I always love a good re-use and  re-purpose, and this one was so easy and practical I had to share it.

Rather than toss a ripped pair of shorts I thought I'd try to make them into something for one of the kids. The rip (near the back center seam) was too damaged to fix, but the rest of the shorts were in great condition, practically new, and the blue and white striped fabric is so comfy I knew I couldn't just toss them without at least trying to save them.

Immediately I thought to make River some shorts. He's outgrowing, quickly, the ones I made him a few years ago so a new pair really made sense. Plus, he's young and not yet fussy about what he wears, making him a good guinea pig for my sewing experiments.

I wish I'd taken pictures of this project while it was happening, but I didn't so bear with me and I'll do my best to explain this simple upgrade.

To make River's shorts I laid a paid of his shorts, folded in half, on top of the damaged shorts, lining up the outside seams. I didn't want to cut along the outside side seams, they were well made and I didn't want to disturb the front pockets at all ... and there's no point in resewing a perfectly good seam that would work just fine. I matched the waistband of my shorts to the waistband of  his shorts, because I could easily reuse the waistband that was already there. I opted to keep the hem on my shorts as the new hem for his shorts. When all was said and done all I cut was the inside crotch and leg.


I first sewed the inside leg seams, matching the hemed bottom of the shorts and trimming the crotch end of
the seam. Because these were women's shorts they were cut to fit a woman, so a little adjusting was needed to make these just right for a young boy.


I then pulled the stitches out of the waistband butting up to the newly cut raw edges of the crotch seam with a seam ripper, about two inches on each side so I could open the waistband up fully to resew it. I needed an elastic casing, so sewing directly the waistband wasn't an option (plus it would have looked awkward and might have been uncomfortable). I sewed the crotch seam, from the front top of the opened waistband to the back top of the open waistband.

All that's left at this point is the waistband. I folded down and restitched the front of the waistband closed. I didn't stitch the back waistband closed yet, leaving it open to thread the elastic. I threaded elastic through the waistband and stitched the two ends together (make sure there isn't a twist anywhere!). Second to last step was to sew the back casing closed.


Last step: add a tag to the back somewhere, if you haven't already added one when you sew the back waistband closed. I chose the back pocket, just for fun. Without a tag River really won't pay the least big of attention to whether his shorts are on backwards or frontwards, so that tag comes in very handy.

For the older boys I would sew these from mens shorts. Women's shorts really don't give the length they need - not a problem with a "still has lots of growing to do" five year old, but not cool at all for almost teenagers bordering on 5 feet tall.

Next time I'd pay more attention to the back pocket. These were really wide and after cutting and sewing they've become a sort of modified "unipocket". It doesn't look unintentional, so it's no big deal.

In total this project took less than 15 minutes. 15 minutes well spent if you ask me (and River).

Time to hit the closet and the donate pile and see what you've got ready to turn into a pair of "new" shorts.

I'd love to hear about your re-purposing projects.

 I opted to make no resolutions this New Year's.

I didn't need to. I already had a huge and daunting change ahead. Ok, huge to me ... nothing really that big.

Last summer I tried to give up Diet Coke. I didn't succeed and it's been on my mind ever since.

For the last gazillion years (ie - as long as I can remember) I've been a huge Diet Coke fan. A two 2-liter bottles a day fan. It's all I drank (except when pregnant). But I knew, deep down, that it wasn't good for me. So I decided that when the kids were with their father over Christmas break I'd give it up FOR REAL. I'm pretty sure I decided this in August.

So, on January 2nd of this year I gave up Diet Coke. I had one bottle that got me through the headaches, they'd hit in the afternoon and around 5 pm I'd have a few ounces of that bottle and two ibuprofen and I was good to go. That one bottle lasted a week, until I tossed that flat soda down the drain.


Withdrawal ... the headaches did hit, but nowhere near as bad as I expected. They started a little later each day and were a little weaker each day and gone after about a week. The day after I gave up the Diet Coke I slept for 13 hours. My body was so used to being on caffeine that it crashed. It took about two weeks for the "sluggishness" to pass, it's hard to explain but it was just really hard to get moving in the morning, like swimming in molasses.

