Clean Up on Aisle Sewing Table!

Here.  I will show you what I tackled today.  Brace yourself...Yes, it's a mess.  

There.  I'm not afraid.  I showed you.  Now maybe you feel better about your house and realize it's not that bad.  How can I make anything in that mess!??!!  

I SO WISH I could blame this on our recent earthquakes we have had here in OKC (there was another last night!).   

This is what my craft/sewing area has looked like for the past several weeks.  It was really impeding my interest to get in there and make anything.  Meanwhile, my "ideas list" has been growing and growing.  I am jotting down Christmas ideas and things we need around the house and just other quick-to-make stuff every day.  But when I wade through the crap just to get to the computer my energy is gone and my inspiration is lost in the rubble that lay everywhere.  

I guess, today, I just had enough.  I actually wanted to go shopping.  Gap was having a $40 off sale and Old Navy was having 30% off and Bath and Body Works was having a sale and I have two coupons.  Only about twice a year do I truly want to go shopping- fall and spring.  And I need stuff this year.  Some of my basics have worn out and need replaced.  But today was no good.  Kids had a half day of school and it was nasty wet and cold out.  Besides, I am going Friday, sans children, to the new outlet mall.  I hope I am not disappointed.  

Instead of shopping, I cleaned.  And organized.  And threw things away.  And ended up with this:

Not a craft room that would be pinned on Pinterest or anything like that.  Not embarrassing anymore though.  And ready for a new crafty idea.  Just thought I would show you what I did since 2:30 this afternoon.  

(I will be catching up on comments tomorrow!)

Camouflage Birthday Cake

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Haven't you ever wanted to ask your party guests:  "Chocolate or Camouflage?"

It's pretty fun!  

My son, Nicholas, turned seven last week.  He asked for a G.I. Joe cake.  I don't really make cakes.  I just whip up some box cake mix and some buttercream icing (oh how I love buttercream icing!) and put them together to be somewhere between "not hideous" and "not embarrassing".  

So the inside of the cake was camouflaged, too!  I added a bunch of food coloring  to good ol yellow cake mix.  The green is just regular food coloring liquid.  The brown is actually the Wilton icing color brown.  Then I just blobbed cake batter in different colors in the pan.  The key was to do small blobs and don't swirl it.  I did about two "layers" of blobs.  I wanted camo in each bite!

Nicholas' party was last night but his actual birthday was earlier in the week.  He got this Boba Fett helmet as a gift.  When he was done playing with it, Stella and I gave it a try!

Then our tradition of measuring the kids on the growth chart....

He grew 3 inches since last year!

Then another tradition...my husband and the kids make me a cake for my birthday.  Which is two days after Nick's.  November always means a lot of cake for us!  

I've got some great hair, yes, thanks.

And if you are trying to count the candles, go right ahead.  

Linking here:

{The Friday 5}:: Ironic and True

I am going to start a little blog post on Fridays called "The Friday 5".  Original, I know.

Sometimes during my week I think of ideas to share but then they get lost in my head.  This one came back into my mind this week when some odd things happened that I thought were funny, ironic, or just worth sharing.  

1.  Recently, I got pulled over by the police.  First time in years!  AndI was in my garage.  Yes.  I know!  

2.  I know my purse is big.  But I didn't realize it was that big until I saw a couple of jr. high girls carrying my purse as their book bags!!   geesh.

3.  The "supposedly awesome" coffee pot... that I spend hours  days   ok so much time I am embarrassed to say! researching to make sure I had the best coffee pot fifty bucks could buy!!...bit the dust!  It didn't even last three years.  This time I drove to Target.  Mindlessly grabbed the cheapest one.  And went home.  Coffee tasted the same!  Ahahahahaha!

4.  I made a camera strap cover that also has a pocket to hold my lens cap.  I have been wanting to make this so that I wouldn't lose it.  But, funny, I lost it before I finished the strap cover.  So much for the special pocket for my lens cap.

5.  How can I call myself crafty when I didn't even make one stitch of my kids' Halloween costumes this year!  (or last year for that matter!)  Need to step up my craftiness, like asap!

Have a great weekend.  We are celebrating my son's 7th birthday this weekend!  

