Collaborative Scribble Art

Shhhhh…… I may have figured out a secret about Seth and art work. Unlike Eleanor, who needs  a little coloring time to herself almost every day, Seth has no desire to color or draw by himself. He does not even want to sit next to someone doing the same thing. He wants to interact with another person, collaborate so to speak. I had tried this project once before with him but the timing must not have been right. I tried it again on one of our summer trips and boy was I surprised.

I drew the scribble you see below, making sure to join the ends so there wasn’t a hole. Then we took turns picking out a crayon and coloring in a segment. I had to color in a few sections before he became interested. I also took care not to be perfect with my coloring. I was intentionally lax with staying inside the lines and filling in all the white space. Seth can get very hung up on doing things just right (huh, wonder where he gets that from?). I wanted to make sure he understood I didn’t have any lofty expectations. I let him direct what colors we each choose and which sections we each got. I’m sure you can tell I got all the big sections, but I didn’t complain.

He got so into it he asked to do another. Only this time he wanted to do the scribble. That’s the one you see above. We did most of it in a taxi. And we were both surprised and excited when the fish appeared. Ah, good times.

Mail Call

I get a little giddy when I pull up in front of my house and see a package sitting on the door step. I don’t think I’ll ever tire of personal mail, no matter how big or small. Molly over at apple cyder sent me a wonderful package this summer. It came in a tube, which if you ask me, is even more fun. There was paper to use for tracing patterns which immediately went into my new fiber arts cabinet (yes, that’s what I’m calling it). But the best part and the reason for the package is this fabulous belt.

Can you believe I took a picture of my gut and stuck it on the internet? Weird. Anyway – you could make your own. Just follow her wonderful tutorial. While you’re over at her place make sure to check out her posts on the birthday party she threw her husband, this princess and the pea set, and the cathedral window doll quilt she made. 

In addition she sent this sweet hat the she made. It’s from a pattern in Amy Karol’s Bend the Rules Sewing. I tried to adjust it on Eleanor’s head to take the picture, but immediately got scolded. Apparently, I’m not allowed to touch it. When I tried a 2nd time it got tucked into her backpack after another scolding. My oh my. I guess she likes it. 

The Case of the Incredible Shrinking Pillowcase

I’m so back blogged it’s ridiculous. Is it just summer or have I lost my blogging mojo? I’m guessing it’s just summer. Time will tell. But I will not forgive myself if I do not show you this soon. So here I go. It’s a skirt I made. Me. Of my own design. 

Crazy, I know! Granted making clothing out of pillowcases is not a new idea. But still. I figured it out on my own. No tutorial, no pattern, just me and my noggin.

What’s up with the title of the post you ask? Well, it was my inspiration for the idea. You see, Seth has some snugly knit sheets to go with his quilt. But for some reason every time I washed them the pillowcase got smaller and smaller. I tried adding snaps to the end to keep it around the pillow but eventually it got to be about 2 inches shorter than the pillow. Weird, I know.

So I snipped off half the pillowcase, made a waist edge casing for some elastic on the cut end and took a queue from House on Hill Road’s Twirly Skirt for a little side tie. I wanted the tied to come out a button hole, but couldn’t figure out my button holing mechanism. So I reminded my self this skirt would last at most for the summer as it would continue to shrink and I simply made a little snip in the fabric. Walla! Of course, then I found the instruction manual for the sewing machine. I put it in a safe spot for the next time I have a button hole emergency.

Fortunately, as you can see the little squirt likes the skirt. Unfortunately, I don’t let her wear it that often because silly me forgot to account for added diaper butt inches. Ah well, I’m still proud.