Out of Body, Out of (My) Mind

Hello there!  Come in, won't you?

Landon's 4th birthday is tomorrow and seeing as how he's got every toy vehicle ever manufactured, we decided to get/make him something that fostered pretend play since he's getting more into that anyway as he gets older.  The boy loves making forts, so after seeing this reading nook on Ana's site, I thought a tent would be the way to go after modifying it to my taste.  It's not that I minded rearranging the furniture and throwing sheets every which way to make the forts of yore (that's right, I said forts of yore), but it was really time consuming and picking up really wasn't all that fun for any of us - especially for me, because folding ginormous king-size sheets with one hand all by yourself sucks, trust me.  

And thus, the tent was born.

The tent will actually be used indoors, but I brought it outside for the purpose of taking pictures.

I'm not sure exactly what I was thinking, because this was a huge project.   The frame itself stands six feet tall, and four feet deep (original plan was three feet).  Knowing that I would be sewing the tent instead of using top tab curtains like the plans stated, I also had no pattern or anything to go off of.  So, I took measurements as I went.  I basically flew by the seat of my pants - and when you're me, can either be glorious or a major disaster where you find yourself balled up on the floor of your sewing room crying and swearing profanities on the phone to your mother because "how can making bias tape be this hard?!"  Another story, another time. 

In any case, what made the whole project even more of a dangerous feat was all the different materials used.  Medium-weight cotton, light weight cotton, webbing, vinyl (oh, vinyl, you fair weathered friend!), ribbon, grommets, velcro, netting.  I don't think I've EVER used that many different materials in one sewing project before.  EVER.  And being that I had no idea what I was doing with most of it, it turned out pretty well.  What's even more shocking then the end result, was that it went smoother than any other project I've done.  I had one very minor thread tension issue that took me a whole two minutes to clear up, but aside from that, it was smooth sailing.  That NEVER happens, I swear - you can ask my mom, I'm sure she'd be happy to tell you about all the phone calls she gets from me. The entire process was like an out of body experience.

Here was my vision:

The arrows and writing explains how the finished project varied from my original plan.  Please excuse the 3rd grade illustration - I sew, build, take pictures and fish.  I do not draw.

I added the details on the side to give a boy-ish industrial type look - on the other side you can't see in this pic (look above) is the blue strip of raw edged fabric (will fray a bit in time) with orange webbing and grommets.  I couldn't do something on one side with out doing it to the other - Nick asked why not (he just doesn't get it) :D - so I aded a couple strips of blue ribbon onto the yellow fabric then added the remaining four grommets to this side.  The reason I did four grommets on each side instead of three, since I'm sure you're dying to know, was based on intense and extensive mathematical calculations that I'm sure would be way too confusing to explain, so I'll give you the short version.  There were eight in the pack.  There was no way I'd ever use 2 grommets on a project (I've never used them until now, anyhow), and it's kinda symbolic - you know, since Landon's turning FOUR, and there's four on each side.  Are you still with me or are you just looking at the pictures?  

Anyway.

Thanks for looking and I'm pretty confident that Landon is going to flip when he sees it.  He's also getting a set of walkie talkies and binoculars with his tent (so he can be on the look out and report his findings to whoever will listen).  I just can't believe my little baby who would hum himself to sleep in the grocery store is going to be my big four year old boy who loves pretending to pick up pizza with his Hot Wheels, who must watch movies with his stuffed animals and who is convinced that he is a Transformer  (sound effects and all).  

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It's come to my attention that my tent has been featured on
Babble.com; I'm flattered beyond belief! I'm currently
working on a more official tutorial that should be available
soon...if you'd like, you can subscribe to my blog so that
as soon as it's up you'll be notified. Thanks for stopping by!
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Why On One Hand?

