crafty mama

hot diggity dog!

2009-07-11T15:12:00.003-04:00

we made hot dog octopusses.
or is it octopii?
well, whatever it is...
they were easy,
and fun,
and, a little GROSS!
(but in a good way!)
all you gotta do is...
cut 8 strips into the hot dog
leaving about 2 inches at the top for the head.
then boil it for about 5 minutes.
the strips curl up as it boils. eeew!
we used corn for the eyeballs but you can use chips, katsup, cloves...whatever.
then we crushed up corn chips to look like sand and...
had an octo-dog party!
we made veggie octo-dogs too!
they didn't curl up as much, but they totally worked.
and didn't gross me out as much!

2009-07-11T15:04:00.007-04:00

every day my kids have choco milk in the morning.
everyday they beg to put in the chocolate.
and, they spill it ALL OVER.
and then try to LICK the spills up!
it's totally messy...
and sorta unsanitary!
so...i made CHOCOLATE SPOONS.
i melted some chocolate in a glass bowl,
scooped it into pink plastic spoons,
sprinkled on some sprinkles,
stuck them in the freezer and...
voila! chocolate spoons!
the next morning...
i warmed up their milk in a mug...
gave them the spoons...
and they stirred 'em up until the chocolate melted.
yummy chocolate milk!
no mess. no fuss.
HAPPY kids!

the seussical

2009-05-24T21:57:00.005-04:00

my 6th grade nephew was in the SEUSSICAL.
we went to see the show...
and fell in LOVE with it!
it. was. AWESOME.
funny enough...
mike and i saw it on broadway..
and HATED IT!
ug!
the actors were soooooo bad...
and CREEPY!
mike wanted to leave at intermission.
but these middle school kids...
put the show in a whold different light.
they sang the songs with their HEARTS.
and the seussian morals are all about loving yourself..
and being true your word...
and everyone making a difference.
i cried! for realz.
i could NOT think of anything i'd
rather my kids be obsessed with!

ruf ruf

2009-05-24T21:35:00.003-04:00

we went to the parkinson's walk...
to visit mike's friend dad.
he's awesome.
he has parkinsons.
we always go the ceremonies before hand...
to see people we know.
and to cheer people on.
it's really great.
and positive.
and people are out there filled with happiness...
and hope.
this year they had a face painter.
sha sha the clown.
she painted lily's face.
if the doctor's are half as good as sha sha...
i think there on the way to a cure.
i hope so.

happy mama's day!

2009-05-10T20:45:00.008-04:00

to all the
mamas
grandmamas
step-mamas
god-mamas
auntie mamas
friend mamas
sister mamas
dolly mamas
doggie mamas
kitty mamas
reptile mamas
and any other mama out there in the universe...
i hope you had a wonderfully fantastically amazingly delicious day!
you all deserved be celebrated and appreciated 365 days a year.
today is just the day you get flowers or chocolates for your amazingness!
big smooches and "you go girls" to you all!

how cute are those cookies in the pic? they're chocolate covered oreos from clever cookie - YUM!

FISKARS ROCK!

2009-05-01T22:51:00.007-04:00

hello to all my new friends...
pinky and tona and patty and peggy and stephanie and trish and debbie and rebecca and the rest of you AMAZING FISK-TASTIC PEOPLE!
hey...
i feel like that lady on romper room who used to look out into the tv and say hello to random names.

she never said mine
sniff, sniff...
anyhoo...
thanks so much for chatting with me!
i had a great time!
viva la tutu!

wait, i'm so confused. this time my photos uploaded all nice and small!? i didn't even do anything different!

why is my blog so HUUUUGE!

2009-04-13T22:58:00.003-04:00

is it me or is my blog on steroids?
i swear i clicked the "small" box for my photos but they're ginormous!
i tried to change the format, but when i did all of the pics got cut off.
well, no need to eat carrots to read my blog!
take off your glasses people.
take out your contacts.
heck, go stand all the way accross the room!
my blog is HUUUUUGE!

super stampalicious

2009-04-05T21:36:00.008-04:00

lily loves drawing.
lily loves stamps.
lily loves cards.
lily loves getting her hands all inky.
this was the perfect project for lily!

INGREDIENTS...
*erasers
*pencil
*paper - one piece of computer paper, a few pieces of card stock.
*ink pads - the more colors the merrier.
*linoleum cutter - i have no idea why i had one but i did! you can find them here

HOW TO...
1. make little boxes on a piece of paper.

2. have your kid draw pictures in pencil inside the little boxes.

3. cut out all of the little boxes.

4. turn one of the little boxes over and place it on top of an eraser. rub the back of the paper with pencil to transfer the design. you could totally have your child draw right onto the eraser but my kid gets obsessed with messing up so i avoided drama by doing it this way!

5. cut the eraser to the size of the picture.

6. use the linoleum cutter to carve out the lines of the design. this step is fantastically meditative.

7. stamp away! clean the stamp on a wipe in between each color.

8. make cards, wrapping paper, gift tags, pictures whatever. you can even color things in if you want with pen or marker. add glitter, beads, emboss them, write captions on them - go to town peoples!

springy blingy jibbitz

2009-04-02T22:52:00.003-04:00

the good news is...we inherited 3 pairs of crocs from my niece.
the bad news is...we didn't inherit the jibbitz that were on them.
(the shoes got too small, the bling didn't!)
so...
rather than waste my cash on plastic doo-hickies, lily and i made some to celebrate the spring!

INGREDIENTS:

*needle
*thread
*buttons galore: some flat (like from shirts) and some with little plastic or metal loops on the back, plus some decorative ones too (butterflies, ladybugs, spiders, whatever...)
*embellishments (silk flowers, rhinestones, bells, etc...)
*hot glue gun (optional)

1. thread the needle. have your child (or help your child...or just do it yourself...) sew a flat button to a decorative button (one that has a little loop on the back.) just sort of sew around and around and loop them together...then knot it. there's no real science to this - just make sure you sew it so it's nice and STRONG.

