First I printed the pattern off Sew4Home [this will open as a PDF in another window].

Print and cut the pattern. Next, trace the pattern onto fusible web. Cut out and iron onto the wrong side of the fabric that will be against the eye.

I traced and cut 12 then just ironed all 12 onto a long piece of fabric. Once those are ironed on, go ahead and cut them out.

Next I just laid that onto a rectangle piece of fabric, right sides together.

Take a 16″ piece of elastic and lay it between the two layers. Pin one side of the elastic (going thru all three layers), then pin around the mask leaving the other elastic end open. Push your elastic between the layers being careful not to twist it, then pin it in place.

It should look something like this:

Sew around the mask leaving a 3-4 inch opening at the top of the mask. Trim around the entire mask, cut slits in the seam around the nose area being careful not to cut thru your stitches. Turn right side out.

Stitch around the entire mask again about 1/8″, this will close your opening. Voila. Very cool.

So you don’t forget it!

Related posts:

1. Pretty purple skirt.
2. How to “take in” the waist of cotton pants that are too big!
3. Coat Hanger Organizer.

The Junk Drawers:

Don’t even ask, because I can’t even begin to explain…. But here’s how it looks now.

You may be wondering where all those cords and all those papers went? Well the papers were moved into a plastic file folder thingy that I bought knowing I needed a place for them to go. Like a filing cabinet, but plastic, with a lid and easily moveable. The cords and stuff ended up going in the junk cabinet.

The Junk Cabinet:

So embarrassing. I seriously don’t know how we managed to live like that for years and years. But I did always know where everything was, so it can’t have been that bad… right?

Yup, I actually made room for the crock pot and fryer thing, which had been on a bookshelf in the dining room, totally out of place. I’ll share the bookshelf another day… this is all I can bear to share with you today, because it IS super embarrassing for me.

If you’re wondering, yes I have tried contact paper to cover that, but it doesn’t stick… and I always wonder why housing has never painted the insides of the cupboards?

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I got this bright idea to O-R-G-A-N-I-Z-E the ENTIRE house. Yeah. That’s not going so well.

I mean it is, but it isn’t. Who knew that trying to get things CLEAN and ORGANIZED would start off by making things so much messier than they were to begin with? WHO KNEW!!?? If I’d known this I probably wouldn’t have even started. As it is, I’ve started and I must go on.

I bought tons of containers and organizing “stuff”.

I’ve been working for DAYS and you cannot tell a difference at all. I think part of my problem is that I don’t focus on one area at a time, I jump around from room to room. For instance: I’ll find something in the kitchen while I’m organizing that belongs in the living room and instead of setting it aside I’ll bring it into the living room and then start organizing the area that thing belongs in, then I’ll find something there that belongs upstairs so I’ll bring that upstairs and start organizing that area. It’s a vicious cycle because I’ve got all this stuff STARTED in each room and I keep getting distracted by other areas.

It will get done though! Eventually…

———————————————————————–

Today I registered Hannah for pre-school on-post. She’s in Head Start off-post this year. It’ll be a bit of a change going from full days to half days, but I’ll save on gas and I’ll feel better knowing she’s on-post if something should happen (like a tornado warning or something).

I’m still smoke free. According to my tracking app I’m 2 weeks and 3 days free of cigarettes. I feel great. I’m still taking the Chantix but not as directed. I’m supposed to be taking one pill in the morning and one at night, but for some reason the night time pill makes me feel sick to my stomach so I stopped taking the night time pill and started taking the morning pill in the afternoon. The other day I was driving where there were three lanes and I could smell cigarettes, so I had Gillian check and sure enough the woman in the car in the next lane was smoking. That was so weird. I can’t believe I ever smelled like that! So gross.

Gillian and Matthew still haven’t heard from bio-dad. It’s been almost five months with no phone calls, no letters, no cards, nothing at all. I check his Facebook once in a while to see if he mentions the kids at all or anything like that. Nothing there either, though he did just celebrate his girlfriend’s son’s birthday. That irked me because he hasn’t remembered Gillian’s birthday the last two years. I’m curious if he’ll remember it this year.