So, I suppose it's time for an explanation.  Ideally I would have had this post written and published on the 13th of this month, as that was the 5th Anniversary of our accident.  I think I might have been a little in shock that it's been that long.  Or, I was working on a project (that's probably more likely).  In any case, I chose the title On One Hand for my blog because it's the way I try to live my life.  Not literally, of course, as I don't really have any viable options in the hand department as of yet, but I do have an option as to how I see the world and myself in it.  Think of it as a glass, half full.  It's a play on the expression "on one hand, you've got this great option, and on the other hand, you've got that not-so great option."  I've only got one hand, therefore I've only got one option. The option to allow myself to be sad about what happened but not my circumstances.  The option to wish I had two hands again, yet to continue to amaze myself at what I can do with only one.  The option to throw myself a pity party, yet still appreciate what I've got.  Get it?  Life's what you make it.  It doesn't go as planned, and you don't get do-overs.  It took a while to learn this, accept it and forgive myself.  I still get asked about how I lost my arm, and then people comment on how strong I am.  They say, "Wow, you're so brave!" or "You seem so well adjusted." or "You've come a long way!"...blah blah blah.  I do appreciate it...I do, but I just don't see it that way.   I've only got one option, and that's the road I'm on.  

What other option is there?

What are your Dreams Plans?

So, I was perusing Pinterest the other day and I saw an image with a quote that read, "she turned her can'ts into cans and her dreams into plans." It spoke to me. It pretty much encompasses my life, both past struggles with my accident, as well as my current interest (which happens to be woodworking - get it, plans?) As much as I loved it though, I wanted it to be a little less her and a little more everyone, especially since I live in a house full of dudes. In any case, I took the quote and reworded it a bit to suit my our fancy, then gave it a little face lift with some fun fonts and color.

Above print is 5x7 size.  Frame from Ikea.

This freebie is brought to you by my 8 gig memory card, which I thought I lost, then found (my three year old stuck it in the wrong hole in the card reader, so it was actually inside the card reader) so I am feeling especially gratuitous this evening. You may thank the memory card or my three year old, whichever you like =)

As always, I'm always aiming to improve, so if you'd like to see this in a different color scheme, shoot me a comment and I'll see what I can do!

DOWNLOAD:  Available in 5x7 and 8x10. Please DO NOT link to the document, link back to this post if you'd like to share.

NOTE: The 8x10 is centered to print on a 8.5x11 sheet of paper, while the 5x7 is oriented sideways to print on a 8.5x11 sheet, to save paper. If you want to print two, flip it around. If you want to print one, use the other side to write notes, a recipe, whatev.

P.S.  As with all my downloads, I'd love to hear what you do with it! 

Sesame Street Continued - Street Sign

Here's a Sesame Street sign I made for my nephew's birthday party. Eventually it will go in his play room so they'll need to find a different solution for the christmas tree stand, which will also be covered with matching solid green fabric during the party.

Want to make one of your own? I didn't take any pictures of the process - I was a little pressed for time - but here's what you can do to get your own. Please read all directions before starting!! Tips are in red.

The Sign:

First I recommend making your sign. I made mine in Photoshop by making a rectangle with rounded corners, then making another LARGER rectangle in yellow that I stuck behind the green. If you are making the sign to match my favors, download the favor file first and use the dropper tool to match the green and yellow colors.  I did the same thing with the circle shape and put both circles behind both rectangles. The font I used was Futura and I sized it to fit, just go with whatever looks right to you.  The size of my sign was 10.5 in by 23 inches (The sign height is about twice the measurement of the length). I used the grid under "View" in photoshop and cropped the file section by section so that it would fit on 8.5x11" sheets of paper, which I tiled and taped on the back after cutting out.  I then rolled out clear contact paper I picked up from Hobby Lobby and stuck the sign to the contact paper to reduce the chances of bubbles/wrinkles.  Cut around entire sign.  

After the sign is covered in contact paper I used double sided tape around the very edge of the underside of the sign and stuck it to a foam board.  I used a exacto knife to saw around the edges of the sign (it wasn't as fuzzy doing it this way, rather than sliding the blade along) and then filed (yes, with a nail file) all around the edges to get rid of the remaining fuzzies, making it look much neater.  I then painted the exposed portion of the foam board with the green latex paint I used for the post.

