Ruffled Apron Tutorial

For Christmas we draw names with all the cousins on my hubby's side of the family, I was lucky enough to draw the names of all the 2-3 year old girl cousins this last year. I decided to make them each some felt food and an apron. They turned out great! I was so excited! After I made my first apron I decided that I'd do a tutorial since I got a lot of my information from several different sources to make this one pattern.

Some disclaimers:

1) I made 4 different aprons, each one a little different from the next. Some of the steps are done with fabric from one apron, other steps are with fabric from another, I hope its not too confusing.

2) My sewing machine was on the fritz, really making it difficult to make straight seams. I'm putting these pictures up anyway. Don't judge me, the 2 year old girls didn't care!

3) I'm not a professional anything... seamstress, pattern designer, photographer. The lighting at my sewing table is less than ideal, especially for photography. I hope you can get the information you need still. This was my first attempt (and a rushed one at that) with this design, so there are flaws that you and I could definitely improve upon. Like I said, I just thought it would be nice to have a one stop spot for this design rather than having to hunt all over the web for the snippets I used from others.

OK, now that you know where I'm coming from, let's get to where we're going! Onto the tutorial...

Supplies: You can make this general design any way you want. For a child or an adult, a girl or a boy each with minor adjustments. This tutorial will be for a little girl approximately size 3T. I used measurements based on the tutorial found at Skip to my Lou. You can download the template for the bottom of this apron at the link. You will need:

• Two pieces cut from the above template. One for the front, one for the back. I used a contrasting solid to line my apron.
• Two pieces cut for the top, front and back. I made a pattern piece by folding a sheet of 8.5 x 11 paper in half lengthwise and drawing a rectangle with one rounded corner (with the fold being one side of the rectangle). I wanted it to be about 1 1/2-2 inches smaller across than the bottom piece.
• One strip of contrasting fabric cut 4 inches by 45 inches for the ruffle.
• One strip of same contrasting fabric cut 5 inches by 25 inches for waistband (from skip to my lou: Take waist measurement and add about 5 inches to determine length of fabric needed).
• Two strips of solid contrasting fabric cut 4 inches by 20 inches for neck ties (ribbon would also work well... and be easier).
• One contrasting fabric cut to size of pocket you want (not pictured).

The strips: The first thing you want to do is work with the strips for the ruffle, waistband, and neck straps. Each strip you want to fold in half lengthwise and press. Fold ruffle piece right sides together. Fold the others wrong sides together.

For the ruffle, you want to sew the short sides (I used my serger, use 1/4" seams if using sewing machine).

Turn the ruffle, right side out and press the corners nice and tidy. You'll have a really long skinny rectangle. One side will be the fold, the short sides will be your seams, and the other long side will be open at this point. Set aside for now.
For the waist band and the neck ties you've pressed them lengthwise, remember? Now open it up so you can see the line down the middle.
Next, fold each long side to that middle line and press flat. Fold short edges right sides together (like ruffle piece) and sew.
Turn those seams to the inside and fold in half along the pressed middle line again and press. So you'll have the two folded edges together.
For the neck straps topstitch along each side.
Placing neck straps: Take your main fabric top piece and lay the neck straps down where you want them to be. I placed mine right where the fabric came our of the curve, so they were attached at the straight edge of the top.

You want to put the straps going down, with about an inch above the top of the main fabric.
Then pin the lining fabric over the straps with ride sides of each top piece together.
Sew along the sides and top (but not the bottom) of the top pieces.
Turn right side out (see how the straps come out at the top?). Press. Top stitch.
The last thing I did was serge the bottom edge of the two top pieces together. This is one of the steps that could use some improvement, but when I make another one, I'll try to take pictures of what I'd do... I think it would just be confusing trying to describe what my plan is..

Voila, the top piece is finished!
The pocket: If you have a serger, finish each edge of your pocket.
Press the finished edge under on all four sides. If you don't have a serger, press each edge under 1/4", then 1/4" again so the raw edge isn't visible.
Sew and 1/8" seam along the top of the pocket.
Pin pocket in place on main fabric bottom piece.
Sew along the sides and bottom of the pocket with 1/8" topstitch.
And pocket is done!
Back to the ruffle: Remember that long, skinny strip that we made in the first step? OK, we're ready to move on with that one...

