Eccentrically Yours

Fabric Flowers

noreply@blogger.com (Lindsay) — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 14:10:00 +0000

Aren't these fun?! There are so many tutorials on the web of how to make them, so I'm not going to post a step by step tutorial on how I made these. Skip to My Lou, (A very cool blog BTW), posted a collection of tutorials on not just one way, but ten ways to make adorable fabric flowers! I think these flowers are so versatile, you can put them on pins, clips, rubberbands. *ATTENTION MAMAS* this is a GREAT craft to do with your little girl, there are many steps in which she can help out. If she's anything like my little girl, she will feel very proud to be able to wear something she helped to make.

If you decide to make something using any of these tutorials I would love to see it! I am still looking for ways to use these (since I made a ton of them). So hop on over to Skip to My Lou and look at all the beautiful flowers just waiting to be made. http://www.skiptomylou.org/2011/03/22/10-beautiful-fabric-flower-tutorials/

Happy Crafting!

Thank Heavens for Taco Bell and Mixed Signals, My love story...

noreply@blogger.com (Lindsay) — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 14:19:00 +0000

I met one of the mom's from Alyssa's preschool class, and well I like to think we kinda hit it off. We're both in the same stage of life, (in case you're wondering, that would be the stage of life where you're on the verge of insanity due to crazy schedules and 2 active children). It turns out she's quite the tech savvy chica and a rockstar blogger to boot! Her blog Life Without Pink chronicals her life in a house filled with boys. She's doing this awesome project right now, project marriage, where she's asking readers to send in their stories of how they met their mate. Well since June is my anniversary month, and I'm ever so thankful for my hubby, I decided to do it and enclose the link so that you can too!
So here goes...
     Before I met my husband, I will admit I liked to date around. a lot. In fact I had a one date rule in college, I would say yes to anyone who asked me out on a date, even if I doubted we would hit it off (I'm a firm believer in you can't judge a book by their cover). I was not looking to get into a serious relationship, I was just having fun getting to know different people.
     Flash forward a few months, my roomate and I stopped at Taco Bell to grab a bite to eat (I know, I know, yuck right?! But to be honest it was college, and we were flat broke). We ran into two guys that my roomate knew, one whom we affectionately called "Blinky Eyed Dave" because of his stunningly long eye lashes. So we decided to grab a booth and eat with them. Dave proceeded to invite us to check out his new apartment, since he was uber cool and living off campus that semester we agreed we would. We stopped by campus first to pick up a guy friend whom I was interested in at the time, "Kicker Dave/ Red Head Dave" (In our defense, there were a lot of Dave's and we needed a system to decipher between them). Now, according to Dave, this first invitation to his apartment was supposed to clue me in to the fact that he was interested in me, so my impending arrival was somewhat squelched by my new traveling companion (how's a girl to figure that one out, right?!)
     Dave's apartment quickly became the new cool hang out and we were over there pretty often. He eventually asked me out on a date, and when I got in his car to go to the restaurant where we were meeting up with friends, he had a Frank Sinatra CD in. This is going to sound pretty cheesy, but at that moment I knew he would forever be my guy. Most guys that age would want to impress the girl by playing something ultra macho, or hip you know to send the signals that he was by de facto ultra macho and or hip. But here was this sweet guy with beautiful eyes singing along to Frank. It brought back memories of me and my brother jiving along to Dean Martin playing on our parent's record player. (I know I'm not that old, but inside I really am that old).
     The rest in history, or at least another post down the road...
We aren't the romantic, emotional, drama filled kind of people. He's my best friend, we watch Will Ferril and comic book based movies together. He lets me use his power drill when we are building something, even though he knows he could do it faster, and better. For our anniversary this year we are going to an Amusement Park (without the kids). We might be a little quirky, we may act more like buddies than husband and wife, but its what works for us ;)

Snow Paint

noreply@blogger.com (Lindsay) — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 16:21:00 +0000

So I'm really looking forward to the snow this winter after finding these pictures of some snow art from last year. I was at my Mom's house and grabbed some empty spray bottles, food coloring and water. VOILA! Snow Paint!!! I gave one to each of my nephews and to A.R. they had a BLAST! they sprayed every bit of snow in sight (including a portion of the vinyl siding which I very quickly scrubbed off with a washcloth and some cleaner so the grandparents wouldn't flip :) ) here are a few shots of their snow masterpieces...and if you know my parents at all and how very tidy, and orderly they are, you will find the appropriate humor in these pictures...I'm sure their neighbors thought they had gone insane or gotten vandalised.

