Childhood Memories Found in a Box

Before coming to visit my family in California, my daughter had been very curious about the toys I played with as a child. So, I told her we would find some this summer. The first week here, we dug into the storage shed and pulled out all my plastic containers of stuff that is waiting for us to return to America. We did find some old toys, and some memories...like my Home Economics award from 8th grade! At the time, I remember feeling embarassed that I received the award...it was kind of nerdy, but so was I. Now, of course, I'm proud to say that I earned and 8th grade Home Ec Outstanding Student of the Year. ;-)

We found cross-stitched wall decorations that I had hanging in my room as a little girl. I don't remember who made this one...perhaps my mom or a friend of hers.

This is my first and only finished cross-stitch project, probably done when I was 8 or 9 and into gymnastics. No awards for gymnastics since I was too scared to do a back walk over, let alone attempt a flip!

My favorite discoveries were my old barbie dolls...and their creative wardrobes. Yes, this one is wearing an original, hand-sewn outfit. I remember clearly sitting in the living room with fabric, needle and thread, creating these stunning outfits for my precious barbies.

I remember playing with my barbie dolls for hours...they went skiing, they got married. Check out these great outfits that my mom crocheted for me back in the day. Who wouldn't love a bright pink ski suit? Although now it reminds me more of a footed onesie.

I thought my little girl was going to be super excited about my old barbies and she was until she discovered this little baby kewpie doll. My mom also crocheted this adorable ensemble. It's a baby sleep sack and cradle that turns into a bag to carry the baby around.

My daughter had the best time caring for her little baby. And, to be honest, I'd rather her still love her baby dolls for a few more years before she gets into barbies, so it was just perfect.

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I'm linking up to some of these fabulous parties!

Good-bye Reader, Hello Bloglovin'

Since I heard about the soon-to-be end of Google Reader, I've been using Bloglovin' and love it! They  make it so easy to switch over - you can do it in minutes.

If you currently use Google Reader to follow me, I'd love for you to switch over and continue following my blog with one of these other options or any other option, including email subscription, in my sidebar:

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London 2012 - Blog Break

My really good excuse for ignoring my blog for the past couple weeks...London 2012!!

Once upon a day, we saw the Olympic Rings on the Tower Bridge, looked out a train window and played peek-a-boo behind a bench...

We saw some special vehicles and flags of the world...

We played in front of athletic graffiti...

Another once upon a day, we showed Aunt Mary a beautiful castle and a guard...

Finally, late one night, we watched the USA win an exciting match...

Among the above events were so many other memorable moments from London 2012 Olympics. Here's a list of a few more that I can't find pics for at the moment...

• Mens Gymnastics Team Final
• Womens Cycling
• Mexico vs. Senegal Football at Wembley
• Kid Olympics at Anners
• London Live at Hyde Park

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Lemonade Stand

Since I'm spending a month with my parents (Jerry&Kay) in California, we have had a few fun days with all the cousins together. We usually have things planned for the day, places to go, people to see. However, one day we didn't have anything planned...so we spontaneously decided to do a lemonade & cookie stand. 

We quickly made lemonade & cookies from some my mom had on hand from the 99¢ store and then the kids painted signs to hang around the neighborhood. Our stand wasn't nearly as gorgeous as this one over at Scattered Thoughts of a Crafty Mom which I love, but we did have lots of fun with our last-minute-thrown-together one.

We honestly didn't expect to have very many customers. The first ones were our own lemonade stand workers. They couldn't resist the refreshing lemonade and chocolate chip cookies.

 During the slow beginning, we enjoyed a picnic lunch in the driveway...and then there was a rush of customers! Shouting at the cars driving by and any neighbours who came out of their homes really brought some good business...

Who could resist buying lemonade fromthis gorgeous princess shouting "Lemonade!! Cookies!!"

The moms of these guys should be very proud!

This was one of our best customers...he really made the kids laugh!

We also offered drive-up service.

 After each sale, we would tally how many cookies and cups of lemonade we sold. We recorded the amount of money we started with so we could know exactly how much we earned.

  

This guy's proud of his sign.

Nanny got a workout running up and down the stairs, making lemonade when we ran out, and making sure all the workers were well fed and entertained.

We sold out after 1 1/2 hours with a profit of $10.25...and saved the signs so we can do it another day!

Mas de Piñatas

Just for fun while I'm on this piñata kick, I thought I'd share a little bit of what I found through making my star piñata.

If you want to be entertained for a few minutes, read this blog post from Something a Week. I was seriously laughing out loud and thought it would be especially entertaining to do the same thing where I live in England!