Increase your stitch length to as long as you can (mine is 6.0), sew along the entire length of the raw edge of the ruffle. Most gathering instructions will have you do two seams for gathering, I didn't do it because my machine was being so finicky. It would have been helpful, though. Skip to my Lou has an interesting way of gathering that I'd like to try when my machine works... be sure to check it out.

Fold the piece in half and mark with a pin.
Pull thread at either end and gather the ruffle until its the length you need to fit around the bottom of the apron.
Mark the bottom, middle of the bottom apron piece with a pin. Match up the pins marking the middle. Making sure not to twist the ruffle, attach it to the rest of the bottom of the apron. To allow for the ruffle to taper onto the apron, attach it as pictured below (or as described on Skip to my Lou).
See how you want to have the raw/gathered edge of the ruffle with the raw edge of the right side of the apron? Lots and lots of pins are very helpful here. :)
Lay the lining fabric on top of the ruffle and main fabric, right sides together. Pin in place.
Sew, with 5/8" seam allowance to make sure you get all of the ruffle attached. Again you'll leave the top edge open, so you're only sewing along the sides and bottom.
Turn right side out, press, and top stitch.

Attaching the Waistband: Take the waistband piece that you prepared earlier and place it over the top edge of the bottom of the apron.
You'll kind of sandwich the waistband around the apron. So each side of the waistband is the bread and the apron is the meat. One of the short sides of the waistband should be close to the side edge of the apron, the other short side will be long hanging off the apron to wrap around the waist.
You also want to put the top piece of the apron on at this point. Since its a totally finished piece I just placed it on the back of the waist band as pictured below.
Top stitch along all four sides of the waist band. I know, the seams here are embarrassing. I'm over it. The last thing you want to do is add a piece of velcro, so it stays on. Sew a piece that is 3 inches to the apron itself. Sew a 2 inch piece of the alternate side of velcro to the front of the long end of the waist band. This way it will wrap all the way around the waist and your child can attach it themselves! Perfect!
You ready for the finished product? Here are my four... I think it took longer to write up this blog post than to sew each one.
See my variations of pocket sizes and sides?


I'm going to make one for myself next, the steps will be basically the same, but I will make some changes to the attachment of the top... stay tuned. Until then, go ahead and make one for someone you love. My boys are begging me to make one for them now....

Winner! ...Finally...

Wow! What an incredible array of recipes you all submitted to our contest. I do apologize that it has taken so long for the winner to be announced, but we've finally tried all the recipes and can come to a conclusion. And let me tell you, coming to a decision was tough. There were at least 4 recipes that I seriously thought would win the night we ate them! But the overall winner based on the parents, the kids, the cost, the ease I've decided the winner is...

Creamy Cajun Chicken

Yummy! Ethan's favaorite part of the recipe was the sun dried tomatoes. The chicken had a delicious crust with the yummy blend of the seasoning. The kids ate it right up and the leftovers were even superb.

Please contact me and let me know who submitted it so I can get your $10 to Target to you asap! If we hurry, I can get it to you in time to use for Christmas.

Really, thanks everyone for letting me try your fabulous recipes. They were all great!

My First Wreath!

I love wreaths. I would love to have them on my door, over my fireplace, over my bed, over my TV... you get the idea. Trouble is I've always felt they are expensive or a lot of work to make. Well, I decided it was time I gave it a try and embellished one. I love how it turned out! It was a nap time well spent. Every time I drive up to my house I smile.

What's a craft you've been wanting to try, but haven't braved yet?

The Witches ****

I recently had the brilliant idea to start a book club for my kids. We had our first meeting yesterday and it was a lot of fun! Upon a trusted friend's high recommendation we read The Witches by Roald Dahl in honor of Halloween. At the bottom of my review of the book, I've included the discussion questions we used as well as a fun treat that went along with our story.

