T-Shirt Diaries and More

I left my job in Media Adverstising four years ago to become a full time mom. I have loved every minute of it. That being said, like the rest of America, I find myself currently looking for a job and it sucks. I need something part-time, preferably seasonal, and a pay rate that is unrealistic. I now find myself filling out these applications online for part time seasonal employment that take an hour to complete and ask the random questions such as, what percent of politicians do you feel are honest and the old standard: Are you a self-starter or slacker? The job search process has changed so much since I have been "out of work," and I am not sure it really takes into account the hard-core effort it takes to make sure a living, breathing person stays clothed and fed. I mean momming is a hard core job, and I just don't see a place for it on my online job applications? When they ask for references I should totally be able to use the fact that my children are alive an...

So sorry but I am slacking today. I love lazy Friday mornings (Phoebe doesn't have school) so I stayed on the couch snuggling with the kids all morning. But now I am ready, lets see your best work, start linking NOW!

Did I SCARE you? I Love, LOve, LOVE Halloween.. but I am a decorating procrastinator.. so here we are about 5 days away from Halloween and I am still putting together little odds and ends to decorate with. Today I made a super fun Halloween frame sign using some frames I found on clearance for $2 a piece at Christmas tree shops. First I started by painting my frames black (the gray I left distressed as the gray matched). Then I cut some scrapbook paper to fit in the frame. Next I used my Cricut to cut the word "Boo" Last I glued it all together and displayed it on my dining room side table. But of course.. I thought they were a bit too plain so I added a little more to the frames. They are kind of hard to see .. so here is a quick closeup! Cheap and easy.. my kind of decoration! You can check out some of my other Halloween decorations HERE Hope you are making lots of Bootiful decorations! Love, Amie

It's tutorial time! If you have a lot of t-shirts or t-shirt scraps lying around and an hour or two you can whip up this t-shirt scarf in time for the cold weather (yeah i don't want to think about it, but it is Cleveland). Start by making a pattern for your t-shirt scarf: I used an old cardboard box and cut it six inches by eight inches. I estimated I would need 20 pieces this size to complete my scarf. I think cutting out all 20 pieces was the hardest part. I stacked them out in the order I wanted to sew them. You can't tell here, but they are in two piles of ten. Now to break out the ever so frightening serge r. I am constantly living in fear that a thread will break and I will have to re-thread the whole thing again. Start serging your first pile of ten pieces together. You will serge along the 8 inch side. It is starting to look good like a scarf now, don't you think? Keep going....You can do this. The whole thing took a lot longer then I thought ...

I was inspired to search out a cool location to take a picture of my T-shirt Shirt for boys thanks to THIS post over at MADE . Thanks Dana for the inspiration to kick my photos up to the next level!

I have been meaning to make a magazine holder for a very long time. I don't know where I first saw it, but I found this tutorial from Pink and Polka Dot for this:   Via: Pink and Polka Dot Now she used Amy Butler Fabric. I used a cheap-O $1.00 roll of wrapping paper (I would highly recommend stepping it up and not using cheap wrapping paper, spend the extra dollar). She used a glue gun and I opted for the more traditional Mod Podge route, because truth be told, I hate glue guns. What kind of freaky crafter doesn't like a glue gun?   I followed the directions and had this one done in less then twenty minutes.  Super easy, I just don't know why I waited so long. Check it out organized magazines!   So next time you have an empty Priority Mail box try this out.

For Phoebe's fifth birthday she wants a rainbow butterfly party. I have been using Pintreset to gathers some fabulous ideas and here are a few of my faves: Source: Craftily Ever After via Julianna 'Brown' Mortensen on Pinterest   I really love the multicolored pom-poms hanging from the ceiling. We are having Phoebe's party at a craft store so she and her girlfriends can make Princess bracelets and boxes so the decorations will be at a minimum. I will however have a yummy treat. I am thinking... Source: Whisk Kid via Bri Martelli on Pinterest   I think I can make this cake, but darn it how much butter do you think I am going to need for all of that butter cream frosting. I mean seriously that is a lot of frosting. So finally a wonderful montage of party ideas from homemade by jill : Source: homemade by jill via Harri H on Pinterest   I am hoping to come up with some more fabulous ideas and let you know as I go. I wanted to have awesome h...