2. embellish the jibbit if u want. we put rhinestones on EVERYTHING!

3. slip the jibbit into the croc hole. WOO HOO! springy blingy jibbitz!

4. if you want to make a non-button thing into a jibbit (flower, felt, plastic or foamy doo-hicky) just sew a flat button to a plain button with a little loop on the back. hot glue your doo-hicky right onto the plain button with the loop on the back. let it dry for a few minutes and then slip it into your croc!

we made a whole bunch and had a great time!
the only problem was...it was FREEZING today and i wouldn't let her wear the crocs! oops!
maybe tomorrow...

ode to glitter

2009-03-27T22:09:00.005-04:00

oh glitter
oh glitter
so bright and so free
i have loved you intensely
ever since i was three
on my eyes
on my nails
on my shoes
on my girls
your inkly tinkly sparkle
even defrizzes my curls
i love you big
i love you little
and powdered and gluey
you make the birds sing
and the cows go mooey.
so thank you dear glitter
for being so true
out of all the embellishments
(pom poms, buttons, silk flowers, ric rac, stickers)
i choose YOU!

matching outfits

2009-03-22T23:34:00.004-04:00

the other day i said i never dressed my kids alike.
i guess i lied...
cause i just found this picture.
my mom bought my girls these dresses.
oh wait, no, now i remember.
my mom bought sasha (the little one) her dress at a schmancy store in ITALY!
and then i bought the SAME dress for lily (the big one) for $5.99 at the children's place!
seriously!
my mom went to italy.
i went to 78th street!
CP must have knocked it off...
and i thought it was so hysterical and insane that i bought them matching dresses.
but i gotta say...
i'm not into the dressing alike thing.
i know a lot of people that are.
like, some of my favorite sister in laws...(hehe)
but it's not me.
et tu?

faith looks up

2009-03-22T22:38:00.005-04:00

every time we go to my sister in law's house we pass this church.
i don't know what kind of church it is.
catholic?
protestant?
baptist?
who knows.
but it has a sign in front...
that always changes.
and i always like what it says.
for years i've been meaning to write the sayings down.
but i'm always too busy getting someone a sippy cup or singing the soundtrack to hairspray at the top of my lungs - so i don't.
but last week, i loved the sign.
it said...

sorrow looks back...
worry looks around...
faith looks UP!

i am not religious at all.
at all.
but i really liked this sign.

flip it to love...

2009-03-14T21:07:00.006-04:00

i had dinner with my good friend meredith the other night.
we haven't seen each other for a while so we were catching up on everything.
life.
work.
hubby's.
kids.
facebook friends.
fashion.
tv.
etc...
she seemed so fantastically chillaxed.
now, she's always been my most mellowest friend but...
she just got certified as a yoga instructor so she's especially peacey and
OOOOHHHHMMMMMM!
i want to be a little more OOOOHHHHHMMMM!
so i asked her to give me some advice on what to do when things are buggin' me.
cause things BUG ME!
lots.
and she said,
FLIP IT TO LOVE
i didn't really think much about it right then and there but i did later that night and i decided to try it on my kids.
every time i got frustrated...
cause i GET FRUSTRATED!
lots.
i tried to...
FLIP IT TO LOVE
and, you know what...
it worked!
for ALL OF US!
i'm sure 73 people have already given me this advice in some way or another...
and i've three books about it...
and oprah said it...
and i probably even gave this advice to half of my friends.
but...
for some reason, it's working for me RIGHT NOW!
FLIP IT TO LOVE!
FLIP IT TO LOVE!
FLIP IT TO LOVE!
i'm doing it.
and i like it.

hey, HEY, hey!

2009-03-12T23:10:00.004-04:00

i thought sasha sort of looked like "rerun" today.
well, a pink preschooler girl version of rerun!
i loved rerun!

i loved "what's happenin'!"
duane, raj, rerun and SHIRLLLL!
oh yeah, and dee too.
what a sassy little thang!

i think i liked "what's happenin'" better than "good times" because the dad on that show always freaked me out!
i did love j .j walker though...

maybe lily will rock that look tomorrow...

let it grow...

2009-03-11T23:55:00.007-04:00

every year, for mother's day, my kids' daycare gives me a plant from my kids.
actually, they give me dirt in a painted cardboard pot from my kids.
and every year, i OBSESS about making it grow!
for some crazy reason, i think that plant REPRESENTS my kids.
and i want to keep it healthy...
and make it happy...
and make it blossom...
and flourish...
and bright!
so i take it...
and i LOVE IT!
i really love up these plants!
i water them, i move them around my apartment, i talk to them!
YES!
i totally talk to my plants!
and...
they grow...
and grow...
and grow!
i've had to move them into bigger pots, and bigger pots, and one of them i even had to break in half and replant the other half outside my apartment because it was so crazy big!
and another one (pictured above) started to grow gerber daisys!
how gorgeous!
my odd flower obsessed doorman told me that they gerber daisy's are really hard to grow.
what can i say?
i'm a good plant mommy!
plants are easy.
it's my real kids...
i wish i could just put them in the sun, give them a spritz every, and say nice things to them to make them grow up so nicely!
oh man, parenting is HARD!

we interrupt this blog to say...

2009-03-10T21:04:00.003-04:00

you like me!
you REALLY like me!
...and i LOVE all of you!
thanks for reading and indulging my insecurities!
and now, back to our regularly scheduled blog...

katie and maxwell

2009-03-03T23:42:00.009-05:00

lily's kindergarten class has two class bears...
katie & maxwell.
every week a different kid gets to take them home for the weekend.
every week lily gets depressed that the kid ISN'T her.
but last week she wasn't depressed cause..
IT WAS HER!
k & m had a fabulous time chez pecoriello!
check out thier adventures...

how freaking cute?

if a blog post falls in the woods...

2009-03-03T23:16:00.002-05:00

...and no one is around to read it.
does it make a difference?

tee hee.

the name game!