The Witches is a tale about real witches, not the silly kind we read about in fairy tales. Real witches are cleverly disguised to look just like nice ladies. But when you take off their disguise you can see that they actually have square feet with no toes, bald heads with wig rash, claws instead of finger nails. They also have blue spit and extra large nose holes for smelling out children. Every witch's goal in life to get rid of children! And they do in the most cleverly sneaky way so they never get caught!

The narrator of the story is a boy who goes to live with his Norwegian grandmother after his parents die (they actually end up living in England due to his parent's will). She knows all about witches and warns him about them. When his grandmother gets ill, the doctor recommends they spend the summer holiday on the coast and so they come to live in a hotel for the summer. It is at the hotel that the boy encounters all the witches of England and learns of their dastardly plot to get rid of all the children of England. Its up to him to save them all! In it we learn that small things can make a big difference!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Roald Dahl does write some quirky things, but he is just so good! My 7 year old has read 3 of his books now and has told me countless times how much he loves Roald Dahl books! I appreciated that the story wasn't hindered by unnecessary obstacles. The obstacles that were faced were enough to keep the story engaging and exciting! I liked the relationship between the grandmother and the boy, it was endearing and sweet. The book was funny, exciting, and worthwhile. I give it 4 stars!

I have heard some say that the book is too scary. You know your child better than anyone else, so you'll have to make that call. It is definitely not written to scare kids, but some kids might not be old enough to get through the first part wherein we just learn about how awful the witches really are. Also, the grandmother smokes a cigar throughout. At the beginning it is just stated matter of factly, later in the book it is referred to as "disgusting" and the doctor and boy both wish she'd stop. She won't.

***************************************************************

If you're interested in reading and discussing it with your youngster I'll provide the questions we used for discussion. I found most of them here. Some of them may have spoilers, so read at your own risk...

• Did you like the book? What did you like? Favorite parts? What didn't you like?
• When the boy is turned into a mouse, he says that he knows he should feel bad about it, but he doesn't because being a mouse has its "advantages." ("Boys have to go to school. Mice don't." What are some of the other advantages? Disadvantages?
• If you could be turned into a mouse for just one day, would you want to? What would you do if you were?
• Toward the end of the book the grandmother says, "Let's hope there are always people like you brave enough to foil {the witches} wicked plans." What does "brave" mean? How was the boy brave? When have you been brave?
• What lessons did you learn as you read the book? Lessons = Themes
• One theme, little things can make a big difference. How does the boys size allow him to defeat the witches? What can he do that the witches can't? What are "little things" you can do that make a big difference at school? At home?
• Another theme, feeling different. The boys feels different and sometimes like that means he doesn't belong, there are good things about his differences... for example he had the courage to take the Formula 86 when the frogs didn't. He also came up with the plan to stop the witches altogether, while Bruno just eats. What makes you different? Think about different things that make you different and choose one that is among your favorites. Explain why you like being different in this way.
• Find Norway on a map. England.
• Definitions of words in the book that they may not be familiar with...

1. ravine
2. shrivel
3. squelch
4. horrid
5. colossal
6. demonstration
7. formula
8. desperate
9. corrider
10. larder

We ended the meeting with "sweeties." I made chocolate cupcakes and filled them with green frosting (aka Formula 86 Delayed-Action Mouse Maker) and topped them with chocolate frosting so no one would suspect anything... we'll see if my little boys come home as tiny mice today...

Movie Reviews

So... I've been reading some books that I thought I'd mention here, but not right now. I wanted to tell you about a fabulous movie that the hubs and I watched this week...

Amazing Grace

It was such a great film! Its an historical account of the slave trade being abolished in Great Britain and the incredible efforts of many, especially William Wilberforce, in bringing it to pass. Apparently Wilberforce was inspired by his preacher who was a reformed slave ship captain who upon finding God, wrote the hymn "Amazing Grace."

It was a beautiful, beautiful film. I loved it! Just about everything about it, I loved. The scenery, the acting, the characters, but most importantly the story. It was truly inspiring, reminding me that one can make a difference and to persevere through much trial and apparent failure.

