I’ve been inspired by Amy Karol for sometime now.  One of the first crafty things I ever blogged about was the cuteness of Tie One On.  That was back in the days of my Xanga blog, which hasn’t even been updated in about a year.  Anyway, Amy was a major part of my introduction to all the awesome craftiness available online.

So I finally submitted a themed apron for Tie One On.  Finally.  And here it is.  Be on the lookout for a lovely Flickr set of equally fantastic apron goodness!

Muralimanohar tagged me to share some silliness about myself. And I’ve never been tagged for this sort of thing before. I usually tell you useless things of my own accord. :)

Might I add that her quirks are pretty great?

Rules first:

1. Link back to the person who tagged you
2. Mention the rules on your blog
3. Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of yours
4. Tag 6 bloggers by linking to them
5. Leave a comment on each of the tagged blogger’s blogs letting them know they’ve been tagged

Okay, so 6 things about me:

1. It takes me a very long time to finish arranging things on the walls. I’m never fully satisfied. In fact, Evan and I have had our biggest fights over hanging stuff up. So he has nothing to do with it now unless it’s just the hammer and nail part. He’s very gracious to help me at all. :)
2. Far too often, I allow the laundry to sour in the washing machine. Miraculously, I haven’t ruined anything important. But 1/3 of the time, I have to rewash clothes. Sorry, Earth. [And Evan wanted me to add that when I recently failed to rewash said soured clothing, he thought he was smelling someone else’s dirty feet, only to realize that it was his own grossness.]
3. I used to be addicted to cereal. I could eat an entire box within 24 hours. Not good.
4. Despite having run a 10 mile race at one point, I’m about as non-athletic as one can imagine and have been 98% of my life. In fact, once my friends postulated that if I was matched up against a stick (Kristena v. Stick), I would win. But it would be a close fight. Meanies.
5. I hate buttering bread with cold butter, and I hate slicing cheese. Makes grilled cheese sandwiches a unique challenge.
6. I sometimes list out “lunch” or “dinner” on my to-do list to ensure that something gets marked off. Is that cheating?

And in an effort to not “leave anyone out,” I decided not to tag anyone I actually know:

• Don’t Call Me Becky
• kootoyoo
• Toddlebits
• Lindamade
• artsy-crafty babe
• Thompson Family

You’re it!

Whew.  Yesterday was tough.  But everything turned out quite okay in the end.  I even had a “date” with my dear friend Anna.  So, moving on…

I recovered my ironing board the other day because it was dingy, and the padding was so worn down that the metal frame was leaving imprints on everything I ironed (not clothing… let me not fool you.  I rarely iron clothes! :)).

First, I removed the old woven cover.  I took the foam padding and used it as a guideline to cut two pieces of cotton batting and one piece of cotton fabric.  (I actually layered these as I cut them out to save a couple steps.)  Anyway, I cut about 3 inches wider than the foam padding all the way around.  This was unnecessarily wide, and I had to trim a bit to make everything fit.

I saved the nylon string and cinchy-thingy from the old cover that made it fit around the ironing board.  Then I sewed an overcasting stitch around the perimeter of my new cover (a serger could do this better, but a serger I have not).  I didn’t even bother to fold over the edges (you know, since I didn’t have an ironing board to press them on), though that would have made for a nicer finish.  Then I wove the nylon thread through the stitches (kind of time-consuming, but super easy) with a tapestry needle.

Finally, I layered the old foam piece, the two pieces of batting, and the new fabric cover onto the ironing board and smoothed it out.  This was a little tricky, and I realized that I [still] made it much larger than necessary.  But it worked.  So I cinched the nylon thread as tight as possible and used the plastic cinchy-thingy from the original cover to finish it off.

And voila.  It was actually much simpler than this reads, took about 30 minutes, and saved me at least a few dollars.

So what’s my Work in Progress?  Cleaning the iron so I don’t ruin the ironing board again. :)  And then finishing my submission to this.

And packing.

And going to Kansas City.

Um.  Why am I on the computer right now?

Here’s a little bit of something on my desk today.  I found the pattern here.

I vaguely remember doing chicken scratch when I was in 6th grade.  We actually still had a home-ec class back in 1992.  I hated it.  If only my teacher could see me now…

So I’ve been dying to knit this sweater.  It’s a classic design for babies that has been all grown up by Flint Knits.  And I love her for it.  Anyway, I’m torn a bit about choosing a yarn.  I used to buy cheap yarn all the time but have since realized that if  I’m going to pour hours and hours into a project, I want to love it and be able to use it!