2009-02-26T23:09:00.007-05:00

iron on, iron on bo-biron-on, bananna fanna, fo-firon-on. me, my, mo miron-on.
IRON ON!

i made an album of all my name iron ons!

HERE IT IS!

so...
if you have an alexander, jonah, jack, jake, cayla, lily, emma, sophie, aiden, jaden, max, benjamin or any other name that's been popular in the last 5 years...
CHECK IT OUT!

all you have to do is download the pics of the names you want.
then print them up on a piece of iron on tranfer paper.
then iron them on your kids t-shirts!
or YOURS...
if you happen to be "chloe's mom" or "jake's dad!"

you can iron them on onesies, blankets, burp cloths, brag books, or pretty much anything!

they're in juicy colors, and they're super cropped so you won't waste iron on transfer paper.

and speaking of...
some of them are backwards.
if you use them - make sure you either print them on iron on transfer paper for light colored tees (cause those pics need to be in reverse) or put them on one sheet and print them up "mirror" style - so they're facing the right way.
does that make sense?
if not, let me know and i can explain when i'm a little less tired!
enjoy!

HEY YOU GUUUUYS!

2009-02-26T21:41:00.006-05:00

hi fabulous 13 followers!
i'm totally making this blog for YOU!
to connect with you.
to entertain you.
to share with you.
to learn from you.
so...
i'd love to know what YOU guys want more of?
crafts?
personal stories?
shots of my outfit everyday to let me know what you think?
poetry?
recipes? (oh wait, can't help you there...unless you want to know how to make a KILLER pizza bagel)
confessions?
mixed nuts?
WHAT?

just lemme know...so i can serve ya up some good stuff!
ya seem i CRAVE feedback.
it's a disorder.
so i wanna give you what you looove, so you can write things to me like:
"i hear ya sister!"
or
"OMG! the same thing happend to me!"
or
"did your mama drop you on your head when you were a baby?!"
whatever.
i just loooove feedback.
but enough about me...

i'd love to know if any of YOU have seen the new electric company on PBS?
my girls are semi-obsessed!
i was a MONDO fan of the original electric company so i was pretty sure i was going to hate the new one.
and to be honest...
i don't.
it's pretty good!
i mean, i think it is!
i don't really know.
i get all jaded when something makes my kids happy!

like,
i used to be the biggest barney HATER!
ug.
but...
when lily was little and started liking him...
i started to think that he was sweet and charming and special.
and next thing i knew...
i was singing "raindrops and gumdrops" ALL DAY LONG!
what?
wait, how did i get back to me?
sorry!

so...how are YOU?

i love mandy moore!

2009-02-24T23:58:00.007-05:00

i was just reading life & style magazine (i'm addicted) and i came accross a picture of mandy moore.
i like her.
i dunno why, i just DO!
ya see, i have this thing where i decide which celebs i like...
and which ones i DON'T!

my decisions aren't based on whether the celeb is a good actor or does good things for society or is a good parent.
i just DECIDE.
it's a gut thing.

and once i decide, i'm totally LOYAL.
even when they screw up...BIG TIME!

like, i decided i love britney a long time ago.
and even though she's a freaking disaster, i still like her.
i do.

i also decided that i like...
jennifer lopez
debra messing
mandy moore
reese witherspoon
jason segal (and the whole cast of "how i met your mother"
jack black
howard stern (i don't listen to him but i decided a long time ago i like him and, like i said, i'm loyal)
jessica biel
jessica simpson
queen latifah
lisa edelstein
james franco
amanda bynes
will smith
scarlett johansson
diane lane
kim kardashain (what? i know!)
dr. drew
mylie cyrus
blair from gossip girl (not leighton meester, just blair)

when the above people are in bad movies, i act like the movies are good.
what can i say?
i'm a very loyal person.

NOW...

the people i decided i DON'T like are...
gwenyth - UG!
uma thurman - double UG UG!
renee zellweger - YUCK!
jennifer anniston - BLECH!
ben afflek - OOF!
fergie - GAG!
audrina - PUKE
selena gomez - ICK!
serena from gossip girl (not blake lively, just serena!)

AND...

i'm really on the fence about...
jennifer garner
drew barrymore
kelly ripa
anne hathaway
i want to love them but i just can't go fully there...i might even hate them.
i'm not sure.

there are tons more but the ones above just popped into my head.

what celebs do you guys LOVE/HATE!?

hindsight...

2009-02-17T23:19:00.005-05:00

one of my greatest qualities is that when everything is said and done, i always think i had a good time.
whether i did or not.
i think i had a great time in high school.
did i?
i dunno!?
i just think i did and that's fine by me!
and last week i had THE WORST WEEK EVER!
but on friday i had a good day.
so if u saw me on saturday and asked how my week was, wanna know what i'd say?
GREAT!
and everything was bothering me so much yesterday - my kids, my hubby, my pants - but i told everyone at work today that i had a great weekend.
and i really belive i did!
hindsight is 20/40 in my case.
or is 40/20?
which is the really good sight?
anyhoo...
i'm kinda proud of this quality.
it keeps me smiling.

smiley slippers

2009-02-15T22:32:00.004-05:00

one time i went to the dollar store and bought 11 pairs of chinese slippers.
i love them!
even though they have negative arch in them and they start to smell after about 7 minutes...
i like the way they look.
AND...
i like the way they look even MORE when i jazz them up and iron my kids' pics on them!
HOW CUTE?
they are so easy to make. all u need are some chinese slippers, some iron on transfer paper for dark colored tees, some rhinestones (or not) and a cute kid!
I KNOW YOU HAVE AT LEAST ONE OF THOSE!
out of my 11 pairs...
one has pictures on it from when lily was about 7 months old (when i bought them)...
another has pics of her at 11 months...
another has pics from when lils was a year and a half...
another has pics from when she was two and a half (the pair in the pic)...
another has sasha on one and lils on the other...
some i studded.
some i left plain.
and on some of them i put ribbon on the strap....
or a cute rhinestone pin.
they're all so cute!
i still have 6 pairs left.
that's not true.
i think i gave a pair away.
i have 5 pairs left.
i think i can put a picture of a five and a half year old on my shoe.
but when do they get too old to be plastered on my feet?
hmmm....

ps...my feet a little veiny! gulp!

iron ons, iron ons, iron ons...

