Dicing Up My Shirts, Part 2

I loved what I did to my first t-shirt so much that I decided to experiment.


I decided on my MSCPA t-shirt. I figured I was in a win-win, regardless of the outcome: if the dicing came out amazing, I'd have more of an excuse to wear a wonderful shirt reminding people that pitbulls are actually sweet creatures. If the dicing came out terribly, I'd have an excuse to buy another shirt, all proceeds going to the MSCPA, who I loved fervently, even though I don't live in Massachusetts anymore.


With my first shirt, I shortened the sleeves. With this shirt, I wanted the sleeves good and gone, leaving almost a haltered look. I marked where I was gonna cut with washable marker and went to town.


I could've stopped there, but the holes of the shirt were a little too big for me to wear without an undershirt (under-tanktop?) to solve this, I sewed a 2" stitch at the bottom of each sleeve.


And since I was already tinkering around with the sewing machine, I decided -- why not make my shirt more fitted? As I've mentioned before, the main reason why I don't wear t-shirts is because they're baggy and shapeless. I simply turned the shirt inside-out, pinned up the sides, carefully took the shirt off, and sewed.

If you have any troubles getting the shirt off, repine to make your shirt baggier. Cotton can stretch, but, at the end of the day, it's not nylon. The irony is after all that work, I like the shirt best with a tank top underneath it. But still, I love the look, and I'm excited to buy more MSCPA shirts to tinker with.

Try it Tuesday: Graham Cracker Crumbs and Greek Yogurt

I've made the switch over to Greek yogurt recently. It has twice protein and half the sodium and carbohydrates. The switch was pretty easy, with the exception of the texture. The texture is a lot smoother, a lot more thick-n-creamy. And it's a shock to the system if you've had regular yogurt your entire life. So I have been looking for ways to spice up my yogurt.


There's the usual additions: granola, fruit, etc, but, given that I really was having an issue with texture, I needed to pull out all the stops.


I had some leftover graham cracker crumbs from my giant Reese's peanut butter cup, so I decided to sprinkle some graham cracker crumbs over my vanilla greek yogurt to combat the texture. I added some grapes, both for taste and to balance out the healthy/unhealthy ratio.


I fully recognize that adding graham cracker crumbs to Greek yogurt is like spooning sugar on Kashi Go-Lean granola, but the taste is amazing. And it really does help you acclimate to greek yogurt, if you're texture sensitive like myself.


The best part is, since it has twice as much protein, I am full sooner and for longer. Which is needed, since I've been craving Wendy's spicy chicken nuggets for about a week now!

Mother's Day Gift #2: A Recipe Book ... Kind Of.

This was one of my favorite projects with my Pre-K students. During circle time, I asked each child to tell me their favorite food, and then asked them to think about how they think it's made. After circle time, the students drew a picture of said favorite food. I then went to each child individually and asked them to tell me how they thought their favorite food was made. I asked them what they thought they needed to make it as well as what were the steps to make it. I wrote everything down, typed up the "recipes", and paired the picture with the recipes.


I then spent a very, very, very long evening at FedEx, making copies, three-hole punching papers, and assembling the "cookbooks" you see up there. They were the "Tried & True Recipes: Written and Illustrated by Miss Abby's Pre-K Class".


If you are a father, this can easily be done with just your child or children. Simply spend a little time each day talking about some of the favorite meals they have at dinner, and ask them to tell you how they think they're made. The answers are oftentimes hilarious. While I don't have a picture of it, below is one of my favorite recipes:


Macaroni & Cheese

Ingredients:
- A Box of Mac and Cheese
- That's it. You don't need anything else. Just a box of Mac and Cheese.


Mommy puts the box into the pot and stirs it with a really big spoon. When the smoke comes out of it, you know it's done. Mommy dumps everything into the sink and then puts it on our plate. Sometimes Daddy calls a pizza. I like pizza, too.

Mother's Day Gift #1: Mother's Day Fingerprints Keychain Gift

This is a wonderful project to make for someone's parent. Great for teachers, aunt/uncles, and various friends of mothers.



First, order picture keychains. They're absurdly cheap -- I got this set of 12 for only $9. Then, all you need are ink stampers (or paint), white card stock, and a thin Sharpie.



On one piece of paper, get a thumbprint of the child. I found the easiest way to do this is to ink the entire hand and then bring the paper to the thumb only. This is especially true for young children. Use the Sharpie to write the child's name and date.



Teachers love puns! On another paper I wrote, "Mothers forever leave fingerprints on their children's <3s"



I pried open the keychain with the edge of my scissors and used the paper inside to trace around the thumbprint and wording. I cut them out, placed them in the keychain, and snapped it shut.



The best part is that I have exactly 12 students total, so I didn't have to buy any extra keychain sets. I'm looking forward to wrapping these up and giving them to my kiddo's moms!

Pearl Hair Comb

This is so simple it's stupid. But I ran across the fake pearl strands and the hair comb while scouring JoAnne Fabrics and decided to purchase/make an impulse craft.


For this, I got: a hair comb, a plastic cylinder of miniature fake pearl strands (this was in the $2 bin at JoAnne) and my glue gun.


I first put a dab of hot glue on the backside at the end of the comb and pressed the beginning of the pearl strand into the comb.


I wrapped the strand around the comb, weaving it around once per tooth.


Once I reached the end of the comb, I reverse direction and wove my way back. Only this time, I skipped a tooth with each wrapping. Every once in a while, I'd ignore this pattern in order for the beads to fit nicely together.


Once I hit the end (er, beginning?), I placed another small dab of hot glue and settled the last portion into place. I really secure everything, I wedged the last two beads in between two beads from the beginning of the strand and twisted them together.


The only drawback is that the comb is very long, making the project very elegant. This would be great as a hairpiece for a wedding, or a high-end cocktail party. Or if you just feel like having some pearls in your hair because who cares what others think.

Photo Friday: The Irish Coastline

I think I'll cap off my walk down memory lane with what was easily my favorite excursion during my trip: shortly after Corrymeela, my group went down to the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge, where we all bravely traversed this tiny rope bridge from one cliff to another. The views were nothing short of stunning. I still contend that heaven is the cliffs on a sunny day.

Try It Tuesday: Trees & Buttons

I'm putting this under Try it Tuesday if only because there's really nothing to write a tutorial about, aside from paint a tree on canvas and decorate it with buttons as its leaves.


You can either sew the buttons or superglue them into place. I originally started out trying to sew my buttons, only to give up halfway through and superglue them. Suffice it to say that superglue is 100x faster (minus the amount of time it takes to remove superglue from your skin).


I decided to make a whole seasonal theme, starting with a fall motif that I got from a Pinterest idea.


I'm so happy with the results. The paintings currently adorn my bedroom, alongside my fake soda bottom cherry blossom painting.

Photo Friday: Corrymeela

To continue my trek down memory lane: Corrymeela is a community along the northern coast of Northern Ireland. Its main focus is peace-building and tolerance -- not just for unionists and loyalists, but for everyone of all backgrounds. We spent a weekend at their Ballycastle headquarters, learning about the various programs in place for youths who are affected by violence.


The location alone was enough to feel at peace. With the Irish coastline at our feet, it was easy to wish we could stay there forever. On a clear day (which was, thankfully, every day we were there), you could see Scotland in the distance. It was a source of pride to say we could see Scotland from our backyards -- and this was before Palin's infamous "proof" of her knowledge on foreign relations.