Reader's Digest Condensed Version of the Last 2 Months

Lawsy! Has it been that long? So sorry about that.  It's not that I haven't been doing anything, just that life has gotten in the way. So, in an effort to keep this short and easy for me, here is the condensed version of what's been goin' on.

The (Anti) Cruise. Unlike the fabulous 5 day Caribbean cruise where I was going to be wined and dined by my husband, my mother was going to be celebrated for 80 years of making the world a better place, my grandchildren were going to experience the wonders of surf and sand and my kids were going to get some well deserved rest, we rented an RV and spent 2 nights at a state park. Not as fancy but I bet roomier than the stateroom Meg and Eddie were booked in and who needs a balcony when you have a concrete pad outside the door? We even hiked to the Guadalupe for fun in the sand and sun. Keeping with the bad luck, the water faucet in the kitchen broke, spewing water continuously, making it necessary to keep the water turned off coming into the RV. That meant no bathroom, no showers and no water inside. Much like the Triumph Cruise we were supposed to be one. We just couldn't win. The kids had a ball, though, and Reid can't wait to go camping again.

The Pergola. The house Meg and Eddie bought had a lot going for it, but the backyard wasn't one of them. Big, with a couple of huge trees, it had lots of potential. We set out to add some equity and shade to the house, trying to keep with the mid-century modern style and a modest budget. It took 2 weekends of lots of work, but we managed to finish it all.

It took crazy amounts of jack hammering and 3 trips to the dump to get rid of the tons (literally) of concrete that we had to take up.



And now...

This is the couch we made with cinder blocks. For the pillows, I had some outdoor fabric I bought for another project and never used. I got some of that outdoor furniture foam stuff with a coupon at Hobby Lobby and use some leftover marine grade plywood to make the seat. I bought a canvas paint tarp and Scotchguarded it (useless, it was covered with sweet baby footprints in no time) to upholster the seat. Between my mom and me, we had enough patio furniture to furnish the whole thing. I used more fabric to make cushions for the chair and Meg spray painted all of it. The only ready made cushion we bought was for the lounge chair. I think, for all the patio furniture, cushions, and paint, we probably spent $150. Not bad at all.

                 View from the east.

View from the west. We added a flagstone patio where we cut out some of the tile and removed a concrete slab. Now the back doors opens.

They love it! The wisteria is already to the top of the posts so it won't be long till they have shade all day long. The only project left are the planters I want to make for her. More on that another time.

My brother.  About the time we finished the pergola, my brother had a pretty bad encounter with his old friend CHF. He didn't see a bright light at the end of a tunnel (like he had before), but it was pretty serious. I got a call after work one day and after the blur of ICU, sleeping over at the hospital, etc., I looked up and it was about 10 days later.

That kinda wraps up what we've been doing, life wise. Squashed in there is also some sewing, gardening and a room redo. Stay tuned.