The Post:

I found a 2x2 cedar post at the Home Depot for $3-4 and had them cut it to 6 feet.  I then got a piece of their scrap pieces of wood for 50 cents and had them cut that to 3 feet.  I sanded, then used finishing nails AND GLUE to secure the the small piece of wood (the arm) to the larger piece (the post) about 9 or so inches down from the top, as well as countersinking the nails and filling them with lightweight spackle.  The top piece that the styrofoam ball is resting on is from Hobby Lobby in the wood section, they're two plaques (maybe 4x4"?" that I glued back to back then glued onto the post.  Make sure to let everything dry well (at least 30 minutes, but longer is better).

NOTE: Don't be apprehensive about using glue to join, it's actually a stronger joining method when done properly than nails or screws.  Case and point - the arm on your post will loosen if you only nail it. Trust me.  You need to use glue.

I got a dowel to stick the styrofoam ball onto, then found a drill bit that was the exact same size as the dowel and drilled through the two plaques and post.  I used a 10" styrofoam ball, which was the most expensive part of the project.  USE A COUPON to buy it.  I was going to glue the dowel in, but it's such a tight fit that it's not going anywhere.  Paint your post.  I recommend printing the party favor file and taking it in to Home Depot to have them color match the paint to your printer's green.   You ONLY need a sample size of paint ~$3.  I also tried to match the fabric I bought to cover the stand as close as I could to the paint color. I bought half a yard of fabric (18") and cut it in half lengthwise and sewed it together to create a square-ish shape (18"x 22") In the middle of the square I cut a hole that was 1 3/4" square and slid it up the pole from the bottom so it covered the stand.  If you're making your own stand you can skip this step.  

I used eye hooks that I screwed into the underside of the arm, bought some chain from home depot (you only need about 8 inches TOPS) that I hung using 'S' hooks.  I marked where I wanted my holes, drilled through the sign with the same drill bit that I used for the dowel since it was still in the drill and than stuck a large paperclip through the holes and wound the small curved part of the clip to wind around itself to secure it to the chain.  Stick your styrofoam ball on and your done!

You could also cut the plaques that the styrofoam ball sits on so that they appear centered but the back is flush with the back of the post, then cut your styrofoam ball in half, and you could mount the post onto a stud if you would like to put it in your child's bedroom.

Again, sorry for the lack of pictures, but it's pretty straightforward so I'm sure you could figure it out by looking at it =)

And a shopping list: Includes everything but 

Hardware Store

2x2" post cut to 6 feet

1x3 board cut to 3 feet

green paint

2 small eye hooks

8" chain  - if you don't have wire cutters, get two 3-4" pieces

2 Small 'S' hooks

green paint

Lightweight spackle for filling nails, or wood filler if you've got it already. (if you're countersinking nails, you'll need that tool, ask an associate for details)

Craft Store

2 - 4x4" wooden plaques

1 wooden dowel, 1/4" thick max

10" styrofoam ball

foam board

Double sided tape

Contact paper

Free Sesame Street Favor Printable - Sharing is Caring

My sister-in-law is planning a Sesame Street/Elmo birthday party for her little guy who's turning two in a couple weeks. Since I am no stranger to Photoshop when it comes to printing party favor packaging, I offered to help her out. Instead of sending the kiddos home with goody bags full of crap that will either be broken or lost or choked on within 15 minutes, she's decided that crayons and coloring pages are the way to go. I couldn't agree more, so here's what we came up with:

Excuse the broken crayon, this isn't an actual favor - 

this is what I made to show the sister-in-law what I had come up with.

