March 2010 – CatChick6 Creations

The race is on…Janome vs. Babylock…

So, about a month ago I said that I got a new Babylock embroidery machine…..well, it turned into a long and complicated story….which I will tell in another post…but to make a long story short…..my Janome machine is back….and working..or at least I think it is…so I need to make a decision….keep the old Janome or stay with the new Babylock….today is decision day……I will be doing a lot of embroidery today…and I will let you know my decision in a few days….wish me luck….

If you have any thoughts on which is best…I’d love to hear your thoughts and opinions!!!

Turning Forty-Three….

I recently celebrated my forty-third birthday…..forty-three…I just had to type that again. How time flies…as they say…

Well, it was my first birthday without my mother. And I knew it would be a bit emotional to not see or hear from my her. It made me want to go and find some photos of my mom when she was my age. I didn’t find a lot…as most moms…we are usually the ones BEHIND the camera, not in front of it….after about an hour long search, I found two photos. One is of my mom, one of my brothers and me on my fourth birthday. The other one is from Easter of that same year, also with my mom and some of my brothers.

In both photos, I’m wearing dresses that my grandmother made for me. I loved that purple dress. It was one of my favorites. She also made my Barbie a matching one. My mom didn’t change much year to year….she looks almost identical in this picture as the day she died…..

Play Dough from scratch…..

Okay..now I know that probably every one out there has made their own playdough! Well, I never have! And I have been meaning to for a long time…so I came upon this recipe and thought no time like the present!

River was very excited when I said we were going to make our own playdough..she immediately was ready to help! The recipe called for a cup of salt! I don’t think I ever used that much salt for anything.

It was a very simple recipe and in no time we were stirring away. Quickly, it became hard to stir….. though River didn’t want to give up…..

Then River decided she wanted it to be pink…so we added some pink food gel. The recipe said it was ready when it started pulling from the sides of the pot…so we knew it was ready to go!

River got down to making pizza right away….

Oh, I also added a tiny bit of mint extract so that it would smell nice. She played with the play dough for about an hour. When she was done playing….we packed it up in a ziploc bag for another day! Here is the recipe:

Homemade Play Dough

2 cups             flour
1 cup                salt
1 tsp                 cream of tartar
2 tablespoons oil
1 tsp                 food coloring (optional)
2 cups             water
-Mix ingredients in saucepan over medium heat while stirring constantly. It’s done when dough starts to leave sides of pan.
– Remove from saucepan and knead for a few minutes once it’s cool enough to touch.
-Store in a closed container.

Rolypig Composter continued……

Well, it took a total of four days for the squirrels to attack and win against the Rolypig composter! This morning I saw a squirrel with a giant piece of avocado skin and I knew it could only have come from one place! I thought this thing would have been a lot more durable! I mean it is a composter…made to be outside…made to have rubbish in it…..knowing that the squirrels will be out there….waiting! Now we need to come up with some type of a patch!

Review & Giveaway….

Megan over at Newly Wed, Newly Bred is doing a review and giveaway of my woolies! She did such a great job on the review and I love all her photos! Her son looks awesome in his woolie and matching hat! Too cute!! Hurry on over to her blog to enter to win a free custom woolie!

Ishmael Beah…..

I read Ishmael Beah’s book A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier and loved it. Well, it always seems strange to say I “loved” a book that is about tragedy. I thought the style of writing was straightforward and frank. It instantly became one of my favorite books.

Then my daughter found out that he would be coming to her school to speak! She is in Student Government and would be directly involved in the event! What an opportunity. They sold t shirts to raise money for his foundation, The Ishmael Beah Foundation. Last Friday was the event and she got to the official photographer and meet him. She had just finished reading his book and was incredibly proud to get the opportunity to speak with him!

Rolypig Composter….

WARNING…THIS POST CONTAINS DISTURBING PHOTOS!!

Well, this weekend we did a little bit of Spring cleaning in the backyard and moved the Rolypig composter into his new home. River was very concerned that we hadn’t “fed” him yet. Well, she finally got a chance to give him some “food”. I have never composted before…so I am not sure what is best…..what you should compost and what you shouldn’t compost. And I’m sure different composters work differently. I read that in about 2-3 weeks the first chamber will be filled and we can begin the turning. Then each week, we turn him one “flat”….and in 12 weeks..we will have some compost out his bottom.

