Oh Alice!

Now that our partners have gotten their goodies, I can share some aprony goodness that Kaela and I have done!

First, I have to brag on Kaela. She did a WONDERFUL job on the apron for her partner. I think it was a bit hard for her to part with. She painted all the pictures by hand and did a lovely job.



Then for my own partner I made this one.....the Red Queen



close up of the roses...



we added some clever tuck ins for both partners...like this painted cigar box I did made for my partner.

We made some goodies but the photos were blurry. I made some terrific Alice cupcake toppers though....might have to make some for our family!


This was a fun theme....hate to see it end!

crafting away....

The last couple of weeks I've been busy with the kids going back to school and me going back to work!

I didn't feel much like blogging. I always get sad this time of year. I really adore having the kids home with me. But, I'm a bit better now and thought I'd share some of the crafty stuff I've done lately.

I made this little octopus for our tree. I love the simplicity of it.
I got the idea from this one at Anthropologie. I tried to copy it but didn't have the patience to do those undulating tentacles so made curly ones instead. I love how it turned out.

he looks pretty cute on my YOE tree
Then, I made this little cutie using Future Girl's pattern. I made it for my YOE partner for the month of August....


I also made this fun little gnome. I'll be using him for a toy drop soon.


and I made these 2 cute girlie gnome dolls for Christmas presents.

I love how they look so cheerful!


sooooo, what have YOU been crafting?

Happy Gnome

The last couple of weeks weren't my best.

But it got better.

And then this little guy came in the mail....and made me feel even better.




Thank you sweet sister, I love you more than m&ms!

very merry unbirthday mail!

Monday was a happy mail day!

First, I got my bookmarks from Messy Missy's bookmark swap. I love to read and love nice bookmarks...who wants to use a scrap of paper when you can use a origami Geisha Girl? Or a Diva on her way to an unfortunate accident with a vampire......Totally cute!



Then, I found a box on my door step....the box with the Alice In Wonderland apron swap apron.
The apron made by none other than Melinda...the super duper talented Melinda of Melinda'sfabricfancies!

I was so excited, I didn't want to open it. Does that make sense? I knew it would be awesome!

Before I show you the apron, here are some tuck ins she made for fun:



and this too.....which I wore to work already!

here is a close up I stole off her blog...my camera is suckish


and here is the apron....just click on the photo to see all the detail.

I wish I had a better camera...this photo just doesn't do the apron justice.

here is another close up I stole off her blog.....these are the legs before they were finished...those stripes? She did those with 2 spools of thread....the entire apron is thread painted...and it is GORGEOUS!


Melinda, you ROCK! Thank you!!!!

Fun day and toy drop.

Saturday, went into NOLA to go to the aquarium.
We almost didn't go because of the weather but it cleared up for a few hours so we went and had a good time.
I was walking with our neighbors and took this photo......Matt is almost as tall as Dean now, with Kaela not far behind.....

The first thing we did once we got in was our August toy drop. Since we were going to the aquarium, I made an octopus.


The aquarium was packed! So, the kids ran interference while I quickly dropped the toy behind a large tank.


We checked on our way out 2 hours later and it was gone :-)

Then, we went on into the Amazon exhibit...

and into the kid's area...

for some sting ray petting....


This boat was interesting. It was made with recycled trash and foam insulation...plastic 2 liter bottles and other junk. It made a 2,300 mile drip down the Mississippi before resting at the aquarium.



Close up of the construction...


One thing I was excited about is that they have several baby Kemp Ridley rescues...they had them in several tanks throughout the aquarium.
Gosh how I love these guys....thank goodness these were rescued and saved...so many weren't...hundreds in fact.



this little one keep popping up to say hello!
To get an idea of size....these babies are about the size of a charger or serving platter...

While the big guy in the main aquarium is HUGE! He isn't a rescue to my knowledge, he is here all the time....this is the big walk through tank at the aquarium entrance.



In another tank is this grouper.
I seem to get this SAME shot each time we come...he is about 100 pounds....
and would taste good fried, blackened or grilled, with a side of hush puppies....


