Camsters Makes Me Laugh

I didn't realize it before Camsters came along, but there are silly moments in which your child just makes you giggle.
Like when she learns how to share and decides to give you everything she gets her hands on...
Or when she makes ugly faces when you brush her hair...
Or when she tries to race you whilst crawling...
Or when she invents this silly fake laugh --that sounds like an old man-- and uses it whenever she deems fit...
Or when she gets excited over pictures of people she knows, and some she doesn't (like the face of "George" on our Seinfeld DVDs)...
Or when she discovers she can crawl backwards while simultaneously watching her right-foot...
Or when she begs and begs to look out the peep hole on the front door...
Or when she tries to use obnoxiously yellow bias tape as a hat...
Or when her kisses really just reminds you of a sucker fish on your face.

I didn't mean for this to turn out so much like a list, but I would hate to forget any of our silly little moments together. Now that she is on the verge of her first birthday I'm feeling a bit sentimental.



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Random Thoughts :: January 2011

- David Bowie was never a great singer. He must have sold so many albums based on being kitschy.
- is that how you spell "kitschy"?
- I really like that word
- along with: whilst, whom, intriguing, butter, odd, and hardly
- is it okay that my baby is oddly fascinated with Taylor Swift?
- see?
- I'm surprised with how detailed I have been able to keep Camster's baby book
- or that I've been able to keep up with it at all
- hey! I got that docent (fancy word for "volunteer") position at Columbia State Park. (Yay me!) It entails six 5-hour long Saturday workshops to learn the (correct) history of the gold rush and how to lead tours and stuff. Then, on February 26th I graduate. Isn't that funny? Graduate... I get a badge though (Yay me!)
- my husband is a great cook. I'll never turn down one of his meals.
- or a meal ever
- especially if it's free
- unless it's tuna
- even free tuna
- sorry potential Starkist sponsors...
- I think I've rambled on enough.
- bye



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How to Make a Piñata :: part 2

8. Keep layering your crepe paper strips working from the bottom towards the top.
9. (side view) Once you get to the center of the head, start working the front and back separately. It looks wrong now, but if you start making your front and back "close" onto each other like a clam shell... it will all work out. I promise.
10. See? The back will meet the front right where the eyes will go. This way the eyes will cover-up the seam.



11. Glue some of your crepe paper strips to ... two... pieces of paper, then cut out wings. Cut out some cute sugar skull-esque eyes and randomly fold a beak. Glue them all onto the face....

And voilà! Way better than a grocery store piñata. Isn't it funny how many little above-the-letter mark things there are in this post? ------> piñata ------> voilà
Yay!


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How to Make a Piñata :: part 1

Yeah baby! Owl piñata makin' time! You can also use this tutorial to make any other animal or character. It's as easy as paper mâché and crepe paper fringe. Let's hop to it...

You will need:
2 balloons
Tape
1-2 cups of flour
Water
1/2 a roll of crepe paper/party streamers of any color
1 newspaper cut into 1" wide strips
Scrap paper for eyes, wings, and beak



1. Tape your two balloons together to form the owl's head and body.
2. Mix together your flour and water until it is watery-er (technical term) than pancake batter. If it is too thin, it won't stick as well.
3. Dip the newspaper strips into to mixture and then wipe it off again between your fingers. The newspaper should be thoroughly wet, but not soggy.



4. (ignore the tube of glue. It's just being used to keep Mr. Owl from rolling off the table) Arrange your newspaper strips on the balloons being sure to link the two balloons together.
5. Continue to paper mâché until you have at least 3 good layers on it. Let it dry thoroughly.... maybe a full day or two.
6. Cut strips of crepe paper and then fringe the bottom half. It's easier if you stack up many layers before you fringe it.
7. Starting from the bottom of the piñata, make a line across the body with glue. Then lay your crepe paper across it tacking it down well.