2009-02-14T21:27:00.005-05:00

i just came across all of these faboo pics that i spruced up to make iron ons.
immediately, i thought, "i gotta go spice up some blank tees!"
and then seconds later i thought...
"i gotta share these pics with my 8 awesome followers!"
some are ones i made for my kids, some are ones i made for my friends.
they're all sorta retro and funky.
i hope you like them!
if u use them, take pics and send them to me.
i love to craft fondle...even by photo!
ok, this should be a link to the album where i put them all so you guys can go and download them!
also, let me know your kids names because i have SO MANY name iron ons. i made them for years for all of my crafty mama classes! if i have your kid's name i'll send an iron-on over to you!
happy valentine's day!

i think i started a new blog. oh wait, i did!

2009-02-11T23:25:00.005-05:00

ok!
so i started this blog because of my book.
i wanted to get in touch with the people who read it and liked it and wanted to bond about it.
but...i never really knew what to write!
ever since it started i've always been struggling about what it is!
of course the natural thing would be for it to be all about crafts...
but i don't get the chance to craft all the time so i'd never update it (thus, the 6 month lag time!)
then, i thought it'd be all about me. my thoughts, my kids, my life.
but...does anyone really want to know all about ME and all my crap? nah!
i needed a HOOK!
i needed a ZING!
and i really wanted it to be 2 ways...not just ONE!
i wanted to hear what YOU, YOU, YOU had to say!
so i started this new blog called...
lemme know what you think
i bring up situations that happened to me...or that i see going on around me...and i look to see what you all think!
i'd LOVE, LOVE, LOVE you all to check it out!
and...
lemme know what you think!
(subscribe to it too...if you want!)
and if you don't. i'm still going to keep this one for random musings and craft projects!
hey wait, have i mentioned today how great you look!
it's true!

VIVA LA ERIN!

2009-02-08T20:21:00.010-05:00

i really want to post all of the pics and stories from sash's birthday party this weekend but that's gonna take a while and i have a kagillion things to do!

so...

instead, i'll just GUSH about how awesome ERIN is!

erin has a full time job, one sick child, one crazy child...and she still somehow managed to HAND MAKE each of the kids in kate and joey's class a VALENTINE'S DAY PRESENT!

i love you mama...but you're making the rest of us look BAD.

erin made those adorbale YOU-tencils and YOU-th brushes in the pics above.

is it too late to switch preschools?

for some reason, uprooting my whole life to austin, texas just for an erin-made toothbrush and spoon would probably be easier than me remembering to pick my kids up new toothbrushes and spoons at duane reade!

wait, do u guys have duane reade? it's the main pharm chain in NYC! I LOVE IT! then again, i love ALL drug stores!

don't you?

erin, i don't know HOW or WHEN you do it...cause we have pretty much the same life and for some reason you're all smiley and adorable...making dinner every night. and i'm all wiped out and sleepy...ordering in every night!

btw...the chipotle was fabulous this evening.

btww....the guac with the blindfold SOOOOO didn't work.

picky eater CURE!

2009-02-07T14:11:00.007-05:00

so...lily has been the pickiest eater since birth. actually, that's not true, she loved the boobie juice...but once real food came into play she just wasn't having it.

mike and i would do everything in our power to get her to eat - bribes, tastes, reenactments, massage, magic, costumes, interpretive dance - you NAME it.
never did any good.
i used to ENVY my friends that would complain, "all my kid eats is mac n' cheese! what do i do?"

FEED HIM MAC N' CHEESE!

please! i'd love it all lily ate was mac n' cheese. but she didn't even eat that.
or pizza or chicken nuggets or hot dogs...or any other food, good for you or bad for you, that every other kid on the planet would eat.
NADA!
she didn't want to even be near any of those things.

however...

as the years have gone by, she's gotten better and better.
she still has a VERY limited palate and isn't into trying new things...but she's healthy and we know the foods that she'll eat so we feed them to her all the time.
most of the time, she even does well at restaurants!
we've also discovered a boatload of healthy snacks (thank you trader joes and whole foods) that give her nutrition throughout the day.

but...

the other day i decided to try an experiment.
i told her that i had something GREAT for her to eat, but if she wanted to eat it she needed to wear a blindfold.
i just knew that if she took one look at the refried beans in the burrito i was gonna make, she'd gag and complain and the meal would be over with before it even started.

she agreed!

and she thought it was HYSTERICAL!
lily laughed...and tried to guess...and wiggled in her seat in anticipation.
and then...

SHE ATE IT!

she ate the whole freaking thing!
yes, lily ate a burrito with refried beans and spanish rice.
i cried. (well not really but it sounded dramatic, right?)

i'm sure you're probably all, "uh, you made me read this whole thing and all she tried was a burrito! i thought you were going to feed her fois gras or something!"
nope. just a burrito.
and it was major!

i plan to use the blindfold technique on some guacamole tonight.
if it works, i have to remember to bring my blindfold to chipoltle next time we go!

try it!

IT WORKS!

3 down, 97 to go!