I replaced my beloved Diet Coke with water. I hate water. At least I thought I did. I cannot believe how much water I happily drink now. It's nowhere near as bad as I thought it was. I actually kind of like it just fine. And, I must say, I like what it's doing for my complexion and weight loss plan.

I splurged and bought myself a nice big water bottle, both for around the house and to avoid having to buy water. And quickly realized that this bottle would perspire (gotta have ice in it) and that just wasn't going to work. Enter the reversible quilted bottle cup koozie, make in a few minutes immediately before a meeting. The bottle cover is just two pieces of fabric sewn together with batting, then flipped right sides out, quilted, and topstitched. I added velcro up the side and headed out the door.

No, the cup isn't actually leaning like the Tower of Pisa. Weird.

So far, almost a month into this new Diet Coke free lifestyle, I have no desire to go back. I never thought I'd say that, and actually be happy about it!

March 8 Update:
Two months in and still Diet Coke free. One day while teaching math I realized I was drinking about a gallon of Diet Coke every day. Holy crap - there's no way that's good for anyone.

I remain amazed that it was easier to quit than I expected. I have not allowed myself to splurge at all, I really don't want to go backwards and I'm afraid I will if I get off the wagon. 

This page gets a lot of hits so I know I'm not the only person fighting this battle, or considering fighting the battle. Feel free to message me at becauseimme@gmail.com if you want, I'll answer questions and provide whatever information I can.

July 2013 Update:
Almost 7 months without Diet Coke. Actually, without caffeine at all.

One recent morning I walked downstairs, mentally planning my morning, and my first thought was to fill my Diet Coke cup. My second thought was to smile and grab a cup of ice water. Old habits die hard.

During our recent camping/hiking vacation we drank a lot of water. We were in the desert and it was hot, there's no way we could have gotten by without water. A year ago I would have though, and probably would have gone into a panic when I couldn't get any Diet Coke (we were in some remote campgrounds), and I don't even want to think of how bad the headaches from being dehydrated would have been (we were without ice, so it would have been straight Diet Coke all day, every day).

Some people lose weight giving up soda, even diet soda. I did not. That kind of sucks!

Oh, and I still use the same water bottle as above, but I did add a second one (same exact style and color). :)

For me the decision to give up Diet Coke had nothing to do with all the reports about how horrible it is. It was just my personal choice, largely made to save money but also so I'd, hopefully, live longer and be healthier in general.

Remember this flower thing (I mean beautiful home decor statement piece) from the other day?

Purchased at Salvation Army thrift shop for $6, this one had my daughter looking at me like I was nuts. Not my style, that's for sure.

Original use? Beats me. I guess it's probably just decorative, the little tendril-ish arms aren't strong enough for mugs and not shaped correctly to hold pictures. Do you have any ideas on it's intended purpose? I'd love to hear them.

After taking off the price tags (it had many) and wiping it down to remove dust I coated this with two coats of white gloss spray paint. When it was dry I flipped it upside down and gave the underside a coat of paint.

I let it dry for a few days, and now I have a beautiful key fob holder to use at craft shows.


It's super stable, with that wide round base, and heavy enough to not blow over in the wind. The curls hold the key fobs securely, they come off easily by hand but won't blow off or come off if the display is moved around. This piece can easily hold 24-36 key fobs. It's tall enough to be at a good height and not too wide.

Awesome solution, and one more thing off the craft show "to do" list.




The chalkboard wall behind the key fob holder is in my den/office/home school room (not that anyone does school in it, that gets done at the kitchen table ... but that's another post for another day).

Quite simply, I taped off an area of the wall and painted it with a few coats of chalkboard paint. I then cut, primed, and painted molding which I attached around the chalkboard. The hardest part was the cutting ... "measure twice, cut once" was my mantra that day.

The molding is a 2" decorative molding and makes a great "frame", giving the chalkboard a very polished look.


It's a really, really good thing this isn't a home decorating blog, now isn't it? Here's a horrid image of the chalkboard wall. Trust me, it's pretty.


Our walls are really textured and a little harder to wipe off, but still very easy. They can be wiped either with a damp or dry cloth and the paint stays put. The chalkboard paint really lives up to it's name.

The artwork, attached by thumbtacks and pins so it can be changed out easily, was done by my Great Aunt Monica, who was my art teacher when I was in elementary school (I have the greatest memories of being so proud that MY Aunt Monica was teaching my class), and who was a very talented artist. I love that I can look up from my computer and be inspired by her.

