Poly-Fil Hearts Me!

Oh the Christmas Spirit of giving has flitted down and surprised little ole me! For those of you who remember (or you can go back through my blog archives), when I first moved here, I had a heck of a time tracking down poly-fil. I have many posts about my trials and tribulations trying to aquire the stuff in bulk. For the "stuff" (<----ha ha, get it?) I make, I need Polyfil by the boatload. Stuffed Robots, Stuffed Stars, Stuffed Skunks, Giant Robot Pillows, these things take Poly-Fil and lots of it!!! And there really is no substitute, and No, I can't buy the little bags, I would need a bag per project, I usually make items in an assembly line of 20. So the giant box, that's for me!

So imagine my surprise when I recieved a blog comment on an old post, The Great PolyFil Inside Joke from a Poly Fil rep! They asked for my personal info, which I emailed without any fears or hangups of being put on some consumer email/snail mail listapalooza. And then I promptly forgot about it. (I have no idea what could have distracted me the last couple months? Hold on, the baby's crying...)

So guess what? I got a ten pound box of Poly Fil for Christmas! A Big, Giant, Snowy, Fluffy, Box of Good Karma delivered right to me!!! Do you know how much Poly-Fil you get for ten pounds? The stuff weighs air, so I am set for production of some Stuff! I need desperately to make more Stars, but I am pretty well stocked for now on Robots and Skunks. Any ideas? I have been "toying" (<-----ha! I kill me!) with a few options, like, Trucks, and maybe Unicorns, but that could get tricky, so maybe not Unicorns, maybe some Rainbows? Clouds? Lightening Bolts? None of these are sticking as things I want to make, (Well, the trucks sounds fun...) Lemme know what you think, I usually get good ideas from special order requests. (You do not have to order to play!)
Oh, now I really do have to go, the small one needs this and the big one needs that... Merry Merry Merry! :)

Burlap is Better when you Organize It!

Yay! The Gods of Stuffing have visited, and I got my polyfil! Woohoo! I finally showed up for the right sale at the right store at the right time AND they were in stock!

(***Men and/or non deal-of-the-century enthusiasts please skip ahead)

I had a 50% off one item coupon, got a huge 5lb box (the stuff weighs nothing) as well as 2 large and 2 medium Sterilite clear boxes, and 2 spools of thread for...$19 dollars! I was the envy of everyone in line, I had an overflowing cart, even the cashier said, "whoah! I thought you had like 70 dollars in there!" I know, my cart LOOKED huge, but it was mostly air with the containers and fluff. Still, nothing feels as good as a multiple-trips-to-unload-the-car stash for under $20 bucks, no matter what you have in there!

(***resume safe reading)

I read someone's blog about organization, (forgive me for not adding the link, I went on a blogtastic reading spree) and I went to town on some shelving and use of my new clear boxes to get my sewing station in gear, what an improvement! I have all my current projects neatly organized ino their own see thru box, all supplies contained. A Superhero costumes box, A skunk assembly line box, a halfway done curtains box, you get the picture.

My 4 year old nephew called me to thank him for the cape I sent him for his Birthday and informed me that he could fly, AND that it is BLUE! (See cape photos and links a few posts back) So that made my day.

I took a little mental break, slacked on posting and projects, made a sale, then today I really got in gear. I finished my burlap curtains, I need to hang them and do the botanical print ones that will go in front. I hope to finish that tomorrow and post pics. In the meantime, I have some pretty lame photos of the materials I'm using! If anyone knows if you can wash burlap, let me know. I didn't, for fear of it falling apart, but it has a strong turpentine smell. Perfect for a baby's room. I did hang it for 3 days first to let it stretch out.

Oh this blog post is boring even me, so I will leave you with the promise that tomorrow, not only will I blog, but I will be fascinating!

Happy Costuming and other HallowCrafting!

Costumes and Doulas

Today was very productive on all fronts.

• Priority #1:

As I am delivering my second child soon, (six or so weeks) I have been trying to find birth support. I joined a local ICAN chapter that has been wonderful. I am trying to go for a natural birth after having had a Csection with my first. (Known as a VBAC) I found a doula today, which brought me great relief since I had no idea where to find a good one having just moved here mid pregnancy. I am thrilled that my Dr. supports the decision to have a VBAC and will allow a doula to assist in the hospital. So Yip yip hooray! I am stoked!

• Priority #2

Next up, Halloween costumes! I met with a Mommy friend of mine to hit the sale at Joanne's Fabric and get Halloween costume essentials. She is putting together an awesome Wild Things ensemble for her two boys, and I chose to be inspired by superflykidz (see a few posts back) to make some capes for the family. Found some felt backed satin in red and some gold lame which I hope to use for emblems and belts, maybe even wristbands and spats! The Super Taylors! I can't wait to get that going and show some pics! I can't think of a better way to showcase my hugeness than a spandex bodysuit!

