diy maxi dress - easiest dress EVER!

in a previous post, i mentioned making this dress. well, i did it! lessons learned: i should have gotten just a LITTLE more fabric so it would be longer, and i should have used 2 packets of dye instead of just 1. i have enough fabric to make a 2nd dress, so i'll at least try the 2 dye packets w/ that one so i hopefully get a deeper, richer color. if it works, i'm going to redye this one w/ the same color so it deepens too. i also want to cut the neckline a little lower b/c it felt just a tad too high for my preferences. lastly, the people at joann's insisted i needed to use ball point pins and a ball point needle on my sewing machine to keep the fabric from tearing, and they recommended using the stretch stitch instead of a straight or zigzag stitch or my serger. well, none of that worked out so well for me. i have little holes all along the side seams of my dress from the ball point needle, so for dress #2, i'm going to try using my serger instead. either way, here's a picture of my dress:

 

i got so many compliments on this dress when i wore it to church yesterday! everyone seemed impressed that i made it (even after i told them how easy it was). i was impressed w/ the fact that i was comfortable in it. normally i HATE wearing dresses and skirts. i'm just not comfortable AT ALL in them. i wore this dress all day (unheard of for me - usually i'm back in my jeans as soon as i get home from church) and felt great! i am definitely a fan of the maxi dress, this one in particular, since it's modest and i didn't have to fuss w/ it all day to get it to sit right on my body. double win!

easter: resurrection rolls

so yesterday was easter, as you all know. we had a GREAT weekend here, filled w/ fun and friends! :)

on thursday, jon took the day off work for my birthday. we went to ihop for breakfast - free meals for jon and i, wahoo! so we only paid $14 for all 4 of us to have breakfast (the kids split a meal, plus we all got drinks). then we got things for scott's birthday party that's coming up, and took trevor to swimming.

that afternoon, we made resurrection rolls. these are seriously my new favorite thing! it's a great object lesson on the real meaning of easter for kids, plus the end result is INCREDIBLY delicious! here's directions:

preheat the oven to 350 F. read st. john 19 (we paraphrased, since there was NO WAY our kids would sit through listening to it all any other way).

reading st. john 19

unroll a can of cresent rolls - the rolls represent the cloth used to wrap jesus' body.

hold up a large marshmallow (you'll need 8 per can of crescent rolls). explain that it represents jesus - white, clean, and pure.

dip the marshmallow in melted butter. the melted butter represents the oils used to annoint the body in preparation for burial.

dipping marshmallows in melted butter

roll the marshmallow in cinnamon-sugar. the cinnamon-sugar represents the spices used to preserve the body prior to burial.

rolling in cinnamon-sugar

scott wanted a do all the marshmallows himself!

trevor got to do a few too

wrap the marshmallow in the crescent roll dough, making sure to pinch together all the edges so the marshmallow is completely covered. the dough represents the cloth used to shroud the body.

wrapping the marshmallows

place dough-wrapped marshmallows on a parchment-lined cookie sheet. place the cookie sheet in the oven. the oven represents the tomb where jesus was buried. bake for 12 minutes.

while the rolls are baking, read st. john 20:1-18. open the "tomb" and remove the rolls. when the rolls are cool enough to handle, break one open and see what happened:

HE IS RISEN! HAPPY EASTER!

rock candy

i remember doing this for a science project when i was a kid, and thought it would be fun for my kids as well. trevor decided he wanted to make yellow rock candy, but since it hardens much lighter in color than the liquid, i made our syrup orange. worst case is we have orange candy instead of yellow, but i have a feeling we'll end up w/a golden yellow. here's our starting point:

 

to make your own rock candy, boil 1 c water. add sugar a little at a time till it won't dissolve any more (ours took about 2 1/2 cups). add food coloring if you want - make it darker than you want your candy; i'm expecting ours will harden as a very light orange or deep, golden yellow. let the syrup cool for about 20 minutes. put a clothespin on a skewer or other stick so that when rested across the top of your glass or jar, the end of the skewer is about 1 inch from the bottom. dip the skewer in the syrup, then roll in sugar (this is your "seed"). let it dry completely. pour syrup into your glass or jar till it's almost to the top, then place your skewer in the solution. make sure the skewer is completely vertical and doesn't touch the bottom or sides. leave the glass or jar undisturbed for a few days, and soon you'll see crystals starting to form!

paper crane tutorial

today i found out about osh kosh's cranes for kids program. for every paper crane you bring in or take a picture of to mail in or post to their facebook page, they'll donate an article of clothing for tsunami survivors in japan. so, in the spirit of giving, for anyone who doesn't know how to make a paper crane, i've put together a tutorial for you. all you need is a square piece of paper and your hands. once you get it down, they take less than 5 minutes to make.

