August 18, 2011
It takes a lot of energy to lose money two days in a row, so we decided we'd earned a little chill time at the beach.
Nice shiny clean feet pre-sand…
Nice dirty feet post-sand…
And finally back to shiny clean feet relaxing at the harbor!
Next stop: whatever we feel like! We're on vacay!
~LilSisAugust 17, 2011
And…we're off! To the races at Del Mar, that is!
BDot was the only winner of the day, but we all had a great time…
enjoying the cool weather…
and watching the horses.
Next stop: beach!
~LilSisAugust 16, 2011
We all had a great time playing the slots at a local casino today, but this was the only photo I snapped of one of my bonus rounds.
SCORE!!
Next stop: Del Mar Race Track!
~LilSisAugust 15, 2011
We had a fun day; beginning with a long walk, a drive down to San Diego to visit with baby Jack, relaxed at the Harbor in the afternoon, then had a nice dinner at home and ended the evening with a Wii hula hoop marathon.
Next stop: casino. 🙂
~LilSisAugust 14, 2011
This is what happens when you pack in too big of a hurry! Think anyone will notice??
~BigSisAugust 13, 2011
Woo Hoo! The much anticipated family vacay has officially began! The morning started by me picking up BigSis, SisMama, BDot, and Tay at the San Diego airport.
Ya think they have enough luggage to last 10 days?
Then, we proceeded DIRECTLY to Bry's house to introduce baby Jack to his great grandmama, great aunt, great uncle and second cousin.
Could there be anything more adorable than these sweet, little baby's hands?
Then, as tradition has it, we always start off every visit with a trip to a local Mexican food restaurant for some yummy food and a couple of nice cold cervezas.
(Apparently BigSis was thirsty; cause while I was parking the car, she got a little head start on me.)
I'm so excited and grateful that my boss gave me the entire ten days off to visit with my family. We'll be super, duper busy this week trying to cram in everything that we want to see and do, but we'll be posting some photos along the way if we have anything fun to share! 🙂
~LilSisAugust 2, 2011
Doesn't this look refreshing? I wish that I was sitting out by my pool with one of these in hand right now. 🙂
I talked about this drink about this time last year after experimenting with the idea of putting pop rocks around the rim of a cocktail glass. This drink is something a little different and fun to make for a cookout or ‘get together' with friends. This doesn't have to be made in red and blue, you could use any color of mixer and/or pop rocks.
I'm sharing this again today to let everyone know that we've just added a Cocktails and Concoctions category to our Recipe page. We've started with a few of our favorites, including our Overnight Bloody Marys, which are perfect to make ahead for a brunch or a ‘get together' with friends. So, check it out and keep reading because we'll be adding more concoctions very soon.
If anyone has a favorite summer-time cocktail or beverage that you think we should try, we'd love to hear from you!
~LilSisJuly 30, 2011
Eternity
He who binds to himself a joy
Does the winged life destroy;
But he who kisses the joy as it flies
Lives in eternity's sun rise.
~William Blake
Each year, we take this day, July 30th, to mention our Dad's birthday. This is the fifth year that we haven't been able to celebrate his birthday with him and we still miss him every single minute of every day, not just on birthdays or special occasions.
We loved our dad and we know how much he loved us. Even though our lives will never be the same without him, we choose to believe that he's with us in spirit, even though not in body.
~LilSisJuly 21, 2011
Guess who came 2 weeks early? Little Baby Jack, that's who! He decided not to wait for his due date, and made his appearance on July 8th, so we're all thrilled to have another sweet little boy in the family!
LilSis had a baby shower for Bry and Rach on June 1st, and we talked about all of the fun things we did for it. I had a complete blast making these fabric-wrapped letters for Jack's room:
I'm not gonna lie to you though…these little dudes were tricky in parts! I would absolutely do them again, especially since I learned a few tricks of my own along the way. What kind of a friend would I be if I didn't share them with you? Not a very good one, I'd say, so let's get busy making some cute letters.
