World's Easiest Bangs Hack

If you have bangs, you know how annoying and unruly they can be at times. Like for example, when you wake up, and you don't have time to wash your hair before heading out into the general public.

Here's a super quick bangs hack. The hardest part of this is that you have to buy the curlers in the first place. But once you have them, great big curlers will be your time-saver for having perfect bangs. They work for traditional bangs, long bangs, face-framing layers, and the side-swept bangs look.

Here. My Conair brand curlers, largest size. Roll bangs around curlers. Go about your life for ten minutes.

 Remove curlers. Done!

My Dog Wearing His New Shoes

I came across a pair of doggie shoes at the Ocean State Job Lots store near us. As one would expect, they came in sets of four. I wasn't sure what size to get for my 25-lb. chihuahua mix, so I estimated how big his paws were and went for a six.

When I got them home and put them on him, this is what happened. We died!!

I guess my message to the makers of dog shoes is that they don't really need a flat bottom. We made it to the end of the street and then he kicked off two of them. Also, they didn't hold up well in the rain!

Knitted Cowl - Dotted Swiss Pattern, New Year's Eve Project

I knitted a cowl on New Year's Eve. That's how ready to party I am, people. Seriously though... sickness ran its course through our household in December. Thus, I elected to stay home on The Most Overrated Holiday Ever, and spent my free evening hours knitting to my heart's content while coughing the night away.

Here I am, triumphant in my knitting victory, at approximately 3 a.m. on New Year's Day. Even as delighted with my Swiss dotted cowl as I am, I've only managed to wear it in the comfort of my own living room.

As far as the knitting goes, this project was a breeze. If you know how to knit, knit 2 together and yarn over, then you've pretty much nailed it. The entire thing took me about 2 days... which is a record breaker for me as I tend to fall asleep while knitting, with my mouth hanging open and my circulars still clutched in my little paws.

Can you spot the boo-boo? I somehow managed to get a little hole on the edge there. It's small enough to fill in with crocheted loops, but I literally had just enough yarn to finish this project and not a bit more! :(

Cozy, cozy! My first cowl, what fun.

The dotted Swiss cowl project takes 2 balls of super bulky yarn - they suggested Encore Mega from Plymouth Yarn, and size 17 circular needles. Wait, actually I think it called for size 15s but I was told I should buy 17s because I'm a tight knitter. As you can see, this worked out well for me.

Here's the knitting pattern for the Dotted Swiss Cowl, courtesy of Plymouth Yarn.

What's Registering on Your Mom Radar Today?

At some point over the course of your life as a mother and wife, you will develop mom radar. This is not something instantaneous, but rather a sort of spidey sense that evolves over time as you grow in your nurturing and care giving, 24-7 on-call role that basically never ends!

Your Mom Radar registers the faint cries of your infant on another floor of the house, even as multiple parties are hooting and hollering or there's a wild and frenzied shootout happening on the TV.

Your Mom Radar picks out your kid from a gaggle of children on the playground.

Your Mom Radar has your brain indexing the entire contents of the fridge, so that when your dear hubby asks, "WHERE'S THE MILK" you'll be able to provide an instantaneous and accurate response.

Your Mom Radar has you walking into a room and making a beeline for all the out-of-place items which you must then return to their proper designated locations because, after all, if you don't then who will?

Your Mom Radar is a homing device for lost toys, missing shoes, old sandwich remnants dropped in the back of the car, and of course, the nearest Dunkin Donuts or McDonald's drive thru in any unfamiliar town.

Your Mom Radar sends up a signal when someone sneaks into the kitchen for a cupcake from the dozen that you planned to bring to the bake sale tomorrow.

Mom radar buzzes rather loudly when your children are in the vicinity of unsavory individuals.

Mom radar knows when it's allergies, when it's a cold, and when it's time to see the doctor.

Mom radar can thwart a meltdown before it occurs!

Mom radar can register distress on the face of sister mom who is wearily trudging down the aisle of Shoprite accompanied by an oaf of a man who is subtly demeaning her! (Yes, I really saw this).

Mom radar has an open communication line to Santa so that mailed letters to the North Pole are not really necessary.

What sorts of signals did you pick up on your Mom Radar today? Leave a comment, get a link. :)

xo,
Mom

Rihanna Looks Like Ice T

Am I the only person on this planet who thinks that Rihanna could be Ice T's daughter?

Black Friday Etsy Selections... More Coming!

"Meowy Christmas," "Happy Howlidays," and other great printed mug/merch designs. Now on Sale! From Heart and Willow Prints: 15% off - use code BF2016




Cute Cross Stitch Designs from Fuzzy Fox Designs:

Personalized kids' clothing from The Little Queen Bee!  20% off everything in the Etsy store. Include your child's name in the notes area when purchasing, so she can personalize. Perfect holiday gift for kids!

Hand Poured and Homemade... here's a lavender soy candle. Lots more available from North to South Gifts!  35% off sale: use code BLACKFRIDAY

Handmade jewelry in beautiful, simple designs using earth friendly materials. What a sweet holiday gift for your favorite earthy gal. Coupon code SAVE20 gets you 20% off from Earth Jewelry

Will Someone Please Buy These Prairie Dresses for Your Daughters?

Alas, I have no daughters. But if I did, you can be sure they'd be getting prairie girl dresses (a la Laura and Mary Ingalls) this Christmas.

What I wouldn't have given to have my very own Laura Ingalls costume as a child! This could have taken the "pioneer" game that my brother and I played as kids, to new and exciting levels. I could don my cotton dress, bonnet and apron, gather up my Cabbage Patch dolls who would surely be wearing their own prairie girl dresses, and we could do all the things that they did on my favorite show, Little House on the Prairie. Like milk the cows, eat horehound candy, dance a jig while Pa plays the fiddle, call in the cattle at dusk ("Hooey! Hooey! Hyaww!!") and other fun, prairie-girl themed activities.

Back when I was nursing my son, I had to figure out a way to pass the time and so I got back into Little House because one of the cable TV channels was showing reruns every night around dinner time. It was just as good as I remembered it!!

Thankfully, some lady out there (actually, a lot of them if you can believe this) is as excited about prairie girl dresses as I am... and she's made some for your own little prairie girls to dress up in!

Order your own pioneer girl dress, apron and bonnet for Christmas! In girls' size small thru large.