Ugliest Hand in the World

Between the wrinkles, the overall huge size, the bruised nail, the broken nails, and the ever-so-lovely thumb, this is my submission for the ugliest hand ever. Here's what happened. We're using Flor carpet squares for the kids' room - see the picture below. Our builder (if you can call him that), ran out of money, so he didn't replace all of the old plywood subfloor. Where the new floor and the old floor meet, it's uneven. The old floor is about 3/8" lower along the wall. Here's where the ugly hand comes in.

I had to fill in the low spot along the wall before I could finish putting the squares down. So I bought some 1/4" plywood and some 1/8" vinyl adhesive tiles. Ripped the plywood length-wise and screwed it down, then (did you guess it already?) used a utility knife to cut the vinyl tiles. Well.... yes, the knife skipped over the edge of the framing square, leaving a huge gouge out of the metal and taking about an eighth of my thumb with it. (Oh, right. This was after replacing one of the joists underneath the floor, hammering my ring finger, and trying to get a new beam in place by myself, dropping it on my head twice, not to mention the numerous broken fingernails.)

Of course, this was at 7:00 at night. I was alone with the kids since Mike had to stay in NY to work. So it's bedtime, the hospital is twenty minutes away, the kids are tired and cranky. That's right, I decided it wasn't as bad as all that, wrapped it with a cotton ball and some blue painter's tape (couldn't find the first-aid kit), and proceeded to get the kids in bed. I should have known, when I couldn't get to sleep because of the pain, that it was that bad.

The next day, I didn't unwrap it until the afternoon when I'd had a chance to feed the kids, dress them, warm up the car (did you see the snow outside the window?), get to the store to buy band-aids, etc. Well, once it was unwrapped I saw it was still bleeding, knew it probably wasn't anywhere as clean as it should be, hadn't had a tetnus shot in who-knows-when, and decided I should go get some antibiotics. The doctor scolded me for not coming in sooner, so that it could have been stitched, but the nurse (with kids of her own) just said, "Oh yeah", and got everything taken care of.

So my head hurts, my broken-to-the-quick fingernails hurt, the bruised nail hurts, my thumb hurts, my arm hurts from the tetnus shot, and after the stressful drive back to NY, my neck hurts. I am soooo too old for this. Anyone want to buy a house?

Costume Retrospective

I was thinking about all the costumes I've done over the years, as I sit here sewing more of them. Some were easy to the point of making me feel guilty (since I'm a mom-that-sews), some so complex I thought I'd never finish. Here are a few I've managed to find pictures of. Unfortunately, a lot of pictures are digital format and are saved on an old computer, and I'm just not up to hooking up an old computer just for a blog!

The photos above are of Sarah's Xena costume. Everything about this one was hard. First we

found a pattern online, from Todd's costumes. http://www.toddscostumes.com He also sells the hardware to make the costume, but we couldn't afford all the detailed ones. He has her breastplate, arm bands... the works, but they're not cheap! So we just bought the eyelets, rings for shoulder straps and the metal connectors for the skirt pieces.

Sarah didn't want the dress to be brown, so we used black. In hindsight, I should have used a heavier leather - the skirt would have been much better - but even with the lighter weight, I had already spent nearly $150. Next came the wig. It was tough to find a really dark brown, not black, that had bangs, but we did it. One of the most difficult things was finding the chakra (her metal throwing ring). We found a couple reproductions from the TV show, but again, they were really expensive. We finally found this one from Atlanta Cutlery http://www.atlantacutlery.com, then we ran into this problem: they wouldn't ship it to NY. My sister was nice enough to have it shipped to her place, then sent it on to us.

When finishing the back with the eyelets for the laces, I decided to take the dress up to work, and have the sample makers use the machine to place them. Well, they didn't punch a hole in the leather first, and it really messed up the back of the costume. So... back to the store for more leather, and more sewing. Finally, about two weeks and $250 later, it was done. (At this point, I told her never to ask me for another costume again!)

Matthew, in a Thomas the Tank Engine costume made from cardboard boxes, a foam disk from the craft store with a paper face glued on, a Tide cap, and acrylic paint. I used wide, adhesive velcro to attach the twill ribbon straps. The cap was from Oriental Trading. http://www.orientaltrading.com I had to buy a dozen of them, but still, they were only about $8.

