Has it really been three months since I've done a post?  Yikes... if one of the blogs I follow doesn't post for a week I get all twitchy... not that I have THAT many followers but really it's kinda pathetic... sorry... I have been busy though, Little Kastle turned two, she's so big and she knows it.  That two year oldness is well wonderful one second and in the next instant I'm wishing she was about 9 months old again because at that age they can't throw themselves on the floor in a full tantrum in the middle of Target... yeah...  But really I'm loving this age and this girl:

On her 2nd Birthday

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 I've been doing a LOT of sewing and smack me on the wrist but I haven't been taking pictures.  I promise I'll get out the camera and take some very soon :)  As always you can check out our photosharing website at kastlenews.shutterfly.com to see the most recent pictures and happenings, hop over there, spend a couple days, and when you get back here there should be pictures of my latest sewing projects :)  See ya soon!

From a rag to...

We visit our local Salvation Army about once a month or so looking for deals and to buy kids clothes.  A majority of Little Kastle's clothes come from there, I just can't pass up like new clothes for a buck a piece, and sometimes stuff still has the tags on!  Soo... while parusing the women's long sleeve racks I came upon this gem:

Please excuse the awful picture but it really was an awful top.

 Not a gem you say?  I agree it was hideous but you gotta see the potential in it, tiny yellow stripes on a grown woman = not so cute, but for a buck (I actually got it for less after a generous discount) I couldn't pass up the quality knit fabric.  I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it when I saw this post.  Tiny stripes on a cute little girl = the cutest thing ever! 

Go away Mom please....

I had to throw this one in just cause I love her eyes in this picture.

 Oh and Little Kastle even picked out the buttons.  I had white and pink, I think she picked well, whatcha think??

Happy (belated) Mother's Day!

For obvious reasons I had to wait to publish this blog post as I didn't want to spoil the surprise I had made for the lovely ladies in my life.

I am a procrastinator.  There I said it.  I am one of those people who puts off doing the laundry until I have nothing to wear then I'll put a load in the washing machine right before I get into bed and then set the alarm for sometime in the middle of the night to put it in the dryer.  Have you ever done this??  Drives my husband crazy and I think that's why he does so much laundry around here.  I think he likes clean socks :)  Love you babe!  Anyway, my procrastination seems to affect me during holiday times too.  Sometimes I just can't come up with a "good enough" gift idea and other times I think it just kinda sneaks up on me.  (I swear time speeds up after you have kids)  For Mother's Day this year I needed an idea that I could procure in oh... 4 days and would either be individualized for each of the 4 people I needed gifts for or would be the same thing for all four.  My gift also had to be budget friendly because, well, we all love that don't we?  I came across this gathered clutch tutorial by Noodlehead a while back and I thought it was a super cute idea and I figured these little purses/clutches would be perfect and useful for all four ladies on my list.  The only problem was that I didn't have the time nor the budget to go buy fabric for them (I'd just spent 3 months worth of my fabric allowance at Joann on Tuesday, I came up with this idea on Wednesday).  I've saved some of my favorite outfits and dresses of Allies to sew into a quilt someday and I figured out that this would be a perfect way to get the fabric I needed for these clutches and to make them super special.
Here are the clothes that I used:

I only stole the frog off of the purple onesie.

The hardest part of the project was cutting up the clothes.  I have this weird emotional attachment to Allie's baby clothes, but I just took the scissors and did it, I mean they're never going to fit her again right?  I just used coordinating fabric from my stash to fill in where there wasn't enough from the clothes.

and the finished product:

My mother in law loves frogs so I stole this little guy off an old onesie an just stitched him on.

This little strip of fabric is hiding an oops.  Be very careful when you're fusing your interfacing not to get too close to the edge and pull the fabric back on itself.

Only two of the four ended up with the intended D-ring.  I just kept forgetting to put it in there.

Just a note about the tutorial.  I used heavy weight interfacing for the divider pocket.  Only do this if you wish to torture yourself.  It's just what I had on hand.  It did make them more substantial though (for lack of a better term).  I found the heavier interfacing made it impossible to turn the thing right side out if the bottom of the liner was sewn at all so I just ended up leaving it opened and finished the bottom of it with a zig-zag stitch.  If you have questions about it email me.  Also, don't take the paper off of your interfacing that's on the sides until AFTER you sew up the sides and the bottom of the outside, otherwise it makes a big sticky goupy mess out of your sewing machine.  Alcohol wipes work really well for getting the stickies off, not that I would know...  I also had problems with my zipper foot so I just used my regular one and it was fine.  The only difference I think is that more of the zipper shows which for me was fine because my zippers were in very cute colors.  I really hope that these little clutches get lots of use and the ladies love them!