The kids don’t ever bring up bio-dad or his name anymore. I can’t remember the last time either of them mentioned him. He practically doesn’t exist around here. I did tell Gillian the other day that as soon as we have the money we are going forward with the adoption, and that if she wants to call her father she can call him anytime, no matter what, and she looked at me like I was behind the times. She said to me “What makes you think I even WANT to talk to him?”

I was a little surprised by that, not just by what she said but the way she said it. It hurts my heart a little that she is learning some hard lessons, because of her father.

I have had some problems with all three kids lately, I mean it’s been going on for a while now, but it wasn’t until vacation that I decided enough is enough and things around here are going to change.

I think I’m so easy on the kids because when I lived with my Dad life pretty much sucked thanks to his wife (at the time). And I don’t want my kids to have to live like that. I don’t want my kids to feel like slaves.

But that has gotten me a few spoiled brats. So I’m nipping it now before it gets worse.

Now they have chores, which are done FOR FREE, which both older kids think is crazy, but they do them anyway. I don’t think they should be paid for doing things around the house when we ALL LIVE HERE together, we can all keep it clean together. So far it’s going alright. Matthew is still struggling with it though. Not really with the cleaning, but learning that he can’t always have everything he wants and he can’t give us ultimatums to get what he wants.

I worry about Matthew the most. I have always babied him. He’s my only BOY. But we’re working on it. Some days are rough, other days are good. I think consistency is key. I could be wrong though, I’m no expert!

And lastly, I am about to experience the loss of a friend thanks to the Army. Her husband is PCSing to Korea and she can’t go with him, but she can’t stay here either, so her and the kids are headed home. I don’t know what I’m going to do without her. I’m definitely going to miss her and the kids. It sucks. It’s like in elementary school when your best friend moves away and you feel like the entire world is ending. Super sucks.

So that’s about all there is.

I took photos of my clutter so when it’s finished I can share with you

Related posts:

1. Returning to our regularly scheduled program.
2. The Chantix is working.
3. Mini update re: child custody.

You’re only supposed to smoke on week one of Chantix. Admittedly, we cheated, though he has been doing better than me.

We started our pills on Wednesday the 4th. Left for Disney on Friday and of course the parks are NOT smoker-friendly, so we were only smoking about 3-4 cigarettes a day while we were there, and of course we don’t smoke in the car and who wants to stop a million times on a road trip to smoke, so we weren’t smoking much the days we were driving.

We’d bought cartons before we left and when we got home Bryan was out and I still had a pack left, and my reasoning is well, they’re there and I have them, might as well smoke them then just not buy anymore. But Bryan lectured me on that and made me crush and throw them away and so neither of us has smoked since Monday.

Bryan had one on Monday and I had several, though I couldn’t finish them because that’s what Chantix does, makes them taste nasty and makes you not want them and makes the cigarettes make you nauseous. So Bryan had his last cigarette Monday morning and I had mine Monday afternoon.

Our first smoking cessation class was Tuesday the 3rd where we were given options. We choose Chantix and because we choose Chantix we have to take classes for four weeks. We missed the second class because we were in Florida but we did call and let her know how we were doing on the pills. This last Tuesday we went and it was just discussing withdrawal symptoms and how to deal with those. Next week I think she is combining the last two classes into one class because the Tuesday after that is the first of the month which means a new group of quitters.

The smoking cessation nurse had me crying at the last meeting talking about the kids and what will they do without us. How even though they will be taken care of, nobody who has them will love them and take care of them the way that I do or as good as I do, that and they will be parentless.

Anyway, we’re doing well. Bryan doesn’t have cravings at all, not even with his “triggers” (when he normally would smoke), and I do get cravings that are triggered by things I would normally smoke after doing. Which is to be expected. The urge doesn’t last long though and it’s quickly forgotten about. The nurse said we will probably have these occasional urges for the rest of our lives.

My thing though is that I get urges without any trigger, for instance when I’m on the computer. Or in the shower, just random urges not triggered by anything. So it sucks a little but it does pass quickly.

I have some crazy dreams now too, which is a common side effect of Chantix.

I’m not going to say hopefully it will stick this time. I’m going to say I’m officially smoke-free and will remain so for the rest of my life, regardless of whatever might happen.

