Melted Plastic Bead Suncatchers

Who, with daughters, doesn't end up with a big bag of random plastic beads from jewelry kits? We certainly have a bunch of those.

Saturday morning brought one of Squirt's favorite activities; staring over my shoulder while I browse Pinterest. When we saw these suncatchers, I new we had to do them. We had everything on hand and she could do most of it herself. It's a great still-in-pajamas project. 

Picture Source

When I went to the source I was disappointed that it wasn't a great explanation of what to do. Granted, it is pretty simple to figure out. The gist of it is this: 

1. Gather plastic beads and oven-proof dishes (glass or metal).
2. Preheat oven to 400.
3. Fill each dish with a single layer of beads making sure the bottom is completely covered. If there are gaps in the beads, there are likely to be gaps in the finished product.
4. Melt beads in oven for 20-30 minutes. Larger beads require longer time, while smaller take less.
5. Take out of oven and let cool completely. 
6. Drill a small hole about 1 inch into the shape. 
7. Thread string (or fishing line) through hole and hang. 

Pretty straight forward, don't you think? 

There are a few things we figured out in process that I'd like to pass along. 

• Transparent beads will remain transparent after they are melted, opaque will remain opaque (this was more a discovery for Squirt than for me).
• Coated beads (i.e. fake pearls) have a coating that doesn't melt. 
• Don't heat the oven above 400 or the plastic will reach a smoke point and start to burn off. 
• This stinks to high heaven. Seriously, there's bound to be some serious toxins and carcinogens going on here so pick a day where you and the kids can hang out outdoors while they melt and about a half hour afterward. Melting plastic can't be high on the list of good things to be breathing.
• As they start to cool expect to hear some crackling sounds. I figure this is the plastic pulling away from the dish as it cools. 

Here are the two sizes we made. As you can tell the clear beads are better at "suncatching," but Squirt is so happy to have made these by herself that it's worth it for them to be imperfect. If we were to do them again I think I'd only give her transparent beads to work with so the end result would be more sparkly.

They were definitely fun though, and a good use of otherwise ignored craft supplies. 

The Twirly Skirt

Ohmygosh I'm SOOO happy to have this done! I am seriously not a seamstress, but this idea has been rolling around in my head for a while. When looking for an Easter dress with Squirt, we tried on a super cute white crinkly elastic waist skirt that she loved. I loved it too and could picture her romping all over the place in it. The only problem was the price. Now, I don't mind buying nice children's clothes now and again but it was $30 and I just couldn't see myself paying that for something that would most likely be designated by her as purely playclothes. So I decided to invent my own.

We bought the girls new twin beds to help them share a room more efficiently, and parted with Squirt's old full size and Munchie's little toddler bed. I donated and Craigslisted some things but there was a pair of white sheets I chose to keep. The fabric is so soft and they are a really high thread count. As I looked at them I just imagined how much it would cost to buy cotton like that per yard and kept them for some unforeseen purpose.

Here was a purpose.

For this I hacked into the fitted sheet.

First I cut the elastic edges off the sheet so it would lay better on the ground and I could actually do something with all that fabric. Then I stitched the edges of the elastic together and found that it made a sweet garland for a baby shower I was hosting. Hooray for happy accidents!

The background was subtle, with hints of color in the different ribbons and the butterflies, but my absolute favorite part was the white fitted sheet elastic. (Hopefully my friends won't kill me for this picture. I didn't actually take a picture of the decorations I made.)

But on to the skirt. I took pictures along the way but have checked 3 separate memory cards and cannot find where on Earth they went - so I'll just give the play by play.

• I started by cutting out a basic 1/2 circle skirt, but I cut it large enough that it could have a gathered elastic waist.
• Then I grabbed my scissors and sliced it in a spiral, making sure the cuts would line up at the seam.
• Put the right sides together and stitched a 1/4 inch seam so that the seam and raw edges would be on the outside of the skirt.
• Stitch this down flat with a 1/8 inch seam.
• Using the top skirt as a pattern, I cut a lining out of the top thin fabric from an old bed skirt. Hem the skirt and the lining then stitch together at the top.
• Measure around the top opening of the skirt and cut a long rectangle of fabric to form and elastic casing.
• Add elastic, pray that you didn't forget the right measurement since the child is at school and you're not waiting until she gets home to try it on and finish.

Which was all well and good, but it needed some flowers. Which I DO have pictures of :)

Then I slid the whole thing into the sewing machine, stitched a spiral to hold the flowers in place, and called it good.

FYI: I suck at sewing. Most of what I do is make it up as I go, so unfortunately this is not a tutorial, just an overview of what I did. The best part? Usually when you wing it things can turn out okey dokey.

I'd say she approves.

Torn Fabric Hair Clip Organizer

This is so not a new idea. It counts as one of those I've-been-meaning-to-make-something-to-help-declutter-for-ages projects. You know the ones. There are so many hair thingy organizer ideas out there that it's really silly to show how I did this one, but I'm going to anyway. 

It started out as a project of old: 

Do you remember when Ali posted her butterfly artwork and everyone went ballistic copying it? Well, this was mine. Although I went a bit over the top with it and it never was completely finished. It's been  been with me at three separate residences now and has never been on the wall. The size is perfect for what I wanted for this current project, so demolish it I did!

