Watch Out, Pre-School

I don't know if pre-school is ready for this one.
But she has a first-day-of-school outfit ready to go!
I whipped it up today during naps - the kids were merciful and agreed to nap at the same time today. Sometimes they're so generous!

She was completely excited about trying it on and putting a fashion show on for Daddy, but when I pulled out the camera, she got evasive. But you get the idea.

I'm excited about it because this opens up a whole new world for me:
Etsy shops with patterns and fabric! Woohoo!

Here's the shop that has the circle top pattern:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/katievarela

The awesome thing is that it's totally inexpensive, and it's a file that gets sent to you almost immediately, so if you're like me and want to start a project just as soon as you get an idea, it's great. You don't have to run to Hobby Lobby for a pattern. (Though you can't beat 99 cent Simplicity and McCalls weeks at Hobby Lobby. I always look out for those and stock up.) Also, the circle top pattern that I got was an 11-page booklet with very detailed instructions and a color photo to go with each step. Awesome!

And here's my new favorite place to drool over fabric:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/WhipstitchFabrics

Such beautiful stuff. And I'm so limited in local fabric shops - I'm totally excited to have stumbled on this one.


The pants are from Simplicity pattern 4203. But there are a ton of pants patterns out there, and they're all the same. I picked this one because it has little walking slits in the sides of the hem. And because I already had it. :)

So P is going to hit the pre-school scene looking precious, and I've gotten one more thing knocked off my to-do list! Yeah!


A few weeks ago, my sis told me about this site about a fictional couple, Gary and Elaine, who live in catalog houses. It's HI-larious, and it's made me laugh as I try to decorate a new house on a very limited budget:

http://catalogliving.net/

It helps me remember that catalogs are good to look at. . . not so good to live in.

Happy crafting!

Playrooms and Panic Attacks

Oh my goodness. This room could not get any messier. The challenge of a designated playroom is having the room be completely overtaken by all the stuff to play with. So stressful. You can see this room from just about everywhere else in the house, so it's gotta at least not make me have a panic attack when I look at it. That's my absolute minimum standard of organization for my house: if it's panic attack-inducing, it's gotta go.

When it's at the point where you can't even walk though the room, much less have space to play, somethin's gotta change. I had already gotten rid of all the toys the kids don't play with, so I didn't need to purge - I just needed a better system.


Order must be restored.



Here's my solution: five giant Rubbermaid boxes that each have a selection of toys in them. I've left out the stuff the kids play with every day - P's kitchen supplies, Mr. Man's walker-thing - and of course, some books, because reading is fundamental, people, but other than that, everything's boxed up. The original idea was to designate one box per day, so on Monday, get out the Monday box, but I don't know if I'm going to follow that. We might just get out one box and play with it until we feel like putting it away and getting out something new.

This way, all the toys are still accessible - I didn't want to put them in closets and forget about them, because they're all things that the kids still like, but now we can actually see and play with what's out, instead of tripping over everything and being overwhelmed by all the stuff.


I still think it's a little messy to have all those boxes stacked up, but it sure beats having the contents all over the floor!

Guess who's happy to have some clear floor space to play in? This guy!