.Fingerless Gloves.

If you're like me, you have definitely made some mistakes when doing laundry. Mistakes that you can't take back. Mistakes that ruin a favorite item of clothing. Most people, however, would just throw away said item of clothing. NOT ME! I am such a clothes hoarder, in my mind I think, "well one day I might be able to wear it or turn it into something else." The majority of the time, this is true.
A few years back I went to a local surf shop and got the cutest Rip Curl sweater dress. It was so nice and warm, I was obsessed. Sadly, I was only able to wear it a handful of times. I accidentally forget it was in a load of laundry and it got placed in the dryer where it unfortunately shrunk to epic proportions. I mean it was a sweater dress that shrunk so much I could not even fit into as just a sweater.

I found that the cute winter style this year are these "mittens" that have no fingers. They're almost like leg-warmers but for your arms.

It was then I knew I had found a new purpose for the sleeves of my shrunken sweater!!! In fear that I may still be able to re-use the remainder of my sweater, I took precaution when dissecting it.

First, I folded the sweater in half and lined the arms up so that when I cut, both sleeves/mittens were equal in length.

Secondly, I tried on the sleeves to see exactly where I wanted my thumb hole to be.  In my opinion, the glove should lie right on top of your knuckles. From there you simply just cut a slit for your thumb and take a needle and thread and sew up the slit, making a secure thumb hole.

In the end, you are left with some super cute, super cheap fingerless gloves that all your friends will envy!

.Scarfs Galore IV.

After making all these scarfs, I had a lot of leftover fabric lying around and I knew just what to do. First off, a few months ago my friend Katie was wearing a super cute pair of boots with these cute knee high socks.....or so I thought. She revealed that they were not actually socks but sleeves to an old sweater she cut off and wore under her boots. SO FREAKIN' CUTE! After I made the sweater-cowl neck scarf, I knew just how to use the sleeves, make them into socks/leg warmers.
Literally, all I did was cut the sleeves off the sweater and I managed to gain two useful ways to wear them.

Look A.) wearing a pair of skinny jeans or leggings around the house? Throw on your sleeves for a cute leg warmer look.

Look B.) Again, wearing skinny jeans or leggings and add your favorite boots. BOOM, cute boot-socks ;)

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After turning my old winter white scarf into an infinity scarf, I had the yarn fringe left over and I was wondering what to do with all that nice yarn. I then remembered a cute headband I saw a tutorial on a blog a few days ago.

First you take an old T-shirt a cut off the sleeve.

From there you trim off the hemmed edge and the edge that was connected to the shirt.

 That should leave you with a 2-4" loop. (there is no need to worry about the edges being perfect, they curl up anyways.)

You can leave the headband as is, or you can take a needle and thread and make a few running stitches on the head band. Make sure you use the same color thread as your headband, I used white so you can see what I am talking about. You then scrunch it to your desired look and tie off the thread.

You can leave it like this or add a cute flower or accessory to the headband. I choose to take the white yarn from my scarf, as I stated above, and make a pom-pom. I then sewed the small, cute pom-pom to the cinched part of the headband. Check out that cutenss.

Was not done on purpose, but this headband can double as a cute accessory on UNC game day ;)



.Scarfs Galore III.

I found this really cute tutorial on how to trun an old cardigan into a cute cowl neck scarf. Looking through my massive closet of clothes, I stumbled upon an old Tommy Hilfiger sweater that I used to be obsessed with but refused to part with after I spilt coffee on it a few years ago. This was the perfect way to make use of my favorite old sweater.

As you can see, it has these really cute buttons up the side, which will help me mock the look of the cardigan sweater I found a few days ago.

I cut the sweater about 2-4" below the armpit to make the actual scarf.

The original tutorial I found required a sewing machine, but I do not have one so this is where I had to improvise. I used a no-sew hem tape that adherse two pieces of fabric with the use of an iron. I took the top of the sweater and folded it over no more than a 1/2" and iron it. This gives you a nice hem so there is not a raw edge. The only plus to sewing is you can make it a tighter hem, but I like the way this is nice and loose around the neck. 