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 My kids are with their father for a little bit so I'm in "project mode" while I await their return.

Project 1: getting the house clean. Deep cleaned and purged of stuff we don't need. It has been a major project but I'm down to the last few rooms and seeing light at the end of the tunnel. It's a good looking light too!

Project 2: sewing. Beginning with the quilt tops above. The two tops are identical in design, just different colors and fabrics. I used Elizabeth Hartmann's Crazy Nine Patch Block tutorial here and had so much fun putting these together. I highly recommend giving this a try. I was able to put each top together in an afternoon, each set of 9 crazy blocks took me just under an hour, so it's a super quick and easy technique. I'll share many more pictures after the quilts are done.


Project 3: repurposing this gem. At least I think I'm repurposing it, I'm not exactly sure what it's original use was so maybe it's always been a craft show key fob holder. I kind of doubt it though.

Lest it go unnoticed, the really ugly positioning and lighting of the thing is intentional, just like an infomercial. That way the "after" will look most amazing.

Project 4: catching up on my tv shows and sleep. Need I say more?

In other news, I received this beautiful block in the mail from Andra of Simplify and Quilt. I love it and it's another perfect addition to my growing block collection ... one block closer to making a quilt!

not my shower, just an image from home-designs.net, but it sure is pretty

My younger kids are off with their father for a bit so I'm cleaning the house.

Deep cleaning.

In four days my oldest daughter and I have filled three garbage cans with trash and have a van full of stuff to donate. And that's just the beginning. There are rooms to go and dust to sweep before I sleep.

One task was to clean the master bathroom shower. Like many of us I've been "pinning" cleaning ideas on Pinterest and thought this was the ideal time to try a few of them out.

My shower has glass on two walls with white tile and white grout on the remainder. That glass drives me crazy trying to keep it clean, and I've tried every solution I've come across over the years. Thanks to Pinterest I'm finding more to try.

I was super excited when I saw this pin to clean a shower with salt and lemon:



I put some Kosher salt into a bowl, dipped a lemon half into it, and scrubbed.

It smelled so nice. I get frustrated with bathroom cleaners that burn your throat - a bathroom is typically a small area, manufacturers should know to tame the fumes.

How it worked ... it did a really nice job on the grout. The grout came out nice and white clean. However, it really didn't tackle the soap scum or water stains on the tile or glass. A few of the tiles near the floor were stained from the soap scum and this concoction didn't touch them.

Cost: 2 lemons $1, salt was already on hand

Score: B-

I haven't tried any of the other cleaning suggestions on that pin, but many of them are very intriguing.


Day 2 I moved on to this idea, also from Pinterest:

The recommended directions were to take 1 cup household vinegar and 1 cup Dawn dish liquid and mix in a spray bottle. Spray all the walls of the shower and let sit for an hour. I didn't have a spray bottle so I mixed the two in a bucket and sopped it onto the walls and floor with a terrycloth towel.  Application was very easy.

The vinegar did cause an odor, but nothing that smelled toxic. The Dawn masked a lot of the odor, so really it wasn't bad. Once all was said and done and the project completed the bathroom smelled very nice.

The results - After waiting an hour I came in with a scrub brush and water and scrubbed. The tile came clean, all the soap scum came off. The glass also came clean. I was very happy with the results.

The only problem I had was that I also cleaned the separate tub with the mixture and it was really, really, really, really hard to get all the dish detergent and bubbles out of the tub.

Cost: Dawn $1, vinegar was already on hand

Score: A

The strangest thing was that my sister called right after I finished the Dawn/vinegar cleaning. When I told her I was cleaning the shower she immediately asked if I'd used Dawn and vinegar. Apparently she'd had a friend recommend this method to her just last week ... I certainly hadn't mentioned it to her.

So there you have it, I'll be cleaning with Dawn and vinegar on a regular basis, but not lemons and salt.

Do you have any great money or greener cleaning tips to share?

Bow ties are in the shop, joining the neckties. All the ties are $13 each, and most of the bow ties are available in infant (0-3 years), toddler (2-6 years), child (4-8 years) and preteen (8-13 years).

