Oh my, I may have scarred her for life.

I've finally gotten around my mental block and picked up the waldorf doll again. In a burst of inspiration, procrastination or misdirected nesting I put a bit of a dent in the dolly's body this week. Now, the last time I worked on the boys' dolls it was all secretive evening work but this time I've been working on the third specimen out in the open. I had heard there was a bit of a risk in doing this. Some children might be horrified to see their dolls without facial features, hair or limbs and *sniff* never want to see them again.




I must admit that once I closed the seam on top of the head (yes it's supposed to look like that) I made a concerted effort not to let baby see the doll in this particular stage to avoid having such a moment. So I set the doll aside in my sewing room and added to my list of professions I would suck at - surgeon, right there next to singer and anything requiring an attention span longer than that of a squirrel.




Looks pretty gruesome huh? I promise the position of the needle was totally a mindless thing. Just like I do with all my other hand sewing. Little did I know it would look so, um, bad.




But I was worried for nothing. The minute little girl entered my sewing room she saw dolly from across the way and it was all I could do to grab the needle before this scene played out. Cue the music maestro.








And now this momma has a fire lit under her bottom to finish this particular project.

Slight deviation of plans.

We interrupt the regularly scheduled post to ramble.

I've posted before about my love for tangy lemon bars. It's quite an unhealthy obsession but I fully own it. A couple of weeks ago I replenished my stash of grapefruit to satisfy my other obsession but this time instead of picking out individual ruby reds I opted for a large 5lb bag. Big mistake. The bagged grapefruit were bitter as all get out. I love sour and I love tangy but even I couldn't eat the quite bitter ones straight. So they sat on my counter until I juiced them all yesterday. I gave the kids some of the juice straight since sick child is just now feeling better and blessedly his siblings did not catch it. The rest I used in my lemon bar recipe along with the zest for some grapefruit bars.




Now my mistake was forgetting the tang of lemons is much more pronounced even against a bitter grapefruit so these were a bit too sweet for my taste. Next time I'll cut back the sugar but this time I took a lemon from the fridge and squeezed the juice over the bars while still warm. Much better. Oh and look who's becoming a fabric connoisseur. She reorganized my scraps and made sure to smooth her hands across every.single.piece.

One of these things is not like the other . . .

. . . one of these things just doesn't belong.

I apologize in advance if the song sticks in your head until Monday. I'll still find it amusing but at least I'll be sorry.

Exhibits 1, 2 and 3:








The other day I broke out the Perler beads while cooking dinner. Midway through dinner prep I couldn't resist putting one together myself and found myself hunched over a little spiked grid furiously placing beads while keeping the baby from ingesting the rest. The older boys worked on theirs, the six year old more interested than the four year old. It's pretty obvious mine is the middle one. Yes I couldn't resist putting together a graduated rainbow one - more like I couldn't do anything else but hyperfocus on searching for beads. It's all good though, the baby loved mine when it was done.




Today one of my kids is sick and laid up on the couch while the rest of them enjoy the side benefit of the movie rotation. Yesterday it was Fox and The Hound, today Lady and The Tramp. Momma on the other hand gets the side benefit of brewing wellness tea, making soup and checking body temperature often. So sometime in the next couple of days I'll finally post the chicken and dumplings recipe that's a favorite of Mr. Maricucu.

Quilting

Last November I was involved in a quilt square swap for an I Spy themed quilt. As soon as my stack of squares came in the mail I thumbed through them, then put them away knowing I would have absolutely no chance to do anything with them until after this pregnancy was over. I knew it would do me no good to get started on something like a quilt considering the nearly 3 dozen diapers I need to sew up before July and the host of other projects already on my plate.




Well apparently I dared myself and the other part of me thumbed her nose at the to do list. Behold, the beginning of an I Spy quilt for the kiddie comfort corner. The comfort corner our home is the corner made by the two couches in our living room and serves as a getaway for overwhelmed children or just as a hideout lately. The kids love hanging out on the mishmash of beanbags, cushions and covers in the corner but it seems we never have enough covers for when the "I don't want him sitting next to me"s kick in. This quilt, once finished, will pad our stash nicely.