Want to make your house smell like spring?

So Tuesday I had the luxury of perusing the isles of Target all by myself and I took full advantage of it by spending oh, about 2 hours shopping...  I have been searching for Dr. Bronners peppermint soap in Target since I saw it in their ad a couple weeks ago and haven't been able to find it but in the search for that I found a new all purpose cleaning spray that I am currently in love with! 

J.R. Watkins Lemon Natural All Purpose Cleaner is amazing.  It's all natural and smells great.  You can find the ingredient list here.  I am constantly battling the stinkies in my house and this is a great weapon in that fight.  I've used it on grime on the stove and it cuts right through grease, used it to scrub my tile counter tops and it makes them shine, I've even sprayed it in the sink to keep dishes from getting smelly that I didn't have time to wash (shhh...) and it worked like a charm.  This stuff makes me actually want to clean!  Here's what Soap.com says about it: "Rid your home of dirt and grime without the harsh toxins found in other all purpose cleaners. J.R. Watkins Natural All Purpose Cleaner quickly removes grease and grime from most surfaces in your home.You'll find hundreds of uses for this great streak-free, earth-friendly cleaner. Put this cleaner to the test on a variety of surfaces: Appliances, sinks, countertops, stainless steel, fixtures, floors, walls, sealed granite, and tile. Bright lemon fragrance." Like I said I bought it at Target (couldn't tell you how much it was there) but you can also find it here and here.  Happy cleaning!

A Weekish In Pictures

I had high expectations for this blog post... I generally have high expectations for lots of projects I start that might be why I go crazy get so stressed out about making things "perfect".  I am not a perfectionist by any means, if you'd like proof come over to my house for dinner but I do like things to be just so.  Last week was like a wave and we all just kinda rode it out.  It didn't go just so but it ended wonderfully :)

It started out here:

Allie trudging through the back yard in her "frock" boots

And ended like this:

Grandpa at Easter Sunday Brunch

 But some where in the middle we had some of this:

Visiting Grandpa in the hospital

Grandpa with Tinker Bell in his "pocket"

Grandpa spent a couple days in the hospital and it turns out he just needed a fluid top off and to change some meds around but we're all so thankful he's ok. 

This huge little guy was in our driveway one day this week.  He's missing the half of one of his back legs but he was getting around just fine.  He turned his head and looked at me like "I'm ok lady, you should see the other guy."

We got to visit the Easter Bunny and Allie cried when her turn was over.  Completely the opposite reaction I was expecting.  I'm looking for my picture with the Easter Bunny when I was this age I swear they could be interchangeable.

Peeking around the corner to see bunny man

is it just me or is it a little creepy you can tell he has blue eyes??

Easter was fun with brunch in the morning followed by egg hunting and basket destroying and dinner.

Discovering the Easter Bunny was rather generous this year.

Everyone needs the perfect shades to go with their Easter garb, no?

Happy hump day!

Welcome!

I wish I had a tape recorder in my brain.  Something to record all the brilliance that I come up with while doing dishes or driving.  I sound really good in my own head, but don’t we all?  Welcome to my baby blog.  She’s new and we’ve got some learning to do together, I’m not exactly sure what kind of adventures we’ll go on together we’ll just have to figure it out as we go.  For now let’s just say this is the tape recorder in my brain, trying to capture the brilliance that’s there, it’s up to you whether or not you think it’s brilliant or a bust.  My little blog has lots of growing to do, expect to see many changes as I figure out this new medium of expression.  Some things you’ll probably see in the future are lots of my random ramblings, some sewing tips and tutorials, product reviews (things that I think you totally can’t live without), recipes that rock, pictures of the littlest Kastle, and whatever else is interesting at the moment.  This little blog is mainly for me, a journal of sorts so I can remember stuff.  Ever since having little Kastle my short term memory has gone kaput and my husband can attest to this.  Three days from now I’ll probably even forget I started a blog.  Not really but it’s almost that bad.  Anyway, welcome to my little corner of the blogosphere.  Enjoy!