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Day late but completely fantastic!

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40 days ago my madre had a birthday. This is what was waiting for her when she got home from work.

Vintage Pillowcase Lunchbox adaptation by RunawayOctober

I used the Vintage Pillowcase Lunchbox Tutorial from Oh, Fransson.

Vintage Pillowcase Lunchbox Adaptation by RunawayOctober

While it’s neither vintage nor a pillowcase, I think it’s adorable. So did Mom. Good thing too, because I was finishing up the last step as she walked in the door! :D

Vintage Pillowcase Lunchbox Adaptation by RunawayOctober

The tutorial provides good instructions for using Iron-On Vinyl. While you can’t see it in the picture, the whole bag is essentially water/spill resistant. I had a heck of a time finding Iron-On vinyl. The girls at the JoAnn’s cutting counter had no idea what I was talking about. Thankfully someone knew the store though. Turns it they keep it in the Home Dec department by the nailhead trim and curtain rods and such. $10 for a prepackaged roll that should be enough for 2 lunchbags.

Vintage Pillowcase Lunchbox Adaptation by RunawayOctober

Also included in the tutorial is this cute little placemat. Which is perfect. We all know how ‘Ick’ lunchrooms can be.

Next time, though, I don’t think I’ll cover the handles in vinyl. Or try to source a thicker vinyl. It already is getting a little ragged from light use. Meaning it’s carried back and forth to the car daily and that’s about it.

If you’re thinking about making one be sure to check out the Flickr Group. There are some cute versions there too.

I’d love to hear what you’ve made lately.

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Life Fail!

Sometimes it’s so nice to just wipe a slate clean and start over again.

Last years resolutions were hit or miss.

1…) Stop cussing, completely. Negative

2…) Smile more. Kinda sorta, I guess.

3…) Spend more individual time with Declan and treat him like an adult. Yes and no.

4…) Create and add some items to my Etsy shop. Nope.

5…) Do more craft projects – for myself and with the kids. Yes!

So, once again I’m going to set some resolutions and think about them randomly throughtout the year and feel bad when I don’t hit them 100%. Yep. Sounds about right.

1.) Stop cussing, completely – How did I end up wih such a potty mouth? While I admit that Declan telling me my ass is too big makes me giggle, it’s also quite embarassing in public.

2.) Detoxify the house – This one is difficult because my mom buys her own cleaning products and calls me, jokingly, a treehugger for my choices. It’s just so easy to have things build up under the sinks. Thankfully I clean so infrequently that it’s not a real issue to toss everything. I’m also going to start "No ‘Poo"ing my hair again. I tried before while working but couldn’t handle going out in public during the really wonky phase. :-D Here’s a great LiveJournal community for it. We have an on again, off again relationship with the healthier beauty products, mainly because of finances. I think it might be time to just suck it up and buy what I know is best for the family – not best for my bank account.

3.) ETSY – Seriously, why can’t I get this going? I’ve decided not to do anymore swaps, so maybe that will make it easier? Wih the purcahse of a new sewing machine (50% off clearance sale) I’m definitly going to complete more projects, but I’d like to make a little extra cash too.

4.) Try to cut back on HFCS and MSG – With that combination it leaves next to zilch to buy. Thankfully Matt is on board with me and we’ve both done some research into the issue. Frankly it scares us.

 

Alright, I think that’s enough babbling. And the boys are waiting on me to watch a movie.

 

Thanks for reading!

Zigging and Quilting!

I’ve been feeling quilty lately. Baby showers seem to be the best inspiraion for me. I gives me a deadline and an excuse to give a gift that will last instead of something that will be used for a month or two and then donated.

Zig Zag Quilt by RunawayOctober

I have few baby gifts that we still use now that my youngest is a year. One of them is a small sampler quilt that my mom picked up at at a truck stop somewhere outside of Payson, Az.

Zig Zag Quilt by RunawayOctober

Here’s the version I created. I think it turned out really well. I had a couple different quils in mind when I desgined this. PurlBee lists a great tutorial. Crazy Mom Quilts had a beautiful version. Don’t forget this sassy one too.

Zig Zag Quilt by RunawayOctober

I used 6or 7 different greens that I picked up at JoAnns. The brown is a super soft linen blend. The backing is Alexader Henry’s Giraffe Crossing.

Zig Zag Quilt by RunawayOctober

When I asked the mama-to-be what her nursery theme was she said giraffes and outdoorsy colors. I hope it fits in okay. If not I know quite a few boys here that would be happy to keep it!

Zig Zag Quilt by RunawayOctober

(That’s my 6′2" brother for size reference!)

Zig Zag Quilt by RunawayOctober

Docents should tremble before us!

A couple weekends ago we rounded up the kids and my mom and hit up the Arizona Science Center. We had a surprisingly good time with a 2 year old in tow.

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When  we would try to move on Declan would get upset because he thought we were leaving, not just moving to another room full of cool stuff to do. The Grossology exhibit was tons of fun.

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Thanks again to Grandma Ann for gifting us with the membership. Hopefully it’ll cool down soon so we can use the Zoo membership too.

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Check out the ‘Pix’ link at the top for more new pictures of the boys.

Where are your favorite places to take young kids?

Thirft Stores

Okay, I’ll be the first to admit that for the longest time I detested thrift stores. Just thinking of them brought the mothball/sanitizer/old lady smell to my nose and images of peg boards filled with headless Barbies danced in my mind. I hated some of the ugly (to me) clothes that my mom picked out and forced me to wear and there was never any of the cool stuff that all the other kids had.

I’ve decided recently though that I like thirft stores now that I’m in charge of what I buy. Did you know that Goodwill carries Fabric, notions and other crafty bits? Totally! That’s how Mom got me in there in the first place.

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These were panels that I also found. Declan loves the little map blankie I made him.

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Other nifty stuff:

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