Super easy, Super cute.

.Scarfs Galore II.

Since my last endeavour to create a scarf I found on Pinterest, I have stumbled upon quite a few DIY projects that I have decided to put my own spin on.
First, I saw a cute infinity scarf that was crocheted. It was so warm and wintry looking and all the tutorials I found were for people who already knew how to crochet. I don't have the time to learn a new hobby because lets face it by the time I master the skill of crocheting it would be July. As I was going through a bag of old clothes that I have been holding onto since high school......yes, that is right I still have clothes from when I was in high school. Anyways, I found this super cute, winter white knitted scarf. JACKPOT!!!! Only, it had this ugly fringe on the ends and I wanted an infinity scarf. What to do? What to do? I will tell you how to revamp and old, out of date scarf into a new, trendy winter scarf in less than 10 minutes!

Here's the original scarf. Not bad, just cant stand the fringe at the ends. 

I matched up the ends and ran some stitches up and down to secure it making sure the ends were extra sturdy.  

After the two ends have been stitched together, I then proceeded to trim off the excess and then flip the scarf inside out.

TA-DA, super cute crocheted looking scarf.

.Scarfs Galore I.

I was recently introduced to the wonderful world of Pinterest by, well almost every female in the world. After my girlfriend Heather forwarded me my invite, I was hooked. This has got to be the funnest way to kill time. I am espically in love with the section of DIY projects. Inparticualry, I am obsessed with the tutorials I have come across containing how-to's
 on making scarfs out of old t-shirts.
Quinn, my boyfriend, has recently lost a substantial amount of weight so I have a ton of old T's lying around and all the time in the world. With this being said, today will be the day I try to get crafy.

Check back, I plan on posting pictures of my finished project.

This is what I am going for, we will see how it turns out!!!

and this is what mine ended up looking like:

.Happy Thanksgiving.

Sadly, Thanksgiving was way to hectic to take pictures so this is a plain and boring post....

Thanksgiving was wonderful. We started off by attending my families traditional thanksgiving dinner that consists of Turkey and dumplings. Now, you need to know that my grandmother makes the best chicken/turkey and dumplings....ever! Silas of course was excited to see his cousins Mila and Morgan who live out in Western NC. I think he may have been overwhelmed with his excitement because his appetite disappeared. This boy is like a garbage disposal but on Turkey day, he wouldn't ear. At my grandma's he ate maybe one or two bites of his dinner but he inhaled his pumpkin bread. He got some good play time in and then we hit the road to head back to the beach and go to Quinn's parents.

Once we arrived, Silas was in doggy heaven. Not only was his best friend Daisy there but Quinn's sister and brother had their dogs Ty and Codi there and then Quinn's Aunt and Uncle brought there dog Callie. It was a doggy haven! Now, lets get to the food because we had roasted oysters outside, fried turkey, ham and then miles and miles of sides and fixings plus amazing deserts. Silas' favorite was definitely Pumpkin Pie! His grandma slipped him some while waiting for his second Turkey dinner and you would have thought he won the lottery he was so stoked on his pumpkin pie.

Sadly, I had to work a double on Friday but Silas did have a fun day with his Grandma, Aunt Caitlin and Aunt Janey doing some sort of arts and crafts project that I assume will be revealed to Quinn and I on Christmas. We had one last fling when we all went to a goodbye breakfast on Saturday morning. Overall, I believe Silas' second Thanksgiving was a huge success and I would like to thank everyone who was a part of it and we hope to have many more happy holidays.

.....24 days till Christmas ;)

.Happy Halloween.

Thank goodness Silas' Halloween was a success because it started off not looking to good. First off, making a decision as to what an 18 month old should be for Halloween leaves you with some pretty cheesy costume choices. At first he was going to be Yoda from Star Wars but then it would have been difficult to include the whole family so that is when I came up with the idea that Silas would be the Cat in the Hat and Quinn and I would be Thing 1 and Thing 2!!!! Silas loves the cartoon "The Cat in the Hat Knows A lot About That" so I knew that this would be a success.

