Category Archives: Nana fun

Sewing with Boys

My dear husband took this picture. He thinks only the subject matters, not the background or a wadded up, dirty shirt.

Recently, when grandchildren Robert and Laurel spent the night, each wanted a sewing project. Laurel, 7, made a sleeping bag for her American Girls doll Kit and Robert, 5, embroidered this apron.

Again and again I am so thankful that I have some blanks on hand for these spontaneous bursts of sewing enthusiasm. For some time now, this denim apron had been lying in wait for its big chance to make a little boy happy.  And it did. Continue reading

New Laces 4 Sale & Fun with Grandchildren

Note:  This is the Fun with Grandchildren part of the post.  If you’d rather not read my prattle about our vacation activities just scroll down for New Laces for Sale. **********

What a grand time we are having here in the mountains with our grandchildren, Robert and Laurel!  Today was their mother’s birthday so  after breakfast they put on a little skit in honor of  the occasion. Laurel,7,  had carefully selected her “My Mom Rocks” tee shirt for the day.

 

 

Wearing this shirt, she played the role of  Shelly’s mother, Janine, and had a pillow tucked under her little tee shirt.  With an amazingly spot on 9-months pregnant waddle, she came out from the hall wailing, “I’m sooo tired of being pregnant.  I can’t wait for this baby to be born!” Continue reading

Costumes

UPDATE: Robert did it!  He walked right up to the performance area and delivered the poem he wrote about his PlayMobil pyramid with all the confidence of a 5 year old SuperBoy. We were very proud of him. He really liked his collar.

  We were just as proud when Laurel performed her recital dance without a  flicker of stage fright or a single misstep.

  Then she showed her quilt.  As people oohed and ahhed, an adorable hambone seven year old boy stood up and said, “It’s so beautiful it makes me faint!”  With that he clutched his chest and collapsed to the floor.  Just like Fred Sanborn!  This talent show was more fun than a Disney movie.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~    

Costumes.  That’s what I’m  talkin’ about—and it’s not even Halloween.  I got the call this evening that our 5 year old grandson, Robert, has made a last minute decision to participate in a talent show tomorrow.

Is this tacky or what?

Wearing this gaudy neck accessory, he will read a poem he has written about pyramids or mummies or Egyptians.  Whatever.  For this, the first public reading of his literary work, I volunteered to make our little Boy King a “real” Egyptian collar to replace the paper one he had created earlier.

He wanted this picture taken in front of the stairs because it reminds him of the pyramids.

Even for a quick and easy project, this took longer than I expected.  Throughout the process of selecting scraps, evaluating trims, digging through buttons and finally sewing, I reminisced about all the costumes I have sewn through the years.  That’s a lot of memories, all tinged with –or should I say  cringed with–uneasiness.  It just seemed shamefully inappropriate to be tracing off Sarah Howard Stone’s spoke collar for a pharaoh frou-frou. Continue reading

Out of My Comfort Zone

Tonight was Laurel’s 7th birthday party.  It was a big girl affair, not the American Girl party she talked about a few months ago.  Instead, she wanted it to be a “dance” party. Sigh…..

The ham bone in the purple leggings is Laurel, now 7.

In September, she added jazz to her ballet and tap dance classes.  Her cautious mother, Shelly,  made certain that this program would be done in good taste and age appropriate and it was.  Now, her favorite colors are red and black (NO!!!!  Those are Georgia Bulldog colors and she is a Gator Girl!!!!). She tells me that those are “jazz” colors.   She suddenly seems to be very grown up.

Continue reading

Party Sewing

Note the ever popular Happy Birthday tablecloth. Several years ago I made 3 or 4 of these. They have been through more parties than Thomas has been through tunnels.

The birthday boy chugs a cold one as he admires his birthday balloons.

Alastair’s Two-toot birthday party was a big hit with the children and as well as the adults.  The cupcake train delighted everyone and was so easy to make.  Typical of Florida spring, the sun shone brightly and a gulf coast breeze kept everyone comfortable.

 

My daughter Rebecca and I made the cupcakes and built the train cars the night before the party.  A Thomas train engine  pulled flatbed cars loaded with cupcakes.

The train cars were  built with a stack of two graham crackers with buttercream frosting holding them firmly together. 

Other graham crackers were  broken into “sticks” and stacked three high for the axels, with mini Oreo wheels.  Gum drops served as hitches between the cars.

We all enjoyed watching 2 1/2 year old Ethan surreptitiously pull an Oreo wheel from the train and pop it into his mouth.  His mother scolded, but  Rebecca assured her that the flatbed cars were there for the children to enjoy, just like  the cupcakes and their teepee train bags.  Continue reading

Granny/Auntie Party Favors

Countdown to Alastair’s 2nd birthday party has begun.  The children’s teepee bags, both boy and girl versions, are ready to be stuffed with the supply of goodies laid in by the birthday boy’s parents.  The Happy Birthday table covers are folded, awaiting the folding tables, the balloons have been ordered and the ingredients for the Cupcake Choo Choo are lined up on the kitchen counter.

