My little mermaid costume

For Halloween last year my 4 year old decided she wanted to be #Ariel, the only princess that she didn't already have in her bin of dresses.  Since I have vowed never to buy a #cheap, itchy,# made
in china, #one size fits all, unoriginal, #Party City #Halloween costume, I decided to make it from scratch. I typically make our #costumes home made but usually I draw the line at #hot glue for seams.
This costume would require some sewing to make it fit right. Just a simple stitch with # no sewing machine would have to do for sewing is not one of my trades.
When I make a costume I usually have a few reuseable items from home for my inspiration. This is what I had to start:

• 1 Ariel fancy beaded tiara 
• tons of seashells I have collected
• a cheap, elastic waisted, #purple tutu from # Michaels
• purple magic wand thingy
• needle and thread 
• of course hot glue & gun
• yard stick

I went to the #Yardage Town the fabric store armed with a 30 percent coupon and an open mind. I aimed to make a #fin/skirt, a top, a cape and a septor/ microphone. I tried to find a pattern but they only had an ugly mermaid dress.
 Here is what I bought all in 1 small, local shopping center ;

• 1 yard of teal, stretchy, velour fabric for the fin/ skirt 
• 1/2 yard of lavender, stretchy, velour material for the top
• 1/2 yard turquoise net would be used for fin and cape 
•  an Ariel patch for the top
• 1/2 tard teal sequin trim
• 1/2 yard green elastic sequin bands 
• Gold sparkly shoes found at second hand store

I will now try to show how I made the costume:

Cut 2 same size pieces for skirt out of teal velour.
Measure from waist to floor and slightly taper towards feet.
Turn pieces soft side in and sew each side with an over/ under stitch
leaving a slit on each side for walking.
Hem a  long ribbon inside top of the skirt leaving a short slit in the back for ribbon to come out and tie together to allow for loosening and tightening.
Cut tutu in half and stitch onto top of teal skirt, leaving back slit open.

Cut 2 tank shapes and turn soft material facing in.
Sew together the sides with over under stitch leaving armpit. tummy and neck holes.
Sew together shoulder straps and turn right side in.

Hot glue Ariel patch in the middle of top.
Cut 2 pieces of teal sequin trim for neck embellishment.
Hot glue trim to front and back of neckline.





For the fin, get the blue netting and measure around the calf (enough for bunching so child can walk)
Cut large rectangle piece and fold in half .
Cut and measure piece of green, elastic, sequin band loosely around calf.
Hot glue folded netting onto sequin band in gathers every inch.
Sew fin onto velour skirt at mid calf, leaving room in thread length/stitch, to walk.






For the Cape use left over velour piece and cut to large rectangle.
Cut 2 small pieces of leftover blue net.
Hot glue them in gathers, to soft side of a strip of teal velour (long enough to tie around neck loosely).
Glue a small piece of teal, sequin trim over net and velour strip.
Glue or sew net strip to the large velour rectangle in gathers.

'Spa' day at the beach

A beautiful sunny day in Encinitas can only lead you to one place.... the beach. For the kids its a great way to let them run and play freely. For you it is a workout to get there and home and you can hope for a little rest and a tan in between. Childhood memories helped me recreate this idea for to keep my daughter happy, clean and close by.
My father the cop used to flex his guns and get dirty for us, digging out the coolest jacuzzi. It was huge, complete with seats, a step and deep enough to stand in. My spa is a litlle less extreme but provides hours of giggles.
Once you have set up camp you can start digging your hole. Depending on your kid, the hole should be about 4- 6 feet in diameter. Digging is a great ab workout... On both knees face hole ( sounds good) and pull dirt toward you with both hands and move it away form edge. You will need these piles of sand to secure your plastic. You will look ridiculous but who cares it pays off. I suggest making your hole close to your camp and making a step for little ones to sit on in the water. If on the slope have the step towards the water.
The trick to keeping the water from drying up is the heavy duty plastic. This can be found at home improvement stores or made from heavy duty yard trash bags. Plastic needs to be cut much larger than the hole about 10-12 square feet. Lay the plastic in the hole and pile the sand on the corners sticking out.
Now its time for fill up, the next workut and we put the children to work. Get the buckets and head back and forth to the water.
It is a lot of work but the kids can hang out in there forever and you can always have a place to rinse hands and toys at the end of the day. That is as long as they dont poo in the pool.
People will walk by and envy your pool. sure you Here is a beach checklist to make sure you dont forget the important stuff and can spend the entire day.