• Priority #3

Getting out of the house! I officially ended the lockdown today now that we are all feeling better and there are no more lingering sniffs and runny noses. After racking up at Joanne's we went to continue our Mommieness with the kids at the Hoover Public Library. It has a huge kidroom full of toys and puzzles and such and they had a blast! We stayed until they cut out the lights on us. I had no idea we were the last ones out!!! It was a well deserved break for my little buddy, and he was an angel and played his little heart out with no fussing!

So that was my big full day, I feel accomplished, and can't tell you how wonderful it was to get me and my little guy OUT of the HOUSE for the first time in almost 2 weeks! (Nevermind that it was raining all day, we were singing in it!)

Hope everyone had an equally satisfying day! PS the Polyfil was still not on sale, it has no interest coming home with me until I finish my curtains and Halloween costumes!

Oh, the great Polyfil Inside Joke!

Allright, I am starting to feel a little punked. I have felt so lucky that right down the road there are both a Joanne's Fabric and a Hancock in the same parking lot. They are big, new, fancy and fully stocked. Unless you need polyfil. I make stuffed robots, stars and skunks. I need polyfil.

Today, I went to the Grand Opening of Joanne's, after missing out on getting Polyfil from the big sale at Hancock, they were out of stock. I was told a week earlier they would have some, but they didn't and you cannot raincheck an out of stock item for the sale. (So, what is a raincheck, then?) I had already been to Joanne's, but they weren't open yet. I picked up a membership card and sale flyers from the table they had set up to greet new customers and get them back for the opening. They opened yesterday!

I am finally going to get my Polyfil, they will surely be fully stocked for their Grand Opening! I grab a sales flyer, YES! 50% off any one item for the Grand Opening Sale-A-Bration! I put on my blinders, (so many aisles, so many fabrics!) and run to the back wall, looking like a crazy pregnant lady at 32 weeks running like a moron! I get to the very well stocked and organized AISLES of Polyfil, batting and pillowforms. Where is the big box? Where Where? They only carry a five pound box. That means I can only use one coupon and come back the next day to use another one. I look at the dates...

The FRIGGIN SALE IS NEXT WEEKEND!!!!!!!! So my "right down the street fortune of craft store placement" (It's 5 1/2 miles) has turned into four 11 mile round trips and counting to get my polyfil. I wonder if you can get a tank of gas refill coupon? I insist on bringing my husband next weekend so we can both get in line and buy a box each with two coupons. I am NOT making 2 more trips! back to the races! Now I will see how many skunks I can get to the stuffing stage before I have Polyfil!

The journey toward becoming the perfect crafter continues...

It's Curtains for the Polyfil!

Today I hit Hancock Fabric for their big sale, still needing that elusive giant box of polyfil that they told me two days ago was just coming off the truck. Nope. And I cannot get the sale price on out of stocks. That's ok, because Joanne's Fabric is opening in a few days across the parking lot with their Grand Opening Sale. (this magical place is five minutes down the road from my house!) Since I was already at the fabric store...why not take advantage of the sale?


I bought an off white home decorator fabric with a cool blues botanical print to make curtains for my son's room, I have been working on decorating it since our move. With the new baby on the way, I am trying to really pimp out the nursery because I never did with Lincoln's arrival. We didn't even have a crib until he was three months old!


Of course, I wanted to get some kind of liner to block the light, and even thought the print is cool blues and greens, It is sort of a floral, so I saw exactly what I was looking for at 99c a yard! Burlap! It is dark, and masculine, but perforated enough to let some light through. It seems like it will look good in my head, but we will see when I get it done. Of course, I've never made curtains and have no plan or pattern, I'm just going to wing it. How hard can it be?


I'll post pics once I get them done, but above is a photo of the room right now, after I put up a big tree decal I got on etsy at http://www.bubbaanddoodle.etsy.com/


Happy Labor Day everyone!!!! Anyone else pick up any new projects from the holiday sales or get any new inspirations?

No Polyfil in sight

My awesome husband will be gone for a week, so today on his day off, he said he'd watch the kid all day while I ventured out and floated around the library and shopped at some craft stores. I have been out of polyfil and really need some to finish my skunks. I leisurely visited the library, awesome, then went to Joanne Fabric, they open Sep 11, so I went to Hancock, they are out of the big box of Polyfil, I'll have to check later in the week.

I looked at my pathetic self, wearing ill fitting workout gear that is at least comfortable in the heat, since all my materninty clothes are Fall/Winter. I was sweaty, and I felt dumpy frumpy. I went to the nearby TJmaxx, no maternity, Stein Mart, same. My car drove back to where I started, the library adjacent mall. Of course they had a motherhood maternity, yay!

I only needed a pair of shorts that were cute enough to wear outside of the house, and a few cute tops that covered my belly and backside. Maybe some pants that did the same. I left there with an entire wardrobe, down to the bra. I put back my debit card and pulled out the credit card.

Absolutely no remorse whatsover. I haven't felt this cute in months! :) (this picture is from back then, I have progressed quite a bit!) Lesson: even in today's economy, sometimes it is OK to splurge on necessities!