Procrastinator- Not this week...

This week I am anything but a procrastinator...

I have a multitude of projects that I am working on and no time to spare!

I am making a dress for my mother-in-law. Yes, you read that correctly. I am making a cocktail dress for my m-i-l to wear to a cocktail event with Nicholas Sparks. You know the guy who wrote the Notebook. I could so watch that movie a million times over. SO I have been working extra hard to make sure that she looks wonderful at this event. The is the dress almost done. Plus I am making a shawl (because it is still cold in NC) The shawl is what is going to make this dress. It is turquoise on one side and lime green on the other. She is going to look great!! I will post pictures of the finished product later. Maybe she will send me a picture of her and Nicholas Sparks!!!

Then I am working on some seat cushions for a friend's sister. They look awesome. I have one completely done. I am not showing the finished product until I send the pictures to the person paying for them!! But here are the two ready to be stuffed.


Then I am working on a TON of dog collars for a side business I have with a friend, The Other Kid. We make custom dog collars and leashes. We got a huge order last week and we are so excited!!

Finally, I am still a full-time mom and working part-time for my old company. So needless to say every minute of my day counts. There has been no time for procrastination this week! It seems like the busier I am the more I get done. Go figure!!

I do have a small confession. As I have been buying material for all of these projects I have been also buying myself material for "OTHER PROJECTS" for myself. I can't help myself. I can't go into a fabric store without buying SOMETHING!! I need help!! I bought material for my kids' bathroom also our guest bathroom!! I am drooling over this material. I can't wait to share it with you!!!

Ribbon Blanket

When I was pregnant with my first child I did not know the sex of our child. It was wonderful and the gifts we received were neutral and some were very creative. One gift really stuck out. It was a ribbon blanket made by a co-worker in NCSU fleece material. I immediately loved it because it was NCSU and I love homemade gifts!

We had a little girl and didn't give much hope for the blanket being around very long. Let me tell you I WAS WRONG!! At around 6 months she loved the silky tags.


At 12 months she started calling it "ri-ri" because of the ribbon. Today at 3 1/2 it is still the object of her affection! She loves it and sleeps with it every night.


It is really hard to make boy crafty items I thought a "ri-ri" (ribbon blanket) would be a great project! Plus, now I can say I have made SOMETHING for my son.


Truth be told I was looking for something else, happened to find the material cut out, the ribbon cut out and some scrap gingham material that made me realize I should probably make this TODAY!! I was probably going to make this as a gift for NCSU baby but never got around to it!! oops!

Procrastination Time: 2 years minimum. I really think this material has been cut out for that long. PATHETIC!! I do believe things work out for a reason because now I can give one to my son!! Another project finished only 1000 more to go...

Pack-rat: The whole thing was part of my pack-rat collection. (I never throw anything away!)

Cost: Two years ago it cost me something but today it cost me $0.

Verdict: Although this was probably intended for some one else with my procrastination and pack-ratting skills I have a happy little boy!!

I love that I started this blog because it does keep me motivated to finish those projects that have postponed for a LONG TIME! Plus, I hope it helps motivate other women to not keep on looking for latest and greatest projects on HGTV or the web but finish up the projects in your home. It is SOOO much more rewarding!! Maybe later I will do a tutorial on how you can make one of these very easily!!

Dancing, Dancing, Dancing...

My Princess is taking dance class this semester. Her Beginning Dance Class is an hour long-30 minutes is ballet and 30 minutes is jazz. So we bought all the necessary equipment and off we went. I realized during the first class there was a change in shoes and watched the craziness unfold. The teacher has to change all of the kids shoes (wasted time) and then bows do not stay tied! So the teacher has to stop what she is doing to fix all of the shoes at least once for each child! I decided to help her out and have at least my daughter not so focused on her shoes!!

Here was the dilemma with the shoes, if representative from Capezio is reading this you can pay me for my idea later...
1- The ribbon frays (cheap)
2- These are for 3-4 year old who do not know how to tie shoes!!
3- Can you say...messy


During the first dance class (back in Jan) I decided I was going to put elastic in the shoes. Then to add some extra glam I put a bow on them!!

Quick Tutorial....
I bought 1/4" black elastic and strung it through both sides and attaching it in the middle. Then I made a cute bow and sewed it on separate. (I am told the bow has to be black for the recital so I only used 2-3 whip stitches)



Ta-da!! Snazzy Jazz Shoes!! Slip-on ready!!

Procrastination time: 3 dance classes (3 weeks)

Cost: Elastic $1.49 Wal-mart used only 6 inches, Ribbon $1 Michael's, Cute Jazz Shoes that are toddler friendly PRICELESS!!