And to celebrate Landon starting his first day back to preschool tomorrow (yaaaaaay!) I'm going to share with all of you!   We've been trying to work on sharing around here, and what better way to do this than leading by example?  In the quest of finding Sesame Street themed party decorations, my sister-in-law was hard pressed to find anything on Etsy that was worth the money.  I mean, making custom images and whatnot for people takes time, sure...I get that.  However I just can't see charging anyone a ridiculously inflated price for what took me five minutes to create, and then another five changing numbers.   Maybe that's why I wasn't making any money :P

If you'd like to make your own Sesame Street themed party favors, download the corresponding file below - I've got one for ages 1-5.  If you need a different number let me know - I figured these would be the most popular ages for a SS party.  They're double-sided (I didn't want to leave them looking unfinished by having a blank backside) so for best results, cut around the long and short edges of each tag (4 to a page) to make a square and fold in half (where the tops of semi-circles meet).  Cut out the remaining white space but DO NOT CUT around the very top of the semi-circle, that's what's going to hold it all together.  Put your crayons in a bag - I used recipe card sleeves* - cut bag to size, then staple your tag on.  Done!  

*You can use recipe card sleeves as well, or you could probably find cello bags and do the same.  

As is, the finished tag is 4.5" wide.  In my printer settings, I fit the image to the page, which made them a bit smaller (about 4.25").  I recommend fitting the image to the page (adds a small border around the edges) so that you don't run into clipping issues.

I would love to know if you decide to use these for your party, so drop me a comment if you do =)  Also, you may feature these on your blog if you wish, but please be respectful and don't post the direct link to the file, link back to this blog post.

Sesame Street Thank You Favors for:

One Year Olds

Two Year Olds

Three Year Olds

Four Year Olds

Five Year Olds

You can find free SS coloring printables here.  If you go there, make sure your volume is down or off so you're not blaring the Sesame Street jingle through your house at 11 p.m. like I just did.  Whoops!

**Several people have asked that I email them the template so that they may customize it with their child's name.  While I'm overjoyed that you all are interested, I don't have the time at the moment to figure out a way to protect the file from being misused (i.e. sending someone a blank file and allowing them to edit and resell on Etsy, etc.) While I would like to prevent this from happening I understand that personalization is very popular so for a nominal fee of $5 (includes up to 2 children's names), I will personalize the file with your child's name and send you the file. The original "Thank You" favor files will remain free as always.  Thank you for your cooperation!**

Bubble Lovin'

My big guy LOVES bubbles!  I found a bubble recipe floating (no pun intended) around Pinterest, so I decided to try my hand at making them.  It was super easy, especially considering I don't have to pry little foil wrappers off bubble bottle tops with my TEETH because they're impossible to peel off one- (or two-) handed.  Seriously, making out with bubbles is NOT my idea of a good time, let me tell you.

You must try this for yourself, it's easy peasy lemon squeezy - and it keeps for a few weeks in a closed container.

What you'll need for the best bubbles, E.V.E.R. 

6 cups water

1/2 cup light corn syrup

1 cup dish soap (I used Dawn - the blue stuff, because blue bubbles have more fun)

A bowl and spoon (a whisk works better!)

Container(s) to hold your solution (two one-quart canning jars, perhaps?)

Stir corn syrup into water until blended.  Carefully add soap (like don't stand on the other side of your kitchen and try and squirt your soap in, or jump up and down while pouring) and stir some more.  Ta-done.  Put that solution in a shallow dish (i.e. The ones that come with the giant bubble wands in the dollar section at Target, as shown in pictures) and have your way with them - just don't make out with them, trust me.

MDF Trial & Error

and error and error and error.

I started building a toy box to go in the pipsqueaks' playroom today. It's going pretty well, if you ask me. I would like to credit the progress on practicing drilling countersunk holes into the scrap MDF that I had leftover after making my project cuts. Best decision I have ever made. EVER. Had I not, I would be one mad momma, and out $30.

