Friday, September 26, 2008

It's A Wrap!

Well, it's a pair of wrap pants, anyway. Last night I finished a pair of wrap pants for Sonja's dance thing next weekend. They're very comfy and cool looking in a bohemian kind of way. I've also seen the same style sold as 'Thai fisherman pants' and 'samurai pants'.

It turns out that these are really easy to make. It's basically 2 squares of fabric, with a horseshoe cut out of one side.

I had a bit of a headache getting the thread tension write on my machine so I could sew the stretching fabric without the seams getting all bunchy. Other than that, it's the easiest thing I've ever sewn.

That's 2 completed projects in a week. I think it's a new record.

Triple Digits

Hey - I just noticed that I have 100 posts in my archive, which makes this post #101. Who new I had that much to say?

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Hey, I Finished Something

It's been a while since I've actually sewn something. Last night I finally completed the onsie I was doing for my soon to be niece. I picked up some very cute fabric in, oh, let's see, last April. I've finally gotten around to doing something with it. The poor thing's been sitting partially done for some time now. I'll give a shout out and a thank you to Sonja for motivating this sewing slacker. She asked me to do some costumig for her upcoming dance routine and I really don't like to start another project before the current one is finished. So I actually finished the darn thing. I think it came out well. It was my first time using press on snaps, as opposed to the sew on kind. These are so much easier to use and I think that they look better than the sew on kind. I'll post a picture as soon as I figure out my new camera.

Underestimating the Mighty Blender

When I moved into my current roommate's apartment, I pared down on many of belongings, since his place was already fully furnished and there just wasn't storage space. This wasn't too much of a loss, since most of my stuff was purchased second hand to begin with. During the Great Apartment Purge of 2007 (alternately titled Let's Get This Sh*t Out of Here Fest), most of my small kitchen appliances went to Recylce North, including my blender.

So, fast forward a little over a year later, and I'm making split pea soup for dinner. I run my soup through the blender to get the consistancy right. Also because I suck at cutting up vegetables into small even pieces. Anyway, I venture into the Cupboard of Rarely Used Appliances, the place where the panini maker and the rice steamer live. I pull out the blender and my first thought was, Good lord, this thing feels cheap.

Now, you have to understand that my blender was pretty hefty and had a glass container. It worked pretty good and had decent power. Roommate's blender is all plastic. It's very light and it felt thin. I had reservations about how much power the thing was capable of.

And then I turn the sucker on. I have to say, it's an amazingly powerful little blender. Far more powerful then my old hefty guide. I was put off by its small size and light weight, but now that I've experienced it, I am completely won over. It's a bit like comparing a small sports car to a family sedan.

Monday, September 15, 2008

Shower Games

Get your mind out of the gutter. I'm planning a baby shower for my sister-in-law and people are expecting games. I'm on a quest to find baby shower games that don't completely suck.

My baby shower experiences are pretty limited. The last one I went to, we basically sat around, ate some food, talked, and oohed over the gifts. That seemed pretty good to me.

I did what anyone would do when stuck for lack of ideas - I turned to Google. I was dismayed at the results. These are some of the highlights of what I've found, which I will not be incorprating into the shower. No. Not ever.

  • Guess how big around her belly is game. The idea is that everyone guts a piece of ribbon the length they think will go around the mom-to-be's pregnant belly. We then take turns wrapping our ribbons around her. Whoever gets closest, wins a prize. Publicly guessing a woman's waist size is not a good idea in the best of circumstances. Mom-to-be will be 8 months pregnant at the time of the shower. If anyone tries this sh*t, someone's getting stabbed in the eye with a plastic fork.

  • Guess the flavor of baby food game. A variety of baby foods have had their labels peeled off. Guests are expected to guess the flavor of baby food. Whoever guesses the most correct flavors wins a prize, perhaps a bottle of antacids. Have you ever tasted commercial baby food? It's absolutely nasty stuff. No wonder babies spit up so much. And as a side note, mom-to-be is taking a class on how to make your own baby food, so she won't have to feed her kid that crap.

  • Feed the baby game. Guests put on rain ponchos or trashbags with holes cut out for head and arms, 'cause this is getting messy. We then take turns feeding each other a bowl of pudding with a baby spoon. While I am a fan of eating large bowls of pudding, I don't get why we need the ponchos. Is it so difficult to get a tiny spoon into the mouth of an adult? If that's the case, the new parents don't stand a chance at all.

  • Guess the poop in the diaper. I have to admit, I find this one hilarious and if I thought the crowd of elderly aunts would be equally amused, I would totally put this one on the itinerary. You get a bunch of diffent types of candy bars, some with peanuts, some with coconut, etc. Put each candy bar into a diaper and then microwave until the candy bar melts. Guests have to guess what kind of candy bar it is. They are allowed to touch, smell, and even tast the "poop". The idea is ha ha, we're eating poop. Remember that scene in the pool in Caddy Shack? You get the point.

  • Baby bottle beer drinking contest. This also sounds vaguely fun in a keg stand kind of way. I have it on good authority that it is actually quite difficult to drink beer from a baby bottle. No one is going to be able to guzzle anything. However, I don't think mom-to-be will be impressed with drinking games that she can't participate in. Also, I don't think the elderly aunts would find this as amusing as I do.

So, my quest continues. Does anyone know of any baby shower games/activities that don't completely suck?

Wednesday, September 03, 2008

And I'm Back

The internets are working again! I've been away due to computer problems. As it turns out, one of those problems was a faulty network card. And so, I am back online. Yay for me!