Iron, lady!

I really needed to iron yesterday, though I didn't feel like it at all. The shirts, skirts and pants had been piling up, and since K. has to wear a shirt to work and didn't have any left, I didn't have much of a choice.
"Can I help you, mommy?", H. asked. Ever since she's got this little iron and board from her daddy on a street sale, she likes to iron. "Sure! What would you like to iron?", I asked her. "Well, I'll iron what you've just ironed.", she said.
Hmm, that's a tough one. I didn't want to discourage her from "helping" me, but re-do K.'s freshly ironed shirts? "What about you iron all the clothes which are still on the floor in your room?". "Ok!", she said and off she went to her room and came back with the pile of clothes that had been sitting on her floor for the last couple of days. "Now, that's a good strategy. Have to try to remember that one!", I thought to myself.
We turned on some music and both started ironing, right next to each other. She took it really seriously, asking me what was the best way to iron a skirt, pants, ... She even ironed her socks and tights and wanted me to show her how to fold tights. She was so cute being her serious self, it didn't take me very long before I went to get my camera. As she was working along, I was taking pictures. She finished her entire pile and had it nicely folded.

As for me, well that's a different story ...

Vinegar for me, please!

Don't we all hate it, cleaning, I mean?! The ever returning cycle of rubbing, scrubbing and wiping sinks, faucets, counter tops, windows, mirrors, stove tops ... The stubbornness of lime scale, grime and soap scum. Have you ever read the labels on the back of the cleaning products you use? Have you ever thought about the impact they might have on your health and the environment? Even though a lot of them nowadays claim they're safe, I still have my doubts. And the smell! The artificial smell of citrus, lavender, ocean breeze (??), ... of most of them. The incredible amounts of foam they generate and which you, yet again, need to wipe down. Don't you just hate it? Well, I did. And that's why I now use, yes, VINEGAR! Not really the most exciting topic for a post, I admit, but it works wonders for me. I have been using vinegar for months now and cleaning has never been easier and more satisfying. All you need is a bottle of white vinegar, a sponge, a couple of microfiber cloths, and a hand-held window squeegee*. Just try! Wet your sponge, squeeze on some vinegar and wipe. Next, take your cloth and wipe again. Done! As simple as that. Windows, you ask? Same here, but use your squeegee and finish off with the cloth. Done! No streaks. Fast and easy, and really cheap! Vinegar takes care of all the problems stated above. Some other advantages: it's mildly disinfectant because of it's (low) alcohol content and it deodorizes. I know the latter may sound weird, but after the vinegar smell vanishes, every other smell is gone too. And when you're ready, you just throw the cloths in the laundry and they're ready for their next use.
This is my two cents for the environment! Give it a try!

* The only exception is the toilet, for which I still use wipes and a brush, for the simple reason that I don't want to mix up sponges, if you know what I mean ...

Doll - part two

The doll is finally ready and has been delivered today to the birthday boy, and this thanks to my girls! They both encouraged me to finish it when I felt more like giving up on this one. They helped me through the whole process with advice and little hints and comments like: "Mommy, when will you ever be happy with what you make. It looks great. Stop criticizing yourself, just continue". I guess they are right. I should stop doing that. And I believe the result is, well, OK. Really OK! As usual, I had a lot of trouble with the hair. It looked horrible at first - I put hair in every single hole of the crocheted cap. Not the way to do it, I realized! So, I plucked quite a few hairs out and gave the whole wig a trim. I won't sum up everything else that didn't work the way I wanted. The clothes do a pretty good job at hiding it. I actually like the pants. They were made from an old pair of jeans of M.. A perfect match with little A.'s pair of jeans. He turned two today. Happy birthday, A.! And good luck Nina and Alfonso with the "terrible twoes"!

Couleurs locales

If it's gray outside, let's bring in some color myself, I thought! These pictures were taken in the Montmartre area and at the Place or Marché St-Pierre, on a slightly sunnier day, I admit. It's a nice and colorful neighborhood, even on a gray autumn day.
If you are (or are not!) in need of fabric or anything related then the area around Place St.-Pierre is the place to be with Dreyfus - Marché St.-Pierre probably the most famous and largest store, but many smaller and equally interesting stores can be found in the surrounding streets. Looking for upholstery, silk for an evening gown, cotton for a summer dress, oilcloth, linen... you name it, you'll find it here.

And now we're talking about sewing anyway, here's another store I really like and where I can't leave without buying at least a piece of ribbon: L'entrée des fournisseurs (pictures below), near Place des Vosges. They carry the most beautiful ribbons, gorgeous (wooden, bone, vintage,...) buttons, yarn, fabric (liberty - really expensive!, and linen), felt, patterns, ... And everything is displayed so beautifully here and makes worth the visit!

The grey days of autumn

Some pictures taken out of my window (this morning) and at the park (a couple of days ago) - the grey days of autumn have definitely come...

A creative night

We had a fun, creative evening tonight! We had an early dinner and then, instead of winding down in front of TV, the girls and I decided to do some crafts. I'd started a collage earlier this afternoon that I was more than happy to finish. And when I told M. that I really liked her self portrait I saw this morning in school, she wanted to make some more of that (they worked with soft pastels in art class). H. joined in and chose to work with some aquarel paint she still had left from a birthday present and tried the pastels too. And here are the results! M. made the nice tulip and another self portrait, H. did the three hearts and the colorful, happy house. (I still need to glue them onto the background paper and then these pictures are ready to go onto our kitchen wall!) Done that!!



The idea for the "what's cooking?"-collage came this afternoon when I was trying to figure out what we should have for dinner tonight. K.'s still out of town and usually he comes up with something when I'm running out of ideas for meals. After this collage and with the other stuff I still had on my to do list, for sure it had to be something fast and easy. And fast and easy it was!

Doll - part one

I'm working on a doll again - though I remember promising myself I would never ever make one of these dolls again.
I can't help it, but right now, I think it looks a bit like John McCain. I hope this is not going to get me into trouble as I still need to stick some needles in it in order to sew the eyes and mouth.
Sorry, John, I'll try to be really gentle... It's nothing personal, really.