• lunch, snacks, ice in a small cooler
• blankets, towels
• umbrella if not windy
• sand toys, big buckets, shovel one large
• surfboard/ boogie board
• sunblock, chapstick
• hats, glasses
• diapers, swimmers
• chairs
• camera
• change of clothes
• wipes/ paper towels
• water
• small trash bag
• Large circle of painters plastic
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

3 year old Bubble Guppy birthday

With creativity, patience, stock craft supplies and a photo printer I made my daughters 3rd birthday one that she and everyone else will remember. If this is the theme you choose for your child keep in mind there is no merchandising for this show.
 I first tried to print my invitations off of the nikjr website. That was annoying because the website would freeze before printing so instead i went to google images.
                                                                              Happy Birthday                                 

 Place:
 Date:
 Time:
 RSVP
Our little mermaid is turning 3
and she wants to be a bubble guppy.
Come and help her celebrate
                                                                   with a party on her special date.
                                                                   Join us for games, lunch and fishing
                                                                   along with cake, candles and wishing.
I printed the picture on cardstock
and the printed text on regular paper.
I made smaller rectangles with text and
glued to back of picture. Mailed out in
 colorful envelopes.
    For the childrens games I came up with some gender and age neutral ones:
Fishing-  The poles require a little effort and some interesting supplies-

• Plastic pool
• 6-8 dowels that are 18 -20 inches long
• acrylic paints- dark blue, turquoise, pink, purple, orange, green, yellow
• 6-8 zipties
• electrical tape
• trimmer line or heavy duty fishing line
• Magnets bought at Radioshack.com -10- rectangle and 10- 1/4"circles- sold in 5-packs
• hot glue gun and glue
• super glue
• 10-14  Fish and other aquatic bath toys that will hold the other magnets

1. Paint dowels each a different color- 2 coats and let dry
2. Cut pieces of trimmer line 34- 36 inches long- 6-8 of them
3. Secure line to dowels with zipties and leave excess
4. Wrap excess around dowel and line with electrical tape so it is flush with pole

5.   Thread rectangle magnet onto line.                   6.   Glue large drops on end of line to stop magnet from dropping off.                                                   7.    Glue top of magnet to secure from sliding up. 8.     Glue magnets to tops of fish with super glue.

The next thing I made were 10 inch cutouts of all of the bubble guppies.Download all of their pictures on off google images and print then cut out.

• 8 x 10 inch card stock
•  a color printer
• scissors

I made a birthday banner by hand.

• leftover colored cardstock,
• bubble letter stencils
• hole punch
•  glue.

1.  Draw h-a-p-p-y b-i-r-t-h-d-a-y with bubble font 
2. Cut out 13 circles of opposite colors. 
3. Glue letters to circles and add some turquoise tiny circles for bubble accents. 
4. Hole punch circles and connect with ribbon or fishing line.:

Bubble Guppy inspired food:

• Goldfish crackers-rainbow, graham, chocolate
• Fruit plate and vegetable plate with dip
• Tilapia fish strips
• Goldfish topped macaroni and cheese
• Adults choose between Shrimp cakes, portobello burgers and turkey burgers served with small buns
• Mr. grouper fish cake with bubble cake pop drops
• Sundae bar

Bubble guppy magnets

High energy, full body, circuit workout

This type of workout is good for those who:

•  Dont want to be too sore
• Want to work all major muscle groups
• Want to burn a high number of calories
• Are getting ready for race or athletic event
• Are beginning a workout program

Equipment and space needed:

• 20 square feet of space,
• Tree or sturdy pillar or pole and a hallway.
• Workout mat
• Exercise ball,
• 3-10 lb dumbells,
• Handled resistance bands green, red and blue will provide optimum workout options.