Since I've got 100 unique, 4" squares I knew I wanted to bulk up the overall size of the quilt with some solids. After a good bit of time wasting on google image searches and the rabbit hole that is flickr, I finally decided to go with a disappearing nine patch block. The swap squares are pretty varied in colors so I chose two solids from the kona-type offerings at Joann's. A beautiful tahitian blue (much more saturated than the picture) and a nice bright grass green.




Since time will be of the essence I'm going to use the birthing method like the last quilt I made for my nephew which involves no binding and then stippling the quilt all over. For the backing I've chosen this plush cuddle cloth in a matching green which might allow me to get away without using any batting. We'll see.




I also recently received this Oz Layer Cake in the mail that I'd ordered last fall. Love layer cakes - just a stack of 42 unique 10" squares all from the same coordinating line.




I'm really excited about making a throw for the living room couch that might be used by the grownups instead of being appropriated by the children. Not sure just yet what design but I've got time since this is definitely one project I'll leave for next fall.

Documentation for the guilt.

Nothing like a cryptic title to throw you for a loop huh? Documentation for the guilt? What guilt? As if being a mom wouldn't be guilt inducing enough, I'm latin and I'm female. 'Nuff said. This last decade or so though, I've shaken off the guilt complex and sort of come into my own big mouth and all but there's nothing like the Rick Roll called pregnancy and hormones to punch you square in the gut. I'm not an icy person by an means but man do I suck at being normal during pregnancy. While a sad movie usually has me tearful I cry like a man, biting my lip and wiping the tears away with the edge of my sleeve looking around to make sure no one has noticed. While pregnant? It's full on waterworks with multiple tissues and the blubbering lip. Mr. Maricucu and I were watching The Blindside the other night and it was all I could do to keep it together. Although I don't think he noticed since he was wiping the tears away with his shirt and biting his lip.

Back to the guilt. I'd been feeling guilty because with my exhaustion during the last couple of months the kids have been hearing a lot more Nos when it comes to messy projects. I just didn't have it in me to follow through with the necessary cleanup and make sure they cleaned their messes as well. Thankfully within the last couple of weeks I've had some spurts of energy and creativity so they've been getting more messy opportunities. Me, I'm just left thinking there's a darn good reason I say no sometimes.

First we began with a fresh double batch of playdough. Again multicolored, and again a blegh army green by the end of the week when they'd blended it all together. It was pretty tame though. My oldest built a wall of forest fire while his brother made some sort of turtle/snail/pinch pot thingie that I can't for the life of me remember what he called. Chaching! There goes my deposit in the therapy jar.






All in all the playdough was uneventful until I discovered that their little sister had managed to pinch off kosher salt flakes of it onto the dining room carpet (yes that's a rant for another day, genius builders) which I stepped on and mashed with my feet as I took her out of her booster seat. Apparently when I thought she had given up on eating it because it tastes like a salt lick I erroneously assumed she would play with it - on the table.

Well with that hiccup out of the way we moved onto a straightforward pre-St. Patrick's day shamrock collage. I figured the cutting of the papers would buy me enough time in the sewing room. Oops, did I just say that out loud? Little did I know it was even possible to use a whole bottle of glue on a single sheet of letter sized paper. Who knew you could layer a collage 6 layers deep? Apparently momma lost track of time and when we went to move his masterpiece off the table, we were left holding a shamrock shaped hole in the middle of the paper while the glue/construction paper mash stubbornly stuck to the wooden table. The wooden table I had the foresight NOT to refinish several years ago in the middle of a nesting fit. I think I'll do it when they leave for college.




A few days later we moved onto paint. I figured, sure why not? I'm a pro at this by now. I pull out the water-resistant-on-one-side freezer paper and tape it to the counter. Break out the ice trays we use for paint and let them go at it one at a time on the kitchen counter where any mess (so I thought) would be contained. Then little sister was set up at the kitchen table to experiment with finger paint which I vaguely remembered I checked was non-toxic as I watch her accidentally lick some off. Quite quickly I was scrambling to verify that on the large bottles of paint when I found her gleefully licking up gobs of the stuff from the tray, her fingers and then the paper. *shudder*




While little sister was conducting her own paint tasting, my younger son was entranced in covering every single inch of his paper with paint. Apparently his technique with glue extends to paint as well. When I saw it took him all of three minutes to do this I gave him some forks and legos to imprint some texture on all that paint and was able to get a little more sewing in. After he was cleaned up I set up the oldest to paint with a fresh tray and fresh paper taped on the counter while I nursed and rocked the now clean little girl to sleep. As I was walking into the bedroom to set her down I peeked over my shoulder at my oldest and reminded him, "don't make a huge mess, I'll be back in a minute." I put the baby down, she stirred a little so I shushed her back into lalaland then walked into the kitchen.