Etsy allows the seller to organize the way images appear on the shop home page. I couldn't decide what order to put things in (quilts first?, bow ties and crayon rolls first?, onesies first?) so I organized the shop by color. I have no idea what that might do for sales, but it was fun and it does look nice. Mostly though, at the end of the day, it gives me a great reason to laugh at myself.

Some of the celery is dying. I think it had too much water. Not one to be deterred, I have more celery bases ready to plant and will plant those in milk jugs with bigger drain holes.

But look below. Little cherry tomatoes are growing. Very exciting!

It's that time of year again ... the time of year when I decide I can grow something and actually keep it alive.

I go through this every spring. And by August I have nothing to show for my good intentions and wishful thinking, except a few empty containers with sad, sorry, brown bits sticking out of them.

Not one to be detered, I'm trying again.



Today the kids and I planted tomatoes, peppers, and a variety of herbs.

The big red pots are actually plastic waste cans from Ikea. Rather than spending $10+ per container at Home Depot we drilled a few holes in the bottoms of these $1.99 containers. I couldn't be happier with the cheery results.



Our yard doesn't have good growing soil and neighbors who grow things well have had a tough time, so I thought the containers with good potting soil might have a better chance of success.

Last week, as a practice run for this potting and growing session I planted celery roots. I saw this idea on Pinterest and it certainly sounded easy peasy, and like a great source of instant gratification. See, here's an image from Farm Bell Recipes, just three days after planting:

Pretty cool, huh?

And here's proof positive that I can't grow things, not even easy peasy instant gratification things:


That's five days after planting. Nil. Nada. Zip.

I'm confident our container garden will be a raging success, regardless of how the celery is going! At least I hope so.

I found a composter on clearance at Home Depot last week and was able to use a gift card to pick it up. Apparently it takes a long time to compost stuff, but in the meantime we're having tons of fun tossing all sorts of crap into it. Perhaps if one has a composter their plants will think they're a master gardener? I'm sure.

No matter how the project turns out it's always fun to try.

What's in your garden this summer?

little man, big woods

breakfast in the rain, NOTHING stands in the way of a good hot meal

There was also plenty of sun, enough to swim and boat, and allow the kids to soak each other with squirt guns. Between rain showers there was a campfire, lots of good food and talking, and wild exploring of the woods.

And what a great opportunity to remember that next time we need to seal our tent seams. Very well. And we learned that our sleeping bags are wonderfully waterproof ... even with huge water droplets falling inches from our faces we stayed warm and dry (can't say the same for our gear ... but nothing that couldn't be saved).

I'm finding that I like camping.  I like the peace and quiet, the slowing of time, and the lack of outside distraction. I'm not ready to say I like the heat, or the bugs, or the rain, or the dirt ... and I'm 99.9% sure I'll never like that stuff, but it's all worth the rewards.

Most Saturday mornings Kaden, River, and I head to the local once-a-week produce market.

The first thing I get a hold of is radishes, always radishes. Real, dirt-covered, red radishes. As soon as we get home I'm at the sink rinsing, removing the root and leaves, and nibbling away. The radishes that survive my immediate attack get cleaned up and set in the fridge in a bucket of water, easy to grab, easy to eat.  Lucky for me, I'm the only one in the house who loves them. Unlucky for me, they're usually gone by Wednesday morning.


I've been looking at various recipes to use the greens and the best I've come up with is tossing them in salad or sauteing like spinach.  I hate to just toss them as there are so many and they are green and leafy.

Kaden is my bell pepper shopper.  He picks the very best red and green peppers ... and he'll eat them like apples if I let him.

We also choose either yellow squash or zucchini, generally served broiled with a hint of butter, garlic, and bread crumbs.

Whatever we buy, the total we spend is never more than $6, and it always lasts us an entire week - the prices are that good.

River doesn't care for vegetables (or much else) but gets joy out of being big enough to be trusted to "stand on the line" (my rule when you get out of the car, because there is usually more than one little one to get out ... stand on the parking lot space divider line until Mama holds your hand), and looking at and touching the produce with his big brother, checking out the textures, shapes, colors, and then putting names to everything.

Last week I rode my bike over with River in the trailer.  It's an easy ride and I'm fairly certain one that will become a part of our Saturday morning routine.

