Pom-Pom Tutorial, and a Winner!

While this may be Simple Simon to some, I had to have a lesson to make the pom-poms for the legwarmers. My sister Alice, who was a true child of the 80's, assured me that I didn't need to buy a special pom-pom maker like the tutorials I found said I did. So... here's the simple, no special tools required, pom-pom tutorial!

First of all, cut a piece of yarn about 8 inches long and place it between your first two fingers (this is easier than trying to shove it through your fingers when they are wrapped up).  Then wrap yarn around the tips of those two fingers. 

I wrapped it around 100 times.

Then take the 8 inch piece of yarn, bring it around the entire bundle of yarn and tie a really tight knot.

You want this to be really, really tight. It helps to have someone put their little finger on it while you tie.  I couldn't take a picture of that, while tying the knot.  Sorry.

Then, after you tie the first knot, wrap it around to the other side and tie another. And then wrap it around again, if you want. This way you know it's really secure.
Then take scissors and cut the loops all the way around.

You'll end up with a super messy looking ball like this.

Then, using the scissors trim your pom-pom until it is nice and round. You basically want to trim all the strands until they are the same length, the length of the shortest ones. This gets messy, so I did it over a plastic bag so I could pick it up and throw it away.

Once it's all trimmed, you will have a darling little pom-pom to use as you wish.  Eli wants to add googly eyes to these and make monsters.  If monsters aren't your thing, thread some yarn through the centre of the pom-pom using a tapestry needle, and then you can sew them to whatever you like! 

There you go.  I really do love these things. I'm making a hat right now that I'm going to add some to.  They'll be cute as well!

Anyway, on to this weeks giveaway winner. Picked again at random, this time by Eli, the winner of the Christmas tags (which, by the way, my sister-in-law Renee said would also be great to use as decorations with current pictures of children - just change them up every year) is.... Shannon Evans... again!  I swear, it isn't rigged.  There were 19 comments made this week. I wrote the numbers 1-19 on evenly sized pieces of paper and Eli picked the one with number 14 on it.  Shannon happened to be the 14th comment of the week.  So, Shannon wins for the second week in a row!

Don't forget to come back tomorrow for a sponsored giveaway!  You are so excited, I promise!

Working in the Yard

This summer was so packed with fun, with excitement, with traveling, that the back yard kind of got neglected.  About the only thing that happened to it was an ocassional mow.  No weeds were pulled, no trees were pruned, nothing.  So, here we are in the most glorious October ever, and my mom and Phoebe have decided to tackle the forest of weeds. And Eli.  Eli helped.

 Jared didn't get a picture of it, but at some points it just got to hard to push his wheel barrel, so what did my son do?  Hi just picked up the whole thing and carried it to where it needed to be?  He's a monster!

And, the finished product.  Too bad it's going to snow now and we won't even be able to enjoy it.  Oh well, it's beautiful while it lasts.

Hat for Hattie!

A friend of mine has asked me to knit her kids some hats for Christmas. It is super fun, because I can try out new patterns and yarns that I wouldn't otherwise do. This is the first one I've done, and I'm hoping the four year old I've made it for isn't a follower of the blog, otherwise I've ruined Christmas! The pattern is a heavily modified version of this. The flowers I got from here. I absolutely love how it turned out.

Ten Things I want for my House

So, while we live in my parent's basement, we do actually own a house.  Actually, we own two, but one of the ones we own sits empty waiting for us to live in it.  We will live in it once a number of things happen:
1. We get rid of the water problem.
2. We redo all the flooring.
3. We paint all the walls and ceilings.
4. We figure out to fit all the stuff that fit into our glorious Michigan home into it.
5. Jared gets a killer job so we can afford to buy our own groceries.

But, in the mean time, it sure is fun to dream of how we are going to decorate it, and what we are going to do with it.  I would sure rather make these dreams with a bigger, more luxurious house in mind, but for now I'll make due.

As I search the web for ideas, here are ten things I LOVE LOVE LOVE, that I want to do in our house:

1. Make the boys room as cute as this one:

2. Except, instead of the super cute awning, I would put in this, right above the train table:

Okay, not the whole thing, but something kind of like it, inspired by it.  Trust me, it will be rad.

3. Have my living room be this color:

4. And my kitchen this color:

 5. This clock

6. Beadboard in the bathroom:

7. This amazing hallway (minus the light - cute, but I'm not going to do it.)

8. Crown Molding in my bedroom:

9. A new mailbox:

10. And, a beautiful back porch I can actually enjoy:

Okay, realistically not all of this is going to be done before we move in, but I can dream, and continue looking, and plan for one day when I will have it all! We've torn out a lot, but I will go in and take before pictures soon so you can see what amazing things we do accomplish.  Then we will have a big house warming party (but not too big, because really, we don't have that much room) and everyone can enjoy it with us.  It will be wonderful.

