Last Thursday she said “Mommy, I want a WordGirl costume.” No problem. “Today.” she says. Well, okay, let’s see what I can do. Never one to shy away from a creative challenge, we hit the thrift stores to see what we could find, hoping to find a pair of red long johns that would be perfect for the costume. Of course they were not to be found. But we did find a red shirt that would be workable (and a fabulous bright turquoise scarf totally unrelated to WordGirl that she could not live without, of course). We headed home and during nap time I created that base of the outfit, the WordGirl shirt that she has been living in since its’ creation and a pair of WordGirl boots out of fleece. We had a pair of pants that were perfect already in her closet and, on a trip to the fabric store the next day, I found a yellow satin remnant that would be perfect for a cape. I quickly fashioned a cape yesterday morning while she was playing with The Daddy and voila! WordGirl costume:

She is thrilled and, seriously, has worn this thing every day. Now to figure out how to get her to let me wash it…any ideas? I’m thinking I’ll need to sneak it out of her room at night….

Now to attach the binding and make the loops! Coming soon…

She is stable today. Her blood sugar is higher than it “should” be but I spent most of the day yesterday trying to keep her stubbornly low blood sugar up so I am comfortable letting it ride. Nothing worked to keep her blood sugar in the normal range for a very long time. Then it worked for a while. Then she threw up again and we started all over. It was a nerve-wracking and dangerous situation. We ended up in the ER and home very, very late.

It is weird to call creating work because I do it, among other times, when I’m stressed out. It calms me and it is therapeutic. But it is work because it is my business. It is something that I am actively putting effort into and nurturing on a daily basis. I am learning, creating and producing and, dare I say it, having something for myself. And, today, I need a little something for myself. So, while she is sleeping, I am getting started on the wonderful ideas generated by a simple question on the Snugglebug Designs FB Fan Page “What do you want to see in the shop?”. And it’s helping.

This is the tutorial that I started with. I love the flowers! But I thought I might like a little something different. I had looked at her wonderful ruffled t-shirt makeovers and thought a ruffle might be nice. I hated the neckline of this t-shirt:

It fits nicely but the neck was just too high. Very plain. So I cut the neck off:

Ahhh, there we go. That’s a bit better. I just cut right around the banding of the neckline so I didn’t make it that much larger but it made a big difference. Then I took one of my husband’s old t-shirts that I have been slowly but surely re-purposing into other projects and cut 1 inch strips:

I joined the ends of the strips together to make a long piece and gathered it into a ruffle. Pinned it onto the neckline, just under it, stitched it to the neckline and:

I’ve washed it since then and it ended up with a lovely smooshed appearance that I like.

Not a huge change but just enough that I’ll actually wear the shirt.

I also had a plain white tank top that I liked but, again, it was plain. And I forgot to take a picture of the “before”. Typical for me. But it’s not hard to figure out what it looked like before from the “after” pic:

I will direct you back to Tea Rose Home for the tutorial since she did such a great job showing how to do it!

So now I have two “new” shirts that are not plain. Yay for not plain!

Instead of wax poetic about the banner, I will talk about how lucky I feel. As I was zipping down the road after dinner, headed to the post office to ship this little birthday treat, I realized that I love where I am. The panoramic view of the ocean that hits me when I drive out of our little street and onto the main intersection, the fact that the weather is such that I can wear a skirt, tank top and flips right now, and that I get to stay at home with my Petunia and be creative lightened my spirit this evening. There are things in my life that are almost unbearably difficult sometimes but they aren’t right now. Right now I feel lucky. I AM lucky. And I will remember that the roller-coaster always goes back up after it goes down when I “forget” how lucky I am.

I hope that you feel lucky today, too.

I’m not quite as far on this one. I’ve only got the pennant pieces cut out but give me a couple of uninterrupted hours and I could make some real progress! Of course, I’m not holding my breath for that uninterrupted time. It will be finished like every other project is: one seam at a time, sneaking away while I am in the middle of making dinner while Petunia and The Daddy play outside. This one will have orange binding and letters, I think, although black or white could also work.

FUN!

These are a great, eco-friendly way to celebrate! I’m also going to make some without lettering for room decor. There are so many cute prints to choose from…that will be the hardest part.

I’m starting on the first one that I’ll offer in my shop tonight! These are so cute I want to make 10 of them!