I am totally losing it! ME! The one who said, “crafts schmafts“.

I made these panties for Georgia out of Sam’s old t-hirt.

For some reason this made Sam, scream and blush. The boy is just too easy to embarrass. I guess the thought of his old t-shirt wrapped around his sister’s hiney was just too much to take. MEN!

I’d show you how I made them (next time), but Martha is on in 5 minutes. Gotta run! (oh the shame … I need flogged!)

I hope my old drinking buddies don’t read this!

MK xo
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Check out Georgia’s new cashmere pants.

Pretty cute eh? Even better, they cost me less than $5 and they are 100% cashmere! The best part –> I made them myself out of a thrift store sweater.

I am going to show you how. I want to apologize in advance, if I make errors in terminology etc.. This is only the 3rd or 4th time that I’ve used a sewing machine. I probably shouldn’t be showing anyone how to make anything with a sewing machine. The good news is, if I can do it, so can you!

Note: the sweater was washed and dried at least twice (hot wash, cold rinse, hot dry). This felts the wool.

I loosely used instructions found in this book. I am not so great at following instructions, even when I know nothing (like today), I tend to do my own thing.

Lay a pair of pants that you know fit your child on top of the adult sweater. This is your pattern for the new pants.

I used a pair of pants of Georgia’s that were actually getting too small (just in length), so I left about 1″ at the bottom for extra length. I am going to used the band of the sweater as the bottom of the pants, so I can avoid hemming. I pinned the pants to the sweater in about 1/2 dozen spots to keep it from shifting around.

Cut the pants out, adding about 1/2″ on the sides for seam allowance. Leave about 2″ on the top for the waistband. You probably won’t need this much (I didn’t), but it will leave you some leeway.

Cut out the second half of the pants, on the other side of the sweater. This time use the first set of legs you cut out and make the second set exactly the same size.

You should now have two identical sets.

Sew each set from the waist to the crotch. (see red line on photo)

Note: I was a bit worried about using a patterned fabric. In the end the stripes helped me keep the pants lined up. Unfortunately, it wreaked havoc on my camera. My apologies for the nasty photos.

Now unfold the two pieces. You should have front and back sides. Put them together with the ‘right-sides’ facing each other and pin the inside seam together. Sew them up –> from hem to crotch to hem. (see red line on photo).

Now pin and sew each outside seam.

At this point I put the pants on Georgia to determine exactly where I wanted the top of the waist to be. Leaving the pants inside out, I folded and pinned the waistband. I left enough depth for my 3/4″ elastic. I then sewed the pocket for the elastic, creating the waistband at the same time.

I had quite a bit of left over fabric around the waistband. As this fabric won’t fray, I trimmed the excess. It looks so much neater and will most likely be more comfy to wear.

I meant to leave a gap, so I could put the elastic in. I even marked the start and stop points, and then sewed right over them. It’s a good thing I used felted cashmere, it doesn’t fray. I cut a small hole and using a safety pin I threaded the elastic through.

Once through I overlapped the elastic by about one inch and sewed it together. I was going to sew a nice neat rectangle, but the sewing machine got away on me. You can see above that my sewing skills are HUGELY lacking.

They turned out pretty darn good anyway. My diligent pinning paid off and all the stripes line up nicely.

Georgia really likes them. She wore them all day.

Do you have any good ideas, for upcycling clothing? If so I want to know.

MK xo
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Lizzy turned 10 yesterday! I know it’s cliche, but time flies. Where is my baby? Who is this BIG girl who longs for skinny jeans and earrings?

happy birthday lizzy

We had a home party on Friday with some Rockband, hot dogs, cake pops and candy sushi. The candy sushi was the craft and the take home treat. Yes, I am a cheapskate.

candy sushi by mommyknows

The sushi was inexpensive and easy, more importantly the kids had fun. One child told me it was the best party she’d ever been to. I’m not quite sure if she’s been party deprived or an ass-kisser, but she certainly scored points with this mommy.

Here’s how it’s done:

rice krispie treats

I used this recipe to make up a batch of Rice Krispie squares. I added 8 extra marshmallows to the recipe to make sure they wouldn’t be too crispy. I used the microwave instructions, they worked perfectly.

trimmed

Once they had cooled, I trimmed up the slabs of Rice Krispie treats into nice neat rectangles and stacked them on wax paper for the party. I wanted to make it as easy as possible for the kids. Georgia and I enjoyed eating all the trimmings.

ready for the party

In the end, I made 3 full batches of Rice Krispie Squares one after the other, to get 8 thin slabs for the party and a couple of practice slabs for Georgia and I. It took about 20 minutes total.

