this is...what I want to be when I grow up

Myself. Only more so.

This week's This Is... theme brought to you by Cindy of Bug and Pop.

red inside: a year of color 3 week 1

Rody looks so calm and collected, doesn't he? We need more calmness around here -- it was not the finest day for the House of Fun. Evan lost an hour's work to the depths of his computer, and I checked in here (because it was the fastest way to check on how I made those tomatoes!) to discover that my blog was devouring itself. A few hours later I found the coding error and fixed it, but that was not. fun. at. all. All is back, but still. I can think of a million ways I'd rather have spent the last few hours.

Anyway. I've always loved seeing people's Year of Color posts, and caught a post mentioning that year 3 was about to start last week. I could use some assigments that make me look around with fresh eyes, so I'm taking the challenge on. We'll see if I can hack all 52 weeks!!

polka dot macaroni!

A while back, I was going through my repro edition of Betty Crocker's Cookbook for Boys and Girls to find a recipe and stumbled on the following:



Which is basically a baked macaroni with sliced hot dog arranged all over the top before baking. Since I happened to be making baked macaroni and cheese that night (different recipe though), and we happened to have a single leftover hot dog, I decided to give it a try:



My photo's not as pretty as theirs, between the lack of wicker and kitschy pot-holders, and the glaring flourescent tube over my stove. In person it looked pretty much like the original. And as far as taste goes -- I was actually surprised to find that it was pretty good. I kind of thought we'd be picking those polka dots off. Still, I have my doubts that I'll be going out of my way to make it again. But you never know...it is polka dots, after all!

what's up, baby cheetah?

Here's a possibly-finished work-in-progress:



It's a top for Emily, made from some cotton baby rib and some recycled fabric from a favored pair of "cheetah" PJs (which I know some of you will recognize!). The pattern is QUIARA from Farbenmix, which I have made before and really like. The problem? The kitty's face. We all have different opinions on how to finish it. I was thinking maybe button eyes, but I couldn't find any buttons I liked. Evan likes it the way it is. And Emily thinks every little detail should be embroidered in. Any suggestions? (I'm starting to think that if it sits long enough, my lazy streak will win out the more we will all get used to it and decide to leave it as is.)

By the way, this shirt was the start of my Fall/Winter sewing! And if it's done, it's the first thing I finished on my Fall sewing list. Yay!

this is ... what I do with a spare 10 minutes

Okay, so this is all getting to be a little too philosophical for me, I mean, what is spare time, really? Do I have any? No, I just have stolen time. Because I have a list of things that need to get done that stretches ahead of me interminably. I could say that I read , but actually reading is kind of on my list of things to do these days as in "oops, this book is due Monday, I'd better finish it now or give up!" Really, I don't want to examine my life this way right now.

But the truth is, every moment that I can steal or spare, I try to spend on this:



having fun with Emily. What better use of time?

This week's This Is... theme brought to you by hoppobumpo.

domo-kun + target = halloween happiness

They're starting to roll out the Halloween stuff at Target, and this year they're using Domo-kun as their mascot. No idea why, but since Emily loves Domo it was fun to find him there! Not much was out yet, but we did get a pencil case that had cute little candy bracelets in it; as well as a nasty mockolate candy game (I did not notice until we got home that it wasn't actually chocolate, merely "chocolaty". Grrr.)

the end of summer...sewing, that is

I recently wrapped up the last stragglers from my summer sewing pile and now that's all done. First, I finally finished this butterfly pinafore and matching Hannah top that had been sitting for a while; I had run out of the dot fabric and had to track another half a yard down! The butterfly fabric I picked up a while back, Emily picked it out off my fabric shelf. (There's plenty left so I think we'll be seeing it again next year!) The top I trimmed with FOE (fold-over elastic), which I have been using for a few years, but not on clothes. I didn't like it as much as just a regular inserted elastic, but I may warm up to the effect. Overall, not an outfit I am in love with, but Emily's happy so I'm happy.

And finally, my very last Summer 2008 sewing project: the mini-Rømø!



After I made mine, Emily wanted one to match. She also wanted a ruffle just like her doll Lilli's (it's hard to see in that pic, but the doll's top has a pleated organza ruffle). And a different ribbon. (The demands ended there, thank goodness.) The hard part was getting her to settle on what she wanted, once that was done, the skirt went together super-fast, and she was wearing it that day:



Note the coordinated pajama top and garden hose!!

And now...it's time to get cracking on fall and winter...a few things are done, and more are in the pipeline...I can't wait!