mom called last night at 10:30 and greeted me with "hi helen, are you up late tonight being an elf again?"
wow, am i that predictable? hehe
Friday, December 18, 2009
Thursday, December 17, 2009
les sports
oh don't laugh. les sports really is translated as sports in french! (just drop the t and s in your pronunciation.) and this, my friends, is the theme for ryan's and long's christmas gifts this year! doesn't everything sound fancier and more festive in french?
the boys are at the age where they start to specialize in a sport, as opposed to doing just general p.e. all the time: ryan has joined the cross country team and will continue to do track and field in the spring, while long has joined swimming! note: i didn't say that long joined the swim "team" because he refuses to compete! that's alright, we'll be having a little talkie talkie soon. since kids wouldn't be happy with just handmade gifts (sorry, but it's true! been there!), i got long a spiffy speedo deluxe sports towel (think shamwow, but towel sized)
and ryan a pedometer. 
i remember desperately wanting one of those speedo sports towels when i did swimming as a kid, but my mom never got it for me because she had no clue to what i was referring! sigh. and a pedometer?? so cool! always wanted one when i was on the track team! (ok maybe i'm living vicariously through them. hopefully they'll be better at both sports than i was!)
the boys are at the age where they start to specialize in a sport, as opposed to doing just general p.e. all the time: ryan has joined the cross country team and will continue to do track and field in the spring, while long has joined swimming! note: i didn't say that long joined the swim "team" because he refuses to compete! that's alright, we'll be having a little talkie talkie soon. since kids wouldn't be happy with just handmade gifts (sorry, but it's true! been there!), i got long a spiffy speedo deluxe sports towel (think shamwow, but towel sized)
and ryan a pedometer. i remember desperately wanting one of those speedo sports towels when i did swimming as a kid, but my mom never got it for me because she had no clue to what i was referring! sigh. and a pedometer?? so cool! always wanted one when i was on the track team! (ok maybe i'm living vicariously through them. hopefully they'll be better at both sports than i was!) for the homemade part of their gifts, i made ryan a sports bag for his sneakers (he's very particular about keeping his school shoes and running shoes separate) and long got a sports bag for his new speedo towel and swim trunks. 
on the fronts, i freezer paper stenciled a sports icon, their names (r. "last name" and l. "last name"! how french, non?) and their sports in le français. i blotted out their last names so you'll never be able to kidnap them (they are insanely cute)! the interior of the bag is made from the blue parachute fabric i got at the scrap exchange in durham, nc!! thus, it is relatively waterproof and just that much cooler! 
the straps of both bags are braided from this natural cotton string of which i had oodles. it was from my attempts in high school to weave myself a macramé belt (that failed!). i must say, creating a long strand of braiding is difficult because i had to wind the ends around spools and then braid by manipulating the spools rather than just the ends of the string (since they were sooo long). the grommets were leftover from when i made a new slipcover for my futon. i hammered my thumb while grommetting long's bag!! the fabric for the exterior of ryan's bag is actually from jimmy's high school graduation gown! here is ryan's bag, cinched: 
joyeux noël, mes amis!!
on the fronts, i freezer paper stenciled a sports icon, their names (r. "last name" and l. "last name"! how french, non?) and their sports in le français. i blotted out their last names so you'll never be able to kidnap them (they are insanely cute)! the interior of the bag is made from the blue parachute fabric i got at the scrap exchange in durham, nc!! thus, it is relatively waterproof and just that much cooler! the straps of both bags are braided from this natural cotton string of which i had oodles. it was from my attempts in high school to weave myself a macramé belt (that failed!). i must say, creating a long strand of braiding is difficult because i had to wind the ends around spools and then braid by manipulating the spools rather than just the ends of the string (since they were sooo long). the grommets were leftover from when i made a new slipcover for my futon. i hammered my thumb while grommetting long's bag!! the fabric for the exterior of ryan's bag is actually from jimmy's high school graduation gown! here is ryan's bag, cinched: joyeux noël, mes amis!!Monday, December 14, 2009
more baking and a buffet/sideboard
so the spiced chocolate raspberry and nut cupcakes were not a hit with anyone. since i was meeting up with avé last friday for her bday and wanted to give her some, i had to make some alterations and quick. since everyone loves a good batch of cream cheese frosting, i knew that it would be the remedy here. 