Source: somethingaweek.wordpress.com via Jessica on Pinterest

I also discovered that Death Star Piñatas are almost as popular as Mexican star piñatas.

Source: papiermache.co.uk via Jessica on Pinteres

Interesting.

  Source: meghanandmark.blogspot.co.uk via Jessica on Pinterest

And if I ever have the time and patience, I'd love to give these a try...

                

Source: sheknows.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Star Piñata Tutorial

Okay. My star piñata tutorial is ready for anyone else who thinks they might want to make one! 

Trust me, making a star piñata is a ton of fun. I enjoyed it even more than the donkey piñata. I'm already trying to think of the next occasion for which I can make a piñata...hmmm...perhaps the Queen's Jubilee.

What you'll need to make your own star piñata:

My Scribbled Dimensions in Inches

• Lots of cardboard (the best kind is from used boxes...mine was from boxes in which our wine, nappies, and other items were delivered or bought)
• Lots of crepe paper (red, yellow, green, purple, pink...or colours of your choice)
• Lots of packaging tape
• Lots of candy or other small items to fill the piñata.
• Wire for hanging
• Pencil
• Ruler
• Exacto knife
• White Glue
• Paint Brush for brushing on glue

Here is how to make a star piñata:
(beware...there are lots of steps!)

1. Trace a circle for center of star.
2. Cut first circle out of flattened cardboard box. Use it to trace a second circle.
3. Cut second circle from flattened cardboard box. You should have two circles.

4. Reinforce any bends in cardboard by taping rectangular cardboard pieces perpendicular to bend.

5. Cut as many strips of cardboard you'll need to go around the circle. Make sure they are the same width and that they'll overlap by a few inches when wrapped around the circles.
6. Stick pieces of tape all around the circle. Make sure the sticky side is facing up. Make sure the reinforced bends are also facing up so that they will end up inside the piñata.
7. Curve strips by squeezing along the ridges.
8. This will cause the strips to match the edge of the circle more easily.

 9. Place strip along the top of the edge of the circle.
10. Pull pieces of tape up to secure edge.
11. Tape inside and outside of any overlap. Leave a gap for candy filling (See number 13).
12. Flip the circle over and tape along the entire edge. Make sure this is very secure so it can handle the weight of the candy or other filler.

13. Make sure there is a gap in the side so that you can fill the piñata later.
14. Prepare the other circle with tape the same way you did the first.
15. Set first circle on the second and pull tap up to secure.
16. Flip it over and tape the entire edge. Divide and mark edge into 6 equivalent sections. Make sure the markings are in the same exact place on both sides.

17. Prepare triangles for the points of the stars. Fit them as close together as you can on the cardboard to use it efficiently.
18. Cut 12 triangles.
19. Match corners of triangles with marks. Tape the bottom edge of triangle to circle - 5 on first side.
20. Tape 5 on other side. **Save last two triangles for the gap where piñata will be filled (see 24).**

21. Cut 6 rectangles. These will edge the points of the star.
22. Bend the rectangles in half.
23. Tape edges to triangular points on both sides (minus the one with the candy filler gap)
24. Fill the center with candy or other filler. Tape closed and add last star. This will be the top point. Check all stars by wiggling them. If they move, tape them down more until they are totally secure.

25. Mark the top star point in the same spot on both sides.
26. Cut a hole on each mark and thread wire through. Tie and tape ends together.
27. Tape the wire completely down on both sides.

28. Cut 3 inch strips of crepe paper. Fold it up and cut repeatedly into one edge to make a fringe. Mix half white glue and half water.
29. Brush glue along the edge of points and stick on some uncut crepe paper. I used red, but would use a lighter color like yellow or pink next time.
30. Brush glue along the top of star point, all around, and place the first fringe on the glue so that it goes around the entire point of the star.
31. Brush another line of glue just below the edge of the fringe and stick on another fringe.

32. Continue layering the glue and crepe fringe. 3 layers of red. 3 layers of yellow.
33. 3 layers of green.
34. 3 layers of purple.
35. 4 layers of pink.

36. After each star point is covered, place piñata on a stool or box to raise it from the ground and continue with layering the fringe. Follow the shape of the circle as you fill each side of the piñata. You can see that I put yellow down here before I started the layering.
37. 4 layers of pink. 4 layers of yellow.
38. 3 layers of green. 3 layers of red.
39. Finish the center of the circle by folding the yellow over on itself around continuously until the center is completely covered.

40. Take strips of crepe paper, gather them randomly together. Fold down twice and staple in place.
41. Glue strips on the very tips of star points. I totally forgot this step until a couple hours before the fundraiser, so I used a hot glue gun. Next time, I think I'd do this step before adding the fringe layers.