 

 Warm up

• Hip swings Front/Back-leg should be straight, body should be held erect while leg swings from front to back 
• Hip swings In/Out- face pillar and swing one leg across body, then bring leg open.
• Side bends
• Head rolls- shoulder to shoulder- NEVER BACK

Strength and cardio- 20-30 reps- alternating exercises, 10- 20 reps- single arm or leg exercises

1. Walking lunge with a twist- twist toward stepping leg
2. Side shuffle to side lunge
3. Side walking with band- hold handles step on band with both feet, take small side steps
4. Waist twist with band- arms straight, turn with obliques
5. Single arm chest fly w/ band- inside arm
6. Single arm reverse fly w band-outside arm
7. Ball cross crunch-elbows open, cross with obliques
8. Ball hip lift- walk out on ball so hips are suspended
9. Dumbell tricep extension on ball- head and entire spine arched over ball, elbows in
10. Opposite arm leg lift- face down, spine extended
11. Shoulder press with toe touch
12. Stationary lunge with dumbell bicep curl
13. Repeat

Cool down with full body stretch!

A driveless trip

I went up north to the LA area for a funeral and decided to make a long weekend and visit with old friends. I hate the 5 freeway and will come up with all options to not drive on it. I took the metrolink from Oceanside to Union station then the Metrorail Gold line to Pasadena to visit my friend Becky. The ride cost me only $14.25 although Becky said I was supposed to pay 1.50 for the transfer. Nobody checked tickets and on the pamphelt from metrolink it says the transfer is free. Either way the cost is fair considering gas is 4.20 a gallon.
 The train ride was nice in the begining, getting to watch the marines surfing out the windows and  watching people fine on at well groomed orange county stops. The train filled up with passengers young and old and behind me sat quatro muy bonita hispanic girls. They talked about their relationships en claro Ingles with Spanish words dropped in randomly. This Spanglish intrigued me.
At union station I have to transfer to a new train, rail line or shuttle or bus. Its a crowded place but once I get down to the main hall it is well marked with gates and track numbers. I hastily jumped on what I hoped to be the Gold line Metrorail to Fillmore exit.
I sat across from an older, slim, black gentleman with leather shoes and a smoothe lean and an old, slim, white guy with beard, flannel and bible. Just as the doors are closing, in flys the homeless guy who bangs his old stereo into the leg of the harmless old white guy. As the speaker drops off  the homeless guy yells at the nice man"What the fuck are you doin? look at that, man." As if it was his fault. Thank goodness everyone around me was cool and did not engage him any further and the speaker easily reattaches.
Of course the guy sits down beside me. I have my head hard cocked to the left avoiding eye contact. But then he proceeds to dig through his sturdy plastic bag full of what Im glancing to be bills and other personal belongings. Now I am feeling like I want to give the poor guy my bag or a couple bucks but then he breaks out the syringe of insulin and lifts up his shirt for the tastful injection. Needless to say I was glad he got off the train shortly after. Then the two old guy across wanted to talk politics and I was glad to get off quick. I think the metrorail is like a bustrain.
My litlle experience was brief in an otherwise pleasant ride that only took 2 hours 40 minutes. I was picked up soon by my girl Becky. From there we met Lauren in cute little Montrose. We ate at the Star Cafe but should have eaten at the Three Drunken Goats. The conversation beat the food by far.
We shopped around the town looking at how the place had changed from our youth. My other friend Rachelle came to have a glass of wine and pick me up. We went to her house in West Hills. We went to the Sagebrush Cantina in Calabasas. It was mellow but fun to watch the cougars dance to the 90s cover band who ended up hitting on us at the end of the night. Yeah atleast one free drink.
The next day I had some laughs at a bbq with my lifelong friends about our not so perfect childhood and how sad it was for the first one of us to loose our dad. The next day after the funeral I headed back to West hills to say good by to my girl rachelle.
She took me  took the metrolink Chatsworth station not far from her house on the Ventura County line and headed back south.  It took me about 3 hours including the transfer at union station to the Orange County line. The cost was 18.25  and the ride home was pretty empty the whole way. I made it more than half way through Chelsea Handlers new book. I was laughing the whole way home thinking of all my comparable lifetime experiences with the girls I just visited.
Moral of the story:
Overall I suggest the Metrolink. It is half as much as amtrak and it is pretty easy to get to many places in Southern California. There is no food cart and scheduling may be limited because it is a commuter system. The Metrorail was stomachable but if traveling through downtown LA I would take a buddy or pepper spray and stick to the rail lines.
http://www.metrolinktrains.com/
http://www.metro.net/
http://www.sagebrushcantina.com/