Here are the kids as we are leaving...look how they've grown!!!

We had a good time and followed it up with lunch at Superior...like always!!!!
This plaque is on the wall as you leave the aquarium.


Pretty much says it all....

tragedy...

The other day we were talking about funny things the kids had done in the past....which brings me to this post. The star of this story is Curly Girl. (Ripstick Boy's story comes later....)

Here is our star at the beach....right before this tragedy occurred...so happy. Look at that sweet little face *sigh*

Nothing sinister in that smile. Back then she even had corrective glasses.

She was about 5 years old here.


We had traveled to see family in Florida. CG had developed a bad cold. CG already had raging allergies.

cold + allergies = a LOT of the green stuff.

This green stuff tends to fly out of CG's nose at high velocity when she sneezes.
Now, as a 5 year old, CG hadn't yet learned how to scream "thar she blows!" loud enough for us to get out of the way. Plus, sometimes, you know...sneezes sneak up on you.

We were heading home after Christmas in Florida and were in line at a McDonald's bathroom. There are tons of people so the bathroom line is loooooong.
Curly Girl is beside & slightly behind me because the woman in front of me kept backing up and stepping on me. I had moved CG so she wouldn't get stomped on. Little did I know CG was about to get that lady back for stepping on me. By sneezing. TWICE.

At the sound of the first sneeze I dove into my purse to grab a tissue....because I KNEW what she was capable of.
Curly Girl says meekly. "Mommy, I need a tissue." I'm buying time here because I had a BIG purse and hadn't found my pack o' tissues, so said "uh, no, you don't....there is nothing on your face"...and went back tissue diving. ( I mean, she really had nothing on HER face. )

But then the lady in front of me said VERY loudly:

"ITS ON MY FOOT"

at this, every single person in line turned to look at her foot.

Her tanned foot was clad in festive flip flops with a big green bow goober the size of Cincinnati. To be precise. The green giant goober was on the flip flop, her heel...and the floor.
It was reminiscent of "The BLOB"...remember that movie? Yeah, sorta like that...just enveloping everything.

By now I've handed a wad of tissues to CG and turn to hand the lady a tissue too. Then I look at her face....you know, the lady who's foot is now covered in a shiny mass of green goo. Her face is sort of beet red and she has on her angry eyes.

After seeing that face I decided to just wipe the ladies foot off myself...after all, I didn't want to DIE because of a ball of green goo. Plus, I couldn't say a word because I was afraid I would burst out laughing. I mean, come on...it WAS funny. (its always funny when it happens to someone else.)

I say I'm sorry and she glares at me....doesn't say a word....then she glares at Curly Girl. Who bursts into tears....gee thanks lady.

So now I'm irritated...no one has a right to be mad at a small child because of an involuntary snot rocket, am I right here? I'm right...no need to answer that.

Curly Girl wouldn't stop crying...which means she would soon have MORE snots rockets on deck...I didn't have THAT many tissues left.......

I straightened up and said "Oh honey, she isn't MAD at you, she knows you didn't do it on purpose." "You just sneezed...everyone sneezes sweetie".

Then I picked her up and glared at the lady. At this, the lady sort of smiled and turned around. We stayed in line out of necessity...there wasn't another place to stop for at least an hour and she had TO GO. So we stood in line, Curly Girl sniffling, me secretly cracking up... for another 10 minutes.
Finally, we used the bathroom and left the scene of the crime. I saw the lady outside POINTING at us as we dashed to the car.

Once inside, I burst out laughing.....I mean, you can't MAKE THIS STUFF UP! I swear, that lady probably ditched those flip flops and boiled her foot when she got home!

Now...I'm sure there are other equally hysterical but gross funny stories and I want to read them...I can always use a good laugh. So share.

Cupcakey goodness...

I was in a cupcake themed apron swap on swap-bot. I made this for my partner:



Then I realized I needed to make a FULL apron instead so made this too:




close up of the applique....I love it!

then I got this one in the mail in return:


I love pink and brown together :-)
If I ever own a bakery, it will be a cupcake bakery.......yum.