Just a brief pause to remind you this is my oldest, the 6 1/2 year old. The one who's been around the longest. When I walked into the kitchen he had painted his arms up to his biceps in brown paint, was happily smacking around the paper and paint to splatter the stove, floor and fridge and had managed to paint the top half of his face brown as well. When I recovered from the shock I asked the famous rhetorical question of all motherhood, "why would you ever DO THAT?!" Before he had a chance to answer I went into my deep brain automatically prescripted but typically averted, "You are six years old, you know how we paint, blah, blah, blah." To which he replied, "Just because I'm six doesn't mean I know everything." Screech!! Did you hear that? Because I did and what I wouldn't give to have taped that statement. Having that at my disposal would be like gold in the midst of any future difference of opinions with this child. Instead, I went to get some kitchen towels and had him clean up his wonderful mess. Now I have documentation for those days I'm feeling just a bit guilty that I'm hampering their development because we haven't broken out anything but the crayons in a while. One day I might post what they do in the backyard while I look on (and sometimes don't) from the kitchen window.

Sock Monkey Love

Back in the day . . .

Oh yes, I'm going there and I know that purely by the use of that phrase I will be instantly catapulted into old fogie status. I'm okay with that.

So back in the day you had to either tape the Superbowl with a vcr and actually fast forward through the football to catch the commercials or watch the game with a fellow sport enthusiast who would alert you to the commercial breaks by getting more food or taking a bathroom break. Then came the wonders of the internet for us non-sport lovers. Suddenly you could spend your Sunday on any other endeavor and then just look up the commercials online. This year I actually forgot to do either. Sad, huh? I'm sure the big advertising agencies consider me a nightmare - a consumer with ADD so bad she forgets to even look up the much touted Superbowl commercials. I won't even get into how I promised my husband years ago when Lost jumped the shark that he would just tell me what happens in the final episode because I had neither the patience nor the attention span to watch the series. Lucky for me he's still watching and what seemed like an impossible promise is likely to come true. TV slackers, unite!

So about those Superbowl commercials. I did get a peak of one weeks later that totally caught my attention. It's the Kia commercial featuring the beloved Sock Monkey going on a fantasy wild ride with his fellow plushies. Sock monkeys have experienced quite a renewed popularity in the last several years thanks to the online crafting community and it seems someone was paying attention. My favorite part hands down? Sock Monkey's tatoo of course - hand embroidery no less.

The first of many wristlets.

I made this on a whim for a dear friend's birthday. I had seen a zippered pouch tutorial on the Flossie Teacakes blog and bookmarked it because I wasn't really inspired just then. This month the inspiration came. My friend, a busy mom, loves to go on walks with her kids and I figured a well-sized wristlet with a snappable strap would be perfect to tote on such outings. Where the flossie teacakes tutorial shines is in her attention the detail (check out the tabs covering the end of the zipper) and firm suggestion to use interfacing. The interfacing gives the wristlet proper body and makes it feel like one you could buy in any boutique (but not really because it's one of a kind). I've also been itching for a project to use this bird print. I love the super bright colors against the deep chocolate background. I had used a teensy bit of it in my mom's log cabin pillow but really needed to showcase this print some more.




The lining is of course a super bright color. Lately, I'm embracing my love for bright color but since this project was not for me I played it safe and saved the punch of orange for the inside.




I started with 10"x6" rectangles of fabric and sewed up the wristlet with 1/4" seams so it would hold a large bifold wallet, a phone and a few more odds and ends.






I couldn't help but add a bit color to the outside as well. An atom red zipper . . .




. . . and some matching snaps on the the strap so she could attach the wristlet to her sling rings, other bag or anything else.