The Best Trip That Ever Wasn't

One of the things that I was so looking forward to this year was celebrating my mom's 80th birthday. Nobody deserves a celebration more than Mom. She's overcome West Nile virus this past summer, watched my brother as he flirted with death for a few days last May and a couple of years ago waited in desperation for word of her family in Japan, who were at the epicenter of the earthquake and tsunami. We discussed having a big blow out but ended up planning a family cruise for all of us. FUN! That's got to be easier than planning a party, right? Let's start with coordinating vacation schedules for 8 adults. Mom's was the easiest, since she doesn't work, but Kenny is restricted by the number or folks who have already scheduled off, B just started a new job, so couldn't ask for days he didn't yet have, and Eddie's is the most difficult. He had to ask for days the summer before and THAT'S IT. No more days, and they can't be moved, period. Luckily, Meg had him take the week before Mom's bday off. Now the trick was finding a cruise everyone could afford, close by, during that timeframe. We came up with one option...Carnival Triumph ( insert foreboding music here). There was also the little problem of my brother insisting that he would never, ever get on a ship. Too scary! We assured him that they were safe and we were going where there were no icebergs or reefs to run into. He reluctantly agreed, just for Mom.
Clouds love to talk about the greatness of trips, past and future. Every time we were together, it was " We are going to have sooooo much fun!" Even Reid was in on it, "I'm gonna ride in a big, big, big, big boat and sleep with Mamie and eat CAKE! They will bring sam'iches to my room and I will play in the sand!!! Every time. We blew this thing UP. Matching outfits for the kids, cute cover ups for the girls...SO MUCH FUN!!!
I don't have to tell you how it ends, right? We tried to reschedule the same week out of New Orleans but the boat was completely full for the 5 day. They offered us a 7 day for even less money than we had paid but the wheels had already fallen off. Dad wasn't sure he could swing the days, Eddie had to be back at work Monday morning and the ship didn't get back until Sunday, making it a litle too close. Oh, and my brother, the one who was assured nothing would go wrong on a cruise? He refused to even CONSIDER it.
The good news is we got all our money back (of course) and now get to plan a party...with about 2 1/2 weeks notice. Also, I have one sailor-y outfit made for Reid and Helena's is already started. Following my matching plan, I also have one cut out for Girl Bonus. My neighbor wanted to know why Boy Bonus isn't in on the matching, so I made something for a boy, too. Now, no matter what Bonus is, I get at least one picture of the 3 dressed alike.

If you ask us, this trip was the best ever. Skies were always blue, the water was warm and the food was wonderful. Kids were well behaved and we all lost weight during it. The real trip could only have been a letdown after the great pre-trip we had!

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Matchy Matchy

Ever since I found out that we would be adding another baby to the family, my mind has been on matching outfits. The thought of 2 little girls in coordinating dresses makes my heart POUND! I immediately started planning outfits, and also thinking about ways to make new things for the baby using scraps from the things that I've already made for Nellie and that she'll still be wearing in the summer. (A special note to all you haters that laugh at my compulsion to save every piece of fabric no matter how small...HA! This is why you need to do it!)

As a Christmas gift, I made a skirt for Helena and made ruffles with the same fabric for the back of a onesie for Bonus. The first dress I made was to coordinate with something I was in the process of making already. I found some incredible frou-frou fabric that I couldn't decide if I loved or was too much over the top. At $25/yard, I passed the first time. A few days alter I went back and it was on sale for 30% off. I tried to figure out a way to use as little as possible and bought 1/3 of a yard, which put my cost at about $6. I already had some white cotton for the lining so I was ready to go. While making it, I decided to add some pink piping I already had because I hate to follow the pattern exactly (I don't like things telling me what to do).

Of course, it was a pain, because I had to piece together the fabric and match the flowers in the seams. Then sewing it so the dang flowers wouldn't get caught, which happened anyway so I had to redo it a few times. It was all worth it, though, because I won and did it on the cheap. When I finished the dress, there was a little of the frou-frou left and it pained me to throw it away. I got out some pink cotton that was in my stash and more white cotton and made another dress, this time in 0-3 months, to match Nellie's.

Wish you could see the white piping around the neck of the little dress.

And I know I don't have to tell you that if you make a dress, you HAVE to be sure that you have matching hair embellishments. I used scraps of the pink and white to make rag roses and some of the netting that was behind flowers to make a bow. I used a vintage earring on the big girl clip and put the roses on a headband for the little girl accessory.

Hair clip with netting and vintage earring.

Headband with rag roses and netting

You may be wondering if Meg broke tradition and found out what she is having this time. No, she is not. Like before, no one will know what little Bonus is until it comes and we are formally introduced. I don't want to miss a single second of dressing the girls alike so I can't waste any time just hoping. Also, every person I know who is pregnant is expecting a girl, so finding a recipient of a few dresses won't be hard if Bonus turns out to be a boy. Do you think Kate Middleton wants a few?