While the weekly stops at the produce market really are a little thing they feel good.  The youngest kids and I do it together, routinely, giving us something that's just "ours". The produce is "real" and fresh and locally grown, much more personal and earthy than the grocery store.  It's just so refreshing after a long week.

The Green Grocery Bag Challenge at Sew, Mama, Sew:

A Holiday Sewing Project Benefiting Mother Earth

Wrap your holiday gifts in reusable cloth grocery bags.

 

Pardon the craptastic layout of this post.  Yeah, no good excuses today, I know it's ugly and I haven't much time to do anything about it, but really that doesn't have any affect on the benefits of the challenge.

I can't wait to get started, both on my gifts for this year (I have some great little girls dresses in mind for my niece) and on the handmade packaging.  I can see this being a really fun and exciting way to go ... way better than battling rolls of tape and wrapping paper. Oh yeah, with the right most awesome fabrics this will be great.

Thank you very much to Gift of Green for the cloth re-useable shopping bag! I received it in the mail over the weekend and I can't wait to use it.

Check out her great blog for tips and hints on going green, as well as just about life in general. She's full of practical suggestions and information.

Thanks again!

Our second brush with fame is a week ... yesterday I was interviewed leaving the post office about new MPG ratings to be placed on new cars for sale in 2008. My response was basically "uuuhhhhhhhh", I'd never heard of this and had no ready opinion.

Had they asked about 6 year old boys who repeatedly ask "why?" when they're told to stand next to Mommy at the post office, instead of obeying the way they're supposed to, and how frustrated that can make a Mommy I'd have had a response for them right then and there.

Or if they'd wanted my opinion about public high schools, specifically the fact that my daughter is currently in a remedial reading class for kids who've failed the FCAT, which she never actually took, and that she has no honors classes at all, I'd have had a good one. I'd have been happy to tell them all about going to the school that morning, for the second time, and waiting an hour, with four other kids, to see a counselor who finally relayed the message that he was too busy to see parents that day and that I could e-mail him and he'd try to set up an appointment ... shoot, if they'd brought the camera they could have filmed the smoke and steam coming from my ears. I might have mentioned that I understand how crazy busy the school is and that I get that they may not get to C.'s schedule immediately but that I'd like someone to tell me if her schedule will be changed to what we want at some point in the very near future, and if there's any information we need to provide to make that happen, and that I'd like to get this information before I send in her home school termination, 'cause she may end up back home soon.

But they didn't ask me about what was actually on my mind, so my answer was a brilliant "uuuhhhhhh". I did manage to come up with something but it didn't sound the least bit wise. I was hoping they just wouldn't put me on the segment, there have to be people who can come up with more intelligent answers on the spot. Of course, on the drive home I came up with the answer I should have given ... about how perhaps seeing those numbers on paper will light a fire under someone to work harder on alternative fuels and alternative transportation ideas, and how those numbers might make us sit up and realize more what's going on with our environment and how we're ruining our resources, maybe if enough people saw how bad the numbers really are a difference might begin, but that really it won't change car buying decisions too much because the change will be across the board ... except that I'll be interested to see how hybrids do in the numbers ... will they stay about the same or drop a lot too.

Anyway, here's the link to the segment. The video is on the right. I haven't heard it because I have no sound on my computer so I have no idea what brilliance I spewed. We aren't on it until about 1:24 into it, so feel free to skip to there (we did).

Here's the thing ... see me on the segment and you can see my new haircut (it was long for the interview last week). I got 9" cut off and got the coloring done right, correcting the mistake I made in July of doing it myself which left me with yellow hair. And now I don't have to try to take a picture of myself to show the haircut! I love the cut, can't get over how short and light it is. Jason likes it, C. and M. want theirs cut too, which means I. would have the longest hair in the house.

Reaction from M. to haircut: "Oh Mommy, I like your hair ....

so much better ...

before."

I constantly marvel at how lucky we are to live in south Florida, to be able to see dolphins, manatees, fish, alligators, sting rays, etc. on a regular basis. Yesterday we had the good fortune to see wild parrots living near the Peace River in Punta Gorda ... the pictures don't do them justice, they are absolutely beautiful and very vocal.




The obligatory sailing pictures of the day. M's first regatta and C sailing a sunfish.

I read this article on No Impact Man today ... very scary, but informative and important ... Plastic in the food chain.