my sewing solution.

I love to sew.

I love to sew fun stuff for my girls.

I like to surprise them, sometimes.

it helps to know measurements in order to keep certain projects a surprise.

it helps if one doesn’t lose those important measurements, so as not to spoil the surprise.

I thought I was a genius (!!!) to write down the girls measurements, updating from time to time, on a little post-it note pad that was supposed to stay near my sewing stuff.

not so.

there is a pile of post-its somewhere, that have measurements of my three girls jotted on them. 

somewhere.

but nowhere I can locate them.

so my solution:

make a cute book, sewing themed, to keep track of these and measurements that are surely to come, because despite my pleadings, threatenings, and crying, these kids are still growing.

enter cosmo cricket:

for this here little book, I used:

- 1 small black & white composition notebook (3 3/4 x 4 3/4 )

- papers from cosmo cricket “material girl”

- elements from cosmo cricket “material girl – candy, candy” and cosmo cricket “material girl – elements”

- paper for the spine from cosmo cricket “togetherness”

- glue

- a paper trimmer and score-er

- plain white cardstock

- bits of ribbon

- staples

- rub-ons

- corner rounder

 

first, I started by designing the way I wanted the front cover of my little book to look in photoshop, and printed it off on presentation paper.

I cut it to the size of my notebook, rounded the corners, and scored it to fit nicely over the binding.

I used my tombow mono glue, and glued the paper only to the patterned part of the black and white cover of the notebook.  leave the spine glueless. 

I distressed it with an emery board, cause I roll that way..

then I cut and scored a smaller piece of coordinating paper to help reinforce the spine, and to look cute too.

I used the white cardstock to reinforce my separator pages.  I cut them down, and rounded the corners, and glued them with the tombow as well.  (I divided my pages into three somewhat equal sections so there would be plenty of room for updates.  again, that growing factor..)

I took bits of ribbon, in my girls colors (because we have a color-coded system to life at our house..  trust me, it works.), folded them in half so each side of the ribbon straddles the page (so to speak) and stapled it to the page.

then I added rub-on letters for each of their names…

and then, I got to peyton and had a little bit of a problem..

merrill almost got himself punched in the throat for trying to give a suggestion and purposefully spelling her name “p-A-y-t-o-n”.

it is a long-standing disagreement between he an i.

he threatened to spell her name in her blessing, so it would be stuck with the A.

punk.

but I digress.

I love the way the book turned out.  hopefully I won’t be losing anyone’s measurements soon so the surprises can start to flow in their fabric-y abundance.

fun fact:

while measuring the girls, I discovered that lynn and ash have the same waist measurement, and that the distance from peyton’s waist to her ankle is the same distance from lynn’s waist to her knee.

*just a side note, as I wrote down my first entry for measurements on each girl, I wrote the season and the year at the top of the page, just to help me keep straight which is most current.**

One of these things is not like the other..

Oh..  the fond memories that Sesame Street has added to my life…
Take a look here, see what doesn’t fit in?

It is the shelf in my laundry room..
(Like you couldn’t tell…)
That Coppertone Kids Sunscreen, otherwise known as my newest best friend, is what doesn’t fit in typically, but has found a new home here.
Peyton, my terrific two year old, isn’t the only child who exasperates me.
I have two older girls that do that on a regular basis as well.
They LOVE to color on the dry erase board, but do not love to place the caps securely back on the markers and safely out of the reach of my mini-Monet.
I have hidden them, only to have them found.
I have placed them, in what I thought, were high, unreachable places, only to have Ashley and her go-go-gadget arms (supported by various chairs, stools, and bins) re-claim them.
And how do I discover that they have found or re-claimed them?
Peyton shows up with dry erase marker all over her, and her clothing.  Usually new clothing..
There are two of her shirts that have been categorized as either “stay at home shirts” or “this is a crafting with mom day shirt”.
I was not very happy to discover these shirts when they were first marred by the outlawed markers, and I tried what I knew in the way of removing stains, only to give up.
Then, this last weekend, we had two back-to-back incidents, both involving new shirts,  that sent me on a hunt.
Through Google, I learned that sunscreen can remove dry erase marker!
Really.
It’s like magic!
Place a towel in between the layers of clothing, put sunscreen on the offending spot, rub at the area with another towel.  Move the first towel, the one between the layers, when it is too saturated, and rotate with dry spots on your dabbing towel,  and continue to dab away.  Soon that spot will be gone!!
I used Oxyclean after that process was finished to cut the greasiness of the sunscreen out when I laundered it.
Good as new I tell you..
But after smelling that sunscreen, I am wishing summer were here..  having random flashbacks of days spent swimming and Lake Powell…
*Post Edit:  make sure to use Shout on the after as well.  After the first washing, I found a still greasy ring, Shout helped out!