Celtics Game...VIP Style!

Let's face it, most of my posts are for the ladies. Sewing this, embroidering that...BORING!!! (For the boys that is). Well gentlemen, this post's for you! On early SuperBowl Sunday afternoon, Jarred and I had the pleasure of rolling VIP Style to the Celtics vs. Magic game courtesy of his boss, and ultimate beast, Jim. Every year he gets Celtics tickets for the whole lab, and this year he decided to step it up a bit and rent out an entire suite for us. Chu-ching!! I say "us"...the lab of about 20ish plus 3 lucky lottery ticket spouses. Jim had enough tickets for everyone in lab, and then they had the option of entering their name into a drawing for an extra ticket to bring that special someone. Sweet Jarred talked his way into swaying some extra names in my favor. Several of his friends who didn't actually have someone else to bring put their names in the hat for me. Hooray! It caused a little controversy in the lab, but hey...my man does what he has to do. In the end, Jarred's actual name was picked and I got to come. Yay! Here's some pics:

We got there early so we could enjoy the extra perks of premium ticket holders...aka watching warm-ups courtside!! I can now report firsthand that Dwight Howard's shoulders...really are the size of bowling bowls. He is absolutely not human.

Patrick Ewing, a monster!

JJ Redick...with whom Jarred shared a love/hate relationship at Duke for several years. And I must say, he was much bigger in person than I expected him to be. At Duke, he always seemed so small! Jarred also informed me, for anyone interested, that JJ's warm-up routine is exactly the same as it was in college. 



Free tshirts for all! Thanks Jim!

There's a Boston sports museum around the club level floors. One artifact was a NHL penalty box. Which, of course, I had to sit in.

View from the club level.

Thanks Jim, we had a blast!

Calling all Moms and Coffee Drinkers!

As the snow continues to pile up outside my door, I fill the hours trapped inside by scanning the internet for new things to embroider. My goal is to find fun things that a) look cool, b) can be made consistently well and c) aren't too crazy hard to hoop. It's a quest that is much harder than it seems. Some things I find would be awesome to embroider, but end up being a disaster to line up or hoop. But this time, I've hit the jackpot. Travel Mugs and Sippy Cups with *embroiderable* paper inserts. So fun! And the possibilities for designs and colors are practically endless! Here's what I've made so far:

It's hard to capture them in one snap shot since the writing wraps around the cups, but you get the idea. Cute and personalized sippy cups so the day care workers and church nursery volunteers don't get them mixed up. So far I've found the sippy cups with blue, green, pink, and white tops in these two sizes (5oz and 10oz). They are said to be "Spill proof," but being that I don't have a toddler...I can't be so sure of that. Playtex also sells a sippy cup with a straw that you can put an insert into, but they are about $15...which is a little too pricey for me to be buying and trying just for fun. But if anyone wants me to make a sippy cup insert for their playtex cup, I can do that too. Here's what they look like:

My sister swears by this kind. There are so many possibilities for the embroidery insert, it just makes me want to squeal!

Now on to the grown-up edition, travel mugs! There are several different styles that can be made for different price points. Some have a stainless steel portion of the mug and are therefore a little higher quality, and some are just regular plastic for warm liquid. It's rather tragic that I don't drink coffee, because I'm loving these mugs!!!

Mug with stainless steel:

Without Stainless:

This one was made for Jarred's lab when they had their way-after-Christmas yankee swap game. I tried to make the writing a little boyish since most likely a boy would get it...and I must say, it takes away from the overall attractiveness of the mug...but you gotta do what you gotta do. The actual insert background is gorgeous. 

And in honor of my glory days in college:

Pi or Die!

Ahhh good times. If you'd like your very own sippy cup or travel mug, give me a shout. They are fun and easy to make. The colors and design possibilities are endless! Hip Hip Hooray!

Prices are in the $6-$15 range.

* I'm pretty sure "embroiderable" isn't a real word...but it's sounds so legit!

