Making Moss

The back portion of my yard is a wasteland. The neighbor has a huge tree back there and, while it provides wonderful shelter for us around the fire pit on rainy nights, nothing grows. The ground is dirt. Leaves and dirt; dirt and leaves. I really want to make the whole yard kid accessible and kid friendly but haven't quite been able to figure out what to do. One of my brilliant plans involved making a nice moss bed out of that portion of the yard. How much fun would that be? A soft, spongy fairyland on which the kids can play. And it would be hard for them to ruin. Unlike grass. But I had no idea how to make moss grow back there. Then today I found this on my Internet travels.

Growing Moss
To start moss, take whatever you might be able to find around your yard and remove as much dirt as possible. Put the moss in a blender, add ½ teaspoon sugar and a can of buttermilk or cheap beer, blend until the moss breaks down, then spread the soupy mixture with a clean paintbrush over the patio blocks.

Now, between you and me, I don't know if I will actually tackle this strange idea of mine but, at least I now know how it can be done.

Etsy Find

I stumbled across these fantastic cards today on Etsy. Frigging hilarious! Thanks to The Spotted Sparrow for the great cards. Check them out.

Pattern Solution

I've been busy organizing my new craft space (in my mind at least), and have been having trouble figuring out how/where to organize all of my sewing patterns and ideas. I'm forever downloading awesome ideas to use/make someday and then they get filed haphazardly in a box.
Do I remember where I've put them? No. Do I remember what I have? No. Do all of the pages get lost? Yes. This is a very annoying problem.

I had been thinking that a filing system would be my only option. But, I wasn't thrilled about that. It doesn't seem to work so well in the classroom for all of my teaching supplies; I still never know what I have tucked away in there. I've often thought about cataloguing everything, but honestly, I would rather die. Hmm, so then I thought about my recipe box. Maybe I could do something like that where all of my patterns and ideas weren't tucked away. This might make them seem more accessible. But how, and where would I store all of this stuff? How would it stay organized? Would each packet be clipped together? Then the clips would become tangled, and I wouldn't want to look for anything. Maybe not.

But then, ah ha! Binders. Yes, binders would work marvelously! The binders could be organized by subject; kids, sewing, outlines, paper crafts, decorating crafts, etc. Each project could be placed in the binder in a plastic sleeve (where the top zips closed). It would be so easy to flip through. Like looking in a custom magazine that only showcases projects that I would want to do! Yep, I'm a genius.

All this thought and the room hasn't even been cleaned out yet. That is this weekends project. And I still have to figure out what I'm going to use for tables. I haven't found the perfect ones yet. But, I have hope.

Uh oh!

We have a speed walker. It's only a matter of time before Lukas will be able to run to the garbage to get himself a snack.

I think it's safe to say that we officially have trouble x 3 now.

Amy Butler

A few weeks ago Lev and I took a much needed night off. My brother kindly watched the kiddos and we went out for supper and then meandered our way around the city. Eventually we ended up at the married-for-a-long-time-with-kids destination, Walmart. Don't cringe, you've been there too.

It was quite nice, we were able to glide carefree from one aisle to the next without the mandatory shouts and demands of, "when are we going to look at the toys," "me want," and "I'm hungry, can I get a snack." Although, Lev and I were both guilty of peppering the conversation with those comments more than once. We were just being funny though.

It was on this night that I spied it. In the craft aisle (where my cart generally never makes it). Amy Butler paper packs. Ah, bliss. I have a strange love affair with Amy Butler. I love her fabrics (none of which I have), and her patterns (also, none of which I have). To be fair though, if our local fabric store carried any Amy Butler fabrics I would own some. I haven't embraced buying fabric online yet and probably won't for some time yet. I need to feel the fabric.

However, the things that I could do with a couple of her paper packs! It's funny, because I've recently found so many paper craft projects that I've been dying to try.

I'm Back

... with a new Blog design!

I've been wanting to attempt a revamp for quite some time and I finally tackled the project. Here's what I learned...

• there are so many talented people out there
• changing the style was super easy
• I spent way too much time admiring everyone's work (as usual)
• I just might update it more often

A big thank you goes out to Bling on the Blog for the background that I eventually chose.

I LOVE Ellen

Today is Ellen's 1000 show, and I'm loving all of the recaps. Here's my favorite...



No matter how bitchy I am, Ellen can pull me out of it every time. I love you Ellen.