This one wasn't too hard, but did take a bit of time to put together. We couldn't find a Thomas face online, so we ended up with a print of Percy, then we painted the eyebrows in a triangular shape. (And I still have blue acrylic paint on the pavers of the terrace - shhhh, don't tell the landlord!)

This one is Sarah's costume for this year; Poison Ivy. We cheated a little by using a corset I had made for her a couple years ago. I cut a new corset using the same pattern, but only the first layer, then I basted the 'cover' onto the old corset. I used a fabric glue to attach ivy leaves from the craft store.

Because she is in Wisconsin, she'll have to add ivy leaves to the bottom to extend the length on both the top and the bottom. I think she'll be adding some small vines as well. I bought a Jessica Rabbit wig for her to use, some mossy green leggings, and I finally finished her cape (that was supposed to be a Christmas gift from last year). It's a really pretty gray wool flannel, with just a hint of olive in it. Now she better be a good daughter and send me a picture (not just tell me to look at her Facebook).

Kelly in a princess costume that uses pink iridescent taffeta, a floral jacquard inset on the bodice, and organza for the sleeves and peplum. We found the crown at Gymboree, and she had sparkly pink ballet slippers from H&M that wouldn't stay on her feet. I found some pink stretch-velvet ribbon at M&J Trimming http://www.mjtrim.com and made straps with that.

This was one of the easy ones. Cheese cloth strips, and white and black pancake make-up. Along with a dose of attitude.

This was for a school play, rather than Halloween. Sarah was 'The Sun', so we made a skirt, cape and crown of gold lame to go over a gold bathing suit. I used the cardboard from a cereal box inside the crown to give it some shape.





Another easy one. An inexpensive witch hat, fake nose and nails, sheer greenish yellow liquid eyeshadow and a black eyebrow pencil, on top of a black dress and tights.

Two cats. The first one was so easy I still feel guilty every time I see this picture. We taped paper ears to a black headband, gave her a white T-shirt and black leggings. I don't think she even had a tail! At least the following year I managed to sew a white felt circle to a black sweatsuit and make a hat. Not to mention the cat nose. (She made me pay for this later.)

Here is Sarah, dressed as Zorak from the Space Ghost cartoon. This one was tough. It was hard to get the hood shaped the right way. I ended up using a wire hanger in the mouth. We got lucky with the color of the dye we used on the thermal underwear. Blue cotton makes up the chest band and wings, and yellow felt was used for the arms and legs. We found a pair of yellow gloves for the finishing touch.

Some people realized she was a praying mantis, but most didn't get it. One of the hazards of having a daughter slightly left of center. (I love you, Sar!) Only a group of teenage boys knew that she was Zorak. Their "look at that cool Zorak!" made her night.

So that's it. I wish I had the pictures of Sarah in her royal blue and navy, semi-Elizabethan dress, or of myself, pregnant with Kelly in a low-cut Renaissance number, but maybe they're better left to the imagination anyway!

Giveaway Results

Here are the results from the Back-to-School Giveaway. (With my helpful son drawing the names. Yes, the one who is pulling the detergent tray out of the washer as I type.) Congrats to the winners! You can watch the video clip, or just take a look at the list.

3rd prize - Christine

2nd prize - Connie, circlelinestudio

1st prize - Karen, kdmathiesondesigns

Just as a recap, 3rd prize was a choice of girl's or boy's T-shirt, 2nd prize was a choice of boy's pants or shorts, or girl's skirt or jumper, and 1st prize was a choice of anything in my shop (since the linen dresses are no longer listed). I'll be adding a new long-sleeved girl's shirt and new boy's pants next week, if you'd like to wait to see them before making your choice. Please send me a note with your choice and your mailing address, either through Etsy or via my regular email swilliamsny at yahoo.

Back-To-School Giveaway

Girl's Fiesta Skirt - Dressed up for fall!

To have a little fun, and to help promote my shop, I'll be having a back-to-school giveaway. Here are the details.


Take a look at my shop, at http://www.lilelephants.etsy.com/ then come back to the blog and leave a comment for this post. In your comment, please tell me which is your favorite item from each category (or you can tell me what you'd like to see added to a category), and leave your name and location (in case several names are the same). It can be a screen name, too. On September 30th, we'll print out the names of everyone who commented, and choose winners by the tried-but-true hat method. You'll need to check back on October 1st to see if you've won. If you have, you can contact me through Etsy conversations to give me your mailing info.