Alright..I told you this post contained disturbing photos! And that is disturbing……I think shredded waste is ideal…but sometimes you just don’t feel like shredding your waste.

River was sure there must be something in his bottom already…she just didn’t want to wait 12 weeks! I will keep you posted on our adventures with the Rolypig!

Spring….

Yes, I think it is finally here…..I think it is safe to say…no more snow..but never say never….

River has been waiting to play outside….without snow… and finally all the snow is gone…at least in our yard…..

So I think Spring is almost here! Have a great weekend!

Counterfeit Uggs…..

Okay….so I don’t buy a lot of designer stuff..and I love a bargain on Ebay…and I guess I’m naive…..My daughter has been wanting Uggs forever..so I finally decided to break down and get her a pair…..but of course, I thought I could get a bargain on Ebay. So I watched and watched and watched the auctions and did all my research and finally bid on an auction that said, Brand New, In Box….I bid on them. I waited and my daughter waited and then they came…what a disappointment!

I really had no idea there were counterfeit Uggs and I certainly never thought that it is what I had bought. I mean they were $68….okay, that is more than half price..but I still didn’t think they would be fake. As soon as I opened the box..I knew they were real. Then, I did some online research and realized how foolish I had been……there are counterfeit ones all over the internet, and especially on Ebay!! (I said I don’t buy designer stuff much!!)

So, off we went to the mall to buy the REAL thing at a REAL authorized retail store!

So, I decided to do my own side by side comparison….just in case you think you might save some money…..maybe you’ll get a bargain..I sure hope so….but hopefully you won’t get disappointed…like me. Now, the person I bought them from did say they would give me a refund..so I am shipping them off and keeping my fingers crossed!

So, here is my guide to Counterfeit Uggs:

Okay…the real box is on the left. It is a two piece box which is very large and fits both boots in there without folding them. The fake box is on the right..it is one piece and has a handle.

When I opened the fake Uggs….they immediately had a “chemical” smell. They were folded in half. Also, supposedly a tell-tale sign of counterfeit Uggs is a hang-tag on the boot attached with a safety pin.

The next obvious counterfeit sign was the shape of the foot. The real ones have a slight curve to them and the fake ones (on the right) go straight down…..it is slight..but when you are holding them together..you can see it…..

The next thing about the fake Uggs is the inside “lambswool”. The real ones (on the left) just felt so soft and thick. The fake ones (on the right) were synthetic looking and felt like acrylic. Also, a sales person told me that all real Uggs have a bottom liner that are tan, not ever a different color. I’m not sure how accurate this is…but it was true with our experience.

The next thing was the soles of the shoes. I would say the bottoms looked almost identical. The only give away was that the real Uggs (on the left) could bend slightly and the fake ones didn’t bend at all..they were also a bit thicker and lighter.

The back of the shoes, where the Ugg label is was also a dead giveaway. Again, all the websites that warn you about fake Uggs say that the real Uggs (left side) always have the label about 1/4 inch from the bottom of the sole; whereas the fake ones always have the label raised up too high (and sometimes off center or crooked). Also, the writing is a bit different. And the color was just “off” on the fake ones. It didn’t match the color on the sole of the shoe as well as the real ones.

That pretty much sums up what I could find to be the differences. The fake Uggs also didn’t have that suede feel to them..they weren’t soft and textured like suede. Hopefully, this will help anyone out there who may get duped into thinking the counterfeit Uggs are the real thing…because they do a really good job at faking it!

Creativity…..

This weekend was my birthday….and Tuesday and Quinn were secretly making gifts all day Sunday….Quinn loves making little animals and people out of rocks…so I got a personalized rock person..yes, that’s me…..I know..I’m looking old….

Tuesday had fun making me “11 things I wish I could give you….and 1 thing that I CAN give you!” I always love their creative gifts…makes me smile! And once again, I wasn’t able to blow out all the candles!…but I still think I’ll get my wish!