2009-02-04T23:26:00.006-05:00

WELCOME awesome new mamas - heidi and emily!
have i mentioned how great you guys look today? divine!
and yes kristin, you look faboo too! (ooh, i have to change your name from an e to an i in my last post! sorry!)
anyhoo...the subject for today is TWITTER!
what the...?
i am strangely obsessed and annoyed with twitter at the same time.
i think i get it...and then i don't.
and then i soooo totally do. and then i don't again!
say wha?
am i missing something?
is it just to amuse oneself?
i'm sorta amused...but i fear it might be at other's annoyance.
then again, is anyone really looking?
whateve.
now that that's over with...let's talk about my new liquid leggins.
like twitter, i've had a love/hate affair with them ever since i saw them on lindsay lohan about 8 months ago. they're so hideously 80s ugly...and yet so fantastically interesting and funky at the same time.
i've been stalking a pair with lily at filene's basement for the last few months and then today, after her after school program, lils and i went to filene's and they were $14!
how could i NOT?
i tried them on when i got home and while i don't quite look like la linz or olivia newton in them - they're wonderfully comfortable and kinda good. i'll take a picture tomorrow. for now enjoy the one above.
and like with twitter, do you care?
i'm really gonna try to post things that people just might care about...a least a little bit.
things that people will walk away with and say to the loved ones, "you know dear, i read something sooooo interesting today on craftymamas blog. she always has such interesting things to say! interesting, interesting, interesting!"
yeah, right!
i'm a blathering dork.
a blathering dork who is going to tweet!

kristin j is AWESOME!

2009-02-03T23:37:00.005-05:00

thanks for following my blog! you are the first and only person here! i'm gonna update my blog everyday, tweet, and do things to get the word out there about me and maybe, just maybe, you'll have a following friend in a week or two! actually, i'm gonna set the goal to have 100 followers by the end of next month! i have no idea how i'm gonna do it (short of give everyone who follows $10 for being my friend...) but i'm going to see what i can do! i love a good challenge (even if it's me challenging ME to something! this way if i lose i don't feel so bad.)

happy birthday sasha!

2009-02-03T23:25:00.005-05:00

operation "lose the paci" went remarkably well! thanks to a long lead warning and a big bag of mini-marshmallows! i wish i could give up my bad habits that easily! this pic is from the last night she ever sucked...(oh wait, i gotta rotate that!)

ya like my new look?

2009-02-03T23:10:00.004-05:00

i'm all eh about it!? maybe i need some photos to make it look right. here's a cute one of sasha from her birthday yesterday. i love the way my new nikon coolpix make the photos look all blue-ish! she kinda looks like her friend arthur, doesn't she? oooh...my little smooshie!

My Blog is LAME!

2009-01-25T14:32:00.005-05:00

It's lame. It really is. I know it. The last post is from AUGUST! Hello! It's the end of January!
I gotta figure out a way to weave this into my life...but it all about TIME.
I don't have any!
Well, that's not entirely true. I have time...but I have so many things to do when I have time.
There's...
1. My Kids: I work full time at Nickelodeon so every second I'm not working - I'm with them!
2. Work: I leave work early to get my kids so I can spend some time with them at night. That's all good and fine but it leaves me with WORK to do at night. ug!
3. Crafting: It makes me feel good to create new things...as well as make the old standards as gifts or for my girls so I need to make time for that.
4. Friends: I have 497 friends or so on facebook and I really care about ALL of them. Just keeping up with them is a FULL TIME JOB in and of itself..and that's just virtual! I love to actually make time to talk to my friends on the phone or...see them in REAL LIFE!!
5. Sleep: When my girls nap, I want to nap. I love to nap! I've been tired (but in a happy way) for 5.5 years! I need more sleep!
6. Books: Yeah, that one is low on the list. I love reading...but WHEN am I supposed to do it? I think I remember how, though so that's good!
7. TV: I'm addicted. This doesn't help with #5 and #6! I guess I could be reading instead of watching TV late a night but laughing and just cuddling with my husband is good for us...aren't there studies that say that?
8. Exercise: Haha! That's a funny word.
9. Family: I have a lot of it...and I really like them...so I see them a lot...birthdays, holidays, sundays...you name it, I see them on it!
10. Shopping: One of my personal FAVORITE things to do...that I don't get to do...unless I bribe Sasha with ice cream and take her with me really quickly to the shops near me (I plan to do this today!)
12. Mike: I love him. I miss him. Nope, he didn't go away or anything...but with the millions of things going on we're just so focused on everything else. Some nights we eat together (for 17 minutes) and then for hours we just do our own thing. We need a date night out of the house so we don't get distracted. The computer always seems to SUCK us in...
11. This Blog: See all of the things above! I have yet to figure out a way to fit it all in. And then I really want to volunteer, go to art museums and movies and just VEGE! I love vegging!
I think I have to take a time management class!
All that said...I have something exciting to report!
I MET THE MANIC MOMMIES and they were (and are!) AWESOME!
My friend Michelle has been obsessed with them forever...and she turned me onto them and I got the change to meet them yesterday at a Role Mommy event...which was all very good and fun! Kids made scarves and watched Thumbelina and ate pancakes and fries - what could be wrong about that?
So...that's what I have to report! I'm going to try a new type of tonight so I'll report back on that better. And...I'll try to be good about posting.
Who i'm posting for is a whole nother story!
Is anybody out there?

Where am I???

2008-08-20T17:27:00.003-04:00

Today it's Phoenix, yesterday it was Salt Lake city and the day before it was Denver!
I am LOVING the west coast! Not that i didn't LOVE the east coast 2 weeks ago...but this is like NOTHING i've ever seen.
Denver was awesome because i got to see my fabulous friend Sloanie, living it up Colorado style. She is a total BLONDE now...and she came to my event at "Bookies" and then we ate at one of my fave mexican places - Qdoba (wait, am i missing a letter there?) The whole day...Sloanie, TV appearances, burritos and all was DELISH!
Utah was AMAZING! i've never seen such mountains - they were so cool. i did a fun interview at the Deseret and then a cable TV show in Park City! OMG! I want to move there! it's like a movie set...so clean and beautiful and everything is so fantastically coordinated. Even the Burger King looks like a little chalet. Loved it! I also love The King's English bookshop - they were so fantastically friendly and sweet and my event was a hit! A bunch of women came and crafted and we all had a great time. On the crazy off chance that ANY of you are reading this - THANKS so much for stopping by and connecting with me!
And now...Phoenix! Phoenix is HOT...dang hot! But i'm keeping cool right now in my room doing all sorts of emails and blogs and work and facebook (of course) and stuff! it's all good.
Tonight i have a book event and then i'm off to San Diego as my last city (sniff, sniff!)
I'm having a great trip. I really miss my hubby and girls but this is a once in a lifetime experience and i'm trying to really take it all in!
Will upload pics when i get home!

