Graduation Stoles

As mentioned previously, I GRADUATED! I am so happy to complete that chapter of my life! This post comes with a story, though. It goes a little something like this:

I was meeting with one of my professors to review my final portfolio at Sac State. We were discussing graduation, and...
Professor: I always have a hard time finding my students in the crowd.
Me: I can imagine. Everyone is wearing the same thing, and there are hundreds of us!
Professor: It would be nice if your cohort got together and had matching sashes or something. I always mention it to students before they graduate, but no one ever has time for it.
Me: That would be nice. It would help family see their person, too.
Professor: Well Wendy, I'm giving you the job then. Make yourselves visible to me at graduation.

Instead of saying, "You know, I'm not sure how much time I have, or if people will be into that," naturally I said, "Yeah! I think I could do that!"

Fast forward to my last classes, where I make an announcement to the whole class that I am thinking about making stoles (and ordering honor cords, but that's a whole different story!) Next thing I knew, I had 16 stoles to make in just a few weeks. One thing to keep in mind is that, while I have a sewing machine, I had never actually used the sewing machine. Nor have I used a pattern. Nor do I have a kitchen table at the moment on which to learn to use the sewing machine to make 16 stoles in 2 weeks. Yikes! I always seem to get myself into these situations!

Fast forward again to graduation, and I have completed stoles for everyone who ordered one, as well as a few extras for those special professors who have been with the cohort through our time in the credential program.

 I made a pattern out of cardboard to cut half of each stole. This pattern was based on the stole being about 80" long. I eye-balled the angle to the point at the end of either side. I sewed each half stole inside out with roughly a half-inch seam allowance. Once I had two halves, I turned them right-side-out and sewed along the middle in the back. These stoles definitely did not come out perfect. One of the ways in which they weren't perfect is in how they lied on the back of the neck. They didn't stay flat, but I felt this wasn't absolutely necessary to fix, since I barely knew what I was doing anyway. :-) This meant that the only visible seam was along the middle of the back.

                                                  With my amazing husband after graduation!

My cohort of fellow teachers. So happy with how our matching stoles looked in the end!

                          ;Wendy;

Bug-Themed Nursery Wall Hangings and Mobile

--> I made this project nearly 2 years ago for my first (and currently, only) niece Nora. Her nursery had a bug theme, and I wanted to make a few things to help make her room more exciting.

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--> Each canvas was 8"X10" (I think?) I painted each first and cut the bugs out of felt. It definitely took some finagling to get the bugs just right, but I was so happy with them once I was done! I hot glued a piece of ribbon onto the back to hang each canvas from. While the wall hangings took quite a bit of effort, they were really fun to make and gave me a bit of artistic freedom (although the size of the snail in comparison to his shell has been a long debated topic in my home.)

--> The mobile, on the other hand, required a LOT of cutting. I cut out each bug that is hanging from that, and let me tell you, my hand was SORE from those scissors! I took two embroidery hoops (one bigger than the other) and spray painted them silver. I connected them with fishing line so that the smaller hoop hung about 6" centered above the larger hoop. I then poked a small hole through the center of each bug. I can't remember exactly, but I either used a tack or a small nail to make sure the hole didn't get too big. I threaded a piece of fishing line through the hole and tied it around a bead to hold the bug in place. The lengths of fishing line varied to keep the placement random as far as how far below the hoops the bugs hang. As you may notice, there are also flowers on some lines. For those, I threaded the line through the flower first, tied on a bead to keep the flower in place, and then followed the previously described steps to keep a bug on the line as well.

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I remember going to see Nora and watching her stare up at the mobile. Definitely made all the cutting worth it!

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 The wall hangings are still in her room (after moving from one end of California to the other), and now that she's almost 2 years old, Nora says "Hi!" to the bugs on many days. I'm glad to know my niece will see these and think back fondly on her childhood room with all of the childhood-y memories that she will start saving in the next few years.

                           ;Wendy;

What to do with wedding cards??

I'm moving back into my childhood home in Fairfield, and needless to say, space is limited. Matt and I are (finally!) squishing our living space together into one room, and it's proving difficult in some ways. To clear up some space I've been (more like, "I'm planning on...") going through things to consolidate and downsize how much we have to fit into a single small room. One box that was taking up space in the top of our closet was full of cards from our wedding. I hate keeping things like cards tucked away. I want to remember special events like my wedding and the people who came to celebrate with us. Yet again, Pinterest "pinspired" me to make a book out of our cards.

I made the cover out of cardboard. I wrapped it in scrapbook paper and added on a doily for decoration. I wrote the words on with a fine tip sharpie and covered the whole thing in packing tape to keep things in place and make it shiny. I lined up all the cards so that they were flat along the bottom and left side and can sit nicely on a bookshelf.

Definitely not a huge project, but it's definitely something I'm glad I got done. :-)

                         ;Wendy;

Menu Board

I took inspiration (i.e. Pinsperation) from another blog to create a menu board for my family. This menu board allows us to plan for the week ahead. Each of us chooses 2 meals per week, along with sides/veggies, and the 7th day is leftovers. (The week shown was thrown off by us being out of town for a few days. Friday or Saturday is usually leftovers.) Once we decide which meals we will have, Matt and I can choose who will cook which nights dependent on our schedules, and our meals for the week are set!

I printed the menu cards on pretty scrapbook paper that I thought would look nice with the background of my board. Nice, right? I printed the name of the dish in a large print so that I can be seen from farther away, and printed the ingredients on the back. By making the ingredient list easily accessible, making the grocery list is easy as well. It can also help with Matt's picky-ness, since he can see the ingredients on the back to help him choose which meals he wants.

Main Dishes.
Yes, there are some extra special dinners from Trader Joe's.
I can't cook a full-blown meal every night!

Side Dishes are in blue. Veggies are in green.

All of the recipes used came from one of three websites: Weight Watchers Online, SkinnyTaste.com, or Hungry Girl. I printed out each recipe to keep in the kitchen so I don't have to hover over my computer screen while cooking. I definitely love my new system!

I made this one last night and served it over white rice; it was SO GOOD! Here's the link:
http://www.skinnytaste.com/2011/10/crock-pot-asian-pork-with-mushrooms.html

                        ;Wendy;

Long Time, No Update...

Obviously, I'm not good at blogging during the busy times of my life. Summarized update on life follows:

- I graduated! Yay!!! I decided to drop the MA program and completed two credentials. I am now a credentialed teacher for Mild/Moderate Disabilities and a Multiple Subject (Elementary). Very excited! I have been applying for jobs, and have a potential assignment lined up, although I won't be posting specifics on here. :-)

- I am moving back to Fairfield after spending 6 years in Sacramento. It will be/has been an adjustment, but I am happy to be coming home. Now I will be able to see my husband, family, and pets all week long instead of just on the weekends!

Truly, my life outside of home and school/work is mostly non-existent. At this point, I am planning on using this blog to document my craft projects, classroom, and cooking. Personal things will be posted on here, keeping a record of my life, but usually/hopefully in relation to one of those three aspects.