Thank you everyone who entered the LEGO Kidsfest giveaway. I know I am not big at doing giveaways so I really didn't know what to expect, but we have a winner!  True Random Number Generator   Min:   Max:     Result: 7    Powered by RANDOM.ORG #7 is Condo Blues said... I follow you on Twitter @condoblues October 13, 2011 9:25 AM Thank you condo blues and please send me an email to tshirtdiaries@yahoo.com and I will send you over the two tickets to the Sunday November 6th 3:00pm - 7:30pm session. It sounds like it is going to be a blast! Thanks again,

I have been crazy busy planning a Night At The Races for Phoebe and Holden’s Early Childhood PTA (Yes they do exist and it is a fabulous way to meet new mommy friends whether you are a SAHM or Working Momma). So the fundraiser was a fabulous success, money was made, people were fed, and drinks flowed. Hubster eating food donated by the Umami Moto Food Truck The whole planning of this event pretty much took everything I had out of me. I have been low energy lately, dealing with some random medical issues, bouts of depression, and general momming duties. Crafting has been on the back burner. I didn’t want to stop, but I had no time. The Fundraiser was a HUGE succes! It has been so crazy that I just stopped making things. I stopped doing crafting shows, and I stopped being the crafty momma I know I can be. Taking a break has been relaxing, but darn it I am itching to start making things again. I want to get my craft time in, and I want to just randomly craft things for the ki...

It has been a long week, but I am looking forward to seeing your awesome upcycled projects. So get linking! I need to get all sorts of creative ideas for the weekend so start linking up!

Sometimes it is hard to know where to start. First off I am so grateful to be able to stay home with my children. I love that I can do it and I am fine making the sacrifices that we need to make to live off of one income. This is not a post about self-pity, poor me, or anything ridiculous like that. I just want to be upfront, honest, and hopefully others will relate. I am a Stay at Home Mom, crafter, occasional freelance writer, but mainly a momma. I have also battled severe depression for the past 21 years. I have been on and off medication since I was fifteen and am currently taking 50mg of Zoloft a day. I decided to go off my medication about six months ago and honestly, it was a miserable failure. Without medication I was a mess, I couldn't stop crying, and frankly barely wanted to get out of bed. I went back on my medication two weeks ago and things are drastically better. Sometimes its just hard, being a mom, being happy, cleaning, cutting coupons, and feeling like th...

Welcome back to the Friday edition of Upcycled Awesome. I was thinking that it would be easier to post your fabulous Upcycled and stashbusting projects at the end of the week. I am really excited because it now you can post all the awesomeness you created through the week here on Friday or over the weekend. What do you think?

It's LEGO time! How cool is this! If you didn't know Cleveland is lucky enough to have the LEGO KidsFest national tour stop by November 4-6th and The T-Shirt Diaries is giving away one pair of tickets to attend the Sunday, Nov 6th Session from 3pm-7:30pm. LEGO Kidsfest is bringing all of the creative hands-on, minds-on fun of LEGO building and experiences together in a three acre activity- and entertainment-packed family event for children of all ages and builders of all skills and interests. So what does one do at LEGO Kidsfest?   Build with Duplos  or.... Meet a Master Model Builder You will even get to add your own 5" X 5" creation to creation nation. Creation Nation Display at Florida's LEGO Kidsfest Pretty awesome, don't you think.  So here are the contest details. The contest will run until Sunday October 23rd at Midnight. The winner will be drawn on Monday October 24th via random.com.  You get entries for the foll...

What is This About..... Stay tuned to find out later on today!

So this is me, trying new things and letting you know what tutorials around the web that I can not live without. One of my favorite blogs was Samster Mommy, well they changed names and are now: Little Pink Monster , which I kind of love because it's cute and cuddly with a little bit of an edge. The blog is great so please check it out. The tutorials, well they work. I followed a tutorial from Little Pink Monster on how to make these lovelies: Little Pink Monsters Tutu Tutorial #1 And came up with this tutu: I added some poppies for embellishment around the waste, but everything else is too the tee on the tutu tutorial. I have to admit that I hate sewing tulle more than anything. I actually hate sewing tutu's. I thought it would be fun and easy to make a bunch for craft shows, but the bugger of the matter is, so many people buy pre-made tutu's, sell them for around $10 to $15 as homemade because they glued on some flower.  The time and money I spent making...