Unfortunately, I waited till the last minute to purchase the costume when it arrived they sent me the wrong size and consequently it was to late to return it. So I was then stuck with a dilemma, do I just let Silas swim in his costume or do I attempt to alter it!?! So I tried my hand at altering his costume. Now, don't get it twisted. I can sew just fine but when you don't have a machine or the patience to hand stitch a whole costume you are stuck in quite a pickle. I purchased the iron on adhesive tape and proceeded to "cut and paste" away. Low and behold I did a fantastic job and took a costume that was to fit a 6 year old and altered it perfectly to fit Silas. I was very proud of myself on that one.

We took Silas to go see my parents at their church in Currituck and Silas got to see his cousin, Henry, who was dressed up as a pumpkin for his very first Halloween.

After that, Silas got to go see his favorite of all.....DAISY! Haha, allow me to explain. Silas' first word was Daisy and that is because Quinn's parents have a dog named Daisy who he just adores and now every dog he sees in person or on TV is Daisy! At Quinn's parents Silas got some cool and yummy treats. One of which were these really cool cookies that you color on with the included markers in the package. When Silas was caught sucking on the markers, of course we freaked out only to realize that they were flavored markers. So needless to say, he had a blast with that.

Occasionally when we watch "The Cat in the Hat Knows A lot About That" on a daily basis, Silas will go grab his hat from his costume and wear it.

 

.Happy FIRST Birthday Silas Jackson.

SILAS JACKSON ANDRUS

is ONE!

It is crazy how fast one year goes by and how much this child has learned in such a short period of time. As I look bad, I know I am a very lucky first time mommy. From the first night in the hospital to present day this child has yet to cry for longer than 30 seconds. He has never been much of a cryer which I tell you, is the best thing in the world. He has not displayed pickiness towards foods or juices and eats anything without a fight. And without a care in the world has gone from formula in a bottle one day to milk in a sippie cup in the morning. And the biggest feat of all is the NO PASSY! Silas hates passies and I am so stoked the last thing I want is for him to walking around 5 years from now with a passy hanging out of this mouth. This child has been a little saint so far and I can not wait to see what milestones we will be conquering in the year to come.

On to less sentimental things, Silas' first birthday party was a huge success.

First off, let me tell you that making penguin cupcakes is not an easy task. The recipe called for regular cupcakes with donut holes stacked on top then placed in the freezer to harden and take place then dipped upside down in melted icing for a seamless black penguin that is then decorated with marshmallows and candies to make the penguin........BIG FYI the dipping did not work at all so then we had to drip the icing which was a huge mess. Thank god for my friend, Stephanie, without her those cupcakes would not have turned out at all.

I figured that having a penguin, specifically the nickelodeon cartoon Penguins of Madagascar, themed party would be really easy. NO. NO. NO! Not a single plate, balloon, or party hat for that cartoon exist here on the Outer Banks, VA, Ebay, or the whole Internet for that matter. So we just did everything in black and white and it looked great.

Quinn's parents have a bigger yard than we do, so Silas' party was held there. Lots of friends and family were there and he had a blast playing with all his cousins and friends. His favorite toy is his slide. He climbs and slides all day everyday. (but he loves all the toys he received and he is very grateful for all of them)

Thanks to everyone who came to Silas' birthday. We really appreciate your love for our son! Please enjoy the video below ;)

.An Angel At The IRS.

Just like everyother American, I HATE tax season. A few years ago, I worked for a lawyer who left the firm we were both working for and then I went to work for him. I thought this was great. I was the only one in the office, so no drama. I started to realize that said lawyer was shaddy!! His trust accounts were not kept balanced and he was paying himself out of clients retainers for work that was never completed. To make matters worse he would never return clients phone calls and dragged out cases for years that could have been setteled wihtin the first six months of him taking them on. At the time, I was more interested in parying than I was with my job so these things did not bother me. The fact that I was not getting taxes taken out of my check did not phase me either.

When I found out I was pregnant, I left this job and called the IRS and the NC State Bar on this attorney.  Needless to say, a few days later a W2 was dropped off at my house in the middle of the night by former boss. This dropoff was well after April 15. Me, knowing nothing about taxes, just went ahead and E-filed this W2 online. I fugured this was the right thing to do.