Market Basket Monstrosity

I was all set to name this post "Marvelous Market Baskets" or "Market Basket Miracle"...but then disaster struck...as usual. Now I'm left with "Market Basket Monstrosity" because the word monstrosity can be defined as "an excessively bad or shocking example," and unfortunately, that's how one of my little treasures turned out. First, you should know that although they include these in the "market basket" category, they are really more of a hybrid between a picnic basket and a cooler. They're completely collapsible when not in use and are perfect for tailgating and summertime in the mountains. So here's your first look:

As you'll see later, the inside is completely insulated. This caused a small problem when trying to hoop the top, but I was able to troubleshoot (after about an hour, that is) by cutting slits in the insulation where the hoops needed to go. Although this one looks pretty and I am excited about it, after doing the embroidery, I went to gently iron out the hoop marks and my annoying iron put some small black marks on it. I was devastated! I had worked so hard to make it perfect...and then in a split second, tarnished. Oh well...it's still a success, and I feel good about making these in the future. The actual stitching came out beautifully.

And now for the monstrosity.

Doesn't look too bad from a distance. But up close...

Gross. The "Go Tigers" was stitched first, and at this point, my post was still going to be "Market Basket Miracle," because I was able to troubleshoot the insulation problem and all the letters were coming out so nicely. But the tiger paw...oh the tiger paw. What have I done to make you rebel against me??

I mean really, what the world kind of screwed up tiger paw is this??

This is a shot from the back. A giant wad of thread. I've never seen anything like it. *tear* A monstrosity.

Overall, I'm still very excited about my new ability to embroider these. I think they make great gifts and are pretty high quality little coolers. Here's a few more shots to give you an idea for sizing. The small basket could easily hold about 8 can drinks. I ran out of Cokes, so the picture shows 5 drink cans plus some green beans and soup, but you get the idea. They come in red, orange, hot pink, lime green, camo (for all those hunters out there we know and love), black and white houndstooth, zebra print, black and white damask, burgundy, navy, and plain black. Most colors come in both large and small, but not all. Holla if you're interested!

For all you Die-Hard Fans

If you or your loved one is a Die-Hard fan of a college football team, then I can call you friend. We speak the same language and share a common love for sport. No matter your team of choice, I respect your decision to follow your boys with reckless abandon...in good times and in bad (and if you're from the state of South Carolina, you have a lot of practice with the bad...perhaps it's how God has taught us patience, perseverance and loyalty). If you find that you love a University with the passion of a million burning suns, and you live and breathe their athletic programs...I have a recommendation for you. Although I received a lot of amazing Christmas gifts, this was one of the most unexpected...and I must admit, one of my favorites: a book entitled Daily Devotions for Die-Hard Fans: Clemson Tigers edition by Ed McMinn.

Each day has a Bible passage to read and then a story from the history of the athletics program that the author relates to the overall Biblical principal for the day. Although some days seem like a bit of a stretch, others are fabulous. Either way it gets you reading from the Word and also teaches you fun things you never knew about the athletics program. Stories of the great legends of the University and tidbits of knowledge that only strengthen your love of God and Clemson Tiger sports. A beautiful thing. I googled it, and there are also books for Georgia, Auburn, Tennessee, Duke, etc. I think he even managed to pull some good from The University of South Carolina, amazing, I know. Kidding...sort of.

If you know a Die-Hard fan like me that loves the Lord...or maybe someone who doesn't...but loves their sports, this is the perfect gift. It could definitely be used as a tool to minister to some sports fans who have yet to enter into a relationship with the One who paid it all for them! Think about it.

Busy Day of Applique

Today was a Saturday full of fun projects! The first is a birthday present for one of my former students. She was sweet enough to invite me to her upcoming birthday party, and I'm super excited. It's going to be at a giant trampoline park that looks incredibly awesome. Although there are sure to be other adults present, I may be the only one participating. But clearly, I can't let an opportunity like this pass me by! Here's a visual:

Umm, yeah. It's going to be awesome! Back to her present though. This little cutie happens to love baking with her parents. So after much brainstorming, I decided to make her a special apron and give her a complete baking themed gift. I found a red kid-sized apron, sewed some ribbon on the top and bottom, embroidered her name, and viola, I hope she'll love it!

