Thursday, December 23, 2010


SOCK MONKEYS!!!


We finally finished our sock monkey gifts, so I can share them!! Yay!! This started out as a project to do with the kids, and we ended up liking how simple and cute they are, so we decided to make them for our nephews and niece. I love the way they turned out. Now we just have to finish the monkeys our kids started.


We got the instructions online, and I will post them below. The socks were purchased at Target for $2, and everything else we had on hand, except the stuffing, which only cost about $5 for the bag. Making this a very inexpensive project!!
Here are the instructions:



Modern Sock Monkey Pattern

Materials:
1. One Pair Original Rockford Red Heel ® socks.
2. Stuffing - use Eco craft or polyester fiberfill (will need approx 6-8 oz)
3. Red knitting yarn (optional)
4. Sewing thread, embroidery thread, 2 buttons (optional)
Sock Monkey Instructions:
Turn both socks inside out.
Body:
Sew a seam on both sides of the center of one sock starting three inches from the white heel, curving across the end of the top.
Cut sock between seams and to within 1 1/2 inches of white heel. This leaves an opening in the crotch.
Then turn sock so seams are inside and use crotch opening to stuff head, body and legs. Hand stitch to close gap.
Arms:
Cut the upper part of the second sock into 2 pieces. Seam, rounding ends and stuff the arms. Attach to the body by hand.
Mouth:
Cut the heel from the sock, leaving a brown edge around the white.
Fasten on lower part of the face by hand-stitching around the bottom; stuff and finish sewing around the top.
The mouth can be enhanced by embroidering a running stitch in either black or white across the middle of the lips.
Tail:
Cut a one inch strip on front of sock, tapering to end of toe.
Seam, stuff and attach to body by hand.
Ears:
Cut the ears from remaining brown part on the sole of the sock. Attach to head by hand.
Eyes:
Sew on moving eyes, buttons, felt or embroider eyes with black thread.
(For very small children embroider eyes).
Cap: (Optional)
Cut off toe of another sock sock, leaving 1/2 inch of brown to roll for a brim. Sometimes a fez is used for a cap.
There are many variations from this basic pattern. Decorations such as pompoms, yarn, bells can be added. Jackets, vests, pants, skirts and shoes are also used for clothing.

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Dinner Spinner Pro


I am so excited about my newest App on my iPhone that I have to write a review on it. Mine and Alex’s biggest problem in our budget is our food budget. In fact, when asked “how do you buy your food, on a budget?” in class, we had to admit that we are the worst at this. We have really gotten into a rut cooking the same thing over and over again, therefore we haven’t been cooking at home as much. We love cooking, but have had a lack of inspiration, which unfortunately means we’ve been eating out a lot more than I’d like to admit.

Needing a solution, I began looking through Apps on my iPhone to make the process more fun and easy. I found a good one for putting my list on it, and then one with a dinner spinner, but I really needed them combined. I also had signed up for a few daily e-mails from allrecipes.com and tasteofhome.com, and wished I could combine one of those with an App, because I love the recipes I’ve been getting from those. So I kept up my search, and finally found that allrecipes.com had the Dinner Spinner Pro for a $1.99.

This App has the Dinner Spinner, which is really fun for coming up with recipes. You can pick which meal you want to make, such as dinner, salad, or dessert, then you ick a main ingredient-fish, chicken, or pork. Finally, you pick how long you want it to take, 20-40 minutes or less, or crockpot. You can even pick nothing and just spin, just watch out for those fish desserts-blah! Once you spin, it comes up with matches and you can pick your recipes. From there you can adjust the serving sizes, and then send it to your shopping lists, and DinnerSpinnerPro will adjust the list for the amount of servings you put! That’s not all though!! It also puts the recipes at the top of your list, so you remember what you are going to cook, and it sorts out your ingredients by aisles. Of course, you can also add items to your list manually. Well, there are many more features on this App. I highly recommend this tool for those of you who are looking for simplification for your budget and inspiration for your cooking!