No related posts.

I’m happy to say that we made the trip to Disney World with no real problems. Just a slight problem the day before we left. Hannah got sick at school and then twice more in the night at home. In the car we brought a bucket, just in case, gave her some crackers and hoped and prayed she wouldn’t get sick again. She didn’t. Whatever it was, nobody else got it and it passed pretty quickly. I’m wondering if it was just the excitement of knowing we were going that upset her belly…

We left at 6:48am and arrived about 4 – 4:30pm. Our plan was to arrive and just chill out after such a long drive but the kids had other plans so we did go to Magic Kingdom that first night, rode some rides, watched the laser show and the fireworks and then went back to the cabins.

Day two we spent at Animal Kingdom, which was awesome. I especially liked the “It’s Tough to be a Bug” 3D movie. Quite a few surprises with that. It was awesome. The “Finding Nemo” Musical was pretty sweet too. Hannah and I went to that while everyone else went on a ride Hannah wasn’t tall enough to ride.

Day three we spent at Epcot, which was my least favorite park. The fireworks were pretty sweet though. But it seems like we did more walking than riding at that park. The only worlds I really liked were China and Mexico. Gillian spoke a bit of chinese with one of the women working at one of the chinese shops. Oh! And the sampling of the most popular sodas from around the world. That was interesting. And by the way, Italy has some pretty nasty soda.

Day four we went back to Hollywood Studios. I have to say Holllywood Studios was my favorite park! Hannah and I saw “Beauty and the Beast” while everyone else went on the Tower of Terror. Hannah didn’t want to go on. (which was a good idea but our second day at Hollywood Studios she was feeling brave and decided she DID want to go on, and she HATED it. Bryan took video with his cellphone… we are such bad parents…)

Day five we went back to Magic Kingdom and tried to fit everything in but couldn’t. So day six was also spent at Magic Kingdom. We bought Hannah a princess dress (she choose Cinderella) and she got to meet Cinderella. She was in awe of her. It was the cutest thing I have ever seen.

Day seven was Hollywood Studios again, and it was this second visit that Hannah went on the Tower of Terror. Crazy ride, when it drops you literally come up off your seat. Good thing you’re buckled, that buckle is the only thing holding you down.

And day eight was spent driving back home, which took longer than it was supposed to because we got stuck in traffic for three hours.

Most days we were up  before 8am and out the cabin door before 10am. And then we didn’t get back most nights until 10pm or 11pm. Very very long week. Worth every penny we spent and then some. We paid for the Photopass CD too and I’m glad we did, the pictures of the kids on that CD are so much nicer than the ones I took… ha. Plus you can add borders and stuff.

Saturday I didn’t even get up off the couch! I was so tired. Needed to just sit and relax.

But it was fun. It was so much fun, as exhausting as it was. Next time we go down we are not going to Disney, we plan to go to Universal Studios. I’m not sure there is as much for Hannah there, so maybe when she’s older.

Related posts:

1. Walt Disney here we come!

This is how big they were on me:

First, I removed the threads from the tops of all the belt loops:

Then I put the capri’s on and please forgive me if I don’t explain this correctly, I’m certainly going to try. So I put them on and take my ELASTIC and pin it about two inches from the button on the INSIDE of the pants. This is where I want the elastic to start.

Pull the elastic around your waist so that it’s snug but comfortable. Pin it to the inside band of the capri’s about two inches from the button hole.

Then remove your pants (I put another pair on because I really don’t need my neighbors to see me thru the dining room window sewing in my undies… ha), find the center of your elastic and pin that to the center of your capri’s:

Now, I am no expert at sewing elastic, I ripped my threads twice before I got the elastic all the way around so that it stretched right when they were on me. The first time I used settings that were completely wrong and somehow the elastic stayed in it’s stretched state, not helpful for keeping the pants on me.

Here are the settings I wound up using with the zig-zag stitch, I do not have any fancy needles or anything:

Here is a great article about sewing elastic, which is what I read before trying it myself. Again, let me point out, I did not use any fancy thread, needle or elastic, I just used what I already had laying around.

After you sew your elastic in, you have to reattach your belt loops, which goes pretty quickly. And then your capri’s that were once too big now FIT!