There are no catches, I'm not asking for email or snail mail addresses, and anyone can participate, even if you don't have a kid (gift giving is good). All I ask is that you be honest and only comment one time, and that you share my store with your friends if you like what you see. Now for the prizes.


The third prize winner will receive either a boy's or girl's T-shirt, in your choice of size from 12 month to size 6. (Look for new items starting this week!) The second prize winner will receive your choice of boy's shorts or pants, or girl's skirt or jumper (assuming I'll have the jumper fabric by then - if not, I'll make a new one). The first prize winner can choose from anything in the store, with the exception of the linen dresses.
Let's have some fun!

A Sale!

I finally made my first sale on Etsy! I'm so very happy. After all, I think I have good taste, but it's all subjective and I should know from my time at Madame Alexander that everyone has a different idea of good design. So I finally feel like I'm not totally out in left field.

The item I sold was the girl's Fiesta Skirt. The size ordered was 18 months, so I slipped it on Ian to check the tightness of the elastic and the length. He's such a boy already, that I couldn't help laughing at how he looked in a skirt. Kelly couldn't figure out what was so funny - she thought he looked beautiful! Hopefully the customer will think her daughter looks beautiful as well. It would be a bummer to have finally made a sale, then have it returned.

I bought a really pretty vintage tablecloth on Etsy from beesipea - http://www.beesipea.etsy.com/ I'm planning on turning it into a clothing, but haven't decided yet on dresses or tops. I'm leaning toward an apron-style top, but we'll have to see. It's so pretty, though, that I almost hate to cut it up. This picture doesn't really do it justice. But I'll never use it as a tablecloth with these kids!

Here's one more thing I found on Etsy. Actually, there are a group of these, but I'll just show one. It's a monster, handpainted on silk. They are all adorable. I haven't bought them - unfortunately money continues to be an issue, even though I think they're very reasonably priced. But soon these will have to come home with me. I'm thinking the set would be great in the boys' room in PA. http://www.tamlinsky.etsy.com/

I have a couple other favorite items I've found, that I'll share another time. For now, maybe if the kids will stop fighting, I'll start work on a pattern for the tablecloth top.

No Nibbles (or Bites)

I decided to add some lower-priced items to my Etsy store - girl's hair clips. I'll admit they're still on the higher end for the category, but I was hoping to see some kind of interest. No luck. It doesn't help that Etsy is flooded with hair clips for girls, but it was something I could do without a huge up-front investment. Here they are.

I really need to do some marketing, and get some of my New York neighbors to visit my store, but I'm a little bit afraid that they'll actually want the stuff, and I won't be able to find the time to do all the sewing. I'll do it soon, though. I really need to find out whether this is worth continuing to pursue, or not. In the meantime, I'm finding a good use for the huge roll of brown cutting paper I bought. Take a look at my kids' giant art canvas.

Hopefully one of these days the rain and cold will give way to some real summer weather. I'm going to try getting a sitter to come in once a week to take the kids out to the playground while I get some work done. This is my high note for the week: I finally used my new coverlock machine!!! Too much fun! (Well, for me, anyway.) And I did a boy's T-shirt pattern that was actually perfect on the first try!!! Of course, it's always something - I can't get the tension right on my serger, so it looks like a trip to get it serviced before I can sew the shirts. Oh well.

Totally Off Subject - The Eczema That Wasn't

My poor youngest child. He's had eczema since he was about 4 months old. It started on his cheeks (as you can see in the photo). It sometimes crops up elsewhere, but those spots are easily taken care of. His cheeks are a different story. We were told to use an over-the-counter hydrocortisone and Aquaphor or Vaseline. It had absolutely no effect. Then we were given a prescription strength hydrocortisone. It helped a little, but at the end of the week (the amount of time the dermatologist told us to use it), the eczema was still there. By eight months, the spots had grown bigger.

Back to the dermatologist. They gave us a stronger cream - Cutivate lotion. We had also already switched laundry detergents, I always moisturize after baths, have him dressed in cotton... all the typical things you're told to do. These photos are of him between thirteen months and fourteen-and-a-half months. As you can see, his chin is really bad now, too, and he scratches until he bleeds. And yes, we have tried covering his hands. So we started trying some other things we had heard about. We tried wheatgrass spray - no luck with that, and I think it stung, though it's hard to tell since he yells any time you do anything to his face (or change his diaper, or dress him, or...you get the picture). We tried Vanicream, TriplePaste, and Remedy Skin Repair Cream. Nothing. Then the eczema got infected.