Verdict: Last night was dance class and the teacher appreciated my toddler friendly shoes. She said they make jazz shoes with elastic but apparently at the local store here doesn't carry them! BUT are as CUTE????

Procrastination Knocking at my Front Door

There are 3 types of people when they start a project

1. As soon as they start a project they finish it immediately (not me, and admire these people)

2. They start a project and never finish it (not me exactly)

3. They start a project and finish it at some point- BING BING BING- that is me!!

I want to share with you a project that I started back in July 2008. Yes, you read that right July 2008! We took the shutters off our home to paint them black (orignially blue, gross). The shutters finally got back up on the house in October 2008. Not too bad...but wait...then we have the doors.

Front of house with non-painted front door

Our home is a traditional brick home and I wanted to make it pop a little. So we decided on red. There are 1000s of reds and it just so happened the first red we got looked like bubble gum gone wrong. It was awful. So I was real quick to get another red to paint the first coat. At Christmas we had a dinner party with 40 guests. I tried my darnedest to get the red on the door, but wouldn't you know it was too cold, too wet, and just yucky so the paint on the door was WET for the party. So instead of having a beautiful wreath on my door I had a nice sign that said "Wet Paint" Classy!!

sethoscope

So today is Feb 11, 2009 the front door is still not done. It still needs several more coats of red. Like the blue painters tape! I bet my neighbors LOVE me!! Surprised the HOA hasn't sent us a letter!!



Granite the weather has been cold in NC, we have gotten more snow then we have in the last 5 years. So, it isn't ALL my fault (I keep telling myself that) but by spring I will have my red door painted and my yellow forsythia wreath on my door!Mark my words!!

My sweet daughter how I hope you are not the procrastinator like me...

I will post a picture when the front door is done. The more I think about it there are two other doors that are still blue (the back of the house)...how long will this project last!! Grrrrr!!

Procrastination Time: 7 months and counting

Cost: Does it really matter?? At this point I want to hire someone to finish it! But I won't!

Let me know if you have a nagging project that won't go away!

Valentine's Day- Teacher's Gift on a Budget

I am like 80% of this nation and do not have a large budget for Valentine's Day. And it appears Hallmark and all other national retailers have made Valentine's Day such a big deal that if you don't give every one you love or care about a gift you really don't care. I want to scream at the top of my lungs "HELLO, WASN'T IT JUST CHRISTMAS" but no one is really listening to what have to say. In pursuit of making sure my child is not black listed at pre-school I have a great solution/gift.

Hand Sanitizer/ Liquid Soap - VALENTIZED!!

I can't take total credit for this but can't find the site where I found this fabulous idea.

1- I got hand sanitizer from Wal-green last week at BOGO (buy one get one free)

2- Peel off the labels

3- Embellished it with Wal-mart scrapbooking heart stickers or letters.

4- I had my daughter cut a heart-shape card and then color it and sign her name.

5- I punched a hole in the heart (without my daughter looking because if I showed her that trick EVERYTHING would have a hole in it!)

6- Tie the heart/tag on with a ribbon

My daughter is a lot like me and LOVES crafts!

There you have it- a teacher gifts on a budget and with all those lovely germs around this winter who best to give hand sanitizer too!!

Procrastination Time: I am ahead of schedule- mainly because I needed a craft for my daughter and wanted to share with you! A week ahead of schedule. I am doing the jig now!!

Pack rat: Once again I used my ribbon collection. Trust me the further I get into this blog the more you will see what I pack away!! (I am almost ashamed to share but the only way to concur is to admit you have a problem!)

Verdict: Great and easy project. Good project to do with kids. I gave one to my mom who is a Principal at an Elementary school & she really liked it.

Cost: Hand sanitizer $1.50, stickers .99 a pack & made 2 per pack, ribbon apart of my collection, and tag- free. Total- $2.00

Let me know if you have tried something similar or have any suggestions to make this better for next year!!

Towel Power

Does your Toddler still use his/her baby towel? Mine does and she looks kinda silly considering the towel doesn't cover half of her! My son uses all of my daughter's pink hooded towels but that is another problem for another day!

My friend Elizabeth sent me this tutorial on how to make a hooded towel.

This is the finished product and my super model L was ready to try it out!!

Front View:

Back View:

Procrastination Time: 7 months (Elizabeth sent this to me back in the summer 2007)

Pack-rat: Old Towels from when it matched my old house bathroom, ribbon from ribbon collection

Cost: $0

Verdict: Easy! Loved this project and would love to make this for gifts for toddlers (with new towels of course). I changed one thing from the tutorial, I did not turn over on the end of the hood (hand towel). It just seemed too bulky and unnecessary. I just measured the hand towel to the 10.5 inches and cut it that length.