Easy top to skirt refashion.

A few weeks ago, I ordered this top from Tulle.  It was during one of their Tullesday events, so I think the top cost $2.99 or something.  I am not kidding when I say that 50% of my wardrobe comes from Tullesday sales.  Impeccably crafted lined coats that normally sell for $80...but on sale for $5.99?  Yes, please!  I especially love their little cropped jackets--I pop one of those over whatever wreck of an outfit I'm wearing and poof!, I can trick most anyone into thinking I am pulled together. 

I had a feeling this top would be a bit clownish on me and I was right.  But I've wanted a modish, circle-neck tunic pattern for a bit, so I figured at the very least, I could draft a sewing pattern off of it.  And I actually like the print of the knit.  Just not as a top. 

I used my trusty seam ripper to unpick the neckline and then cut across the remaining tunic piece to even it up into a rectangle.  I folded over the raw edge to make a casing for some elastic and I was done.  I think it makes a fun, summery skirt.  I pretty much live in skirts during the hot weather months, so I know I will wear it.  Next up is to reuse the neckline with a more subdued knit for the tunic.  I'm loving gray + yellow right now so am keeping my eyes open for something inspiring.

not sure what happened to my settings on this photo...sorry it's so grainy

cheers, Sandra

p.s.  linking up to DIY day at A Soft Place to Land.

p. p. s.  Tullesday happens the first Tuesday of every month.  Some months there are plenty of scores, some months, nothing.  But it's absolutely my favorite place to stalk for a bargain (assuming you like mixing in Anthropologie/vintage-y pieces.  I happen to really love that look).

Peonies.

Nothing much here.  Just checking in during a quiet weekend--exactly what the doctor ordered.  I finally got around to staking our peonies in the garden.  I cut a few blooms to enjoy indoors as well.  They are my favorite flowers, I think.  Hope you are enjoying a lovely weekend, too.

xoxo, Sandra

Hello yellow.

As I mentioned, the week or so leading up to my brother's surprise 40th birthday was, as I like to call it, full.  Charlie has another name for it--he calls my pre-party crunch mode 'FLAIL EX'.  I have no idea if that's how he would write it but it's a military thing to put 'EX' behind something, standing for exercise.  I am getting the feeling that this is not translating well, but believe me, it's funny when a Marine says it (unless, of course, it's said during FLAIL EX).

So back to the crazy week before the party.  I decided we needed--and I do mean needed--a nice sized table to set up an appetizer station.  I was determined to make people mingle, after all, most would not have their children hugging their legs like a koala pencil-pal.

Hello 5th grade--remember these? Image from Giggle Time Toys.

(We interrupt this post with an important aside:  I have always wanted to dress up for Halloween as a pencil, with our toddler dressed as a koala hugging me.  I have yet to actually do it.  Could someone else, please?) 

Since a new table was not in the budget, I went scrounging in the garage and happily unearthed an old patio table bought in my apartment days.  For the last few years it has served mostly as a surface for DIY projects.  And it had the paint splotches, burn marks, and gouges from the hacksaw to prove it--not pretty.  But after some elbow grease and a couple coats of Rust Oleum Ultra Cover Gloss Sun Yellow, it was more than presentable.

I have no pictures of the staged room to share; isn't that sad?  But here's one with some half empty trays of appetizers (the biggest hit were the gorgonzola stuffed apricots wrapped in bacon--yum).

Once I introduced the yellow (which I picked because I have lots of pretty bowls, service ware, and linens in yellow), I decided that the rest of the room needed a dose of it, too.  So I whipped up some pillows.  And I should probably mention that my 'must have yellow' moment came to me the night before the party.  If you have ever witnessed FLAIL EX, you saw that coming.

The trick to pillows, generally, is to make them the same size as your form, otherwise you get a slouchy pillow.  But the trick, specifically, to churning out five pillows in less than an hour and a half is to be flexible.  The bow tied around the round pillow happened because my free-form circle was anything but round and I went with the ruched pillow because I was too lazy to get up from my sewing table and remeasure the rectangle form.  I of course now pretend that both of these details were by design.  Also, decide whether you want matchy-matchy or coordinated but asymmetrical.  Since I have three boys who think throw pillows are named as such for a reason, I went with the asymmetrical look.

William obviously approved of the yellow. 

Happy Friday!

xoxo, Sandra

Half marathon, check.

  

I love how the above photo has 'proof' plastered across it.  Yes, it's a photo proof I screen-captured (and then pixelated our race number) from the online gallery of the race.  But I smile because it says exactly what I think as I look at it--proof that I did the Marine Corps Historic Half marathon last Sunday.

I got to run with Charlie and my friends Hallie (that would be Halliefest-scone Hallie, btw) and Stephanie.  They were rockstars!  And my goodness did they keep me moving.  On my long training runs, I always took a bit of a walk break when I hydrated--something along the lines of a minute or so every four miles.  But I don't think I walked more than 10 seconds over the entire 13.1 miles of the race.  

When I started training 10 weeks ago (remember, I could not run over a mile without walking), I thought to myself that beating 2 hours and 30 minutes was a lofty goal.  So I am pleased as punch to report that I came in at 2 hours 6 minutes and 58 seconds.

So does it make me a runner?  Well, all I can say is that three days post race, with a right calf still too tight to run, I was online researching Fall races.  I think they put something in that race water.

xoxo, Sandra

Onesie, twosie.

I have a couple of friends welcoming babies this year--always an occasion to celebrate with homemade gifts.  But for these two babies, I was especially excited because their last names lend themselves to some creative play.

