Once Buddy was down for a nap, "Alice and Mommy" time commenced with a (slightly modified version) of Trouble.
Alice got into it, eventually singing her little pegs home as she won by a(n engineered) slim margin. Then we colored a page in her new Strawberry Shortcake coloring book (from a birthday party yesterday) and she settled into quiet time with a new wall decoration:
Robert and I worked on this while Alice was at preschool this morning. I did the cutting and sewing, he turned the sewing machine on and off, on and off, on and off. Final size is about 6 feet tall and 3 feet wide.
I never, ever, ever wanted to decorate any of my own girl's rooms with Disney princesses. I'm still a bit mixed about this development. I have several reservations when it comes to Disney movies for kids, but the biggest annoyance is all the merchandising. When a kid thinks that Tangled is the first and only Rapunzel story out there, and that every item purchased and consumed is better simply by bearing a character's image, it gets my goat. I even like the movie Tangled and love to watch it with my kids---wait, I see a soap box inching closer, so I'll just change the subject and tell you how the decoration came together.
It was originally a "Happy Holidays" door-hanging poster I bought for $0.25 at a Wal-Mart Christmas clearance sale a couple years ago to use as a waterproof layer in some other project (something one would sit on or poop in, preferably, mwah ha ha haaaaa). The project didn't progress as planned and I scrapped it, leaving a pristine door hanging in my fabric stash. Alice discovered it one day and we hung it up on her door for a while. She would ask about the princesses in the picture and I could tell her each story however I liked. It gave me practice as an oral storyteller and fun memories with Alice, so I guess it's not all bad ;)
One day, it disappeared from her door and she never noticed. Why did I hang on to it further? I don't know. It was just $0.25, but it had potential. Today, we realized some of that potential. I cut the princesses from all the "Happy Holiday" froof and used my handy-dandy rolled hem foot to finish the raw edges. Double-sided tape holds it to the wall, so far. Ta daaa! Now Alice has something on that great expanse of an empty wall. I have the materials on-hand to make her a shaggy pink rug for the middle of that ocean of a floor, too.
Now I'm off to organize my fabric stash...any helpful hints? Please?
Posts
Organizing may depend on how much you have. When we were married, Mike said I was limited to only one box that I use within 12 months, but he's softened up a bit. Now I have narrow walk-in-closet that is my sewing room, so I have room for a few boxes of material, but I really don't like having too much on hand. I have a bankers box that holds basics (whites, blacks, neutral colors), a box that holds scraps (just thrown in at random, these are pieces that are usually odd sized 1/4 yard or less, things that we cut up for art projects or stuff like that, not really big enough for projects on their own), and then there are two other boxes that have printed material and tons of cones of serger thread. I try to keep like materials together, so knits together, wovens together, fleece together. I do have a couple of larger pieces that hang on hangers in the closet and a crate full of mend/repurpose stuff. There is a shelf along the wall that holds the sewing machines, patterns, notions, tools, iron, and other craft supplies.
ReplyDeleteI'd love to hear more from the soap box. Feel free to email me your speech. I have been trying to articulate for years why I avoid buying Disney.
ReplyDelete