Oh and I'm definitely making more. At the very least one for my niece and one for me which is odd for this fickle ADD-proned sewist. We'll see . . .

Meeting of the minds.

I love the moments when I can just sit back and observe the other members of my family. This particular night, Mr. Maricucu in a moment of total self-sacrifice told the kids to grab their favorite game to play a round before bedtime. Why self-sacrifice?




Well, allow me set the scene for you. A six year old fully caught in the throes of needing to win, needing to succeed which is totally developmentally appropriate but flies in the face of good sportsmanship. His younger brother a very fickle four year old who's very laid back nature and slowwwwww as molasses cooperation flies in the face of his brother's patience. Add the very analytical father, a techie by trade, who is not caught up with the day to day of the above scenario and let's just say it played out like a tense UN meeting between Venezuela, Germany and the US.



It was hairy there for a while, three seemingly different languages being spoken, some pounded fists (that four year old *tisk, tisk*) and a refusal to take a turn stalling the progress of the game. Eventually the game did continue and Mr. Maricucu despite initially being behind won the game. Oh yes, he plays cutthroat even with the young'uns. Where was the little girl while all of this tense action was happening? Apparently she's the journalist of the organization and took detailed notes to make sure I stayed on top of my accurate reporting.

I had such high hopes.

When I saw this book on the featured section of our library I made a beeline for it. In fact I think the kids thought I might have spotted candy instead of a new sewing book. As soon as we were home and fed, I cracked open the cover but much to my dismay I was less than impressed.




Thank goodness for the library system because had I purchased the book it would have instantly gone in the sell/trade pile. Don't get me wrong the designs are okay, the photography pretty whimsical but having spent the last couple of years learning to sew so that things look well put together, the last thing I want to do is then dress my child in fraying, wrinkled hems with what looks like the contents of Aunt Lucy's hope chest super glued to the sleeves and neckline. So, back to the library it goes and I'll go back to my beloved Google Reader where generous fellow bloggers provide great inspiration on a daily basis.

Oh ye of twitchy organizational urges . . .

. . . avert your eyes. If you're the least bit bothered by mess, disorganization or displacement of items you've been warned.




Now for the rest of us who live in reality (kidding!) here's the current state of my sewing room. I figured since I've got a bunch of stuff in progress but nothing actually finished quite yet I'd 'fess up to my mental block. It's all my own doing of course. I imagine some sort of self sabotage if you want to get all phsycho-babble but really out of the many works-in-progress I have about three items that are in the last step of completion and I can't stand to look at them. Happens every time, I'm giddily working on something at quite the clip when I'm nearing the end and I set it aside. Fear of not getting the project right, my procrastination at actually packaging (if it's a gift) or just feeling blegh. Either way, said item will sit on that mess of a cutting table not only unfinished but also blocking the way to working on anything else. If anything I'm quite self-aware of my limitations and quirks.




But! There's hope! At some point soon I will go on a finishing rampage and clean the sewing room. Then I'll sit and stare at it for fear of making a mess all over again. Wash, rinse, repeat.

Behold my ironing board. Filled to the brim with prewashed fabric that Mr. Maricucu finally tired of having to work around in the laundry room. Underneath, more prewashed fabric overflowing from a laundry basket that I was in the process of pressing enthusiastically - before I got pregnant.




Finally at least some progress. My little girl's waldorf doll body parts and the rest of the supplies all rounded up in one box to take out in the evenings. For now she pats the wool batting gladly. On top, the fingerless mitt I've now had to pull apart a record three times just to get the buttonhole for my thumb the right size. Apparently aside from my man-sized head (long story) I must have man-sized thumbs to match.



Signed, Marielle. Your local spastic and unproductive crafter.

'Cause she's got . . . personality!

I've shared before how even I, the lyric mangler, has songs randomly popping in my head during the day like some kind of personal soundtrack. Today's soundtrack is brought to you courtesy of Lloyd Price. Definitely an oldie (shhh don't tell my dad I said that) but a goodie.




Back to Miss Personality as you listen to the music. She sure has enough to go around and good thing considering the food stained shirt she seems to be sporting at any hour of the day. Indulge me for a moment as I present her newest kissing fish face. Nothing melts a parent more than when your kid first learns to kiss. Although I could do without the *ahem* slobber issue but I'm willing to overlook it.