I also bought a few smaller aprons for kids 2-6ish. I wanted to practice my applique skills and create a little boys grilling/cooking/art apron. A sweet friend from Walhalla has ordered a few tutus from me, so I decided to throw an extra little surprise into her order:

Like most of my things, it's not perfect, but hopefully Max will enjoy it!

A few weeks ago I bought two size 18 months shirts from Target, but I wasn't 100% sure what I was going to do with them. Tonight I put out a open call for inspiration on facebook and the first two responses (with size 18 months babies right now) were cuties named Ziva and Savannah. So here's what I made:

I'm really enjoying getting my feet wet with applique! It's so fun and allows for so much creativity. I hope those of you who've been considering getting machines will do it. You won't regret it!

Random Research Adventure

Boston is known as one of the research capitals of the world. Between the 52 colleges and universities located in the immediate Boston area and the famous teaching hospitals here, research is abundant. Not a day goes by that I don't see advertisements searching for participants for research studies. So naturally, while in Boston, it's been on my list of must-do adventures. The studies all pay well, and what a cool experience to be a part of the research process! However, most of the advertisements are extremely specific and rarely do I fit the criteria. Thankfully I don't have any weird disease, I don't smoke nor do I have any extreme or random sleeping behaviors. But one day, riding on the T, I finally found the perfect one for me...well, really for Jarred, but I was hoping to be in by association. Right handed, unmedicated and 20-25 years old. YES!

Although we're both pushing the age requirement, Jarred was a shoo in for this one being that he is a complete freak of nature and has never even had an antibiotic. I on the other hand do take birth control, but I crossed my fingers that I could sneak in...and I did! Birth Control doesn't count. Whoo Hoo! The study is an official look into our memories of childhood and how they have affected us as adults. After our initial acceptance, the doctors conducting the research informed us there are three steps to the process, and we could be weeded out at any point. Step one is a 30 minute survey we complete online and each receive $25. Cha-ching! Done. Step two, if selected, is to come in and answer questions about our childhood for a few hours and receive $100 each. Score!! Then the final step, for the super special...or super messed up, I don't know...is to get a MRI of our brain and receive another $100. Whoop Whoop! I mean, who out there hasn't thought from time to time that it would be kind of awesome to get an MRI, just to make sure everything is okay up there!? Right?

Anywho, Jarred and I both completed step one in early December and were accepted into the next phase. Tomorrow we head to one of the local hospitals for a few hours of questioning and $100 each. All I have to say is...Bring it childhood memories study, bring it!! Wanna know about my birthday parties, about family vacations, about how my sister locked me in the bathroom when she was supposed to be babysitting? Uh oh, is that too much? We're in the tree of trust, right? It's true, sweet Terri, who did basically nothing wrong as a child, pulled a few big sister stunts on me from time to time. But overall I'm pretty well adjusted. Let's cross our fingers the questions don't bring up any crazy forgotten (or blocked) memories that will scar me. Eeek! I'm not too worried, just excited for this random research adventure. Wish us luck!

$25 check for answering the research survey

It's a Tutu-rific Day!

This morning before church I decided it was a Tutu-rific day for some craft time! I have a few items waiting in the wings to be embroidered, but unfortunately they need to be washed first to avoided shrinking post-embroidery. And being that Jarred and I don't have a washing machine...they'll have to wait. So I dug through my supplies and found a bunch of fabulous tulle and ribbon. As I'm sure you've seen, tutus are all the rage right now so I decided to give them a shot! Here's my result:

Tutu #1: Go Tigers!

The waist size for this one ended up being a little smaller than I had hoped because I ran out of orange tulle. As it stands, it would fit about a waist about 16 to 17 inches..or about a 12/18 month old. Although there's enough ribbon to allow for some extra growth.

Here's Tutu #2...and I'm pretty much obsessed with it:

I used shimmering pink and green tulle. It's hard to tell in the pictures, but it person, the sparkles really add to the cuteness factor. It's for a 20ish inch waist which is about a 3T. That or a 25 year old....if it's tied loosely.

If anybody wants one for their favorite little cutie, let me know. I could make them in pretty much any color. Visions of little girl birthday parties are dancing in my head. Wouldn't tutus be the cutest party favors?!