For my MOM...

2008-08-16T22:43:00.008-04:00

...and a little SEO (search engine optimization!) here are all of the wonderful people who have written about Crafty Mama, Of course, I only included the nice ones here. Google finds them ALL..I get to pick through to see what to highlight (and what not!) No need for my mom to know that people out there DON'T love me!

Enjoy!

Fox morning news in Minneapolis

ABC in Chicago

Showcase Minnesota

FOX in Cincinnati

Mom Logic

East Valley Tribune

Ohdeedoh

24/8 Book Club

King's English Bookshop

Changing Hands Bookshop

NWA News

Etsy

OC Register

Kwiry

RN News

Cincinnati News

NY Sun

Cool Mom Picks

News Observer

NY 1

Upper East

APP

Nickelodeon's Parents Connect

Estasketch

I WANNA SEE YOUR CRAFTS!

2008-08-16T20:58:00.002-04:00

If you got my book and you made something in it...PLEASE, please, please email me a picture of your stuff. I'm working on finessing this site and I want to feature all sorts of crafty mamas crafts.
Hey, even if you haven't made anything from the book yet but you have pics of other cool stuff you've made - send it on.
Or...even if you don't even plan to buy or read the book but you stumbled on this site cause you're crafty - send me your pics of whatever you've made...ever!
The moral is...this site is called CRAFTY MAMAS...not CRAFTY MAMA...cause I want all other mamas to get in on the crafty action.
For some reason I can't make my email addy show up on the "about me" page (my technical stupidity perhaps...) so here's my email:
imacraftymama@gmail.com
I can't wait to see your stuff!

I love the NY Daily News!

2008-08-03T09:04:00.006-04:00

The NY Daily News wrote a really nice piece about me and Crafty Mamas this AM - THANK YOU Eloise (the writer) and all of the editors over there!
But...there here was one small goof in it. Crafty Mamas was NOT a blog first. It just became a blog a few months ago...5 years after I started Crafty Mamas...and it's, admittedly, a pretty stinky blog right now!
I know, I know.
I'm trying to figure this whole blog out...
What is it?
Why is it?
How is it?
I want it to be different, worth reading, interesting, funny, crafty, fabulous and not take up too much of my time so I can...
do my paying job...
and have a great time with my kids...
and see my friends and family...
and bond with my husband...
and do good things for other people...
and watch my shows or read my books...
and get some sleep!
Is that even possible?
So, thanks for reading the article, if you did. And thanks for checking out my poopsy blog.
And check back to craftymamas.com sometime soon to how i've spruced up the place.
Also, since I'm a bit of a BLOG SPAZ (or BLAZ as I like to call it) - I can't figure out how to put my email in here so people can contact me - feel free to get in touch with me at imacraftymama@gmail.com.
Have an awesome day, week, month, life...
Abby
p.s..incase you didn't see the article I'm talking about and you're sitting there all confused - here it is!

Nice Talking to Ya!

2008-07-30T22:32:00.003-04:00

Hello all of you wonderful people who listened to the radio yesterday and today! I had such an awesome time on my "radio tour!" Thanks for listeing to me blather on...that is...if you did listen to me blather on!

It was incredibly trippy sitting in my daughter's all pink room with sparkly curtains and talking on the phone to 17 different radio personalities! Everyone was so nice and welcoming and I really appreciated their (and YOUR) time! GRACIAS!

Sitting in the room alone got a little lonely so I took Belle (Snoopy's sister...or is it his girlfriend?) out of Sasha's crib, and Mia, Lily's American Girl Doll, out of her doll bed and sat them next to me. That made it a little friendlier. I was tempted to get some fake food out (pizza, pancakes, tacos and, of course, cake) and have a tea party during my breaks, but I held back. That said I read "The Giving Tree" while I was waiting for one show to start and I have to say I'm confused by that book. I want to love it, but something about it depresses me and maybe, just maybe thinks I don't love the moral. Hmmm...what do you think?

Anyhoo...thanks for listening and maybe checking out the book. I am going to SOUP up my blog over the next week so please come back and visit! Have a great night/day/today/tomorrow!

Happy 65th Grandma Susan

2008-07-21T21:35:00.003-04:00

We had a surprise 65th bday party for my mom which was not without significant DRAMA...but this blog is not called DRAMA MAMA...so let's talk about the CRAFT!

I bought the 5 pic frame at Target (my mom has 5 grandkids so I got the 5 frame - they had ones with more or less frames in it if your mama has more or less grandkids!) Then I had each grandkid draw a picture of my mom on a 4x6 piece of cardstock. Even the little ones (although my brother significantly helped with my 11 month old nieces pic!) Then I printed up little photos of the kids to place underneath each kids pics. At first I was going to write their names, but the little photos seemed sweeter and more representative of the kids at this age. Then I had Lily title it with Happy 65th Birthday Grandma Susan.

How freaking cute!

It was a hit with my mom and all of her friends. They wanted to commission me to do one for them. Uh...NO!

Lily's Mixed Up 5th Birthday Party

2008-07-04T12:39:00.016-04:00

It's Lily's birthday this Sunday (July 6th) but we had her party last weekend (June 29th!) and it was tres craf-tay!

Lily's favorite things change with the weather - Hairspray one day, Smurfs the next, Miss Spider the day after that, Annie that weekend, Backyardigans in the evening, Cinderella at 7:00 with a chance of showers...

So rather than picking just one thing as a theme for her party, we went with the "MIXED UP" theme! It was a Pinky Dinky Doo, Annie, Oswald, Willy Wonka, Backyardigans, ET, Miss Spider, Angelina Ballerina, Hairspray, Cinderella, Smurf birthday extravaganza.

