And Somehow, It's July

How is it July already?  Goodness gracious me, this summer is flying by.  Probably because I've been crazybusy.  The kids have been playing with squirt guns a lot in this hot weather, which leads to sopping wet and muddy clothing, which leads to extra laundry.  There are days when the only thing I accomplish besides getting meals on and off the table is laundry.

But I've been working on several projects too, as usual.  I finally decided that I could wait no longer to get my sewing machine out, so instead of finishing actually cleaning up my entire crafting nook, I just cleaned off the table.  Here's how it looks:

As soon as I got it set up, I sewed a ring sling for my sis-in-law -- I'd promised to do that almost three months ago, sigh.  Anyway, that pile of fabric at the very right of the photo is for my latest project:  patchwork skirts.  Another sis-in-law found one online she thought would be super cute for her daughter, and she shared the photo with me.  I said, "That is super cute -- I could do that!"  Except, being me, I've decided to just do it myself without buying a pattern, so we'll see how it turns out.  I'm about half done cutting squares, then there's just pinning and sewing and ironing and more pinning and more sewing and inserting elastic... let's hope I finish them by the end of the summer!  Our daughters are about the same age, and there are two more girl cousins that age too, so if I get really ambitious, I might make matching skirts for all four of them.  If they turn out well, I'll try to put up a tutorial here on how to make them.

I'm also working on a second dress for my pixie doll, but that's been derailed by me remembering I need to crochet a baby blanket for yet another sis-in-law, so I'm concentrating on that for right now and letting my other crochet patterns slide, as the baby is due next month.

What's everyone else up to?  Taking it easy?  That sounds like a good plan to me!

In Memorium

For all who gave their lives to make or keep us free and safe.  Thank you.

Easy-Peasey Glue Batik

A month or so ago, I read a post on That Artist Woman's blog about doing batik with kids. I'd actually never heard of batik before, but it looked fun. Instead of using hot wax to create designs like classic batik, That Artist Woman used Elmer's Washable School Glue Gel. I thought maybe I'd try it sometime. Well, Danol spilled orange juice all over a plain white shirt one morning last week, and it didn't all come out in the wash, so I thought, why not try that batik thing with it?

So, armed with blue glue gel, watered-down acrylic paint, Dano's shirt, a body suit for Mercy, and one of my hubby's old undershirts for me, I embarked upon my batik experience. That Artist Woman said it would take 12 hours for the designs I drew with the glue to dry, so I did that Thursday night. I did a train for Dano, autumn leaves for Mercy, and for my shirt I wrote "Make a joyful noise unto the LORD" (Psalm 98:4) and surrounded it with music notes and symbols.

I learned a few things. If you do big, filled-in shapes with the glue, like the smokestack on the train or the bottoms of the music notes, they'll take longer than 12 hours to dry. And if you try to do a lot of little lines together, they'll probably all run together. If you're doing shirts like this, definitely put waxed paper between the front and back of your shirt or your design with go all the way through and your shirt will glue itself to itself. Which didn't happen to me, but with as much as they stuck to the waxed paper, I know it would.

But eventually, the glue was dry, so on Friday afternoon, we took our shirts out to the balcony and painted them. I'd mixed up acrylic paint with water in squeezey bottles, which made painting the shirts really easy, especially for Dano. I learned some things here too. Putting down plastic garbage bags under what you're painting is good (I did, and got very little paint on the balcony). Also, prewashing your garments if they're new is good. I didn't prewash Mercy's body suit, it was brand-new, and the paint did NOT want to soak into it. With Dano's and my shirts, the paint soaked in where we squirted it. But I had to rub and pat it into Mercy's body suit, and it didn't soak in as well or dye it as brightly.

I also learned that little boys who are not yet 3 years old can be awesome at this! Dano's shirt turned out the best of all, I think. He was super-careful and thoughtful about where to put each squirt of color. He would put one color over another, which made his shirt look beautiful and artistic, while my shirt looks blobby and blotchy because I was trying not to let them bleed together very much.

I think this would make a really cool craft project for Vacation Bible School, a summer camp -- anything where you can take multiple days to make it. Because after the paint dries, you have to soak the shirts to get the glue out, then let them dry again. So it's at least a two-day project, maybe three. Read That Artist Woman's post here for all the details on how to do this.

I've washed our shirts in the washer, and they've retained their colors quite nicely, so I'd say this craft project was a rousing success!