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Reid's Quiet Book, DIY #8

The most time consuming DIY I did for Christmas was Reid's quiet book. I did one for Nell, but hers was only a few pages and done with pictures that I already had. Reid's was completely from scratch and although I got a lot of inspiration from Pinterest pins, I had to get my ideas from several sources and compile the ones that I thought would interest him (mainly cars and trucks). Every part was sewn by me and only a few components could be bought. The things I did need to purchase were pretty specific so that in itself was frustrating. Not only that, but it took a great deal of math-y type spatial skills that you know I have trouble with. I had to be sure the fabric I chose for the back of one page matched the front of the next page. Needless to say, it hurt my brain.On top of that, I tried to use only the fabric I had on hand and since the majority (ok ALL) the clothes I make are for baby girls, that in itself was a challenge. I did break down and buy the Hot Wheels fabric. When I saw it, I had to buy it for the cover and the car page.

I started by cutting the fabric twice as wide as I wanted each page, plus a little extra for the seam allowances. I wanted to make as few seams as possible by  folding the fabric in half, right sides together lengthwise, with a piece of batting in the middle and sew the two short sides together. I then could turn it right side out, iron the seam allowances in on the 3rd (now long) side and top stitch it closed. Before I could do any sewing, though, I had to design, cut out and sew on all of the page components. A majority of the pages covered 2 sides. I had to make sure that I used the correct fabric on the right page so they would end up the same on both separate pages. I wasn't so careful with Helena's, although it didn't matter as much for hers, and facing pages didn't always match. I'm going to pretend that it doesn't bother me and I would appreciate it if you would do the same. In hindsight, it would have been so much easier to do them all with the same fabric. Live and learn. 

When I finished all the "graphics" and sewing the pages together, it was time to bind them. Originally, I planned to do it like Helena's, but it was too thick. I used grommets instead and use loose leaf rings (I'm not sure what the real term is) to hold them together. This ended up better because I can take pages out if they need to be mended or added to. It was labor intensive, but completely worth it.

The first pages were the hook for him...roads, tunnels and firetrucks. I made the roads of felt and I stitched the white stripe with embroidery floss. I made the tunnel with a piece of felt so that it would lie flat when the book was shut. I added a railroad track, but Reid thought it was a parking lot. There is also a stop light and the blobs of color in the middle of the traffic circle are flowers, just in case you are wondering. He was not impressed with my french knots but did like the stop light.

I found the tiny cars at Target and glued snaps on the bottoms so they could be attached and not get lost. I sewed the back of the snap on a piece of elastic that I attached to the page.They were originally glued on with hot glue, but after a few day of play, they fell off. I then used super glue and that worked.  It worked so well, I had to pry the snap off a little boy's finger when he did not listen to his Mamie and leave it alone until it dried. The second attempt on the truck was successful. Reid is very careful to always snap his vehicles back in when he finishes playing.

 

The next page was a marble maze. I sewed a marble under some stretchy jersey and then sewed a "path" in which to move it. I didn't want it to be too difficult so I just did a back and forth pattern. When I say too difficult, you know I mean for me and not him, right?

The blue flecks are from the tape I used to hold the fabric in place and mark my lines.

Page 4 was a box truck with "smoke ears" (the exhaust pipes). I like the jaunty angle of them, don't you? It was purely unintentional. They were sewn on crooked and I didn't feel like fixing them. The zipper was from a pair of pants I didn't wear. I made some flat "boxes" out of cardboard and also bought a few truck patches for him to load.

The next 2 pages were the construction site. That boy loves him some heavy machinery and dirt. The back of the dump truck pivots on a button to dump and snaps when carrying the load. I made sand, rocks and a pile of dirt with felt and they are kept in a felt "dirt" pocket.

The 2 pages after that were the most fun. I loved making the firetruck and burning building. After cutting out the truck and sewing it down, I added a ladder and a door. The fireman is kept behind the door. I made his removable coat, which attaches with a snap, with iron on lamination for fabrics. I never knew such existed and I LOVE it. I see lots of matching bibs in my future. I sewed buttons on the truck to hold the ladder and used metal buttons for the hubcaps so Reid could change the tires. I made the hose from a piece of elastic and the nozzle from a scrap of the laminated fabric. The flames for the building are kept in the chimney when the house isn't on fire.

