Monday, November 4, 2013

More Crafts from My Girl

Another ornament from my 5-year-old
I can't keep up with her crafting needs. Is this familiar to my mother back 25 years ago? Probably...

Thursday, October 31, 2013

My Finished Birdie Needle Case

It's all done. And the baby is still firmly in "the egg."

My Finished Needle Case with my four little birdies and the egg (coming soon!)
 I do many things by initials, so you can see i have embroidered their initials on each of the birds. We honestly have no name for the egg yet (we will work that out between contractions) nor do we know whether the baby coming is a boy or a girl. I picked the colour of a robin's egg.
My little birds, detail
I also know that in the bird-world, boy-birds tends to get the fancier tail feathers. Well, not in my bird world!
Mom and Dad birds--obviously very much in love since we have so many little birds!
And finally, the inside, where the needles are kept.

Monday, October 28, 2013

Is My Little Girl a Crafter Too?

Maybe she is. She is 5 years old. We call her G. Isn't this cute?

G's Little Hand Sewn Dove

Friday, October 25, 2013

My Little Bird Family

Little Birds Needle Case
I need a needle case. Okay, I don't really, but I have been using the torn cardboard one that comes with the Guterman needles and thinking, this is silly. I should just make myself something nice!

I fussed around on Pinterest until I realized that there was nothing that I particularly wanted to make. And then I remembered that I don't like making other people's patterns because they never suit me 100%.

So I designed this and am working on it. One little bird for each of my little birds. And then an egg for the baby we are waiting on. The kids love the "egg." "That's our new baby. He's just an egg!" (We don't actually know if the baby is a "he," but I already have three "he's" so it seems more likely somehow. I do understand probabilities, FYI.)

I'll show you the results when I am finished. Maybe by that time, I should have five little birds and no "eggs"...

Monday, October 21, 2013

My Old, Old Project is coming along: Now the Starburst Quilt


The Starburst Quilt in process, 2013

I feel I need to add the year as I do these steps because as I suggested previously, I started this project while I was still in high school. (I think I did anyway. Or maybe I started it the summer after first year. Regardless, in the early 2000s.)

My normal clutter mantra is to get rid of things like this. This has been my one exception because when I took out, I felt inspired. I don't know why. Old, unfinished projects rarely give me this feeling. And then I just get rid of them because I am busy and I don't need to feel guilty about things that I am not doing--because I am doing plenty of new things. And new stuff is always funner than old stuff.

Except in this case.

Now I have appliqued the pieces onto this dark blue fabric and I'm debating what to do. The blue fabric was at the recommendation of my mother who thought it would give it a good contrast. I agree. But now what? Maybe my mom will have to take it home with her and think about it... (Heads up, mom.)

I am also debating on whether I should make it big enough for a twin because we are increasing the number of twin beds we have in our house yet again.

Thursday, August 29, 2013

The Cost of Raising Kids for $3000/year--Can We Do It? Yes We Can!

I've been getting away from my quilting articles to talk about other things. Don't worry if you like quilts. I am working on some projects right now.

There has been a lot of talk about the article put out by the Fraser Institute article regarding the costs of raising children in Canada. In the article, the author, Chris Sarlo, suggested that it cost $2100 for a four-year-old and $4100 for a 12-year-old. I don't have a 12-year-old yet, but I feel that the cost he quoted for a 4-year-old to be reasonable.
Guess how much this cost? It was free! (Minus the cost of sunscreen.)
Apparently, I am the only one who thinks this. There has been a deluge of parents and experts claiming that this amount is totally unreasonable. For example, this author sees the estimate as foolish particularly because it doesn't include childcare costs. (He also admits to spending $4000 for a week of dance camp for his daughter which screams EXCESSIVE!) According to Sarlo's report, less than 50% of Canadians use any kind of paid childcare. (This includes me--I don't even use babysitters! I would also say that a majority of my friends don't have paid childcare at all. But maybe we are the rich elite? My little bungalow might suggest otherwise.)

So I started to look around on the web to see if there was anyone who agreed with this report. I couldn't find anyone. I did click on a promising link by Frugal Edmonton Mama, but she didn't really seem to agree. Although she did omit things from her calculation like (my comments follow):

- preschool (not a necessity)
- swimming lessons (we've been personally experimenting with just taking the kids to the pool during free times and they are all learning to swim quite well)
- preschool gym (maybe try the playground? Even McDonalds has a nice playground in winter which you can put all your kids on for the price of a small coffee and muffin--$1.39)
- horse-back riding lessons (?!)

she did include RESP contributions and her larger house. (I'm amazed at how many people think RESPs is a necessity. Although I admit it would be nice, I do not think that it should be taken out of money that would otherwise go towards food. Now, if you discontinue horse-back riding lessons and use that money for RESPs, then that would be another story.)