THREE YEARS LATER!!!!!! I file my taxes this year and I am waiting and waiting for my money to get here and it never does. Apparently, by me filing my tax return late, I got slammed with penalties and then they counted it for the next years taxes and it spiraled into a shit storm. So I called the IRS FREAKING OUT! My freak out was so bad that I got transferred to a "supervisor" by the name of Mary Carolyn and she calmed down. She explained how she too was a single mother (please note, I am not a REAL single mother but in the eyes of the IRS and the law, I am) and she understood my struggle and she promised she would call me every week to keep me updated on the progress of my taxes.

I have to say that I did not believe anythign she said. I figured it was a technique that they are taught to do to keep irrate callers from going off the deepend. BUT, Mary Carolyn has called me once a week since February to keep me updated on wehre my return is and what it is doing. And when my return was returned back to me for missing information she even gave me her personal fax number to fax her the missing forms so she could expedite my return so I could get my money ASAP!

This women has never met me, seen me or anythign but she has opened up and told me about her struggles and has helped me in every way she can. I appreciate her and her work so much. She has made me realize that not every person employed by the IRS is an asshole. I want her to know how much I honestly respect her and what she has done for me!

.Happy Birthday.

Happy 10 Month Birthday

to

Silas Jackson Andrus!!!

What is Lil' SJ up to these days you ask?? Well since he has discovered the wonderful world of walking he is really starting to show his true BOY colors. He just takes off "running" from one end of the house to the other and he gets so excited that he is going so "fast" that he ALWAYS trips over a toy or a pillow or soemthing. It's not till he makes his way back to you a couple minutes later and you see a spot or two of blood that you realize he hurt himself. NOT A TEAR! He keeps busting his lips up on his FOUR teeth. Yes, that is right! He is up to 4 teeth. His two front top and bottom. It's so cute.

We now have it down as to what his teething side effects are. Most babies cry, get a cold, chew on everything, etc. but all Silas did was get a temperature for a few days and like magic there were two more little toothies poppin' out!

The best is Silas is finally learning another word than Mama! He walks around just going, "Ma, Ma, Ma, Ma, Ma" but now he knows that "Ba. Ba" is his bottle and he definately knows who "Da, Da" is!

I can not believe that in TWO months Silas will be 1!!! Wow, time flys!

.Happy Birthday.

Happy 9 Months

to

Silas Jackson Andrus!

At Silas' 9 month check up he weighed in at almost 24lbs and is 24 inches long! He is still in the 75th percentile, which is awesome!

His doctor was quite impressed with his "advanced" motor skills of clapping, talking and most of all his WALKING! Yes, that is right. About a week before little man's 9 month mark he took his first steps. It shocked me so much I started screaming, "What are you doing???" Haha, I think I scared the poop out of him. It was nice to share his first steps with Kelsey! Later that night when daddy got home he showed them off even more and we even caught some steps on tape! Now when he is standing he will take about 5 steps or so, sometimes more, and then he'll sit down! I don't think it will be too much longer before he just takes off! (PS: The video below is him standing next to the couch and taking one or two small steps, though it looks like he is pushing off the couch, he is not!)

KNOCK ON WOOD, but so far Silas has gone 9 months without an ear ache, a real temperature (higher than 102), a real cold (other than a slight cough/sneeze from the weather change) or any real health issue. I am not sure how long his incredible health streak will last but I am hoping he never gets sick. Although I know that is an unrealistic wish!!!

.Another Belated Congratulations.

Oh and another belated congratulations to Ms. Melissa Burden on her engagement to JAKE!
Once again, incase you have been under a rock Jake proposed a week or so ago to Melissa and they are getting married in June. Yay for them!

.Belated Congratulations.

Since it has been FOREVER since I have posted to my blog, I would like to take a moment and give a belated congratulations to one of my best gal pals, Ms. Brittney Parker on her engagement to JORDAN!!!!

It is totally about time. And incase you have been living under a rock, he propoed to her on Christmas Eve and they are getting married in August! YAY! :)