I don't know how accurate the story was to real life events, but it made me want to learn more about the event and people. It also made me yearn for more knowledge about the political system of the time. Besides giving me a thirst for knowledge, it gave me a good feeling. Its not very often that I stop watching a movie and feel like I'm a better person for having watched it, but I did after this one. We actually watched it in two parts (its only 2 hours) because I couldn't stay awake the first night but really didn't want to miss any of it. I should note that I have a hard time staying up late all the time, but especially while watching a movie. Hubby has finished watching countless movies with me asleep next to him, and I'm pretty sure this is the first time we've ever stopped it so I wouldn't miss the rest.

It was one of the best movies I've seen in a long time. Loved it. Highly recommend you get your hands on it. Its not action packed excitement, rather its thought provokingly paced so you can soak it all in. I found it at my library, but wouldn't mind owning it to revisit after I do some research. Let me know if you watch it and what you think!

Do you have any movie recommendations? I'd love to hear them...

Gimme, gimme, gimme

If you haven't already, you might want to check out the post below this one to see why I'm doing this giveaway/contest.

I want ideas for new meals and would love for you to share yours. So I'm hosting a recipe contest (monthly?) and the winner will receive a

$10 gift card to Target!

Here's how it will work:

1. Leave a comment including your favorite Chicken Recipe ~ any kind of recipe that includes chicken. Please choose Anonymous when leaving your comment. So we can choose a winner without being swayed by your awesomeness.
2. Deadline to leave recipe will be October 20.
3. I will incorporate your recipes into our family menu for November since my menu is already written for October.
4. My family will choose which recipe we like the best based on:
   • Kids' enjoyment
   • Parents' enjoyment
   • Ease of preparation
   • Cost of ingredients
5. The winning recipe will be posted on this blog and the winner can contact me with their address so I can send them their prize, a $10 gift card to Target!

I hope to have different recipe categories with each contest~hopefully monthly. Some ideas for future contests are:

• Crock Pot
• Mexican
• Chinese
• Italian
• Any Ethnic Dinner
• Beef
• Meatless
• Lunch Box
• Breakfast
• 5 Ingredients or less
• Soups
• Sandwiches
• Main Course Salads

If you have suggestions for categories, let me know!

One great thing about doing it here is that everyone else can view the recipes and try them out too! So please, please, please enter my contest!

Food Glorious Food

I know, I know... it has been a very LONG time since I last posted. Life just happens. However...

I am really excited! You know how as a Stay at Home Mom I have lots of work to do, but none of it is really like a regular type "job"? Do you remember that feeling of doing a great job at work (outside the home), the satisfaction, the pride? No, I didn't get a job outside the home... I did, however, do something for my home that has given me the same satisfaction!

The problem, mealtime. Not just dinner, every meal. Breakfast is cereal every morning: expensive, boring, not as healthy as it could be. Lunch has been getting complaints weekly from a certain 5 year old. Apparently now that he's in Kindergarten sandwiches every day won't cut it, but I don't want to pay for lunch everyday! Dinner decisions are the worst, I love to cook but hate having to figure out what to cook. Not to mention snacks. Anyone else have kids that just want to eat none stop?

I called one of my wonderful sisters-in-law this week to brainstorm ideas for dinner. While we were talking she gave me some great ideas that spurred this "job." Though, she had no idea how far I was going to go... I ran with it and just kept running.

The idea she gave me was to go through my cookbooks and create a master list of recipes that we would like for dinner. That way when I'm choosing my menu for the week I have a list of several options, thereby avoiding the rut we've been in the past few months. She also suggested making a shopping list for each recipe that you can access without digging out all the cookbooks again. Love this idea! Haven't gotten this far yet, but I really, really hope to.

