PS

Just to prove how my brain is already on vacation
I completely forgot about the goodbye post I had pre-posted
{my story of neglect-which wasn't riveting enough for the author to even remember!}
and made an entirely new one
{with pics!}
So you got goodbye twice.
Because I think of y'all twice as much as you think I do.

Neglect: A Story {with a happy ending}

This is a story of neglect.

The neglect of a 

{very small, but sort of sweet}

blog 
and a dog

You see,

the blog's blogger Em was going on vacation

a very long, overdue vacation in which much fun would be had by all

and wives would see their husbands for wonderfully long periods of time.

But the blog would be neglected.

No posts pre-posted.

No excitement.

For three weeks.

And the dog
well he would be left in very capable and sweet hands
But his people were leaving him
and to him, that constitutes neglect.




The happy ending?
In August there will be an empty house
with all children being in school
and one very antsy blogger
excited to craft and create and share again
with a very loyal dog at her feet.






Wish us well!
I'll be thinking of you!










PS
in case you were considering raiding our house while we were gone
a warning:
our lovely dog sitter
{who is my husband's cousins' wife's mother-follow that!}
will be taking herself a vacation 
and staying at our house
{and spoiling our first furry baby}
and if the dog doesn't eat you first
{because though he loves us, he's not very nice}
she knows how to get into our gun safe.
Don't say I didn't warn you.

See ya laters aligators

We'll be going here:

And then Visiting these guys:

and doing lots of fun things with

some of our wonderful family.

Don't tell my kids but

after all that fun

we'll be going here:

See you in 3 weeks!

And the winner is....

I used Random.org
who told me the magic number was 23

Traci said...

I'm a new follower! :)

Horray!

Let us know what fun stuff you get!

Lighting and a Giveaway

So...

when we moved into our house

I was not the super star sewer I pretend to be now.

I carved out a little niche for myself

to put my sewing things and crafts and fabrics.

Well, I am maxed out.

Floor to ceiling, wall to wall.

{Did I really just post my sewing chaos for the world to see?!}

One of my problems is that I've begun covering up the lighting.

 I'm thinking of putting some task lighting nearer to the workspace

because hey, who doesn't like to see what they're doing?

I found a very cool 

(and possibly addictive website)

CSNlighting.com

Check out what I found:

Bright Under Cabinet Light

Murray Feiss Swing Arm Lamp

I think this one's my favorite.

Robert Abbey Pharmacy Lamp

What do you think?

CSN stores has tons of other stuff, too.

look at the goodies I found!

A great starter

This is my baby:)

I would LOVE one of these...

And wouldn't these be great activities for summer

First Knitter

Sew a Petal Purse

A first sewing machine

And this weekend they're giving away $60 

{to be used however your heart desires}

to one of you!

Leave a comment for Each Entry

Visit CSNstores and tell me what you'd do with $60 (one entry)

Follow That Crafty Mrs.V (one entry)

Blog about this giveaway and link back to me (one entry)

Giveaway ends Sunday

Kids' Travel Neck Pillows

I finally won the battle against the stuffed animals.

There is now a sweet little basket in the girls' room with their prized stuffies.

I kept two little Minnie Mouse dolls with this project in mind.

And TaDa!  Here it is:

Aren't they sweet?  

I enlarged the pattern about an inch bigger than

the template showed and I like the fullness.

I had the minky left over from covering the girls' car seats

{oh boy I forgot how much of a horrible MESS that stuff makes!}

I hope they get lots and lots of hours of use on the airplane!!!

Hair Bows

I love hair bows.

They are one of those girly things I swore off in my younger years

which I succumbed to after having two little girls.

So I've been busy making bows to go with the girls' outfits on vacation.

These are to match these dresses

I used the fabric from the luggage tags 

and put them on those cover-your-own buttons.

{so great, you only need a scrap of fabric!}

There are some great hair bow instructions at the ribbon retreat.

For the korcker bows I found pre-cut dowels in my wood section of our craft store

and I usually bake them in our toaster over.

I still have to make pink ones and I was thinking rainbow colors would be fun, too.

I was inspired by Grace at Little Pumpkin Grace

Jessica always puts the cutest bows in her hair!

So my goal is to have a set for each outfit.

We'll see if they actually stay in their hair...

Play Checkbook

One of the things I love to do when we go on vacation is

to bring fun, new things for my kids to play with.

When we went on our 3000 mile road trip a couple years ago

Chloe was 8 months old 

{were we insane?!?!}

And I brought a entire suitcase of surprises for the girls.

This trip won't have nearly as many miles in the car

but 5 hours in an airplane keeps getting longer and longer

every time we go.

Today I put together some checkbooks for the girls.

I found a download for the checks over at Just Something I Made

{I didn't sew the perforations, 

I have a perforating blade for my paper cutter}

Then I made a super simple cover using some matching material

from the girls' backpacks.