I'm still working on one, so I'll post that in a bit.  But for one sweet friend and her family, who welcomed a baby girl a couple of months ago, in addition to my go-to burpers and blankets, I had to make this...

Their last name is Dyson.  So how could I not? 

Happy Friday!  xoxo, Sandra

p.s.  in case I don't post over the weekend, send me some good joujou on Sunday morning, around 0900 EST, please.  I should be (fingers crossed) getting close to the end of the half marathon.  Gulp. 

Train love.

Another thing that added to our very full weekend was a birthday party for my dear friend's son, Elliot, who turned 3.  He had a train party, which is always a hit with my boys.  I think we did trains for one of Max's school parties and another may be in our future because of William--he is suddenly very into all things Thomas the Tank Engine.  He was in pure heaven at the party.

For the gift, I was tipped off as to which Thomas trains were missing from the birthday boy's collection.  And to make it more fun, I decided to make a coordinating bag.  I ended up slip covering a canvas tote with some Thomas fabric and added a patch to clue everyone in on what's inside. 

I hear it was a hit!

And speaking of hits, the boys loved the train ride at the party.

Though the older boys got a bit nervous riding in the seat by themselves--they held hands during the entire ride...

 

And William got a bit grumpy when I got up to shoot a few shots, but got over it as soon as I sat down and he heard the whistle...

Thanks for a fun morning Elliot (and family)!

xoxo, Sandra

p.s.  And thanks also to Elliot's folks who made it to the surprise party for my brother later that night at our home.  Kristin has known my brother as long as she's known me (good grief, is it 25 years??!!!) so naturally she and her husband were there.  And whenever we get together, we have fun!  A friend posted this shot of us on facebook so I downloaded and tweaked it vintage style.  I think I used just about every effect Picnik offers...

Whew.

Thanks to many who voted for my top in Rae's contest last week.  It was so (!) fun to be part of--I think I came in 4th or 3rd in that round, but you'd think I'd won the whole darn thing judging by my grin.  I told Charlie it's because it was something I did just for me, and nice people gave me nice feedback.  And I like nice--it makes me very happy, so thank you again.

I hope everyone had a great Mother's Day.  Mine was lovely.  It was the day after the party so I basically spent the day trying to recover.  And I'm still working on it.

The good news is that I have lots to write about because I spent most of last week puttering around the house, getting it party ready.  And as you might guess, it was DIY all the way.  The bad news is, I was a bad blogger and so rushed for time that I took very few "before" pictures.  But I'll try to post some "after" pictures this week of all the projects I tackled:  new couch pillows, deck redo, painted flower pots, refinished patio furniture, refinished dresser and table, guest room curtains, and so, so much more.  It was crazy.  But the party was a surprise birthday celebration for my brother, who turns the big 4. 0. this week.  And it was really fun to host.  But like I said, I am wiped.  Here he is is getting greeted by all the guests hiding in the dining room.  Isn't he a cutie?  Love him...

We had a great group of guests who fit right in with our family, in that they showed up with appetites and were more than happy to help out with the vat of sangria (I am trying to remember what we ended up throwing in there.  It was delish.)  After such a big night, I was very happy to take it easy for Mother's Day.  My aunt and uncle were visiting from California and stayed with us a couple of days after the party--they are amazing folks and we really enjoyed getting to spend some time with them.  The weather was quite nice so we went for a picnic at a garden park.

This is one of my favorite pictures of the day...

I also received some yummy truffles and two sewing books.  And maybe a bit of a cold but hopefully not as the half marathon is this weekend--yikes.  All in all, a very good day indeed.  I will post more details when my right hand uncrumples from the dreaded perma-claw I have from hours of of spray painting.

xoxo, Sandra

Yay.

I am pretty shocked--but very tickled--that my little sewing adventure made it as one of the Top 60 spring tops in Made by Rae's sewing contest.  Actually, shocked is putting it lightly.  The reaction was more like:

Thud.              

Stand up. 

Brush, brush, brush.

If you haven't been voting during Spring Top week, here's the low down.  Each day this week, 12 tops go up for voting.  Voting lasts for 24 hours and the winner of each day moves on to the final vote over the weekend. 

My top is one of the 12 tops up for voting for Day 5 (which is today!)--so please head over to Made by Rae to check it out.  And if you are so inclined, please consider voting for my top.  But only if you like it (scroll down to find the button for 'ruffled tie-neck top by Sandra' on the right sidebar).  And yes, I now sort of regret bashing it on my previous post.  Sorry, spring top.  But I did make it up to you, right?  By wearing you beyond the bathroom photo shoot...I took you to the lake, remember?

And we sure did have fun that day, didn't we?  A dinner playdate with friends, complete with grilled pizza and build your own sundaes (thanks Kris!) and a gorgeous weather walk so the kidlets could feed fish... 

And I promise to make you a friend very soon...maybe that will be my Mother's Day present to myself.  I'm certainly inspired to try out some things from the flickr pool.  Happy Friday everyone!

xoxo, Sandra

Washer fun.

And no, not the kind of washer I usually spend my days with.  Have you noticed all the washer jewelry floating around Etsy and blogland?  I actually have a few pieces from Etsy that I received last year.  And as I was wearing a bracelet at a playdate, the hosting mom said, "oh, did you make that?"  To which I replied, "er, no, but it's on my list."

And before I could blink, she whipped out a stamp set and some washers and a sharpie, and suddenly I was working on a washer charm.  Now obviously, with a junk drawer stocked like that, she is my kind of friend.  I just met her through a new playgroup and she doesn't know it yet but I'm moving into her craft room.  I'm ordering a stamp set pronto and will share more then.