An Unpleasant Milestone and The Farmers' Market

What a week! Mercy cut her first tooth on Wednesday, which means we have had a cranky girl for four days. At least now I know why she didn't sleep well on Tuesday... but she hasn't slept well since then either. That first tooth is such a killer :-(

Anyway, I took the kids downtown to the local farmer's market today. It just started up last weekend and is supposed to run through October. When the weather cools down a bit this fall, I'd love to walk there with the stroller, but today we drove. I bought tomatoes, blueberries, and a bulb of garlic. I haven't tried the tomatoes or garlic yet, but the blueberries are excellent! I'm going to have to find some recipes to make with them, as I doubt they'll last long even in the fridge. Hmm, maybe blueberry pancakes for breakfast tomorrow? :-9

Like Seven Inches from the Midday Sun

It's disgustingly hot here this week. I just read in the paper that it was 106 yesterday. In Connecticut! In Iowa, North Carolina -- I understand it when I'm in those places. Here? Not so much.

So in honor (?) of the heat wave, here are my fave summer songs. No particular order :-)

+ "Smooth" by Santana featuring Rob Thomas. Probably the first song I really liked by Thomas, though now I'm a fan of him and Matchbox Twenty. It's great for blasting while you drive with the windows down.

+ "Kokomo" by the Beach Boys. I first heard this at a skating rink when I was a little kid, probably right when it came out in 1988. Didn't know until years later who sang it, I just knew whenever I happened to hear it in the grocery store or mall that it made me happy.

+ "Lazy River" by Bobby Darin. Sure, Hoagy Carmichael wrote it, and everyone's recorded it, but for me, this is the best version. Naturally, since I'm a Bobby Darin addict. This song was on the first CD of his stuff I ever bought, and I sang it all summer long that year, especially while I was at Myrtle Beach with my family. I think I was sixteen.

+ "Summer Rain" by Johnny Rivers. I've loved this since I was an oldies-obsessed teen. I dig the imagery of things like dancing in the sand and stepping out of a rainbow. Great for groovin'.

Okay, time to go get a popsicle. Don't forget to enter my giveaway! That water bottle carrier is perfect for a hot one like today.

Giveaway: Instant Canteen!

What could be a more perfect giveaway item for the summer than one of my Instant Canteens?

They're the hands-free way to stay hydrated -- an Instant Canteen ensures you'll never set your water bottle down and forget it ever again! They're great for any outing, whether you're going to the zoo or beach or hiking trail... or just the playground down the block, which is where mine goes the most. And you can enter to win this Peacock Swirl canteen for free right here!

(I sell these for $10 in my shop if you love the idea but don't like this one -- I have oodles of different fabric designs and strap colors.)


So, how can you win the Peacock Swirl canteen? There are two ways:

+ 1. Comment here listing your favorite item from my store -- www.huggermugger.etsy.com -- and either your email or blog address so I can contact you if you win.

+ 2. Post about this on your own blog. Leave a comment here with a link to your blog post, plus either your email or blog address so I can contact you if you win.


This means you can be entered twice!

Giveaway ends the morning of Friday, July 10th when I draw the winner, announce who it is here, and contact them to get their mailing address. Good luck!

Adieu, Adieu, We're Going to the Zoo!

I'm finally getting a chance to post about our zoo trip! Things have been crazy here -- we took off for Boston for a couple days to help my brother and his wife pack up their moving van 'cause they're deserting us, sniff sniff sniff. Between packing for the trip and then unpacking and doing laundry, I have had few minutes to call my own. But right now, both my little ones are napping, so maybe I can get this written and posted.

Dano loves the zoo. We took him to this same one three times last year, and he remembered it pretty well. We walked through their rain forest exhibit first, where Dano loved the birds and was leery of the monkeys, but thought their ocelot was awesome. Here's a shot of his favorite way to check out the animals: crouch as close as possible to the glass/fence.
After that, we lunched at one of their many picnic areas, where Dano ate his sandwich as fast as he could "so the ants can't have it," then roamed around, climbing on rocks, while I fed Mercy and myself.

Usually she loves the stroller and conks out in it, but this time she was at The Zoo! She wanted to see the animals! She had to ride in the sling so she could see! In fact, she refused to have her head inside the sling pretty much the whole time -- she had to peek around it to see everything.


Okay, I've got a recipe, a book review, and shop news I've been wanting to post for over a week now. And a giveaway! I plan to get that rolling tomorrow, then do the rest next week. Adieu!

Picnic Time!

Michele of This Decorated Life featured one of my canteens on her blog today! Their post was all about picnic items. Just so happens the kids and I had a picnic at the zoo today. (Pics of that tomorrow, I hope.)

Here's my latest Instant Canteen, just in time for the 4th of July. I love those bright stars!