Camera Strap Cover with a Pocket for my (lost) Lens Cap

Sometime in the last 14 days, I lost the lens cap to my camera.  You are probably wondering what that is right there in the picture!  That is the lens cap to my 50mm lens.  I have that one and the kit lens, which I use mostly.

Isn't this a great gift idea, too?

It is not surprising that I lost it.  Typically, I pop the cap off and stick it in my pocket.  Or purse.  Or bag.  Or lay it somewhere the kids can't reach.  Sometimes I *misplace* it temporarily.  But this time.  This time is for reals.  I really can't find it.  A.n.y.w.h.e.r.e.

I really hesitate to explain how I made this for two reasons.  

~~ First, there are a hundred tutorials out there to make a camera strap cover.  For instance:  Cluck Cluck Sew, w/pockets at Simply Modern Mom and Little Big Girl Studio, w/ruffles at MaryJanes and Gaolshes, and 15 more at Tipnut!

~~ Second, the dimensions will depend on your strap and lens cap sizes.

But I think the way I made the pocket is worth mentioning.  And yes, the lens cap tucks down inside the pocket.  It is jsut peeking out right now.  So, it's not a tutorial per se, but roughly...here is how I made it.

The Dimensions:  I used the width of the cap to determine the width of the strap.  Then I was careful to cut the interfacing so that it would be the finished size.

The outer fabric was about 6-7" longer than inner pocket to make the pocket.  Other than that, the fabric needs long enough to cover the strap and then add seam allowance to widths and lengths.

Here I have:  1.  Outer fabric (mine is ~33" x 4")       2.  Inner fabric (~26" x 4") 
3.  Interfacing (24" x 2.5")- two piceces 4. A small piece for pocket edge.

The Pocket:
I folded up one side of the outer fabric to make the pocket.  Now the outer fabric is the same length as the inner fabric.  Ironed the fold/pocket.  At this point, you can leave the pocket like that, edge stitch, or add a trim (what I did).  I sewed the small piece of trim on the top edge of the pocket- like you would sew on bias tape.  My piece was wider than the strap, then I cut off the excess.

The rest:
Sewed long sides.
Ironed on interfacing pieces- line up with middle seam.
(should have done this step at this point, to make it neater:) Fold in short raw edges and topstitch.
Fold long edges along interfacing.
Fold whole thing in half lengthwise.
Topstitch along long edge to close tube.  Topstitch other side to match.

So pretty much like all the other ways of making them!  And with a simple pocket!

So if I ever, find my poor lens cap again, it will have a home.

I bet I am not the only one to permanently misplace my lens cap.  

Anyone know if they sell replacements?  

I do think this would make a GREAT GIFT (maybe for my sister Emily?)...so if I have glossed over too many details and you want me to explain, let me know and I will do a proper tutorial.

Linking Here:

Trick or Treat

Did you go trick or treating?  I took the kids around the neighborhood.

They crack me up!

We went along our street and then made "the big loop" back home.  We took a new route this year, skipping the next street over (which would have made the "small loop" around).  But it seems that in the past two years so many houses in our neighborhood, and especially on that street, turn their lights off and don't hand out candy.  It is a lot of work for the kids- they walk past three dark houses before getting a participating house for a bit of candy.  I don't know about you, but I have lots of FUN memories from Trick-or-Treating on Halloween when I was a kid.

We got a little over halfway and the kids declared an end to trick or treat 2011.  Fine by me!  I was carrying my little Anakin Skywalker most of the time anyway.  Their buckets were full and I think they were just excited to see what they got!

Then you know what I do when we get home...I probably shouldn't even say...but I go through the kids' candy and take all the candy they won't eat and I put it back in our bowl to hand out to trick-or-treators.  I have done this for three years straight.  And we still throw away Halloween candy months later that wasn't eaten.

Also, pretty proud of myself for this...This is the first year that I didn't eat a whole bag of candy before Halloween.  Seriously.  We normally buy our candy early and then I hide it.  But then I would raid my own stash everyday and eat all the kitkats or twix before Halloween even rolls around.  I haven't even craved it this year.  Don't know why.  Maybe because my jean already don't fit.  Motivation enough.

These pumpkins were just incredible!  The woman who made them, said only a few were real and the rest were foam pumpkins.  I couldn't tell which was which.  She had several more lining her walkway.  I stopped to admire them.