Thursday, January 15, 2009

:: THIS IS RAD ::


Architecture in Helsinki - Like It Or Not from helsinkids on Vimeo.

Architecture in Helsinki is one of my favorite bands in the ENTIRE world. My ol' pal Gary Brown introduced me to them while I was still working at 1-800-Patches (Gary... I miss you mostly for your music suggestions). Anyway, they have the best tunes - I love them while at the gym - and the best music videos. The one above is a little crafty.

If you ever have a change to go to an AIH show, it is truly a masterpiece. Seriously, these kids rock the house and have the most amazing stage presence. They each play about 50 different instruments throughout the show, almost never ending with the same instrument that they started the song with. AMAZING! Anyway, enjoy the video. I wish I could embroider like that.

Oh PS... I'm not being very crafty this week. I've been working a lot (for pay) and that cuts down on my crafting time. I'll resume soon.

Monday, January 12, 2009

:: YO DIGGITY ::

I want to start every post like this. I was only a day late, but you can go enter to win some fine yarn and supplies (courtesy of me) over at Petit Elefant. It would be great to send it off to someone I know. Even if you don't knit, enter anyway. It would make a great gift (ahem) to someone who does.

Friday, January 09, 2009

:: MY FAVORITE KID ::


It is only 9:00 am. We've watched Bakugan and Christmas with the Joker (old Batman cartoons from my childhood). We've had breakfast. He played Bakugan while I checked my email. We've played with and cleaned up the play-dough. He dressed up as Batman. Now he's getting his pirate ship and island out for the next round while I write this blog. Wow - we've only been awake since 7:30. I'm ready for a nap and he wants to go to the zoo.

Thursday, January 08, 2009

:: WANT A NEW PRINTER? ::

I sure do! MommyCoddle is giving one away!

I also want a digital SLR, so if you find one laying around or something send it my way. :)

Monday, January 05, 2009

:: MERRY CHRISTMAS 2008 ::

So, I just wanted to share the two highlights of our Christmas celebrations. I can't determine which is funnier. So, watch the videos and you decide.

The Sessions...
This is Pops and Grandma Dough-knee (my parents) performing a song from High School Musical on the Wii. Notice Pops making up his own words and Bean (my 7-YO HSM-obsessed niece, Rebekah) trying to get him to do it correctly.



The Van Wagoners (actually Latteiers)...
This is the Nativity Scene performed by the 5 great-grandkids that were in attendance. Cohen was actually Joseph, although he wanted to be a Sheep -aka Shepherd- and Mike's brothers kept trying to get him to "baaa". We are irreverent.



*Disclaimer* Yes, that is me in the background of both of the videos laughing.
:: PROJECT #2 - PETIT ELEFANT KNITTING TUTORIALS ::


Whew... I've been in a frenzy this last week getting all of the loose ends tied up for the knitting tutorials and patterns that I'll be posting Petit Elefant all of this week. Today I just made a list of basic knitting items that you'll need to know to complete the projects.

Here is the schedule:
Monday - Knitting Basics
Tuesday - Leg Warmers
Wednesday - Cap
Thursday - Sweater (plus blocking and crocheting the edges)
Friday (I think) - a GIVE AWAY of all of the products needed to create these items.

HAPPY KNITTING!

Thursday, January 01, 2009

:: PROJECT #1 - PANTRY CLEAN OUT ::


Nothing like starting the New Year off with not only one but THREE clean closets. Yesterday I went through the laundry/scrapbook closet and organized my ever growing stash of paper and glitter and Cohen's crafting stuff. This morning we got up early (thanks Cohen) and started breaking down Christmas right away. I purged and got my Christmas decor down to only three big Tupperware bins so it will all fit in our entry way closet. I cleaned off all of my Primary stuff from the shelves in there and made more room for games/puzzles/flashlights.


As I was folding laundry in my bedroom (read: lying on the bed looking at the ceiling), I heard Mike (I love his Christmas Beard this year) rustling in the pantry. I went to the kitchen to see what he was doing and he had pulled out everything from our pantry and was on his hands and knees mopping the floor. I decided to help since this was one of the 50 projects on my list. The goal was to fit all of the junk - pictured in the first picture - into our little pantry.

The above picture is the 1/2 way point. Our pantry shelves have so much height to them, that a lot of space was being wasted. I didn't want to invest in a permanent solution, since this is an apartment that I pray we won't live in forever. I bought these shoe racks at IKEA for $10 a piece to utilize our shelf space. We can now stack our cans three high without all of the toppling over.


Another handy and cheap organizational tool is using an old CD holder to keep all of the flavor packets and mixes organized.

A utility hanger (KMart for $5.99) and a plastic bag holder (IKEA for $0.99) keeps everything off of the floor.

VOILA! Here it is all done. After getting rid of a lot of expired food and seeing what we really have in there, I've come to realize we need to get more food storage that we'll actually eat. But that will be a project for another day.
 
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