Jyotsna's Journal: 09/01/2011

Friday, September 30, 2011

Fabulous Friday: No-Sew Colored Pencil Case

I was so excited today to see this no sew colored pencil case I found on Small & Friendly, because my sewing machine is broken. : (

I made a pencil case for Priya two years ago, but it was a tiny bit involved. This one is really simple looking. It also gives you a chance to use up some felt that you have sitting around, which means this is nearly FREE! :) This is the perfect type of gift to make for a budding artist.

Making Your Own Oil Lamp

Deanna Duke at Crunchy Chicken posted about making your own oil lamp out of a mason jar, to have on hand during disasters and emergencies. Check out her post!

Jyotsna

Fabulous Friday: 10 Guilty Pleasures

You know you have some guilty pleasures too. I can't be the only one. What are yours?

Here are mine:

1. I like to wait till the kids are outside and dig deep into the back of the fridge for my favorite vegan marshmallow's made by Sweet & Sara. Just like the non-vegan marshmallows, they are springy and sweet. Unlike the non-vegan marshmallows they don't have bone marrow as one of the ingredients. They come in several flavors. I love strawberry, vanilla and coconut.

2. Ghirardelli semi-sweet chocolate chips, right from the freezer. I keep them in a yogurt container in the freezer, and no one else needs to know where to find them. They help me out of the late afternoon slump.

3. 400 Thread Count Sheets. I actually have an old coffee can and I drop all of my change in it. When I have enough, I buy new sheets. I swear I sleep better on good sheets. I've been thinking about buying these sheets.

4. When all the kids are visiting with friends, I take advantage of visiting the bath. I put my hair up, light a few candles and turn off the lights. Then I slip into the tub for some much needed rejuvenation.

5. A good read shouldn't be a guilty pleasure, but with three kids, I rarely get a chance to settle into a juicy book. Right now, as time permits, I'm reading Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese. Make sure you take a moment to view the video associated with this link.

6. I love to watch a movie by myself, so after the kids go to bed, I go to Netflix and choose a movie that I can't watch when the kids are awake.

7. My kids are at that stage where they can eat everything in site. One of my guilty pleasures is to buy a small package of strawberries and whip cream, and make a banana "sundae", no icecream, with a drizzle of chocolate syrup. I don't feel all that guilty having this, but I enjoy giving myself something fairly healthy yet special.

8. Recently for my birthday, my Mom took me to see the Forain Exhibit. It is such a rare treat to visit a museum and see such beautiful art, that I consider this to be a guilty pleasure too. : )

9. Claude Debussy's Maid with the Flaxen Hair is one of my favorite orchestral pieces. Sometimes after the kids get in bed, I listen to this several times.

10. Spending time with my best friend, without kids, tops my list of guilty pleasures. We have such a wonderful time catching up, sharing and laughing that I look forward to this with all my heart.

Jyotsna

Thrifty Thursday

There's nothing thrifty about these socks at Yarn Harlet, but they are so fun, it might be worth it to make a pair when times are tough. It will make you feel thrifty!

Check out Yarn Harlet's recent wacky socks.

Jyotsna

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Thrify Thursday

I've noticed lately that Facebook doesn't provide the joy of sharing that blogging does. I need to get back to writing about my life, about my kids especially. Ravi will be off to college in FOUR years! It's hard to imagine that my kids are growing so fast. Soon, I'll be all alone and I hope to look back at my blog to see what amazing times we have had together. Without further mention:

I have thought about some of the things I can write about. I really like Wordless Wednesday, and I have decided that I will use Thrifty Thursday for one of my efforts.

When my kids were little, I was so busy crafting. Ravi was a lucky recipient of a cape and crown at age 7. He loved it and so did the girls when he outgrew it. Now, they have out grown all those sweet little things I made for them, and the girls are starting to make their own things now. Priya recently said she wanted a purse. I suggested that she knit one. Here is her cute purse.

Lakshmi has been studying our pumpkin that sits on the dining room table for some time. She kept suggesting ideas for how to carve it, and wanted to know if we could do it right away. Giving that it's only September 29th, I told her she's have to wait until the day before Halloween. Today she came to me with three "faces" to tape to the pumpkin "since we can't carve it yet". So this is one of them. I thought it was a good idea, and so she has eyes, nose and mouths that can be switched out using double stick tape.