Anyway, the frugal in Frugal Edmonton Mama is a misnomer. We are definitely raising our four kids on less than $2500/year each (what we actually spend) and we even plan crazy, epic vacations--like the one we are planning for Florida in February. (Regina is cold in winter.)

Here is his chart from the Fraser Institute report:

Spending         4 year old child (G)        12 year old child (B)
Food                          $1,638.60                           $2,517.12
Clothing                        $332.33                              $519.04
Personal care               $114.05                              $222.64
Household supplies      $127.68                              $127.68
Personal allowances,
recreation,
religion,
school supplies              $51.72                        
      $728.56
Total                          $2,264.38                            $4,115.04

FOOD:
According to his calculations, it costs $1.50/meal for a 4-year-old and $2.30/meal for a 12-year-old. My personal calculations say that we spend about $1.40/meal for each member of our family (or $700/month assuming exactly 3 meals a day). I think we eat quite well, but I also feel that I am quite careful about our food spending. We also eat at home 90% of the time.

CLOTHING:
I rarely buy clothing for the kids. I "put the word out" and now have a deluge of people giving us clothing. I wouldn't be surprised if we spent about $332.33 (the 4 y/o rate) on all four of our kids in a year. Not shopping is the ultimate in being frugal. There are so many perfectly good clothes that are used. And no kid needs more than two pairs of jeans. I'm sorry. Please read my post minimizing clothes here.

PERSONAL CARE:
I'm not sure what this would include other than soap and sunscreen? This seems like a lot to me as a result. (Or maybe it would include diapers, but I do cloth. And really, a 4-year-old should not still be needing diapers, so that doesn't make sense either.)

ETC. CATEGORY:
Maybe this is low as it would barely cover the cost of a bicycle (at the 4 y/o rate) and is only $14/week for the 12 y/o. But he did outline that this is the basics. It certainly wouldn't include ANY type of lessons taken over the year (eg: piano costs $15-20/week), but would pay for a few rounds of swimming lessons ($42/session).







Am I crazy here? Am I the only one who agrees with the Fraser Institute's assessment? Let me know your thoughts...

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Font quilt panel finished; now what?

Font quilt top
I sewed all my letters together and now I have this. I like it, but I'm wondering if I should just quit now or continue and make it into something larger.

This size is not particularly large and I have historically made a case against wall hangings (no function!). But I also used spray paint to make the blocks and I'm worried that making it for a bed might result in the spray paint peeling off after many washes. So maybe this should be a wall hanging (I hate to admit this).

I will think on it more, but at the present, I am pleased with the results.

Sunday, July 21, 2013

Recycling my ripped change table


It bothers me that I have only had this particular change table for one baby (despite having four kids--I think I've had 2 other change pads before this one) and it was already ripped up. I put this ugly TuckTape on it to make it easier to wipe down after a particular type of mess...


I was ready to break down and buy a new change pad. But first, I was going to my favourite store: Fabricland. There, I found this really cute piece of vinyl for $3/meter. I only needed 0.7m, so it was cheap for me to buy.

With double-sided carpet tape left over from a previous project, I recovered the table and am very happy with the results. And much cheaper than the $25 I was going to plunk down to buy new.

Voila! A new apple change table with Fabricland vinyl.

Sunday, June 23, 2013

The Joy of Less--Supplement for Kids (Part 2: Kids' Clothes)

Kids' clothing must multiply inside their drawers. I don't know how else to explain it. Last year, when I took out all my daughter's clothes from her drawer, I found 18 t-shirts. I don't even have 18 t-shirts and I don't change sizes every year. Could she be using 18 t-shirts a year? This sounds excessive.

With kids' clothing, it is best to take every item of clothing out of the drawer and closet and hook near the door and count. Just start by counting it all. You will probably be amazed by how many outfits each child has.

Then make a plan for how many outfits a child will reasonably need between laundry days. With four kids and a healthy dislike for laundry, I like to have a week supply of clothes fit into one load of my high-capacity washing machine. This means that we can't have a ton of clothes in our drawers or the load will get too big. (I quit sorting the laundry years ago with no noticeable difference. If you're feeling extra brave, you could try this too.)