Start by choosing the name. It sounds simple since you can't change the child's name, but there are some things to consider. I originally planned on making Jack's middle name too, since I love it so much. Once I really thought about it though, I realized that would add 6 more letters. Finding 4 fabrics that coordinated the way I wanted them to was challenging enough, and I think that finding 10 fabrics would have been a gargantuan challenge (aka pain in the tookus).
Besides the fabric selection issue, you also need to think about where the letters will be hung. I was thinking about “Jack” on one line, and his middle name on a line below it. But I didn't know what his mom and pop had planned for his room, and I didn't want to assume they'd have space for a wall hanging that large.
Decide on your color scheme as it coordinates with the child's room. I think selecting 2 or 3 colors from his/her color palette is a good rule of thumb. If you have a sample of their existing fabrics and colors to go by, all the better.
Select your fabrics. Go a little crazy! I love mixing different patterns for a really fun combination. This is for a baby's name, not a stuffy corporate boardroom, right? As long as each fabric has the unifying color or colors to tie them all together, they'll work fine. Try patterns, polka dots, stripes, plaids; whatever grabs you. I chose fabrics that all had blue, yellow and/or green in them, and opted not to use any solids.
You won't need a lot of fabric. I got half a yard of each and had plenty extra, just in case of a big boo boo. One cool thing I discovered is that a quilter's “fat quarter” is a great size for this project and comes at a fabulous price. The doggie fabric on Jack's “A” was from a fat quarter that I paid $1.99 for.
Assemble the rest of your supplies. Here's what you'll need in addition to your fabrics:
Here we go!
First, turn your letters upside down on the batting and trace around them. Marking on the backside of the batting reduces the chance it will show through any lighter fabrics. Go ahead and trace around the letters on the felt too while you're at it. For the felt, trace so that the marker will be hidden when it attaches to the back of the letter.
Cut out the batting and felt along your lines. Follow the directions on your brand of spray adhesive, and apply the batting to the front of the letters. Press it down lightly, and allow to dry for a bit.
Decide which fabric goes with each letter. Lay them out next to each other in different orders, so you can see which ones look the prettiest/most handsome next to each other.
Cut a piece of fabric slightly larger than the letter; I like to allow several generous inches all the way around, especially since the letters I used are so chunky.
Now comes the part that needs all your attention and a bit of patience. With the fabric right side down, place the letter face down on it. You're going to go around each letter, keeping tension on the fabric as you pull it to the back of the letter and attach it with the staple gun.
#1, make sure your fingers are out of the way! #2, make sure the tension on the fabric is consistent all the way around the letter. I like to do the straight sides first. If you're working with stripes or plaids, check the front of the letter as you go to make sure the pattern is straight.
When you come to a curve, you're going to ease in the fullness, making smooth little pleats as you go. You'll need to snip the fabric here and there to allow it to fit smoothly. I use lots of staples on curves and take my time.
On corners, try to fold under the excess fabric as you would make a hospital corner with your bed sheets. You can fiddle with it until you get it smooth and sharp, then staple it down.
Now for the tricky part I mentioned! Some spots on these letters are a bear to do, especially if you're a perfectionist like me! The inside of the “A” and the inside angles on the top and bottom of the “K” gave me fits. I found there wasn't enough fabric in those spots to fold to the back of the letter, so that's when I had to resort to bits of scotch tape.
Just remember, you want to keep the sides of the letters as smooth as you can so bumps won't show through your ribbon, but the ribbon is going to be there to hide any remaining gaps the fabric didn't cover.
Once all your letters are covered with fabric, admire your work! The hard part is done!
The next step is to cover the sides with the wide ribbon. My letters were thick and I wanted a ribbon that would cover the whole side, and not leave any gaps. I needed a 3/4″ ribbon. Guess what? They don't MAKE a 3/4″ ribbon, at least not that I could find after many many craft store trips! Who knew?