The dishtowels are still a work in progress, but the night is young.  A few are finished for Alastair’s other grandmother and aunties to take home as a useful souvenir of the occasion.   The microfiber white towels have been embroidered with the same train as the one used on the teepee bags.  This design is from A Bit of Stitch’s Baby Petite Borders collection.  The steam cloud is filled with the party theme, Two-toot, the engine bears his initials and the boxcar is embroidered with the party date.

Black middy braid has been stitched in place for the track and a border of bandana fabric adds some needed color to the little project. The next batch of towels will have the steam cloud stitched in gray.  Another improvement will be to stitch the initials in a brighter color.  Continue reading

Two-toot!

zTwoTootbag

Sewing for Alastair’s upcoming second birthday party is such fun. I’ve only just begun and I am glad to have another week to sew for this gala affair.

ztwotootbag2

A few of the “boy” teepee goodie bag favors are sewn up and I am working on the girl version in more feminine colors.

As usual, a simple little project turned into something more time consuming. I chose the pillow ticking fabric because it reminds me of traditional engineer bib overalls, worn by little guys (and train engineers) for ages. Until he was six, our son had a new pair every year because he wore them out as he explored every inch of our three acres, climbing trees and digging “forts” under the cascading bridal wreath spirea by the clothesline. It makes me grin every time I see Alastair wearing this same garb, 35 years later.

For the festivities, Alastair will be wearing his overalls along with a matching cap, both of which I plan to embroider with “Amtrak.” There is also a red bandana to tie around his neck, but we’re not sure he is going to be enthusiastic about that. Continue reading

Summer=Sundresses

 

Almost 2 year-old Alastair needed daycare this week.  His mother, my computer engineer daughter Rebecca, was called back to work full-time for a big project so I am tending the little guy on the west coast of Florida while his parents work.  I love it but his presence adds a new dimension to the challenge of snapping photos for a post.

plain jane sundress, unembellished except for cat hair

The dresses (one embroidered, one plain) were carried here in a bag, meant to be ironed.  But Alastair thought that was not a good use of our time and nixed the session at the ironing board.  Okay, we’ll live with the wrinkles.

Then I wanted to sew three tiny buttons onto the bow knot on one shoulder.  But before they were stitched in place, Alastair snatched them from the leather ottoman where they were resting and ran like the wind with them clutched in his hot little hand.  As he ran, he squealed with delight that Nana was chasing him. 

When I finally convinced him to return the buttons to their rightful owner, he dropped them onto the oriental rug where they became invisible.  I quickly recovered the buttons and sewed them to the bow knot. Finally, I got things set up to take a picture. Continue reading

The Boy King

RTutCostume

NEWS FLASH: IT’S HERE!!!!  SEE THE MUSIC VIDEO FEATURING PHARAOH ROBERT, HIS PYRAMID AND HIS EGYPTIAN WALKING SISTER, LAUREL CADE, AT THE END OF THIS POST.  BE PATIENT WITH THE BEGINNING.  ROBERT INTENDED THIS TO BE ABOUT HIS PYRAMID BUT HIS FATHER TRIED TO MAKE IT ABOUT ROBERT THE RELUCTANT.
*****************************************
 
What a bargain grandchildren are! I give them my loose change, and they give me a million dollars’ worth of pleasure. ~Gene Perret  
I get at least that much pleasure from mine.  Lately, 5 year-old Robert has been generating pleasure and entertainment at an alarming rate.
His fascination with Egypt seems endless.  He got over Max and Ruby, The Wiggles, Transformers and even Spiderman in less time than he has spent pursuing his interest in this ancient country and its culture.

Last week, he wrote a short story as part of a school assignment.  Of course, his chose for his subjects Egypt and a pharaoh.

Later, he enlarged this (very brief) story into a play (one act) whose star role was played, of course,  by none other than Robert Charles, Himself.

He and his mother made his costume, a tunic ( read: pillowcase) with a wide circular paper collar, tie sash belt and wristlets .

Pharaoh Robert chose to pose for this playbill in front of the stairs that go to his homeschool classroom.  The staircase is reminiscent of the pyramids he saw last week at Epcot, though, he was quick to point out,  this sort of pyramid with stairs would be Aztec, not Egyptian. Continue reading

One Well-Spent Dollar

the honest-to-goodness Snow White with 6 year old Laurel, Snow White Jr.

This Disney Snow White costume/dress has more lives than a lucky cat.  It just keeps coming back!  Laurel’s homeschool group just spent the day at  Epcot and her mother sent this picture of Laurel wearing her favorite princess dress with Snow White Herself.

3 year old Snow White, aka Laurel Cade, Greg Wiggle, aka Robert Charles, and Robert’s constant companion moose, aka Moosie

The dress has a long history.  And just when I think it has finally seen its last days, it rises like the phoenix to be born again. Continue reading