I have decided that my children (aged 6 and under) each need about four or five complete outfits for a week. (Maybe you will judge that you need seven. This just means more laundry.) For my daughter, this would include dresses. Because the kids are small, I help them to make less laundry by judging their clothing from the day before: if it's not too dirty, they can wear it the next day.

(My own philosophy is that kids are quite dirty all the time. If they have a small(ish) stain on their shirt, no one can tell if this stain came from a week ago, yesterday or thirty seconds ago. Maybe some people think that my kids are little street urchins, but I generally believe most adults (a) don't look at kids clothing very critically and (b) generally assume that the stain was recent instead of from yesterday. Maybe my policy on wearable clothing is too liberal for some, but it works for me and my laundry habits.)

Each child gets one (1) drawer in the dresser where all their clothing goes. If it stops fitting, then I have to look at why. There might be toys jammed in there, or it might be that there are a bunch of clothes that are now too small. (They also get one (1) very small underware and sock drawer.)

Pajamas
Each child gets two (2) pair of pjs. I am almost at the point where I think one pair would be enough. If they have more than that, little kids are not thoughtful or careful about where the pjs go from the night before and they will end up on the floor and likely in the laundry. At nighttime, I say, "Where are your pjs from last night." If they only have one (or two) pairs, then it is easy to remember what they look like. I exchange summer and winter pajamas as necessary.

Specialty Outdoor Clothing
We live in Saskatchewan. It is cold here. In winter, we need a lot of gear just to take the van to the library. Snow pants, mitts, toques, winter jackets, fleece lined jeans, sweaters, etc. are necessary for the six months of the year we have snow and bitter cold. This takes up a lot of space. What we do not have is rain gear; it rains rather infrequently here. It is never "drizzling" like it does on the coast. It rains and then it stops. We rarely go outside when it's raining. As a result, I got rid of all our rain gear including rain jackets. If it's cold, we wear our winter jacket. If it's summer, we run. A little rain didn't hurt anyone. I don't even have umbrellas because there were more inconvenient to store than the value they provided. If you live in a warmer climate where it rains a lot, adjust your clothing stores to reflect this.

Shoes
I limit my kids (and myself) to four pairs of shoes: sandals (worn almost exclusively in summer--this also reduces the number of socks that I have to wash); runners; rain boots (we do still have a "set" of these that the kids rotate through as necessary); and winter boots. For the kids that are interested, I can bring out slippers, but for some of my kids, they don't care and I don't need extra shoes to find during the day. (We also got electric heated floors in part of our house which really reduces the need for slippers.) There is no reason to have shoes for every occasion! I don't have "fancy" shoes for the kids--instead they wear their sandals. My oldest son's runners are black and quite discrete when it comes to formal occasions.

My pseudo-rule (for other things as well) is that I want the drawer to be mostly empty by the time I get to the laundry. If there is one outfit left there, then I know I have judged the amount of clothes that my kids need correctly. If there are still tons of clothes left, then more paring down can be done.

Thursday, June 20, 2013

The Joy of Less--Supplement for Kids (Part 1: Kids' Toys)

(I love the book "The Joy of Less" by Francine Jay. Unfortunately, you can tell that when she wrote the book, she didn't have children. Here are the parts she missed for anyone who is interested.)

Although kids can be small, they somehow fill their space better than adults do. Maybe it is because they feel the best place for their toys is spread completely over the entire area of the floor. Or maybe it's because they move more quickly than adults do that they take up more space. (Similar to how gases take up more space than solids or liquids.)

I find it's best to start downsizing on a very messy day. Let your playroom get to the maximum messiness, then look around. Who is there to help you clean up? Why is it that the kids are no longer playing there once it hits what I call “peak-messiness”? It's because it's no fun to play when things are all a mess. Everyone knows that.

Let's start:

  1. At maximum messiness, go into the cupboards or containers that you keep the toys and take away any toys that are still remaining. If they haven't made it onto the floor at this point, they are obviously not favourites. It will make your cupboards or toy box that much more spacious when you do decide what deserves to stay.

  2. Look at how many “sets” of toys you have and how many of them are similar. At one point, we had Lego, Megablocks, Duplo, a set called “Build-irific,” another set called “Build-O-Fun” (neither fun nor very easy to build with) and Playmobile. Then we have a large selection of Polly Pocket, a game with little action heroes called “HeroScape” and standard wooden blocks. Was all this necessary? Definitely not! There were six different sets that were all effectively about building scenes. Polly Pockets was more about fashion, so we kept it (but if we had Barbies, we would have chosen between them). We ended up keeping the Lego (because we had a lot of it), a smaller amount of Duplo for little kids, and Heroscape because it is extremely popular with my 3-year-old. Everything else was taken away.