What I decided to do was buy a 1″ ribbon and wrap the excess to the back of the letter. It ended up creating a really finished edge, and I think it worked out even better than a 3/4″ ribbon would have.
I experimented with many different adhesives and fabric glues to attach the ribbon, and couldn't find one that would have great sticking ability but would not stain the ribbon or show through. Hot glue would leave that ugly bumpy ridge so that was out.
My solution? Run the ribbon through a Xyron sticker maker (with the permanent adhesive). It works like a charm! It sticks incredibly well with no staining, and the excess ribbon sticks nicely to the back of the letter.
Measure the length of ribbon you need, allowing a bit extra so you don't come up 1/4″ short! Run it through the Xyron, peel off the backing, and start applying to the sides of the letters, beginning in the most hidden part of the letter so your seam will be as invisible as you can make it.
Attach your felt to the back of the letters with hot glue. I like to trim off any excess fabric before I do this, just to make the back as smooth as possible. You can add extra tape or staples to any spots that are wild. Since hot glue dries so fast, I like to lay down a small amount of glue at a time, working my way around the letter. All of your crazy mess is your secret now!
You're almost done! The last step is to attach the ribbon or rope (or whatever you like) that the letters will hang from. I chose a thin white rope trim. To keep it from slipping out of the staple, I made a small tight knot at the end, and just attached it to the top of the back with the staple gun.
There are lots of different things you could do with these once they're done. You can hang them from little wooden pegs like I did, or you could hang them on a curtain rod like a valence over a window. You could skip the rope (ha ha), and just stand the letters up on a dresser or bookshelf. Use your imagination!
That's it! Adorable, custom-made letters for some lucky adorable custom-made baby!
~BigSisJuly 15, 2011
photo credit: mommamia on flickr
Summer has been my favorite season for about as long as I can remember, but I wouldn't say that I'm a sun worshiper, or anything that extreme. I just enjoy any time that I have where I can get out in the sun, even if it's just for a walk, a bike ride, or sitting outside reading for an hour. And, I always feel a little more cheerful after spending any amount of time out in the sunshine! 🙂
Not that it's likely it'll happen anytime soon, but, if I ever did have a lazy Summer day where I had no responsibilities and could do whatever I wanted; I would spend the entire day in a lounge chair with a good book and my iPod; either at the beach or poolside.
Photo credit: sollis.se
As much as I would love to slather myself in red label Hawaiian Tropic Coconut Oil because it reminds me of those long-gone, carefree, teenage days with friends at the lake or by the pool, I do keep sunscreen on at all times.
We've got Native American Indian in our blood, so I'm lucky that I tan easy and rarely burn. I've also never have had any type of skin cancer, which is pretty amazing considering that when I was younger, I would lay out for the entire day covered in tanning oil!
And, yes, I'll admit it, my friends and I did try the baby oil and iodine combo. My only excuse for that is that we didn't know any better and back in those days no one even talked about sun damage from ultraviolet rays. Now that we do know better, we just need to make sure that our kids don't fry themselves like some of us used to do on a regular basis.
A lot of people, including my hubby, haven't been as lucky when it comes to sun damage and skin cancers. His family has the Irish skin with fair complexions that freckles and burns easily. When he was young, they spent a lot of time of the lake and he would get so sunburned that his skin would blister. Most doctors agree that the skin cancers we have now were caused by sun damage we experienced when we were younger. A lot of my hubby's relatives, like him, have experienced serious cases of skin cancer, including melanoma.
We've talked quite a bit about sun damage and sunscreens here on BigSisLilSis since both BigSis and I are passionate about the issue. I have to stay on top of my hubby and my son every single day to make sure that they have on their sunscreen. Since HayHay surfs for hours at a time, it's crucial for him to wear the best sunscreen that we can find.
Summer is in full swing now that we're in mid-July so I thought this would be a good time to do a recap of some of our previous posts about sunscreen and sun damage.
We hope everyone is having a great Summer so far; but whatever you do, please don't forget your sunscreen! 🙂
~LilSis