For the invite, we made a collage of her favorite stuff and then printed it up on this awesome "jigsaw puzzle paper" we found - The picture is on one side, the info is on the other. Some people actually said they took it apart and put it back together!?

Then Mike and I wrote a silly interactive play - "Lily's Birthday Wish". Before Lily goes to bed the night before her bday she wishes that she could spend her birthday with all of her fave characters...and whattaya know...when she wakes up in the AM she's greeted by the SMURFS...then she goes to take a bath and Willy Wonka turns her bath water into chocolate...then she goes to breakfast and the Backyardigans are waiting there with a snack...and then she gets dressed for her b-day ball but she can't find one of her shoes. (Gasp!) But then Cinderella shows up and gives it to her. Woo hoo!

We created masks for the kids to color in when the got to the party. We found printables all over the web, enlarged them, traced them with sharpie so the lines were nice and crisp, and then photo copied them onto thick paper at Staples. Then we got a bunch of paint stirrers at Beacon, our fave hardware store (they're so amazingly nice they wouldn't let us pay for them!) and we used them as the handles.

When the kids got to the party they decorated the masks.

Busy at Work

How cute?

Then Emily put on the show...calling up the masked characters when she needed them for a song or a line. The kids dug it.

Emily even wore a Lily mask cause Lily didn't want to be herself, she wanted to be all of the other characters. I get it. She's herself everyday - why not be Smurfette, Willy Wonka, Cinderella and Uniqua today?

Then we all ate the puzzle cake we made...from scratch. It was all nice and organic and sugar free so Lily could eat it. It tasted pretty spongey and healthy (read: ug!)...but some people claimed they liked it. Whateve.

It was a great party. All of the kids got involved in some way or another and, most of all, the bday girl didn't cry! (A birthday miracle, right?)

Now we just have to figure out what to do for the thank yous...

Pipecleaner Headphones

2008-06-22T08:03:00.005-04:00

Sasha wanted headphones for her doll like the ones Lily had for her doll (of course!). So in 17 seconds I whipped up a pair of snazzy pink Pipecleaner Headphones. I could def improve upon them, but they made Sasha happy so I'm not going there.

I'm no longer a BLOSER!

2008-06-20T20:56:00.000-04:00

What's a BLOSER? (pronounced blue-zir) A BLOG LOSER! Someone who has a blog and never writes a thing in it! UG, I have been a major BLOSER! Until today...

But today I made a commitment to myself and Lipsy (Lily's white teddy bear with fake, furry red lipstick kiss marks all over it. She's right next to me.) that I'm really going to try to write about something CRAFTY that I did during the day...everyday (ok, maybe every other day.)

HOWEVER...it's not ONLY going to be CRAFTY like "Look What I Made with My Hot Glue Gun and Some Pipecleaners!" It's going to be CRAFTY like "Look at What I Figured Out...or How I Made This Work...What I Did To Save Money" kinda stuff too.

Sometimes they're going to be fabulous discoveries and projects...and sometimes they're going to be lame (sorta like the one today!)

But..."You get what you get and you don't get upset!" (or as Tanya says "You git what you git and you don't throw a fit!") So here goes...

CRAFTY THING OF THE DAY!
Lily hates her t-shirts and tanks to be too long. They have to hit her right at the top of her hip bone or else she's uncomfortable/doesn't look right because the tee goes over the skirt and it's bulky or it blocks the design/sparkles, belt, etc...

Normally this isn't really a problem because I just put all of Sasha's OLD (and too small) 18 - 24 month tees and tanks into her drawer. Mind you, Lily's going to be 5 in 2 weeks (and Sasha is 2!) But today Lily was fresh out of short tees...and she picked out a lovely pink rhinestone number that was, you guessed it, too long.

So...what did I do. I thought back to my youth and all of the shirt knotting I did. Remeber when you used to take the bottom of your shirt and put it up through the top (see above pic of Mike)to create a fabulous bikini top!? Well, I couldn't do that cause it'd look pretty creepy on an almost 5 year old walking around NYC (as oposed to how HOT it looks on Mike - hehe) but I did get to thinking of knotting and shortening and then I grabbed both sides in the back of Lily's tank and knotted them together. (see above pic of Lily) She wore a short fitted tee and was happy all day! It was a crafty miracle!

Of course I could have just CUT the bottom of the tee, but whateve.

OMG! You clicked on that link to check out my BLOG!

2008-06-07T23:30:00.000-04:00

Thank you sooooo much!
It's really not much now. I gotta get it together, add some pics, post more often, and really figure out what it's all about!
Hey wait...Have I told you recently how amazing you look?
Love the hair! For real!
And did you lose weight!? You're awesome!
Anyhoo...hope you're having a great day/night...and that you have a super tomorrow. Please come back sometimes soon to see what this thing is all about!

xxxx
Abby

It Got A Copy Of My Book!

2008-05-17T13:12:00.000-04:00

I can't even believe it! It's real. It's done. It's final and official and tangible. It's not an email attachment, it's not printed up on big pieces of paper bound together with a binder clip, it's a real, fabulous, smelly BOOK! (Do you smell books? I do. I don't know why, but I do!?)

I want to read it...but I'm sort of scared. It's been editable for years. I could change the copy and the pictures and the order and the layout...but now...it's forREAL. No changes allowed (unless I go to every book store that sells it with my little red pen and make them myself...wouldn't that be fun!?) I think I'll just flip through it for the next couple of days and take a few sniffs. I'm not ready for my official first read.

Happy Mother's Day?

2008-05-10T13:39:00.000-04:00

Yesterday morning my kids' school had a "Muffins for Mom" celebration. My husband usually takes them to school but I wanted to be celebrated so I took them...in the rain. I didn't bring the plastic for stroller so I had to hold a ginormous umbrella as I pushed a big stroller, with Lily on the boogie board, and several bags of stuff 16 blocks to school. Of course Sasha needed to hold her own umbrella, so with my non-existant 3rd hand I had to help her hold onto that too. Fun.