1) fold your paper diagonally so you have a triangle.

2) fold the triangle in half, then do it again.

3) open the last fold. now flatten the section that's on top so it forms a square.

4) flip the whole thing over and flatten that triangle section into a square as well.

5) there will be a crease running diagonally down the center of your square. fold one of the side corners in so the edge is flush w/ the crease. in this picture, the bottom of the paper is where all the corners are and you can see into the inside of the paper.

6) repeat w/ the opposite side. then flip the whole thing over and repeat on the back side.

7) it should look a little like an ice cream cone. fold the "ice cream" portion down over the "cone" portion. make sure to fold it BOTH ways, toward the front AND the back.

8) open the "ice cream" and "cone" flaps on one side so you have a square again.

9) pick up the TOP layer of paper only at the bottom of your square and make sure the paper bends where you made the crease from folding down the "ice cream."

10) flatten it out, making sure to carefully crease the edges so the paper doesn't rip.

11) flip over and repeat steps 9 & 10 on the other side.

12) you should have a very long, skinny diamond shape. fold the corner in so the edge is flush w/ the seam in the middle. there will be folds visible after you do this - make sure the folds are lined up like in the close up picture here.

13) repeat this on the other flap of the diamond.

14) flip over and repeat steps 12 & 13 on the 2nd side.

15) you should have an ever skinnier diamond shape now. lift one flap and fold it completely over itself. after doing this, you should have 3 flaps on one half and 1 flap on the other half.

16) flip over and fold the extra 3rd flap over itself so you again have 2 flaps on each half.

17) fold each of the narrow flaps up toward the thicker flaps.

18) again, fold one of the flaps completely over itself so you have 3 flaps on one half and 1 flap on the other half.

19) flip it over and repeat so you again have 2 flaps on each half.

20) the wider flaps are the wings - pull them GENTLY away from each other. the narrow flaps are the head and tail. it doesn't matter which is which. the side you choose for the head needs to have the tip bent down about 1/2 to 1 inch from the point (depending on how large a piece of paper you use). viola! you're done!

note: this is NOT the kind that you can pull the tail and get the wings to flap. i never learned how to make that type, but i've heard it's much more complicated.

hooded towel tutorial

ok, so i've never done a tutorial before, but i hope i do a good job and it's easy to follow. please let me know if there's anything i need to change/improve/clarify.

you know those flimsy, non-absorbent hooded towels you find in the baby section of stores like target and walmart? or the ones at babies r us? why pay $20 for something that won't really do anything when you can make a nice one for less than half the cost in any color combo you like? i say: DON'T! here's a step-by-step tutorial on how to make your own hooded towel at home:

1) you will need a sewing machine, a serger if you've got one (though the serger isn't necessary, it IS nice), 1 bath towel, 1 hand towel, 1 to 1 1/2 inch wide ribbon (optional; if you get by the yard ribbon, get 18-24 inches), and a pair of scissors.

2) fold the hand towel in half and cut along the fold.

3) cut a length of ribbon about 2-3 inches longer than the WIDTH of the half-hand towel.

4) fold the ends of the ribbon under and pin them in place (these will be removed after the next step, so it doesn't need to look pretty).

5) flip over and pin the ribbon in place, making sure to pin through the ribbon ends on the bottom side. remove pins from bottom side.

6) sew both edges of the ribbon to the towel, making sure to keep the ribbon ends tucked under.

7) fold the towel in half so the ribbon is on the inside and the raw edge is doubled over itself.

8) serge (or use a zigzag stitch on a regular sewing machine) the raw edges together. i like to round the corner so it'll fit my kids' heads better, though this isn't necessary (if you're using a regular sewing machine for this step, trim the excess towel after you put in the seam, then use frayblock along the edges to keep it from fraying when you wash the towel). then, turn the hood right-side-out.

9) find the middle of a long edge on your bath towel and mark it w/ a pin or fabric pencil.

10) line up your serged/sewn seam on the hood w/ the marking on the bath towel and pin in place.

11) pin down the rest of the hood edge to the towel edge. when it's pinned correctly, you will NOT be able to lay it completely flat.

12) sew the pinned edges together. you will likely have to lift the sewing machine foot over the edges of the hood since it's quite a jump in fabric height.

13) clip your strings - you're done!