What I did do, was make a list of all the breakfast, lunch, and snack ideas I could think of and I was able to go through one cook book and jot down all the dinners that we would like. From there I started plugging things in and we now have a full menu for the month of October, breakfast, lunch, dinner, two snacks per school day, and one weekly dessert! Best of all, there are no repeat meals in one week and every dinner for the month is something different. I'm hoping that it just makes my life much simpler. We can get things ready for lunches as part of our bedtime routine. And when the kids come home begging for a snack, I can already have something ready/planned. Plus~ I was able to get a lot of shopping done for the entire month, so my weekly shopping trips (with the kids) will be much easier! Hooray!!!

Want a sneak peak of our meal ideas? Here's a sample:

Breakfasts:

Granola

Cream of Wheat

Banana Splits (bananas, yogurt, strawberry jam, and maybe a dollop of whipped cream or hot fudge with a cherry on top)

Pancakes

Muffins

Smoothies

Lunches:

Sandwiches: meat, PB & J

Wraps

Chicken Fingers

Stromboli

Pizza Rolls

Dinners:

Baked Salmon, Broccoli, Potatoes

Manicotti, Green Salad, Pretzel Salad

Sausage Gravy over Biscuits, Green Beans

Pizza, Fruit Salad, Green Salad

Sloppy Joes, Green Salad, Fruit Salad

Snacks:

Goldfish

Carrots & Ranch or Peanut Butter

Apples & Peanut Butter

Ants on a log

Yogurt Parfaits

Crackers and Cheese/Meat

I won't bore you with the rest, but you get the idea, right? Very exciting!

Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Aspergers

I can't give this book a fair rating. I didn't finish it. There was too much bad language. I did enjoy what I read (aside from all the cussing) and found the author's storytelling quite compelling.

He did live quite a sad childhood, even if you take the Asperger's out of the equation. Abuse, a mentally unstable mother... taking all that into account, throw in the Asperger's and it made for a really difficult growing up. He did some horrible things, he tells some graphic stories of what he calls "pranks" though prank makes me think of a simple trick with no malintent... his pranks seemed quite in depth and downright scary.

So, if language doesn't bother you and the book sounds as fascinating to you as it did to me, read it... then you can give me the details sans the bad language.

Stargirl ****

Stargirl is a story about a girl who has been homeschooled and then starts public high school her junior year. She shows up and is very different. She wears eccentric clothes, she carries a ukelele and sings "Happy Birthday" to everyone in school who has a birthday. She has a pet rat she carries in her backpack. She anonymously does kind things for people every day. The other students at her high school don't know what to make of her. She goes from confusing the student body, to empowering them to be themselves, to infuriating them and being shunned. Leo is the narrator of the story and he ends up becoming her boyfriend. Some students never like her, some always do, and many continue to have mixed feelings about her.

I have very mixed feelings about this book. It was so beautifully written. For example, from the back cover,

She was elusive. She was today. She was tomorrow. She was the faintest scent of a cactus flower, the flitting shadow of an elf owl. We did not know what to make of her. In our minds we tried to pin her to corkboard like a butterfly, but the pin merely went through and away she flew.

The standard that Stargirl sets is awesome. That we all possess something so unique and good is a message the world can benefit from at any time.

I really enjoyed reading it.

But it was weird. I hate to use that word because its not quite right, but the whole story is much like Stargirl herself. People don't know what to make of her. There are the Hilarys of the world who will not like this story because of its uniqueness, there are the Dories who will love the story no matter what and there are the Leos that will love it but not be sure what they love more this story or "normal" stories.

I think I fit in the Leo category. I really loved Stargirl (the character), she was so beautiful and good. The story didn't follow normal story patterns of conflict and resolution. There wasn't much excitement in the telling of the tale, but it was just so beautiful and good. And I feel better having read it. So I have to say I really liked it, despite its differences from normal literature. That uniqueness is what makes the story so good.

Silhouettes on the Shades

OK, sorry if giveaway posts bother you... but its my due date and I'm feeling like something has to go my way today, right?!?! Maybe this is it...