Exercise and free fun for kids

Take the infant/ toddler/small child or 2 to the Quail Botanical Gardens, in Encintas the 1st Tuesday of every month and it is free. Bring the jogger stroller, pack a picnic lunch, a change of clothes and make a day of it. They can get dirty or wet.
Sometimes, I park northeast of the garden in Encinitas Ranch by the park and walk in. Its free although probably frowned upon! But if strapped on cash....why not? Watch for the cars at the bottom of the hill where there is no sidewalk. There is a sidewalk up the hill.
Hmmm... maybe just pay for parking for 2 dollars since it is a donation. Just write it off.  
When in take tour first. The toddler sees that fun park and there will be no jog. Pick up a popscicle in the gift shop and that will keep them busy for the first few minutes.
There are some nice hills and shady places to run. Walk fast up hills, run down hills and give a set of 10 push ups and dips at any empty bench. When in foot traffic or at turn around spots teach the children about biology and geography. The whole park can take 30-50 minutes and its possible to burn up to 600 calories depending on how much you walk and talk.
There is beautiful artwork, a frog pond, a waterfall and of course greenery and flowers that should keep the children visually occupied until arrival at the fun zone.
Once at the Hamiltons children garden there is a big tree house, music center, art center and homemaking center. Above that there is a shallow stream that the little ones love to play in. Bring sandals since shorts and shoes are required.
They are open 9-5 everyday 
Admission
$ 12  adult
$ 8 seniors, students military
$ 6 children 3-12
free children 2 and under  
$ 75  will get the whole family in for the year with free parking
http://www.sdbgarden.org/

cadence's second birthday featuring " yo gabba gabba"

My daughter loves the tv show Yo Gabba Gabba. Being that we are on a budget this was not an easy theme to accomplish and be super cool. With some creativity and some craft staples I was able to create some cool things to impress the children and adults alike.
I made DJ Lance's stereo out of an old diaper box and tin foil. I made a 3 foot tall Plex from 2 boxes, some paint and dryer duct. My husband hand painted an eyeless Muno on some poster board and cut out 10 eyes for each kid to pin it on at game time. I also made all 5 characters for my daughters present. I made them with no sewing for under 10 dollars with felt and hot glue and my daughter LOVES them.  To buy all of them would cost over 100 dollars. I made Foofa flowers out of old gift boxes and colored paper and drew funny faces on them
I did buy some official gabba products on line. I mixed the official plates and napkins with some colorful plain ones. I bought the centerpieces too but could have done without. I made a Toody cake from a box but decorated myself.

I went on the http://www.nickjr.com/ website under games and activiteis and printed out the safety coloring book( five pages) and stapled together 10 of them as one of the party favors. I bought 2 big boxes of crayons and split them into 10 bags so the kids could color at the party (good for shy or artistic). I gave plain white bags kids could decorate and the bubbles were a hit too. I found some stuffed guitars and microphones in the dollar bin at target and they went great with the rockin gabba theme.