Monster Carseat Pillow

noreply@blogger.com (Lindsay) — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 22:41:00 +0000

I love the blog Make it and Love it ! She has the most adorable tutorials and very practical projects for the average Momma. I followed her tutorial for a carseat pillow because A.R's poor head and neck look so uncomfortable when she falls asleep in her carseat. We tried a store bought carseat pillow years ago but the behind the head portion was so thick it just pushed her head forward more in the seat. I made my own pattern trying to follow her dimensions, but had to tweak it here and there to get it to work just right. A great tip for you when making your own pattern pieces: draw them out on file folders (they're cheap and much easier to trace around on fabric than delicate paper patterns) so here is my pattern drawn out on the file folder and the finished carseat pillow

I had to include close-ups of the flannel monster fabric I got at Joanne's for only $2.50/yd. I am so in love with it and bought extra to make a couple throw pillows for J.D's room. I covered each side of the pillow with different material b/c I couldn't decide on just one of them!

A.R loves her new monster pillow and we both decided when J.D moves into a big boy carseat I will make him his very own monster pillow too!

Happy Crafting!

Re-upholstered children's chair

noreply@blogger.com (Lindsay) — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 14:22:00 +0000

I've been meaning to get this up for a while and am excited that I am posting my very first step-by-step tutorial!!! (I guess the excitement is over the fact that I had an original idea I could post instructions for and not have to link to someone else's blog for the instructions :) )

Re-upholstering a child's chair

A.R. had a child's rocking chair given to her many yrs. ago as a gift. It has acquired many stains over the yrs. and since JD is more the right size for it now than she is, I decided to turn it into a little boys rocking chair. I purchased some inexpensive material from walmart and my dear husband bought me a staple gun (ahh...the power) and a project was born....

First I made a mental note of where all the folds and pleats were in the chair and noted where they stapled the fabric. Then I had to rip all the old material off the chair without damaging the foam cushioning or the individual pieces since they become your pattern pieces for the new fabric (you will be amazed at how many staples you pull out and continue to find days later even after careful vaccuuming...)

Lay out the individual pieces you've taken off the chair and lay them on top of your new fabric. (I chose a fabric that had no real rhyme or reason when it came to the pattern to make it easier, but if using a striped fabric you will want to make sure that the stripes are running the right way when you trace your new pattern pieces. )

I marked all the pattern pieces to keep track of what piece went where when it came time to cover the chair, and simply traced all the patterns using disappearing ink.

Once all the pieces were cut I started fitting the fabric around the chair. You will need to pull very tight when you staple, the fabric will stretch...the seat of my chair is already buckling a bit because I could not pull the material tight enough when I stapled. Keep all your pleats and folds as close to it's original pattern and staple the heck out of it...After all the pieces had been stapled we went around the chair with a mallet and tapped on the staples to make sure there were no sharp points sticking out from the staples.

The chair looked cute, but I though it was missing something still. I cut out a round piece of scrap leather and used dark T-shirt iron on transfer sheets to print out a yankees emblem (please no comments about the yankees: my husband is from upstate NY and we made a deal...he gets JD as a Yankees fan and I can have AR as a Phillies fan. So I'm merely playing by our rules here ) I stitched the patch onto the back of the seat before stapling it down and was very pleased with the results...

So here you have it...JD's birthday present from mommy and daddy and my very first tutorial hooray!

Happy Crafting!