So you don’t forget it!

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1. Pretty purple skirt.
2. Spa Birthday: Eye/Sleep Masks
3. A skirt from old ripped jeans.

So I started with these:

I cut them here:

Then I cut around the inside pant seams, and cut a little extra off the crotch to make it lay flat:

Side note: my Girl Scouts jeans were cut along the seam, she did not completely remove the seam.

Then I cut the inside seam and the bottom hem of the pant leg I had cut off, leaving me with a rectangle of fabric:

Then I simply slide that rectangle of fabric underneath the upside down V shape on one side of the pants, pin and sew:

Then cut the extra:

Side note: this is pretty much where the Girl Scouts completely jeans skirt ends. She did not remove any seams and she did not remove the leg hems. Her skirt came out so cute and was below knee length.

Then cut a a piece of fabric 1 1/2 times larger than the bottom of your pant skirt and as long as you want your skirt to be (maybe try on the jean skirt and figure out how much longer you want it to be, Hannah’s skirt goes to her mid-shin):

Pin your fabric tube and skirt, right sides together, creatively overlapping in some areas so it fits (or ruffle it on your machine first):

Side note: here’s how I do it, first I pin the side seams, then the front and back, making sure I use the center of the fabric, then pin between each of the pins center to center, if that makes sense.

Hem the bottom of your skirt when you’re finished. And if you want, add some appliques:

So you don’t forget it!

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3. Water Bottle Sling Holders

First I laid my fabric out on the ironing board and then wrapped it around the water bottle. I added about 3/4″ for seams and cut. My final piece was about 8″ x 11″. The 11″ was a bit too tall but I will explain how I fixed that later, without cutting.

You want two of these pieces, one for the lining and one for the outside.

Fold your fabric in half the long way, right sides together, so that your two 8″ sides are together. Sew a seam up the 8″ end. You now have a tube of fabric. Repeat for the lining.

Next, I cut two circles for the bottom of the sling. I have a small ironing board thing with circles already on it and I used that. This wound up making my circles too big when it came time to sew, so I suggest tracing around the bottom of your water bottle, adding a seam to the outer edge of the circle and then cutting.

Sew your bottoms onto your tubes. One each. You can pin, I didn’t, I hate pinning so I avoid it when I can. If you do what I did, using the ironing board as the template for your circle you won’t end up using the entire circle and your bottom will look slightly bunched. Oops.

Turn one of your tubes right side out and slide your bottle in. Fold the edge toward the inside of the sling and adjust it to the height you want it. Now take the other tube, which is wrong side out and slip it inside the outer tube.

Fold the edge down toward the outside of the sling, and then fold in half back under itself. It should look something like this, your lining will be nice and neat on the outside of your sling:

Stitch around the top of that to secure.

Next cut two strips of fabric, cording, ribbon, whatever you like as the strap. For two of mine I cut two strips of fabric about 1 1/2″ wide, sewed those right sides together, flipped right side out and attached. For my son’s I used a piece of parachute cording. Attach the straps making them the length you’d like.

A note, learn from my mistakes: If I’d been smarter I would have used some d-rings so that the straps would be adjustable and grow with the kids.

As it is, I think they turned out pretty nice and I’ll be glad we have them when we’re walking around the parks.

So you don’t forget it!

Related posts:

1. Pretty purple skirt.
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3. Coat Hanger Organizer.

So I simply cut strips of ribbon and double knotted them around the outside strap of the flip flop. Super easy and super fun!

She was so excited. Easy to please, that one! And I think me too, this is the shortest, simplest tutorial ever written I think

So you don’t forget it!

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I started with an over-sized t-shirt that I won as a blog candy once upon a time:

I love it because it says “Scrappers are acid free”. Get it? I’m a scrapbooker and I get it. Haha. But I never wear it because it’s just too big!

Only now it fits!

It was ridiculously easy and I loved it so much I went and did it to my over-sized Beatles t-shirt. If you made one I wanna see yours! I love them and will be buying t-shirts at second hand stores just so I can make more of these!

So you don’t forget it!

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2. Coat Hanger Organizer.
3. Pretty purple skirt.