  3. Define how much space you want your toys to take up. We have an old 6-drawer dresser which seems sufficient for my four kids. We keep the toys in the same room that our TV is in, so very occasionally when we have people over to watch TV, we can put all the toys away entirely out of sight! It is almost like we don't have kids here! (Except the crying and fighting that is not contained in a simple dresser.) We don't keep toys in the kids' bedroom except for books.

  4. With kids, space is key! We keep our dining room completely clear of furniture (we eat in our kitchen) so we have plenty of space to wrestle and run around in. It has well-padded carpet, which is perfect for breaking falls, and other than the piano against one wall, is completely available to dance or do gymnastics or roll yourself (or siblings) into a blanket.

  5. Baby toys require their own category. When I only had one child, I had a TON of baby toys. Now that I have four kids, even though I still have a baby, I basically have zero baby toys. Same goes for Exersaucers, boucy chairs, swings and the full size crib. My fourth baby is happier with one-tenth the stuff than my first was. He doesn't get his own toys and instead plays with the older kids' things which are mostly appropriate. (I am lucky to have a son who rarely puts things into his mouth. If your infant/toddler is of the put-it-in-your-mouth variety, you might have to modify your strategy.) Little kids love playing with things that aren't toys like clean yogurt containers and spoons. There is nothing more fun for my one-year old than to put my rice cooker pot on his head. Or play in the tupperware drawer. Or go through my laundry. :(
    Also, baby things are easy to acquire because everyone seems to buy tons of it and then realizes that you only need a Bumbo chair for 6 weeks or that loud musical toy gets too annoying after a day. Ask around if you think you are missing something. Borrowing is way more convenient than storing large plastic baby things that you only need for a few months anyway.

  6. Craft supplies can quickly get out of hand, but the fancier the craft supplies, the more work it seems to be for the parent. I also realized that kids make an amazing number of crafts at other locations, be it pre-school, school, after school clubs, library programs, family drop-in centres and the like. In fact, I have come to rely on these places to satiate my kids' desire for “fancy crafts” (things involving, but not limited to, feathers, googly eyes, buttons, sequins, anything with foam stickers, popsicle sticks and sparkles). In my own home, I keep a supply a recycling paper (already printed on one side from work), felts, pencil crayons, and water colour paints in a block altogether. We also have tracing paper, scissors, pens and a few other art supplies like stencils, stamps and stamp pads that are very popular with the younger kids. I even realized that my kids don't really colour with wax crayons if there is any other option. So out the crayons went.

Once you have pared down your stash to a reasonable amount (or an amount that fits comfortably in your space), watch out because birthdays and Christmas are lurking to ruin your best intentions! I now talk to my kids before their birthday and Christmas about letting go some of their toys to make space for the new things they will certainly get. (Despite my best efforts to stop the flow.)

It has literally taken me years to convince friends and family that my kids don't require birthday presents and still certain members of my family ignore me. (Or they qualify it as “something small.” The size isn't really the issue, actually.) I have given up entirely on grandparents, which, according to my mother, is “just mean to say [they] can't get them gifts!” As a result, I have never bought the kids birthday or Christmas presents at all because I know that no matter what I say, my parents and in-laws will get each kid a large gift for all major holidays. Thankfully, my mother-in-law is a wonderful listener when I give her advice (one year, she gave my daughter a selection of brand-name toiletries—like a Dora toothbrush and Princess bubble bath. She was thrilled). My own parents are a little more rogue and once came with markers that write on glass. Gee, thanks. (There were even three markers. How extra thoughtful!) We have four kids, so we are generating a lot of gifts. Not only is it cheaper, but it prevents us from feeling bad getting rid of something "we paid good money for."

It is doubly hard if you've gotten rid of all your Megablocks and a new set comes in. What do you do now? I figure that you should let the kids play with it because it is shiny and new and when the novelty wears off, donate it. And then don't invite them to your child's birthday party next year—or not. (I have found some success with threatening members of my family with this up front—“If you bring a gift this year, you will not be invited next year.” It sometimes work.)

Monday, May 20, 2013

The Font Quilt--Finished Blocks

Here's how it's looking with all my blocks finished. I am still going to do a few more where I spray paint didn't go on perfectly or that pesky "J" where the fabric exactly matches the fabric directly above it. (Did I mix up my pattern?)
The Font Quilt blocks laid out.


