5 in the Hive

 Today is Valentine’s Day & all 5 bebes are in the hive. This may be the last year before boyfriends and girlfriends make any appearances. What happens when the 1st boyfriend comes home? I shall not be ready for that!

Easy Upcycled Baby Pants in 15 minutes

     Making of the never easier 15 minute thrift store baby pants. My pants will be size 12-18 months. It took me about 15 minutes to complete, and that is because I stopped to eat a Hot Pocket. This is the size small Forever 21 shirt I used for the baby pants. It seemed like a waste of a good shirt to chop off the sleeves, and I had second thoughts at the Goodwill that someone might wear it for its intended young and hip purpose. After all, it was in perfect condition without signs of wear or stains, but I am glad I decided to take a chance and buy it for $3.49 for half off clothes Monday.




Step one:

     Cut off the shirt sleeves under the armpit. I like the cuffed and fitted sleeves, because it fits the baby's legs better. The cuffs also give you room to grow.

     An easy solution to the waistband dilemma is to use the waistband from an old pair of boys underwear. I have size 4T which works for making 12-18 month size pants. I have also thrifted kids underwear and bloomers at 25 cents just for the elastic. I swallowed my pride and bought the used undies! Next cut the waistband off the underwear, leaving room for a generous seam allowance when you sew to your pants.

 Step two:

     Next, match the sleeves seam side together and use a pair of pants that fit as your template. Make a tiny nick at the seam, but be careful not to cut too big of a hole. The first pants I made, I cut too much here, and it was tricky lining up the seam. Now, cut from your notch upward to open the sleeves and create what will be the inseam, or seat of the pants.

This is what your cut pieces look like after you open up the seam.

Step three:

     Turn one of the sleeves inside out and insert the right sided sleeve into the inside out sleeve. Now the right sides of the fabric are facing each other. This will be the first of two seams needed to finish the pants. Make sure the existing shirt seams are lined up together. Match the corners together and sew the two pieces continuously to make the crotch of the pants. You can backstich to reinforce the crotch for added strength.

Magically, you just made pants. Now turn the pants right side out, and you can see it looks almost done. Trim the top of the pants to make it level. You can measure and be exact, if that works for you. I don't worry about it looking perfect, because my little one wears loose shirts to cover the top of the pants. You can also see my sock feet in this picture, too.

Step four:

     Turn the waistband over so the right side faces the right side of the pants, and sew. If I had the time, I could embellish with a contrasting zigzag seam or a cute appliqué. Alas, my kiddo is only taking hour naps this week, and I have other things to do today. No time for embellishing. And you are finished! Throw these on the laundry pile. I think they will be cute with boots and a tunic, or just pajama pants....most likely both on the same day.  Lovin' the way these turned out.

Epic Waiting & Juneteenth

Today is my Juneteenth 7th wedding anniversary. Instead of trying to capture my marriage to describe it to you, I choose literary reference. Today my life is more of The Old Man and the Sea and Waiting for Godot, than Romeo & Juliet and When Harry Met Sally. Telling you about my life brings the same feelings as reading The Old Man and the Sea with more boredom and less similarity to Homer's Odyssey. I have always identified with Odysseus's wife waiting at home. My life is a story of epic waiting, and waiting and waiting. If you haven't read Waiting for Godot, please don't.

All literature aside, last night, my husband and I celebrated our anniversary with a sunset sailboat cruise across Choctawhatchee Bay. It was a beautiful thing, even with the drunk Bammers from Mobile who were entertaining. Big fish stories were told by everyone, with wine, cheese, stars, & music, but no dancing. I was thinking of what it might be like to be on the sailboat with only one or two other people, and to share silence & stars.

This is an oak tree from my house in Oakwood. I am not sure what variety it is, but it is really beautiful.

As most of my readers know, yesterday, Auburn released a confirmation that the live oaks at Toomer's Corner had been poisoned with a herbicide used to kill trees. The Auburn trees are symbolic, iconic, wrapped in tradition (and TP). I just looked at a picture from Twitpic, and the tree looks much worse than I remember from my Auburn days. I remember its shade. Considering all the Tp-ing and hosing down afterward it has taken through the years, everyone knows it will die one day. We are just sad to see it go before its time.


http://www.thewareaglereader.com/2011/02/toomers-tree-hug-rally-may-do-more-harm-than-good/

Here is a poem I have been reading, thinking about my own trees before Al from Dadeville acted.

To An Oak Tree

Three hundred changing summers, winters too,
Since first the quivering sapling struggled through,
A hundred thousand days since you were born,
And took to earth from out the green acorn.
Survived the pounding hoof and rooting pig,
Put out first fragile arms, and then the big.