Birthday Crowns

noreply@blogger.com (Lindsay) — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 15:52:00 +0000

I always loved the cardboard party hats at kid's parties...but the elastic always breaks, or they tear apart during the party. At A.R's 3rd birthday party we threw her a princess themed party. I decided to make each girl attending a princess hat of their own...something that would last at least through the party...this is a picture of A.R's complete with a "3" for the birthday girl...

Well now it's J.D's 1st birthday and I have been wanting to make him a felt birthday crown for his birthday party. There are a lot of different tutorials on the web for felt birthday crowns...I blended a few different ones together until I got what I wanted... It was surprisingly easy and he really seems to like it!

Happy Crafting!

Hooray for Ice Skating and Leather!

noreply@blogger.com (Lindsay) — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 15:15:00 +0000

Okay so the title of this post may have really thrown you for a loop...unless of course you're figure skater Johnny Weir. But, for the sake of this post we're going to separate the two :)

We signed A.R. up for ice skating lessons this yr. She is only 3, but we decided the younger she learns the better she'll get. Plus, she is in desperate need of a structured learning environment so we thought some type of lessons would do her good. She's doing really well, and has only had two lessons so far. So I had to share this sweet photo of her on the ice all by herself!

Ok....so now to the crafting aspect of this post :)

My crafting budget is $0.00 except once in awhile when I can sneak some craft supplies from walmart in with the groceries (shhh!) So I have to rely mostly on other people's unwanted stuff, which is just fine with me. My mother just gave me an old black leather coat of hers...I've never worked with leather and I have to admit I'm a little intimidated.

Cathe Holden over at http://justsomthingimade.blogspot.com/ has worked with leather though, and she has made some incredible things with it. Here is a picture of a leather, monogrammed Ipod holder she made...I'm seriously considering giving this project a try (if I can gather the courage to cut apart this jacket)

Here is the link to her tutorial on this project: http://justsomethingimade.blogspot.com/2009/12/simple-leather-ipod-touchiphone-case.html

Happy Crafting!

Love Food Hate Waste

noreply@blogger.com (Lindsay) — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 19:31:00 +0000

I have found the ultimate website for tips and ideas on being frugal with groceries and food, http://www.lovefoodhatewaste.com/. As many of you know I am a big fan of canning and freezing foods to preserve them, but this website has taught me so many other cool tricks to reducing the food waste we create. It is sickening to think of the garbage dumps all across the country and how much food waste those heaps represents. I'm a firm believer that we not only eat too much as Americans but because our portion sizes are so out of wack we prepare too much food to be consumed at any one given time. When was the last time you walked away from a holiday dinner, office party, or catered event and there weren't mounds of food left over and eventually trashed? Not to mention the trashed leftovers from the meals we prepare every day for our own families. So this is my challenge to you: try to reduce the portion of food you cook for your family this week. Even if it doesn't look like its going to be enough food for your family's dinner - fight the urge to prepare more and just see how far the food spreads at the dinner table. Worse case scenario your family has room leftover for a healthy dessert of fresh fruit. There are so many benefits to planning meals like this :
1. Nutritional : When there are unhealthy portion sizes present, many people will continue eating past the point of being full
2. Financial : I have found that I can serve 1/2 the portion of meat at dinner than I was, and my family is still satisfied after the meal. The only difference is I'm not throwing away the extra 1/2 portion after it has gotten old in the fridge as leftovers. I have significantly cut down on grocery expenses!
3. Environmental : Whenever we can reduce unnecessary waste in landfills, it is a good thing!

Leave any helpful tips in the comment section and lets see if we can do something to reduce food waste within our individual families.

Part II, Re-purposing Clothes: Baby Dress to Big Girl Skirt

noreply@blogger.com (Lindsay) — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 18:47:00 +0000

When we found out our second (and final) child was going to be a boy I spent a lot of time going through all our stored baby girl clothes and dresses. I found so many summer dresses that brought back the sweetest memories of my little girl as a baby I knew I wasn't ready to give them up...but the idea of refashioning them into something she could wear now was very appealing to me...so even though there is no picture tutorial, I will walk you through what I did so you can see your little girl's once again in their sweet baby girl prints. I had a size 18 mo. halter dress. it was not this exact one (because I didn't think to take a picture of the dress before) but a very similar style to the pictured one here:

You can see where I 'm going with this, right? I cut the top portion off of the dress, leaving enough of at the top to fold over and run elastic through as a waistband. I usually deduct 2 inches from my child's waist measurement for the elastic to get a good snug fitting skirt. Fold over and sew a "tunnel" for the elastic leaving a small opening to thread the elastic through. Once the elastic is through I like to sew up bothes sides of the waist to keep it in place. Hem if needed. And Voila your little girls new skirt already full of old memories!