Here he is with the infection. It made his glands swell up, so he has this big double chin. Take a look at his forehead in this photo. We thought at first that the eczema was spreading, but I didn't think it looked quite like what I was used to seeing. I had taken one of my older kids to the pediatrician for another matter (a tick that had made a lymph node swell up), and at her urging, we made an appointment with an allergist. They did a number of scratch tests on his back - at this point, the only place on his body clear enough. It didn't seem that he had any kind of allergic reaction going on. We did find out he has a slight allergy to dog dander, but not enough to cause this. We had another dermatologist appointment for the following week, but the day after we saw the allergist it had gotten still worse, and was even on his eyelids. The allergist gave us a prescription for antibiotics, so we started giving him an oral and a topical antibiotic for the infection.

In this picture, you can see how terribly swollen his eyelids are. This was two days after we had seen the allergist. I started to get worried, and didn't want to wait for the dermatologist appointment, so I started calling different dermatologists until I found one that could see him right away. (This was on a Friday morning.) When we went in, she told us immediately that this wasn't just eczema, and wasn't just a bacterial infection. My baby had eczema herpeticum; the herpes simplex virus had come in contact with the skin on his face, and while this wouldn't be a big deal for any of us (in fact, it happens to us all the time), he managed to get infected.

Despite how common both the eczema and the herpes virus are, this is not a very common condition and is misdiagnosed as allergies (at first) fairly often. The dermatologist was really worried about how close to his eyes this was, and wanted us to see an ophthalmologist right away. The trick, of course, was getting a last minute appointment on a Friday afternoon. We ended up at the NYU Medical Center ER. Finally, a bit of luck - the infection was not in his eyes. You can see here how this was all over his body. Like a monster case of chicken pox. Fortunately, this isn't contagious, so my other two little ones were okay. Of course, my next worry was how he'd gotten this, and how I could keep it from happening again. Unfortunately, the virus is everywhere. He could have pick this up absolutely anywhere. The key to not getting it again? Keep the eczema under control. Back to square one. We started him on a course of acyclovir for the eczema herpeticum.

At our follow up appointment with the dermatologist (the one who diagnosed this), she started talking to me about getting the eczema cleared up. She wrote out a prescription for a cortisone cream (is this sounding familiar?) and told me to slather Aquaphor on him. I tried telling her how I think that makes it worse. His skin seems to start bubbling up and getting weepy underneath it. Her response was 'it takes time for this to work'. She also wanted me to give him a lukewarm bath twice a day, every day, for 15 to 20 minutes. Okay - she knows I have two other little kids. How does she think I'm supposed to manage that one? My day is already so packed with preschool drop-offs and pick-ups (two different schools), vacuuming up after the dog (a daily occurrence - the shedding monster), fixing and cleaning up meals and the occasional trip to the playground. So I nodded and took the prescription, then decided to ignore her and do what I thought was working.

I use Renew lotion, from a company called Melalueca http://www.melaleuca.com/, on my beyond-ridiculously-dry skin. If it's good for me, I figure it should be good for him. I've been putting it on him as often as I can; about 6 or 7 times a day. It's not cheap - although compared to some of the prescription creams it's a real bargain. I love it. You can't order it directly from their website - you have to get it through one of their representatives or sign up for their program, but I think it's worth it. I get mine from my sister (thank you forever). I am using the cortisone, but only every other day, one time per day, instead of the 2x daily that was prescribed. We also give him Zyrtec at night before bed, both to help with the itch and because it seems to help him sleep better. I've been doing this for four days now, and here is where we are. I'll post another photo next week, since this one is a little hard to see (he wanted to hold the camera).

Basically, the herpeticum sores are going to get better in time, but if you can see his chin and cheeks here, you'll see that they already look as good (or better) than they did when this whole thing started. I'm delighted. Then, to top it all off, I met another mom at the playground who echoed my feeling that the Aquaphor made the eczema worse (her son had it just as bad as mine). Finally vindicated! It's a good feeling. Almost as good as seeing baby's eczema start to get better.