So these are my top choices (Cascade 220 at Purl).  Cooler shades are apparently catching my eye.  I’m leaning towards that vibrant green, but I wonder if it’s just because I’ve seen the sweater in that color.  Or because I’m a redhead.

What color do you think would make a nice addition to a fall/winter wardrobe?

As much as I’d like for my children to cherish and enjoy old books, past experience has taught me that it’s better to save the nice ones for later or find creative things to do with them.  So, I now present another project for your old books.

I spray painted some inexpensive standard frames and simply searched through some of Evan’s old (as in falling apart) books for pictures that went nicely together and fit inside the mat.

This is an old project, but yesterday’s blocks made me think that you might like this idea.  I find classic Little Golden Books to be an unending source of inspiration.  And they’re also very cheap!

Also, if you have a book that has already been decimated by your child, you could try to salvage any nice illustrations for decorative purposes.  I’ve been trying my darnedest to do this since Emily now shamelessly rips into her books right in front of me.  Yep.  It has come to that.

First, I want to say thank you for all the great chocolate chip cookie recipes you guys suggested!  Here are 3 winners for future reference:

• Nestle’s Toll House
• Neiman Marcus Urban Legend (Mom D emailed me this one)
• Heavenly Chocolate Chunk

They all sound delicious, and I might just have to test each one.  You know, to review and such. :)

So last night I realized that I never told you all about this review of sorts that Evan and I did together for a column at Movie Zeal.  It’s pretty silly, but that’s the charm of it.  And believe me, I’m not into horror films.  At.  All.

I’m into cute things.  Like blocks covered in pictures from old children’s books.  (Nice segue, huh?)  Anyway, I stumbled across this tutorial from Martha and literally jumped up to go make some.  Has anything ever inspired you in that way?  Please share!

I used some of Emily’s blocks and an old Scuffy the Tugboat book that was otherwise deteriorating as quickly as possible.  And I didn’t do any of the fancy painting or decorative edging.   Easy peasy.

A good day to rest and hang out with your friends.

Sometime about 2 weeks ago, I stumbled across this recipe on Money Saving Mom.  Since I had all the necessary ingredients on-hand, I decided to give it a go.  I have now made it about 5 times.  Yes, we like it that much.

A few alterations though: I only make half of the recipe, use applesauce instead of oil, cut down on the sugar, and I add in about 1/2 cup of coconut and a couple tablespoons of wheat germ.  It’s great with milk and fruit, but it’s also fine straight out of the oven by itself.

P.S. How do you like the new banner?

Every time I visit, I walk away with something that makes me happy. Last night I scored (what appears to be) a brand-new teakettle, the perfect little needlepoint, and an old, floral suitcase for Emily.

I actually went on Wednesday night, found the suitcase, and decided to sleep on it and ask Evan (since you can’t get refunds at thrift stores, ya know). Having been to the QTS two nights in a row around closing time, I observed something rather odd for any business: at 8:45 (15 minutes before closing) they turned off most of the lights in the store. Not only did I feel a bit anxious about hurrying and getting myself out of there, but I really couldn’t see to shop!

But really.

I shouldn’t complain.

It’s probably for the best that they rushed me out of there.

Emily’s wrap/kerchief/thingamajig is coming along swimmingly. It will go great with her outfit of unsnapped pajamas, blanket on the head, butterfly hairclips on her fingers, and peanut butter in her hair. She’s a stylish kid.

EDIT: Does anyone know a great recipe for chocolate chip cookies?

I got a lovely email this morning telling me that the latest issue of Small Magazine was available. I’ve shared this once before. Every new issue inspires me so much that I just can’t not mention it.

This time, more than one photo made me want to knit a red hat for Emily.

Aren’t these Polaroids great?

And I pretty much love everything about this spread:

So feminine. So sweet. Braids. Dresses that I could totally make. Dancers. Fruit. :)

Well…

I’m decidedly not knitting a hat for the girl. But I am making a kerchief which may become a shawl. If I have enough yarn.

Funny thing - I cannot retrace the thought-process that led to me not making a hat. Huh.

But I will make her a dress like that pale peachy one.

If I can remember.