I really like how this is going. My husband, upon first seeing it, asked me why I included the & and $. Well, because 26 makes a terrible rectangle! But 28 makes this kind of long-skinny panel. (I've seen people use the alphabet and add four blocks for 30 and this makes a more square 5 x 6 panel.)

Now I am debating on whether I should just sew all these blocks together in one big mass or use some sort of sashing inbetween.

At this moment, I am leaning towards using white striped dress shirts as sashing with red squares between, but I'm not sure.

Another thing I need to consider is the finished size I want this to be. A single bed? A wall-hanging? I'm not sure if the spray paint (which dries kind of hard) is the best thing for a cuddly blanket, but it's not any harder than the decals they put on t-shirts.

My Finished Cookbook

The cookbook is all done! I had it printed through iPhoto and then it came back in full-colour glory!
 It is 98 pages long with an index I am proud of!
 And better than a scrapbook, it's a book I use everyday, not just a book sitting up on a shelf collecting dust. (How I hate dusty yet also hate things being dusty.)

The Font Quilt--Spray Painting

I brainstormed a ton of ways to make the letters appear on the fabric. In the end, I ruled out silk screening (too much mess) and instead elected to cut stencils and then spray paint them. (Spray paint is permanent, right?)

So I am making a spray paint quilt. When someone asked me if other people were doing this, I must admit that I have no idea, but maybe somewhere, someone else has stumbled upon this great idea.

So first, I cut out each stencil with an Xacto knife and scissors. Then I use spray baste (for fabric) to glue the stencil to the fabric. And then it's painting time!

I'm using all recycled blue men shirts.





This "L" I didn't like and redid because of the "blurb" at the corner.


onto the

Friday, May 17, 2013

The Font Quilt--Planning

I have started a new quilt. It's an alphabet quilt and I am using 28 exciting fonts to make it. (26 letters plus $ and & to make it a rectangle.)

Fonts are such fun to work with! I read the book "Just My Type" twice in researching for this quilt. (My husband asked me, after I had borrowed the book a second time from the library, why anyone would need to read a book about fonts twice!)

Fonts also have the advantage of being 100% copyright-free, so I can use them however I like! Finally, I can capitalize on the amazing design experience of professionals without stealing! (Although I feel I have a decent feel for design, I need to work on my art skills.)

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Baking Soda Magic

This is my microfiber couch. I was ready to plunk down my $70 to have someone come out and professionally clean it, but then my mother gave me the amazing idea of trying to clean it myself. And since I clean almost everything with baking soda, I figured why not give it a try here.

What a difference! I simply wetted it with a cloth and then sprinkled baking soda on. Then with some elbow grease I rubbed it and rubbed it. And then I put it into the washing machine on gentle and the dryer on gentle. Et voila! $70 still in my pocket and a clean couch.

The photo on the left shows the original dirty couch and the one on the right shows my miracle baking soda cleaned couch. Quite a difference.

(A note to GM in Texas: I know that baking soda doesn't clean EVERYTHING! But I'm glad you found vinegar to clean up your rice pot.)


Friday, January 11, 2013

Slow Cookbook-ing

Since finishing up all my quilts last year, I decided to take a little break from sewing. Mostly this is due to my more active baby coupled with the fact that my sewing room is deep in the basement, about as far away from everything as possible.

Instead, I started reading more. And I read Francine Jay's The Joy of Less. What an unbelievable book! I would recommend it to anyone who wants to streamline their life. So I started to purge and downsize and generally question why I have so many things in my life. And one of the things that I have a few of in my life is cookbooks.

We all have them: cookbooks we like for only one recipe. Cookbooks with nice photos. Cookbooks that we got as a gift from our husband on an overnight trip to Denver about quesadillas when we really just like our standard quesadilla recipe with the cheese and salsa. Okay, he's a great guy, but maybe not the best gift giver. I am very happy with him.

So we have these cookbooks, but if we were honest with ourselves, we know that we really only use a few recipes and can chuck the rest.

Enter "Slow Cookbook-ing."

I am compiling all my favourite recipes (about 100 including 50 dessert recipes!) into one book that I will then get printed off. It is a full colour monster and I am about half done. To finish it off, I am going to write the most awesome index in the world so I can find all the recipes that I want instead of flipping through my hodge-podge cookbook with the glued-in recipes that I currently have.

It's a dream that's becoming a reality. Very slowly. Especially with the kids. But I plug away at it everyday and I'm hoping to be done sometime before my birthday in February.

Happy 30th birthday to me!