I got the toy box plans from Ana White, who is a woodworking SHEnius. I decided to go with MDF, since I was planning on painting it when it was all built. MDF however, does not like when you try and screw things into the end grain, because the screw acts as a wedge and the MDF just splits apart. Drilling a pilot hole is KEY. However, I found that unless I drilled a pilot hole that was at least the length of the screw, it wanted to split. EVERY TIME. Some splits weren't as bad as others, but I didn't want ANY.  So, here are my tips for keeping MDF from splitting when drilling into end grain, all in one spot, so you don't have to spend hours on Google like I did.

• You can use drywall screws, but SPAX brand MDF screws are awesome. A little more, but worth it, IMO, and it comes with a bit in the box.

• Stay AT LEAST 2 INCHES away from the end of the board. If your cuts are straight, not having a corner screw is not a problem, especially since you should (see bullet #3)

• Always use wood glue. I use Elmer's.

• Pre-drill your holes (pilot hole) the length of the screw your using. Use a bit that is as close to the size of the shank (imagine the long part of the screw with no threads, that's the shank)of your screw, no bigger. The threads will dig into the MDF, which is what you want.

For these plans, since I wanted to countersink the screws, I laid the boards that I was joining together as if they were already joined. I then used a countersink bit (looked like a bit with a countersink part at the top) and drilled my holes through the top board and a little into the bottom board. I moved the top board and further drilled the shallow holes that were made with the countersink bit until they were plenty deep enough for my 2" SPAX MDF screws. I then applied glue and drilled everything together. I suppose it took a little more time than usual, but I wanted it done right. I couldn't be happier with the results.

Sorry about the pic quality, I used my phone. Better pictures to come.

I would also like to mention, though, that in the future, I most likely will forego the MDF and use a Kreg Jig to join planks of wood into larger pieces to use for projects where MDF or plywood is suggested.

I still have lots more to do, including trim, sealing, sanding and painting.  I'll post more pictures of this progress as it happens.  Until then, I'm off to watch All Dogs Go To Heaven with the boys.  It is H.O.T. outside.

Grandpa's Little Helper and a Walmart Photo review, of sorts.

Our story starts with our car taking a dump a few days ago. Okay, not really a dump, but it needed a new fan clutch and thermostat housing. Luckily, my father-in-law is a certified mechanic so we only had to pay for parts since he kindly made the repairs for us, per usual. (awesome sauce, no? He's pretty rad - when he's not making beer jokes about my talent for swelling up like polyacrylamide in water when pregnant)

To make a not so long story even shorter, he fixed the car with my big guy supervising/getting in the way/helping/not listening. Figuring there was a photo op present, I grabbed the camera and started snapping away. Later that night I was showing my mother-in-law what I got and started to play around with a layout to showcase the few that we both really liked and after a few tweaks and a border got this:

The mother-in-law loved, so I thought printing this bad boy (the picture, not the actual boy) out would be the way to go. Only thing was, Walmart's prints only go up to 8x10 and I wanted a 10x12. After looking around, though, I found that I could print it as a poster at $5.50 for a 10x12. It took maybe 20 minutes after ordering and my print was ready for pickup, even though they told me it would be ready the next day. When all was said and done, the quality wasn't super great, but for the price and convenience of having it NOW, I'm pretty sure I would use them again. Although I haven't researched any other printing avenues yet, so I'll get back on that. More pictures to come of our fun weekend BBQ with our friends, once Nick isn't working until all hours and i have time to sit down and edit some pics.

Negative.

So, I hate to start out my newest blog with a pity party especially when I could have avoided the situation altogether by doing what I knew I should have been doing, which was saving my work on a regular basis...however...

I REALLY HATE WHEN YOU SPEND A GOOD PORTION OF TIME THAT COULD HAVE BEEN USED TO SLEEP TO EDIT PICTURES IN PHOTOSHOP ONLY TO HAVE THE STUPID PROGRAM CRASH ON YOU, THEREFORE ERASING ALL YOUR WORK BECAUSE YOU DIDN'T THINK TO STOP AND SAVE IT. GRRRRRRRRR.

Okay, vent over. Time for bed, tomorrow is a new day. (Well, today, is a new day.)