Crafty Schmafty- Tooth Monster Pillows (and a giveaway!)

Remember last week when my first-born lost his first tooth?

Luckily it happened on a school holiday AND in the morning. I can do crafty, but rarely does it turn out to be a "short" project no matter how hard I try.

All those pinterest tutorials, "20 minute pillow cover!" and the like.
Sure there flap jack. I got 4 reasons, and they all start with the letter "i," that say otherwise to your 20 minute time frame.

Small child interruptions, laundry, and meal times excluded...these pillows took me about 45 minutes to make for each one. I started Isaac's around 11am and finished around 8pm. That's real time! HA! With juuuuust time enough for Isaac to slide that little Chiclet into the monster's mouth as he hit the hay.

He was so excited. The next morning he told us approximately 140 times before he left for school that he, "...got a paper mummy AND TWOOOO more mummys! Look at my coins!"

I was pleased at the outcome.  So then, because I like arbitrary goals. I decided I had to go ahead and make 3 more for the other kiddos right away. They emerged adorable from felt, scraps, 2 old shirts, and an old bathing suit of Anthony's.

Does it matter that the youngest doesn't have any teeth yet? No. Because tomorrow she'll be losing her first tooth and I won't have had anymore time to make a Tooth Monster Pillow for her than I did this week.

Speaking of. Would one of you 4 or 5 who read this blog like a Tooth Monster Pillow?* They really are easy to make and I've had fun doing so.  I totally ganked the style from Pinterest. I didn't follow a particular pattern, but they look like a lot of what I perused.

Since y'all come here and take time out of your day to look at pics of my adorable kids (who currently have sidewalk chalk war paint on their faces because I had to leave them "unattended" as I wrote this blogpost...the boys colored Immanuelle's face for her. Amazing, really, how well sidewalk chalk writes on faces.) and love on our family from afar, I thought someone else might want one?  For your kids? (we all shared a tooth pillow growing up) To give as a gift to the grands? Carry with you in your purse to hold your coin mummys? 

So. A Giveaway. Never done one before. Are there rules? Maybe. Lets try it this way.

To get your name thrown in the hat, there's 2 ways. Max 2 entries per person.
1. Leave a comment - Got a funny tooth story? Tell me! Include your email address so I can contact you if you win (I have to approve all comments, so I will make note, edit, and will NOT post your email address)
or
2. "Share" this post on facebook.

If you win I'll let you pick if you want a "girl" or "boy" monster if you have a preference...but that's all for choice, mkay? I'll choose the fabric and the buttons and what not and it'll be a fun surprise to open the package and see what turned out! Plus...a package alllll the way from **Malaysia?!? Sweet deal!

{GIVEAWAY SIGN-UP CLOSED! ANNOUNCING WINNER SOON!}
*I'm nervous because what if no one cares?
Y'all care, right?!
**Malaysia is far from America. There's no way to guarantee delivery date. If you win and you're from America and/or you live in a country that has less reliable postal systems, I apologize in advance for a) it taking forever for your package to get to you...usually around 3 weeks to America or b) never making it at all.  So far that's never happened. Fingers crossed! 

Succulents

Remember these that my husband picked up for me in the Cameron Highlands?

Well, the other day at Tesco they had 3 miniature ones for $1US/piece (RM3 for my Malaysians) and in the clearance of their home decor section they had a bright red, square-shaped, shallow bowl.

It was gold flecked on the outside, and the red bowl told me it would be perfect on my counter top through normal days AND holidays.

I agreed.
So we all went home together.
I assembled them all, added a few smooth rocks from our "atrium" and I am quite pleased with how it all turned out.

I have to move this thing a lot because the best place I could find for it was in the kitchen.

It sits on my oven's lid. Yes, American friends, my oven/stove-top has a lid. And seeing as how I use my stovetop for things like cooking and Anthony uses it for coffee, it gets moved off it's perch several times a day.

But so far it's behaved and I think it might be growing. The boys have done remarkably well not pulling the leaves off the "jellybean" one.  At least, I think that light green one is called a Jellybean. Not 100% though as I'm new to succulents.

BUT, I've only watered it once like a good girl and am genuinely looking forward to December 1st to get to water it again.

And there's a little piece of my East-Side-of-the-Mississippi humid heart that has now made peace with the Southwest United States and all its dryness and desert-ness. I've never been fond of cacti, or the 90's "Southwest" color schemes and prints, but this little container garden is working its magic.

Did you know, apparently all cacti are succulents, but not every succulent is a cactus?
Me either. Do with that what you will.

As for me, I'm gonna go do something crafty that has nothing to do with watering or maintaining the succulents as they are touted to be ultra-low-maintenence.

Fingers crossed!

...and just like that...

Our big boy is even bigger...

It started about a week ago, but he left it alone...or at least didn't talk about it much.
This morning, before playing checkers with him, I was reminded (repeatedly) that it was snacktime.
In an act of health, I reached for the apples.
Then in an act of lazy to help them develop good life skills, I handed the apples to them whole, instead of slicing them.
Two bites in and there was some pain, some blood, some crying, and a very very loose tooth.
I was all, "Cool buddy! Ya gotta go see it in the mirror! It's just hanging there!"
and Isaac was all, "But it HURTS! I don't want it to hurt!"

I knew the mirror would work.  Its fascinating to see all that "gore." A tooth laying horizontal in your mouth, slightly bloody?? That's the stuff childhood is made of, y'all.

I called him back to the game of checkers, but before he could even get down the stairs, he reached in, pulled, and out it came.

"The Re-enactment"

"YAY!!"s and high-5's were passed out and Isaac immediately started talking about how his friends at school were gonna think it was soooo cool.

Anthony and I had a real quick discussion on what we were gonna do about the tooth fairy.
"Just like Santa?"  "We'll tell him its us, but say it's the tooth fairy." 
They play along anyway...especially when presents and/or money under your pillow is involved.

So now, all of the sudden I have a big boy AND a sewing project today. A cute "tooth holder" pillow thing is what I'm imagining.  I'm sure the newborn, the toddler, the preschooler, and the big boy are gonna give me LOADS of time for that today.

...and though none of you know this, I may or may not have been complaining about yet another 2 days of school holidays.  And now, I take it all back. I would have been such a sad spider had my first born lost his first tooth at school!

Hope your Tuesday is just as exciting!

Ivy- 1 month

Our sweet Ivy has been growing for a whole month now. She has the chubbiest, kiss-y-est cheeks...which is sorta the same as being kissable, but different in that they're kissy.
She's hit or miss on whether she sleeps "great" at night. But she rocks those daytime naps, so I've caught a few Zzz's when I can then.  Overall she is a wonderful little newborn and we have nothing to complain about our first month together.
Here she is with her little lamb...seeing as how her middle name, Rachel, means "lamb" we thought it appropriate for her monthly photos.  Though according to Isaiah, it looks like a sheep. "A lamb??? Mama, it wooks like a seep."  Indeed it does, son.
She went to church today for the first time and was an absolute angel through the whole service...that'll happen every time, right?
I'd write more, but seeing as how she IS a newborn and I'm still getting some pretty interrupted nights of sleep, I'll go and leave you to comment.
**If you have any suggestions on how to get a breast-fed baby to take a bottle, I'd love to hear!**