click through to my blog to see it (look under my header).

And just for kicks, since we're talking "about me" here's a picture of me from Christmas. That my daughter took.

I'm thinking of getting her a kid's camera for her 3rd birthday, I think she'd have a lot of fun with it!

OK, back to the pages...you'll also see a page entitled "Affiliates". I have Amazon and Swagbucks listed. I've never sought to make money with my blog, but over the years I've been blogging I have posted links to Amazon multiple times. I figured that the links I post might as well be affiliate links. :) If you click through my blog with the links I've provided, a small percentage of your order will be credited to my account. Your order will remain private (I won't know who has ordered or what they purchased). It's something small, but I hope that if you have an Amazon order, you'll remember my link. I appreciate it! And I promise that I won't post links just to try to generate an income. I'll continue to post links as I find books/items that are of interest to me, and clearly note that the link I'm providing is an affiliate link.

Swagbucks. I can't believe I forgot to blog about this, but in August I got my KitchenAid mixer! Waaaaaahooo!!! It's amazing! I did it almost completely with Amazon gift cards I earned with my Swagbucks. If you haven't tried it out yet, do give it a try! It's fun, free, and easy!

~Happy Christmas Eve!~

My house smells like Christmas Eve - well at least what Yankee Candle thinks Christmas Eve smells like! It also smells like cinnamon rolls (breakfast tomorrow) and blueberry pie (dessert tomorrow).


There has been a flurry of cleaning, baking, cooking, and laundry, and now I am sitting down to enjoy a cup of peppermint tea.

Happy Christmas Eve!

~Five?~

Wow, I just cannot believe it is only five days until Christmas! Where has December gone????!!! I remember back to when I was growing up, and how five days till Christmas just seemed tortuously long. Now it's nothing.

This year we're staying home for Christmas. Maybe next year we'll make the trek to California for Christmas. We'll see! I want to go sooner than that though, because it has been too long since we've seen my family! :(

As Christmas nears, I'm thinking of my grandma more and missing her more. The last Christmas we went to California (2009) was her last Christmas here on earth. She always worked so hard to make Christmas special for her family! I think Christmas was her most favorite time of year! Now she's in heaven, with Jesus! The One Who we are celebrating, and she is with Him.

I hope you have a blessed Christmas!

~From T-Shirts to Jammies~

Awhile back, I made a pair of jammies for my daughter, from two of my husband's t-shirts.


I love the way they came out!

For the top, I used a vintage t-shirt pattern that I found at a thrift store. For the bottoms, I traced around a pair of leggings that my daughter had. Then I added hearts to each piece in contrasting colors! They kind of curl around the edges, and I like that.

The pattern cost $.10, I had the elastic, thread, and of course the t-shirts. One pair of jammies for $.10 is not bad at all! :D

~Water~

In the summer, I am very careful about getting enough water! But in the winter, I don't pay enough attention to how much water I am drinking. With the cold weather, I want coffee (laced with sugar and cream), hot cocoa, and tea (with honey). But water? Not so much!

I have heard that your body needs as much water in the winter as in the summer, so just recently I decided to make sure I get my daily water. I have a 2-quart pitcher which I fill in the morning, and leave on the counter. It's a visual reminder to drink my water, and I don't have to keep a tally of how many glasses I've had. I often drink more than the 2 quarts, but at the very minimum I drink my 8 glasses of water each day.

One benefit I have just noticed, is that my skin is not so dry. A few weeks ago my hands were so dry that they cracked and started bleeding while I was out shopping. It was kind of embarrassing to be handing my money over to the cashier with blood all over my hands! Normally, at the onset of winter, my skin becomes dry and stays that way until spring. My hands crack and bleed, the skin around my eyes is so tight it's painful! I've still had to use lotion, but my skin is not painfully dry. I've tried what I thought was everything to help my dry skin, but apparently I was missing one thing: water!