And yes all of these pictures were taken of her on my dining room table. After a short reprieve during which Mr. Maricucu and I were breathing a sigh of relief she's gone back to climbing up there and this time dancing like a mad woman. It's enough to give me a heart attack several times a day.




Thankfully at the end of the day there's sewing therapy. A little inspiration turned to actual sewing this time around. Still not done but I've never claimed to be a super productive sewist. It's the only way I can enjoy the process.

Oh those cravings again.

This week I gave into a visual craving. I saw this huge bunch of flowers at the grocery store and just had to have them. It probably didn't help that the 4 year old was egging me on each time we passed the wrapped cellophane bunches. The baby keeps trying to yank them and knock them over but thankfully these are a pretty sturdy variety.




Of course I've had food cravings too and for the first time in a couple of weeks this one didn't involve sugar. Nope, just plantains mashed up into a Dominican mangu, topped with sauteed oil & vinegar onions and a couple of fried eggs. Mr. Maricucu grew up on grits, gravy and biscuits but I grew up on mangu with a variety of accompaniments.




What you'll get next to a serving of mangu is at the very least some fried eggs but if your mom is a true Dominican you'll get some queso frito (a squeaky, large curd farmer's cheese that is dusted in flour and fried), fried Dominican salami (good if you like it but a no-no in my home) and a hunk of some type of hoop cheese. Topping that pile of mangu are sauteed onions in olive oil that have been hit with a bit of vinegar as well.

The only problem with these types of cravings is that if you live far away from your mom you have to make them yourself. Small sacrifice, I say.

Chocolate Bliss Cookies

That's right folks, chocolate bliss cookies. I think these came from a baker's chocolate box and then ended up on the kraft site. I always lose the recipe and then when a craving hits I'm frantically googling for this one bowl fudgy treat until I find it. My one gripe? I can't stand to see this recipe circulated throughout the 'net without the addition of salt. The first time I made these cookies I was so disappointed because what should have been deeply intense almost brownie like cookies tasted so flat. So please go ahead and give these a try but don't forget the salt.

Also a note: The original recipe listed a smaller quantity of flour because the cookies included nuts which prevented overspreading. You know the routine around here with nut allergies so I included the larger amount of flour but I imagine a bunch of chopped pecans in these would be absolutely amazing.

Chocolate Bliss Cookies
adapted from Baker's Chocolate

16 oz (2 2/3 cup) semi sweet chocolate chips - divided

3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter - softened

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup flour- if not using nuts increase flour to 3/4 cup.

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

2 cups chopped walnuts - can sub pecans and in fact I find them a bit sweeter
1/2 teaspoon salt


Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line some baking sheets with parchment.

In a microwave safe bowl place 1 1/3 cup of the chocolate chips. Nuke for about 2 minutes, stirring halfway. Sometimes I need another 30 seconds more to melt them loosely. You'll see why later.




To the melted chocolate add the brown sugar and stir to combine well.




Now add the butter. You see how my chocolate looks a bit thick? I will usually nuke for 30-45 seconds after incorporating the butter especially when the house is a bit cooler in the winter.




Mix in the eggs.




Then the salt and vanilla.




Toss in the flour and baking powder. Gently fold it in.




Finally fold in the remaining 1 1/3 cup of chocolate chips.




Mmmmmm. Batter shots get me every time.




Using my favorite cookie scoop I just plop out the batter onto the parchment. My scoop doles out about 2 teaspoons of batter and I can fit 12 cookies on a half sheet baking pan. If you don't have a cookie scoop you can scoop out the batter in rounded tablespoonfuls leaving about 2 inches between each cookie to allow for spreading.




The look of disappointment when I put her out to insert the cookies in the oven.




Bake cookies for about 12 minutes or until shiny on top and just set but not overcooked. They will puff up but come back down as they cool. Allow to cool for a few minutes on the baking pan then move to a cooling rack (or your mouth).






See? Crackly top like a brownie.




Fudgy and tender insides like a brownie. These are definitely addictive and you can't beat washing out just one bowl (or if you have kids around you might be washing out a cleanly licked bowl).