Two hundred years ago you firmly stood,
In promise rich as any in the wood,
Before your brothers in the claim to space,
With root and leaf creating your own place,
Had heard the thunder roar and breezes sing,
And from the storm given shelter to a king.

The next two hundred years had passed you by,
To find you yet fit neighbor to the sky,
And all man's need of ship, and church, and fire,
Had not assailed your own tremendous spire,
Which year by year from sap to solid core,
Unseen, unheard, took on a little more.

But nigh four thousand scintillating moons,
Three hundred Christmases, three hundred Junes
Have gone for nought and ever you must kneel
Before this artisan with bitter steel,
And to the sun lose acids raw,
Until the log is fit to meet the saw.

Till now beneath the softly-singing plane,
Your lustrous boards give up the secret grain,
And let the tiger-stripe medullar shine,
Across your straight and sturdy growing line,
And he who works with every shaving hears
How you grew into glory with the years.

And was it only Evolution's twist,
That man and timber came to co-exist,
Or did some greater mind regard that seed,
And plan it thus, so fit for every need?
Look at this chair, this door, that roof and know,
They could not be unless He meant it so.

E.C. Wells

Loves

Owen Loves

headstands
buttons ("buts"), mainly pushing them, also on clothes
running through the garden
watering the sidewalk
bugs
tigers
puppies
choo choo trains
jumping on the bed
feeding the giraffes at the zoo

Madeline Loves

painting her fingernails
all things "princess"
running through the garden
watering plants
snakes
puppies
rhinos
jumping on the bed
playing make-believe with friends
digging with a shovel and pail in the sand (wants a pink bucket and pink shovel)

Tips for Your Home that I Learned the Hard Way

We had the 1st open house yesterday, and the 1st open house I have ever done. Well I still have 2 fingernails left, if that says anything! Here is a list of things I don't want to forget,and that I would like to pass on.

1.) Keep the cheap glass vases that flower arrangements come in, and the more interesting they are, the better. I don't want to use my nice vases, for fear they will get bumped and broken during a house showing or open house. I have kept 2 or 3, and I wish I had more, especially the low vases. I like the low ones, because with flowers they give a nice focal point for the eye, but not too distracting with height. When showing the house, I would like to put flowers in almost every room.

2.) The little card on your keychain (it could be a library card or grocery store card) is perfect for scraping dried goo or dried paint off the floor. It actually works for most latex based paint drips, too. My preferred tool is the painters tool that is used to scrape paint. That scraper has saved me lots of time in cleaning up the dried food spills that come from little ones and their eating habits/accidents. You can buy it in the paint department. It is called "painter's tool". It is sharp, so use care with that one.

3.) I should have bought more white pillar candles in my life. I am needing white because that color stands out on bookshelves, and white is used a lot in Pottery Barn and Restoration Hardware ads. Also, I want more white votive candles, particularly the ones from Yankee Candle, because they have a really strong smell. I put them in the linen closet, for hopefully a good smell in there.

4.) Save laundry detergent boxes, or any other large household product box or tin, to hide your clutter in a hurry. Okay... you can only get away with having one or two extra. These boxes can stay in the pantry or kitchen cabinet, and stashing the dish towel in there can save valuable seconds in the last minute tidy-up.

5.) Another wanted item is woven baskets. I felt silly buying them from time to time, and my husband has teased me about buying them. However, I still need more. They make closet shelves look fantastic!

6.) Garden tools, garden gloves, and pots are items I should have splurged on, because they look great in the garage.

7.) IKEA has $1.50 house plants, and the best selection of pots I have seen. They beat Walmart in the house plant and pot department for selection and price. IKEA has small galvanized tin pots for 78 cents!! IKEA is my very favorite store of all time.

8.) DO NOT take your desk to storage. You can use it for staging. Your realtor may have an idea for where to put your "home office". We had to bring ours back to create a home office, because the home office area is a hot wanted space for home buyers. Who knew??

There is more to come, as the learning process continues!

The Stage...All the World's a Stage...Lights, Camera, Action

I've been reading these blogs about home staging. Supposedly, it will sell the home fast. You have to find the balance, the somewhere between not vacant-house feeling and not cluttered. Opening up the spaces is hard for me, because I have acquired some stuff in my life. ;-)

New goals:

First and most importantly:
Sleep Less.
Stage my garage. I have an old kitchen cupboard with the original sink and cabinets in there.
Wear less clothes so as to produce less laundry.

I like this blog about staging.http://www.stagingbug.com/blog/

Here's hoping my chi will flow and my grass will grow.