Happy Crafting!

Part, I re-purposing clothes : Jeans to Skirt

noreply@blogger.com (Lindsay) — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 18:15:00 +0000

We have gotten LOTS of snow this winter and it has given me good excuses to stay indoors and get started on repurposing the kid's clothes for spring and summer.It is so much fun to ~~design~~ re-design children's clothing and much easier than you may think. I'm going to get to work on A.R's clothes and see what I can come up with. Here's a picture of a skirt made from too the tops of a pair of jeans she outgrew and some scrap fabric I had lying around...

Snow Day Craftiness

noreply@blogger.com (Lindsay) — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 16:03:00 +0000

I've also discovered Mod Podge...that stuff is awesome! I had some pages of pretty scrapbooking paper and chose two coordinating designs to mod podge to the tops of some plain wooden stools we had in the house. I love the way they came out and am planning out something to do with the table that matches the chairs...it was a great way to add some character to some very boring pieces of furniture...unfortunately now, no flat surface is safe in my house.
I also made a plaque out of an old photo of my grandfather and his army buddies during WWII. I love the way it looks with the black and white...I'm sure I'll be doing more photos in the future.

Last of all....what kind of blogger would I be without an impromptu photo shoot with my little girl...

handmade just for them...

noreply@blogger.com (Lindsay) — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 14:08:00 +0000

I love, love, love making clothes for my children. It makes me feel so good to be able to take clothes that would otherwise have been donated or thrown away and turn them into something useful for my family. I'm going to post pictures of some of the clothes I have made for my children in hopes that people come to realize how easy it truly is and maybe we can reduce some of the waste we generate and save ourselves money in the process...

Home...

noreply@blogger.com (Lindsay) — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 17:16:00 +0000

Looking around my house it seems crazy to remember what this place looked like when we bought it. I would have NEVER thought the crazy mess of a house that we bought would one day seem so peaceful and cozy. Now we are trying to sell it and I get so sentimental about places I've lived with my family that looking around I'm already getting sad at the prospect of moving. This kitchen was a labor of love and turned out so old-fashioned I could pretend I was standing in an old farmhouse on acres of land while I prepared meals...

The mess I made trying to paint the bathroom vanity...

decorating the nursery for my little girl...and then for my little boy...
the hours spent in the rocking chair rocking little ones to sleep. All of the arranging and re-arranging of furniture trying desperately to make more room in our little living room. Countless hours in the backyard garden discovering I do not have a green thumb...
Then I'm reminded Home truly is where your heart is...and I look forward to turning another house into our heart's dwelling place

Looking forward to Christmas!

noreply@blogger.com (Lindsay) — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 19:45:00 +0000

Well they have the snow, the presents, the cowboys :) And A.R. can't seem to understand why we can't go to New York to enjoy it already...Oh to be young and ignorant of things like money, jobs, and bills...
She is really excited about christmas this yr. though, and it's been a lot of fun watching the excitement continue to build. It does bring a whole "magical" aspect to christmas to see it through childrens' eyes.
She's been watching a cartoon version of the christmas story and now when her and J.D. play she tells me that he is the King of the Jews (lol) and she is Santa...I guess clarity will come with age...lol. I am not anti-Santa..but i have to admit it's been really hard to bring christmas back around to the true meaning with Santa lurking in her imagination. I realize it's innocent fun, but it's such a special time of remembrance for the christian faith and I don't want to squander all the time on make believe things when the real story is so amazing all on it's own. I hope we all have a chance in the craziness of shopping and preparing to remember the true meaning and to share it with the little ones around us. Merry (almost) Christmas