~Baby Gift~

Last night I had the privilege of attending a baby shower for a lady in our church. Since she is having a BOY I decided to make some gowns from the daddy's t-shirts. Thankfully he was willing to part with some of his t-shirts (unbeknownst to mommy!) and I came up with these three gowns:


It was a lot of fun to sew them! The one on the right was proving difficult for me to figure out how to cut, because no matter how I laid the pattern on the t-shirt, some of the design was going to end up in the seam allowance! Then I came up with the idea to use the contrasting t-shirt on the top of the gown and I was able to keep the whole design on the gown.



I told Kevin that I've really been surprised (for my sister and now my friend) that the guys are willing to part with their t-shirts. Kevin said, "yeah, there's a real bond with your t-shirts." I laughed, but it is oh-so-true! Guys do have some sort of bond with their t-shirts that a gal just can't understand!

This time, I used a pattern for the gowns (rather than the free pattern/tutorial which I used last time). I think I like the cut better on these than for the free pattern, so if I make them again I'll stick with the pattern. I used McCall's pattern M6103, in size small (13-15 pounds). I hope I chose the right size - I didn't want to make the newborn size and have them fit for 2 minutes. :)

~All Ready to Clean!~

Top: Tupperware cup with scrubby pad and cleaning toothbrushes, parmesan container with baking soda, all purpose cleaner, disinfectant, and window cleaner.
Bottom: Trash bags, Dr. Bronner's liquid castile soap, Mr. Murphy's oil soap, and my essential oils I use in my cleaners.

I spent some time cleaning out my cleaning cabinet the other day, and making new batches of cleaners since I was out of them. It seems funny to clean my cleaners, but I had spilled baking soda in my caddy, and every time I set my bottles on the counter, they left a ring of baking soda behind. It's nice to have a clean caddy!


My cleaning cabinet.

I also made a double batch of laundry soap. I'm ready to clean!

~Somehow...~

...I do not remember lining the nativity scene up like this. Hmmmmm.

~Hello, December~

Hello, December!


Where did the rest of the year go?

Right this minute: listening to my daughter sing "Happy birt-day to you" (she's supposed to be napping, I think today's "nap" is a bust), needing to go down to the basement and switch laundry, sipping hot chocolate (I got bit by the sugar bug over Thanksgiving. Sigh. Now I need to step.away.from.the.sugar.), and thinking about doing dishes.

Happy December! *Smiles*

~Opposites Attract~

I found this cute pattern on Pinterest a while back. I made one in solid red, for a gift. Then I pulled out some cotton yarn that I've had languishing in my yarn tote and decided it was perfect to make one with.



And then I didn't use it, and so I made a white and blue one and gave them as a gift. Once you figure out the pattern, these whip up so quickly!



They look complicated, but truth be told they are quite easy.



Pattern here. I'll be adding this project to my Ravelry page soon, with some notes on changes I made to the pattern.

~Birthday Cake~

Thank you so much for the kind birthday wishes. I had a lovely day, I'll have to post some pictures later. Kevin unexpectedly had the day off so we spent the afternoon at the lake. It was a great family day! The weather was so nice {for November, that is} and we walked out to the lighthouse, and then afterwards spent some time browsing through a few shops.


My cake turned out so well. I'm sure I'll be making this cake {and frosting!} again in the future!

~I think I shall eat a bowl of frosting for dinner...~

As I previously mentioned, I was considering making myself a birthday cake. Today being my birthday {35, just so you won't have to go through the archives to figure out...} I set to work on the cake/frosting. Popular opionion was that I ought to make the Posie Gets Cozy chocolate cake with "cloudburst" frosting.


ah-maz-ing

What can I say? It sounds so odd to cook flour and milk and expect to come out with the fluffiest eveh frosting. But it works. I am waiting for the cake to come out of the oven (and of course cool). That cake better bake and cool fast...the frosting might start disappearing if it takes too long. ;-)

~I Should Do This Every Day~

Tonight's scheduled dinner was Green Chicken Enchiladas, with made-from-scratch enchilada sauce. I decided to start earlier than my usual 5 pm and actually got my casserole made by 11:15 am.



I should do this every day. It was so incredibly easy to get dinner ready tonight--just turn the oven on and throw the casserole in!