Or rather, I cut the hot glue on the back and popped the foam board right out. On one side the foam board is covered with a layer of cork contact paper, then a layer of burlap, and then a million glue dots and butterflies. On the back, it's completely plain. Since I'm using part of a white fitted sheet I've been using up lately (more on that later), the plain white side was perfect.

It was a highly technical process of cutting the fabric a few inches larger than the foam board and stapling the crap out of it into the back.

Which gave me a completely boring white fabric covered piece of foam board. EXACTLY what I wanted.

Many people use ribbon to hold the clips but I wasn't so keen on that. Since it's being hung in our family bathroom I wanted something not too froofy or colorful. I roughly measured 2-3 inch strips (from the tip of my index finger to the second knuckle) of fabric, cut a notch, and tore them to get rough edges.

Then I wrapped the straps around the board at moderately even intervals. Yes, it's a little strange but I boxed up my inner OCD tendencies and just let myself wing it. I figure that some clips are bigger than others so having slightly varied spacing on the strips is actually beneficial to keep it from looking overcrowded.

After placing the strips where I wanted them, I simply stapled them straight into the foam board. My stapler and I had a bit of a disagreement over this but in the end I won and it worked just fine, but I did learn that staples do not like to go through glue dots. 150,000 staples later, the fabric was attached and the whole thing was put back into the frame. It fit snugly, but I like to hot glue it just for good measure.

And just in case you were concerned, this is what the whole mess looks like from the back. Pretty artistic, wouldn't you say?

And the front:

With that giant flower I'm really happy that there is a much larger space there near the bottom. Finally we can find clips when we need them! And I can see that we need to venture out from our favorite feather clips a little.

Things I love:

• The torn fabric strips! I wasn't sure how I would feel about them but I completely adore them. I like the rough edges and the gentle curl they have. I also like how they match the background and keep it really mellow. 
• The varied spacing. This is not normally comfortable for me, but I like it here. It's quite useful.
• The price. F.R.E.E Every single thing in this I already owned. 
• Getting the feather clips off my dresser, the back of the commode, and out of the medicine cabinet. 
• It took like 20 minutes. Serious awesomeness. 

I'd say this one is a winner.

Mother's Day and Overreacting

Do you have a favorite holiday? How about a least favorite holiday? I used to have both, but now I'm not so sure. As a potentially predictable answer, I love Christmas. I always have and probably always will, but I can't say that it is my absolute favorite anymore. Motherhood changed that for me. I mean, it's fantastically fun as a parent to come up with Christmas traditions, crafts, and baking but so is it for all the other holidays. I find that as a mom I can't really have a favorite because the kids love them all and their enthusiasm makes me love them too.

For many years my least favorite holiday was Independence Day. Always somewhat an environmentalist at heart, I couldn't stand the polluted air and trash littering the streets after the fireworks celebrations. It just seemed too destructive to be joyful. The last several years though I've seen the magic in my children's faces and it made me forget about the litter. It's funny how that happens.

Now, I find the holiday I struggle with the most is Mother's Day. On one hand, I love being a mother more than anything else in this world. I love the handmade cards Squirt always gives me, the drawings, the constant hugs, and just the reminder that she really does love me even though I'm sometimes the evil-homework (clean room, chores, bedtime, insert action here) monster. Every year Squirt makes me feel like the most amazing mom on Earth and that makes the day so easy to love.

On the other hand, it makes me miss my mom like nothing else. If you've lost a parent I'm sure you understand. While there are other mothers in my life to do things for (a stepmom and a mother-in-law, plus grandmas), reading the sentiments on all the greeting cards puts me into a slight panic as there isn't anyone whom I cherish like a mom and the sentimentality doesn't ever feel appropriate. Have you ever noticed how sappy all the mom cards are? Picking gifts and wishing others a "Happy Mothers Day" is often the hardest task of my entire year. I dread it, and stall, and often send something very vague because I can't quite get past that emotional barrier.

I've never thought of it as a Holiday that affected anyone but mothers and children.

Now, however The Hubs is really surprising me. {He is AMAZING you know.} He asked me the other day what I wanted for Mothers Day and I sort of freaked out in my answer. I'm not used to this. In my previous marriage I didn't get gifts. We might go out to dinner for special occasions but while he would get pricey gifts for every occasion, I was overlooked. In the name of not being high maintenance I didn't let it bother me, though for the first year or two that was a little tricky. When dating, I didn't welcome gifts because they usually implied something about the relationship. Now, he is incredibly thoughtful and gives gifts. I'm finding that I really like it.

He always asks what I'm wanting, but I never know - and this time I overreacted about not needing anything. Truthfully, I don't need anything. And when I told him the kitchen was overcrowded and I didn't want any more kitchen gifts because I'm tired of them falling out of the cupboard when I open the door there was truth in that too. But the reality is that I never thought it would be hard to let someone love me this much. I'm still adjusting to the fact that he wants to do things for me. So really, he could give me a blender and I'd probably be ecstatic. Not because of the blender but because I matter enough to him to go buy one.

So Happy Mother's Day (a few days early)! I hope there is someone in your life to spoil you and I hope there is someone you want to spoil also. To sound like a cliche, it really is the thought that counts.