Mother Taught, Daughter Learned

Nichole wanted to get some practice with the sewing machine since she's taking a sewing class at school. So we got the sewing machine out and she made a face mask. I gave her the instructions I used to make masks for Jr. Jr. and Lucky back in August and she went at it. She did a good job.

Nichole wanted to learn how to make skillet chicken parmigiana (yumm) so she could add another recipe to her repertoire. I helped her follow the recipe since it's a little more involved and time consuming than some of the things she's cooked before. She did a good job.

June Holidays Coming Up

Reasons to celebrate in June- that we've blogged about in the past and the links to those posts.

June 1st is Flip a Coin Day.
The Balloon Guy's Blog- Flip a Coin Day (June 1st)

June 14th is Pop Goes the Weasel Day.
June 14, 2011- Pop Goes the Weasel Day 2011
The Balloon Guy's Blog- Pop Goes the Weasel Day (June 14th)

June 14th is also Flag Day.
June 16, 2011- Catch of the Day- Flag Day

June 17th is Father's Day.
June 20, 2010- Happy Father's Day
June 19, 2011- Father's Day 2011

June 20th is International Surfing Day.
June 20, 2011- International Surfing Day 2011

For a list of more holidays coming up in June, see our Calendar of Celebration on The Balloon Guy's Blog.

And how about getting to celebrate Summer Vacation?  Nichole's school had their annual end of the year dance festival today where each grade got to perform a dance for parents/families and the rest of the school.  The first graders were asked to wear shorts for their dance.  We couldn't find any shorts at the store we liked, and Nichole's rainbow pants she wore for the first day of school were wearing through with a hole in the knee, so I pulled out the sewing machine again and turned those pants into shorts.

It was so great.  I didn't have to use the measuring tape at all.  I just had to fold, iron, and sew along the stripes.  Woohoo.  Reason to celebrate.  It would have taken a lot longer to turn a different pair of pants into shorts.  Thanks, Nichole, for wearing out your rainbow pants.  Have fun with these shorts.

P.S.  June 17-23 is Strawberry Days in Pleasant Grove.
We usually watch the big parade on the Saturday of the events.  This year it's on June 23.
Last year, Nichole and I were in the Children's Parade.  I mentioned it on Day 1 of Park Week.  This year the Children's Parade is on Wednesday, June 20.

Joy Is...

Having things organized enough to just pull out the sewing machine and get to sewing in your room.

Joy is also sewing burp cloths for your daughter's teacher who is going to have a baby.

Handmade Christmas Gifts

Amazingly, even with the new baby, I was able to make a couple of gifts for Jr. and Nichole this year. Thank you, husband, for helping me out.

My friend, Brittney, made a fairy princess skirt and talked about it on her blog. It was so cute, I wanted to make one for Nichole. So, I followed her tutorial but made my own changes to personalize it.

Instead of gluing jewels to the bottom (I found it is helpful to put something down there to give it a little weight), I strung beads through the ribbon, as well as a few bells to give it some jingle (but not too much).

Nichole loved that it had bells on it. She got all dressed up in some of her other fairy gear and enjoyed posing with her new fairy skirt.

Jeremy suggested I make a tool belt for Jr. to use with his Handy Manny tools. He even drew out a diagram to give me an idea- pockets and loops to hold the tools. I am learning to sew as you may remember from Halloween, but sometimes it takes me a long time to figure things out- did I mention I'm a beginner? Handmade Christmas presents require the recepient to not know what's going on so I was trying to work on the tool belt while Jr. was asleep (Nichole's I was able to do in my bedroom during the day as it didn't require any sewing). Unfortunately these days I get tired and sleepy a lot earlier since my nighttime sleeping is so broken up with taking care of the baby, so I just could not concentrate and figure out how to do the tool belt like Jeremy was suggesting. It was a great idea, though. Some day I will have the skills. I ended up simplifying it to the point of just having two pockets. And Jeremy gave me a spot in his office for setting up the sewing machine and ironing board so I was able to do it during the day while Jr. was awake and I could concentrate better.

So here is the finished product.

It will fit his tools just putting them in the pockets. Or he can put anything else he wants in there. This tool belt has room for him to grow, which is good because he's not really interested in it right now. That's okay. I finally convinced him to wear it long enough to get a picture.

Minnie Mouse Skirt

O.K. Long story short- My daughter decided months ago that she wanted to be Minnie Mouse for Halloween. That's great. My good friend, Trina, was willing to teach me how to not be intimidated by the sewing machine. She patiently showed me how to make a pillowcase, then she patiently showed me how to sew a skirt.

So... I now have a Minnie Mouse skirt for Nichole's Halloween costume. However now I need to sew a shirt/top to go with it. Trina moved away (we miss their family) and I really appreciated her teaching me while she was here. Now I'm asking anyone for advice on how I should sew a Minnie Mouse top for Nichole's costume. Please. Any free patterns anybody knows about, or just how to sew a general shirt. I am very much a beginner so... any help would be appreciated.