You should now have one brilliant star piñata ready to be enjoyed...and then destroyed!

If you make it through all those steps and make a star piñata, I'd love to see it!

Feel free to share a picture in my flickr group Share with Sunny Stitching.

Star Piñata

My latest creation is this semi-traditional Mexican star piñata...

I'll be posting a tutorial on how to make this star piñata soon. 

A few months ago, I made a donkey piñata (see it here) and was asked to make another one for a Doce de Mayo themed fundraiser (Cinco de Mayo was already booked). I thought about doing another donkey...or a sombrero...but couldn't resist the vibrancy of the star.  I used a picture from Google images for inspiration and a guide to the colours and then got to work cutting, taping, and gluing. It took some time, but was fairly easy and loads of fun to make! I love how bright and cheerful it turned out. It ended up being raising quite a bit at the fundraiser which made me really happy! :-) 

At last you are the proud owner of the much longed for Sewing Machine.

Written in March, 2009:

The other day, I met some friends at the Chertsey Bookshop. I had half an hour from finishing work to rush home, pack up EV and be there by 10. Of course, I was running late, so I texted my friends and said so. When I walked into the bookstore, I didn't see anyone I knew. Is today Wednesday, I thought? It must be because yesterday was Tuesday. I checked my friend's text to be sure that we were meeting on Wednesday at 10. Wrong! Wednesday at 11. I was an hour early when I thought I was late. It was not a big deal because I needed groceries, anyway. After groceries, I still had time to kill, so I browsed through some charity shops (thrift stores). In the window of one was an old sewing machine for £30.00. I was immediately interested and they put it on hold for me. Today, I returned to the shop and had the lady demonstrate that it worked. She knocked off £10.00 and I bought it for £20.00! What a deal! Now I can hem my trousers and sew EV some animal costumes. The best parts are that the machine is hand powered and it has the original instruction manual with an entertaining opening letter.


Some of my favorite bits from the letter:

"Dear Housewife...At last you are the proud owner of the much longed for Sewing Machine."

"Although everything is still quite clear to you, it is possible that in time some of the directions given to you for making the various adjustments may escape your memory."

"Before using your machine we advise you to glance briefly at the pages of this bokklet."

"After reading these you will have become thoroughly acquainted with the working principle of your sewing machine; you will look upon it as living thing that has been placed under your care and protection."





Written today:
The pictures below are of some items I made on my treadle machine. It became impossible for me to use when I was pregnant with my little boy. It was too heavy and I was in too much pain from my SPD to crank the machine. On a happy/sad day, I donated it to a charity that helps ladies in Africa learn to sew and make a living from it...and then I bought a nearly new Janome. It's nothing fancy, but gets the job done, and I love it!

My very first project was a skirt for my baby girl.

 A dress made from one of Happy Together's tutorials.

An original fairy skirt and a bee costume (McCall's MP366).

Reduce Reuse Recycle Refashion

My life has been completely taken over by work. March is always my busiest time of the year with my big deadline at the end of the month. The entire yearbook must be done and edited and ready to turn over to the publishing company. Stress...it creeps into my dreams. I spend hours on Adobe InDesign every day and then dream about it every night. Therefore, I have no time to do the things I truly enjoy.

                                                                        Source: themotherhuddle.com via Jessica on Pinterest

                                                                             Source: re-nest.com via Jessica on Pinterest

While I was working last night, I watched a film called No Impact Man, brought home to me by my husband who teaches and lives environmental science. It's about a family in New York who lives with no impact on the environment for a year. This includes a vegetarian diet of local food, no electricity, no material consumption, just to name a few of the many changes they made in their life. I didn't think twice about the environment (or even once to be honest) until I met my husband and now things like compost and recycling are a natural part of my daily life. I even spent some time on a permaculture farm, although I couldn't work much because I was newly pregnant at the time.

                                                                          Source: Uploaded by user via Jessica on Pinterest

Anyway, after watching this film, I've been contemplating all day what more I can do. I know I can do more. Can I go without electricity? I don't think so. But I can reduce, reuse, recycle in other ways. I'm still brainstorming some ideas and have to have some serious thought before I commit to any of them. In the meantime, I enjoyed taking a break from work and browsing Pinterest for some cute, clever, and creative ways to reuse, recycle, and refashion! 

make a Zipper Pouch from a coffee bag

make a Hot Plate & Coasters from wine corks

make Vegetable Bags from t-shirts

make a Pencil Holder from a cheese grater

make Boy Shorts from a man's shirt

make a Dress from a pillowcase