Oh. Gross.

 

So I opened my dishwasher this morning to load our breakfast dishes, and what did I find?

A whole passel of ants crawling around in the bottom of my dishwasher. Oh. Gross. I’m not really one to be scared or grossed out by bugs and other creepy crawlies… unless they come in large quantities.  You know.  Swarms. Hoards. Masses. Legions. All moving around and crawling on top of each other. That kind of stuff. Oh. Gross.

I may be over-exaggerating a bit. They’re only ants. And there were probably only a hundred or so. Maybe Two. But they WERE crawling around in the appliance I use to keep the stuff we EAT off of CLEAN. So right now I’m just trying really hard not to ask uncomfortable questions like:

How did they get in there?

How long have they been there?

How bad is it that I am so lazy with rinsing my dishes they they swarmed to eat the food in the bottom of my dishwasher?

And most importantly… is it gross that I just started the dishwasher hoping they’ll be gone the next time I open it?

 

I really hope I don’t have a bunch of dead ants stuck to my dishes after this is all said and done. Oh. Gross.

Shoe Clips for Easter

I bought some little white shoes to go with a little Easter dress for my little girl.  I mostly love these shoes, but the butterfly is just a little too cheesy. And not-butterfly looking.

So I made some little flowers to clip on instead.

Want to make your own shoe clips?

To make two flower shoe clips you will need a needle and thread, fabric, two alligator clips, and a hot glue gun.

First cut about 20 2in squares from your fabric.  They don’t have to be perfect squares, as long as they are generally square-ish.  I used a shirt I bought on clearance for some crafty purpose. I THINK it’s chiffon.

Then fold each square into quarters to make a smaller square.  Holding the folded corner between your fingers, cut off the all four corners at once with a rounded edge.

When you unfold your square, you will get what looks like a flower with four petals.

Do this with all of your fabric squares. Each little flower will become one petal in your bigger flower.

Next, take your first flower and fold it in half, but do it a little skeewampus, so the petals don’t line up perfectly with each other.  Then fold it in half again to make a right angle.

Take your needle and tread and go through the point a couple times to hold it in place.

Fold the next flower into a petal the same way you did with the first. Than lay it on top of the other petal, points together, but skewed a little to the right. Pull your thread through to hold this petal in place.

Do the same thing with the next petal on the opposite side of your first petal, skewed to the opposite side. Pull your thread through again.

At this point your flower should have three petals and look somewhat like this.

Turn your flower so the folded edge of the first petal is showing (sorry the picture is a bit blurry). Add the next petal here, and the one after that on the opposite side.  Then add more petals to fill in any gaps or holes until the flower looks round. I used 9 petals in each flower.

Make sure to attach one petal at a time with your needle and tread, and keep all of the points in the same general area.

Your flower should look similar to this one.

Make one more.

Then hot glue a clip to the back of each flower, and be prepared for some seriously cute shoes.

Oh how I love those feet!


I'm sharing this project at:

The Train to Crazy
Fireflies and Jellybeans
Somewhat Simple
Paisley Passions
Suzy's Artsy Craftst Sitcom
The Shabby Chic Cottage
Someday Crafts
House of Hepworths
Gluesticks
Bloggeritaville
Chic on a Shoestring
Naptime Crafters
Be Different Act Normal

Smocked Dress Fail

 

I bought this dress at the end of the summer, and I LOVE it. 

It has some smocking around the bust, and is supposed to double as a skirt.  The high waist line was very helpful in camouflaging my tummy before we announced the baby news, and there is plenty of room for my growing belly. It’s light and airy and I’m so glad to have it to wear during the hot summer months.

So glad in fact, that I wanted another dress just like it.

It was a simple enough pattern, I figured I’d just make the next one…. Unfortunately, it didn’t turn out just like it my other dress.  I used linen and lined it so I wouldn’t need to wear a slip.  I still love the fabric, but I’m just not loving how it’s turning out. I haven’t hemmed it yet, and I’m seriously considering picking out all that smocking and turning it into a skirt instead.  So much for that new Easter dress I thought I was going to get….

So I bagged the rainy day sewing project and we made a cheesecake instead :)

How cute is this little helper of mine?

It’s Raining… It’s Pouring (and raining, and raining…)

 

It hasn’t stopped raining in days. We’re feeling a little hard pressed for non-TV indoor activities around here. 

So… I introduced blanket forts into our lives. 

(pretty cool fort huh?)

I’m still trying to decide whether or not it was a smart move. Sure, it was fun the first time, we piled in pillows and blankets and books and snacks, I finished making a hat, and it used up about an hour of our inside time.

But now, any day we are at home and inside for any slightly significant amount of time, the little girl asks to make a fort. And unless I’m in there with her, she stays in it for about 5 minutes. Unless the TV is on, which totally defeats the purpose.

What’s a mom to do?

I guess I need to find a book to read….

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