--continue on to part 2

Fabric Toadstools :: part 2

8. From the beige fabric, cut a strip about 6-8" long and 2 1/2" wide on the fold. With right-sides together, sew down the open side to form a tube. Now cut a small circle from the beige fabric that is roughly 2" in diameter.
9. With right-sides together, pin and sew the circle to the tube bottom.
10. Make little snips around the seam and turn right-side out.
11. Fill halfway with small beans or rice. Don't fill the bottoms with kidney beans.... I found out the hard way that they are too bulky. Fill the rest of the way with poly-fil and stick the stems into the "X" you cut into the toadstool tops. Lastly, hot glue (or hand sew if you have the patience) the stems to the tops.



12. Pat yourself on the back and take a pathetic amount of pictures showing how truly crafty you can be sometimes.


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Fabric Toadstools :: part 1

I'm making these fabric toadstools for the Camster's 1st birthday using just scraps. Join me!
1. Find some cute mushroomy looking fabric for both the colored tops and the beige stems.
2. Trace around random circular objects onto your beige fabric.
3. Then cut out circles about 1-2" bigger than the beige circles out of your colored fabric.



4. Do a running stitch around your colored top.
5. Pull one of the treads to gather the colored top until it is about the size of your beige circle.
6. Pin together with right-sides together, then sew completely around the circle.
7. With scissors, cut an "X" in the center of the beige circle careful not to cut the colored top. Turn right-side out. Loosely stuff the toadstool top.


Continue on to "Fabric Toadstools :: part 2"

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Woodland Themed 1st Birthday :: inspirations

I looked up and down the net for a birthday party that was close to what I was envisioning, but couldn't find as much as I would have liked. I didn't really want to go the "fairy" route... more of a woodland-toadstool-glitter-induced-coma kind of look.

Here is what I found for inspiration for the Camster's "woodland" themed 1st birthday party. Unfortunately, I'm a bad blogger and forgot to note where I got these photos from since I just did a mass search on Google. If one of these photos is yours --sorry!-- email me so I can give credit where credit is due. Her party is the first weekend of February so keep a look out for a future post with photos on how her party turned out.

Phew! What a long first week..

Phew! What a long first week of January. I like to think that this year will be better than the last, however, it has already started off with the death of one of my favorite uncles and a family cold (I'm never sick so this is really something). The latter doesn't really compare to first, but it doesn't really help.




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12 of 12 :: January 2011

1. Bed head.
2. My breakfast... Leftover garlic bread. So unhealthy, but so yummy.
3. Stationary my mom got for the Camsters .
4. Looking through a paper tube at each other.



5. A Turkish bowl my mom gave me.
6. My lunch... Homemade fried rice. Moderately healthy-- we won't discuss sodium.
7. The Camsters helping out at the elementary school.
8. Fabric toadstools I just finished.



9. Cloth diapers hanging up to dry.
10. I have an interview at Columbia State Park to become a docent.
11. We're an Apple family.
12. Pay day means party shoppin'!


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My Evening Project

I'm not much of a "quilter" even though the first thing I learned to sew was quilts. I was planning on making this a tutorial, however, I figured if you wanted to make something like this you would already have the basic quilting skills required to put some random shaped blocks together. How's that for a run-on sentence?. So, instead I'm just going to show you what I've been up to.

I've been working on a pretty basic block quilt with embroidered hands in the bigger blocks doing sign language. Each sign is a different word. I am including six of the Camster's favorite signs: tree, book, school (sketch pictured), play, draw, and love. I was given this cute baby sign language fabric by my silly Aunt... one of my many silly aunts... and I thought I had to do something great with it. I saved a huge piece of it to use as backing.

Kittens vs. Babies

Please don't take offense to the following post. It is, of course, meant for a few giggles. I blame my mother for my rather dark sense of humor.

Kittens vs. Babies
Since becoming a mother I have noticed quite a few similarities between these two creatures:
~ both drink milk
~ both mew (some more than others)
~ both bite when you least expect it
~ both will scratch you for no apparent reason
~ both take long, lazy naps
~ both like sitting in your lap (at their own convenience)
~ both have brightly colored toys that rattle
~ both can be dressed up in ridiculous outfits against their will
~ both cry for some of what you're eating
~ both are easily amused by shinny objects



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New Project in the Making

That's right folks! A new project.... Ooooo la la! You will love it, I promise. Hopefully you can wait just a teeny bit longer for the first installment. Anticipation never killed anyone did it?


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