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

"What I Should Wear"


Not that I am one to stick with the rules, but when I tend to follow these guidelines, I look and feel way better. By the way, this info is coming from what I've gathered from "What Not To Wear" shows, and a website I love called Missus Smarty Pants. I am going to go through what she calls a closet purge, which she offers how to do for free on her website, and I think I'm going to re-order her 3 season package. I've ordered it before, and really loved the information she gave. Here's her link: http://missussmartypants.com/CDA5240F87574D8387EBDE8FEC733210/default.asp

Apparently, I have a cute curves body type, or hourglass figure, and whether I'm larger, or smaller, it will always be an hourglass. Also, bright and bold colors tend to look best on me. So, here are the things I have learned so far.
• Bold Colors (fall jewel tones)
• Bright Colors (summer brights)
• Watch my proportions
-Not too heavy on top
-Not too heavy on bottom
• To Create an Hour Glass Silhouette:
-V Shaped tops
-Define the waist
-Wear bold jewely/shoes
-Wear a structured jacket, that nips in
-Use a vibrant color underneath to draw the eye
• Buy Jeans in a Dark Wash
-fit the largest part of the body
-leg line extends from the widest part of the leg

There you have it. Just some basics. Hopefully, this can help someone else as well. I'm excited to get going on this journey again. It's fun and a passion of mine. I'm really excited to see what this looks like on a budget too. If I find any good tips, I'll pass them along, and I'm sure others will do the same.

"What to Wear With This?"


Often, I find myself in a very awkward place, when dealing with my wardrobe. Having watched a lot of “What Not to Wear”, and coveting the wonderful make-overs that are gifted to these very deserving women (I could handle Stacey and Clinton for a $5,000 shopping spree). Sometimes I think, perhaps I could just start dressing so badly, that my friends would feel utterly compelled to sign me up. Obviously, I couldn’t go that far; not only would my children, who dressed as Stacey and Clinton one year for Halloween, be petrified, but I’d have to do it for a while, and my husband might actually go crazy during the life of this experiment. No, this is definitely not the answer.
My biggest problem right now is this, I’m stuck right in between two different eras in my life. My 20’s are about over, and my 30’s are very quickly on their way. I’ve never had a problem embracing my 30’s, in fact, for a long time I tried to act as if I was in my 30’s so much, that I had to force myself to act and dress more like I was in my 20’s. I really need to find a balance between the two. I still want some of the funky, bold, glam, of being young, yet I want to be classy and elegant too. Is this not every woman’s thinking? Maybe not, but I will feel this way for a long time still.
Currently, I am in a rut of doing the same thing, with the same clothes, over and over and over again. I mix it up with my accessories a bit, but I am fully aware of the items I don’t wear and of the clothing that is sitting in my closet that is just taking up space. I always hear that a woman can’t have too many purses, or too many pairs of shoes, or too many (insert type of accessory or clothing item) whatever. I think I would have to disagree. If I don’t wear them, or love them, then they have no right to be in my closet; however, I could really use some inspiration for my favorite pieces. Plus, purging these unwanted items can then leave room for new items I fall in love with, hopefully, leaving only things that I absolutely can’t live without, making my wardrobe simply fabulous!
Because of this, I decided that I needed to start a new little segment in my blog called, “What to Wear with This?” I will post some of my favorite pieces, or even pieces I am contemplating purchasing, and you ladies can help me to think of different ways to wear these, colors to match with it, which shoes or accessories to put with them, etc. I will also follow up, posting anything I find in my search. I know several of you haven’t signed up to be members, so you can’t comment, but now would be a great time to do so. This is going to be fun and educational for us all. Please comment with any of your ideas.
I can’t wait, so, on that note here are two of my favorite pieces, that I need help with. Not only can I not figure out what to do with them, but I haven’t even worn them in about a year, because of it. I love the colors, and the shapes, so I don’t want to get rid of them. Besides that, I love a good blazer. They do so much for your outfit and your shape. I just need some ideas of things to pair them with. So, what would you do with them? What colors would you put with these colors? What accessories or shoes would you put with them?


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