Craft Fair gone bad...

noreply@blogger.com (Lindsay) — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 15:21:00 +0000

So I worked really hard getting things ready for a craft fair last Friday. I don't think anyone sold anything. It's a shame too because there were some really cute things there. The pictures are of "crayon rolls" they're so cute and I thought it would be an easy way for kids to carry around their crayons and doodle whenever they got bored. I made 15 and sold none. I do have some orders from relatives for stocking stuffers, so if anyone is interested, let me know. A couple of my other items were sippy cup leashes (they strap onto the cup and the stroller so when the kids drop them they don't get left behind)I made some pacifier clips and Onesies with a tie applique on them...(I put the picture of this at the bottom b/c I thought it was soo cute I wanted to show that too. I made some reusable notepad covers too (it goes cute with the crayon rolls). Well I had fun making this stuff and there are always craft shows to go to (just not before the holidays) but that's ok. I'll plan better next winter.

Happy Thanksgiving!

noreply@blogger.com (Lindsay) — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 14:03:00 +0000

What a crazy fast fall this has turned out to be. I'm not sure where these months have gone. I suppose this is why we start celebrating Christmas in October, if we waited until after thanksgiving it would feel like the christmas season lasts only a few weeks (oh... I guess it does) well there's no fun in that is there?!
We will be spending thanksgiving at my mom and dad's house this year. I tried a really yummy dinner roll recipe with cinnamon butter - sooo yummy. I also am bringing some home-canned gherkin pickles and apple butter. I made the sweet potatoe casserole (always a hit...thanks to my MIL :) ) I'm hoping that today is less about all the yummy food though and more about what we really have to be thankful for. I think it's hard sometimes to be thankful for tangible things because on some level we feel like we have earned them through hard work and ambition. But, I was reminded last sunday that it is only by God's grace that we are allowed the very life that leads to our "success". So, while it is easy for me to be thankful for God's eternal gifts for me I will be trying to gain more perspective on how to be grateful to God for the tangible blessings and not just for the fact that we have what so many others do not.
Happy, Happy, Thanksgiving.

noreply@blogger.com (Lindsay) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:13:00 +0000

So the boys went to get their hair cut today...it was so cute! J.D's very first cut. D.H.was a bit more hesitant than i was, but the experience and results were great!

My Uncle did a good job working around J.D's jumping, jiving, little body.

And Tada... What a real little man he is now...his eyes look even bigger now:)

A.R. got beautified while we were there. She kept saying she wanted her hair pink, so my Aunt obliged in the most temporary way possible. (little pink glitter strings that get tied in to your hair) and she is the happiest princess in the world now with her pink hair.

Canning Accomplished

noreply@blogger.com (Lindsay) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:50:00 +0000

My first year canning seems to have been a success. I had a lot of fun and found some yummy recipes that I will probably do yearly. I also found some recipes that just aren't worth it..(ahem apple butter) It made a big mess and came out VERY cinnamony (not sure that's a word). Overall it was fun to learn some new things in the kitchen and save some money in the meantime. I couldn't resist putting this picture up of J.D. licking his lips while playing with some canned cherry peppers. My heart literally aches when I think of how much I love my little ones. "Praise God from Whom all Blessings Flow..."

Christmas Already?!

noreply@blogger.com (Lindsay) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 13:54:00 +0000

My family has a reputation for starting "christmas cheer" a tad early (ahem..papa). D.H. (dear husband) has followed swiftly in his father's footsteps. Therefore, we have been listening to Christmas music in our home for the past month or so. (I let on that I dislike it...but that toasty feeling that surrounds christmas is quite addicting) We have decided not to put up a christmas tree this year (900 sq. ft, a christmas tree, and a curious crawler...I can see the mayhem now) but that doesn't mean our house will not be stuffed with snowmen and reindeer from one wall to the other.
I will soon be working on some fun christmas gifts for the family. Hopefully, if I start making things this early - I'll be able to enjoy the approaching holiday instead of dread it.