thus, the cupcakes became spiced chocolate and nut cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. hehe, or how about spicy chocolate nuts cupcakes? since mom and dad were coming to town this weekend to help me grout my shower, i saved them some of these improved cupcakes as well. dad's is the unfrosted one since he "HATES frosting" (note the rare usage of caps for emphasis)!
mom and dad arrived with 2 apples in tow, to add to my other 2 aging apples, so i had to bake something to use them up. apple almond crisp! not sure why some of the sugar did not get moist, but it was tasty despite how it looks. 
but the coolest feature of the weekend was this sweet buffet/sideboard that i scored from craigslist for 75 bones. it's currently chilling under the mirror in the dining room that has the black wrought iron trim. should i paint or not? i was thinking of painting it black and sanding some of the edges of the whole thing and of the square details in order to highlight the details and lines. yes? no?
thus, the cupcakes became spiced chocolate and nut cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. hehe, or how about spicy chocolate nuts cupcakes? since mom and dad were coming to town this weekend to help me grout my shower, i saved them some of these improved cupcakes as well. dad's is the unfrosted one since he "HATES frosting" (note the rare usage of caps for emphasis)!mom and dad arrived with 2 apples in tow, to add to my other 2 aging apples, so i had to bake something to use them up. apple almond crisp! not sure why some of the sugar did not get moist, but it was tasty despite how it looks. but the coolest feature of the weekend was this sweet buffet/sideboard that i scored from craigslist for 75 bones. it's currently chilling under the mirror in the dining room that has the black wrought iron trim. should i paint or not? i was thinking of painting it black and sanding some of the edges of the whole thing and of the square details in order to highlight the details and lines. yes? no?Tuesday, December 8, 2009
christmas birdies!
finally! the birdy post! so when thinking back to my childhood, i always remember our sad christmas tree. all the ornaments were the same and were store bought in bulk, and the tree just looked blah. then as my mom started working at my school, she started getting ornaments each year from her coworkers. to this day, whenever i go home and help put up the tree, i love to think back to when we got each ornament and what was the story behind them.
so, i decided that i would put matters into my own hands and i would make different ornaments for my friends and family each year. it would be a way for them to remember me, and and and and, slowly but surely i would have total domination over their tree! muhahahhaah! this year's ornament: a christmas birdy! i decided each would have a patterned back and a coordinating solid colored belly. i got the pattern from the spool sewing blog and shrank it to 75% so that each ornament would not drag down the branch. total birdies made: 27! yes, i do have more than 27 friends. however, i decided that couples had to share an ornament, so that i wasn't making 40 or more of these suckers. here are the 6 different kinds:
bottoms up!
i made a gift tag for each with the gift tag craft punch i scored from joann's during thanksgiving break! the little angel is from another craft punch i got a while back at the dollar store. and the tags themselves are made from sample paint chips from hardware stores. hehe. i was helping my parents select colors for their bedroom and dining room and helped myself to many many extras in a wide variety of colors!
and last night, in keeping with the holiday spirit, i made spiced chocolate raspberry and nut cupcakes! they were way more spiced than anticipated (cloves will do that to ya), but i like the chocolatey flavor. here they are frosted (sorry, still suck at spreading the frosting)...
Friday, December 4, 2009
Thursday, December 3, 2009
do you hear what i hear?
said the night wind to the little lamb. do you see what i see?
christmas is in the air! last night, julia (my new roommate! welcome to dc, julia!) and i put up the christmas tree! it's but 1 foot shorter than me. however, we used the hallway mini table as a tree stand so that bunkins could not get to it. so, in the end, the tree towers over me like most trees do. the base of the tree was rather sketchy-looking because we couldn't get the stump to reach the bottom of its metal foot. instead of a tree skirt, julia cleverly used an old cloth christmas present bag that i had to wrap around the base of the tree! it looks like santa brought us a christmas tree in his sack of presents!!! i still crack up whenever i walk by the tree. hehehe
even though we only have 4 ornaments on it so far, the tree does have a cute glass angel as a tree topper. i snagged it from my fav dollar store next to h mart, the korean store i frequent. growing up, our trees at home always were topped by angels who my mom believed would protect us. this little angel is a little risque- her dress is transparent! gasp!
here's one of our 4 ornaments: it's the birdie ornament i made for julia and marcus, her bf. so i lied earlier when i said that the birdies post would be next because i still haven't finished my last batch of them... so i'm going to wait until then (hopefully tonight!) before i take pics of the whole set.