There is a new machine out there in crafty blogland called a Silhouette. It looks amazing! It does vinyl (which would be really cool) and paper cutting (which I would definitely use) and glass etching (fun!) and what I think I like best of all is its heat transfer ability (how fun and easy would it be to make embellishments for clothing!). Needless to say, I want one... however, I don't think my hubby is much interested in me spending even more of his hard earned dough on yet another crafting item. SO, I'm entering a giveaway in hopes that I can win one and then everyone will be happy!

The giveaway is on a blog I really enjoy called Tatertots and Jello. It ends today, so if you want to enter, be sure to check it out right away!

Why haven't I been blogging lately?

The short answer is found in the following pictures:

Remember this from February? No? You mean you weren't waiting on pins and needles to see what I did to it? Sheesh!

These are the before pictures... It was a dress that hit me about mid calf, I didn't get a picture of the dress before I took off some of the length. Some of you referred to it as a "top" its still a dress... The picture below is a close-up of the bodice which received major renovations...
So after I cut the length off the bottom, I cut the bodice away from the skirt.
Then I added about 8 inches to the skirt. Allowing me to add some box pleats at the front so there would be plenty of room for my big belly.
Then I added a complimentary fabric, cutting off the collar making it a V-neck with some decorative seams. And finally a nice wide tie around.
Here's a picture of me in it about a month ago... it was the last time I was able to wear it. My belly got too big so the dress got too short! I guess I took too much length off the bottom!
Last month I also took a cake decorating class and learned how to make a lot of new flowers, as well as basket weave and a couple new borders. It was a lot of fun! And the final cake was so pretty (even though mine was quite lopsided)... not to mention delicious!!! Banana cake with cream cheese frosting.... hmmmmm....

For Father's Day I made my first successful lattice pie crust! No, it isn't perfect, but doesn't it look good?! Once again, delicious to boot. I love peach pie!!!

Remember how I made this pillow for my daughter using the log cabin quilt pattern? Well I decided to go crazy and make a crib size quilt for this baby boy that will be joining the family soon. I chose my fabric... I love all the bright happy colors!

Then I pieced my top together in a fun, bright non-traditional log cabin pattern... adding long strips to the ends to get it to the size I wanted. Then finally I quilted it. I attempted doing it by hand, but quickly gave up and did it on my machine. I love how it turned out.

Its interesting though, it looks completely different to me in the pictures than in real life. I see all the little pieces looking at it in person, rather than the big picture/pattern. I'm happy to say that I like it both ways. Do you think baby boy will like it?

Funny side story... I used a sating edge because my daughter loves her satin edging on her blanket so much I hoped it would make baby boy love this one. Well, when I laid the quilt out to take pictures, my daughter just went around the entire edge softly petting the satin. It was so sweet!
And finally, I've been wanting to paint this picture of the Preston LDS Temple for quite some time and found the courage to do so after taking my class. I decided to paint it for my hubby for Father's Day since this Temple has significance to him. Its not quite complete, but I thought I'd share it nonetheless. Architecture is really difficult for me to paint and be happy with... the dimensions/depth seem wrong, but I'm going to keep working on it! If I ever perfect the painting I'll share it with y'all again.
So, there you have it. I've been busy doing a lot of other things... just not blogging much. I've also read a couple books that I need to get reviews up on soon... until then!

Oh, if anyone is interested in the recipes mentioned in this post, let me know and I'll post them.

Creative Therapy (for real)

For those of you who don't know, I am currently seeing a counselor in an effort to cope with some mild depression. My counselor is convinced that my depressions stems from my circumstances more than my biochemistry and has highly advised that I give myself some more "Kim" time. So, I called a bunch of my local crafting stores in search of a class to get me out of the house and doing something I love. There really weren't a lot of options with the places I contacted, but I did find a couple things that appealed to me. I'm enrolled in a second course of cake decorating which will be lots of fun! And last night I was able to attend a painting class!