I hope this keeps them busy for a little while!

Mei Tai Tutorial

I love Mei Tais.

I made one for Chloe when she was a baby

and we used it all the time.

She loved to climb in and take a nap on my back.

Mei Tais are great to take on vacations.

They fold up small and take up very little packing room

and can be easily toted around while you're exploring.

So a few months ago when I put Chloe

in her Mei Tai and found she had grown too long for it

I thought I'd make her a longer version to take with us on our trip.

This tutorial is for either the smaller baby length

or the larger preschooler length.

If you use a heavy weight canvas and

heavy duty thread it will easily hold up to 35 lbs.

Click here to download

Luggage Tags

{We've got a trip coming up

and for the next couple weeks

I'll be doing projects related to traveling}

Lovely Little Luggage Tags

This is a really easy sew

and it's so cute to have matching ID tags

for the little ones' bags.

{or bright, noticeable ones for the grown ups}

Start with printing out the template here.

{There's three sizes to choose from}

You'll need:

Printer Fabric (I found mine at my craft store)

Fabric for backing

Eyelets or grommets, depending on how big your tags will be

The kit to put the eyelets/grommets on to the fabric

(sometimes they come together, sometimes they don't.)

Eyelets and the tools to put them together

So first of all print out your information onto your fabric.

{I put my daughter's names and two cell numbers}

Be sure that you leave plenty of room to sew-

at least 1/2 inch around the wording.

I like to test one out on a plain paper first to check the size is right.

Cut out your pieces,

one with the info

and one for the back

With the right sides together, sew 1/4" from edge.

Then go back and sew again closer to the edge.

{I sewed mine 3 time because the fabric was unraveling easily}

Clip the corners.

Carefully turn it inside out.

Push the corners out with a boning knife  or an eraser.

Tuck the edges in as little as possible

{I use the tip of a straight pin to manipulate the fabric where I want it}

Iron it flat

Top stitch close to the edge

{but not over your words}

Lay your eyelet or grommet on the fabric where you want it.

Mark the spot.

Make a LITTLE hole where you marked.

You can always make the hole bigger.

I make a small snip with my scissors

then push them through to widen the hole.

Push the eyelet through the tag

and place it on the holder

Put the flattening piece on top and hammer down.

{You should do this on a work surface

or you could do it on your sewing desk and hold your breath like I did}

TaDa!

I used a ribbon and sewed it on to the girls' backpacks

For the girls' suitcases I made

a double-layer tag.

I wanted the information covered for security

and so I made two tags

and connected them with one grommet.

Let's hope our luggage doesn't get lost (:

Get Out of Town (the longest post ever)

Topic: Camping

Memory Verse:
"Be still and know that I am God" Psalm 46:10

"Be strong and courageous for the Lord your God goes with you" Deuteronomy 31:6

Activities:

Glow in the dark T shirts

The kiddos drew their own shirts using "stamps"

we had cut out of sponges

of stars, rocketships, and planets.

We used regular tshirt paints

and then painted over it with glow in the dark tshirt paint 

(found at our local craft store)

These can take a couple days to dry so plan ahead!

Pinecone Bird feeders

We found pinecones around our campsite and covered them with

peanut butter and birdseed

then hung them outside on a tree near the cabin.

Treasure Containers

We took the plastic containers 

that you get out of a toy vending machine

and drilled holes in the caps.

Then I threaded two ends of the ribbon into the container

and tied a big knot.

I saw these somewhere in cyberspace-if you did it let me know (:

These are great because the kids can only bring home what fits in the container.

Play Cards

Our girls love the 

Peanut Butter & Jelly Game

but just a plain old deck works just as well.

Take a Hike

Explore what's around

and look for signs of living nature.

While in the woods we had a quiet moment

and talked about our scripture verses.

'Smore, Please!

I am pretty strict about what my girls eat

but I am sure that the memories made and the nostalgia it will

create later in their lives

is worth the sugar in their diet.

(But that's just me)

Let them Be

Most of all, be flexible.

Think of it all as an adventure.

Last year we went up to Polipoli cabins.

It was unusually cold that time of year (about 35 degrees inside)

and we were all freezing in our little single-wall construction cabin.

None of the kids were sleeping and it was late.

So we all dragged our beds out to the main room where the 

fireplace (and our collective body heat)

kept us warm.

If you don't want to camp in a tent, then don't.

The term "camping" has taken on a much looser meaning 

since we started to bring little ones with us.

(Check out the extension cord running from the generator

to the cabin)

We may not be really "roughing it" but we are having fun.

Don't let the little ones stop you,

they'll have fun, too.

Don't know where to go?

This is when I tell you it is your duty as a citizen of the United States

(if you are a citizen of the United States)

and your great privilege to participate in the National Park System.

I could do a whole series of posts on our National Parks.

But they're not very crafty, are they?

Still not sold?

Just spend the night in your backyard.

Happy Camping!