I’ve never made candy sushi before, so I thought I’d better practice before I tried it out on the kids. As you can imagine Georgia was extra excited. I sat her across from me at the kitchen table and pretended she was the birthday party. I figured if I could get a three year old on a sugar high to make candy sushi, then I could handle a gang of 10 year olds.

twizzlers and gummy worms work well

Add candy. I bought colored twizzlers, gummi worms, jujube fish and fruit roll-ups.

roll tightly

Roll the Rice Krispie treats around the candy.

looking good

Don’t roll it more than one full roll. You don’t want it to be too thick.

trim excess

Trim the excess with a sharp knife.

a better mom than I would have brushed her hair before now

Georgia was having a good time.

my mom rocks!

Make sure you allow snacking!

sticky sweet

Once you’ve trimmed the roll, wrap the fruit roll up around it (squeeze). Green fruit roll-ups would be best, but I couldn’t find them. I left the plastic wrap on my roll-up while I applied it to the candy, none of the kids bothered to do this. It works well both ways, just make sure to remove it before cutting.

adult supervision required

Now it’s time to cut your candy roll into to cute California roll style sushi. You’ll need a sharp knife to get through the gummy worms and twizzlers in the center. Georgia wanted to do it herself. I let her … practice makes perfect.

all 10 fingers intact

For all the worry-warts out there, the cutting was accompanied by repeated safety warnings. She survived the cutting with all of her fingers in tact.

pretty candy sushi

The nice thing about not finding green fruit roll-ups is the pretty product. I’m loving the colors.

candy nigiri roll

I made the slabs long enough for each child to make two rolls of candy sushi. They then used any leftovers to make a Nigiri style sushi. I also gave each of them a ‘bento box’ to take home their creations. It curbed the urge to eat it all.

easy-peasy

Georgia managed to make these with no help at all.

candy sushi by mommyknows

Here it is … candy sushi by Mommyknows and Georgia.

MK xo
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This is Maggie:

Maggie

Maggie is Georgia’s best friend. There’s just one little problem, … someone forgot to tell Maggie! It is abundantly safe to say, Georgia is NOT Maggie’s best friend.

As I prepared for Lizzy’s birthday party, Georgia decided to throw a party for Maggie. Maggie refused to go to the party, so Georgia took the party to Maggie. She’s a good friend like that.

Maggie NOT loving her party.

Maggie had the time of her life! Can’t you tell?

Don’t worry … Lizzy’s party was a LOT more fun! See you Monday with candy sushi :)

MK xo
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Winner is: Jodi of thishandmadelife –> email me please Jodi –> kim (at) mommyknows (dot) com

Welcome to week 8 of —> Happy Book Day to You ~ the Series

Do you remember way back in December, I held a Happy Book Day Giveaway on my birthday? Well I enjoyed it so much (because books are my favorite thing), I thought I’d make it a weekly occurrence. For the next several weeks you can count on a ‘Happy Book Day to You ~ the Series’ giveaway every Tuesday.

Girls of Riyadh by Rajaa Alsanea

I really enjoyed this book. I loved getting a glimpse of what life must be like for young women in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In all the years my family lived in the Gulf, I had very few female Arab friends. This peek behind the veil was VERY interesting.

Here’s the publisher’s synopsis of ‘Girls of Riyadh’

A bold new voice from Saudi Arabia spins a fascinating tale of four young women attempting to navigate the narrow straits between love, desire, fulfillment, and Islamic tradition

In her debut novel Rajaa Alsanea reveals the social, romantic, and sexual tribulations of four young women from the elite classes of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Originally released in Arabic in 2005, it was immediately banned in Saudi Arabia because of the controversial and inflammatory content, while black-market copies of the novel were widely circulated. The daring originality of Girls of Riyadh continues to create a firestorm all over the Arab world, and the excitement has spread far beyond the Middle East-to date, rights to this novel have already been sold in eleven countries.

Some simple rules and things to remember:

1. This book is second hand. I’ve read it, I liked it and I am giving it to you. It may possibly have coffee rings or warped pages from sitting on my night stand. Call me cheap, or call me environmentally friendly, I’m not bothered either way.

2. Consider passing it forward when you are done, you could even have a giveaway! Remember, what goes around comes around.

3. You must come back here to see if you are the winner. I won’t track you down, if you wait to long … I might lend it to a friend or a neighbor and then YOU are out of luck. You need to email me with your address, once I receive it I will pop it in the mail to you at my convenience.

4. To be eligible to win, you need to leave a comment on this post. I’ll pick a winner sometime on Friday, March 20th, 2009.

5. Tell a friend—> this isn’t really a rule, but it would be really nice. wink

MK xo
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**NOTE: this is not a paid advertisement — they’re my books and I am giving one of them away — because I am nice like that — just saying!**