I love to paint. Every time I pull out my paints (which is not very often with all my wee ones running about) I say to my husband, "Oh! I need to do this more often. It is so therapeutic!" Seriously, every time. Keep in mind that the only medium I have ever worked with is craft paint. I've done some paintings that I've been really pleased with on canvas. I've watered my craft paint down and treated it like water color. But I've never used actual artist quality paint. My painting class was using acrylic paint, the real stuff. I was super (dee-duper) excited! So when I came home from a meeting Wednesday night and my hubs told me the instructor called to cancel because I was the only one enrolled was major disappointed. So much so, that I called the manager and asked about it. Turns out there is a corporate policy that if there aren't at least 3 people signed up the class is supposed to be cancelled, but she was willing to ask the instructor if she'd be willing to teach just one student and she was! YAY!!!

The painting wasn't something I would have chosen on my own, but I am pretty happy with how it turned out. There are things I would do to improve it, but the evening was very therapeutic (not to mention the smile I get each time I look at my work). I just love creating beauty! There's nothing quite like it!

Savvy ****

Another book from my 2010 list I can move to my "read" shelf, Savvy by Ingrid Law. I don't think I realized (or at least, didn't remember) that this is a children's book. It wasn't even in the Young Adult section, it was in the Juvenile Fiction area of my library. However, I'm not picky. Some of my favorite books are in that area of the library for goodness sake! AND it made it really quick and easy to get through.

Savvy is the story of a girl, Mibs, who is about to celebrate her 13th birthday. Mibs has a special family, although they're not that different from everyone else. "They're born, sometime later they'll die. They experience love and fear." They just have a "special know-how" that others might not. This "special know-how" is termed their savvy and it presents itself on their 13th birthday. Mibs grandpa can make the earth shake, one of her brothers causes hurricanes (and other less scary weather), and another creates electricity. Her mom's savvy is that she's "perfect." But what will Mibs' savvy be? The family has a quiet celebration away from the rest of the world as a means of protection, of the family's secret and of the people that could get hurt from the potentially dangerous "know-how." You see, a savvy doesn't start as a "know-how" it really starts as an uncontrollable source of power. The kids become home schooled at 13 so they can learn to "scumble" or control their savvy.

Well, Mibs is really excited (and maybe a little nervous) for her birthday and then the unthinkable happens... her beloved father is in a terrible accident. Her mom and oldest brother have to leave to be with him at the hospital and rather than having a quiet birthday at home the preacher's wife decides to throw a huge birthday party for Mibs. Before the party has a chance to start, Mibs' savvy presents itself and she passes out, causing quite an uproar with the preacher's wife. In an effort to escape Mibs hops on a Bible delivery bus that she assumes is heading to Salina where her dad is. Trouble is, her weather brother follows along with the preacher's two kids. They find out along the way that her younger brother who has a knack for hiding was already hiding on the bus and so he's along for the ride too. They all soon figure out that the bus is heading away from Salina not toward it and they are quickly discovered by the bus's insecure driver. The story follows them on their journey with everyone learning a little bit more about one another and, more importantly, about themselves.

I really enjoyed the story. It was very fun to read. I liked the characters and thought they were quite well developed for such a young audience. I could relate to many of them in various ways, which I think is essential to me really enjoying a book. I also didn't find it all that predictable which is another common issue with books in this genre. Now would you love Savvy? I don't know. But your 4th grader might. I certainly did enjoy it! Four stars!

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Do you ever wonder what to do with left over diaper boxes that actually still have some life left in them? When we lived in Oregon, I remember making a little book/toy shelf for my oldest out of 3 of them... since then they've just been broken down and taken to the recycle center.

Well, I've been working really hard to get my bedroom decorated as the sanctuary I need it to be. Since I haven't had anywhere safe to put my sheet music its been sitting in our nightstands. No more! I was getting rid of some music that I knew I wasn't going to use to teach my kids or play myself and with it I made this...

... into this!
It isn't spectacular by any means, but it is highly useful and much nicer to look at than the bright green and purple box. It makes me smile each time I look at it AND it has me motivated to actually restart those lessons with the boys. I only have two song titles visible and they make me smile too... The Irish Washerwoman and Songs My Mother Taught Me.

What ideas do you have to reuse your diaper (or any cardboard box for that matter) boxes? Do tell...