~Birthday Cake~

Have you ever made yourself a birthday cake? I never have, but I'm considering it this year. I'm vascillating between these two cakes:

Source: rosylittlethings.typepad.com via Tammy on Pinterest

OR

Source: Uploaded by user via Tammy on Pinterest

Which do you think you'd make?

~Pinterest: Failed Projects~

There are lots of awesome ideas on Pinterest. I love trying new things, but sometimes someones great idea for them doesn't work out so well for you. Here are some things that just didn't work out for me:

Source: savvyhousekeeping.com via Tammy on Pinterest

Turn a bar of soap into hand soap. I ended up with liquid my dad would deem "snail snot". LOL I read the comments on the blog post and it looks like the failure rate is pretty high. A lot of people had problems with it, so at least I wasn't the only one!

Source: prudentbaby.com via Tammy on Pinterest

5-minute coffee cake (microwave cake). This was disappointing, the topping was good but the cake part was not appetizing.

Source: mommysavers.wordpress.com via Tammy on Pinterest

Colored ice cubes for a toddler to "chase" in the tub. These melted in seconds, leaving the bathwater a murky brown. I had to drain the tub and start over.

So there you go. ;-) A few things I tried that didn't work out.

~Buttons Memories~

I love buttons. Buttons and swatches of fabric can bring back a flood of memories for me!

I recently went through my button jar to pull out a button for a project. The button was from an outfit my grandma made me for my 11th birthday. Somehow I ended up with three of the buttons in my button jar.

Here's my outfit:


I thought I was sooooo grown up!

When I got this outfit, my grandma lived in Ohio at the time and she flew in the night before my sister was born, which was the day after my birthday. My grandma's luggage got lost so the next day she wore my dad's bathrobe while she waited for her luggage to be found and delivered. She commented that she had my birthday present in her luggage, so my little 11-year-old heart fervently desired for her luggage to be found, and soon. Naturally, I was concerned about my present. The luggage was eventually delivered, and I sat on the bed and opened my gift, with my mom and baby sister right there. My grandma had made me two outfits - two jumpers and two blouses which were mix and match. I loved those outfits so much, and the fact that I could wear either blouse with either jumper! One of the blouses had little square buttons, and I loved those buttons so much. In the picture above you can see them if you click to make the picture larger.

I made my daughter a hair clip to go with her new pink jumper, and sewed the button in the middle:


If my grandma were still alive and in good health, I know she would make my daughter special dresses. But she taught me how to sew, and so I sew for my daughter using the skills she taught me. It was fun to use a button from something my grandma made for me, for my daughter.

~Pink Jumper~

Last Thursday I started another jumper for my daughter, and finished it up by Saturday evening so she could wear it to church on Sunday.

I used McCall's 3737, which I was thinking I had purchased a year or so ago. However, I couldn't find it on McCall's site, and the copyright on the pattern is from 2002. So I most likely bought this pattern to make a jumper for my youngest sister (but never did).



I made view C, size 3.

The fabric is the softest ever baby corduroy. So soft. My mother-in-law sent it to me with the patterns and other sewing things that she sent me from her friend. There was just one yard, and I was so happy I was able to get this jumper out of it. The only thing I had to purchase was a zipper. I also bought some ribbon so I could sew bows on the tucks like the pattern suggests, but I couldn't get the bows tied right and I liked the way the jumper looked with the thrifted turtleneck I found to go with it, so I left it plain.



I would like to make my daughter several dresses, but I think I'll go back to size 2 for those. A jumper can get away with a little growing room but dresses look a little sad if they are too large!

~Green Tea~

I recently read in a magazine that people who drink 8-10 cups of green tea daily get 30% fewer colds and flu than those who do not drink green tea.

So I'm supposed to chug down 10 cups of green tea day in and day out and I still have a 70% chance* of catching someone else's cold?

I want to take something with a better rate of return!

*Maybe someone who has a better handle on statistics could tell me the percentage of chance someone with 30% less chance of catching something would have? Statistic math confuses me. :)