Next up, Mr. Potato Head. His "suitcase" is made from an old wool army blanket that I got from a friend (thanks Amy) and a watch band. I just cut all his parts out of felt and there you have it. I plan on making more parts to match whatever he is interested in at the moment. I'm sure a fire helmet and hard hat will be in the suitcase soon.

The last 2 pages are probably the hardest for Reid but we do enjoy playing with it as long as I do the cooking. It was the hardest for me to make, too! I cut out 2 circles for the crust and sauce to sew down. I then cut out all the ingredients and hand sewed the buttonholes on each one because the were too small to use the buttonholer on my machine. I chose buttons the matched the ingredient's color and also varied the size of button to match the ingredient size. Only the cheese will fit on the cheese button, etc. I made the sacks from real paper bags. I used the laminating stuff on this, too (I'm telling you, it's great stuff!) and trimmed them with pinking shears. I then just zigzagged them onto the page. I wanted each ingredient to have its own place when he wasn't using them.

I color coordinated the buttons with ingredient using stickers so that the placement would be balanced and nothing would overlap too much. I thought my head would explode. NEVER AGAIN.

He really loves this book and carries it with him all the time in the car. I probably could have gone with fewer pages since the thing is as thick as a library dictionary, but I couldn't stop myself. Now I can't wait to make a girly one for Helena!

DIY # 7 Kitchen Helper

I love to cook...and eat. I'm so glad that I passed this love on to my grands. Reid is especially into cooking, and tasting, with his Mamie. I saw a cute "tower" on Pinterest that I thought would be perfect, since we'd had a couple of near misses (and one real miss) standing on chairs while he helped.

The plans were pretty straight forward, but we did make a few design changes. I liked the way the floor was removable so that it could fold flat and be stored in a closet or behind the door.

Kenny sanded and painted all the pieces before putting it together.

The bottom is adjustable so we can make it higher for Nellie and move it down as they grow.

They loved it!

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DIY Fail #2

It's been a month since I've updated! Sorry! Sickness has reigned at the Cloud house for over a month and I'm just now getting my head above water. Just a few more DIY's to go. I'm saving the best for last.

My first fail wasn't so much a fail as much as it was a misinterpreted gift. Either way, I feel like my dad thought it was a fail, so I figure that's what counts. (Just to let you know, I bought him some divinity to make up for the mistake.) The other fail had to do with something I wanted to make for Meg. It was a double fail since I tried to salvage the gift, but that failed, too. I had seen these cute thumbprint charms made of clay. Seemed easy enough. I mixed some up with the intent of getting the kids thumbprints while they were here for Thanksgiving. Then I found out she was going to do the same for us! Oh, well, I was going to go thru with it anyway. The clay wasn't difficult, but the thumbprints WOULD NOT stay. It would just start puffing back up into its smooth clay self. After so many tries, we had a little person mutiny on our hands and I gave up. Meg went home and bought her clay and the little thumbprint bookmark she made for me turned out precious.


I was determined to stick with my DIY clay. My next plan was to roll it out and cut out small rectangles with their birth dates stamped on. I used my date stamp after I rolled it to what seemed to be a good thickness. After stamping (and stamping and stamping) I got what I thought were pretty decent charms. Then I tried to move them...

I rolled it about again, this time lifting it before I stamped to be sure they weren't too stuck. No bad, if a little inky, but I planned on painting g them anyway. I left them to dry overnight. My imprecise measure of thickness led to some variation in the sizes when they dried out. They looked awful. No amount of painting could add "charm" to these.

Not so cute, huh? I abandoned the idea and went with another (which I didn't complete so I'm not going to disclose. I need to have some ideas for next year). Why, do you ask, are there so many? I didn't want baby number 3 to be left out, so I made one for everyday for the 2 weeks before and a few days after it's due date. "WHAT?", you say. That's right, I have another tater tot on the way! Coming in July, we get to do all things baby again!

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