Monthly Muse

It is so easy to become overloaded, over-committed, and overwhelmed in this crazy world of ours. So, at the last post of each calendar month, we will be looking back at all the things we've been up to. It's nice to look back and reflect on the things we learned and accomplished- not to mention motivating! So here we go:

1. Raspberry Gelée 
2. Lavender & Honey Marshmallows
3. Making Espresso 

1. iPhone HDR
2. St. Patrick's Day Wreath 
3. Making a Bowtie
4. Cuff links
5. Easter egg decorating

 

1. Gratuitous Cat Pictures
2. Fred's Birthday
3. Awkward Cats 
4. Leslie's Birthday

1. Sofa Sneak Peek
2. Changing the Air Filter

1. DIY Details
2. The Food
3. Dessert

WOW! I feel so much better now. We've really been going through the full range of human experience, right? I mean: cats, wedding, air filters, sofas.... what more do you need?!

Next week will be the final week for Wedding Wednesday as we begin the process of changing web hosts and other boring technical stuff. It does, however, mean that in just 10 short days, there will be a whole new look for "theteardos"

I hope everyone has a wonderful Easter! Hoppity hoppity.

A good egg (or four)

Or, how to decorate eggs stylishly for $3.50.

I love embracing my inner child. Like, giving her a big hug and swinging her around while singing a little Rick Astley. I've got it stuck in your head now, don't I? Yeah, me too. Let's sing it together!!

 

Never gonna give you up

Never gonna let you down

Never gonna run around and desert you

Never gonna make you cry

Never gonna say goodbye

Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you

Nice moves everybody! At the very least, we're primed for next weeks "Wedding Wednesday" which is gonna showcase some of the smooth moves on the dance floor. Oh yeeeeeeaaahhhhhhhh. (Now I've got that "bow bow" theme from Ferris Bueller's Day Off stuck in my head. I'm having quite the 80s day!

Anywhoooooo, back to the post. I don't know how many years it's been since I've decorated an Easter egg. But I do know, it's been much too long! So earlier this week I asked ft to grab some eggs at the supermarket and I got some supplies at Target. I wanted to do something beyond the normal dyeing process but not anything too complicated (read: expensive). So, as luck would have it, Target came through with these:

 

They were in the dollar section (woot!) so I picked up a couple of them (one with letters and one with swirls) and a $1.50 dyeing kit from over in the Easter section. *I would like to quickly note (and receive subsequent points) for the amount of self control it took to go through the Easter candy section and not buy any :-)

 

So after we hard boiled the eggs, we broke out some plastic cups we had lying around. (Which we will be reusing for painting, btw) and started the process. I first used the water-only method because I wanted pastel eggs. Well, it overachieved a bit, as in, barely any discernible color. So, we switched to the vinegar method (see the back of the box) and that worked a lot better.

 

 

 

So then, it was only the matter of cutting out the shapes we wanted to use and then rubbing them onto the eggs. Because of the letters (and I had four eggs) I decided to do one for each of the members of our little family:

Me

 

Freddy-T

 

Pandora

 

Maggie

Ta da! (Have I been saying that at the bottom of every crafty post?)

Happy crafting! And a big Rick Astley-style hug to all musicians as the Holy Week crazy amps up today.

 

Wedding Wednesday: Dessert

Yum. Yummy McYumminess. Droooool....

Now that I've gotten that out of my system...

 

 

 

 

See? Yum.

 

Since today's post is a little late, I'll be back in a few hours with a bonus post.

See you on the flip side!

Cuff 'im!

Today we're finishing up the details of ft's birthday. For a long time, I planned on giving him a handmade bow tie (as in yesterday's post). While I was thinking it through, I got ambitious (It happens... if only occasionally) and I thought, "what if I also make matching cuff links? That would be cool!" Then began a mad search for cuff link backs, as it was already Tuesday and getting them online wasn't really an option.

I searched and searched for another option without having to purchase anything super specialized. But nope. No love. Zilch, nadda, nein. So improvise we must! Here's how I did it:

What you need:

• Leftover interfaced fabric from bow tie
• Needle & thread
• Button making kit
• 1/4 inch plain buttons

What to do:

Using the template on the back of the kit, cut two circles & assemble button. Here are the steps in pictures:

 

 

And here's a slightly overwrought illustration of the assembly:

 

 

So cool, right? So then I took my needle & thread and the small button and held them about half an inch apart, passing the thread back and forth through the fabric button and the loop of the new button.