i finished the first of my christmas presents last night. mommy has the most ridiculous flannel pj sets from hong kong, so a while back she asked me to make her a summery pair. i found this really pretty raspberry and light blue striped thin cotton cloth from g street fabrics in the clearance section (!!!), and using the pj bottoms pattern from the weekend sewing book, i conjured up these:
the shirt was actually this $1.99 target sequined christmas tree tshirt that i found from a discount store in ct during thanksgiving break. the material was nice and the fit was femininely trim, so i snagged 3 to make summery pj tops. 
i ripped off the sequins and cut off the embroidery that was the tree stump and made a little faux button placket to cover up the residual glue from the sequins. the extra bold raspberry stripe was actually this ribbon that i found at home that mommy had bought in a big packet of ribbons. it was just what i needed for a background so that the buttons stood out more and were not lost in the light blue of the cloth. mommy tends to forget her belongings all over the house, so i made a kangaroo pocket to store her goods. and for the collar, i made my own bias tape from the leftover fabric. i hear there's this little tool that helps you fold bias tape easily. it looks quite like a seam ripper. everyone keep your eyes out for it for me, because it would make my life so much easier. bias tape is such a pain to make on your own. 
and for the bottoms, even though there was an elastic, i wanted to add a drawstring just in case the pants didn't fit mommy quite right. so, i made my own drawstring from leftover fabric and used the raspberry ribbon to cover up the seams. i love how well the ribbon goes with the fabric!
as mentioned earlier, mommy gets my blog updates in her email, so i'm sure you're all wondering how i could be posting this! i was so thrilled with the results of the project that i temporarily took her off the email list just so i could make this blog post! yes, call me a dork, but i know you're wishing you had a pair of these pjs!
christmas is in the air! last night, julia (my new roommate! welcome to dc, julia!) and i put up the christmas tree! it's but 1 foot shorter than me. however, we used the hallway mini table as a tree stand so that bunkins could not get to it. so, in the end, the tree towers over me like most trees do. the base of the tree was rather sketchy-looking because we couldn't get the stump to reach the bottom of its metal foot. instead of a tree skirt, julia cleverly used an old cloth christmas present bag that i had to wrap around the base of the tree! it looks like santa brought us a christmas tree in his sack of presents!!! i still crack up whenever i walk by the tree. hehehe
even though we only have 4 ornaments on it so far, the tree does have a cute glass angel as a tree topper. i snagged it from my fav dollar store next to h mart, the korean store i frequent. growing up, our trees at home always were topped by angels who my mom believed would protect us. this little angel is a little risque- her dress is transparent! gasp!here's one of our 4 ornaments: it's the birdie ornament i made for julia and marcus, her bf. so i lied earlier when i said that the birdies post would be next because i still haven't finished my last batch of them... so i'm going to wait until then (hopefully tonight!) before i take pics of the whole set.i finished the first of my christmas presents last night. mommy has the most ridiculous flannel pj sets from hong kong, so a while back she asked me to make her a summery pair. i found this really pretty raspberry and light blue striped thin cotton cloth from g street fabrics in the clearance section (!!!), and using the pj bottoms pattern from the weekend sewing book, i conjured up these:i ripped off the sequins and cut off the embroidery that was the tree stump and made a little faux button placket to cover up the residual glue from the sequins. the extra bold raspberry stripe was actually this ribbon that i found at home that mommy had bought in a big packet of ribbons. it was just what i needed for a background so that the buttons stood out more and were not lost in the light blue of the cloth. mommy tends to forget her belongings all over the house, so i made a kangaroo pocket to store her goods. and for the collar, i made my own bias tape from the leftover fabric. i hear there's this little tool that helps you fold bias tape easily. it looks quite like a seam ripper. everyone keep your eyes out for it for me, because it would make my life so much easier. bias tape is such a pain to make on your own. and for the bottoms, even though there was an elastic, i wanted to add a drawstring just in case the pants didn't fit mommy quite right. so, i made my own drawstring from leftover fabric and used the raspberry ribbon to cover up the seams. i love how well the ribbon goes with the fabric!as mentioned earlier, mommy gets my blog updates in her email, so i'm sure you're all wondering how i could be posting this! i was so thrilled with the results of the project that i temporarily took her off the email list just so i could make this blog post! yes, call me a dork, but i know you're wishing you had a pair of these pjs!
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