The Strength of Sampson

  

 Yesterday our little Silas destroyed an entire building with a single blow.  Today, he can't lift a feather!  What brought on this sudden weakness?  Well, we cut off his mane, his locks, his beautiful hair, and with it went his Sampson-like strength.  I know, it had to be done, it had long ago gotten past ridiculous, but again, like with the walking thing, his wispy hair was a remnant of the baby that is slipping from me, and I just couldn't do it (never mind the whole losing his strength thing... that was tragic, too.)  Although, I must say, what he lost in strength he made up for in incredible good looks.  I mean, if this kid had a super power, it would be stopping people in their tracks with his handsomeness.  Honestly, have you ever seen a sweeter boy?  Probably not!

And, here's some action shots to prove what a champ I am with scissors in hand!

Inspired By Red

Is it called "thrifting" when you get it for free, or just pure awesomeness?!

This weekend was epic for secondhand goodness. Our church hosted a "Clothing and Housewares Giveaway" and I scored big, if I do say so myself.  I love finding wonderful secondhand gems, keeping good stuff out of the landfill and all, and it's even better when its FREE!

Here's my list of finds:

Two new-with-tags sweaters for Benny and Charlie
A new-with-tag snowsuit for Kadie
A sweet poncho for Marigold
A new iron to replace the crappy one in my mom's sewing room
A brand new fleece jacket for Jared
Two fur coats for Holly
Some 35mm film for Holly and her camera obsession
Jared grabbed some random electronic stuff to take apart
A Sophie Giraffe (now Silas has one and I have one - I love Sophie)
An almost new bright green faux alligator skin Chinese Laundry purse
Santa showed up and I saw him pick up a few things too for this Christmas


And... for me, I found the greatest find EVER!

As kids we used plates like these exclusively for grilled cheese sandwiches,the ring for the cup is perfect for ketchup placement and dipping!  But, the ones we had when I was a kid were not nearly so fabulous as these - the cups were not red. Some were rectangular, some were white with painted flowers, some were more decorative than that, but none hat red cups. Joan found me a set at a thrift shop, so I have others, but I am absolutely in LOVE with the shape of these plates and the RED CUPS!  Honestly, everyone wants to come to my house for lunch so you can eat off these beauties - your life will be better for it, I promise!

So, inspired by ruby red, we laid out a table cloth and had a RED lunch yesterday.  Alright, we had a 'hews of red' lunch, but red nonetheless.  We had carrot juice, tomato soup, pumpkin muffins, carrot muffins, strawberries, and while not red, grilled cheese sandwiches (slathered in ketchup, which is red, don't you worry!)  We even used a redish table cloth.

It was fun, and I really am in love with my new plates and cups.

So... in the same vein, I will announce this week's giveaway.  This week you can win a set of reusable, super cute, very RED, Christmas gift tags!  Yeah for Christmas!

If I were a real blogger I would have wrapped a present, decorated a Christmas tree and sung a few carols while I took fantastic pictures of this... but I'm not.  So, here's a picture of my homemade gift tags, which you can have, if you win them.  Have I mentioned lately how much I love pom poms?  I love making them, I love finding ways to use them, I love having them around for when I need a warm little ball of fuzz.  I love them.

Same rules apply to this giveaway.  You get one entry for every post you comment on between now and next Sunday when I pick a winner.  Oh, and call me shameless, but you must be a public follower to win.

And, just to spark a little interest, next week's giveaway is going to blow you away with awesomeness, so stay tuned!  Just a hint, it's something you can wear, it's pieces are ancient, and someone else is sponsoring the giveaway!

Winner!!!

I've picked a winner in my first of my 7 weeks of giveaways, and the winner is, picked by "Random dot Ben," my nephew:


Shannon at Evans Journal who just ran Mellisa's Road Race in Banff this weekend.  She didn't come in first, but I'm pretty sure she beat all the other mothers of five that ran!!!


Yeah, Shann. I'm so excited for you!  Contact me in the next  24 hours, and we will get it shipped to you.

Okay, let's be realistic, I'm just going to give it to you next time you are in town.  No shipping will happen with you, dear Shannon. Sorry about that!

Be sure to check back tomorrow for this weeks giveaway, and comment, comment, comment!  You could be next!