 

Then I wrapped the thread around and around, and then secured in the middle.

 

Note to self: get a manicure

Ta da!

I should mention that cuff link blank backs are available online from many sources. Naturally, that would probably be easier but it wasn't an option this time!

 

Ta da!

Happy crafting!

Bow Ties, Oh My! [part the first]

As you might have noticed (via various social media sites, and oh yeah, this blog post) that my hubby-mc-hubster celebrated a birthday last week. I love, whenever I can, to make something for him holidays. I like the process of trying to discern just the thing he would enjoy.

So this year, I decided that mah man needed a new bow tie. Oh, and while I was at it, I would make a matching pocket square and cuff links (those details come tomorrow).

This is how it went down:

Because this was going to be a one-size-only-fitting-Fred kind of tie (aka, not adjustable), I knew that I would need to make double sure that it would fit him. So, I grabbed from our closet one of his ties that I knew he has worn multiple times (and checked the others to make sure they were similarly adjusted)

To make your man (or yourself!) a bow tie:

What you need:

• A owned & loved bow tie
• 2 fabric "quarters" from the craft store (or half a yard)
• Thread
• Pattern-making fabric
• Lightweight fusible interfacing
• Ruler
• Pencil
• Iron & ironing board
• Straight pins
• Hand sewing needle

 

What to do:

1. Fold the tie in half and lay over the pattern making material. Trace.

2. Using a ruler, mark all the way around 5/8ths of an inch from trace mark.

 

3. At top of new measurements, and 5/8ths of an inch above fold line of original tie, mark diagonal line for bias seam. (forgive the multiple lines- this one took me a few tries to get right)

 

4. Cut out the pattern where you made the 5/8th inch markings.

 

5. Fuse the interface to the wrong side of the tie fabric, following the directions on the package.

 

 

6. Cut out 4 identical pieces, using the pattern.

 

 

7. Taking two pieces, pin them together, right side together, at a 90 degree angle so that the seam will result in even sides (see picture). Do this twice.

 

 

8. Right side facing, pin together long pieces (basically resulting in an inside out bow tie)

 

 

9. Sew together, but leave a long stretch on one side of the back un-sewn.

 

 

10. Trim sides and cut Vs at especially bendy sections (yes, that's the techical way of saying that. Har.)

 

 

11. Using the back end of the pencil, turn tie right side out.

 

 

12. Iron the un-sewn section so the pieces will fold in properly. Then, sew by hand.

 

 

13. Enjoy!

 

 

Cuff link details tomorrow. (For the pocket square, just determine what size you want and then hem.)

 

My girl.

This is a The Teardos Special Edition.

You know I had to.  I just had to.

Today is Palm Sunday, the official start of Holy Week.  Translation for the Teardo household:  utter chaos and not much seeing each other until a week from this afternoon.  But this year, things are a little different with this "kick-off" as we also get to celebrate one of *my* favorite days of any year:  Leslie's birthday.  It's true that I may not be very fond of my own birthday, but I relish in others.  Celebrating life is a good thing - something we all ought to do a bit more often in my opinion (just not on my birthday). Celebrating Leslie's life today is, ironically, a way of expressing gratitude for my own.  Simply put, my life would not be as wonderful, love-filled, richly blessed, delicious, warm, clean, color-coordinated, organized, easy, kitten-adorned, fashionable, fun, funny, and plain worth living if not for Leslie being at the very center of my existence.  Without her, I merely exist.

Thank you, sweetheart, for allowing me to share your life adventure with you.  Happy Birthday!!

And now, payback time, courtesy of my father-in-law.  Thanks Robert!  Of course, the joke's on me, since she's the cuter one.

Here she's already practicing for Palm Sunday:

And now for your "Moment of Irony".....

Bet she didn't see THAT one coming!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LESLIE!!!

Some awkwardness to start your day

Yes. This is a cat post. Fair warning.
It's been a little while since we've caught you up on some pictures of the cats. (Well, it seems like a while to us, at least). And since I've been learning how to better use my camera, I've been taking a lot more photos around the house.

I present to you, therefore, for your end-of-the-week delectation:

"cats suffering through affection"

(no cats were harmed in the making of these photos)

(I know this post is very Pandora-heavy [pun intended] but as you can see, the normal way of things in our house is that Pandora is kooky and awkward, while Maggie usually sits in judgement.)

Have a great weekend everyone!