Sasha whined the whole way to school that she wanted to go to the muffin store, her umbrella flew out of her hands and hit Lily in the face, my hands were cramping from trying to keep everything together and I just gave up after about 11 blocks so we all arrived a little wet. Fine.
I was still ready to be celebrated.

At school, neither kid wanted to go in her class mommy-less, so Lily said we should all go into Sasha's class first. Great. But when we got there Lily refused to talk (or be civil) to anyone so she whined and clung to my leg. And then Sasha got jealous that Lily was clinging to my leg, so she clung to my other leg and I stood there, with my coat on, 3 bags in my hand, wet and muffinless wishing I was on a subway to work.

Sasha finally sat and had some muffin (yay!) but then Lily wanted her muffin in her class so we had to all get up and leave. Over to Lily's class....where Sasha refused to talk (or be civil) to anyone so she clung to my leg. Which of course made Lily jealous...so she clung to my other leg...and I stood there with my coat on and 3 bags, wet, muffinless and seriously miserable. I didn't feel celebrated, I felt like crap. I wanted to be laughing. I wanted to be dancing around with some happy kids. I wanted to eat a delicious Dunkin Donuts Muffin. This sucked.

I decided to go.

I really tried not to have any expectations going into it. This is my third year of "Muffins for Moms" and it's never been good. Actually, each year it gets worse. The first year it was just Lily complaining. The next year Sash was at school but she was too young to fully complain so I just had to deal with Lils. But this year, Sasha' totally verbal and a totally professional complainer...so both her and Lily kvetched the whole time. I debated not going...trying to spare myself the misery but then I thought that wouldn't be fair to the girls. Most of their friends would be there with their moms are they'd feel bad if I wasn't. That said. It's not like they feel so good when I am there. Right? And me...I feel LOUSY! What's a mom to do? Help!

I know this really has NOTHING to do with crafts...but since this blog is called Crafty Mama I'll try work something crafty in here.

Once I escaped, I took the subway to work and I read the Mother's Day book from the Giraffe's class. Each kid wrote down what they loved to do with their mom and Lily wrote, "I like doing art projects with her. I like to go shopping. I like giving her bouquets. I love Mommy." That made me happy. So I started to think of some cute craft projects to do with her. I think we're going to make wands this afternoon with some chop sticks that I took home from work (I had noodle soup for lunch.) I know she already has about 17 wands, but one more can't hurt.

That said, I shouldn't go to Muffins For Moms next year, right?

Trash Master!

2008-04-23T21:38:00.000-04:00

Ok, until things start moving with my book and I actually have something to say about Crafty Mamas, I'm just going to fill this blog with stuff about my life. I haven't really recorded much about my kids since, well, since I was 6 months pregnant with Lily (5 years ago!) It's pathetic!

I really want to keep a journal and/or a scrapbook so I can remember everything forever and then tell their prom dates about all of embarrassing things they did...but I don't. I can't. I legitimize this by saying that Mike remembers everything (well, everything that he WANTS to remember....like funny things that happen. He has an annoying habit of NOT remembering everything else...like closing the door when he comes in, and packing Sasha dried strawberries for her walk home, and not putting my bras in the dryer...I digress.) Moral is, I have no baby book for my kids, no scrapbooks for my kids, no nada. However I do personalized tee shirts for all of their stages in life - newborn to 5 years (so far...)

So here's a story...

Yesterday was Earth Day. I would have never know if my daughter hadn't told me 600 times. She did all sorts of Earth Day things at school, including making an Earth Day t-shirt that she brought home for me to bedazzle. Yes, no shirt goes unbedazzled. I really think she thinks this is just a part of life and that every kid on the planet has their mom jazz up their stuff (more on this later) Anyhoo, we were happily walking home from school when all of the sudden, Lily declares, "I have something to do!" She pulls a pair of huge adult latex gloves out of her pocket, puts them on (they so don't fit) and starts picking up trash from 70th street to 77th street (when she fell running to a trash can...and then cut her knee!) She's going on and on about all the trash that she's finding, the gum, the tissues, the "smoke things" (cigarette butts) - it's hysterical. Then she says to me, "Mom if you want to know what to call me, just call me a 'Trash Master!'" Totally serious. I'm laughing, but only on the inside. Cause I can't laugh on the outside at how cute I think she is or she'll get all insulted and then stop being so fantastically funny. Of course, while she's picking up all of this crap from the streets of NYC she's touching her face and her hair with her skanky gloves. Ug. The funny thing is it's totally something I would have done when I was little. I was obsessed with looking down while I was walking and picking things up off the ground. One time I found a used condom wrapped in a ball of tinfoil. Of course my mom doesn't really remember this...or any of my trashcapades because she never kept a baby book or a journal or a scrapbook either...

OK, I have to go and do some work now. And then bedazzle the earth day shirt. Maybe I'll cut it up too and make it super jazzy...cause that's what all moms do, right?

I have a blog!

2008-04-18T23:01:00.000-04:00

Yes, Yes, I know. I'm a total hypocrite. All of my friends and fam know I've been crazy anti-blog for years now and here I am typing away. But...if it makes you all feel better, I STILL haven't read the Harry Potter books. A girl's gotta stand strong for something.

I'm starting this blog because my book, Crafty Mama, is coming out in May...or June. Lemme go check and see what Amazon says. Wow, they're saying that it comes out May 21st. (Of course that might change...as it has for the last year!) So, I have a book coming out on or around May 21st. and I figured I needed a place to talk about it. Crafty Mama is all about making crafts with friends...for or inspired by your kids. The projects are cute and totally easy to make.

I have so much more to say about all of this but I'm totally tired and I think I need to go and watch a DVR'd episode of Will and Grace. Maybe I can find one that I've only seen 7 times.

Good night. (is that one word or two? Do blogs have spell check?)