Fabric Bowls

All of the sudden, out of the blue, for no rhyme or reason, all of the kids in the house have decided to sleep through the night. In their own beds. Its some sort of miracle and I keep finding myself waking up in the night, expecting a shout out of some sort to come my way but silence is all I am finding. And the silence sounds wonderful. Everyone seems have finally adjusted to their new surroundings, just in time to move. Again.


So yesterday, after indulging in a full nights rest I was feeling pretty good and ambitious. So we decided to get crafty with it. 


With the left over fabric from this applique t-shirt project, I decided to make no sew cloth baskets for each of the kids. The full inspiration and tutorial can be found by clicking here.

I originally made these baskets when I was young with one of my aunts in some dated peach and blue navajo fabric so I was excited to give it another go in fabric of my choosing. I am always looking for baskets for the kids stuff to keep them organized so this was a perfect project. 

Nyah hasn't quite got the hang of the weaving process yet but she was really into tearing the on inch strips of fabric. Oh, and she chose her own fabric for her basket. All shades of pink, obviously.

Love the pops of color these baskets will add to the kid's rooms or bathroom in the new casa.


Overall, after getting the hang of weaving the baskets again, I think basket making went well. None of the basket shapes were intentional. Each seemed to take on a life of its own as I got going, resulting in baskets that are as unique in size, shape, color and character as their owners. 

And you better believe that if we were still living on island time I would have definitely attempted this project with palm fronds.






(For the record: I used 6 yards of 12/32" piping for the large green basket and 5 yards of 6/32" piping for the Nyah's baskets and less of the 6/32" piping for the smaller basket. All materials found at JoAnn Fabrics.)

Crafty Kids

Creating things with Nyah always puts a smile on my face.


I love her innocence and imagination when it comes to color. No one has robbed her of her creativity by informing her what colors things should be. She still lives by the whim of her paintbrush of what her hand grabs from in the Crayola box, her mind free. 

Salt and flour dough project.

And on this particular day this how we kept Elsa occupied since she wasn't interest in the dough, except to eat it, of course. Bowls of split peas and a spoon equals hours (more like 30 minutes) of fun for Elsa spent transferring the peas from bowl to bowl. 

Love to see these girls hard at work.

Here's One for the Good Guys

No need to ring the alarm. Crisis adverted. My dinosaur camera is home, found all the way on the other side of the island. Steps were retraced and I was able to recall the last place I used my camera (can't believe I could actually remember). 


The girls and I had spent the better part of Sunday moseying the grounds of Estate Whim Plantation Museum, gawking at the local art, indulging in Starving Artist Day. If you have never been, its great. St. Croix is blessed with some amazing artist and jewelers. I was mostly into the fabrics this year. 

The girls really enjoyed the smoothies and entertainment. 

Guess who just had to dance?

Our little artist even got the chance to work her magic.

So on a chance, I called the folks at the museum to see if a kind soul had turned in a camera dropped by a fuzzy minded pregnant woman, and sure enough, they had it. George raced over to pick it up and it feels so nice to have her back. Lets see how many more years I can make this camera last.

I am so thankful for kind people who inevitably always renew my faith in humanity. I needed a little reminder after my rough run in with the rude, forward, down right mean crack head yesterday who was trying to beg money from me, the obviously pregnant momma, as I was attempting to buy food for my two children. Ha dude, nice people win...again.

The Morning Trek

We drive the same route through Christiansted each weekday morning as we make our trek to Star Apple Montessori. Same kids tunes in the back ground, same pot holes making us bounce along, same breeze blowing through the open windows. Everyone fresh as we start another day.  


We see these same buildings and signs each morning and each day we find something new, something lovely. So here is my attempt to capture the beauty. Garbage and dilapidated to many but beautiful to my eyes in the morning light.

The strong, the sturdy, the traditional, surviving the rough island life.

True colors shining through.

Our Colorful Family

As Nyah and I were hanging out this morning she sweetly and innocently informed me that, "Mommy, you are pink, I am brown, Elsa is brown, and Daddy is brown like us". 

She is so right, this is a very true statement and the first time she has made it known to me that she is aware of the different shades of our shells. She was informing me in a matter of fact way, like I am the odd one out, which I am. I reminded her that she is beautiful and she agreed. 


It has been on my mind, pretty much since Nyah came into my life, how to instill a positive self image in her and now Elsa, how to develop their sense of self confidence and self love apart from others opinion/approval and how give them the confidence to stand up to those putting them down or heaven for bid bullying them.  I believe one can conquer anything once they believe in themselves. Nyah's comment this morning, conveyed with such pride about her individuality, once again brought this issue to front of my mind.

It definitely took me a long time to realize my own self worth, and I still struggle with seeking approval from certain individuals in my life. I realize that instilling this confidence in the girls somewhat starts with me. I must set the example of self love. I find this both easy and hard at times.

I came across a great blog entry by my favorite blogger the other day, Rebecca Wolf. You can read the entry here about the importance in teaching kids to have confidence in themselves. She sums it up in a way I never could, and don't forget to read some of the comments, they are great too. I found this article refreshing as I am solidifying some of my beliefs and addressing my own personal issues with self confidence, self respect, and self love as we are raising our girls in this society. Its always nice to know others have similar concerns as you.


So let me know what you think and give your self a little love today, because you are beautiful.

Purple

Nyah chose to dress in head-to-toe purple for school the other day. Sound familiar? Scary?

I guess when I was around Nyah's age purple was my color and absolutely everything had do be purple. Clothes, big, bubble gum, etc. 


So history repeats, though Nyah hasn't taken it that far yet. Thank goodness.